Ghostwriter

I'm liking this a lot.

You're all different folks, aren't you? I'm Civvie, as I mentioned earlier. I'm not sure how comfortable you are with names (or if you possess them at all) but it helps me feel more connected.

Hm. Thinking about it earlier, we haven't named any of the planets yet.
I thought Chiron, Eucalyptis, Dachydis might work for placeholder names, but it had occurred to me that if they're going to be placeholder names might as well make them easy to remember.
So...
Boxworld/Boxlandia, Quarter, Refugia?
Placeholder names being placeholders, certainly open to alternatives.

While I'm at it, let me see if my notes are straight.
Three Two planets, two(?) three species, and our current characters of interest Belfry and Dime.

Although rereading it, I may have mistaken our current planet as separate from boxworld?
Hrm. Well, in that case it would be mysterious outsider sent lizard people to infiltrate boxworld
No, no. We started with boxworld, with its tripod citizens. One world, one species. Lizard aliens wanted boxworlds boxes, launched secret invasion. (to be followed by real invasion.) That would be two species. Now we get to Belfry Retting and Dime, with Belfry of a species originating on another world. So three species, two planets. I think that's about right for the time being.

That reads right. I like Chiron and Refugia both-- but Dachydis also works perfectly well. We're not sure where the lizard folks came from, so we'll save naming them for later. Our story takes place on Chiron, the island planet with intrigue in the form of boxes, and Belfry's hope/Dime's fear is Refugia.

Dime and his species are tripodal, lightly armored, oddly geometric heads; Belfry and her species are tall, limber, with tough hides and a bipedal form. The lizards follow a classic reptillian behavior, and can shapeshift. Their existence on this planet isn't two-dimensional, especially not for our purposes, but their primary government is doing its best to dismantle Chiron's loose, unstable society.

Let's take a short step back to talk about these characters.

but first, we need a day in the life of dime, whose profession must be suitably dull and metaphorically about security and imposing a hierarchy of authority. a loan shark's life is too exciting... i already mentioned banking once too many... ah, a police officer, but not the type who typically gets to handle exciting things like murders or investigations. but if they've been around long enough to get jaded watching injustice pass by daily and "justice" being a sham (perhaps the religion nobody really believes in has its rituals legally enforced,) they must be further down the line than a simple street corner beat cop, so they're some kind of desk jockey.

Dime is dime a dozen, if you will. His depression manifests itself in a lack of will, but he's the sort of person who has spats of manic action, too. These are the most crushing instances in his life-- there is nothing he can spend his energy on, nothing he can solve or help. He's seen thousands of crimes pushed down onto papers he's been asked to sign to 'waive away', and his supposedly high position is a sham. He's got no power. Not a single person in the police force doesn't resent him for one reason or another. His constant questioning of the people on duty is, maybe, part of the reason he's never gotten assigned elsewhere.

Building off of that - this started when Belfry was arrested, for some minor crime. Dime handled her confiscated effects, including the briefcase and its contents.

Somehow, while processing the briefcase, Dime stumbled on the beacon's purpose. Up to then, Belfry had thought it was just a memento. But she overheard him trying to explain it to an uninterested superior, and that's when she decided to make a run for it. To save this world, even if it didn't really care about her.

Belfry's life has been so off-kilter that it's hard for her to ever know her true allegiance. She was dealt card after card that made her want to change the world-- and this strange, pointless beacon made her think she was some sort of peace offering from home. Her differences from every other person, she's been able to overlook that all. There's a fire in her that makes decisions before Belfry can think about them.

Dime was desperate-- typical in every instance where he sees injustice or importance. But like the fish that cried shark, his superior saw it as another misguided attempt at valor. The gray-clothed man was staring blankly at the beacon, his mind racing at possibility and horror, when Belfry took her opportunity to sock him in the face, undo her bindings, and begin running.

You'd think Dime wouldn't be chasing her alone, then. That at the very least other cops would be looking to haul her in for the original crime, minor as it was. But...

But the cop force is in on it, although nobody there knows the full story. Dime made a connection with Belfry and they think, no, know they're part of an alien invasion conspiracy (the wrong type of alien.) They need Dime to pretend to befriend them and smoke the conspiracy out, set a dragnet.

...Yes, we'll back up a moment, here.

Belfry wasn't just arrested for some mundane crime, she was kept for some mundane crime. The beacon wasn't the point of interest for the cops, it was her physical form-- surely a sign she was one of the shapeshifting reptilians. Through weeks of questioning, Dime was the most sympathetic, even though their divide in roles made this tough. He didn't quite know it, but this was perfectly intentional. His superiors were sure his efforts would lead to Belfry opening up, and worst case...

Well, we'll say they made it very easy for her to escape. What they didn't expect is that Dime would be chasing her to a rooftop, not some slum full of reptilians.

Little do Dime or Belfry know, when Belfry's belongings were confiscated one of the infiltrators had bugged the device to track where the message would be sent. Planets fit for life might be a bit more common in this universe, but still a rarity. But why wouldn't they simply use the device themselves? The beacon simply wouldn't recognize them. As a safety precaution, the beacon would only function for the species that built it.

And if the bug was removed or this otherwise didn't pan out, well. They would take a more active interest in the beacon. The Lizard people believe the boxes belong to them and aren't keen on the idea of some third party swiping even a few from their clawed grip.

There are three parties at play, here. Dime and Belfry believe their chase to be one that will define the future of their planet-- and in a way, it is. Dime is being monitored by the police, and Belfry's beacon is being monitored by the shapeshifters. They are being cornered by forces too large for them to understand in this moment, and this chase, so desperate for both of them, is of immense weight.

Terrifyingly, neither of them are heading in the right direction. Dime succeeding means the takeover of the world will complete itself--

and, on top of that, what neither yet knows is that the invasion was already underway, in fact has been their whole lives and then some. it's more subtle than guns and bombs; no, this was a culture war, economics were the weapon. perhaps the lizard people live among us, hiding or literally underground, or maybe they never had to set foot on the territory. they are the ones ultimately responsible for the concrete and commotion, and now they just want to make the subservience official.

--as it has been coming to a head for decades. His intention in this moment is misguided, a belief that their planet can handle the shapeshifters if they are left alone. But it will only delay the inevitable.

But Belfry's goal is misguided, too. To call her homeworld, Refugia, could have an unpredictable, terrible result... and no matter what her species does to Dime's species, both of them will now be targeted by this malicious force.

...

So here they are, caught in this moment, like insects in amber. This chase will continue, but we haven't told them how it will end.

Sometimes I make ghosts out of characters in this stage, at their most vulnerable. But it seems cruel to rip them away from this conflict as it overtakes their lives, as it gives Dime purpose and Belfry hope. I want to see it through, as I'm sure you do. Where do we take it from here?