Triverse: What happens next

It's like the end credits for a film, sort of

This is my ongoing scifi / fantasy / crime fiction serial. This is the coda.

The Triverse is
Mid-Earth, an alternate 1980s London
Max-Earth, a vision of the 26th century
Palinor, where magic is real

Previously: Everything.

Yannick Clarke returns to Ceres and links up with Shannon. It doesn’t last, but then what does? They remain friends. After visiting Justin on Mars, he then settles into retirement in the heart of Max-Earth’s India, a short train ride away from Chakraborty and Kaminski.

Lola Styles continues fighting for a free Palinor well into her eighties. Embarking on many adventures, she travels to every corner of the planet. The remaining gods try to recruit her, but she tells them where to stuff it.

Nisha Chakraborty struggles with addiction for the rest of her life, but mostly stays on target thanks to the support of husband Zoltan Kaminski. The only time she is tempted to have a drink is at Clarke’s funeral, decades later, but she decides against it.

Zoltan Kaminski reconnects with Christopher Bakker and acts as an information broker, using Max-Earth’s resources to track Earth First fugitives. While rarely in the field, he aids in the capture of over forty criminals, who are tried under the newly formed Joint Tribune. Moves his father to Max-Earth, who lives in a small annex of the house he shares with Nisha Chakraborty.

Stephen Walpole is appointed interim Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, which soon becomes a permanent role. He immediately implements wide-ranging reforms, aimed at rooting out systemic prejudices that had become endemic during the Earth First years. Is knighted in the 1990s for services to king and country.

Robert Ford travels the empire, writing the first report to examine policing procedures across Mid-Earth. His insights form the backbone of Walpole’s reforms and are praised across the Triverse. A Max-Earth security expert is quoted as saying “I wish we’d thought of that centuries ago.”

Lois Morgan is promoted through the ranks, escaping the career dead-end that was the Specialist Dimensional Command. She is responsible for incorporating the original SDC’s mission into the wider Met, removing the siloed structure that had made the force vulnerable to takeover by political forces during the late-70s.

Christopher Bakker’s partnership with Frank Holland lasts for over a decade, as they track down the remnants of Earth First. His focus is on the politicians and economists that had run the regime: always follow the money. After retiring (again) he returns to Yorkshire, a considerably happier man.

Andrew Collins remains a detective sergeant, never developing his career any further. Serves his thirty years, retires on a police pension, and is content. His one regret is not having done more to help Clarke, Bakker and the others stop Earth First before they came to power. He hadn’t even noticed what was happening.

Caitlin Shaw leaves the police force and becomes a feminist champion, campaigning for equality in the workplace and against the culture of misogyny that was pervasive in the 70s and 80s in Britain. Later, she founds a non-profit aimed at providing financial and psychological support to victims of sexual abuse and harassment.

Zara changes her surname to Callihan, even though they never married. She continues working in local government, before moving into the voluntary sector. Having survived the revolution, she works tirelessly to help rehouse displaced koth and raises funds to support survivors of the genocide.

Frank Holland continues hunting former Earth First politicians and officers well into his late-sixties. He makes his way to the top of the leaderboard and stays there. He never settles down, never buys a house, never stays in one place for longer than it takes to find his target. The very mention of his name strikes fear into those Earth First still on the run. Works for many years with Christopher Bakker, but otherwise never sees his former SDC colleagues again.

Marion Hobb moves around the police force, rarely feeling content in any of her roles and often going unnoticed by her superiors and colleagues. Eventually she is promoted to a liaison role in Australia, which she happily takes and never looks back.

Robin Cole resigned from the Metropolitan Police in 1975, six months after the attempted arrest and exiling of her former SDC colleagues. She moved out of London and retrained as a teacher during the Earth First years, and eventually becomes headteacher of an all-girls school that is renowned for its media literacy curriculum.

Dr Steven Wong uses his knowledge of Palinese biology to help build prosecution cases against former Earth First members. In particular, his evidence is instrumental in convicting those soldiers and officers who had overseen the forced transport from the London ghetto to the northern mass execution sites. A statue in honour of Wong can be seen in the tunnels of the Appilan Abyss, deep in the koth homeland.

William Golding gives raw testimony about his conduct and that of his squad during the Earth First regime. He is jailed for six years for his own involvement and actions, a lenient sentence secured as a result of his guilty plea and the information he had provided. His actions during the revolution, as corroborated by Zoltan Kaminski and Stephen Walpole, also serve in his favour. Was quoted as saying that “Six years was the least I deserved.”

Marie Pensthorpe is found guilty of crimes against sentient beings during the Earth First regime. Her unrepentant attitude and long ties to the organisation result in a long sentence. “I was just following orders” is established as being an unacceptable defence during the Pensthorpe trial.

Philip Scarra is convicted of crimes against sentient beings during the Earth First regime. A plea of insanity is rejected by the court. A decade later several additional violent and sexual crimes are unearthed, pre-dating Earth First’s regime. Scarra pleads guilty on all counts.

