10/20/25 Vortex dialogues - Step 1 (Rev 3)... more characters to come

by amber ortiz October 20, 2025

friggin hilarious.

From this: "Start over. Generate an outline for a story: Nary a reference to pop culture is the goal. Does Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance qualify as pop culture? 1970's was Pre-formulaic era.  "Why are you trying to ruin my creativity?" "Sometimes I just want to turn it off." Cien anos de soledad. Soledad. Soleil. Sol. Solveig; While on a business trip to Phoenix, a STRANGER that i was chatting with told me: "Albuquerque is a vortex." What did that mean? How did she know? AND while I was pondering this, real life on Monday morning is pinging. THERE GOES THE JOY. Here comes the stress and the foul personality within."

To this Story Outline: The Vortex Dialogues

I. Opening Scene: Phoenix, Monday Morning

Solveig is on a business trip, stuck in a beige hotel room.
Her device pings. A colleague’s message is curt, demanding. Her mood sours: There goes the joy.
She feels the stress rise, the “foul personality within” clawing to the surface.

II. Chapter One: The Bar Conversation

The night before, she met three strangers at a quiet bar:
- The Whisperer: a woman who said, “Albuquerque is a vortex,” then vanished.
- The Analyst: a man who spoke in systems and patterns, obsessed with the 1970s as a “pre-formulaic era.”
- The Mirror: a person who echoed her own words back to her: “Why are you trying to ruin my creativity?”

III. Chapter Two: The Drive to Albuquerque

Solveig impulsively cancels her meetings and drives north.
She texts one of the strangers—only The Mirror replies: “Sometimes I just want to turn it off.”
Along the way, she picks up a hitchhiker who speaks in riddles and solar metaphors: Soledad. Soleil. Sol.

IV. Chapter Three: The Vortex Gathering

In Albuquerque, she finds a group of people who meet weekly at a mesa.
They don’t call it a cult, but they speak of “the spiral,” “the hum,” and “the turn-off.”
Each person has a story of burnout, awakening, and strange clarity.
Solveig begins to see herself in their stories—but resists their pull.

V. Chapter Four: The Confrontation

Her colleague flies in, furious: “You’re sabotaging everything.”
Solveig snaps: “You’re the ping. You’re the ruin.”
The group watches silently. The mesa vibrates. The wind rises.

VI. Chapter Five: The Choice

Solveig must choose:
- Return to her structured life, resume the pings and meetings.
- Stay in the vortex, surrender to the spiral, and risk losing her identity.
She doesn’t choose either. She walks away from both.

VII. Epilogue: The Dialogue Continues

Months later, she receives a letter:
- “We’re still gathering. The spiral is widening.”
She smiles. She writes back: Solveig. Still solving.
The story ends with a new ping—not from work, but from the mesa.