Starting Short Stories : “Shorter Than Short”
Unity Macroverse Short Stories often begin as “Micro Stories” of about 500 words each and are pocket-sized, which are sold at a low retail price of RM2.50 each. These Micro Stories are a simple form of “market test” to obtain responses from the public, whether an initiated story has the potential to grow further. For those that do, they often grow to become Short Stories, which can go up to about 10,000 words each, printed in A5 size. Short Stories that grow beyond, even have sequels (e.g. “Part 2” onwards), and where suitable – are plugged in to the main story arc, combined with the novelisation of graphic novels – into paperback novels.
CURRENT UNITY MACROVERSE SHORT STORIES
Short Story #1
Rembau tells the origin story of a young Zulkifli ‘Jo’ Hassan way before he becomes the Commander of the UNES Tigris (as featured in “Marooned”). Centered around his “kampung” or hometown of Rembau, follow Jo and his “gang” through their adventures as curious (and always hungry) young boys, discovering new things and sometimes those of which they were not quite supposed to.
Short Story #2
Home is about offworld terrorism within the UNITY Macroverse. Where does it originate from? Why is there terrorism activity in the UNITY Macroverse? Will the authorities be able to contain these activities and prevent something worse from happening? Home takes you through the journey with characters that span between worlds in a story reminiscent of spy-thrillers from the past.
Home will add new characters, new locations and linkages from past characters into the primary arc timeline of the Unity Macroverse, expanding the canvas further. It will highlight new historical periods within canvas as well, and link several keypoints to the main Unity Macroverse story arc. Home also provides a look into the alternate universe through several scenes with backdrops from our existing history.
*Home includes contributions by participants in a Story Jam conducted through Facebook during the COVID-19 lockdown period.
Short Story #3
How are “Gifted” or “Special” humans identified, who are they, and how are they treated? . Especially children. How did they come to be? Genetic coding or natural selection? Environmental factors? Or, something else?
School Run explores these discoveries within the UNITY Macroverse backdrop. Will “Evaluation Day” play a role in the UNITY Saga? School Run contains a number of twists involving new characters, also showing their links to the Unity Macroverse main story arc.
These characters play a crucial role in the other Unity stories, eventually affecting the outcome of the main Unity story arc through the exploration of the Sciences.
Short Story #4
Sik is about a mysterious, lethal outbreak that is first discovered in Sik, in the Malay Peninsular, in the 1950s. A strange illness erupts on Mars more than a century later. Are they related? Sik takes you through the 1950’s through the end of the 21st century, with multiple incidences pointing towards the eventual ‘maturity’ of the pandemic. The spread continues from Earth into the other settlements within the solar system without the knowledge of the population. The origin of the disease is in question, did it naturally occur? Was it created? What was the motive and how will it be stopped? How will the characters tackle this pandemic and control the rampant spread. Will more lives be lost?
Short Story #5
ROGER is set right before Marooned. It explains the many circumstances leading up to the event at Ganymede. The linkages between earlier Short Stories and the later titles after Marooned are revealed, through new and existing characters and locations within in the story. ROGER follows the preparation, testing, installation and commissioning of the ROGER Mining Rig from the Levant Facility to the mines at Ganymede. The continuous preparation is carried through by two separate teams from both the UNE and MAC. The Science Corp and the Engineers work together to ensure the successful deployment of this mining rig. How will the two different teams work together in order to ensure the smooth running of the programme?
Short Story #9
A man who has lived for a very long time, makes his way home to Earth to find that things have changed significantly. He needs to get things in order to go up against a secret force that is determined to wipe out humanity ….
Short Story #7
All is not well in the Commonwealth of the United Nations of Earth, as its unity is being tested. A shadowy community that has been around for a while now, has finally made its move. How does this impact the overall landscape and humanity’s desire to move forward together?
TRADERS : THE CHRONICLES OF CONSTANCE KIARA – “DEPARTURE”
Short Story #11
A Spin-Off from the main Traders Short Story arc.
A young woman recently graduates from the highly esteemed Kiara Biodiversity Institute and is to be posted at the Levant Homestead under the Terraforming Unit of the Science Corp – United Nations of Earth.
However, she has other plans …….
TRADERS : THE CHRONICLES OF CONSTANCE KIARA – “CANDIDATE”
Short Story #13
Created through a Story Jam at 43 Coffee, Taman Tun Dr Ismail.
A brilliant and cocksure young Senior Engineer Candidate is about to graduate from the highly esteemed Kiara Biodiversity Institute and prepares for what he thinks is his Assignment Placement Interview. He is hiding a little secret from the powers that be – and intends to join up with the person that identified and “recruited” him for “a little diversion” to an alternate location off-world – a young lady known as “Constance Kiara”.
TRADERS : TERMINUS
Short Story #14
Created through Story Jams with MIGHT (Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology)
A Specialist renowned for his work on rehabilitating massive systems, sees his expertise tested in the realm of uncertainties of Weather Management in Malaya. The runaway weather patterns are gravely beyond management. The tropical paradise of Malaya could be in for a deluge of strange weather occurences which could result in catastrophes. Our specialist and his team from the Terminus are sent to investigate and tackle the issue at hand.