Nigel Maxwell is sentenced to life imprisonment on Mid-Earth for his leadership role in both Earth First and the conspiracy within the Joint Council. Five years into his sentence is found hanged in his cell. CCTV from that night is inexplicably corrupted. Theories abound as to what really happened. Forty years later, a conspiracy theory takes root that Maxwell had in fact escaped and is still alive, somewhere on Max-Earth. This coincides with a resurgence in Earth First ideology.

Paul Hamilton-Gordon, former Secretary-General of the Joint Council, pleads innocence and claims that his only interactions with the disgraced Charles Matheson were as a diplomat and businessman. Transport logs showing frequent unofficial visits to Matheson’s Moon space station and other extra-planetary settlements indicate otherwise, though evidence of impropriety is never secured. Hamilton-Gordon’s political career meets an abrupt end but he escapes legal punishment.

John Hutchinson is stripped of his peerage and positions of authority. Found guilty after a lengthy trial of conspiracy, murder and treason. Escapes the death penalty by giving evidence against his co-conspirators. Spends the rest of his life in a low security prison suite, while observers debate whether his legal team were somehow able to cast a spell over the jury. Writes several books and a five-volume, highly narcissistic autobiography, all of which fail to rehabilitate his character and reputation.

Detective Daniel Birhane provides significant evidence during the Joint Council investigation and the trials of the conspirators. His meticulous work over a decade-and-a-half is vital to explaining what had happened.

Vahko resists the somewhat unrealistic calls for them to run for Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Great Britain, instead taking up the vacant role of Secretary-General of the Joint Council. Immediately implementing a top-to-bottom catalogue of reforms, centuries later Vahko is credited with ushering in a new golden age for the three worlds of the triverse.

Gankhran makes another career abrupt turn, becoming a celebrity presenter on screens across Mid-Earth and Max-Earth, delivering lectures at Palinese universities and even starting their own newsletter. Becomes a powerful political voice, exposing corruption wherever it festers.

Daryla Baltine assumes leadership in Bruglia and what remains of the university. There are few voices of dissent, given that she is Baltine’s heir. Fewer still anticipate her sweeping reforms, which upend the city state’s governance, power hierarchies and religions. Survives more than one assassination attempt. Forms an alliance with Lord Gildrané Marquez of Parphelion, which leads to the establishment of new centres of learning across the continent and the dismantling of centuries-old rules prohibiting aen’fa students.

Jyna is immediately appointed Captain of the City Guard by Princess Daryla during the aftermath of the Battle for Bruglia and is tasked with overseeing the rescue operation. Many survivors are found amidst the rubble. Jyna remains committed to the city as it transitions into its new political reality, and is instrumental in the formation of the first united Palinese police force.

Fleur is one of the first aen’fa students to be enrolled in the reformed Fountain University. Is formally adopted by Jyna, after being tracked down to an orphanage in the canyons.

Myroslava leaves the Owkehu, choosing to work instead with Daryla. During the rebuilding of Bruglia, oversees the construction of a museum dedicated to the conflict and all those who sacrificed their lives. Each new cobblestone in the main street of the city is etched with the name of the fallen. A monument is built on the university grounds, in memory of Yana and her efforts to unite the triverse.

Krystyan continues the fight. Never accepts Daryla’s new political reality, but chooses to leave rather than challenge her.

Maxim follows Krystyan across the sea, spreading the word of rebellion to the far distant lands of Palinor. Is killed during a skirmish in the archipelago city of Kanphuan, while defending an aen’fa child from a mob.

Zlati leaves the Owkehu behind to travel the triverse with Jiraa. Though she takes frequent advantage of the new portal to Max-Earth, she only visits Mid-Earth once: to place a flower in memory of Laryssa on her grave. A nomadic lifestyle suits her and she never settles into a single location. Her life is one of exploration and discovery.

Jiraa stays by Zlati’s side: she shows him Palinor, he shows her Max-Earth. Upon their first visit to Max-Earth’s Ethiopia, Jiraa makes a point of popping in to see his would-be employer in Addis Ababa, apologising for never showing up for his first day. Everyone is very confused.

Pylpo returns to the southern forests, back to the place of her birth. Seeking to understand the magical powers that had returned to her and all aen’fa, she studies its effects and limitations, many years later establishing a school for the teaching of aen’fa wielding. A century later, after her death, the school is recognised as a legitimate rival to the city state university system.

Lord Gildrané Marquez learns of his daughter’s passing when Myroslava makes contact after the war. Overwhelmed with guilt, he considers taking his own life but his hand is stayed by the arrival of a proposal from Daryla of Bruglia, suggesting the formation of an alliance. During the drafting of the papers they are referred to as ‘Yana’s Accords’. The name leaks to the press and sticks.

