The Points Of Interest in every CHAMELEON MOON-verse story in LIFE WITHIN PAROLE, Volume 2! (Not required to enjoy the upcoming Book 3, but recommended!)
"Thought and Memory" - One week BCM
Liam has found a new haven at the library, admiring the precious paper books... and hanging out with the cute librarian (once his Nemesis), Ash.
Ash calls him "Wednesday", after Wednesday Addams... Liam thinks it's because "wednesday's child is full of woe." Nerd.
Liam's favorite book is a poetry volume called "THE CAGE OF MY HEART LIES IN RUIN." A birdcage with a human heart inside on the cover, two ravens flying free, black feathers in their wake. Ash has read it too, and figures 'Raven' would be another nice nickname, especially referencing Huginn and Muninn, Odin's ravens of 'thought' and 'memory.'
They kiss. They really have something good going here... but CM is in a week.
"Recognition" - an origin for Evelyn/Rose/Danae, starting ~10 years BCM
A poetic recount of young Rose and Danae being held and experimented on in SkEye custody, along with Hans and Gabriel.
(It's been 10 years so they don't recognize Regan when they see him later in CM. Regan has a burn scar on the palm of his hand where he tried to hang onto Gabriel when he fell.)
A 'montage' of being broken out by Zilch and Regan and Garrett, Hans being left behind, losing Gabriel to the fire. Meeting Evelyn, and making lives together. Living.
"Words" - 6 years BCM
Jay is panicking because he just kissed Regan and blurted out that he loved him! Accidentally (but truly). Rowan gets it out of him that "the last time I told a guy I loved him, he died." Meaning Mihir.
Rowan and Jay talk it through, and Jay and Regan come to the conclusion that being together is a very good thing.
Not much plot-effecting stuff, but extremely cute and fluffy.
"Life Returns" - Some Time BCM
A quiet, intimate moment in which Rowan gives Zilch some repairs, and they both enjoy just silently existing in a close mostly-queerplatonic bond together.
"Happening Again" - A few days after "The Library Ghost," just under a month BCM
Regan and Jay are on a run, enjoying some cute gay banter, when suddenly Regan says someone is after him, and disappears with a terrifying cry of "blood in the water." Jay loses his signal entirely.
Regan wakes up restrained in a SkEye hot cell, being interrogated by Lieutenant Sharpe. He has a special hate-on for Regan and Zilch (ex-agents "Chimera" and "Zero") because they deserted SkEye to live with the Freaks of Parole they were supposed to be policing.
Sharpe is supposed to be interrogating him for CyborJ's base of operations, but really he just wants to make Regan suffer - because he injects him with something.
Chrysedrine. The miracle, deadly drug that turned Regan into the dragon-boy he is, horribly dangerous and addictive, and he's been clean for years.
In the middle of the torture, Hans appears to Regan for the first time, and says he can get him out of this mess. He makes all SkEye's computers go haywire, and lets Regan out of the restraints/hot cell.
Hans remembers Regan from eight years ago, when he Tried and Failed to free Hans from SkEye captivity. Using Regan in his plans for "escape"/actually revenge on Garrett Cole, is VERY satisfying.
Hans can temporarily help Regan's hand phase through objects, like a locked drawer (to grab a personal teleportation device inside). He can probably do this with an entire body for a few seconds, help someone phase through a wall.
It briefly teleports Regan out of Parole! He ends up in a parking lot, and it's like the most beautiful place he's ever seen.
Back inside, Hans makes Regan's hand crush the transport device - he only gets a taste of the outside. He has to help Hans if he wants more, but for now Hans is satisfied with Regan owing him a favor. (Which he'll collect on in short story "Runtime.")
Ash and Celeste find Regan unconscious in the street half-dead, and take him home.
"Withdrawal" - Same night as "Happening Again"
Rowan and Zilch work on getting Regan stable. He's clearly been hurt, but the Chrysedrine injection healed all indications of HOW, terrifying in itself.
Mostly Regan fighting through his second withdrawal, with a flashback to his first; he met everyone here at the library when Zilch brought him there for help after they'd first escaped SkEye.
