Vereco in general
Vereco in general
"Vereco", in the language Esperanto, means truth in the abstract. I named this series because it seems to have so much to do with truth, mainly Wes' true self, but other truths as well.
(For you language buffs, Esperanto uses prefixes and suffixes to change the meanings of words - it's an agglutative (sp?) langauge. The root 'ver-' means truth, '-ec' means abstract, and '-o' marks it as a noun. The word is pronounced 'vehr-EH-tso'.)
In general, even though this series is AU (Alternate Universe), I've tried to follow fairly closely to the actual series. Therefore, even though I am not a Jen/Wes 'shipper (I am really a Jen/Alex, Katie/Wes 'shipper), since the series is pairing the two of them together, I do too in these stories.
The idea of Wes being a clone did not originate in this story, but instead on a story idea which will probably bever see the light of day. The idea went away, but the idea of Wes being a clone of Alex remained. In the beginning, I figured there was one chance in a million that Wes' DNA might be significantly similar to Alex's. That changed when I saw "Ransik Lives" and figured there was no way in heck that a twenty-first century human could share enough DNA with a genetically engineered human from the thirtieth to trick a security DNA scan.
Once I knew that I was stuck writing the story (story ideas can be very persistient things), I did some research into the ethics of cloning. I used two of the ideas I found in my research as the basis of my story. One, that clones are human beings who happen to share the same DNA as another person, is what I used for the normal thirtieth century attitude towards clones. I figured that people who consider genetic engineering of humans normal wouldn't view clones all that much differently. The attitude of clones as tools for their progenitors, the view of Rialtson and his followers, is another attitude that would be possible. (President Bush mentioned the second of these two as one of the reasons that he is against human cloning.)
I also knew that we were far from cloning humans, so I put that into Wes' attitude. I tried to see the events as Wes would see them. How would he, knowing what I knew about his family, react to finding out that he was born in the thirtieth century?
The name "Rialtson" is made up. This person, whose scheme impacts the entire team, was named after a character of mine in another fandom, Ri'alit. Ri' is a stubborn character, believing in his way or no way at all, and I thought the "son of Ri'alit", who causes so many problems, stubbornly insisting that his way is the right way and willing to do radical things to prove that he's right.
Trip and Jen are also pretty major players in this story as well. It's very apparent that Trip has a bit of a self-esteem problem. He cares very much about how other people feel, despite the fact that I (no doubt deviating from series canon) have him as a non-empath. He is the one concerned about Wes fitting in.
Jen, on the other hand, is not only starting to have feelings for Wes, but she is also his team leader. She is the opposite of Trip in this matter. She is the uncoverer, the revealer. Where Trip would rather keep quiet, Jen wants to reveal.
To my surprise, it was Katie that was the only one that had experience with clones. I figure this will come up sometime later, since the other three have never really dealt with all the issues. The others don't quite know how to deal with Wes and his issues, though I'm not sure Katie knows how either.
With Jen, Wes, Trip, and Katie rather paralyzed in the whole issue, it took Lucas to resolve the tangle, at least for the moment. Lucas had about as much idea as the others on how to deal with the issue, but it's really not a big deal to him. I wonder if he's got a clone in his family, or if he doesn't think the way the rest of them do. I'll have to find out.
Origin of Title: The fact that they were all trying to convince Wes that it was no big deal for him to be a clone. The original title was "Al Mem Verighi", which means "To be made true to oneself", since I was going to have Wes accept his heritage far better than he did.
Favourite Lines:
* "Trip, if you don't unlock this door, I'll laser it and have you explain why to Wes!" she told her recalcitrant teammate.
While I wasn't originally planning to write a followup to "It's No Big Deal", I realized somewhere towards the middle of it that I couldn't tackle the issue of how Wes got to the twentieth century and into the Collins household in that story. I was hoping nobody noticed, but when two people mentioned it, one of which was Wolf, one of my archivists, I decided that I had no choice, I had to follow up on that issue.
