Foreshadowing, Easter Eggs, Symbolism

Keep in mind: There will be spoilers.

*The ones that are ‘spoiled rotten’ I’ll put toward the end with an extra note – see Vault File.*

• Ch. 1 – A point to ponder: It all had to start with what Alec did to Meg. Originally, the story began with a chapter titled, ‘The Sacrifice’, which is an interesting title since it was cut. The majority of it was the scene where Chaza gave newborn Meg to Ila. Also there was a flashback of Ila’s in which she was sad and remembering Joseph, which gave more background information on him, their relationship, and their problems/squabbles. There was also another scene involving Alec at a very young age and Kyrie in which the reader is introduced to Alec’s ‘differentness’ by way of something he did, and Kyrie witnessed it and told him not to ever do that again in front of any of the other islanders. This was when Alec became aware of ‘differentness’ and began to fear it.
• Ch. 2: The twin lakes. One is calm → Tavis; the other (w/waterfall) more turbulent → Alec. Also, the third lake mentioned, up in the mountain region, is representative of Meg.
• Ch. 2: Mors Cliff – Mors is Latin for death. Meg says, “I wouldn’t mind seeing it for myself.” This is foreshadowing. Meg, among many other characters, will see plenty of death in, DOMUM.
• Ch. 2: Fish and cricket philosophy – lots of symbolism there, the biggest is the notion of freedom and liberty.
• Ch. 2: The older people analogy – all my own thoughts on the matter, but it also helps to introduce the concept of ‘ancientness’.
• Ch. 2: White and black colors. This is the typical symbolism of light and dark.
• Ch. 3: Lena’s premonitions about Alec is forshadowing.
• Ch. 3: …the importance of understanding the definition of an object before trying to catch its nature. This is symbolic of what Alec did to Meg (absorbing her abilities). He captured her nature without/before understanding what defines her.
• Ch. 4: Who is Kai? Another Lucusan who shows up in the sequel, DOMUM. Drake’s comment to Meg: “You only know what I allowed you to see.” This is important, there were ‘things’ about her future that he didn’t show, but only because they were also confusing to him, as they were inconclusive at best, and even more perplexing to Drake was the ‘lack of/the blackness’ he ‘couldn’t see’… which will be further explained in future writing (LoW).
• Ch. 5: Forshadowing (and a bit of symbolism), when Alec is crouched among the sea oats, and the mention of hermit crabs: “Seems like they never want to be seen”, this scene shows up again in DOMUM (see Vault File). Also, the hidden female figure was Tavis.
• Ch. 5: Meg’s monologue about ‘home’ is symbolic of Domum.
• Ch. 6: Tavis’ gender neutrality until Alec and Kyrie are spying on Tavis and Sebastian, when Alec asks, “How old do you think she is?” – It was mostly just me having fun with the reader.
• Ch. 6: Alaska references – mostly foreshadowing (DOMUM). Also, the ‘False Pass’ bit worked out nicely as symbolic to all the friggin’ secrets and lies about to be aired out.
• Ch. 6: The early meeting between the military and management was the military having detected the arrival of the pods.
• Ch. 6: Hurricane Anna – yes, this is a ‘cameo’ of who I dedicated GAMMA to.
• Ch. 7: Moretti Construction, cameo appearance from 30. (30 is a completely unrelated-to-this-series novel of mine. It’s not published yet – as of 2017 – so don’t look for it… but when it is available, wear a hardhat!)
• Ch. 7: Ila with the pitchfork – totally symbolic!
• Ch. 7: Meg’s dream – a nudge from Drake… to move things along/motivate & prepare her.
• Ch. 8: “I have no explanation for it. Alec was twice as strong as he should’ve been from an early age. I’m hoping to sort it out before we take him home because right now, he’s behaving like a young tyrant in the making and that won’t be well-received.” This statement from Sebastian is foreshadowing (of future events in, DOMUM).
• Ch. 8: It was Drake who helped with Meg’s hair. Also, she was echoing his words: “It’s time to close it now.” (In reference to the window.)
