Nameless
This is something a little different, inspired by
of . The idea is to find an image and write a story in 10 minutes based on the image provided. David has selected the first image here, and written his own take. Below the image follows my take!
The best room in the worst building in the city was this penthouse. Panoramic, 360 degree view of…other buildings.
The detective pulled up his trench coat around his collar and took a long drag on his pipe. The smoke whisped and swirled away in the draft.
Yes—a draft, coming from the window in the corner, cracked and broken, splintered. A chair lay on the ledge outside. Two-hundred-fifty stories below, crime tape was being put up around a dead body.
The rain pitter-pattered on the ledge outside and made the room feel smaller, despite it’s lofty glass roof and sprawling interior. The interior was surprisingly sparse. A futon. A desk. The missing chair was presumably the one that lay soaking in the rain on the ledge outside.
“DB431, scan for clues.” He said to his droid assistant. DB431 silently acknowledged, walking around the room, a red light occasionally emanating from his face, drawing a line across the floor or wall or windows.
The detective, for his part, walked straight to the desk. Was there a note? No…a computer. He opened it, to see the last thing this man had seen.
It was a text document. A digital note? He took another drag on his pipe, and leaned in for a closer look. It was a poem.
The last lines read:
Thus let me live, unseen, unknown
Thus unlamented let me die
Steal from the world, and not a stone
Tell where I lieThe detective stood up, puzzled. “DB431, who was this man?”
DB looked over to me. “No name is on file.”
“Have we checked his DNA yet?”
“The lab only just received the body 1.23 hours ago.”
“Thanks, DB431.”
He went over to the broken window, felt the cold, wet air rushing in.
Who was he?
That’s time! Thank you for reading, and thank you David Sheley for the inspiration! Please, try your hand at this quick, fund prompt challenge!
Thank you for reading!
OK, that was AWESOME! I could perfectly imagine the scene, the characters, the environment. The image just gives a little nudge, but you've filled in the gaps in such a way that I could feel the cold air coming from the window (I even shivered a bit). I know there's more to this story, but you've given me just enough to say, "Wow!"
I love me some tech noir. Bladerunner is a top 5 GOAT universe for me. And this definitely scratched that itch!
Very cool prompt and enticing story to go along with it