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Celestialhost β€” The Journal of a Prisoner in Paradise: Part 1
Published: 2013-07-31 17:58:35 +0000 UTC; Views: 1729; Favourites: 11; Downloads: 2
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Description They encourage us to keep a diary; a 'reformation diary' they call it. I'm not exactly doing much reforming, but I thought I would keep one anyway. Maybe when I get out of here I can publish it and it'll be a bestseller, just like all the drug traffickers who get jailed in Thailand write a paperback.


I'm a computer hack. It's what I'm good at. I never paid much attention at school, except when we had lessons in IT. I've done a lot of illegal things. I always knew I could end up in jail, I just never expected to end up in a prison run by Amazons.


I had gathered a reputation for being the best at what I do. I had hacked into banks, government offices and military installations. I've met lots of geeks who do this for fun, but for me it's a career, a way of life. I charged a high price, but people knew they were getting some supreme wizardry when they hired me. So it was no surprise when I got personally hired by Lex Luthor to do a little job. I'm sure it was nothing illegal or immoral (yeah right!). He just wanted me to hack into the database in the Justice League's Watchtower. One daunting task, but something that was child's play to me.

Unfortunately this little job ended rather badly. I was sitting at my terminal, bashing keys and rapidly breaking the codes to access the JLA's system, when suddenly the skylight collapsed and two guys in capes burst in. These guys in capes happened to be Superman and the Batman. While everybody else in the room decided to try and get into a punch-up (don't ask me what they were thinking!), I crawled under a desk and hid until it was all over. The next thing I knew, I was being dragged outside and a whole lot of cops had turned up. It seems the rest of the JLA were there; they had rounded up everybody in the building. it turned out that Lex Luthor himself had escaped in a rocket (what a surprise).

Just as a cop was about to cuff me, Wonder Woman (yes, Wonder Woman!) came over and told the cop to stop.

Now I had never seen Wonder Woman before and it was quite a sight. I was totally overwhelmed by the shine of the gold on the costume, the shine of her long dark hair and the shine of her tanned muscles. She was the loveliest woman I had ever seen.

She looked at the cop with tears in her eyes (honestly!) and said "Don't take her to jail. She's just a girl whose been led astray by wicked men."

I wanted to shout "Don't patronize me, lady; this is my way of life," but I was just too overcome by the stress of the whole situation. I was worried about going to jail and at least Wonder Woman looked like she had some sympathy, even if she was being an arrogant patronizing bitch.

"Jail won't help her," Wonder Woman continued. "I can take her to Transformation Island where she can be taught to love authority. She can be taught that helping others brings true happiness."

Hearing this made me want to puke. But the prospect of going to some island rehab place sounded a lot better than going to jail.

Wonder Woman tied me up in her lassoe and led me to her aircraft. I wished she had a car like Batman, it was quite a long walk.

The airplane was the weirdest looking contraption I had seen. It was transparent; made out of glass or plastic. Wonder Woman bundled me on board and took off for Paradise Island.


The journey felt rather quick. That plane must have been fast. I was not wearing a watch and had left my cellphone behind. Wonder Woman explained to me that Transformation Island was located in the Bermuda Triangle.

When we got out, I felt pretty hot. I was wearing long sleeves and jeans and not prepared for the tropics.

Transformation Island looked a bit like a country club (I'm not telling you what I was doing on my one visit to a country club!), though the buildings were very modern, like a newly built elementary school. There were lots of lawns, shrubbery and flower beds everywhere.

Wonder Woman led me into one of the buildings. I was still tied up in her lassoe. It felt weird. As I walked, I felt like I was not actually controlling my own legs, but being compelled to go where Wonder Woman commanded.
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Comments: 12

ala33 [2021-09-14 03:58:06 +0000 UTC]

πŸ‘: 1 ⏩: 0

Kagehahen [2013-07-31 19:06:23 +0000 UTC]

Overall

Vision

Originality

Technique

Impact


I like the voice here - it isn't out of reach of the average reader - while I expect hackers to sound cavalier about their life style, you didn't go with cliche. The voice was realistic about their life, what they did, and why they did it. You're just starting the story so its hard to get enough of a feel on whether I sympathize with the character or not, but you're off to a good start.

I admit, I liked the voice and the writing enough that I was a bit disappointed that it wasn't an original piece of work. I feel something established like Wonder Woman is distracting. I like the voice enough that I'd rather be focused on that, on the original character, rather than someone sensational like Wonder Woman. Still, I'm experiencing HER through an original character, so it was worth it to me to continue.

The line about learning to love authority - remember that Wonder Woman is supposed to be fighting for truth and equality. Learning to love authority isn't learning to love or live truth and can lead to a person being enslaved. Rephrasing it as learning to respect authority might go over better.

The ending was a little brusque. It didn't foreshadow and could have been smoother. But all in all, the piece itself was enticing enough to get me that far. I'm curious as to see how this turns out.

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 1

Celestialhost In reply to Kagehahen [2013-07-31 19:46:43 +0000 UTC]

hThanks for reading.

I don't know if you have read much Golden Age Wonder Woman. Back in the 40s, Wonder Woman did talk a lot about authority. The comic had a rather authoritarian tone, which I parody here.

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 1

Kagehahen In reply to Celestialhost [2013-07-31 19:55:41 +0000 UTC]

That's right! It's been a while.Β  Now that you mention it - I'll have to reacquaint myself.

And in that light - please ignore that part of my comment.

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

GrnAce [2013-07-31 18:26:51 +0000 UTC]

Overall

Vision

Originality

Technique

Impact


You tell where it's going with a lot of strength, so much so it's not so elaborate.Intros are tough for detail I know, but stretching some of the details isn't really all that bad. You really don't have to worry about that unless you start adding commas when it should be a sentence.
I honestly feel like the hacker herself is telling the story, so I can see the point of view. Thus I can see where this is going, I guess you wanted the intro to be more brief so you can start on the next chapter e.deviantart.net/emoticons/let… " width="15" height="15" alt="" data-embed-type="emoticon" data-embed-id="394" title=" (Lick)"/>
You did a pretty good job. Write on e.deviantart.net/emoticons/n/n… " width="15" height="15" alt="" data-embed-type="emoticon" data-embed-id="334" title="Nod"/>

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 1

Celestialhost In reply to GrnAce [2013-07-31 18:30:27 +0000 UTC]

Thanks so much for the critique.


I had planned to do this as a short story, but I think it will be a little longer. Hopefully I can finish it in two or three parts. I feel more comfortable writing short stuff.

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 1

GrnAce In reply to Celestialhost [2013-07-31 18:32:29 +0000 UTC]

Ah, I can see that now.
Since it's a short, I say you're pretty much on the ball. :]

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 1

Celestialhost In reply to GrnAce [2013-07-31 18:42:45 +0000 UTC]

Thanks

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 1

GrnAce In reply to Celestialhost [2013-07-31 18:49:19 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

deristad [2013-08-01 00:36:18 +0000 UTC]

I like this, I'd never heard of transformation Island before but you make it sound like a great place.

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 1

Celestialhost In reply to deristad [2013-08-01 07:00:28 +0000 UTC]

It's nice, but the brainwashing aspect is a bit sinister

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 1

deristad In reply to Celestialhost [2013-08-01 16:13:04 +0000 UTC]

A bit, still, it's for a good cause. I look forward to seeing more.Β 

Β 

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0