Throughout the pain and drifting in and out, Regan is seized by a consistent fear that Rowan isn't here anymore, or they never were, they never met. Half-lucid, he comforts himself by saying "you're here. Zilch didn't do it."
He's out again, but we see in a flashback that Zilch had been assigned to kill Rowan, and Ash/any other rebels in the library, but they hadn't been able to, not when they saw them being a family together with little Annie. Regan and Zilch never told anyone about this, and have been carrying this guilt the whole time.
He remembers all sorts of details about the people he loves, including him and Rowan having a kind of ritual of them helping him put on and take off his runtime gear.
Stefanos and Aliyah brought the FireRunner in early to see Regan. He's family to them too.
"Different People" - 8 years BCM
A soft Regan/Rowan feels story, mostly emotional talk and sweet vibes.
"Always Be You" - 7 years BCM
A short follow-up to the last one, Regan and Rowan navigating an a-spec relationship, boundaries and desires and trust.
(They're kissing and both end up getting turned on physically, and while that's Okay, they both decide having sex still isn't the right thing for them. It turns out to be freeing: they can enjoy the purely sensual intimacy without expectations of anything turning sexual; their brains have to be into it along with their bodies, and that's not the case here.)
"Stitches" - 1 week after CM
A very short scene of Finn doing his best to fix up a very charred Zilch. They both know that Zilch's heart is literally inside Finn's chest now, and that's brought them even closer.
"Memento Ignis" - 7 years BCM
Younger Annie explores under the library, and comes upon Ash doing part of his job as one of Parole's Reapers - a hardcore group of extraction specialists, whether rescue, or more often, body recovery. In rare cases, merciful death.
Part of the Reaper's duty is to give deceased people over to the flame of Parole, with a little respectful ritual to go with it, particularly if they had no family. Ash takes it very seriously, and teaches Annie about it.
Both of Annie's parents, Le Tam Minh and Le Duy Khoa, still work as SkEye logistics managers, but they're really double agents, spying on SkEye for Garrett Cole.
The fire return ritual is cathartic and above all grateful for everyone who's lived their lives together in the bizarre shared experience of pain, isolation, oppression, and radical (queer, trans, disabled, fat, POC, neurodivergent, polyam) joy: it's LIFE WITHIN PAROLE.
"You're Not Going That Way" - Two days before THE LIFELINE SIGNAL.
Ashe and Annie are on a breakneck race to Meridian from Parole, in response to Maureen's message that she has something Big. They've just rescued Zilch's pancreas from Sharpe's/SkEye's custody and are feeling great.
They stop for the night and talk about their missing friends and family, and entire situation: finally escaping Parole to find that the world outside isn't safe, but has a poison, ghost-filled desert in the middle of the US. It's a lot to deal with.
One reason Ash trusts Liam is that his mom, Turret's wife, was "an old friend" of theirs.
Some dramatic irony: Ash and Annie are worried that Sharpe has Zilch's heart hostage, not knowing that it's actually in Finn.
Ash at least suspects that Garrett isn't dead, and Regan didn't just abandon everyone in Parole. He wants to bring Regan home too.
Sharpe, in his pirate-ship-like craft, sniping in the crow's nest, shoots at them and impacts their shields, nearly knocking them from the motorcycle. They take refuge in a Tartarus poison storm, then hide in an abandoned town.
A Regan Ghost appears! Ash maintains that it's not him, it's basically an illusory monster conjured up by Tartarus' poison, but Annie tries to talk to it. It knows the "dream sweet" lullaby which horrifies both of them, but seems to hint that Regan IS out here somewhere, and the ghosts know to take familiar shapes to get people to listen to them.
The next day, Sharpe's vessel charges them again, and he fires again: this time he hits, killing Ashe instantly.
Annie is helpless and heartbroken, absolutely about to be killed too, but then the ghost re-appears: this time looking like Rowan. She yells at it about all the pain and trauma of what's just happened, and it changes into a dragon. It attacks Sharpe's ship and allows her to get away.
Devastated but determined, Annie leaves Ash's body behind and moves on toward Meridian.
To Be Continued in Book 3!
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