EP416: On the Big Fisted Circuit

[eytanz]

EP416: On the Big Fisted Circuit

by Cat Rambo

Read by Shaelyn Grey

--

Jane counted them again to make sure: twelve.

Twelve signatures on the back panel, most jerky with haste, a couple deliberate and firm, one with a little flower above the i, for god’s sake. The pen in her hand ready to add the thirteenth.

How blatant were they going to be?

This was the biggest suit she’d ever crawled into. It meant money: money dripping through the wires around her, money in the gleaming metal struts, money being made by every step it took, money her family needed, every step a week’s rent and food if they were careful with it.

She’d never hit a thirteenth signature before. Most rigs, even the monster ones like this, got destroyed long before a thirteenth fight. It wasn’t just the bad luck, it was dealing with machinery that had been damaged and repaired, damaged and repaired, until you didn’t know what was original body and what was filler.

The sound of the crowd filtered into the suit. Most were screaming, “Coke! Coke! Coke!” as though they meant blood instead, shouts thrumming through the five railroad cars’ worth of metal surrounding her

Listen to this week’s Escape Pod!

[jdarksun]

Interesting story, but it felt like the prelude to a bigger piece.  Lots of character motivation and world building, but no conflict resolution.  "Here are some characters; this is what motivates them!  This is the world in which they find themselves.  Corporations are evil!  The system is rigged!  Action is about to happen - the end!"

But my opinion may be colored by hoping for awesome mech action instead of a character study.  I really dig Cat's other stories on the Escape Artist's casts.

[Max e^{i pi}]

Yeah, as a character study this was a great piece. But I feel sort of let down by the complete lack of mecha on mecha violence. This could have been an equally good story if the setting were the WWF, kickboxing or even a particularly violent strain of roller derby.
I feel as if the mecha was there not as a plot device but as a gimmick to grab my attention. And I resent that. Because I am capable of enjoying a good character piece by itself regardless of the setting. I came into this story expecting cool mechanized destruction and didn't get that at all.
So, good story idea, bad execution.

[quasidoza]

From the first few descriptive sentences and podcast length, I didn't think there would be robo blood - not sure it's the stories fault we thought it was going to more action - which I'd have loved.

Thought the ending was unusually closed, often it's left with a maybe they will fight and win but nope, she was screwed and to high to care.

Yes it didn't have to be a SciFi theme but glad it was else would have missed it.

[adrianh]

I seem to be alone in not missing the mecha-on-mecha action ;-)

The protagonist knows she's doomed before she gets into the suit. She does it anyway because, for her, the sacrifice is worth it. For me that's the centre of the story. Adding on the fight would take away from that for me.

[Sleeperservice]

Long time listener, first time caller.
Terrible story. Did not enjoy.
Nothings happening... nothings happening.. boring chat... nothings happening...
the end.

Glad it was over.

Terrible waste of an interesting topic.

[Gamercow]

I think I'm just going to ignore Cat Rambo stories from now on.  I just don't like them.  Maybe my past experiences are hampering my enjoyment of subsequent stories, but Cat just does not seem to be my thing.  That said, maybe I won't skip her stories.  After all, I really dislike "Spar", "Ponies", and "Mantis Wives" from Kij Johnson, but I really liked "26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss". 

Anyway, back to this story.  I disliked it because there was no story arc, very little tension, very little depth to the characters, and I just wasn't given any reason to give a damn.  The same theme was repeated over and over, permutations on the themes of poverty, superstition, and corporate greed. This could have been a flash story and had the same if not more impact on me.

[Windup]

I'm not a particular fan of the whole "giant robot" sub-genre -- it just never made sense to me.  So I was not at all disappointed by the lack of mecha on mecha violence.

I am an absolute sucker for stories of sacrifice, especially when it takes the gritty form of getting up every day and doing what needs to be done, regardless of how you feel about it. Accepting a situation where you know you're getting screwed over -- because a lousy deal is the best deal you can get right now -- has quite a bit of resonance for me, too. 