At about the same time, an article appeared in the Los Angeles Times (my 'local' paper) which dealt with difficulties that researchers encountered in cloning animals. It also mentioned, interestingly enough, that cats were one animal they hadn't managed to clone yet. I also decided at that point that this would occur after "Worlds Apart", where the encounter with Mr. Collins would be the catalyst to another round of soul-searching.
The story has quite an unusual beginning paragraph. There was one that posted with part one on the list TimeForceFanfics, but I wasn't entirely happy with it. The main gist of it came out of the fact that rainstorms are quite rare here in the summer. I remember quite vividly a day where it rained in the middle of a workday in summer, and that's the image I had in mind when I started the story.
I managed to stick four references to television programmes in the story, as well as one book. The first, Wes' family coming out of Collinsport, Maine, was for Wolf, a requested Dark Shadows reference. The second and third were a bit more blatant- it really did seem to me that Wes' life was something between General Hospital (a soap opera) and Time Trax (which featured 22nd century police officer Darien Lambert and his quest to recapture criminals from his time who had escaped from his own - sound familiar?). If you really think of it, Wes' love life is science fiction soap opera. The fourth is a very small reference to the series "Starman" (the 1986 TV series, not the comic book), and it's where Trip is thinking of himself as currently the only alien on earth. (Starman fans generally hold that Starman's first visit to Earth was in 1972, thus making it almost 30 years since that visit. His son was born a usual nine months later.)
The book that Wes mentions by the car is a historical novel with some time-travel elements. And, yes, it has a scene which does require a bit of maturity on the reader's part. I gave the Time Force officers a liking for Reader's Digest collections because I remember that in college, they were cheap and held a variety of reading material. (This is where I first read "Green Darkness" in abridged form.)
I keep wanting Trip to bring up Jen's monitoring to Wes, but he won't admit it (though Wes, I think, suspects it). And I almost brought up Wes' miraculous ability to survive any fall early on, but it didn't fit.
Wes' short conversation with Philips (who I must admit I originally miscalled Perkins, mixing him up with a certain actress named Melody of the same surname) was a bit weird - Philips says Wes greatly resembles his adoptive mother. I can only guess that Alex is related on Wes' adoptive mother's side. But the conversation did impart that Wes was not knowingly adopted by the Collins family, who thought he was their son. This does conflict somewhat with Destiny Defeated, but I think the reader could say that Wes did not believe Philips when he said that. (I have a request to write a Philips-Wes conversation, so I may find out for sure.)
In the scene where Wes and Trip find the true Wesley Collins, I originally meant for Wes to search it out on his own in the Silver Hills' library. But I wanted to involve Trip somehow. Trip is often being seen as Wes' buddy in the series, and it makes sense that Wes would turn to him in his confusion. The original name for the real Wes Collins was Jason Belant, which seemed too close to Jason Faunt, so the name was changed to Richard. And Wes proves he can't be Mr. Collins' son by the simple fact that an O blood type can't have a parent of the AB blood type. (O blood types require a parent that have an A, B or O blood type.)
Jen keeps threatening to report Wes' existance to her superiors. She actually got close this time, but she never actually got around to it because Wes decided to pull a page from another character of mine, Teresa DeSantos, and have a balance problem.
And where is Wes heading to at the end of the story? The library, of course. Or maybe he went to see Philips. Either way, he hasn't told me yet.
Origin of Title: Very simply that it had to do with the legacy that Rialtson left in Wes' life.
Favourite Lines:
She was sure that Alex, had he survived, would have been glad of that too.
* Trip concentrated, his gem glowing. "He was sitting on the balcony, but he's back in now. He's been up there since you left." The glow ceased, and Trip looked up at her. "He's not going to be happy if he found out we're monitoring him."
* Right now, he felt like his life was a cross between "Time Trax" and "General Hospital".
* Her mind flashed though a nightmare of having to explain to somebody else that they were really named Wesley Collins, sorry for the mixup, no you can't be him, Mr. Collins wouldn't believe you.... Jen wished she could just send Wes back to the thirtieth century where he belonged so that he would be safe and not have to worry about such things, or make her life more complicated.
