|
What is Star-Crossed?
Star-Crossed is a sci-fi space opera that has been in development for many years. It's set about 300 years in the future, at a time where humans have created colonies as far as the moons of Jupiter. Four superpowers rule The System: America, China, the United Sovereigns, and the Islamic empire known as Al-Ankaa. Despite centuries of unrest and contention in the past, it is a time of relative peace.
The basic plot is around a huge company called Caduceus which made its name and fame by being the best at genetic engineering. The company went into decline after they created a product to make genetic modification more affordable, known as genetic templates. Though its initial popularity made Caduceus incredibly profitable, it resulted in major birth defects a few generations down the line because it became the artificial equivalent to inbreeding. Caduceus suffered severe backlash from the public, making human genetic engineering taboo, and almost bankrupting the company with thousands of lawsuits.
Many decades later, Caduceus sustains itself off of its subsidiary, the Io Mining Company, which mines a rare mineral called iostrite from the surface of Jupiter's moon, Io. Xaio Kirinson, the owner and president of the company, has spent 20 years doing clandestine research into another field, which he believes will save his company: cybernetics. His doctors have blended this with cloning and genetics to create "stellar technology," and experimented on humans to create superhumans with extremely varied abilities.
But Xaio had another motive for developing this technology. His daughter, Ursula, died in a tragic accident, and he uses stellar technology to bring her back to life. By this time, however, it’s leaked out to the public that Caduceus has been doing these experiments, and this creates a general outrage against a product which many believe will cause as much damage to human society as Caduceus's past ventures. Protesters who still remember Caduceus's transgressions flock to the colony of Troy on Ganymede to oppose the company, bringing journalists from all over The System to monitor the spectacle.
The story itself focuses on the people in Caduceus who developed the technology and the subjects of the experiments, called "stellars." The three main characters are Ursa Kirinson, Xaio's daughter; Carina, the fugitive stellar and superhacker who is not afraid to break the law to further Caduceus's agenda; and Ryan Osiros, a young man who is trying to get away from his past in the experiments and become a normal person. Other important characters include Boradai Kandafu, Xaio's right hand man with very questionable ethics; Erra Ulizio, the inventor of stellar technology and foster other of the stellars; Osman Subramanian, the genetics genius of Caduceus, feared for his pursuit of strange, superhuman enhancements; Aaron Gildner, Caduceus's emotionally unstable but very talented surgeon; Cygna, a good-natured stellar who chooses to be spokeswoman for Caduceus; Cain, a bitter and vengeful stellar who wants to destroy Caduceus through the media; Scorpio,a highly powerful and quirky stellar who is part of Caduceus's security forces; Faras Al-Tayran, a former military pilot and with a chronically bad attitude; and Kent "Centaur" Langham, the affable and handsome director of the Io Mining Company.
Back to Top
Can I read your story?
Yes, you can read what's I've written so far in the "Story" section.
Back to Top
What are these illustrations?
These illustrations in the Gallery and Characters and wherever I post them are all created for Star-Crossed. They are not computer-generated in any way, they are physical works of art made with colored pencil, collage, and gouache ("mixed-media" you would call it). They represent characters and scenes from Star-Crossed.
Back to Top
Who are you?
I'm Aubry. Though I'm an artist and writer, I make my living at a large internet company you have definitely heard of, but I will not mention (enter "fired for blogging" into Google).
I have loved art and fiction since I was a young girl, and would someday love to make it my actual job. For now, I do illustrations and write in my spare time.
Back to Top
Can I send you comments?
I invite constructive criticism. Please send your feedback using the "Contact" link.
Back to Top
|
