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About Callasandra Fractured

Cassi Dyson (16) has just witnessed her Quantum Physicist father’s kidnapping. Before being knocked unconscious, he yells an odd phrase for Cassi to tell her mother, Olivia. Frightened, she runs home and bolts through the door, shouting his message to her mother. Within minutes, Cassi, her twin sister Haley, and their mother have smashed cell phones, filled backpacks with personal belongings, and left their home forever.

At a secret hideaway, with soft piano music playing in the background, Cassi’s mother shares that David had discovered a pathway to another dimension. Upon learning his employer planned to present his findings to the military, their father began corrupting his data. It is for this reason, Cassi’s mother believes he was kidnapped.

Months later, in Hardwick, Vermont, Cassi is startled awake in the middle of the night and discovers the trunk of a tree newly growing through the living room next to a sleeping older gentleman named Mr. Phelps (Bed & Breakfast guest). Adrenaline coursing through her veins, Cassi runs upstairs to her mother and sister’s room. Finding it empty, Cassi gathers her things, opens the front door to leave, and is shocked to see the landscape has completely changed. A dimensional fracture has occurred, and Cassi finds herself alone in a place called Cimerrion.

As Cassi searches for her mother and sister, she meets Sergeant Leonard (a sadistic military officer skilled in torturous interrogations). He is tasked to use whatever means necessary to root out the Disunited, people transported into Cimerrion from another dimension. A prophecy, written by a co-author of the constitution, states, “Beware the miscreants of Hardwick who work to disunite and appropriate the power we have known all our lives. Our control of Cimerrion hangs in the balance of the twin fates of our destiny.” It is from this prophecy the Disunited are considered to be the greatest threat to Cimerrion.

Sergeant Leonard takes Cassi to a military-style compound where she is assigned to The Camp, a sector where 16-year olds are educated. Here, Joren (16, charismatic, likes puns) introduces himself, “Hey, Sixteen! Name’s Joren”. Following her mother’s advice to trust no one, Cassi introduces herself as Callasandra. It does not take long for Joren to determine she is a Disunited. In private, Joren explains the government uses cameras and microphones to monitor everyone, explicitly looking for the Disunited and anyone who helps them.

Joren later introduces Cassi to Marissa (mid-30s, Disunited, renowned singer and Entertainer). It will be revealed (non-graphically) that Entertainers are forced by the government to ‘entertain’ high-paying citizens. Marissa is also a high-ranking member of the Antistasi (resistance group) and uses her world-famous Entertainer status to disrupt government-run service stations. Cassi learns from Marissa (verbally/non-graphically) that service stations travel around the country with young women forced into ‘entertainment’ (contributing trillions of dollars to the economy). With intel gleaned from Marissa’s experiences with elite members of the military and government, the Antistasi locates the service stations, frees the young women, and moves them into a concealed location called the Meridian.

[It is important to note that throughout this story, the nature of sexual exploitation is only alluded to and does not go into detail beyond the notion of being a government-controlled entertainer program. This part of the story was inspired by my personal jury duty experience, where a young woman was kidnapped and forced into prostitution until being saved by a team of professionals with a mission to put an end to this real-life issue.]

During a dinner meeting with Marissa, Cassi and Joren observe Marissa entering a numeric code into a music box – music begins playing throughout the room. Cassi learns Marissa’s team has hacked into the regional monitoring system, muffling their conversations and enabling them to speak freely (frequently occurs throughout the story). During the discussion, Cassi learns she will be interrogated by Sergeant Leonard.

After surviving the interrogation, Cassi is told she’s been selected for Cimerrion’s 2-year Entertainer Training Program. Assigned to shadow Marissa during one of her Entertainer experiences, Cassi is horrified to learn Sergeant Leonard has won the Swan Dive Package with Marissa. To keep them safe, Marissa adds a tranquilizing, amnesia-causing drug to his celebratory champagne, but the dose is not strong enough to subdue him, and a near-death battle ensues.

After Marissa and Cassi eventually incapacitate Sergeant Leonard, Cassi tells Marissa about telepathic conversations she and Haley have been having. (Haley and Olivia are in another dimension called Aramanthia). With this information, the Antistasi believes Cassi and Haley may be the twin fates the prophecy refers to and creates a plan to move Cassi to the Meridian.

The plan goes sideways when Cassi is recognized by Mr. Phelps. She narrowly escapes with Marissa and Joren, and as telepathically planned, Cassi and Haley go to the house in Hardwick (in each dimension). Unexpectedly a portal appears, and they are able to see each other. Suddenly, they hear Sergeant Leonard’s truck roar toward them. Marissa screams for Joren to run as she drives away. Fearful for Joren, Cassi grabs his hand while taking hold of Haley’s, and together they step through the portal into Aramanthia.

In Aramanthia, an enamored Joren steps toward Haley and says, “Hey, Sixteen! Name’s Joren.”

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