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The Obolonk Murders was first started in 2002. And then it took on a life of its own…

What is the Story Behind the Obolonk Murders

So, the first thing you need to know is that, in 2002 or so, I was becoming extremely performative online. I would, essentially, put on a show.

And I quickly learned that one of the easiest and best ways I could do so would be to write. This reawakened a lot of my interest in writing. Among other bits, I wrote three chapters of a science fiction noir.

That was the start of the Obolonk Murders. But then I shelved it.

I took a left turn straight into fan fiction. And that turned out to be a very good thing indeed. First of all, I made friends. But I also got better.

After a while, I was writing nearly 100% original characters. And that meant, hey. wait a second. Why not create my own universe and populate it with my own characters?

After I wrote Untrustworthy in 2013, I cast about to try to find something to write for NaNo in 2014. And then I remembered, aha! I had the Obolonks floating around somewhere.

I found the bits online, copied them, and pulled the topic (like I would do with spam or a topic breaking other forum rules). But before I did, I read the comments.

People actually wanted to find out what happened next!

So there was but one thing to do — write it.

Character Review — Sally Bowles/They Say This One Tiles Bathrooms Adequately

Peri Martin, Tommy 2000, Greg Shapiro, Selkhet 3000, TSTITO, Rachel Gifford, Ted Moore, Charlie Hollis, Sally Bowles, They Say This One Tiles Bathrooms Adequately, TSTO Tiles,

Character Review — Sally Bowles/They Say This One Tiles Bathrooms Adequately

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on September 25, 2025

Consider Sally Bowles/They Say This One Tiles Bathrooms Adequately, One of My Original Characters

So, who is Sally Bowles/They Say This One Tiles Bathrooms Adequately?

Of course, the real character Sally Bowles is from the film and play Cabaret. But in my universe, it’s more like a stage name for a character who hates their real name.

Or, like a new name that a trans human has taken for themself.

One of the ways that the Obolonks started to truly come alive for me was to create a reputationally-based naming system for them. And, in order to better reflect reality, they wouldn’t all have the best of reputations when Naming Day rolled around.

TSTO Tiles would be one such Obolonk. And it doesn’t help that they’re one of the offspring of the Obolonk big cheese, They Say This is the One.

Where Did They Say This One Tiles Bathrooms Adequately Come From?

When I was first putting together the reputation-based names for my Obolonk characters, this one’s name started off as just TSTO Tiles Bathrooms.

But of course, they didn’t really come alive until I added the adverb at the end. It offers (I believe) just the right touch of passive-aggression. It’s a lot like telling someone, you’re not so much of a problem child, most of the time.

Damning with faint praise, indeed.

The Past is Prologue — Backstory for They Say This One Tiles Bathrooms Adequately

A total or at least 50% screwup, TSTO Tiles does not fit in well with proper Obolonk society. Like other mods, they split the difference, acting like a more or less proper Obolonk much of the time, but mimicking human behavior and sexuality when out with their friends.

Sally Bowles, a Description

Like all the other Obolonks in the series, Sally Bowles is tall, bald, and an orange shade. The shade darkens as they age. But Sally isn’t that old, so they, like their siblings, is kind of an iced peach shade.

Purpose/Theme/Motivation

The overall arc for this species is essentially to start to fit in with human society and, in the process, change us as much as we are changing them. But here, in the first trilogy, the main motivation is to start to bridge the gap.

Quotes

There was one dressed in a short black pixie cut wig, over which there was a black bowler hat with a purple band. They wore a black leotard with a plunging v-neckline, and short shorts, dark hose held up by a black garter belt, and tall black boots. The makeup was heavy and dark, including impossibly long false eyelashes that were obviously not meant to be at all natural. That one was wearing some form of strategic padding, as Obolonks didn’t really have figures. There was an old-fashioned cigarette, lit and smoldering in a long holder.

The Obolonk approached, took a drag off the cigarette, and blew the smoke to the side. “You may be wondering who I’m dressed as.”…

Tommy tapped Peri on the shoulder and addressed the Obolonk directly. “You are They Say This One Tiles Bathrooms Adequately.”

The Obolonk cringed, and this time they exhaled their cigarette smoke directly at Tommy. “I’m a she and I’m Sally, Android.”

“I don’t care what the hell you’re calling yourself,” Peri said. “But his name is Tommy. I’d appreciate it if you used it.”

“Got it,” said Sally. “Follow me.” Tommy and Peri glanced at each other. “Oh, I’m completely harmless,” the Obolonk said. They followed.

Don’t forget your small hot gun in the clutch.

A doorway led to an office area where the music was a lot harder to hear. The Obolonk turned to face them. “I don’t know why you’re here, although I do apologize for my parent’s behavior. I know you came a really long way.”

“Sally,” Peri asked, “how long you been doing the Mod thing?”

“Over twenty years. Nice dress.”

Relationships

I don’t list any relationships for Sally. But dressed like that, Sally may be looking for some sort of companionship, either with a fellow mod Obolonk or even with a human.

Conflict and Turning Point

In accordance with the overall conflict and turning point in the first Obolonk trilogy, Sally’s issues aren’t as much a fight for survival as in the second trilogy.

Rather, her issues are more whether humans will continue to allow the Obolonk experiment to continue on our soil, or if we will go back to holding these kind and mostly friendly aliens at arm’s length, all for the sake of maintaining our own irrational prejudices.

Continuity/Easter Eggs

Apart from within the initial trilogy itself, there is no overarching continuity for They Say This One Tiles Bathrooms Adequately.

Future Plans for Sally Bowles

While I don’t really have future plans for this character, I do have plans for the storyline. And since Tommy 2000 can more or less live forever, his memory of Sally Bowles will stay with him.

So, perhaps, the name will come up again. I’ve barely started to outline the final trilogy, so I don’t really know yet.

They Say This One Tiles Bathrooms Adequately: Takeaways

A bit like Roger Clinton, Alice Roosevelt, Neil Bush, or Billy Carter, Sally Bowles is the family member that the head of society is so embarrassed by that they just plain want to sweep them under the rug and hope everyone forgets them.

But there’s more to Sally Bowles than flashy human-style clothes and makeup.

Want More of Sally Bowles and the Rest of the Obolonk Universe?

If the story of the Obolonks resonates with you, then please be sure to check out my other blog posts about how our society turns tripartite, with humans, robots, and Obolonks.

Humans
† Peri Martin
• Greg Shapiro

Robots
† Tommy 2000
• Selkhet 3000

Obolonks
† Obolonk leader TSTITO

The Obolonk Universe

Self-Reviews: Obolonk Trilogy

• The Obolonk Murders (see below for the URL)
† Self-Review: The Polymer Beat
• The Badge of Humanity

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Self-Review – Eros vs. Thanatos

Short Stories, Road, My Aliens, Last Patient, interview, Surprises, Props, shipwrecked, child, Killing Us Softly, Ditte, Band, three minutes, Longest Night Watch, Nothing Good Ever Happens, Complications, Your Call, Darkness into Light, canaries, gentrification, Cynthia, True Believer, Short Stories, Wilder Bloom, Dish, Mitalisque, kitten, Last Try, Minnesota Wish, Dominick and Angela, Alix, Alix’s Apocalypse, A Chance Encounter in Time, A Crime in Time, A Show for the Galaxy, Alien Justice, And the Band Played the Apocalypse, Babel 2.0, Side Pages, Frozen Assets, Julie's Dollar, Mandy Goes to Aspen, Martin's Choice, Mike’s Grades, Out of the Work Camp Frying Pan, Sarah’s Invention, Small Acts of Defiance, The Future Has No Foundation, Unexpected Help, You Will Drink Your Coffee and Like It, Unreliable, East Side of the Universe, Eros vs Thanatos, Dust Between Our Stars, A Show for the Galaxy, A Fairy Tale for Skeptical Adults, A School for Scavengers, Frozen Assets, Out of the Work Camp Frying Pan, 1960s Temporal Crimes, Lizzie Borden is Vital to the Timeline, Walls Came Tumbling Down Again, The End, Will's Dog, Building Trust, Message in an Odd Bottle, The New Kid, What's an Animal, A Touch of Gray Hair, Guilty of Imperfection, Jared's World Turned Upside Down, Caring for Carole, Nuremberg Redux, Art Has All Sorts of Effects, When Russia Invaded Texas, Failure, Tumble in a Tomb, Beauty is Only Earth Deep, Peddler, Escape Violinist, Shimmering Wasteland, Cave Canem and Cave, Skating, Uninformed, Stellar Stowaway, dinosaurs, fragments, none of this is real, buzz, quartz, water, verity, quarrel, rivalry, breakout,

Self-Review – Eros vs. Thanatos

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on June 6, 2024

Review – Eros vs. Thanatos

In part, I admit I wrote Eros vs. Thanatos to get out of having to come up with a whole new plot for NaNoWriMo 2024.

