LOGLINE
A female cop, attacked and blinded in the line of duty, discovers she is gaining powers. With the help of a wisecracking supercomputer avatar and the Academy’s top cadet, she harnesses this power, uses it to bring her attackers to justice, but uncovers a deadly secret that puts at risk her own genesis as a super being.
Artwork by Rick Schmitz. Character names, backstory, and script by Tom Carroll
STORY
A cop unsure of her abilities, now robbed of her sight, hides away in the Police Academy to ponder her fate. The woman who once flouted regulation, now teaches a course in, ironically, Police Admin: Policies & Procedures. Nightmares, inexplicable surges in strength, and an insightful encounter with the Academy’s supercomputer avatar, Imperium, jolt Lotus out of her funk and convince her that something inside her is changing … evolving.
But what does that mean?
With help from the computer, now known as “Impy,” and the Academy’s top student, Felix del Toro, Lotus begins to understand that her blindness may be no accident and that her new strength, and other abilities, may be parts of a single whole. Impy runs a blood sample; the results are inconclusive. She visits the gym and discovers her strength and endurance have no practical limits. Felix is impressed!
A researcher with KNOWlife shows up. Michael Railsberger has authorization to do a full workup on Lotus. When Impy attempts to access the data, he’s refused access. He’s miffed. Felix takes a crack, too, but with limited success.
Lotus realizes that a pair of prototype sensor goggles might help her regain her sight. Impy links the goggles into the city-wide network of security cameras and data sources. It works. Lotus, now dressed in cool threads, takes a night out to test her confidence. She quotes chapter and verse to the criminals she nabs, but also includes some of Impy’s wisecracking.
Impy and Felix crack KNOWlife’s firewall. There is a criminal conspiracy to trade in biotech and nanotech secrets via the Dark Web. A new shadowy figure, Locust, is revealed. Using techniques and tactics that even her pre-accident self would not have used, Lotus makes progress. She discovers Locust and Railsberger are one and the same. But they’re like Jekyll and Hyde. One doesn’t know about the other. Railsberger is the noble scientist; Locust has plans on using Railsberger’s knowledge and KNOWlife to create an army of nanotech-inspired underlings.
Lotus, now re-named Hotwire, must find Locust and stop him.
With Impy’s help, Lotus harnesses all the sensory input from the city to navigate around and find Locust. She is able to use a motorcycle via Impy and the goggles. Scary! Good and evil battle it out, with Lotus winning, but only with help from her allies.
Lotus realizes that she’s turned a corner; she’s Hotwire now. She also understands that her new life might be better in some ways.
Impy and Felix make sure she knows that whatever happens, she isn’t alone.
Snapping back to reality, Lotus, once again the teacher, reminds Felix that he has a report due in the morning!