• Ch. 9: ‘…she forgives when she asks to be forgiven.’ Drake is reassuring Meg over a situation between her and Tavis… a future development occurring in, DOMUM.
• Ch. 10: When Sebastian first gets an inkling that there will be a transportation issue is when Tavis tells him about her relationship with Jack. When he ‘stares off into the distance’, this is when he’s first doing the math: Tavis and Jack (now, anyway); Alec and Meg; Kyrie and (he hopes) Chaza… that’s three pods and officially +1 too many people now. (The ‘math’ doesn’t begin to dawn on Tavis until chapter 12.)
• We are to assume that Drake visits Meg occasionally when she’s alone at the stone house. Not that they’re necessarily ‘doing anything inappropriate’, but that he’s ‘helping & guiding’ her with her memories and what steps she needs to take next.
• Ch. 11: ‘devious’ comment by Sebastian vs. Chaza’s comeback of ‘deviant’ was done by me intentionally… and for many reasons – all/mostly philosophical, especially given her added comment of, “Assimilation works both ways (see Vault File). Also, it’s a reference to a future term mentioned often in, ARES (life deviants).
• Ch. 12: the octopus. This is all about my fascination with octopuses. I am intrigued by them, always have been. They’re so smart, and so biologically superior in ways that astound me (especially how they seem to ‘cloak’ themselves)… and it makes me jealous. They ‘sort of’ show up again in, ARES as a biome animal, which in and of itself is foreshadowing to the later reference of the ‘Kraken’ (see Vault File).
• Ch. 12: here and in other chapters, Sebastian reads interesting books, so do other characters (whether in GAMMA, DOMUM, ARES… or in any other story I’ve written for that matter!), so pay attention to the titles, as they usually have importance.
• Ch. 14: The swirling light Alec thought he was about to encounter, that which he hadn’t seen since childhood: This is a Thoth cameo.
• Ch. 14: Question: What was with that 8^th hen? Answer: Mysterious, huh? What eighth hen?
• Ch. 15: Jack’s dream, foreshadowing of what John Paul shows him in chapter 29.
• Ch. 22: That was Drake drifting into the window, having a peek at Luke’s completed DNA test kit.
• Ch. 23: When Alec went outside in the middle of the night, unable to sleep (and before Meg had joined him), though it’s not mentioned, this is the first time he spotted a flashing green light. He just didn’t pay much attention to it, as his thoughts were troubled about Jack’s file.
• Ch. 26: How was Alec able to relate what happened after he ‘officially’ drowned—the myriad of colors, what his mother said to him about being a new father again after she’d given up, the leading up to the black nothingness? 1^st: It was a little bit of ‘writer’s license. 2^nd: It was a little bit of a whisper of foreshadowing (see Vault File).
• Ch. 28: When Meg cloaked the moving apple, she cloaked herself with it. This symbolizes her secret/suppressed plans with Drake.
• Ch. 28: When Jack sees William in the surveillance room – He (William) was swaying from side to side and would stop for a moment to run his fingers through his hair, as though frustrated, then would return to his swaying. His mouth was moving, like he was talking to someone, but there was no one there that Jack could see. But there was someone there: Drake. William was ‘giving’ his ‘memories’ to Drake. (Drake wanted William’s memories—historical preservation—because he knew William would die on Gamma.)
• Question: What’s with all the mention of ‘history’ and ‘memories’? Answer: A perceptive ‘whodunit’ sleuth could probably figure out how Book 2 (DOMUM) will end, based on the very subtle ‘hints’ provided in GAMMA. (And, yes, I’ve had a few readers email me with: “Is this where it’s going?”) Though I would love to answer this question fully, I’m afraid it’s a spoiler so spoiled that it must be reserved for revealing and discussing further after Book 2 is published (See Vault File).

