Pandora Tainted

Pandora Tainted is a work of dystopian fiction by Vak Beacon. It follows the adventures of the titular Pandora and her partner in crime Ian, both terrorists attempting to overthrow the iron-fisted regime of a government known as the Global Empire, GE for short. The story is set in the city of Eden, capital city of the GE built on top of what used to be London. The GE embodies every corruption of any government ever. They’ve globally segregated every race, citizens are under near-constant surveillance, entertainment and sources of entertainment such as books, movies, the internet have been totally shut down. Citizens wake up, eat, work, and sleep. Behind the Global Empire is General Enforcement, the sinister army of the new Earth, it’s ranks entirely filled with automatons. And behind the General Enforcement is Pendarious, the self-proclaimed emperor of the new world.

The story is part revolution, part mystery, part political intrigue, and dashed with loving parody of all of the above. The main character, Pandora, though being a skilled fighter and clever in her own right, is ultimately used as a pawn and figurehead by the resistance movement. Meanwhile, brilliant Ian plays an important role as strategist for the resistance, and finally deals the crippling blow that allows them to overthrow the GE’s reign. And then there is the curious case of the group called the Seven Fears that stalk Pandora and Ian, and the man called Fedora who stalked the Fears. Not to mention the hospitable and insane Kitty, or the resistance mastermind Galt.

Pandora Tainted is not a warning about some flaw in humanity that brought them down, nor is it an uplifting story about man’s undying spirit and his will to fight for what he believes in. The citizens of Eden did nothing to deserve what is happening to them, and have been worn down, their entirely lives reduced to tunnel vision. They don’t even notice that they are being massacred for what seems to be no reason at all. I suppose that I have to sum things up, so here goes; Pandora Tainted is a story about evil, injustice, and hypocrisy, and what those things make people do, the good and the bad.