But it was also because I wanted to give Peri Martin a better fleshed-out backstory. And, I wanted to really show Charlie Hollis alive. This helps to give more dimension to her character and the Obolonk universe as a whole.

Background

One great part of this story (for me, anyway) is being able to show Peri and Charlie actually working together. I also used it as an opportunity to reveal just how hot guns came to be.

This story also serves to bridge between The Dust Between Our Stars (first contact) and The Obolonk Murders. In the latter, it’s obvious that we have been in a society with aliens and semi-sapient robots for a while. But how did we get there? In part, this story fills in the reader.

Plot

It’s a time of change. As a condition of getting her divorce from Anil Deshpande, Detective Sergeant Peri Martin trades her engagement ring for the deed to the downtown Boston apartment. When her department partner, Vic Frontieri, retires to an orb in the Uranian System, she gets a new partner, Charlie Hollis.

Peri navigates a mixed-up work and at times romantic relationship with sometimes-married Charlie while they deal with rival gangs blowing each other away with a new weapon, the hot gun.

Personal flamethrowers are the nastiest feature of Pandora’s box. It doesn’t help that the talented engineer making these weapons even more lethal is mob princess Kiki Madden.

Can Peri and Charlie stop the gang war and rein in the arms race before everyone’s remains end up small enough to fit into a ring box?

And speaking of rings, will a mutual love of an obscure fandom bring together Kiki and Burnside mob scion Marius Burnside—and maybe bring about peace?

All’s fair in love and engineering.

Characters in Eros vs. Thanatos

The characters are Peri Martin, Charlie Hollis, Dennis Dolan, Greg Shapiro, and other members of the New England Meg Police Department. Other characters include mobster Dutch Burnside; his son Marius; and his ex-wife Noreen. Also, rival mobster Melinda Killeen Madden; her husband Philip Madden; their daughter Kenisia (Kiki); and witness Nate Johnson.

There are also some moments with Anil Deshpande, Sudarshana Deshpande, Doug Anderson, and an Obolonk named Method (They Say This One is Very Methodical).

Memorable Quotes

The next morning, Peri was awoken by a ringing in her left ear. This was nothing unusual, for she had had a mini-phone implanted in her ear for years. Groggily, she flipped a small switch behind her earlobe. “Hello?” She yawned.

“This is Bettybot One Four Six. I have a Mrs. Sudarshana Deshpande to speak with you.”

“A robot is calling? What?” Peri tried to shake the cobwebs.

“The connection is being slightly delayed as a courtesy since it is before your stated awake time. If the connection is refused, this robot will inform your caller and will take a message of no more than one thousand characters or fifty words, whichever is longer.”

“Oh, um, yeah. Put her through, I guess.” Peri glanced at her tablet. The time was 6:23 AM. She blinked several times. Oh yeah, Mumbai-Bangkok is ten hours later than here.

There was a click and then an annoyed woman’s voice with a moderately heavy Indian accent. “Perdita! Why didn’t you pick up right away?”

Peri winced at the use of her full name. I don’t even like it when Mom and Dad call me that. “Oh, er, hi, Sudarshana. What a less than pleasant surprise. It’s not even six-thirty here.”

“Oh. Well, it’s almost four-thirty here and your time zone is nonsense anyway.”

“What do you want?” Peri whined.

“What?”

“Your demands. What are your demands this time?”

“Demands? I do not make demands.”

“You only call me whenever you want something. In case you hadn’t noticed, Anil and I are no longer married. Why didn’t you call him at this ungodly hour instead?”

“My son is busy.”

“Yeah, busy boffing my replacement, in our apartment downtown, to boot.”

Rating for Eros vs. Thanatos

The story has a strong MA rating. Peri and Charlie deal with some extremely dangerous people, and the deaths and injuries are particularly gruesome. I am not kidding.

Takeaways

I love writing Peri, so picking up her story again was like coming home. As for Charlie, he was a revelation. He’s just as much of a jackass as I had originally wanted him to be, but he’s also truly skilled. And smart.

Want More of the Obolonk Universe?

If the story of the Obolonks resonates with you, then check out my other articles about how our society turns tripartite, with humans, robots, and Obolonks.

Character Reviews: The Obolonk Murders

Humans
† Peri Martin
• Greg Shapiro
† Rachel Gifford

Robots
† Tommy 2000
• Selkhet 3000

Obolonks
† TSTITO

Character Reviews: Time Addicts

The Good Guys
• Josie James
† Carmen D’Angelo, MD
• Dalton Farouk
† Tad Lewis
• Cyndi Mendez
† Bobby Brodie
• Keisha Darnell
† Vera Travers

The Bad Guys
• Peter Ray
† Dae Ou Xiang
• Elston Young
† Corwin Zachary

The Obolonk Universe

Review – The Dust Between Our Stars

I wrote The Dust Between Our Stars, in part, to kind of get out of having to come up with a whole new plot for NaNoWriMo in 2022. But there is a lot more to this story than that.

I also found, after I was done with the Time Addicts trilogy, that I really liked the Hawthorne family. But I had no real way to write about them again. And then I realized—the original history would be the way to go.

This story neatly fills in an enormous gap in the Obolonk universe. That is, what the heck happened when the Obolonks first came to Earth? And more importantly, how did we avert what could have been a real disaster?

Because it should be pretty obvious—a lot of people, particularly Americans, would shoot first and ask questions later if they ever met a space alien.

Background

First contact stories are nothing new. Hell, there’s even a Star Trek film with that name. And, they’re not news to my writing, either.

A lot of The Enigman Cave centers around the protocols for a first contact. Complicating matters in that book is the fact that the technological differences are so great between us and the Enigmans. But at least we’re in the driver’s seat.

But with Dust…, I wanted us to be on a more equal footing than with the Enigmans. Yet it’s not perfect. They do have faster than light travel, after all. In the first trilogy in that universe, I also establish that also they have fast terraforming methods which we just plain do not have.

But for the purposes of this plot, I only needed the FTL travel bit. The Obolonks need it to get to us, naturally. And by only really focusing on that as being a major piece of technology way ahead of ours, I was able to add more relatability to the alien beings coming for a visit.

Plot

Divorced mother Drusilla Hawthorne takes her children on an Earth Day hiking trip to the Grand Canyon.

But their comfortable life is upended—as is everyone else’s—when Kent Crossier, a guy with a decent-sized but not professional telescope, spots something orbiting Jupiter, just above the Great Red Spot. Something big.

Complicating matters is the fact that Drusilla is high up in the United States military. She has got to report this, whatever it is. And that means someone will at least be considering the use of military might.

Characters

The characters are Trinity Hawthorne; her brother Neo; their mother, Drusilla (a general in the US Armed Forces); Tim Mayfield, Coralynne Anderson, Trinity’s extended family, Kent Crossier, and reporter Belinda McKey-Ross.

Of course, Neo and Trinity are named after characters in The Matrix. But where does Belinda’s name come from?

Very sharp-eyed readers (as in, blink, and you’ll miss it) may spot the first half of her surname as matching that of Craig Firenze‘s boss, Chet McKey, in Mettle. It’s probably the tiniest Easter Egg I’ve ever added to a story.

But there’s a second Easter Egg pointing much more directly to Mettle. It’s the satellite radio station, KOLD. The real KOLD is in Cold Bay, Alaska, but in my universes, it’s in Houston. This also means it points to The Duck in the Seat Cushion.

And there’s even a third, because a RickRoll also shows up in The Obolonk Murders.

Memorable Quotes {Trini is driving to the Grand Canyon while Neo sings along to EVERY song and commercial jingle on the radio} from The Dust Between Our Stars

Arizona truck drivers were impatient with her speed, but Trini was mindful that Mom would ground her if she sped too much. Then the truckers started pantomiming to her to take off her top. Yeah, like I’m gonna flash you, ya losers. She flipped the bird to more truckers than she could count.

Neo’s constant caterwauling was getting on her nerves. And it made sense that truckers would be pressing for her to either speed up or drop her top. Past the exit for Route 93 south, there was nothing but tumbleweeds. It was boring.

Neo was giving his entire heart and soul to belting out, “Never gonna…” when she changed stations.

