Work in Progress (short story)
Work in Progress was a 2006 short story written by Nick Wallace and released as the first story in the Bernice Summerfield anthology Collected Works.
Summary
As the Braxiatel Collection welcomes visitors from the far future, Bernice Summerfield is distracted by a ghostly apparition of Irving Braxiatel that seems to be haunting her in his absence.
Plot
On the Braxiatel Collection, Bernice Summerfield continues living with her partner Jason Kane and son Peter Summerfield in light of Irving Braxiatel's departure. However, she remains unaware that Peter has retained contact with his "Uncle Brax". Bev Tarrant and Doggles continue to prepare for the arrival of the Quire - a clan of scholars from the far future - by establishing a temporal anchor to lock onto their coordinates and transport them to the Mansionhouse through a time door. As Benny joins them to await the Quire's arrival she is dismissive of Jason who contacts her to report his sighting of Peter communicating with a ghostly apparition of Brax which Benny puts down to Jason having drank too much coffee.
The mission is successful and the six scholars - Verso, Dorso, Bifolium, Incunabula, Colophon and Rubric - soon arrive. Bev questions the whereabouts of Epitome, the matriarch of the Quire and Brax's first point of contact, only to learn that she had since died of old age and was replaced on the expedition by Incunabula. Before the Quire are able to be shown around the Collection, a commotion breaks out as the blood-soaked apparition of Brax appears and lunges at Benny only to disappear again before making contact. Benny and Bev hold a conference to discuss the recent events and are joined by Jason who reiterates his sighting of Brax. Suspicion falls on the Quire and Bev orders them to be kept under non-invasive surveillance.
Back at the house, Benny, Jason and Adrian probe Peter for information about his conversations with Brax. Peter confirms that he had spoken to Brax but is vague about the subject of those conversations. Benny notices that a crystal holograph containing an image of Brax seemingly moves and distorts on its own before the power battery dies, and later when she is talking to Hass she briefly sees an image of Brax in the reflection of his spacesuit. Realising that every appearance of the apparition seemingly came with mention of or involvement from Jason, Benny and Bev confront him with the latter holding him at gunpoint.
Characters
- Bernice Summerfield
- Jason Kane
- Peter Summerfield
- Irving Braxiatel
- Adrian Wall
- Bev Tarrant
- Doggles
- Parasiel
- Verso
- Dorso
- Bifolium
- Incunabula
- Colophon
- Rubric
- Hass
Worldbuilding
- Killorans play a children's game known as Perception. Adrian Wall gave Peter Summerfield the game for his fifth birthday.
- Bernice Summerfield wore Nike trainers with a McCartney trouser suit which she described as being "twenty-first century chic".
- When Irving Braxiatel left the Collection several of the rooms vanished alongside him. His office remained but Bev Tarrant opted to run things out of the Hall of Mirrors instead as to her entering Brax's office in his absence felt like trespass.
- Several things are considered to be the cause of Brax's apparition including an SOS, a hard light hologram, and a psychological experiment performed by the Quire. The first two are dismissed as the hologram hadn't asked for help and hard light interactivity takes time and power, but Bev orders non-invasive surveillance to keep tabs on the Quire.
- Jason Kane compares Benny and Bev's conference to "Next Generation".
- Chicken-skin is German for goose pimples.
- When Hass questioned what a German was Benny told him to ask Jason about "two World Wars and one World Cup" sometime which refers to World War I and II, and the 1966 World Cup Final.
- Parapsychology is the study of alleged psychic phenomena.
- Jason watched a news report about a new organised crime investigation being mounted in the old Axis territories.
- Bev jokingly asks Adrian if he is part-Grel.
Notes
Continuity
- Jason Kane suggests that he would use a holographic double should he ever need to complete a marathon which makes Bernice consider his pathological need for acceptance and the cunning he would employ to get it. He would later user robot duplicates in a scheme in order to garner himself critical acclaim. (PROSE: Sex Secrets of the Robot Replicants)
- Benny looks at a crystal holograph of herself sitting on a bench in full regalia, with Ms Jones to her right, Jason, Adrian, Bev, and Peter behind her, and Brax "immaculate as always" on her left. (PROSE: A Life Worth Living)
- KS-159 was the asteroid on which the Braxiatel Collection was situated. (PROSE: Theatre of War, at al.)
- Jason still has a crystal from Cantus. (AUDIO: The Crystal of Cantus)
