The Protagonist Speaks

Dear readers, for those who are blissfully unaware, the Harmony Grid has just been activated. As you know, ever since the large meteor NORA hit Earth and threw it into six months of darkness, the remainder of humanity has been living out on Titan, that purpose-built underground ark. But now that the Harmony Grid is activated people are panicking…

With us is a young lady, who will tell us about her fight for survival as she and her friends crossed a post-apocalyptic world in search of a newer, better sanctuary.

Tell us a little about where you grew up. What was it like there?

I grew up in Titan, a dank underground ark built by our ancestors. It sits beneath Ad Infinitum, which is our governor Czar’s name for what was once the Earth. Titan was intended to be a sanctuary to protect future generations from the aftermath of a meteor named NORA. Although Titan is my home, I’ve been in and out of prison my entire life for petty crime, probably spending more time either working or locked up than in my dorm.

Did you have any favourite toys as a child? Any cherished memories?

My earliest memory is at five years old – that’s fourteen years ago. At least I think I was five. I can’t be sure; I’ve been hit in the head a lot during my imprisonment, you know? The memory is of my mother handing me a small brown teddy bear whose name I forget. For a while that bear was the only friend I had, but we were inseparable.

What do you do now?

Before my imprisonment I worked in Serenity, the back office faction of Titan. I worked alongside a man named Ginny Bede who ran Rehab. We were in partnership with the prison warden to assign orphans and offenders new factions. I helped to rehabilitate and merge them with Titan’s community. Now I’m behind bars and serving a death sentence shortly, I’m out of work.

What can you tell us about your latest adventure?

I found out this morning that I and three others are going to run with three experienced Venturers from the Exigency faction as an alternative to being hung. We’re being ‘banished’ to the wasteland above so we can explore it and return with information to confirm a new sanctuary because Titan is dying. That, in itself, is a death sentence. Better to be hung than mauled to death by a mutant, I’d say…

What did you first think when you found out about Warden’s relationship with Chastity?

That he’d signed her up for banishment to hide his crimes. To get rid of the poor girl. At just fourteen years, although legal to have intimate relations, I know she has seen the worst side of our prison warden. I’m being banished because I’m a pain in his ass; the reminder of his failure. She’s being banished because he’s through using her body and telling her secrets that she’s only kept thus far out of fear. He knows that won’t last much longer.

What is the scariest thing about your adventures?

Though I am not afraid of death because it is inevitable now, this new uncertainty about how is worrying. In here, Warden sentences you to death by hanging. Quick. Painless. Out there, Ad Infinitum sentences you to death by anything. Will I be bitten, mutated, drowned, frozen, burned, mauled, attacked by militia or other survivors? The not knowing haunts my dreams.

What is the worst thing about having a Wardrobe mentor like Elvandra Rae?

Rae is inexperienced and timid, which ensures your survival working a place like Serenity’s Wardrobe. The wasteland requires strength and courage, though, and I fear her lack of combat and survival training will get me killed… if something else doesn’t beat her to it first. She’s so nice… it’s difficult to hate her for it.

What is the best thing about being banished?

A chance at freedom. If the Venturers are killed out there, I’m not planning to return to Titan. In here I’m a second class citizen with a record. Out there, I can live the life I want.

Tell us a little about your friends.

The warden and I have a history, but he’s one of the only people I’ve ever trusted. Ginny Bede, my co-worker, is about the closest I have to a friend. Not forgetting Elvandra. We were forced to be friends but it’s proving beneficial.

Any romantic involvement?

Now that’s a long story.

Whom (or what) do you really hate?

Everything wrong with Titan was caused by one man. Our governor, Daemon Czar. He’s the reason I’m in prison.

What’s your favourite relaxing pastime?

I like to read. The only book in my cell is Dante’s Inferno. Titan has a large library filled with books our ancestors rescued. They are old and falling to pieces, but when I’m not behind bars it’s my favourite place to be.

What does the future hold for you?

I would hope for survival and freedom far from Titan, with those I know and trust by my side to help rebuild a strong community of survivors. Free of Titan’s rules, regulations, rationing and punishments. A chance to continue what our ancestor’s started. They never intended for us to remain hidden and afraid of our planet. They wanted us to explore and rebuild; to live rather than merely survive.

Can you share a secret with us, which you’ve never told anyone else?

I still love him.

E. Rachael Hardcastle is a dreamer, a deep thinker, a bookworm and grammar nerd. She writes poetry between imaginative high fantasy, post-apocalyptic and science fiction novels. She believe that through writing we face our darkest fears, explore infinite new worlds and realise our true purpose. She writes to entertain and share important morals and values with the world, but above all, she writes to be a significant part of something incredible. All her fantasy and post-apocalyptic books face our planet’s struggles, because she believes that together we can build a stronger future for the human race. She supports independent publishing, and all her stories are written, edited, formatted and published by her, offering a low-cost, epic adventure and a memorable escape from reality for readers.

You can find Eden on the pages of the Aeon Infinitum trilogy Book One: Run for your Life!

Next week we will be hosting a young boy, predestined to become the messiah who will lead his people across galaxies and save them from disease and war. Please follow the site by email (bottom-right), via Twitter, or like our Facebook page to be notified when the next interview is posted.