Halbad Gabreith decides it is time to recruit new members to the Six Blades, returning the monster hunting group to its full complement. The sacrifice of Erik Vineroot does not go unnoticed by the citizens of Bruglia: a new wing of the rebuilt Fountain University is named after him, Halbad giving an impassioned speech at its unveiling. Many survivors tell tales of the mages surrounding the megaship while trying to shield the city from its attack. The loss of Erik forces Halbad to finally come to terms with the earlier loss of his friend Ceilhur, years earlier.

Seline Gabreith took on more of a leadership role within the Six Blades, expanding their remit to include humanitarian missions within conflict and natural disaster arenas. Halbad didn’t like it, but did as he was told. Later in life, Seline leaves the Six Blades and enrols at the university in Parphelion, studying the magic that she’d only ever used by instinct.

Ngarkh is unable to fly unassisted after their encounter on the hull of Probably Better. A new harness is built by the surviving artisans of The Peak which enables some limited gliding, and after many months of recuperation they are able to rejoin their comrades in the Six Blades. Regrets nothing.

Ellenbrin makes good use of her newfound aen’fa powers, making her an even deadlier archer. After the Battle for Bruglia she takes a leave of absence from the Six Blades, travelling to Max-Earth for the first time where she studies megaships: identifying their weaknesses, so that next time she’d be prepared. Always she wonders about the paths untrod, which could have kept Erik alive, could have avoided all the death and destruction, could have prevented the creation of a rogue megaship. She dreams of a reality in which Lola Styles never met Princess Daryla Baltine.

Justin/Just Enough spends the next five hundred years inhabiting the same host body, maintaining and upgrading it along the way. During that time they accomplish incredible feats of scientific discovery, unlocking a form of faster-than-light travel based around Kaenamor’s accidental harnessing of quantum wormholes. At the end of the long period of learning, they transfer their consciousness into a newly-constructed megaship — the first to be built since Probably Better — and warps out of the solar system in pursuit of their friend Could Kill. Not least because they want to know the next move in their long-running board game.

Photo by Casey Horner on Unsplash

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Meanwhile.

OK, so I lied. A little bit. There was one more tales to tell from the triverse. Well, several tales. Think of today’s newsletter like the start of the end credits of a film: everything has faded to black, and then you get those little biography snippets about what happened next.

This is the actual final chapter of Tales from the Triverse, so the Friday newsletter is going to go quiet for a while. I will of course still be sending out the Monday newsletter while I recalibrate the newsletter. At some point I’ll begin a new fiction project, but a break is needed before that. I’ll keep you all posted on plans! If you’re a writer, I have ideas for the Monday newsletter this year which will be of interest.

On another note:

Way back in 2021 as I was starting to write Triverse, I was aware that it had a conspiracy at the centre of its main plot. This made me slightly uncomfortable: conspiracies in the 90s, when I was a teenager, were great fun. The X-Files, Independence Day, Dark Skies (remember that one?), Deus Ex all had lots of fun with classic conspiracies. The key thing to their enjoyment was that everyone knew they weren’t real. Anyone who did believe in them was considered a weirdo.

Fast forward a couple of decades and conspiracies had jumped the shark, going from fun fiction along the lines of urban legends to actual political movements. They weren’t fun anymore, and I didn’t really want to encourage that trend.

Of course, the paradox at the heart of conspiracy theories is that sometimes, every-so-often, they turn out to be true. As the news around the Epstein files has rumbled on for years, it’s all sounded like an increasingly fanciful conspiracist’s fever dream.

Reading the analysis over on Garbage Day did remind me of the villains in Triverse: the rich and powerful who somehow see themselves as victims, working behind-the-scenes to unravel society and reshape it in their preferred image. It’s one of those instances of the absurdity of the real world accelerating and overtaking the fiction, such that Triverse in places seems a little quaint.

I suspect the prevailing theme of the next decade is going to be an ongoing blurring of fact and fiction, to the point that the two are indistinguishable. Which is going to be fun.

Author notes

At the end of George Lucas’ excellent non-Star Wars movie American Graffiti there are a bunch of ‘what happened next’ title cards. The movie itself is a teen drama full of nostalgia, which perfectly captures that sense of anticipation at the end of a long summer as well as the hopes of what comes next, after school is all done.

As the film ends, those title cards reveal the fates of some of the main characters. They reveal that the future isn’t what any of them anticipated, including one of them dying in Vietnam. It’s an unexpectedly melancholy end to a seemingly bright and breezy film.

That’s what I had in mind with today’s little wrap-up. Triverse has a huge cast and there was no way to sensibly work all of them into the end chapters without it becoming bloated and awkward, so doing a list of biography paragraphs was a fun solution. Keeping it interesting means having a mix of the predictable and the unexpected.

A lot of what’s above is tying a bow on the whole story. It’s tidying up the canon so that character fates are locked in, to some degree. But there’s also value in the gaps between the stories. Some of these character paragraphs raise more questions than they answer, and several of them could be happily expanded into short stories of their own.

Even with the extensive list of character notes today, I still didn’t include everyone. There are tons of supporting roles and one-off appearances, but maybe I’ll save those for the fan fiction.