chapter fourteen
A part of me felt that going to visit Linus Linoleum to see if he can help me sort out what's going on would mark the beginning of the end for me, and I was afraid to say goodbye to it all. If it was what it was going to come to, though, I at the very least wanted to make sure I wrapped up the loose ends I had left. Kroff had a story he wanted to tell me, and while I was down there I could see if there were other books specifically about Linus himself that were'nt written by him, maybe stop for lunch while I was there. I took the boat back to the boardwalk again. This time, though, the view of the endless sky above was partly blocked, looks like that's the start of the next afterward. I sighed, I had to make this quick, otherwise all the answers I've been looking for will be sealed away and I'll live the rest of my life unsure. As the boat pulled in, I got off, caught myself thanking the boat for what it had done for me, and stepped into the welcome center.
Kroff spotted me, and immediately pushed open a door behind him. I ducked behind the desk and into the room, knowing what he wanted. He then approached another door, this one armed with a keypad. After a series of numbers I assumed spelled out "LINOLEUM" (5466386, I guess), he invited me to sit at one end of a table. He sat at the other end, taking up nearly the entire edge. "I am so Glad you came back to visit," he said in that low, quiet voice of his, "I am so Glad you are Safe."
"Thank you, Kroff. You had a story you wanted to tell me? In chapter twelve, but it was running too long?"
"Oh, yes, thank you for that.
"My Story begins years and years ago. I had just arrived in the afterward, many Iterations ago, many Iterations below. Linus has hired me for my Strong will and physique, he needed someone to help him get things organized."
"You worked for Linus Linoleum?"
"I... yes, I did, anyways...
"I gladly Accepted the offer as it would pay good money to keep my family safe, and he had some of his Men protecting them when I was not at Home. Things seemed Simple, and we were all Happy. However, I began to notice that Linus was becoming more and more Distant in his job, he would be more Difficult to get in Contact with and what he was asking of me was Above what I was Hired for. The Availability I had put in was being Ignored, I was Working what hours Linus had set, on what Days Linus had asked of me, and I was seeing my Family less and less. That was when I Learned he was Buildig a new Afterward.
"This new Afterward was to be situated directly above the old one, and there would be two runs of a Train to get People to the New one. When I got Home the Night of the First Train Runs, my Family was Nowhere to be seen. I asked Linus, I asked the Guards, and they told me Nothing. I took the Train Myself, it was Cramped and Scary, but I had Hope I would see Them when we Arrived.
"How Foolish I was to hold onto Hope. When I departed, I could not find my Family. Linus had no Explanation, and I quit Then and There. It was what Led me to create the Afterward Welcome Center, so the First Thing everyone would See when they Arrived would be Someone Willing to Help Them, someone who Honestly Wanted to Help Them, as opposed to Someone possibly looking to Take Advantage of them. And it has been Slow Goings for Years. I do not Know where they Vanished, who was Responsible. When I saw You... I saw Myself, Years ago... I knew you could have been just as Easily Taken Advantage of... and I did not want that to come of You... and it hasn't. And I'm Glad..."
"Oh... that's—I'm sorry to hear that, I--"
"No, it's fine... Thank You for Listening... I should head back out--"
"No, I get it. Thank you for the opportunity, Kroff."
"Thank You, Tammy."
Next I was going to head to the library for more information. Bit, Memmi, and Kroff all seem to have a more bitter outlook on Linus, which strikes me as odd a bit seeing how positively Shim and her friends talked about him. I was hoping maybe I could find the full story somewhere in there, maybe Bit could help me find something on him, something not written by him.
I spent some time in Linus' wing looking for a book from a third party, but to no avail. After twenty minutes of searching books for co-authors or any indication of work that wasn't directly his, I found Bit again. "Hey, so where would books about Linus that weren't written by him be?" I asked.
"Huh? Oh, we... come with me real quick," she said, escorting me into a back room and locking the door.
Lots of things are happening behind closed doors today, huh. "You want to know where books about Linus that he didn't approve of and rewrite go?" she asked.
"Yes, I do!"
She opened a hatch along the wall. "Down there..." she responded.