“It’s K-O-L-D, the cold gold! Coming to you from Houston and all points north, south, east, and west, via satellite radio! Up next, it’s Patsy Cline, with Crazy…”

“Damn, Trini, I was just about to go in for the big finish. Now I’ll have to go all weepy and pretend I’m an alto.”

“I’ll make ya an alto if you don’t shut your cake hole, Neo. You are giving me a massive headache.”

Rating for The Dust Between Our Stars

The story has a K+ rating. While nothing truly awful happens, there are the very real dangers of what could happen if we were to meet aliens on our turf, where we would essentially be the primitives.

Takeaways for The Dust Between Our Stars

This one was a great deal of fun to write. Neo in particular was like taking dictation.

And I would like to think that someone with the authority of Drusilla, the audacity of Neo, the persistence of Trinity, the faith of Coralynne, and even the Alpha male nonsense of Tim would realize that the people of Earth would not be served by anything but a peaceful gesture.

And as for what the dust between our stars really is, well, you’ll just have to read the story to find out.

Want More of the Obolonk Universe?

If the story of the Obolonks resonates with you, then check out my other articles about how our society turns tripartite, with humans, robots, and Obolonks.

Character Reviews: The Obolonk Murders

Humans
† Peri Martin
• Greg Shapiro
† Rachel Gifford

Robots
† Tommy 2000
• Selkhet 3000

Obolonks
† TSTITO

Character Reviews: Time Addicts

The Good Guys
• Josie James
† Carmen D’Angelo, MD
• Dalton Farouk
† Tad Lewis
• Cyndi Mendez
† Bobby Brodie
• Keisha Darnell
† Vera Travers

The Bad Guys
• Peter Ray
† Dae Ou Xiang
• Elston Young
† Corwin Zachary

The Obolonk Universe

Prequels

• The Dust Between Our Stars
† Eros vs Thanatos

Self-Reviews: Obolonk Trilogy

• The Obolonk Murders
† Self-Review: The Polymer Beat
• The Badge of Humanity

Self-Reviews: Time Addicts Trilogy

† No One is Safe
• Nothing is Permanent
† Everything is up for Grabs

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Character Review — Rachel Gifford

Character Review, Josie James, Greg Shapiro, Bobby/Jerry Brodie, Cyndi Mendez, Rachel Gifford, Sally Bowles/TSTO Tiles, TSTITO, Selkhet 3000, Emma 1000, They Say This is the One, Trinity Hawthorne, Charlie Hollis, Obolonks,

Character Review — Rachel Gifford

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on December 26, 2023

Consider Rachel Gifford, One of My Original Characters

So, who is Rachel Gifford?

The exceptionally wealthy head of one of the biggest robotics companies in the Solar System, Rachel’s got … issues. For one, she’s horribly prejudiced against the relatively newcomer aliens in society, the Obolonks. But she is also running a company which she has no real business (heh) doing so. She’s not a leader. Yet she is thrust into a leadership role all the same.

Her own personal dissatisfaction stems from a number of things (see below), and a lot are of her own making. Yet, being the speciesist that she is, she pins a lot of her troubles on the orange folks who are not human.

You would think that her wealth would isolate her. But money can’t buy her solutions, not really—she wants action.

Where Did Rachel Gifford Come From?

In order to get anywhere, the antagonist had to have access to money. A lot of money, like ridiculous peak Michael Jackson or Tom Cruise or Oprah Winfrey wealth. Money where you can buy a private island or three, if you like.

I also needed a motive for them. Enter Rachel.

The Past is Prologue — Backstory for Rachel Gifford

Just before and during the events of the first Obolonk trilogy, Rachel’s mother, Camille Gifford, starts to exhibit the signs of Lewy Body dementia. I chose this diagnosis after Robin Williams’s suicide and the revelation that he had it. But it also serves a rather specific purpose.

Why? Because it’s a disease with delusions and paranoia, manifesting at the start of its progression. It’s also inheritable.

But back to Camille and Rachel. Rachel’s really just an engineer. But she gets thrust into Camille’s role—CEO—without enough preparation. And with very little desire to be in that role in the first place.

At the same time, she starts to become a victim of cyberbullying. Rachel puts all of this together and to her it spells an attack by Obolonks. With this kind of fuel for her prejudice—which isn’t exactly uncommon during this time period—she decides that the Obolonk people as a whole need to leave, and collectively pay the price for, well, being mean to her, more than anything else.

Do motives have to be highfaluting and complex? Do they need to be proportional to a villain’s reactions and plans?

Of course not.

Description

Mousy and slender, Rachel is a wealthy woman and an engineer/CEO. But she’s still not much for public speaking or the like. So, essentially, she’s the kind of woman in a twinset, sensible flats, and a gray tweed skirt who you might find at a meeting of the Junior League. She’s also someone who can quickly write a check if she decides to endow a hospital wing or college dormitory.

I don’t have an actress analog for her look. But I figure that’s all right. After all, even Nicole Kidman can get a mousy look with the right makeup, posture, lines, and gestures.

So can Jamie Lee Curtis.

Given that Rachel is in her fifties or early sixties, I would be looking for an actress more or less within their age range if I really wanted to discover an analog.

Purpose/Theme/Motivation

In The Obolonk Murders, anti-Obolonk prejudice is widespread enough that Rachel can find plenty of people who are simpatico with her. She is, in some ways, like the equally (if not more) prejudiced Robin McKenna of Time Addicts.

But one of the main differences is that Robin needs someone to bankroll her scheme—Corwin Zachary. But Rachel is wealthy enough that she can run that part of the show all by herself.

Quotes {Peri, Tommy, Lester Norris, and Luke Brody Question Rachel}

“Okay, we’re recording. State your full name for the record.”

“My name is Rachel Elizabeth Gifford.”

“What do you do for a living?”

“I’m the Chief Engineer at Polychron Enterprises. We make robots.”

“Tell us what happened from the beginning,” Norris said.

“A few years ago, every time I got on the grid, I was attacked in cyberspace. It was the worst sorts of flaming and trolling, insulting and cyber bullying.”

“Can you give us specifics?” asked Brody.

“I was called incompetent. They claimed I’d never had an original idea. The same old accusations of stealing technology and blueprints from Perfect Carol, Ltd. resurfaced. Only this time, with new twists.”

“Such as?” asked Tommy.

“They claimed to have intimate knowledge of my mother, Camille Gifford, CEO of the company.”

“What kind of knowledge?” the robot persisted.

“It was about what she was like in bed, if you must know.”

“Oh,” Tommy said softly.

“That was their first mistake. It’s how they made it clear they were orange freaks.”

“Got it,” Luke said. “So, it was about a supposed sexual relationship with an Obolonk?”

“Yes.” Gifford looked down. “My mother, until a few months ago, before she got really sick, was an avid hiker.”

“Sick?” asked Peri.

“Yes, Dorothy. You’ve been underground for a while. The Solar System keeps on spinning, even without you there to watch it,” Gifford cracked.

“Wait—why’d you call her Dorothy?” Luke asked.

Relationships

Rachel Gifford mainly keeps to herself, the poor little rich girl that she is. But she still has some relationships.

Rachel and Camille

Because I see Camille as being the kind of CEO who kept everything close to the vest and wrote nearly nothing down, I see Rachel as resenting this aspect of her mother’s pre-dementia personality. Rachel, understandably, is resentful of Camille’s utter lack of planning for a succession. Even without her diagnosis, Camille was not going to live forever.

But a lot of people do act that way, so I wanted Camille to be like that. And, as a result, Rachel is left holding the bag. And she doesn’t enjoy that one bit.

At the same time, though, Rachel makes no moves to assure her own succession, or to hire someone to help her or become the CEO instead of her. The truth is, a lot of Rachel’s issues are real and they would be problematic to just about anyone. But others are her own damned fault.

Rachel and Ted

Rachel’s not exactly looking for love, or at least some sort of a connection. And, with her wealth, she’d be cautious about a lot of people. But the Reverend Theodore Moore is basically the Jimmy Swaggart of the story. And so, with money coming out of his ears, Ted isn’t a threat to Rachel’s fortune.

It also helps that they bond over their mutual prejudice against Obolonks.

Conflict and Turning Point

Much like in the rest of the story, Rachel’s turning point comes during the characters’ time on Sedna. When her identity and scheme are discovered, she fights back. But Rachel fights dirty.

Continuity/Easter Eggs

She has no continuity with other stories and, if I recall correctly, I don’t mention her in the Time Addicts trilogy. In addition, she is not a part of the prequels to either the Obolonk trilogy or Time Addicts. So, no pun intended, she is a bit unmoored.

