John Picha
Pandora Driver: The Origin
INTRODUCTION
Can you imagine a time without computers, the internet, or tv? Telephones were connected to walls by wires, and a "cell" was a place to put bad guys. The daily news was delivered by a paper boy, not a cable news station. Laptops were where children sat to tell Santa their Christmas wish-lists. Magazines were presented on pulp, not ipads. Mass communication was brought into the home via vacuum tubes, not microchips.
In the 1930s the radio was the centerpiece of the family room. Feel the warmth from the unit, more an elegant piece of furniture than any modern electronic device. As the tubes heat up, two children, a boy with tousled hair and his younger brother, sit excitedly in front of the enchanting device, their eyes gently twinkling in the golden glow of the dial, the only light in the room. The subdued light feeds their imagination as they delight in the fantasy unfolding in the imaginary theatre of the mind, following the thrilling tales of heroes of yesteryear.
The 1930's spawned a new type of hero. They were the champions of a halcyon era, a genre unto themselves. They were non-conformists who couldn't sit back and watch the word fall apart around them. They endeavored to fix it. They were super detectives that used tricks, gadgets and gimmicks in service of society. They used their unique resources for the good of mankind. They were secretive vigilantes that held villains accountable for their dastardly deeds. They were mysterious costumed crusaders who hid behind masks and worked outside the bounds of law. They were self-governing agents of justice helping the helpless, protecting those who couldn't protect themselves, and staving off oppression.
They appeared in the early days of comic books, adventure comic strips, and pulp magazines. Their movies were black and white serials with cliff hanger endings keeping the crowds coming back week after week (at 25 cents a pop!). The heroes of these stories risked life and limb sorting right and wrong in a different time, in some ways a more simple time. In this fantasy world it was easier to tell the good guys from the villains. Heroes like The Shadow (1930), The Phantom (1936), The Green Hornet (1936), Batman (1939), Spy Smasher (1940), and Captain America (1941), provided an heroic archetype, and brought order to the chaos wrought by villains. These characters formed a shield between the bad-guys and the rest of us. We looked to the heroes of the past for inspiration as they fought for a better future.
One hero of the past stayed hidden in the shadows. She was unseen and unknown until discovered decades later. Her name was Pandora Driver and this is her story. It's the tale of young girl forced to grow up too fast as a matter of survival.
Pandora was frustration personified. She became the relentless avenger of the common man sifting right from wrong in a realm where the villains were the local gentry and the heroes were outlaws. Pandora was a mistress of disguise who used sly audacity and an unstoppable future-car to unleash misery into the halls of wealth and power. She infiltrated the unscrupulous elite of Citadel City and adopted their unsavory methods to usurp them. Her fight was the fight of the ages. She was the fist of the people battling greed, graft, inequality, and exploitation. Her time was in the past, but the problems were the same blights facing society today.
These Heroes intervened when law enforcement or the justice system failed citizens. Sometimes their methods were unsettling. Battling sin in the filth where it resides can dirty even the purest hearts. The good old days we remember in monochrome were lived in color. In a time when good and evil was simply black and white, Pandora lived in the gray area.
Pandora Driver The Origin is a retro-hero tale for adults in the form of an e-pulp. We hope you enjoy the ride.
PART 01
SACRED GROUND
By 1934 the United States had found its dark age. It was a time of loss and consolidation, an era of transformation and desperation. It was a time of survival. Though the depression was lifting for some, others continued to suffer in Citadel City. Bankers broke the back of the nation's economy and created an income gorge between the rich and the poor. Corporations took advantage of the crisis to consolidate markets and expand their interests. They squeezed every penny out of local resources and workers, as a matter of “self-preservation.”
The people best equipped to survive the depression were the affluent, and the old moneyed. Their ilk always seemed to win. Their hands were in everything and their actions created ripples that radiated far beyond their boardrooms. They affected people out of view, the ones who didn’t really matter. They served themselves at the expense of others, in the name of “doing business.”
There were big financial gains to be made in a growing market overseas. A war was looming in Europe. Profiteers and investors in the US were staged and ready for deployment. On the home front there was a different type of battle brewing. It was a class war.
The ivory towers of Citadel City cast a shadow over the populous wandering the streets below. That darkness stretched to the farming communities to the south.
Betty McDougal lived with her mother Mage and her father Randall on a their farm. It was the only life she’d known. She was an innocent country girl and was happy for a very long time. At one point their farm was thriving. Her father employed people of all colors to help out. Everyone earned an honest wage, for an honest days work. Betty grew up learning to share. She believed that everyone was equal and should be treated fairly in the world. But her belief would change.
A banker named Carson used private information about the McDougal’s business and financial situation to ruin their livelihood. For a hefty payoff he helped a friend, a produce tycoon, monopolize the regional market. They poached the McDougal’s customers, contacts, and connections. They repeated this scam on neighboring farms as well. They undercut the small farm’s prices. It took the naive farmers awhile discover what happened. Then they banded together in a collective to buy seed in bulk to compete with the massive competitor’s low cost, but suppliers ignored them as a show of loyalty to their newer, bigger partner.
A whisper campaign circulated about contamination of the local soil. The rumor implied that Negroes had poisoned food going to the whites in the city. The story was ridiculous but effective. Within one season the McDougal farm shrunk. Randall couldn’t hire back his crew so they moved on. The farms output reduced to subsistence levels. It kept the family alive but not much more. He sought out other potential markets but couldn’t gain access. Randall was running out of money and defaulted on the mortgage.
Dread consumed Betty’s father and mother. Her mother’s mental health deteriorated as the crisis grew worse. One by one neighboring farms folded up. The Citadel bank foreclosed and the families were evicted. Eventually the McDougal’s number was up. They lost all the equity in their property and the sheriff forced them from their home.
It was 14 February 1934, Betty’s 17th birthday.
Randall wanted to stay in the area but there were no jobs. Through a connection in their church the McDougal’s relocated to a shelter in Citadel. The nuns furnished him with a job as a night janitor at an affiliated hospital. While he worked, Farmer McDougal dreamed of earning piles of cash and getting back the family farm. Unfortunately with his new shallow income, it would take a long, long time.
Betty didn't like the city or living in the basement shelter. It was over crowded and the high windows were barred and it felt like a prison. It seemed like a dumping ground for drunks and weirdos. Dirty men missing teeth smiled at her queerly. It made her uncomfortable. The place was dark, smelly and scary. It was hard to make friends at the shelter since people were always coming and going. It seemed that the ones she wanted to know didn’t stay very long, and the ones she wanted to avoid kept coming back. Betty worried that the shelter made people crazy over time. Her mother was getting worse. She only spoke in anger anymore. Her father was not himself either. He was losing hope.