Copyright © 2014 Robert Joseph Harris, All Rights Reserved.

Background

The Rocky Horror Picture Show will be forty years old in 2015. I wish there was a similar show today that captured the major cross currents of today’s world, such as considering the consequences of marrying carbon and silicon to create a new organizing principle for what it means to be human.  I would go to this show today if it existed, partly to be entertained, but mostly to satisfy my curiosity and to allay my fears of the unknown. This blog entry is one possibility that I grew in my mind until I had to get it out by writing it down.  This post, and similar entries in the future, will be stored as a page (after leaving it posted for a week) under a new top-level section named Filling Holes.  This name is a reference to my favorite philosophy-of-life quote by Elizabeth Roosevelt Longworth:

 Empty what’s full.  Fill what’s empty.  Scratch where it itches.

A Socio-Technological funny 21^st century drama in the spirit of the Rocky Horror Picture Show

This is a near-future SyFy fantasy story of competition between two popular students at Public Universe School PUS92, the most advanced of of 92 such schools that teach all kids of high school age.  Carbonicity is the prettiest and most popular girl in high school.  She has been the town and school favorite since she was a child.  She is friendly and connects well with everyone.  She also energizes everyone, always being the life of the party, and always being at the center of attention, especially with the normal kids.

Her new competition, Silica, grew up with Carbonicity, and lived close by but on the other side of the tracks.  They never had problems with each other while growing up; they just lived in different parts of town and did not have much in common.  Silica was mostly ignored growing up and hung out with the nerd crowd in leather, chains and tats.  Before her junior year in high school, she got some “work done” and is now slick and flashy glowing with confidence, and gaining popularity with the normal kids as well.

Carbonicity and Silica are both seniors now and vying to be the Queen of PUS92’s senior ball.   It is the first day of school in September, and both Carbonicity and Silica will be campaigning for votes to be anointed queen of the senior ball on December 15.   The student voting ends on November 30 leaving three months for each to make their best case to be the Queen of the Ball.

Key Plot Points

1. Carbonicity turns out to be bi-sexual; no wonder she is so popular with everyone!
2. Silica turns out to be a guy living as a girl, a transgender with a dominant male personality.
3. Silica’s “work” turns out to include embedded smart technology as well as her improved external appearance.
4. They become surprisingly good friends during a very close race, which comes down to the last day and vote. It is their respective supporters who have been fighting for their candidate.
5. By rule, the King of the ball gets to cast the last vote. He happens to be Carbonicity’s older boyfriend since childhood, Damond; he was red-shirted for a couple of millennia to toughen him up for galaxy sports.
6. Of course Damond is going to vote for his girlfriend, and he does.
7. When the final vote is counted, it turns out to be a tie. PUS92 has no rule for breaking a tie.
8. So Carbonicity and Silica put their heads together, literally, and end up making passionate love.
9. Carbonicity dumps Damond, who is drop dead handsome but dumb as a bag of rocks. He is a “hard head” who does not understand how any of this works and refuses to be King of the Ball.
10.  The long-term and distinguished principal of PUS92, Sir Geoffrey Ogden DeVine, uses his many years of experience and wisely chooses to let Carbonicity and Silica decide what THEY want to do; after all, it is the student’s ball and Carbonicity and Silica were  both chosen by the students to be royalty for the ball.
11. Carbonicity decides to take Silica to the ball and they agree to share both crowns as joint queens (or Kings, if you prefer). Carbonicity is dressed in a gorgeous gown and Silica rocks a slick tuxedo.
12. As they begin the first dance alone on the ball room floor, the nerds and normals begin to mix. They get inspiration from their queens’ (or kings’) joy and slowly reveal hints of their authentic selves to each other. They gradually find willing partners and join the ball dance; boy-girl, girl-boy, girl-girl, boy-boy, girl-boy-girl, etc., all moving in happy harmony.
13. Even Damon gets a dance partner; Goldie Monroe saunters up to him now that he is single. She had always been attracted to his glittering good looks that almost match her own.  They make a perfect couple and belong together in so many ways.
14. After graduation, Carbonicity and Silica decide to get married and live happily ever after sharing everyday duties.
15. Carbonicity agrees to be in charge of keeping the universe in order and make life as we know it sustainable, including producing less waste and completely reusing what waste is necessary.
16. Silica agrees to explore and develop innovative new, better and faster ways of doing everything without destroying the good created so far.
17. They eventually have five trans-human babies that are the next great leap in human destiny. Their names are . . . .