Future Plans

Since she did not show up during the Obolonk prequel, I am at a loss as to where I could put her again. And a character like her—resentful of having to be the adult in the room, spoiled, and with a superiority complex—would likely be a lot of fun to really get into writing. Imagine her point of view!

Rachel Gifford: Takeaways

So, what I truly love about this character is that she doesn’t look like she could do anything worse to anyone beyond blackballing them at the local country club. But underestimating Rachel is a very bad idea.

Rachel Gifford — because sometimes it really is the quiet ones.

Want More of Rachel Gifford and the Rest of the Obolonk Universe?

If the story of the Obolonks resonates with you, then check out my other articles about how our society turns tripartite, with humans, robots, and Obolonks.

Character Reviews: The Obolonk Murders

Humans
† Peri Martin
• Greg Shapiro
† Rachel Gifford

Robots
† Tommy 2000
• Selkhet 3000

Obolonks
† TSTITO

Character Reviews: Time Addicts

The Good Guys
• Josie James
† Carmen D’Angelo, MD
• Dalton Farouk
† Tad Lewis
• Cyndi Mendez
† Bobby Brodie
• Keisha Darnell
† Vera Travers

The Bad Guys
• Peter Ray
† Dae Ou Xiang
• Elston Young
† Corwin Zachary

The Obolonk Universe

Self-Reviews: Obolonk Trilogy

• The Obolonk Murders
† Self-Review: The Polymer Beat
• The Badge of Humanity

Self-Reviews: Time Addicts Trilogy

† No One is Safe
• Nothing is Permanent
† Everything is up for Grabs

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Character Review — Elston Young

Dalton Farouk, Carmen D'Angelo, Josie James, Peter Ray, Tad Lewis, Elston Young, Corwin Zachary,

Character Review — Elston Young

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on November 16, 2023

Consider Elston Young, One of My Original Characters

Who is Elston Young?

When I first started to write Time Addicts, I needed an engineer. I already knew who the main villain was. But just who had invented the tech? Enter Elston.

Where Did Elston Young Come From?

His first name actually comes from the late baseball player, Elston Howard. But otherwise he is just a character who would be morally ambiguous. Craven and ruthless, he only has his own best interests at heart. And, really, no one else’s.

The Past is Prologue — Backstory for Elston Young

The OIA file says it best:

Elston Young: Born July 24, 2479. Start date at the OIA: April 20, 2507. First assignment: engineer in Robotics Division. Second assigned division after transfer: Department of Temporal Narcotics. Transfer date: August 17, 2522. Second assignment: chief engineer and secondary time traveler, supplementing the work of time traveler Robin Campbell McKenna.

…

Honorable OIA Discharge: September 19, 2525. Last known location and details: moved to Charon on September 29, 2525 and works as a mushroom farmer. Home address: Sarah Boone Drive, at its intersection with Sybilla Righton Masters Way. Location is an unnamed district just outside the Charonian capital, Teslaville.

She stared at the information for a moment. What the hell happened on September the nineteenth, two plus years ago? And then you moved to the outer reaches of the Solar System in ten days? What the hell are you running from? Or to?

She added a query: Locate all OIA and news events from September 19, 2525.

The answer came back a few seconds later.

Honorable OIA Discharge date for Elston Young. No other events on this date in the OIA database which match your level of security. News stories for the date in question: ‘Chief Governor Dae Ou Xiang begins trip to Haumea to meet with Tommy 2000 for the robotic contingent and They Say This is the One from the Obolonk delegation. Talks are expected to include distribution of vanadium mining leases in the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud.’ Second most important news story: ‘OIA Chief Inspector Peter Ray visits burn ward on Triton.’ Third most important news story: ‘mushroom futures rise as demand increases for luxury dishes on Tethys.’

Description

I love the idea of making him an older guy who should have known better. But at the same time, he would be formal, with European-style manners. As a result, I am going with Christoph Waltz for his look.

Because I pair him with Robin McKenna, they’ve got an obvious age difference. So in a way, you can see why she might want to throw him over for someone else.

Christoph Waltz, who I see as Elston Young. Image is from Wikipedia, by Manfred Werner (Tsui) - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=64147562 — Christoph Waltz, who I see as Elston Young. Image is from Wikipedia, by Manfred Werner (Tsui) – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=64147562

Purpose/Theme/Motivation

So, his original purpose coincides with the other members of the cabal—he wants power. But he at least knows when to quit.

Or, at least, to be satisfied with what he’s got.

Robin? Not so much.

But when she throws him over, he loses his clout with her. Because he’s a smart guy, he can see the writing on the wall.

Quotes {Josie has just gotten a tattoo from Elston to help her with time travel}

“I know the first time you and I met, that you believed I had had a relationship with Robin McKenna. You were right, of course—at the time. But things have changed.”

“The bloom is off the rose, I take it?”

“In a manner of speaking. It doesn’t help when someone you love takes up with an intimate colleague. You still need to see them, and all that.”

“Wait, I don’t think the timeline’s right. When I first saw you, I had already gotten an encrypted message.”

“Yes, you had. It wasn’t just the end of our relationship which convinced me to change my mind. But I needed—and still do, I might add—legal and rather real physical protections. I could plant the seed in your group and then eventually the dice would roll the way I want, and I would be free of the Yester Gang.”

“Why would you ever want to leave them? I would think you’d be sitting pretty.” She touched the bandage, and her wrist felt like it was burning. “Ow!”

“Now, will you listen to me and not touch the bandage? So, in answer to your question, it was all about power, to start. But you see, Robin has a rather deep and strong prejudice against the Obolonk race. Garnering and holding onto power stopped being good enough for her. She wanted to eliminate the Obolonks as well. Understand, my memory, and my own comprehension come from the current timeline. But I still know that the destruction of the Obolonk race was not in the original scheme. She was splitting her focus.”

“Power for both of you, and, er, this intimate colleague?”

“Not just for us. But Peter Ray was a particularly good find. He can be the face of everything. One of the faces, that is.”

“I don’t remember him originally being in charge of the OIA.”

“That’s because he wasn’t.”

Relationships

Like other members of the cabal, Elston has a relationship of some sort with all of them. But his closest relationship is with the villainess herself, Robin McKenna.

Elston Young and Robin McKenna

I didn’t originally intend for there to be a ‘love rhombus’ in the gang. But the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea.

And so, she starts off as his lover. But then she changes her mind…

Because he’s humiliated and he still has to work with her, he gets an idea about how to turn the situation to his own, personal advantage.

But this crafty silver fox will go down swinging. However, if necessary, he will take everyone else with him.

Conflict and Turning Point

He has a few. One is when he gives Josie the tattoo. Now, he is far from being a good person. So, when he chooses to help her, it’s not out of the goodness of his own heart. Instead, it’s for his own personal advancement and safety—and nothing more.

Continuity/Easter Eggs

There is no continuity between him and other storylines.

Future Plans

He did not show up in the Time Addicts prequel, and he can’t show up in the Obolonks prequel (wrong time period). So, unless something big changes, I won’t be exploring his particular story any further.

Elston Young: Takeaways

Morally gray as much as he’s gray around the temples, Elston Young adds a dash of enigma to Time Addicts. Can he be trusted?

Only if it suits him.

Elston Young — because craven bad guys are never really repentant….

Want More of the Obolonk Universe?

If the story of the Obolonks resonates with you, then please be sure to check out my other articles about how our society turns tripartite, with humans, robots, and Obolonks.

Character Reviews: The Obolonk Murders

Humans
† Peri Martin
• Greg Shapiro

Robots
† Tommy 2000
• Selkhet 3000

Obolonks
† TSTITO

Character Reviews: Time Addicts

The Good Guys
• Josie James
† Carmen D’Angelo, MD
• Dalton Farouk
† Tad Lewis
• Cyndi Mendez
† Bobby Brodie
• Keisha Darnell
† Vera Travers

The Bad Guys
• Peter Ray
† Dae Ou Xiang
• Elston Young
† Corwin Zachary

The Obolonk Universe

Self-Reviews: Obolonk Trilogy

• The Obolonk Murders
† Self-Review: The Polymer Beat
• The Badge of Humanity

Self-Reviews: Time Addicts Trilogy

† No One is Safe
• Nothing is Permanent
† Everything is up for Grabs

Leave a Comment

Character Review — Tad Lewis

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on November 14, 2023

Consider Tad Lewis, One of My Original Characters

Who is Tad Lewis?

