Bonus: Laryssa's journal

What came before

Today I’ve got a bonus Triverse chapter for subscribers, in the form of a journal from Laryssa, the girl whose body washed up on the bank of the Thames at the start of the ‘Traffic’ storyline.

Couple of quick links in case you’re coming in cold:

---

Laryssa’s journal

3199, Brightsun 15

We’re going to do it. Me, Pylpo and Zlati have decided and we’re going to DO IT. No more talking. No more dreaming about what could be. Time to make it our reality! Between us we’ve saved enough to pay the fare to get all the way to Max-Earth and freedom. Freedom from the endless servitude that is Palinor. This world has nothing for aen’fa, not any more. The humans suck nature dry, and their wielders even steal the light from the heavens. The koth are harmless but keep to their mountains, refusing to admit that anything is wrong. We’ve all heard the rumours of bands of rebel princesses in the forests, but nobody has ever actually seen them, or knows where to find them. Even if they do exist, they haven’t DONE anything. So what’s the point?

We can wait around for other people to save us, or we can just go. Save ourselves! And that’s precisely what we’re going to do. Here’s how it works:

1. We make travel by caravan from the Peak to the Mesa, and Fountain University. That takes the first portion of our funds, though it should be safe enough once we’re outside of the city here. Once we’re gone, the masters won’t care. Plenty more of us for them to ‘employ’.

2. Once there, we make contact with the underground rail-road in the Mesa. Being the centre of portal activity that shouldn’t be too tricky, though we’ll have to keep our heads down. Unapproved portal travel is not allowed and there’s no way we’re going to be able to get licenses. No license, no transit. But the rail-road has other ways, or so I’ve heard. We just need to find the right people to talk to.

3. We secure passage through the portal to Mid-Earth. If we’re lucky, we’ll take a straight route all the way through the next portal to Max-Earth. And once we’re there we’ll have protection, and safety. Imagine it: a society in which all are free to live their lives as they wish! A world without magic to mess things up. A world without fallen gods. Wait - I keep forgetting! Not just a world, but multiple worlds. Earth and Mars and Venus and Jupiter and all the other ones I can’t remember. So much space, and so many people, and it all just WORKS. If only Palinor would be like that…but, then, those rich wielders running the city states would lose their positions.

It’s so unfair.

But we’re getting out, so it won’t matter for long. Not to us.

3199, Leafless 28

It’s taken longer than we thought but we’re finally here! I’m writing this as the caravan is crossing the bridge into the Mesa. The city is huge - we could see over the walls as we approached from the west. Everything here is yellow and orange and red and brown, except for when you get sudden explosions of lush green and purple.

I just caught sight of the university - it’s an oasis! It’s out on its own island, raised up from the sands, and connected to the city by huge bridges. There are gantries and baskets and platforms going up and down the sides. Must be all the trading goods from around Palinor, going through the portals to be sold for offensive sums. The merchants and the city state rulers get the proceeds. So easy for luxury foods and clothing to get to the other worlds, but not for us people. We don’t make as much money.

3199, Frostfield 26

Passage is booked! The contact we found was legit, and willing to help us! He says he can get us into a secret compartment in a shipping container, which will take us all the way through. The goods will be going to Max-Earth, and so will we! We won’t even need to stop in Mid-Earth, which is good as that was always going to be the biggest risk.

It’s happening tomorrow morning. This is it. I can scarcely believe it. Pylpo is so excited she can barely contain herself. I have to keep putting my hand on her mouth to stop her from screaming. Zlati is being more sensible about it, as always. We’ll be going with some others who have also paid for transit. We meet them in the morning, down on the sands below the city.

We’ve paid, so our money is almost all gone. It’s this or nothing. If our contact betrays us, I’ll hunt down his family and kill them all.

3199, Frostfield 27

We’re in. I can barely see what I’m writing, it’s so dark and cramped in here. There must be thirty of us squeezed in. I hope the journey doesn’t take too long, as I can already feel my muscles seizing up in my calves. The container stinks of too many bodies. I wonder how many others have made this trip?

OK, we’re moving. I can feel the container’s floor vibrating underneath my feet. We were snuck in during the dark, piled into the back. The rail-road operators had weapons, which I didn’t like. I thought they’d be traders. Still, they kept their part of the bargain, got us in. The container is going to be lifted up the cliff to the university, and then to the portal.

3̶2̶0̶0̶,̶ 1972, January 1

It’s difficult to get used to writing the date differently. And yes, we’re on Mid-Earth. We didn’t make it all the way. Something went wrong. Customs checks were going to open up the container, so we were taken out the back way before it got through the transport tunnel. I didn’t even see what happened, but we were split up into smaller groups. Pylpo and Zlati got dragged away. I don’t know where they are.

I’m in London, I know that. They took me to a house, I don’t know where. It’s old and rotten and falling into the ground. There are lots of us here, and the windows are all barred and shuttered.

They told me yesterday that I’m going to need to pay them more to arrange the transit to Max-Earth. Due to the complications it’s even more expensive than before. Last time we saved up together, and I don’t know how I’m going to make money here. They’ve said they’ll have some work for me, though, so we’ll see.

1972, January 2

They gave me details of where I’m to go for work. It starts tonight and they’ll be collecting some of us from the back door to show us the way. They have to be careful as unlicensed aen’fa aren’t allowed in London. If we were found, we’d be sent back to Palinor and I’d be back where I started. Probably worse off, as they’d know I’d already tried to run once.

I wish I knew where the others were. Maybe they’re in the same situation but in another house somewhere. Maybe we’ll meet up again soon, and we can help each other.

The place we’re going tonight is called The Palinor Express. I hope it’s nice.

---

Thanks for reading. The ‘Traffic’ story concludes next week.

Simon K Jones

Original image reference by Marc Schaefer.

Author notes are below for paid subscribers….

I always hoped to have something from Laryssa’s point of view, as it adds much-needed context that wasn’t going to emerge naturally through the main investigation. The reasons for Laryssa taking her journey and finding herself in the awful situation that led to her death are pertinent and speak to the larger themes I’m intending to explore in the book.

The complication I’m finding with writing crime fiction is that often the victim can end up reduced to a plot device. They’re a macguffin that exists to give the investigators something to do, and to make it clear that the perpetrator is indeed A Villain. Certainly in television crime serials, the investigation and catching the criminal is the main focus. That makes sense - it leans into the puzzle aspect of the genre. Agatha Christie really went for this: her stories were little puzzle boxes that challenged readers to solve them before Poirot.

With Triverse I want to lean into the victims more, to better understand them. In other storylines that is simpler, in that the victim can still be an active player in the story. ‘Traffic’ has Laryssa as an already-dead victim, and while we get some empathy from the other characters there was no way within the main storyline to give Laryssa herself a proper voice.

Hence this diary. I think it makes the main story more impactful and awful. There’s a horrible dramatic irony to Laryssa’s hopes, given what we already know about her fate.