Bête Noire story
Maria, an R&D food scientist for a confectionery company, recognizes former classmate Verity during a focus group test. After Verity is instantly hired for a research assistant position, Maria begins noticing subtle discrepancies in her life, such as the name of the fast-food chain her boyfriend worked at. She also finds similar inconsistencies in her work, like the absence of an ingredient she had specifically identified in a new product, and blames Verity, whom she remembers was bullied in school. Maria attempts to use security footage to accuse Verity of drinking a coworker's milk from the communal refrigerator; however, the footage reveals that Maria committed the act, leading to her termination. Later, Maria breaks into Verity's home and discovers she has built a quantum computer capable of manipulating reality. Controlling it through her pendant, Verity had been using it to exact revenge on her bullies, including Maria, who spread rumors about her in school. Maria kills Verity, seizes control of the computer and pendant, and manifests a reality where she is empress of the universe.
14 total · 2 choice · 9 major · 3 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| the desire for vengeance | choice | At the heart of the story is the antagonist Verity, who was out to avenge herself on those who wronged her back in high school. She had built a quantum computer that could alter reality however she wished but no matter what she did, the pain of what had been done to her remained. |
| unbounded thought powers | choice | At the heart of the story is the vengeful antagonist Verity who had built a quantum computer that could alter reality in practically any way she desired. She simply pushed a button and spoke her desire. |
| childish bullying | major | Verity was out to avenge herself on Maria for a rumor that Maria and others had started back in high school. Specifically, Verity went to elaborate lengths to drive her former high school classmates Maria and Natalie to suicide for having made up a rumor at the time that Verity had given Mr. Kendrick a hand job in the computer lab. |
| coping with someone losing their mind | major | Maria was rapidly losing her grip on reality from the perspectives of those closest to her such as her boss and boyfriend. In truth, Maria's nemesis Verity was using technology to manipulate physical reality with the expressed purpose of making her seem bat shit crazy. |
| gastronomy | major | Maria was an up-and-coming food scientist at a chocolate-making company where she specialized in creating new recipes for delectable treats. |
| human vs. inexplicable adversity | major | From Maria's point of view, unexplainable and seemingly impossible things about reality simply kept changing. Words she knew she had written were suddenly, and embarrassingly, different. The final straw came when she referred to her nut allergy and found that the entire concept of "allergy to nuts" (perhaps the concept of allergies in general since people couldn't make sense of the words "nut allergy") had somehow vanished from existence. |
| letting go of the past | major | No matter what Verity did, including becoming empress of the universe, she was unable to overcome the trauma of having been bullied in high school. |
| questioning one's sanity | major | Maria was left to second guess her own memories when Verity started secretly manipulating physical reality with the expressed purpose of making her appear bat shit crazy. |
| suicide | major | It came to light that Natalie had been driven to suicide by Verity, who was no trying to do the same to Maria. |
| what if I couldn't trust the veracity of my senses | major | Maria was left to second guess her own memories when Verity started secretly manipulating physical reality with the expressed purpose of making her appear bat shit crazy. |