* "Did you know that this would happen? I'm Wesley Collins, but I'm not. And right now I feel like I really don't belong to this time. It's like ever since I found out, I've become more and more apart from everything I knew."
The return of Alex in the episode "Dawn of Destiny" brought a new crisis for Wes and the gang, and I felt I had to follow up on what had happened between Alex, Wes, and the rest of the team between that episode and the next.
The trouble, of course, was that I was trying to write a story that fit between the events of two episodes, one of which had yet to air. (And, of course, I missed when it ran the one time on my local station.) It was also meant to be a short vignette, but that didn't stop my fingers....
In this one, I tried to deal with Wes and his reaction to Alex's visit and resumption of the Red Ranger powers. Somehow, that evolved into a conversation between Wes and Trip, though I had a hard time getting to the meat of the conversation in the first place.
Trip insisted on wearing his civilian clothes when he visited Wes. I guess it was his own form of rebellion against Alex, and I also suspect that his Time Force uniform was in his backpack.
The explanation of why Wes is falling in love came straight out of left field. I was walking down the street when Trip decided to tell me that he thought the whole reason was because Rialtson was being overly cautious. I was worried that the idea that Wes was in love with Jen because he was programmed to do so would upset Wes/Jen fans, but apparently hasn't yet.
Apparently as of the next week's episode, Jen and Wes still won't admit they're in love with each other, so Wes' admittance to Trip may or may not fit the storyline. Still, this is an AU, so I'm not too worried.
Philips appearance in the end is not only to connect this to "Destiny Defeated" (Wes' overnight stay at the hospital), but to open up what might ultimately be that Wes-Philips conversation somebody wanted.
Origin of Title: Wes at that point had become part of his old life, and Trip, part of his new, decided to show up. Since it wasn't known at that point that Mr. Collins would live, Trip's visit was just an interlude in Wes' life. The original title, "Finding Home", was because I was going to have Wes decide that this was his life now.
Favourite Lines:
* Would he ever fill the hole left in his life? He hoped so.
* Trip smiled. Wes stared.
Once I read the spoilers about Destiny Defeated, I knew I had to write something about Alex's reactions to the team and to Wes. What spoilers I have read seem to support what I know about the following episode, "Undercover Rangers".
This fic was influenced by Mandi Ohlin's "Sleep to Dream Her". I just couldn't see the Alex that I'd seen in that first episode acting the way he had in the previous few, and I figured he was being cruel to be kind.
So, yes, Alex believed in the team, and he loves Wes as a father would.
Origin of Title: Just the way Alex was acting during the episode.
Favourite Line:
This one didn't come out as planned, but it did develop a line for future plots. I wanted to partially cover plot ground and partially look into how the other three would deal with Jen and Wes' developing romance.
Origin of Title: Because of Katie, the romantic who cannot bring herself to be joyful for Jen and Wes' love.
Favourite line:
Even Love Trips Once in a While
The plot seed for this one came from a line in "For Love, No Joy". Trip wants his teammates to be happy, and at this point, he's not beyond lying to get what he wants. Heaven knows why he didn't enlist Lucas' or Katie's help, but he just wanted to do it alone.
So began the Trip tale, which had Eric take over for most of it. I like Eric. He's relatively easy to write dialogue for him. Unfortunately, he's not the most open of people, so it's hard to get his motivations.
I'm going to get a Philips-Wes conversation one of these days. I swear it. But Eric's discussion with Mr. Collins came out okay, though Mr. Collins' refusal to get involved with Wes' lovelife kind of surprised me. It also paved the way for the plot to change - Eric had no reason to be around during the Jen and Wes conversation.
The pizza parlour is based on a particular local Round Table Pizza, down to the menu. Ruth Longhurst was the one who suggested pizza, which I thought fit since the Rangers seem to eat it a lot. Pepperoni-pineapple is definitely an aquired taste.