"Where does that--"
"--into the incincerator. Linus' orders. If I had it my way, we'd have nothing but books about him from the people he used to work with. But Linus personally arrived and burned. Every. Book."
"What was he trying to hide?"
"I... don't know."
"What was in those books?"
"I... child, I'm sorry, I don't know."
"But had you read them at all?"
"Yes, I have, but... that's part of the power Linus wields. Have you heard his theories on the reader, the author, and the storyteller?"
"Uh, Memmi mentioned something like that a few pages up, I think that was what the last chapter was kind of about."
"Okay, so Linus theorizes that metamancers begin as characters who become the reader of their own story, they gain awareness of the world they live in, that we're, surprise, words on a page. But then when you take that destiny into your own hands, you become an author. You can weave the words you want, but it's the storyteller who gets the last word, that is someone who as ascended to the top, they control the authors and can remove additions, retcon characters or settings, they're practically gods. And that's where Linus has been, he created the field of metamancy. And when authors come around to tell the full story... their words are destroyed, their voice extinguished."
"Oh, and--"
"Things are coming to a head, we're reaching a tipping point. And to say he has done nothing to help is an understatement. The current state of the afterward, the Nexus, the water problem... they're all his creation, and he seems oblivious to the fact."
"Oh... so what next?"
"Memmi told me that she spoke with you about the meeting with Linus you're planning very soon. You need to be wary, he will try to seem like an approachable person, like a beacon of good. Do not take his words at face value. He's not pure evil, but he's not the saint he's tricked himself into thinking he is. The strangeness of the afterward is his doing and we're not sure what will be the breaking point. The Nexus also isn't helping matters, there is a chance with it eradicated and a more sane approach to growth, that the afterward as it currently exists could survive, it could thrive, it could exist forever. But he won't be the person to usher in that era."
"Oh... okay."
"So be careful. Sharpen your ability to metamance, you'll need to be in complete control of the story if you want Linus to listen to what you have to say."
"Why haven't you or Memmi gone up against him?"
"To tell you the truth, I don't want to lose everything. I could see him writing out the abilities us Nephim have, and with that we're done for. You have nothing to lose."
I nodded, slightly offended at the whole "nothing to lose" notion but I understood what she meant. I was going to head out to purchase a lunch and then head back to the Green Tower and try to make sense of my next steps. It certainly felt like I was nearing some sort of resolution here. I headed back out onto the docks and looked across the row of buildings for a place to eat. I stepped into ": a food", because I wasn't up for whatever resided in a place called "Lucky Larry's Wheel of Wonders".
As I walked through the door, the people sitting at their tables and benches suddenly became quiet and stared at me. I looked around, confused. An older woman stepped out of a room to see what all the non-commotion was about, and immediately recoiled when she saw me. "Oh..." she said, voice cracking behind tears.506Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2JGmANmGYH
"Uh... what's going on?" I responded.
"You've... you returned. Tammy, you returned. I..."
"Um, I'm sorry. Who are you?"
"...I... you don't even recognize your own family..."
"Uh, I thought Marc was a widow," I responded; I felt terrible using that name like I knew what it meant.
"I was Dr. Wilson's sister, and we were so proud of you. We thought you were... gone forever."
"I'm sorry," I said, "but you... you have the wrong person. I woke up on the beach with amnesia a little while back, I think I'm... Calvin Riddick? That's what Memmi told me, Tammy is... is gone."
"Please, come back, I kept your room exactly as it was."
I felt really lost and a little upset that she didn't understand. Maybe she didn't want to understand. Maybe to her, it was all some joke, her brother's daughter goes missing for, like 40 years, shows back up still 19, and that's enough. She opened a door and turned on a set of lights. The room was dusty and full of weathered, faded decorations, but it still remarkibly looked like something Tammy would have owned. I almost felt as if I remembered this place, but I had no words to describe the sensation. "We've ensured this room was moved each and every time," she said, as she closed the door, sealing me in the long-forgotten room.
