Black Star

Chapter Three

Voodoo Bernsteen sat on her hands, hypnotised by Fontain's unkept beard and how some of the longer hairs would creep into his mouth like wild vines as he spoke. His yellow stained teeth, twisted like gravestones. At points during the stinging attack on his young charge, his voice seemed to ebb and flow as if coming from another room. Then as she woke from the beard-induced trance, it was like the volume had been turned up to ten.

"I have tried explaining the risks to her as I am sure you have, this inclination for reality is becoming obsessive and a danger to others. It will also serve as a hindrance to her in the future," Fontain continued with a sideways glance at Voodoo. 

She rocked back and forth on her hands whilst her surrogate mother gazed down, shaking her head in shame. Voodoo stole a glance at her surrogate father hoping to find some solace in his expression and thought she saw an almost undetectable smirk. There was a twinkle in his eyes, perhaps even blustering pride. Voodoo forced herself to look at the floor, fearing an unintended giggle coming on.

It would be decades later before she considered that most of the responsibility for her attitude lay squarely with her surrogate parents. An odd pair for sure, they had always made it known they enjoyed the idea of rearing a child. In their own naive way, they encouraged any disposition for individual thinking, human interaction and education in all forms. Decades later, this was not a course of thought Voodoo shared. Although her parents had firmly confirmed her outcast status very early in life, her thoughts on children were most definitely mainstream. At some point, she may be allocated a child and like most people in Heathen, she would carry out the care with a sense of obligation. 

As yet the handling of juves had not come up and may never do so. There were all kinds of theories as to what allocation procedure was followed by Mother, but there was always an exception to every alleged rule. No matter what people said, there was no rhyme or reason to it. Mother seemed to act at complete random in the allocation of her offspring to surrogates. One year it might all be about age, and then you would discover that adults who were no more than juves themselves would be allocated two at once. Trone and Samally being the latest example she had known of. Then you would hear that idea was silly, it was purely geographical and next thing there wouldn't be an offspring in the entire sector. Some citizens would be unallocated for their entire life whilst others multiple times. Voodoo had been lucky thus far and had remained free of juve responsibility. Her current excursion would clearly make her exempt. Not being on the planet must fit the criteria for abdicating some responsibilities at least for now. It could happen at any time, but there were no doubts in her mind, her charges would be brought up in the main by drones. There simply wasn't time to be involved to the level her parents had been with her. Educating, guiding and caring for a creature that would be a guest in your accommodation for years at a time. 

Sane had explained how she had felt the same and was almost sad when the juve reached maturity, a preposterous notion. Voodoo herself had been a juve of fifteen years and nine days old when the conversation took place between her surrogates and Fontain. As time passed, she grew to believe it was probably the one that defined her. It was from then onwards that she had relished the identity thrust upon her by others.

She was Voodoo Bernsteen, the girl who loved reality. 

Since that day, she was determined to never become like the shleps that spent their lives inside a digital world. In her youth, she had little choice, but it was easy to imagine the rush of climbing, running or travelling in reality whilst inside V-World. In small ways, she had begun by spending time in the real world to test her resolve. Pushing faster and further than anyone else she knew. From then on Voodoo played out her role in life, indulging herself in the attention each adventure brought. Each adventure had been more extreme than the previous one. Whilst other juves spent their lives in the safety of their own accommodation enjoying their safe young lives, and later adulthood in the virtual world, she was pushing the boundaries further and further in reality. In later life, she was seduced or was seduced by others who were like her. From the day she was defined it was natural that Captain Voodoo Bernsteen would find herself here. Standing on the bridge of the starship Lazarus wearing the captain's uniform at the beginning of what had to be the greatest adventure in reality bar none.