Tad—er, Thaddeus—Lewis sprang forth almost fully formed when I first thought of him. Josie James would need someone who could shoot. She would also need someone who could afford her some physical protection. Enter Tad.

Where Did Thaddeus Lewis Come From?

Now, for the Time Addicts universe to work, the people who work for the OIA-DTN have to be excellent at whatever they do. Hence I could see an immediate need for a sharpshooter. That is, Tad has to be able to shoot the hairs off a flea that’s a city block away—more or less.

I also wanted for him to be into guns but not obsessive. So, he’s not going to throw a tantrum if one is taken away for any reason. Rather, it’s subtle things, like changing the drawer pulls on his desk to little pistols.

Since he enjoys history, he understands older, historical weaponry. This includes the Glock Canadian, a gun which has almost become an Easter egg in my stories.

The Past is Prologue — Backstory for Tad Lewis

Tad gives some of his backstory when he says: “I’m a sharpshooter. I worked in the security detail for Chief Governor Xiang. No ranks—but I did get to ride in the official tri-phib.”

So, he’s a little silly at times. But he’s got serious shooting chops. And, the reader learns later, he’s good about making friends with the people who he works with. Tad is, in some ways, a little like a traditional networker.

Description

He’s about 30 or so. He was born in the Columbus-Chicago Meg. Tad lives in a three-decker brownstone in Allston and was an Eagle Scout.

Armie Hammer, who I see as Thaddeus Lewis. Image is for reference purposes only.

So, the main actor I see for him is Armie Hammer.

Now, this is not a testament to the real actor’s character. It’s just a reference and nothing more.

Purpose/Theme/Motivation

Beyond simply protecting Josie or being her partner, his motivation is to protect what he can remember of the original timeline. But he’s got holes in his memory.

Because he trusts Josie implicitly, he believes her version of events. And so, even when he doesn’t really know the original timeline, he works to protect it all the same.

Quotes {Josie and Tad are working out signals for their first undercover mission}

He plucked a black tee from the middle of the stack. It said Led Zeppelin’s. “Will this work? I got it on Europa.”

“Yeah, that’ll work.”

After he’d donned the shirt, he said, “We’re going to need signals.”

“Right. Marky and I were partners for so long we just sort of knew.”

“Well, you and I don’t exactly know yet. So how about pet names?”

“Pet names?”

“You know, like sweetie, or cutie or whatever. We’re supposed to be dating.”

“Yeah, this could work. We need one for keep going, another for stop, and another for change things up. Plus, we could use a panic signal for when we really can’t do anything but get outta Dodge.”

“Ha!” He snapped his fingers. “Honey can mean yes or ‘go ahead’, because it flows.”

“Well, it flows kinda slowly.”

“I am not gonna call you water or anything.”

“So, I guess honey it is. And hey, baby can be the signal to change. Because, you know, babies need to be changed.”

“Yeah, works for me. Sweetie pie for stop or no.”

“Why that?”

“Because my mom’s pies are as thick and heavy as doorstops. But if you ever meet her, er, don’t tell her that.”

“My lips are sealed. And speaking of that,” Josie said, not finishing her sentence. Instead, she came up to him and gave him a quick peck on the lips.

“What was that for?”

“We’re supposed to be dating, Tad. We had to get that outta the way. Otherwise, the first kiss is really weird. And we don’t want our pals to get even an inkling that we’re only kissing for the first time.”

“Gotcha. Oh, and sugar?”

“Sugar?”

“Yeah, sugar,” he said, “That’ll mean we need to abort the mission and get the fuck outta there.”

Relationships

So, the truth is, when I was first writing Tad, I wanted people to potentially ‘ship him and Josie. So, why not? They’re thrown together constantly, and often have to convince others that they’re boyfriend and girlfriend.

But of course I had other plans for Josie. And then I ended up having other plans for him as well.

Tad Lewis and Josie James

Even though I personally don’t see them as romantic partners, they are certainly work partners. They spend a lot of time together, and they bounce off each other well. He’s a lot more than a glorified bodyguard.

Tad Lewis and Cyndi Mendez

So, I didn’t originally see them together until I started to get into the story. And then I figured: what the hell. Yet the more I see of them together, and think of them together, the more I like this pairing.

Part of this is because both of them are, essentially, unflappable. Their experiences and their purposes are mainly on the defensive side of things.

Conflict and Turning Point

Just like with the other “good guys”, Tad comes to his turning point with the rest of the story. Despite his background and his obvious talents, he’s underestimated in some ways. But he comes through as well as he can, even when it seems as if all hope is lost.

Continuity/Easter Eggs

Tad doesn’t have any real continuity in other stories, unlike all those folks named Shapiro or Tommy.

Future Plans for Tad Lewis

Because he doesn’t show up in either the Obolonk prequel or the Time Addicts prequel, I’m not so sure there will be any future plans for him. I am so sorry, character!

Tad Lewis: Takeaways

Clearly one of the good guys, Thaddeus Lewis is someone you want on your side. He’s so indispensable, it’s not funny.

Tad Lewis — because a sensitive sharpshooter is kinda fun.

Want More of Tad and the Rest of the Obolonk Universe?

If the story of the Obolonks resonates with you, then please be sure to check out my other articles about how our society turns tripartite, with humans, robots, and Obolonks.

Character Reviews: The Obolonk Murders

Humans
† Peri Martin
• Greg Shapiro

Robots
† Tommy 2000
• Selkhet 3000

Obolonks
† TSTITO

Character Reviews: Time Addicts

The Good Guys
• Josie James
† Carmen D’Angelo, MD
• Dalton Farouk
† Tad Lewis
• Cyndi Mendez
† Bobby Brodie
• Keisha Darnell
† Vera Travers

The Bad Guys
• Peter Ray
† Dae Ou Xiang
• Elston Young
† Corwin Zachary

The Obolonk Universe

Self-Reviews: Obolonk Trilogy

• The Obolonk Murders
† Self-Review: The Polymer Beat
• The Badge of Humanity

Self-Reviews: Time Addicts Trilogy

† No One is Safe
• Nothing is Permanent
† Everything is up for Grabs

Leave a Comment

Character Review — Peter Ray

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on November 9, 2023

Consider Peter Ray, One of My Original Characters

So, who is Peter Ray?

In order to get across the continual dissolution of one timeline into the next, I had to have someone who was constant—but not always.

Where Did Peter Ray Come From?

So, I wanted a character who would be essentially the kind of bad guy who many people would not think of as a bad guy at all. Because he’s handsome, gentlemanly, and polished, this character can fool just about anyone.

But despite his polished, courtly exterior, he’s ruthlessly ambitious.

The Past is Prologue — Backstory for Peter Ray

So, in the original timeline, he’s the kind of guy who takes way too many shortcuts. But he gets caught, and in the original timeline, he does have to pay the piper.

Character Kurt Wilmont describes him best:

“Peter Ray was recruited in a rather different manner from y’all. He was called in directly by the Chief Governor. Yep, Xiang pulled him in herself. He was attractive as a candidate for the OIA for a lot of reasons, not the least of which was winning the Decker Prize for Engineering back in twenty-one. She saw potential in him.” …

He looked at his audience with a hangdog expression. “We’re not here to talk about her, or to spread rumors and gossip. So, here are the facts, in all their naked glory. Peter Ray was caught taking bribes to look the other way in various investigations. Those included drunk skimmer flying charges against an Orb Rep’s wayward son, and a bunch of miscreants on Vesta stockpiling thermal weapons, hoping to whack a few Obolonks on their way to martyrdom. As a result of Ray’s misdeeds, we are painfully aware that the agency isn’t as trusted as it once was. For this, I blame Ray directly. His greed and carelessness cost us a helluva lot. My husband and I were damned lucky we kept our jobs. A lot of people didn’t—it was a ton of housecleaning after Ray’s trial and conviction last year.”

Description

The only person I can even conceive of in this role is an older Richard Gere. Peter is handsome, distinguished, and charming. But he’s also quite the gladhander. He’s definitely like a politician in that you might want to count your fingers after you shake hands with him.

You know, just to make sure he hasn’t taken any.

Richard Gere, who I see as Peter Ray. Image is for reference purposes only.

Purpose/Theme/Motivation

Josie’s first inkling that things are not the way they seem is when Ray is suddenly in charge of the Orb Intelligence Agency.

This is despite the information I’m listing above.

So, her biggest issue is that she’s unsure of what she can recall. In addition, she doesn’t have a lot of people who she can look to for any sort of confirmation.

But it does lay out the purpose, theme, and motivation for Peter Ray. He wants power. And the more, the better.

