Memory Fragments: Probity

Gabriela's Gadgets & Mechanics Garage

Gabriela del Alba Soleil. She is "The Strength of the Rising Sun" or simply "Sunrise Strength." She was a young girl at first, of thirteen years old at the time, that had an immaculate imagination for the intrinsics of mechanics and gadgets. How they worked, their purpose and meaning behind the materials used to make them. She was a natural, long-haired ginger-head with green eyes and pale skin who had a skinny complexion, reminiscent of a girl who worked-out and ate healthily on a regular basis, but could not manage to build up any meaningful muscle. She clothed herself with a puffy, worn-down pilot hat that, at the front, said the word "Memento." Had a pair of goggles that made her able to work without damaging her eyes with the bright lights of the day. She liked to wear her father's old, red coat but, at least according to her "fashion sense," she cut the sleeves from it to make it "pop" with her choice of colors; also, she put on a pair of white shorts that were too big for her. They held up thanks to a belt that was gifted to her by a young man, but she always loved using them because they let her "move freely." Underneath the coat and shorts, she wore, from neck to toe, a black and white, horizontally stripped bodysuit that she used to protect her from the harsh sun rays of her hometown.

You see, she had a skin condition. She needed to cover as much of it as possible because the sun's rays would damage not only her sensible eyes, but also burn her easily. Her face was always a bit itchy, but she could put on a thin coat of white coal to alleviate it. She could not do the same to her whole body as the coal powder was expensive, rare and hard to apply. When she bathed, she would often leave her face dry so as to not wash away and waste the powder. Only when she was drenched in machine oils or had mud up to her ears would she, begrudgingly, clean her face thoroughly. It was hard for her. Seeing other girls' doll-up in the up-and-coming cosmetics trend while she could only use her white coal. The girls bullied her for looking like a mime when she wore her powder. Nothing but black and white all over her body, the girls always thought she was confused as to what race she was meant to be; white-skinned, black-skinned, or a horrid hybrid of both.

Gabriela took all those comments to heart. Not in a bad way, but one that would actually help her grow as a person. With her wardrobe already resembling a mime, she used what little white coal powder she had with regular black coal one and used them to paint her face and hair. She forwent her red coat one day and did not put on her boots, shorts or hat; just her stripped bodysuit. She went out in the middle of the night towards the center of the local marketplace and started dancing with bizarre movements to a haunting melody. People who were out that night doing late business and "other" practices took notice of her and started laughing at her. They took her for a crazed girl who was neglected by her parents and could do nothing but expose herself to gather attention. She was a blur of white, moving alongside a pitch-black void, intertwining with each other as she moved her arms and legs. She danced to her laughing and accepted it as praise for her performance. The people would laugh for a time and then continue on with their lives and leave her alone. She would continue dancing until she tired herself or there was absolutely no one else that would watch her.

Why would she do this? Why would she become the target of bullying, laughter and disrespect? At day, she was already picked-on but, at night? Why would she want to be a laughing-stock too? It was because she helped the people in the day as a mechanic of gadgets in her own little garage, and as an entertainer for the weak and tired at night. That is how she saw it. She would "doll-up" at night and make a silent commentary on how society values looks over merits even though they are being blinded by the day's light, or the night's darkness. She said that it did not matter to her. Nobody could really see her true image, so they would only laugh at a blur they could not understand. Nobody knew her condition. Nobody knew it was the same girl from the day that often helped them. They only knew there were two girls of black and white. One talked, the other did not.