All of which is a way of saying that for me, this story worked.

[Mad Moe]

Is it me or has the audio quality of many podcast fallen off?  I cannot hear this well in car or PC speakers. 

[Max e^{i pi}]

Is it me or has the audio quality of many podcast fallen off?  I cannot hear this well in car or PC speakers. 

I don't think it's you. In this particular case the narrator had a few fumbled words, but I was able to hear more or less clearly on my standard equipment. However, I did have problems listening to a few recent stories...

[eytanz]

Quick moderator note: I'd like to remind our newer members that while criticism is welcome, on both story and production, we do ask that members follow the one rule and think of how they frame their criticism.

[timprov]

I'm torn.  On the one hand I wished there were some sort of action, on the other I didn't mind the character study or the introspectiveness.  I do think this is one of those stories where the Sci-Fi element could be removed and replaced with someones else (Boxing match, wrestling match, chess game, whatever) and it would still be pretty much the same story.  That's disappointing but not surprising, I'm finding that a lot of stories I've read or heard could remove the Sci-Fi element and replace it with something conventional and not much would change. 

[matweller]

...I'm finding that a lot of stories I've read or heard could remove the Sci-Fi element and replace it with something conventional and not much would change. 

You mean like Star Trek, Star Wars & BSG? In my experience, all of the best stories are drama driven. Conversely, a bad story is bad no matter where it's set. I think the funny thing about the disconnect we're having with this story is that we all love Mechs, so we want to hear more about mechs, so we want to be more disappointed that there isn't more about mechs, but we got a solid story in the balance and we're not sure how to process that.

That's an interesting thing for writers to keep in mind: beware your setting in so far that the audience's expectations for what happens in that setting may distract them from your brilliant story. It also makes me wonder, what if the plot behind the Transformer movies wasn't garbage? What if it was somehow something so brilliant that it eclipsed Braveheart or even Julius Ceasar. Would the people that complained about plot weakness actually like the movies less in that case because the story was too good for the fighting robots that we all came to see? Is that actually an argument in favor of boilerplate plots in action movies?

[timprov]

You mean like Star Trek, Star Wars & BSG?

I was thinking more along the lines of books like Red Mars, where if you remove the Science Fiction element you'd have a totally different story or no story at all.  In this particular story if you remove the Mechs and replace them with something else, Race cars say, the story itself would still be the same with very little change.

Star Wars, Star Trek, BSG, removing the Science Fiction elements from those stories would also be easy (Star Wars is basically a coming of age wizards tale, Star Trek could be about a boat on an ocean, BSG could be about a group of people looking for a homeland. . .wait, that one's been done before.)

[flintknapper]

I seem to be alone in not missing the mecha-on-mecha action ;-)

The protagonist knows she's doomed before she gets into the suit. She does it anyway because, for her, the sacrifice is worth it. For me that's the centre of the story. Adding on the fight would take away from that for me.

I am with Adrian H on this one. The story is not about mechs battling. It is about a woman riding out to meet her fate. It is a deeply sorrow-filled story that takes place in a world where mechs battle for the crowd, but it isn't about mechs. I think some of the negative comments come in because they were expecting something else.

The story is a character piece. I love Cat Rambo's writing and I think she hit the nail on the head with this one. Also the reader's voice was reflexive and mournful which fit the character. I loved it and I felt like the story held up as a stand alone piece.

[Max e^{i pi}]

At the risk of widening the tangent and getting scolded by eytanz...

It also makes me wonder, what if the plot behind the Transformer movies wasn't garbage? What if it was somehow something so brilliant that it eclipsed Braveheart or even Julius Ceasar. Would the people that complained about plot weakness actually like the movies less in that case because the story was too good for the fighting robots that we all came to see? Is that actually an argument in favor of boilerplate plots in action movies?

