Broken, Part 1

"Broken, Part 1" is the first chapter in Pandora's Tale.

Characters Appearing in This Chapter

Pandora (First appearance)
Pandora's light-furred friend (First appearance)
Pandora's dark-furred friend (First appearance)
Kyndley (First appearance)
Zero Angiers (First appearance) (First named)
Isabelle Monday (First appearance) (First named)
Veronica Fortuna (First appearance)
Con Yung (First appearance)

Synopsis

The scene opens on the Helper Corporation training facility, where genetically engineered cat-people are bred, brainwashed, and "trained" to be slaves. A Helper who will eventually be known as Pandora tells her overseer Kyndley that she is a girl, despite being assigned male at birth^[1]. Kyndley reminds Pandora that Helpers are created to serve their owners, and Pandora's future master won't be happy with a boy who thinks she's a girl. Pandora responds that she isn't "a boy who thinks he's a girl": she's a girl^[2].

Kyndley tells Pandora that she is broken^[3], and takes her to a doctor. The doctor explains that some Helpers just are trans, and Monopolith doesn't understand why^[4]. Kyndley plans to have Pandora's memory erased and give her a new personality to make her a boy^[5] Pandora screams "I'm not a boy!" and runs off^[6].

Pandora crawls through a vent, and finds herself among helpers who are about to be shipped to buyers^[7]. Seeing a chance to avoid having her memory erased, Pandora climbs into a capsule which is about to be shipped^[8]. Pandora wishes she wasn't broken^[9].

By sheer chance, the delivery drone containing Pandora suffers from an engine failure and lands in the middle of the desert, where the Pioneer City resistance finds it^[10].

When resistance member Isabelle Monday realizes the pod contains a person^[11], she goes to open it^[12]. What Isabelle doesn't know is that the pod contains a gas which causes Helpers to view the next person they see as their owner^[13]. Hence, when Isabelle literally opens Pandora's box, Pandora declares her purpose is to serve Isabelle, leaving Isabelle and the rest of the resistance very shocked^[14].

Trivia

As of Chapter 11, Chapter 1 is the only chapter with fewer than 21 numbered pages. The "extra" page is effectively this chapter's page 21.
Xan made her first draft of this chapter's script available to Patreon backers.

Chapters

Volumes, Storylines, and Chapters
Volume	Storyline	Chapter Number	Title	First Page	Last Page	Start Date	End Date
Broken	Broken	1	Broken, Part 1	1:0	1:21	2019-03-20	2019-04-10
	Broken	2	Broken, Part 2	2:0	2:21	2019-07-10	2019-07-31
	Sisters in Arms	3	Sisters in Arms, Part 1	3:0	3:21	2019-11-06	2019-11-27
	Sisters in Arms	4	Sisters in Arms, Part 2	4:0	4:21	2020-02-26	2020-3-18
	Good Luck Charm	5	Good Luck Charm	5:0	5:21	2020-07-15	2020-08-05
	Live Fast	6	Live Fast, Part 1	6:0	6:21	2021-05-12	2021-06-02
	Live Fast	7	Live Fast, Part 2	7:0	7:21	2021-10-20	2021-11-09
Volume 2	Unbecoming	8	Unbecoming	8:0	8:21	2022-05-25	2022-06-22
	Echo	9	Echo, Part 1	9:0	9:21	2023-09-18	2023-10-16
	Echo	10	Echo, Part 2	10:0	10:21	2024-06-11	2024-07-09
	The Night Shift	11	The Night Shift	11:0	11:21	2024-07-10	2024-08-07

[1] ttps://pandorastale.com/2019/10/18/chapter-1-page-3/

[2] ttps://pandorastale.com/2019/10/18/chapter-1-page-4/

[3] ttps://pandorastale.com/2019/10/18/chapter-1-page-5/

[4] ttps://pandorastale.com/2019/10/18/chapter-1-page-6/

[5] ttps://pandorastale.com/2019/10/18/chapter-1-page-8/

[6] ttps://pandorastale.com/2019/10/18/chapter-1-page-9/

[7] ttps://pandorastale.com/2019/10/18/chapter-1-page-12/

[8] ttps://pandorastale.com/2019/10/18/chapter-1-page-13/

[9] ttps://pandorastale.com/2019/10/18/chapter-1-page-14/

[10] ttps://pandorastale.com/2019/10/18/chapter-1-page-15/

[11] ttps://pandorastale.com/2019/10/18/chapter-1-page-16/

[12] ttps://pandorastale.com/2019/10/18/chapter-1-page-18/

[13] ttps://pandorastale.com/2019/10/18/chapter-1-page-19/

[14] ttps://pandorastale.com/2019/10/18/chapter-1-page-20/

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