This new science fiction story has a deeply personal bent to it. No, Geralyn Wichers has never helmed a covert expedition through an inter-dimensional portal, but like Charlane, ex-army officer and lead character, she never feels quite good enough. “As women today, we face pressure from every side,” says the Canadian author. “Be it our career hopes, expectations of family, or body image, it’s everywhere. It’s right on the phone in our hand. No wonder so many of us live with anxiety.”
Bridger: a Dystopian Serial is a science-fiction story told in episode form. It’s set in a world bled dry by global war and swiftly running out of resources. With her mental health and career in shambles, Char has left the army for a remote research facility. But when a humanoid creature from another world appears, Char agrees to helm a covert mission to follow the creature back to his world. The mission: find new resources and gain an edge in the war. But an encounter with her estranged husband leaves Char torn between saving her country and saving the love she didn’t know still lived.
As she wrote, Geralyn felt a kinship with Char, who had given everything she had to advance her career. “Char thought if she just got one more promotion, she’d feel worthy of love and respect,” Geralyn says. “In my own life, I catch myself thinking ‘if I would just lose a few pounds, if I would get nicer clothes, if I wasn’t working a dead- end job—then people would like me.’” But this isn’t a morality tale. Geralyn leads readers on a cross-world adventure full of danger, lies and romance. Visit bridgerserial.com to subscribe and read for free.
Geralyn Wichers is a science fiction and fantasy author from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Her previous works include urban fantasy trilogy Society of Immortals, sci-fi dystopian story Sons of Earth, and We are the Living, an apocalyptic romance. Geralyn is a journalism student, coffee enthusiast, and recently dabbled in stand-up comedy. Visit her on Instagram and Twitter @geralynwichers.
Welcome to Realm Explorers! In this weekly series, we visit a variety of unique worlds created by talented science fiction and fantasy authors. Enjoy your travels! And don’t forget to read to the bottom of the post to find out more about each author and see how to purchase the featured book.
Geralyn Wichers
Title of book and/or series:
Brief summary of the story:
“A manufactured person is no person at all.” Human cloning technology has advanced to the degree that clones are mass manufactured and used as a customizable workforce. Dominic is a clone who escaped from the cloning facility and made a life for himself. Now he returns to Caspian Genetics, the factory that birthed him, with revenge on his mind. Though he tries to steel himself from the plight of the other clones, when he sees a clone about to be killed for being out of specifications, he cannot turn away. Dominic’s plot begins to unravel, complicated by an unlikely alliance, a secret romance, and the creeping doubt that he’s been lied to. Is he human after all?
Brief description of the world or location you created for this story:
The story takes place in a near-future version of our own world, and I designed it to be generic. ‘The City,’ where the characters live, is never named.
The City is a grey, impersonal megalopolis. It is a bit like a fussy eater’s plate: everything has its own section, and nothing touches. The people are separated from each other based upon their strata of society. The working poor live in a ghetto. The professional class lives in modest houses and condos around planned neighborhoods. The rich avoid the city entirely, sequestering themselves in estates in the countryside. It’s also cold. The story starts in the winter, and the winter never seems to come to an end. I wanted the story and the locale to have a dark grey pallet.
What dangers should we avoid in The City?
The city is a fairly safe place if you’re in your own neighborhood. The city government keeps very close tabs on its citizens, particularly the middle/professional class. They make it difficult to get away with anything.
Is there a distinct or unusual type of food or meal that we might be served in The City?
The food the characters eat blends into the sparse city rather well. Dominic lives on a regimented diet of chicken breast, vegetables, almond milk, and other health foods. Food isn’t a priority to him. It’s more like filling his vehicle with fuel, and the best fuel at that. Working class characters Justine and Casey live on wild game, rice and other staples. Yet, you get the idea that they do very well with what they have. Most of the meals in the story take place at their house–they’re hospitable people who’d share their last bit of food.
What types of vehicles, animals, technology, etc. are used to travel in or to The City?
Public transport, such as buses and a network of monorail trains, is important in the city. Wealthier characters, such as Dominic, use self-guided cars. He speaks his destination into the navigation system, and the car takes him to that place.
What types of plants, animals, or sentient races might we encounter in The City that we don’t see on Earth?
The key difference here is the entire race of clones, or as they’re called in the story, Manufactured Persons, MP’s or ‘Empties’. The MP’s are perfectly human, but the common belief is that they are not. They are considered soulless, unable to form real relationships or survive in the world.
There are several types of MP’s. The story centers on Caspian Genetics, which produces Manufactured Fighting Personnel for military use. Other types include domestic MP’s, manufactured by Homeland, which fill ordinary labor roles, and High Performance Manufactured Personnel (HPMPs), manufactured by Symbiosis Genetic Labs, who are custom designed for special roles.