The plot behind the Transformers movies was not garbage, it was rather elegant: Transformers are toys. Toys are for kids. Kids watch kiddy TV. But you are limited by the amount of commercials you can put in kiddy TV. So we make a cartoon series whose entire purpose is to promote the toys. Kids watch the show, want the toys, beg their parents, Hasbro makes money.
Fast forward 25 years. (Or hop in the DeLorean).
The kids who bought the toys are now adults (not grownups, there's a difference). They loved the toys and the show. They want to continue that love for their own kids, and also because they never grew up. So they make a movie, to sell more toys. Hasbro is OK with this.
Everything else is just bells and whistles.

As for that heinous comment about Star Wars being a standard wizard's coming of age story...
I sincerely hope you mean the prequel movies, which we don't talk about.
Because if you mean the original movies... I may have to take drastic measures. (which include ranting, links and the occasional animated gif).
For now, read this[url].

[timprov]

As for that heinous comment about Star Wars being a standard wizard's coming of age story...
I sincerely hope you mean the prequel movies, which we don't talk about.
Because if you mean the original movies... I may have to take drastic measures. (which include ranting, links and the occasional animated gif).
For now, read this[url].

Well, I don't want to incur anyone's wrath, but I do mean the OT.  At it's core Star Wars is a fantasy story with Space Ships replacing dragons and Jedi/Sith replacing Wizards and demons.  That doesn't mean it's not great, I'm as big a Star Wars fan as they come and I didn't even notice the parallels until much, much later in life, but I believe that removing the Sci-Fi elements of Star Wars would make it a fantasy story about wizards (with pirates and princess of course.) 

[Gamercow]

It's been a while, so I'm going to trot out my old chestnut in response to the "Is this story sci-fi"/"The sci-fi could be removed from this story to little effect"  comments that have been increasing in number again lately. (This is not to anyone in particular, just seeing a trend)

What does it matter?

I understand the human reaction when they perceive something isn't what it says on the tin. In the case of fiction stories, especially short-ish stories such as these, the labels imposed upon them are of little importance compared to the content therein.  So someone got fantasy in your sci-fi, or horror, or romance, or there aren't enough meaty chunks of science.  Try to focus on other reasons you might have liked or disliked the story.  You'll probably get more out of it. 

[chemistryguy]

It's been a while, so I'm going to trot out my old chestnut in response to the "Is this story sci-fi"/"The sci-fi could be removed from this story to little effect"  comments that have been increasing in number again lately. (This is not to anyone in particular, just seeing a trend)

What does it matter?

Amen Brother Cow. 

I can't wrap my head around some of the complaints.  We got a story about a mecha-warrior going willingly to her death so that her family may survive. 

What more do you want?  A cookie?!?

[timprov]

What more do you want?  A cookie?!?

If this story had cookies they'd talk about eating the cookies, then you'd have to imagine them eating them after the story was done.

Maybe it doesn't matter to most, but to me it does.  I didn't like it any less, I liked it well enough and wouldn't be surprised if it was listed as one of the years best.  It just seems to be a trend in Science Fiction where the Science Fiction is just an element to make it a Science Fiction story when, in fact, it could be any kind of story and still be the same.  I know, I'm in the minority about it, but I really want some high minded Science Fiction stories that blow my mind with crazy ideas about the future.  That's what attracted me to Science Fiction and what kept me interested 35 years later.

[Windup]

One thing that I didn't get was why the MC was so sure she was going to die.  I understand that the match was fixed and Coke had to lose, but I thought it was pretty clear that the defeated operator normally isn't killed, and that there is a certain amount of effort made to protect the operator -- various harnesses, straps, the "crumple zone" around the operator's cage, for example.  While they may not always work, I wasn't clear on why she expected them to fail in this case.

[InfiniteMonkey]

1) Yes OF COURSE it was Science Fiction. It's only not science fiction when there's not a rational/naturalistic/technological reason why the things happening in the story aren't like now.

