[Humex is an in-process YA sci fi novel about Martian cyborg gladiators.]

I wrote what I call "character codas" in order to learn the voice of my characters before I got started writing. I'm not sure yet if these will make it into the final product, but I thought I would share the first one I wrote.  Please note, these are not about exposition or plot. You're not supposed to know what's going on. It's just about building character voice.

“Please state your name and rank,” Rakh repeated for the seventeenth time that day.

The girl in front of him—long brown hair falling over her shoulders, olive-tan skin, petite frame slouched in her chair, staring at him like she could see through his skull into his brain—pursed her lips and flitted her eyes down to the badge on his chest, replying with a curt, “R2. Delta.”

He raised his eyebrows. “R2. That’s… impressive.”

She leaned forward on the table and clasped her hands together, smiling at him tight-lipped in a way that didn’t reach her cold eyes. “I’m going to need you to cut to the chase, Agent…?”

“Rakh,” he supplied with the same faux-smile. “Just… Rakh. Thank you.” He looked down at his clipboard and made a note. “Are you aware why I called you in here today?”

She shrugged and leaned back in her chair, gesturing to his head. “Looking for advice on that ugly-ass haircut?”

Rakh raised a tentative hand to his hair, then lowered it again, clearing his throat and making another note on his clipboard. “No, I called you in here to discuss the missing generator.”

“Oh good,” Delta said, and stood up from the table with a squeal of chair legs behind her. “Don’t know anything about it, so I best get back to my morta before he gets upset and installs a USB port in my ass.” She tossed a sardonic smile at him before crossing the room to the door. When she grabbed the handle, it emitted a low buzzing sound, and her body convulsed, frozen to the spot. She let go of it with a startled cry and jump backward, grasping her wrist with her other hand.

Delta turned to Rakh and glared at him. “You electrified the goddamn doorknob?” she asked, stomping over to his spot across the table and pulling him up by his throat. “You got a death wish, pal?”

Rakh dropped his clipboard and scrambled against her vice-like grip, still hot from the electrocution.

“Generator… important…” he struggled, scraping at her arm. “You could all… die…”

Delta slammed him against the cement wall and raised her other fist, bringing it down inches from the side of his face. Shards and dust fell around them; the sound of metal crunching into rock made Rakh wince.

She leaned in, her metallic irises shining with Rakh’s reflection. He gasped small breaths that her grip barely afforded him, feet kicking against the tile floor.

“I got news for you,” Delta began, so quiet that he could hear the soft whirring of a heat sink inside her chest. She leaned in closer until all he could see were shining silver eyes. “We all want to die.”

She let him go, and he slid to the floor in a heap.

YAAAY thank you! I feel all warm and fuzzy inside now. <3

Oh wow, I might have the confidence to post more about it now! I just figured people would be all, "Oh my god no one wants to read your shitty non-fic fic, Betty." 

Thank you!