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Parrodipolis.
Off-Central Park, near the glow in the dark Merfrog pond.
On one of the benches near by sat a woman. She was dressed in, starting from the ground up, a pair of navy-blue Chuck Taylor All-Star high-tops, on her feet were a pair of argyle socks. Her pants were a well-worn, and ripped in places, pair of blue jeans. Moving up her body, she was wearing a black shirt advertising the band Girl Parts. On her wrists were a few too many bracelets and a couple of wrist bands. On her left was an old calculator watch. A few of her fingers had some rings on them, one of the rings was a Waffle. Her black nail polish was cracked and chipped in places. She had short, sandy blond hair which was pulled back and into two small ponytails, one on each side of the back of her head. She had somewhat pale skin was wearing a pair of black plastic glasses. Next to her on the bench was a graying black hoodie. Under that was his olive drab colored messenger bag.
One of the half fish, half amphibian creatures hopped it's way over to her. It looked up at her, she looked down at it.
"I tell you like I've told the rest of your friends: I don't have anything you for." She said. "I'm sorry."
She wasn't sure if it under stood her since it continued to look at her with it's pitch black eyes. Ever so often it blinked using both sets of it's eyelids.
"I don't have anything. Most of my possessions have be repossessed by the Universe. And in a few hours I won't even exist. Well… my name will live on but it will be someone else's name then. It's complicated."
The clothes she had on, the hoodie, the messenger bag were all that the current Catherine Gillespie owned.
The merfrog just sat there looking at her. It's unfeeling eyes & facial expression wasn't making her feel any better so she tried to shoe it away. she tried to move it but it wasn't leaving. It did move. It moved closer to her & hopped onto her shoe. With a flick of her ankle, she sent the creature flying back into the pond.
Catherine sighed. She didn't want to be written out of the universe. She doubts anyone wants to be. It's kind of cruel that it's not a instantaneous change. One minute your there & the next your not.
She looked at her watch it was 3:45 in the afternoon. A little under 9 hours until she stopped being the current Catherine & went off to spend the rest of her non life in Comic Book Limbo.
Her mind started to about what she could do with remaining 8 hours: She could blow all her life savings on something! Does she even have that money? Could you use her credit card buy something? Would she have to pay the bill since she wouldn't exist when the bill came due? Would the new catherine get stuck with the bill?
So many questions ran through her head as she pulled out her wallet to she how much money she had on her. $12.75 & a coupon for a free regular sized Mondo Gulp at a participating Gulp 'N Go. She had yet to find one that was participating & doubt she even will.
She started to look through her photos: a family portrait from years ago. She was 17 at the time the photo was taken, Just before she graduated High School. One of her & her Grandfather, Thomas. She was on onside of the plexiglass & her grandfather was on the other side. The picture was taken during one her first visits to The Safe. She wondered if she have time to see him one last time but decided against because she might not be let in since might not be on the approved visitors list anymore & doesn't have enough time to go through the background check because she soon won't have one. The next one was of her & Chad at Accordi-Con 2009. She smiled & remembered that it was the last convention she had attended with Chad before he disappeared with Ronnie. Her mind though about all they had done that weekend in Las Vegas. She wondered if that weekend will have still happened once she was gone. Would Chad have done it but with someone else? Ronnie maybe? Or maybe a different woman? Would all that she had done with Chad be attributed to a someone else?
The next photo was on her, Chad, Ronnie & Jane. Poking his head out of one Ronnie's coat pockets was Little Cat. Catherine smiled. And a thought popped into her head. Catherine put on her hoodie & her bag. She then stood up & ran off.
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Parrodpolis.
The local branch of the Federal Meta-Human Resource Center.
One of the upper Administrative Floors. These floors are off limits to all except for FMRC employees.
4:45 pm.
At the end of a long hallway, art deco styled doors of an elevator open. There inside is one soul occupant, Jane Tarzania. She exits shortly before the doors close behind her. She is dressed in a pale pink blouse, a dark chocolate brown cotton skirt that went to her mid calf. Under that are a pair of skin colored nylons & a pair of sensible leather pumps on. Her mousy brown hair was styled in a partly messy fashion. Slung over her right shoulder is her imitation designer handbag that she got at a street fair a few years ago. She was coming back from a late lunch & some errands she had to do for her boss, Ruben Holcomb.
As she walks down the hallway, she smiles & nods hello to various people she sees. Jane has gotten use to the normal life she now leads. Sure it's boring sometimes but it's way better since her ex-boyfriend & his silent accordion playing friend of his disappeared off the face of the earth a few years ago. She's happy, she has a pretty set pattern for her day & is happy.