– A bit of this and that –

• Yes, Kyrie Ellison is a play on kyrie eleison (God, have mercy). While we’re on the subject of names, pretty much everyone’s name is symbolic of something. Interestingly, I came up with Alec’s name while watching a program on human evolution and it was narrated by Alec Baldwin. As it was early in the brain-storming days of GAMMA’s premise, I’d yet to come up with a name for this main character. The program was actually good, and Alec Baldwin did a great job of narrating it, so Alec Ellison was named. Also, the numerous Latin terms are further explained in, DOMUM… there is a reason for it.
• The island whispers: My appetite for Lost’s whispers, but they’re also a foreshadowing (see Vault File).
• Question: Why did Jack and Tavis decide to send Alec off, and exclude him from the new plan? Answer: Though Alec had come a long way from his internal struggles with leaving Gamma, Tavis and Jack were afraid he was a ‘loose cannon’ and the sooner he was off of Gamma, the better.
• Potential inconsistency/plothole – but not really: Question: If homing pods are how watchers get back to and from Gamma, where is the pod Chaza used to get to Gamma when she vanished? Answer: Though it was never explicitly stated in Chaza’s case, it is to be assumed that she did the same thing Tavis does in chapter 28 – when she sends the last pod off, empty.
• ‘Cameos’: The frog (Bufo in, DOMUM). Pegasus (Unisus in, DOMUM). Gargantuan trees. Flying little people (Raiyfs, which is also an anagram of ‘fairy’).
• ‘The Queen of Atlantis’: Abbott Estate on the Lanattis River (in, DOMUM). It’s an anagram.

The spoiled-rotten area – Vault File:

• Ch. 1: Meg was the one who was being singled out as the next ‘Thoth’ entity, not Alec. But, then Alec shook things up by absorbing her abilities. Based on the events in the barn, it’s difficult to know which of the two children were being considered as a candidate for the next ‘Thoth’ entity. The only thing that is known for certain, is that someone else takes over as a temporary ‘Thoth’ in the sequel, DOMUM. This person is a character in GAMMA.

• Ch. 5: Forshadowing (and a bit of symbolism), when Alec is crouched among the sea oats, and the mention of hermit crabs: “Seems like they never want to be seen”, this scene shows up again in DOMUM, when Alec is cloaked and spying on Matisse and Arden in the volcanic region.

• The island whispers: my appetite for Lost’s whispers. But they’re also a foreshadowing for the ‘Seat of Silentis’ referenced in Silentis… which is an ‘eye of Horus’ device used to observe dead/conquered planets that once held advanced civilizations. (←Which would be a plot-point in the next book of the series, tentatively called because I haven’t decided on a title yet: Sapiens/The League of Worlds/Seat of Silentis)

• Ch. 11: ‘devious’ comment by Sebastian vs. Chaza’s comeback of ‘deviant’ was done by me intentionally… and for many reasons – all/mostly philosophical, especially given her added comment of, “Assimilation works both ways”, which is very much a foreshadowing of what happens to/with Alec in, DOMUM (when he flips to the dark side! Particularly, what happens with Alec when he unleashes extermination on the soldiers). Also, it’s a reference to a future term mentioned often in, ARES (life deviants).

• Ch. 12: the octopus. This is all about my fascination with octopuses. I am intrigued by them, always have been. They’re so smart, and so biologically superior in ways that astound me (especially how they seem to ‘cloak’ themselves)… and it makes me jealous. They ‘sort of’ show up again in, ARES as a biome animal, which in and of itself is foreshadowing to the later reference of the ‘Kraken’ because, obviously, a spaceship called, OCTOPUS, doesn’t flow as well as, KRAKEN. Not to mention, the following Legare story – that shows up in ARES, would sound weird if you replaced ‘kraken’ with ‘octopus’:

When you wake,

Kraken, speak.

Take them home,

Kraken, please.

Mercy, have mercy.

• Ch. 26: How was Alec able to relate what happened after he ‘officially’ drowned—the myriad of colors, what his mother said to him about being a new father again after she’d given up, the leading up to the black nothingness? 1^st: it was a little bit of ‘writer’s license, 2^nd: it was a little bit of a whisper of what will/may occur (some explanations in the form/style of ‘the-future’s-past kind of way/manner’ from the eye of Horus view) should I write, The League of Worlds/Sapiens/The Seat of Silentis.

• Question: What’s with all the mention of ‘history’ and ‘memories’? The only other hint I’ll provide is that the point of view (POV), which has an omniscient feel, but that which an omniscient voice only pops in on rare occasions, is done so with intent. This ‘intent’ (its reason for being) becomes clear at the end of DOMUM.