Quotes {Josie and Tad are looking to make some arrests}

“This is all fascinating and everything, but beyond the current love, er, rhombus, there’s a more pressing matter at hand. We know you’re killers. It’s time to pay the piper.”

“Not in this timeline. You got nothing,” said Cassie.

Vel, Daisy, and Marty Quinlan are all dead in this timeline. Even if Marty still killed Daisy in this line, the chances that he did it with your knowledge, consent, and blessing are high. Under your orders, I bet. “Sure, sure, keep telling yourselves that.”

Tad pulled out a small hot gun. “You did know it would come down to this, now, didn’t you, Robin?”

“Are you going to shoot us, Mr. Lewis?” asked Young. “Or arrest us? For I fear you have no jurisdiction here.”

“The people we’ve got backing us up do,” said Josie. Bobby, you can hear what’s going on. If you haven’t had Cyndi call the Charonian cops by now, then I gotta wonder why the hell we even keep you on the payroll.

Peter Ray arrived, and he glanced around. He must have realized the backup wasn’t in yet, and he charged at Tad. Tad coolly raised the weapon and shot the man in the face, creating a grazed oval on Ray’s skin, marring its otherwise just about unworldly perfection.

“What the fuck did you do that for?” yelled Ray, touching his hand to his face, and drawing away blood.

“You do realize that when you try to attack people, they’ll defend themselves, don’t you? Sheesh, why was this guy in charge of the OIA again?” Josie smirked, gesturing at Ray.

Tad lowered the weapon to allow it to recharge. “You’re lucky I can aim well. Most people would’ve taken your head off from this distance.”

“Besides, now he’ll have a Zero scar on his face,” said Josie. “We branded him as one of your boys, Robin.” She paused for a second and sneered. “You’re welcome.”

Relationships

Because the timelines keep shifting, his relationships and other aspects of his life change. But there’s one constant—he and the chief governor of all the orbs are, shall we say, simpatico.

Peter Ray and Chief Governor Dae Ou Xiang

Sometimes, she’s his mentor. But sometimes, he seems to be hers. Also, at other times, they are good friends with a kind of unspoken attraction. Yet other times, they’re lovers. Because like everything else, it really just depends on the timeline.

But does he have ambition to unseat her? Even I confess I’m not certain. I give them six-year terms, just like US Senators. And they’ve got a term limit of two.

So, he could technically just wait things out if he wanted to become Chief Governor. After all, having her backing would be a huge feather in his cap.

But I don’t necessarily see him as having that kind of patience. If he did go up against her, either officially in an election or in some illegal and underhanded manner, I believe she would prove to be a formidable opponent.

Conflict and Turning Point

As the timelines keep colliding and changing, he is of course pulled along with everyone else. And because he is, he can be manipulated in some ways, to further serve the ends of the cabal.

For a person who lusts for so much power, it’s got to be a bit of a comedown to realize that you’re just someone else’s useful idiot.

Continuity/Easter Eggs

Unlike the Shapiro crew or Tommy 2000, he doesn’t have much continuity. But he most certainly does have continuity when it comes to the myriad of timelines Josie visits and has to undo.

Future Plans

He doesn’t show up in either the Obolonk prequel or the Time Addicts prequel. So, unless things change, his personal story won’t be visited again.

Peter Ray: Takeaways

If human nature stays more or less the same in the future, then a villain like him seems almost inevitable. Because in a way, he’s the ultimate in wolves in sheep’s clothing. Except his sheep’s clothing is impeccable suits, made from Tethyan silk.

Peter Ray — because gladhander politicians who turn out to be fascists are just a little too real these days….

Want More of Peter Ray and the Rest of the Obolonk Universe?

If the story of the Obolonks resonates with you, then please be sure to check out my other articles about how our society turns tripartite, with humans, robots, and Obolonks.

Character Reviews: The Obolonk Murders

Humans
† Peri Martin
• Greg Shapiro

Robots
† Tommy 2000
• Selkhet 3000

Obolonks
† TSTITO

Character Reviews: Time Addicts

The Good Guys
• Josie James
† Carmen D’Angelo, MD
• Dalton Farouk
† Tad Lewis
• Cyndi Mendez
† Bobby Brodie
• Keisha Darnell
† Vera Travers

The Bad Guys
• Peter Ray
† Dae Ou Xiang
• Elston Young
† Corwin Zachary

The Obolonk Universe

Self-Reviews: Obolonk Trilogy

• The Obolonk Murders
† Self-Review: The Polymer Beat
• The Badge of Humanity

Self-Reviews: Time Addicts Trilogy

† No One is Safe
• Nothing is Permanent
† Everything is up for Grabs

Leave a Comment

Character Review — They Say This is the One – TSTITO

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on October 26, 2023

Consider TSTITO, One of My Original Characters

Who is They Say This is the One AKA TSTITO?

When I was first writing the Obolonks, I had no direction for them and virtually zero plot. But I came up with a wacky naming convention. Obolonks would receive names from the community. These names would have a basis in their characteristics, their behaviors, or their skills. In short, their reputations.

But what do you call the big cheese, the head honcho?

Then I realized their name would have to come from their reputation, too.

So I hit upon a simple statement of—this is the one, this is our guy, our representative.

Fortunately, Obolonks have to be mature before they get a name, so a child isn’t saddled with so much pressure and responsibility.

Where Did TSTITO Come From?

We all know the old cliché—take me to your leader. In fact, I have Greg Shapiro say that. But Greg is just kidding around.

However, as I think about them, I don’t honestly want them to be the big cheese for all the Obolonks. Hence, since the governor of Massachusetts is only the leader of the Bay State, TSTITO would just be the governor of the Earthbound Obolonks, as it were.

But as I write this blog post, for the life of me, I cannot come up with a name for the overall leader.

The Past is Prologue — Backstory for TSTITO

Obolonks start to hear human transmissions when we start to make them. Therefore, back in maybe the Victorian era (to include telegraphy), the people of Bolonk came to the conclusion that they were not alone in the universe (sound familiar?).

As a patient people who live a very long time, this person would have to basically be groomed and study every nuance to try to understand humans. As a result, I have TSTITO undergoing training for more than a good 100 Earth years before they come here.

Description

Because They Say This is the One is fairly old, even for an Obolonk, they are a darker orange shade than many of their fellow aliens. Since Obolonks aren’t human, I don’t have a human actor or actress to ‘play’ them.

Rather, they resemble Amedeo Modigliani paintings. That is, they are extremely angular in comparison to us.

In addition, their limbs are longer than ours, while their torso is shorter. A human could never ‘play’ an Obolonk without some pretty fancy CGI, although a voiceover is a different story, of course.

Purpose/Theme/Motivation

Because they are the overall leader, every Obolonk technically comes under TSTITO’s purview. Keeping the species safe and happy is paramount.

Quotes {Peri and Tommy meet They Say This is the One for the first time}

A pair of Obolonks ushered them in. They were younger, possibly not named yet. The main distinguishing feature marking them as Obolonk youth was their light, orange-colored skin, almost an iced peach shade. If not named yet, they’d be called something like Third from the One Who Trains Pigeons and the One Who Sells Substandard Footwear, depending upon birth order, shortened to Third or Three by impatient humans, or even Trey or Trois if the human was feeling creative or worldly.

TSTITO came out after a short conference with the two youths. “Ah, Detective Sergeant Martin, do come in. And I see you brought an android.”

“This is Detective McFarland,” she said to the medium-orange alien. TSTITO was taller than Tommy’s normal height. Like all Obolonks, he was smooth-skinned, with a somewhat elongated cranium, no hair, and not much of a nose to speak of. His face resembled one she had seen in a painting at the Guggenheim Museum in the New York Meg—a Modigliani.

“This is an android,” TSTITO insisted.

“I would appreciate you not referring to my partner in the third person, as if he wasn’t here at all.”

“Detective,” said TSTITO, “I agreed to this meeting because the authorities are not doing anywhere near enough to investigate the deaths of my people. Your use of the most modern tools is encouraging. Your denying and attempting to lie to me about it is not.”

Before Peri could respond further, Tommy said, “I am a robot. This is not information being made known to the general public. Your discretion would be greatly appreciated.”

“Understood,” said the alien.

Relationships

With more than two spouses possible, TSTITO has relationships in spades. But the reader doesn’t see their spouses until near the end of the third book. But their offspring? That’s another story.

TSTITO and Their Offspring

With ten children from the communal marriage, they have complex relationships with the next generation, which includes younger Obolonks who are not biologically related to them at all.