She gets to the large wooden doors which to lead into the reception where her desk & opened them with out any fear. She use to fear what she might find when Ronnie was around but with him gone she has no fear. She walks into the reception area & then closes the door behind her to find someone setting at her desk & was using her computer.
Jane slowly made her way over to her desk, draped over the back of Jane's black leather chair was a greying black Hoodie. This mystery woman, was some how using Jane's computer even thought she had logged off before going to lunch & run her errands.
Jane was a feet from the woman & then asked "Can I help you?"
The mystery woman looked up form the screen. Turned the chair around to look at Jane, Jane looked back at her. Jane was trying to place where or if she knew this woman. She could not. A smile spread across her face the mystery woman's face.
"Jane!" the woman said.
Apparently the woman knew her. Jane thought about the voice it seems familiar somehow but wasn't sure where she had heard it before. But she didn't have more time to think who it was before they jumped up from the chair, came around the desk to give Jane a big bear hug.
"Hello?" Jane said a bit surprised & a bit scared.
After the woman released Jane from the hug, she noticed that Jane wasn't exactly who she was. She said "It's me, Catherine!"
That wasn't much help. She then pulled out her wallet & showed Jane a photo of Her, Chad & Ronnie. Poking his head out of one of Ronnie's coat pockets was Little Cat.
"Why do you have that?" She asked. "How do you have that?"
"Well…" She started to say. It looked like she was about to point something, someone out then she looked at the photo & frowned.
"crap." she said.
"How'd you get up here?" Jane asked. She needed an ID card to get past the public floors up to the private floors.
"Information!"
"What?"
"Yeah. I just talked to the lady at the Information desk down on the ground floor, told her I knew you. She looked you up on her computer, gave me this visitor pass thing." Catherine said as she turned back to the desk & picked up a credit card sized pass. She turned back around holding the card up, It had the word "VISITOR" printed it in big black text across it & continued on. "So, I swiped it at the card reader near the Lobby's elevators, it got me all the way to this floor. I got off the Elevator, walked down the hallway & walked in here. You weren't at here, so I waited."
"How long have you been here?"
"I don't know." Catherine said with a shrug of the shoulders. "Maybe 20 minutes to a half hour."
"Ok." Jane replied. That was about the time she left for lunch, she must of just missed her, this woman was coming up as she was going down. Jane was also thinking that was a bit of a security breach if anyone off the street can get access to the private floors of the building by just saying they know someone who works here.
"Why are you here…" Jane asked then paused for a moment, trying to think about the woman's name. "Cathy?"
Jane wasn't sure she got the name correctly.
"It's Catherine."
"oh. Sorry."
"It's ok."Catherine said sadly. "It was a long chance that you'd remember me. I doubt there are many people who remember me anymore. The number of people who do know is getting smaller & smaller as we talk. I suspect by 6 or 7 pm nobody will know me."
Jane wasn't exactly sure what she was talking about. She had gotten out of practice of understanding crazy since Ronnie disappeared.
"I have a question."
"Yes?"
"How did you get on to my computer? I had logged out before I left."
"You did. But I logged in via the Post-It note you left out."
Jane saw the neon pink Post-It note stuck to the side of her computer.
"Plus, you need to come up with a better password, I could have guessed what it was after a few tries."
"I know but I've remembered this one. I'm also kind of afraid I won't be able to remember a new one." Jane said. She wasn't sure why she was telling a complete stranger that.
"You don't know this one, you have it written down on a Post-It note."
"True." Jane said blushing a bit.
"What were you using my computer?" Jane asked.
"All the interesting labeled things needed a secondary password to get in to look at. You didn't have a Post-It note for those." Catherine said with a playful smile.
"So, I was just looking online to see if I was still on there like logging into my e-mail."
"Could you?"
"yes. But I doubt I could now. When you came in I was just looking aimlessly around the 'net."
"ok." Jane said. After the woman leaves she knows she'll need to check to she if anything is missing or been altered on the computer.
The two of them just stood there for a few moment in silence until Catherine said. "Well.. I think I'll be going. Not sure why I came here. Wasn't sure what you could do. It was a long shot."
Catherine smiled, picked up her hoodie & put it on. She started to walk towards the door & just before she opened the door, she turned around & said "See you around."
She paused then said with a smile. "I guess I won't. But thanks."
"For what?"
"Not calling security on me among other things."
Catherine opened the door & left.
Jane just stood there, not sure what to do. A few seconds later wasn't sure why she was just standing there. She then noticed that her computer was logged in. She was sure she had logged out before she had went off to lunch & run a few errands. She guesses that she didn't. It was the only reason she could think of.
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To Be Continued?
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