Is there any advanced or unusual technology in The City? If you haven’t described it already, please give some examples.
One bit of technology that will play a key part is tracking technology. The Manufactured Persons are all tracked by a chip embedded under the skin. Employees at Caspian Genetics are tracked by a bracelet they wear, and in the City at large, anyone with a cell phone is tracked constantly.
Is there a particular religion practiced in The City? Please describe what it involves.
On the whole, religion is not encouraged in the city. There is a state-sanctioned Christian church. Some characters are involved in a clandestine Christian church.
What is the political or government structure in The City? Who is in charge there at the moment, and what kind of leader is he/she?
The City is governed more by giant bureaucracy than by a figurehead. Its departments are famously bad at communicating with each other, which is exploited by one more nefarious character in the story.
Has anything in your actual life inspired the locations, cultures, etc. in your book?
Oh, definitely! The idea came from the pharmaceutical manufacturing plant that I work in. Caspian Genetics isn’t modeled on my workplace but many small details are borrowed–the gowning procedures, the documentation, the general feel of the production area.
What, if any, “hot-button” or controversial topics do you touch on in your book?
I would call it a very ‘pro-life’ book. Humanity, and the value of human life, is a reoccurring theme. Dominic has lived his life convinced he isn’t human, but Casey, an important character he meets along the way, is determined to convince him that he is just as human, just as valuable, as any citizen of the city.
Author Autobiography:I live in Manitoba, Canada. When not writing, or working in the factory, I can be found running down the sidewalks and trails of my hometown, singing in the church choir, or staring into space–possibly all while carrying a massive book.
Where, and in what formats, can we purchase your book?
Where can readers connect with you online?
You can come by my
blog. I write about adventures in running, relationships, personal development, and humor. You can also
read samplesof
Sons of Earth and my other book,
We are the Living.
Or, if you’re on Twitter, I tweet from @GeralynWichers. I’d love to chat with you!
“Isn’t that what you planned to do all along? Stop them from trampling on that human soul?” -Casey, Sons of Earth.
It began on the manufacturing floor of the factory I work in. I was a brand new operator in a pharmaceutical plant, adjusting to the new regimen and rules. There were so many rules! Any product that didn’t meet the strictest of parameters was ‘reject’–garbage. One day I got this funny idea. What if we were manufacturing clones? What would the factory do with clones that didn’t meet their specifications?
With the idea of human ‘reject’–garbage clones–Sons of Earth was born.
A manufactured person is no person at all. Designed to fight and die, Dominic escaped from the metallic womb of Caspian Genetics. He knows that if he is found out he’s as good as dead, but he cannot forget that his brothers are enslaved.
He matches his wits against Caspian’s might. But how can Dominic stand against an industry that denies his personhood when he doubts his own humanity? As his plans unravel, Dominic is forced to face the question: Was he lied to? Is he human after all?
Can you just ‘throw out’ a human being? I suspect a normal, rational person would say no. But what if we believed they weren’t really human? Some might think this is a giant leap, but I would contend that dehumanization is easier and more common than you’d think. Case in point: the YouTube comment section.
Have you heard the adage “Do unto others as you would have them do for you?” This golden rule is nowhere to be found in comment section debates, where the slightest difference of opinion is grounds for ridiculous name-calling. Unfortunately, I cannot exempt myself from this tendency, in the interest of full disclosure. Why do we do this? On a subconscious level we don’t believe they’re as human, or as valuable as we are.
Let’s move down a layer. One of the main arguments in the prolife/prochoice abortion debate is ‘When does the fetus become a human being?’ By the grounds of ‘it isn’t a person,’ thousands of babies are aborted. The motto, “To keep you is no benefit. To destroy you is no loss” could be aptly applied.
So it doesn’t take a big stretch in my overactive imagination to picture clones that didn’t quite make spec being fatally injected and incinerated. Rights? They have no rights. Those who are good enough are sold, and their owners do what they please with them.
Dominic, Casey and Justine do not call them worthless. Dominic calls them his brothers. Caspian Genetics treated him like scum, and he’d like to serve it back to them. Casey and Justine are devout Christians and see the clones as God’s creation, just as they are. But they are just blue-collar workers, nobodies themselves.
A penniless son of a drunk struggles to make a good life for his family. A clone’s search for revenge lands him in a relationship that will break the heart he didn’t know he had. An unlikely alliance challenges an industry.
What is a life worth? Explore this with me in Sons of Earth.
Geralyn Wichers writes from Manitoba, Canada. When not writing, or working in the factory, she can be found running down the sidewalks and trails of her hometown, singing in the church choir, or staring into space–possibly all while carrying a massive book.