TSTITO has the most difficult relationship with They Say This One Tiles Bathrooms Adequately, their eighth born. With a name that denotes a less than stellar reputation, this person has to already be something of a disappointment.

When this offspring reveals that they are very human-centered and not as much Obolonk-centered, it’s a lot like coming out to a parent who doesn’t approve.

It’s also a lot like an experience which a lot of human immigrants have, where the second generation and beyond lose/reject the old ways and assimilate into the mainstream, majority culture.

In this way, the relationship between the two is reflective of the immigrant experience as a whole—which is also the overarching theme of these related series.

Conflict and Turning Point

For TSTITO, the turning points occur when they learn that there is trouble in Obolonk paradise (the Jovian moon, Callisto).

Greg Shapiro, being the data guy that he is, susses out that the number of Obolonk deaths and injuries over the years just doesn’t add up. There are nowhere near enough of them.

Someone’s thumb is on the scale. And that thumb is orange.

But TSTITO also has a turning point when they learn who was really behind a series of September 13th bombings. But this is the overall turning point of the series.

Continuity/Easter Eggs

There is not a lot with this particular character. However, Josie James encounters mentions of them in various alternate timelines. These include scenarios where they were killed when they first set foot on Earth, thereby radically altering the timeline.

After all, as the leader of all the Obolonks who have come to Earth, this is a linchpin character.

Future Plans

They did not show up in the prequel, which I wrote for the 2023 NaNo. But since this is a designation as opposed to a true name, a character with this name could show up in the third trilogy. However, this would be a different individual.

TSTITO: Takeaways

Officious and perhaps overly embracing of traditions, TSTITO is every parent who thought they would never embrace their LGBTQ+ offspring, but then eventually does.

And at the same time, they are every first generation immigrant who thought things would stay the same but then learned this would be … not so much.

TSTITO — because someone has to lead the Obolonk people.

Want More of TSTITO and the Rest of the Obolonk Universe?

If the story of the Obolonks resonates with you, then please be sure to check out my other blog posts about how our society turns tripartite, with humans, robots, and Obolonks. In particular, my Obolonk character reviews:

† They Say This One Tiles Bathrooms Adequately (AKA Sally Bowles)

Self-Reviews: Obolonk Trilogy

• The Obolonk Murders
† Self-Review: The Polymer Beat
• The Badge of Humanity

Leave a Comment

Character Review — Selkhet 3000

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on October 24, 2023

Consider Selkhet 3000, One of My Original Characters

Who is Selkhet 3000?

I needed someone who could be a helper with the robots and Dr. Tinerrian, and quickly hit upon the idea of a robot filling that niche. Enter Selkhet.

Where Did Selkhet 3000 Come From?

When I first started writing about the Obolonks, I was completely winging it. As a result, I had no idea what I was going to do with Selkhet (or any of the other characters, for that matter).

The Past is Prologue — Backstory for Selkhet

Much like Tommy 2000, Selket is created in Dr. James Tinerrian’s lab. She precedes him yet is a 3000 model. But she’s not the first fully sapient robot that Tinerrian makes. That is the seldom seen Emma 1000.

Why is she a 3000, and Tommy a 2000? Even Peri asks this! But the truth is, at the start, I was just going with what I felt sounded the best. With Tommy, there was some alliteration. Then I came up with an explanation. She would be overly emotional and sometimes less than controlled. Hence Tinerrian takes Tommy back to an earlier restore point.

But I have never honestly explored her less than fully controlled side. Maybe I will in the prequel, although it’s more likely it would be in the third trilogy series.

Description

I like the look of Selena Gomez for Selkhet. Very lovely, and very no-nonsense.

Actress Selena Gomez, who I see as Selkhet 3000. Image is for reference purposes only. — Image of actress Selena Gomez By The White House – [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=118366234

Purpose/Theme/Motivation

In some ways parallel to Tommy, she’s almost a proof of concept as to just what Tinerrian can do. But like Tommy starts off, her emotions are initially more a series of weights and measures than anything else.

That is, she performs trillions of calculations per second to determine if the proper emotional model to follow is the one of disgust, sorrow, joy, or any other feeling.

Her essential motivation is to take care of things for Jim Tinerrian. This includes long after his death, in the Time Addicts trilogy and beyond.

In that trilogy, she immediately recognizes that temporal sensitive Josie James needs help, and helps her.

But (if I recall correctly), she and Josie have never actually met before. But Selkhet trusts Tommy, and Tommy knows Josie is important.

Quotes {Peri has just met Selkhet and Tommy; Tommy has just morphed in front of Peri}

“Or an executive or any professional person here on Earth,” Tommy said. “Or I can look like a hayseed from Europa.” To prove his point, he became younger and taller and leaner, and wore a pair of coveralls but no shoes.

Peri’s jaw dropped, “Did you see that?” she asked Selkhet and Dr. Tinerrian. “Did you? That was, that was incredible.”

“Oh, that’s nothing,” said Selkhet, yawning slightly and morphing herself into a short, elderly, overweight Indian woman who looked a lot like Peri’s ex-mother-in-law.

“Oh my God!” Peri reeled, her heart in her throat, “You, you’re a, a, a, a, what?”“

Dr. Tinerrian, I believe you owe me a dollar.” Selkhet smiled. “We had a little wager going. The doctor said you wouldn’t guess I, too, am a robot. I am Selkhet Three Thousand.”

Peri sunk into the desk chair Tommy had vacated. After a moment, her detective instincts kicked in. “If you’re a Three Thousand, then why am I getting a Two Thousand? Er, no offense meant there, Tommy, but why?”

“Selkhet is a prototype. She’s the first of her kind and is here to help me with all of the other robots. Hence her name, Selkhet.” Peri squinted, tilting her head slightly. Dr. Tinerrian added, “Selkhet was the Egyptian guardian of the dead. Our Selkhet here is guardian of the robots. Anyway, Tommy is the first for the police department. We’re rolling out the entire Tommy Two Thousand series within a year, but he’s the first. There’ll be one in every police department from the Boston Meg to the Perth Meg and elsewhere in between—in all twenty-eight megalopolises if I have anything to say about it. And maybe they’ll even be off-Earth, and on a moon or a planet, too.”

Relationships

Although she’s just a machine, Selkhet has relationships.

Selkhet and Jim

Did Jim Tinerrian consciously create Selkhet to be a kind of dream girl for him? I confess even I’m not sure. But her devotion to him extends long past his death. Although she’s not as much of a tragic figure as Tommy is after Peri’s death.

One thing I wanted for her was for to not be Jim’s mindless servant, and she isn’t. She’s more of an employee half the time.

Selkhet and Tommy

Almost like a big sister in the first trilogy, Selkhet becomes Tommy’s plus-one for various social engagements in the second trilogy. I don’t really ‘ship them although I recognize that readers might…

I’m not going to stop you. Hell, it’s not exactly as if I could, anyway.

Selkhet 3000 and Emma 1000

Because Emma doesn’t show up until the last of the Time Addicts books, I don’t have too much on this relationship. However, even though Emma is the elder of the two, Selkhet is more sophisticated and take charge.

Emma often doesn’t know how to act around people, and suffers from what we would call a form of social anxiety. Selkhet takes Emma under her wing and champions her, almost like a mentor and a protégée.

And although I never put it on the screen, Emma had to have reactivated at some point.

Perhaps Selkhet was responsible for that? I might explore that in the third trilogy.

Conflict and Turning Point

Just like Tommy 2000, Selkhet 3000 is in both of the currently existing trilogies and her fate is fairly similar to his. When he is damaged in a way that is essentially a happy accident, he shares his transformation with her, so that she may experience it as well.

That’s one turning point in her existence.

Another is when she helps out Josie. Selkhet could have more or less looked the other way. But she doesn’t. I don’t honestly explore it, but to my mind, it’s not specifically due to continuing devotion to Jim. I feel it’s more that she just plain feels it’s the right thing to do.

Her acting on a hunch makes her more sapient than, in some ways, even Tommy. Certainly with fuzzier logic than I often show him as possessing.

Continuity/Easter Eggs

Much like Tommy, Selkhet can technically live forever, as long as she can find replacement parts. Hence, she played a relatively big role in the final book in the Time Addicts trilogy.

Future Plans for Selkhet 3000

The prequel for Time Addicts did not include her. And as for the prequel to The Obolonk Murders, I barely mentioned her there, either.

Selkhet 3000: Takeaways

Charming, smart, and sophisticated, Selkhet 3000 has a lot going for her. She’s fun to write.

Selkhet 3000 — the mother hen of the sapient robots.

