"Questions... Too many questions!" --- Jim Carrey... or was it the Joker?

 
    Hello cookies, and welcome to the Soul Under F.A.Q. page! Thanks to many of your insightful comments and totallly pertinent questions, I've been able to compile a list of important facts that hopefully will shed some light on the more twisted (sorry about that. really) points of my story.
    Now, this page can only go so far in its answers: I wouldn't want to spoil it for anyone, so I'll limit the info spilling spree to the first part of the story. In other words, those who read past chapter 5 will be on their own---just kidding. If you're actually patient (brave and crazy) enough to get to the 2nd part of Soul Under, I'll be happy to answer your questions myself, or I'll find a way to link mini-faq pages with the chapters (how about it, the idea just came to me ^_^).
 


  That's two questions by the way. ^^  Ah, the infamous timelines. Contrary to common belief, this writer did not create these with the malicious intention of confusing the reader. Honest! ^__^

There are 4 timelines: 1 past(and only one), 1 present (only one as well) and 2 alternate futures, that I'll call alt #1 and alt #2. Here's how the 5 first chapters stand:
 
 
 

Prologue Alt #1, october 795
Chapter 1 Present, july 2nd, 790
Interlude 1 Alt #2, december 3rd, 795
Chapter 2 Alt #2, december 3rd, 795
Interlude 2 Present, july3rd, 790
Chapter 3 Present, july3rd, 790
Interlude3 Present, july 790
Chapter 4 Past, -245
Interlude 4 Present, july 4th, 790
Chapter 5 Present, july 5th, 790
Interlude 5 Present, july 7th, 790
 

How do these relate? Hang on, cuz the explanation's a bit long.
---The 2 future timelines serve a very precise plot twist, and a big part of the story's angst and irony rests on them... Alt #1 and alt #2 are mirrors, two possible futures that might happen in the years following july 790. What caused the future to split at that particular date? Well, I didn't just randomly number them #1 and #2: in a way, they do follow each other, even if they happen at the same time (confused yet? I am.ok, maybe not).
Seriously, if the present timeline (again, that's starting from july 790) went along without any temporal incident (such as some poor bloke with a sword coming from the future--don't get me wrong, I like Trunks.), you would end up with alt #1 five years down the road: the Caste take over and in the wake of their dominion, the whole world seems to have turned into a bleak wasteland, with Trunks and his twin siblings the only people(it appears) left walking around... Alt #2 is the result of what happened when someone (with a sword actually ^^, but I can't say who ^.^) from alt #1 came back through time to july 790, to help preventing the Caste from taking over. Unfortunately, that *someone* fails at the task (not because they suck, but because of a completely unexpected technical problem), the Caste wins once more, and five years later, they're still ruling the Earth, namely the 10 million people that have been trapped in Satan City. Clear enough? (if not, just ask me again ^^)
---As for the past timeline, it just comes before the present timeline! Easy, no?
  


 
 Random chapter questions...

Prologue:
 

No, it isn't. Sorry. But this one's cute too and he's got long hair! ^^; Actually, he's the same dissatisfied, bitchy Trunks you read about in chapter 3 and 5, only 5 years later. And guess what? He's still bitching, but he's much, much more likable than his younger counterpart. Does that mean he finally grew up?
  Yup. Yup.
  Like I'm gonna tell!
  The angel kills him. Sounds cold when presented like that, but it really isn't. Trunks has been mortally wounded by the Creature, and it's the only thing left for the angel to do. The "kiss" takes away Trunks' last breath, but also his pain and all his fears... ::sniff::
 

Chapter 1:
 

Hum. You may want to re-read that part. Are you sure it's really Vejita and Goku he's interested in? --The boy's a Nashr'tali, like the one that fought Trunks in the prologue.
  Nope. Who does then? Come on, you should know better than to ask me such things!
  Only a fellow obsessive loon (^_~) could have noticed the detail, and I'm glad to clarify. If you consider that an amazon is a rather strong, poised, beautiful specimen of womankind, the comparison can only serve at Bulma's advantage. Remember how hysterical, peevish and annoying she used to be when she was younger? She sure has matured a lot since then. I say it's the little Saiyajin guy who did the trick. It's gotta be.
  Another point raised by another fellow obsessive loon ^o^. It's so cool when they notice the details ::giggles::--- Anyway. Who is it a portrait of? Again, I ain't tellin', but keep her in mind till the final chapters of the story. A very lovesick one sculpted her out of white marble, thinking they'd never see the woman in the flesh again...
 

Interlude 1:
 

Yeah. Gotta problem with the man's career choices? ^__^
  The million dollar question I've been assailed with for over a year now. Woo-hoo! I just loove keepin' the mystery alive... He's one of the main/pivotasl characters of the story, and his full identity will be revealed in huh...some later chapter. I guess you'll just have to wait another year, ne? (ok, maybe not, please, put the knives away ) But I really gotta say this: forget about Gohan! It's NOT Gohan. It can't be Gohan. When he says "I killed Gohan", he means literally, not metaphorically, as in :"I killed my former goody-goody self and joined the dark side". Not everything in Soul Under is trying to be that deep and symbolical you know ^^;;;;
 

Chapter 2:
 

Sorry, can't say. It is mentioned however, that she's a Saiyajin. There's also a hint at her profession at the end of the chapter: it seems she's working at the "Lounge", an exotic dancing club...
  *_*;
  You could say that. Apparently born to save the world and all that jazz, but he's the only one among his family and friends who doesn't know...Talk about being clueless...
  And this people, will teach me not to post little spoiler pics on the menu page. Oh, what the hell. I like spoiler pics. They're fun! Besides, I'm still not telling why he does (look like Goku)  ^__^
  As you've probably noticed, his genetic make up is rather unusual (half Saiyajin and half we're not sure it's quite Human), and there's no reason why his growing rate shoudn't be as well. He grows extremely fast, and as it'll be explained later on, in overnight spurts every 11 months! To be more precise, he already looked like a 3 year old when he turned 1, a 6 year old at 2, a 9 year old at 3, and so forth... Just to spare you the lenghtly calculations, he "changed" into his 15 year old look in march 795. In chapter 2, he's exactly 4 years 11 months and 3 days old. He was born on december 25th, 790.
 

Interlude 2:
 

Quentin Parsimon. Reverend Quentin Parsimon. Weak, Human, hypocrite...power hungry. You may have read a bit about him in chapter 2, where he's being referred to as an "eminent" and "revered" "senator". How did he ever get so popular in the future? Guess what, he decided to become "business" partners with the Caste (he basically sold himself to serve them in exchange for...we don't want to know)...
 

Interlude 3:
 

The present one, and there's only one of those ^^ So it's gotta be the one where Vejita &co got attacked by the green haired boy (chapter 1), where you see insomniac Bulma and Goku walk around town in a haze (chapter 3)...
  ::frown:: now, let's be reasonable and wait till the next chapter ^__^
 


 
More questions answered (or not ^^) to come!
 

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