I didn't want Jen and Wes to be "on the same page" during the conversation, so they ended up doing a lot of misinterpretation. I'm sure that Wes' revelation to Jen will come up on some later fic.
Given Eric's understandable misinterpretation of Trip as a mutant, not an alien, Trip and I thought we should set the record straight with him. One part that didn't end up in the finished product was where Trip scanned Jen or Wes to see if they were still eating, but neither Trip nor I wanted to open that can of worms or scare Eric.
Origin of Title: I knew this was going to be Trip trying to help his teammates' love life, and I thought it was going to be a little more comic. Even though it didn't turn out that way on either of them, I thought the title still fit.
Poor Trip. First Eric steals his fic, and then Wes hogs the scene. This story was originally meant to be about Wes' love life, and I guess it's still about Wes' love life, but Wes' ego needed soothing. And Trip is too quiet for his own good, even with a writer who writes him so often.
Of course, this is probably the nearest I've ever come to having Trip get upset at someone. Part of it is because Jen can't admit her love to Wes until part 3 of "End of Time", leaving me stuck not writing about their love life! Ah well.
Origin of Title: Trip, even though I was writing in Wes' POV, was feeding me his frustration with Wes. Now if Wes will only decipher the hints that Trip was feeding him about his worth.
Letting Go
It was Alex's turn to come to the forefront again, and what better time than right after Jen closed the channel on him?
One thing that I've tried to emphasize in Vereco is that Alex cares. He may not be good at showing it, but he cares, desperately, for his fiancee and her team. He knows what he's doing, and all the terrible consequences of his actions.
Alex's discussion with Tyrran is somewhat influenced by the arguments of Chris F., who believes more strongly in destiny in the PR universe than I do. I've tried to put in some of his ideas here with my own. All I can say is there was meant to be a Wesley Collins someday running BioLab, it just turned out to be a different Wesley Collins.
Origin of Title: Alex seemed to spend half of this fic moaning about how Jen and the others couldn't let Wes and the people of 2001 go.
I wrote the first draft of this as "Missing From Our Lives" (available on the "Cutting Room Floor" page). Both of these have to do with Jen thinking while she waits for memory adaptation. In the first draft, she was annoyed, but this time she came out quietly determined to remember who Wes was.
In a way, this time she handled Wes' betrayal better. It fit more with her actions in part 3 better, though I realize she didn't have much time to lecture him then. I also had her take the first step towards realizing that Wes might love her back.
Origin of Title: Jen and the others wanted to remember Wes no matter what. I have no doubt that they would have fought the memory adaptation in order to remember him.
It's No Big Deal (Post "Parting of the Ways", Pre "Worlds Apart")
Rialtson's Legacy (Post "Worlds Apart")
New Interlude on Old Life (Post "Fight Against Fate", Pre "Destiny Defeated")
Tough Love (Post "Destiny Defeated", Pre "Undercover Rangers")
For Love, No Joy (During "Undercover Rangers")
Even Love Trips Once in a While (Between "Nadira's Dream Date" and "A Calm Before the Storm")
Who You Are (Between "Nadira's Dream Date" and "A Calm Before the Storm">
Letting Go (During "End of Time" part 1)
Willing to Remember (During "End of Time" part 2)
* "What'd you say?" Lucas asked, looming over the seated Trip.
"Nnnothing," Trip stammered, in the sure way that signaled that he was lying.
* Katie shuddered inwardly as she tried to imagine Wes as just a hollow-souled version of Alex, with no personality or experience other than his originator's. If it was a tossup between his life here and that, then she was glad that Rialtson had been caught and that Wes had ended up in a place where he could grow up free of that terrible plan.
* And, it seemed as far as Alex was concerned, Wes was more Mr. Collins' son than he was Alex's son. If he held any emotion towards his inadvertant, and apparently unwanted 'offspring', he didn't show it.
* Because even Alex loved.
"I am," she said finally, finding no joy in the matter, for what was the joy in bringing two people together when you only had to bring them apart again? Still, maybe, despite everything, Jen and Wes deserved a few moments of happiness.
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