2) it's become fashionable of late (esp. in short fiction) to spend more energy and time on building up the setting of the story and the character and then existing at the moment of action. I'm not exactly sure why (I smell academic creative writing programs, though that might be the scent of my own paranoia), but it's definitely A Thing. Perhaps they're letting the reader decide the outcome? I'd just not sure.

3) In this case I didn't really mind all that much, because that set up was well done and emotionally compelling. I especially like the poverty of our fighter; it made for a very believable motivation.

4) so, people beating the crap out of each other (for others' entertainment) in giant mechs isn't mind-blowing enough?

I'm reminded of a co-worker who complained that the photos from Titan weren't "alien enough". "OK", I said "the pictures you're seeing - pretty much in real time, being beamed across the solar system, so plus transit time, and coming up on a worldwide network of computers, are disappointing because they aren't alien *enough??*"

[Max e^{i pi}]

One thing that I didn't get was why the MC was so sure she was going to die.  I understand that the match was fixed and Coke had to lose, but I thought it was pretty clear that the defeated operator normally isn't killed, and that there is a certain amount of effort made to protect the operator -- various harnesses, straps, the "crumple zone" around the operator's cage, for example.  While they may not always work, I wasn't clear on why she expected them to fail in this case.

The way I understood it, very few people in the giant mechs are injured. More often than not the loser user gets killed.
And if the loser user isn't killed, then the loser user is bamboozled.
And when the loser user's bamboozler is snoozered we call it a loser user bamboozler snoozer.[/Dr. Seuss]

[chemistryguy]

The way I understood it, very few people in the giant mechs are injured. More often than not the loser user gets killed.
And if the loser user isn't killed, then the loser user is bamboozled.
And when the loser user's bamboozler is snoozered we call it a loser user bamboozler snoozer.[/Dr. Seuss]

<--- If there was an emoticon with a bigger smile, I'd have used it

In my humble opinion, if you can remove the science fiction element and still be left with a great story you're doing something right.  The fact that the mecha fighting is used as a backdrop rather than being In-Your-Face, Mecha-on-Mecha Action (ignore what that sounds like) makes it seem more real.  And I want to be immersed in the story I'm listening to.

It bothers me that others seem to be assuming that Cat Rambo is just checking off boxes:

☑ Science fiction-type stuff added
☑ Next time deal with immigration but substitute Mars for Mexico

The science fiction wove quite nicely into the story.

chemistryguy_rant.exe has stopped working...

[garlic]

I loved how modern this story felt, and of the moment. That may make it age less well, but I really enjoyed the references.

[davidthygod]

Good story.  I was rapt, but my one complaint would be that I just didn't feel the desperation that Jane must have felt.  They talked about how her life had improved and some of the dire straights she was in prior to her mecha career, but I was not clear on two things: (1) why was the sacrifice worthwile (what does she get out of dying) and (2) who is she saving (it was hard for me to respect the sacrifice for "her family" whom we never really heard anything about.   I also agree with the comments about losing meaning death, not being set up quite well enough.  I never got the feeling that she was sacrificing her life until the very end. 

And I definitely did not miss the fighting scenes, I think it would have detracted from the tone honestly.

I don't want to be over critical.  I loved the tone of this story, and was thoroughly entertained. 

[evrgrn_monster]

Maybe it's because I had my fill after buying and rewatching Pacific Rim, but I actually didn't really need to get to the robot on robot action here. I thought the buildup and character conflict were incredibly interesting, and the world that was set up seemed disturbingly plausible. Although this story did seem like a small part of a bigger story, I didn't mind the closed focus on this one character in this one instance. Frankly, it just wet my appetite for more stories set in this world; one that can breed strong characters who don't mind dying for the ones they love. Plus, we don't know if she really dies here, and I liked the mystery we were left with.

On a distantly related note, I recently recovered from the most awful food poisoning of my life from Papa Johns, so just hearing their name mentioned made me super nauseous. I wish they had lost the fight to the other robot, because that pizza sure kicked my ass, and I would love some, if fictional, retribution.

