Application
THIRD-PERSON WRITING SAMPLE:
It was a humid night in the town, and Nikola Tesla was going out for a walk.
Vampires, Nikola knew, were not affected at all by the time of day, but there was something refreshing about the night that the scientist admired. He could roam around uninhibited, thinking up further intricacies of his plan while the gentle sounds of the night played around him.
But this night was not so gentle. Nikola barely moved his head as he started to hear the sound of steady footsteps behind him.
Whoever it was, Nikola thought, had selected well based on the circumstances. Nikola clearly couldn’t defend himself against any future attack, as he was not carrying a weapon of any sort as he went on his nighttime stroll. The lab coat he was wearing suggested he was a doctor, which then led to the good guess that he had money. A rich doctor walking alone without any weapons in the middle of the night.
To the average crook, Nikola seemed like the perfect victim.
But not quite, thought Nikola, letting a devious smile open on his face. He quickly turned into a nearby alley, then pressed up against the brick wall covered in shadows.
The man following him paused for a moment in front of the alleyway. Nikola could almost hear him grin with satisfaction- he probably thought he had gone and trapped the poor sucker right where he needed him. There was a sharp click, and a small pocketknife gleamed in the man’s hand, ready to taste blood.
He walked into the alleyway.
Nikola Tesla could barely contain his excitement. His hair practically bristled on the back of his neck as he underwent the change that occurred in seconds. This was who he was- he was not a simple doctor walking the walk of the innocent in the nighttime, not a victim to the plundering of money, but a creature of the night that smelled and hungered for the blood of the man standing in front of him.
His victim screamed, trying to protect himself with that pitiful pocketknife. Claw upon claw came upon the man’s chest, tearing the shirt he was wearing into shreds. Maybe that would teach him not to prey on the unsuspecting. Maybe that would teach him that not all appearances revealed the true nature of a person.
Tesla watched the man stumble out of the alleyway, grinning with razor-sharp teeth that should have belonged to a shark. He didn’t need to kill the guy to make a statement. Rather, the weight of what happened that night would undoubtedly haunt the man forever as a nightmare that had suddenly come real.
The vampire laughed. How pitiful humans were. How…fragile.
FIRST-PERSON WRITING SAMPLE:
A situation that might have happened while Nikola Tesla was working for Helen Magnus in the Sanctuary.
[It is the wee hours of the morning, and everyone else is sleeping soundly in their beds at the Sanctuary. Except for one Nikola Tesla, who has made it his job to wake up everyone with the most annoying sound possible:
The sound of an air horn.
After the noise goes on for a few minutes throughout the building’s speaker system, it thankfully stops. Nikola’s face appears on the communicator screens around the Sanctuary, his mouth twisting into a grin as he puts the air horn down. It’s obvious he takes great relish in doing these sorts of things.]
Ooh, I just love the smell of annoyance in the mornings! You’ll thank me later, we’ve got work to do.
[He settles back into his chair, bringing his hands together in a thoughtful pose.]
While all of you were sleeping, I was doing all the work. Like always…anyways, I’ve made some improvements on the original radiation deliverance system that Helen requested, so I need all of you to stop sleeping like the logs you are and help me test it out. I’m not going to take no for an answer.
…And before you say “Oh, Nikola, it’s three o’ clock in the morning, how could you do this?” bear in mind that science does not wait for idle minds. Meet in front of the labs in ten minutes, or I will personally make sure that your beds will be outfitted with equipment befitting the electric chair.
Chop chop.
[He grins a toothy smile, and the transmission cuts off.]
INTENT:
I’m a big fan of the TV show Sanctuary- the idea of combining science with fairytale-like creatures really excited me. I loved watching all the different sorts of abnormals the main characters interacted with, and I thought that nothing could make it better than it already was.
And then, a certain episode called “The Five” aired. Introducing a sarcastic yet incredibly affable man named Nikola Tesla, the episode used him to focus on the past of Helen Magnus and the events that occurred that made her immortal. At first, Nikola seemed like the comic relief of the episode, but then the reveal came that he was quite literally a monster.
Sanctuary’s take on vampires is one of the best I’ve ever seen. Nikola Tesla just seemed so nice and utterly charming that it came as a shock when his vampiric side unleashed itself. I fell in love with the character because he wasn’t a villain, or a hero, or even an anti-hero. His plucky manner of going around to taking over the world seemed almost laughable, but in the end it was all incredibly serious. He’s a man of contradictions and facades, and I would love exploring his character further in the world of Paradisa.
Plus, as the character himself says, “Vampires are just cool.”