My 2015 #SaturdayScenes project. - Fifteen year old Travis Ando has spent her life being dragged around by her actress mother and singer father. But when the family moves back to her mother's hometown, Travis hopes it will be a chance for her to have the normal life she always read about.
Saturday Serial #1 - Moving Again by kirylin, literature
Literature
Saturday Serial #1 - Moving Again
Travis Ando fumbled about in a desk drawer, hoping she still had a pack of batteries tucked away somewhere. The party had been raging for several hours, and she knew it would be at least another two before things quieted down.
Her fingers wrapped around a gum eraser, the spring she unwound from her notebook during the last party her parents dragged her to, and half a dozen styluses before finally tracing the hard edge of the battery pack. Thank goddess! She tore the pack open and switched out the fresh batteries for the ones that had died in her headphones. Just in time, too. How can anyone call that “music”?
Her tablet screen w
Saturday Serial #2 - Dreams of a Normal Life by kirylin, literature
Literature
Saturday Serial #2 - Dreams of a Normal Life
The next few days were a blur, and before she knew it, her schematics were carefully rolled up and stowed in their carrier and she was on a transport headed for New Glory.
Her grandparents were waiting for her at the station.
“There’s our girl!” Her grandfather wrapped her up in a large hug, his cane getting tangled in the straps of her duffel bag and documents carrier. She helped him straighten everything out before hugging her grandmother.
“Do your parents feed you any more?” Her grandmother linked arms with her as they walked out of the station. Travis didn’t respond. “Shiri never could stand to
Saturday Serial #3 - First Day by kirylin, literature
Literature
Saturday Serial #3 - First Day
“Is this Sai Anto Productions?” Travis asked the receptionist. The building had no markings on it, but this was the address her mother had sent her.
The receptionist, whose entire hair was just a few shades darker than the sunrise orange Travis’ tips were currently sporting, looked up from her tablet. “Oh, sorry, dear. We aren’t accepting auditions.”
“What?” I’m not here for an audition. “I’m the new apprentice.” No response. “Travis Ando. Technical artist.” Did Mom give me the wrong address? It wouldn’t be the first time.
The receptionist stared at h
Saturday Serial #4 - Sai Anto Productions by kirylin, literature
Literature
Saturday Serial #4 - Sai Anto Productions
Despite its drab appearance, Sai Anto Productions (named for the peninsula across the water, Travis learned) really filled the building with color and activity. The first three floors, home to various workspaces and storage rooms, weren’t as deep as the building. The fourth floor was open, with spaces marked off by virtual boards, many of which were currently covered with designs, sketches, and storyboards. The fifth, and very top, floor was home to a couple of conference rooms and a small cafeteria.
The back of the first three floors was the shooting arena. Travis had accompanied her mother to many shoots over the years, usually with
Saturday Serial #5 - Creating an Account by kirylin, literature
Literature
Saturday Serial #5 - Creating an Account
It hadn’t even occurred to her grandparents that Travis didn’t have the proper documentation. “That’s all right, dear. We’ll take care of it,” Oma laughed. “When I was your age, we didn’t even have tattoos. We had bracelets. Mine was green, if you can believe that. I was assisting a minor supervisor at MicroTech, so I had additional clearance.”
“Why can’t I just get a bracelet?” The more Travis thought about having to get a tattoo, the more she wasn’t comfortable with the idea. Having her hair dyed was one thing. Permanently marring herself was something else entir
Saturday Serial #6 - Running Errands by kirylin, literature
Literature
Saturday Serial #6 - Running Errands
Travis had never seen motion capture being recorded before. It was like watching clay forms dance around without music. The actors performed each scene at least three times, sometimes under different lighting or with different cameras active, so each time Travis told herself a different story that fit the action on the screen.
“Why can’t they just shoot with all of the cameras?” she asked one of the engineers as the actors moved back into their starting positions for the fifth time.
“That many cameras going at the same time fries the grid,” he chuckled.
“Then why hang them all from the same grid?”
Chasing Normal, Scene #7: Break's Over by kirylin, literature
Literature
Chasing Normal, Scene #7: Break's Over
Travis threw down her bag. The anti-intruder quacking started almost immediately. “Sorry,” she mumbled as she moved her bag to her chair, and charged out of the workspace. Brice raised an eyebrow as she passed.
She followed the hallways back to the elevator that led to the hallway behind the arena, stepped in, and suddenly realized she hadn’t paid close enough attention to the lines during her tour. Which one goes to the offices? By process of elimination, she decided to follow the blue line, which took her right into the hallway she walked through on her first day.
At this end, though, she was more likely to run across st
Chasing Normal, Scene #8: Getting Ready by kirylin, literature
Literature
Chasing Normal, Scene #8: Getting Ready
Travis fingered her tattoo as she walked into Sai Anto Productions. She was becoming obsessed with it. It was little more than a subdermal light show, but Travis wanted to know its limitations. So far, she’d worn a lightweight long-sleeved shirt on one day and several metal bangles on another, curious to see if her tattoo was still scannable. The doors and her workstation weren’t stumped. She wanted to try a heavier shirt, but the weather was just too warm.
“Travis!” Lorraine greeted her, a little too enthusiastically. “Are your parents here yet?”
Travis bit back the urge to reply, Do you see them?, and s
Chasing Normal, Scene #9: Breathing Room by kirylin, literature
Literature
Chasing Normal, Scene #9: Breathing Room
It had been a day, and Travis wasn’t even to her workstation yet.
“You know you’re supposed to drink that…,” Will’s voice trailed off in a question as he fell in step beside Travis in the lobby.
“Coffee. And yes. I know.” She swiped her tattoo across the scanner and stomped through the door. Will waved his wrist in front of the scanner and slipped ahead of Travis. “I overslept and didn’t have time to change.”
“That would also explain why your hair looks like actual straw.”
Travis subconsciously tugged at her hair. “I didn’t have time to do anything w
Chasing Normal, Scene #10: A Night on Undertown by kirylin, literature
Literature
Chasing Normal, Scene #10: A Night on Undertown
“You’re becoming predictable.” Travis looked up from her tablet as Will sat down next to her. “What happened now?”
“Nothing.” She went back to her animation.
Will leaned against her shoulder. “That’s the scene they were blocking today, right?”
“Uh huh,” Travis adjusted her frame rate, still trying to figure out how to keep her figures’ movement more realistic.
“Is that your mom?” He pointed at a character who looked like an older Travis. “She’s really pretty.”
“Yeah.” Travis bit out. “She is.”
“Of cou