[Unblinking]

I didn't mind the lack of on-screen robo fighting in this one.  Maybe because there've just been so many robot battle movies lately that I don't feel I'm missing out.

I thought it was a very well done character sketch, and I felt for her plight by the end.  And the worst part is, her rational self might make a different decision to throw the fight early but she's so high this ain't gonna happen.

I felt like the story focused more on the system of mechsuit drivers than most mechsuit stories do, so I appreciated the change in perspective.  The public completely ignores them as a component of the system, they only see the battlebots out there, but we see the untold story.

I don't agree that this could be transferred to boxing/wrestling/whatever and remove the sF element entirely while leaving the rest the same.  A major component of this story was the sabotage of the match.  They may be able to coerce her to throw the match, but it's not so easy to sabotage a boxer like that.  A more mechanical sport like racing could work in THAT respect, but you wouldn't have the cage match dynamic then.

[SonofSpermcube]

I loved how modern this story felt, and of the moment. That may make it age less well, but I really enjoyed the references.

On a ham-fisted-topicality scale with 1 being "don't even notice it" and 10 being South Park, I'd say this is about a 4. 

[SF.Fangirl]

At first, I thought this was all lead up and then the story ended before the action, but then at the last moment the main character just accepted her fate.  What I don't understand is why she simply accepted her fate - other than drugs. She could go down early and throw the match (it was already fixed); she could fight on knowing where her rig was sabotaged and try to compensate for it.  I'm not going to necessarily demand a big fisted battle scene, but felt let down at the end.  It was kind of a character piece but I just never really felt like I got in her head - from my exterior view of the character from a distance, I was confused and annoyed by her simply giving up.

[Prophet]

Wow, cannot remember the last time I actually commented on a story. Guess the Metacast motivated me in more ways than one.

What I don't understand is why she simply accepted her fate - other than drugs.

Yes, in the end she accepts her doomed fate in a thrown fight. Maybe I am mis-remembering the story, but isn't there a big compensation paid out to the family of a dead pilot? Because that would explain it. Defeat gets you nothing, death gets a pay out. She fought to feed her family. And if her sacrifice could keep them afloat, maybe it was worth it. Better than all of them starving to death. And I'm sure the drugs helped ease any reservations.

I liked this story. I am glad it ended before the fight. Best left to one's imagination. Well, they always look cooler in MY head.

I did feel this story could work real well as a prologue to a much larger one. Not so much about mecha. I kinda feel that would be an element to a much larger world. There is so much storytelling you could do here.

[CamTurner]

I'm new here.

My verdict: Meh.

Wasn't able to get excited about this nor am I passionate enough to lambast is either. Made the drive marginally more interesting... so uh... thanks for that.

Cam

[Cutter McKay]

Can it be? A Cat Rambo story I actually liked? Not to say that Cat is a bad writer, obviously her resume says otherwise, and to date, all of her stories that I've read have been well written, but just didn't do it for me. This one did.

I do agree with the previously mentioned concerns about why Jane was so certain she was going to be killed. I mean, it did say:

Sure. Up here in the big leagues you didn’t break your arm. The scale of these suits was monumental and so were the risks. You didn’t walk away from an injury incurred in one of these.

But at the same time, it also said:

And that blow had come while wearing a suit in its thirteenth battle, fighting for a breakfast cereal they didn’t make anymore... Who was Herk to talk about such things? The biggest piece of bad luck possible had written itself across his face.

So Herk obviously survived a fall in a big mech, why couldn't she?

Also, the certainty that her family would be taken care of only works if there is some big payout for someone dying in a mech, but as far as I can recall, that wasn't mentioned at all. So I don't really get it.

As for the lack of mech-on-mech, I admit I'm a little sad it wasn't there, but since I was already imagining the many ways Jane was going to win the fight despite the sabotage, which would have been too predictable, I was pleasantly surprised at the resolute sacrifice at the end instead. And that particular piece of the story didn't need to be shown, we already knew what was going to happen. So I'm happy where it left off.

