Pink Punch
Kris Mahrone’s parents have separated, and she can’t understand why – until she discovers her mother has been moonlighting as Northberg’s latest superhero, Pink Punch. With Dad a detective on the police’s Vigilante Crimes Unit? Yup. Sounds like irreconcilable differences.
Pink Punch is investigating Techcorp’s plans to control the city’s police force. She swears Kris to secrecy, moments before being caught in an explosion that puts her into a coma. Kris is determined to find those responsible for hurting her mother, but with no one willing to investigate a plot that also places her father in danger, she puts on Pink’s power-armour and slips into the superhero’s role. As Pink Punch, she meets Northberg’s other supers, including Zero K, an energetic boy with ice powers, who, irritatingly, turns into a blundering fanboy whenever Pink is around. And Kris will need their help. Because the Boss, CEO of Techcorp, considers Pink’s suit her property, and she wants it back.
Meanwhile, Kris’ father holds Pink responsible for his wife’s coma. He wants answers and he’ll do whatever it takes – even if that means becoming the guinea pig for Techcorp’s newest power-armour, designed to be a match for Pink Punch, punch for punch.
Control: Splintered Earth #1
“The System knows what goes on down here, trust me. And the City? You might enjoy some level of protection but it’s not so different from Below. The System just uses a different method. You’re just as much controlled as we are, perhaps more so.”
Rebecca is tired of her job in the City. The System’s rules don’t allow asking too many questions and she’s close to losing her job. Then she meets Jason Gray, who tells her she’s a Controller. She has the ability to control machinery with her mind, and he needs her talents for a very specific task. At first, Rebecca scoffs. But when her apartment is attacked by a machine called a Peacekeeper, she loses her job and all her shares, and finds herself hunted by the cops and a Controller called Valerie Chase, she has no choice but to follow Jason to the world Below.
Below, Rebecca discovers her life in the City has been a bubble of security. She knew nothing of the massive mines and burnt-out workers who live there, managed by System Controllers who’ll wipe out a village at the first hint of production loss. And amongst all this: Jason, his resistance fighters, and their warship Leviathan.
Jason says Rebecca’s talents are ‘special’, that he needs them for an important task. But the man is slow to reveal exactly what this task is. After being misinformed her entire life, can Rebecca trust Jason’s mission will make a difference for those living Below? It’s starting to sound like something much more personal.
Laura Kinch - Author 