Want More of Selkhet 3000 and the Rest of the Obolonk Universe?

If the story of the Obolonks resonates with you, then please be sure to check out my other blog posts about how our society turns tripartite, with humans, robots, and Obolonks.

Character Reviews: The Obolonk Murders

Humans
† Peri Martin
• Greg Shapiro
† Rachel Gifford

Robots
† Tommy 2000
• Selkhet 3000
† Emma 1000

Obolonks
† TSTITO, the Obolonk leader
• Sally Bowles

Character Reviews: Time Addicts

The Good Guys
• Josie James
† Carmen D’Angelo, MD
• Dalton Farouk
† Tad Lewis
• Cyndi Mendez
† Bobby Brodie
• Keisha Darnell
† Vera Travers

The Bad Guys
• Peter Ray
† Dae Ou Xiang
• Elston Young
† Corwin Zachary

The Obolonk Universe

Self-Reviews: Obolonk Trilogy

• The Obolonk Murders (link is below)
† Self-Review: The Polymer Beat
• The Badge of Humanity

Self-Reviews: Time Addicts Trilogy

† No One is Safe
• Nothing is Permanent
† Everything is up for Grabs

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Self-Review – Time Addicts: Everything is Up For Grabs

Time Addicts, No One is Safe, Nothing is Permanent, Everything is Up for Grabs

Self-Review – Time Addicts: Everything is Up For Grabs

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on May 18, 2023

And Finally, it’s Time to Review Time Addicts: Everything is Up For Grabs

So what, exactly, do I mean by ‘everything is up for grabs’? Because as the timelines get ever more confusing, what isn’t on the table?

So, this trilogy of terms came to me after I had been writing the first book for a few weeks. But it snapped it all into sharp focus with these terms. With this, the final book in the trilogy, it seems as if everything is unraveling for Josie and co.

But in a society where you can change time on a whim, how could anything ever be permanent? Also, just as importantly, are there any anchors in life? Or are we all simply destined to be buffeted around by time forever?

With this, the final book in the sub-trilogy, the anchors feel as loose and ephemeral as a sack of feathers. But the bad guys, of course, offer a way to again achieve stability and equilibrium.

If she wants to go that route.

Background

Josie thinks she has seen the most drastic of the timeline changes already. But now they are getting focused, and the bad guys, calling themselves the Yester Gang, are tired of playing around.

Now, their focus is no longer split and they are going after nothing short of all-out genocide of the Obolonk race.

Plot

As the Yester Gang focuses more, Josie receives more mysterious messages which seem to be telling her that she has to act—but how?

The support beams in her life are being kicked out from under her, and Josie has no idea who she can trust. Maybe the best answer is, no one.

Characters

For this piece, the characters are Josie James, Dalton Farouk, Keisha Darnell, Bobby Brodie, Tad Lewis, Cyndi Mendez, Dr. Carmen D’Angelo, and Tommy 2000. Plus there’s also Josie’s enormous family, who flit in and out of the storyline.

Bad guy characters include Marty Quinlan and also his two nonbinary employees/lovers – Velvet Monroe and Daisy Dukes. There’s also Elston Young and Corwin Zachary.

Memorable Quotes from Time Addicts: Everything is Up For Grabs {Josie is talking to her Wingbot. The time change? All the time zones have been changed}

She waved her left hand over her right wrist and a display came up, also in midair. Into it, she said, “Time. Date. Temperature.”

Downstairs, with background noise of gentle wingbeats, came the answer from her Wingbot, 42753, “December the fourth, twenty-five twenty-seven. The time is six AM Eastern-Atlantic time. The temperature is one point sixty-six seven degrees Celsius.”

“Wait, what?”

“It is December the fourth…”

Josie scrunched up her face. Something felt off. “No, not that, Wing. The other part.”

“The temperature?” asked the Wingbot. There was a slight sound of small mechanical feet landing on the kitchen counter.

“No, wait a second.” She rubbed her forehead. Regular early morning nausea—for more than a decade of her life—made morning coffee a nice idea in theory but a terrible one in practice. Fully waking up would have to wait until she got to work, which was on another continent. “The time, Wing.”

“Six oh three.”

“You didn’t say that before.” Absently, she pulled a blue towel from the rack and started to dry her auburn hair.

“Well, the time has changed.”

Josie fought to not become angry with the small, semi-sapient robot, that was only doing its job. “I get that part. You mentioned the time zone?”

“Oh, do you like that? I recently received new instructions from Central Programming, to include a time zone whenever time is requested. If it is bothersome, I can remove it from that subroutine.”

“No, that’s fine.” Albeit weird.

Rating for Everything is Up For Grabs

The story has a K+ rating.

Upshot

I think I ended this middle trilogy well. But I know that the third book didn’t really get cooking until maybe Chapter 21 or so. Also, it’s over 167,000 words long! But at the time of writing this blog post, I had not yet started to edit it.

The second book is short and the first is kind of in the middle. I would rather not append the first 20 or so chapters to the end of the second book and call it a day.

Rather, I need to edit this beast with a chainsaw.

Wish me luck.

When everything is up for grabs, do timelines have any meaning at all? #amwriting

Want More About The Time Addicts Trilogy?

If this article resonates with you, then check out my other articles about this sub-trilogy that’s all about time travel and how it can go more than a little bit, shall we say, ca ca.

Time Addicts Characters:

† Josie James
• Dalton Farouk
† Dr. Carmen D’Angelo
• Tommy 2000

Time Addicts Books:

† No One is Safe.
• Nothing is Permanent
† Everything is Up for Grabs

The Obolonk Universe
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Tag: Obolonk Murders

What is the Story Behind the Obolonk Murders

Consider Sally Bowles/They Say This One Tiles Bathrooms Adequately, One of My Original Characters

Where Did They Say This One Tiles Bathrooms Adequately Come From?

The Past is Prologue — Backstory for They Say This One Tiles Bathrooms Adequately

Sally Bowles, a Description

Purpose/Theme/Motivation

Quotes

Relationships

Conflict and Turning Point

Continuity/Easter Eggs

Future Plans for Sally Bowles

They Say This One Tiles Bathrooms Adequately: Takeaways

Want More of Sally Bowles and the Rest of the Obolonk Universe?

Self-Reviews: Obolonk Trilogy

Like this:

Review – Eros vs. Thanatos

Background

Plot

Characters in Eros vs. Thanatos

Memorable Quotes

Rating for Eros vs. Thanatos

Takeaways

Want More of the Obolonk Universe?

Character Reviews: The Obolonk Murders

Character Reviews: Time Addicts

Prequels

Self-Reviews: Obolonk Trilogy

Self-Reviews: Time Addicts Trilogy

Like this:

Review – The Dust Between Our Stars

Background

Plot

Characters

Memorable Quotes {Trini is driving to the Grand Canyon while Neo sings along to EVERY song and commercial jingle on the radio} from The Dust Between Our Stars

Rating for The Dust Between Our Stars

Takeaways for The Dust Between Our Stars

Want More of the Obolonk Universe?

Character Reviews: The Obolonk Murders

Character Reviews: Time Addicts

Prequels

Self-Reviews: Obolonk Trilogy

Self-Reviews: Time Addicts Trilogy

Like this:

Consider Rachel Gifford, One of My Original Characters

Where Did Rachel Gifford Come From?

The Past is Prologue — Backstory for Rachel Gifford

Description

Purpose/Theme/Motivation

Quotes {Peri, Tommy, Lester Norris, and Luke Brody Question Rachel}

Relationships

Rachel and Camille

Rachel and Ted

Conflict and Turning Point

Continuity/Easter Eggs

Future Plans

Rachel Gifford: Takeaways

Want More of Rachel Gifford and the Rest of the Obolonk Universe?

Character Reviews: The Obolonk Murders

Character Reviews: Time Addicts

Self-Reviews: Obolonk Trilogy

Self-Reviews: Time Addicts Trilogy

Like this:

Consider Elston Young, One of My Original Characters

Where Did Elston Young Come From?

The Past is Prologue — Backstory for Elston Young

Description

Purpose/Theme/Motivation

Quotes {Josie has just gotten a tattoo from Elston to help her with time travel}

Relationships

Elston Young and Robin McKenna

Conflict and Turning Point

Continuity/Easter Eggs

Future Plans

Elston Young: Takeaways

Want More of the Obolonk Universe?

Character Reviews: The Obolonk Murders

Character Reviews: Time Addicts

Self-Reviews: Obolonk Trilogy

Self-Reviews: Time Addicts Trilogy