And, being an avid drinker of Mt. Dew and wielding a strong preference for Pepsi over Coke, I'm all for the titanic downfall of that big red and white bastard. Die you power hungry corporate monster! What makes you think the world is content with Coke, Diet Coke, and Sprite for their only options in most establishments? Your pathetic attempt to create your own Dew, Surge, was a colossal failure, why can't you just accept that and allow the real thing into your tight fisted little...

Ahem. Sorry about that. Obviously a little pent up aggression here...

[Prophet]

Ah, found it. Knew I wasn't going crazy. This time...

Sure. Up here in the big leagues you didn’t break your arm. The scale of these suits was monumental and so were the risks. You didn’t walk away from an injury incurred in one of these.

That was why they were safer, statistically speaking.

That was why a death in one paid out so much.

That is how I read the last line. By dying in this fixed match, Jane was giving her family one final big payday.

So Herk obviously survived a fall in a big mech, why couldn't she?

Good point. I too was a bit fuzzy on why she was so certain she was to die. I would assume "statistically safer" would include death risk. About the only thing I could find is:

“You go try to shut me out of this channel,” Herk said. “See what good it does you.” He addressed Jane again. “You know and I know. It’s time for Coke to go down, for Pepsi to rise for a while, keep the wheel turning. Trick is to throw the fight without getting killed, do it before whatever they’ve got–”

His channel went dead.

Herk's last line there. Perhaps "they" have something planned for Jane that will get her killed. They don't just want Pepsi to beat Coke. They want Pepsi to crush the Coke can. And she knows.

[Unblinking]

Herk's last line there. Perhaps "they" have something planned for Jane that will get her killed. They don't just want Pepsi to beat Coke. They want Pepsi to crush the Coke can. And she knows.

That was my interpretation.  She's going to lose no matter what happens because the fight is rigged.  But what they have planned for her is certain to be fatal--she might be able to dodge that if she throws the fight very quickly, but by the end of the story she has decided not to.

[Devoted135]

So far behind here too...

I liked this one as a character piece, and wasn't at all sad that the fight wasn't included. The real story was what was told: a woman is faced with an impossible situation and makes what she deems is the best decision available to her.

[CryptoMe]

I'm a bit ambivalent about this story. It was a good story (for many of the reasons already mentioned) and well written. But, I really don't like stupid sacrifices (as I have said before, I believe). And to me, this was a stupid sacrifice. Not that her family isn't a worthy reason for sacrifice, it's just that I firmly believe she could have helped them more by staying alive. She could have stayed in the lower leagues, made less money, true, but continued to make money.  It may have been less money this way, but she would have been alive and with her family. Plus, if her family prefers a big payout to having her alive, then they certainly aren't worth the sacrifice. But, that is just my 2 cents worth.

[hardware]

Pretty good, but very bleak. Robot action is nice, but without the visuals ? Nah, we didn't need that, and that was anyway not what this story was about. Of course, sacrifice is by now a pretty well-worn theme, it was well done here, but I'm not sure it added that much to the conversation. I like most of Cat Rambos stories, this one being somewhere in the middle.

[Unblinking]

Of course, sacrifice is by now a pretty well-worn theme

Like love and quests, I expect sacrifice has featured prominently in stories since there were stories. 

[hardware]

Of course, sacrifice is by now a pretty well-worn theme

Like love and quests, I expect sacrifice has featured prominently in stories since there were stories. 

Definitely, which should make you think hard of what you bring to the table.

[Unblinking]

Of course, sacrifice is by now a pretty well-worn theme

Like love and quests, I expect sacrifice has featured prominently in stories since there were stories. 

Definitely, which should make you think hard of what you bring to the table.

I don't think that every sacrifice/love/quest has to be brand new though.  As long as it's evocative, I don't care if it's original in that respect.