I wiped dust off of a chair in the center of the room and sat alone with my thoughts. This is what was left behind, this is what I broke apart when I woke up on the beach. I tried to counter with the notion that it had been literal decades since Tammy disappeared, so this wasn't my fault, but I couldn't shake the feeling. Say this is my room, then, this room belongs to Tammy and I am currently her. I felt that I could, probably should do a little bit of investigation. I opened a drawer on the desk, and found a single pen and a notebook. I cleared the desk off and opened the journal.
𝟢𝟣.𝟣𝟨.𝟥𝟢
𝐼 𝒶𝓂 𝓁𝑜𝓈𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓂𝓎 𝓂𝒾𝓃𝒹! 𝒥𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒷𝑒𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝒻𝒶𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒𝒹 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝑒𝑜𝓅𝓁𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒜𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓌𝒶𝓇𝒹, 𝐼 𝒶𝓂 𝑒𝓍𝓅𝑒𝒸𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝒹𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝒶𝓂𝑒! 𝒴𝑒𝓈, 𝓈𝓊𝓇𝑒, 𝐼 𝒶𝓂 𝓈𝓂𝒶𝓇𝓉, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒽𝑒'𝓈 𝓉𝒶𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓂𝑒 𝒶 𝓁𝑜𝓉, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝒻𝑜𝓁𝓁𝑜𝓌 𝒾𝓃 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒻𝑜𝑜𝓉𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓅𝓈 𝓂𝒶𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓇𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝓅𝒶𝒸𝓀𝑒𝓉𝓈 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝓂𝓎 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒? 𝐼 𝑔𝑒𝓉 𝒾𝓉, 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝒹𝒾𝒻𝒻𝒾𝒸𝓊𝓁𝓉 𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉, 𝐿𝒾𝓃𝓊𝓈' 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝓃𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓅 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒞𝓁𝒶𝓈𝓈-𝒳 𝓂𝑒𝓉𝒶-𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓎 𝒹𝒶𝓉𝒶 𝒾𝓃𝒸𝒾𝒹𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝑒𝒻𝒻𝑒𝒸𝓉𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓁𝓎 𝒷𝑜𝒾𝓁 𝒹𝑜𝓌𝓃 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝒾𝓂𝓅𝓁𝓎 𝓌𝒶𝒾𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒾𝓉 𝑜𝓊𝓉, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝒸𝓊𝓁𝓁 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝓃𝓈 𝐼 𝒽𝒶𝒹, 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓂𝓈 𝐼 𝓌𝒾𝓈𝒽𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝓅𝓊𝓇𝓈𝓊𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝓅𝑒𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝓎 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓁𝓁𝑜𝓌𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝑒𝓍𝒶𝒸𝓉 𝒻𝑜𝑜𝓉𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓅𝓈 𝓅𝒶𝒾𝓃𝓈 𝓂𝑒. 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝒹𝒶𝒹 𝓈𝑒𝓁𝓁𝓈 𝓂𝑒 𝒶𝓈 𝒷𝑜𝓉𝒽 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓅𝒾𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝓈𝑜𝓃 𝒽𝑒 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝑜𝓈𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒹𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒹𝓇𝒶𝒾𝓃𝓈 𝓂𝑒 𝓈𝑜 𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓇𝒾𝒷𝓁𝓎 𝓂𝓊𝒸𝒽. 𝐼 𝒹𝑜𝓃'𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒶 𝓈𝒶𝓎 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝒶𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝓂𝑜𝓇𝑒, 𝐼'𝓂 𝒹𝑜𝓃𝑒. 𝐼 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝒶 𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝓉𝑜 𝓁𝒶𝓎 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝑔𝑒𝓉 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓂𝓎 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒'𝓈 𝒷𝑒𝒸𝑜𝓂𝑒.
Tammy wasn't even who she said she was to her own family. I kind of wanted to know more.
𝟢𝟫.𝟤𝟥.𝟥𝟤
𝐼𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝓈𝑜𝓃 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒻𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓎𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓈 𝒶𝑔𝑜 𝓈𝒶𝓌 𝓂𝑒 𝓃𝑜𝓌, 𝓈𝒽𝑒'𝒹 𝒷𝑒 𝓈𝑜 𝓊𝓅𝓈𝑒𝓉. 𝒯𝒶𝓂𝓂𝓎 𝒲𝒾𝓁𝓈𝑜𝓃, 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉-𝑒𝓎𝑒𝒹, 𝑒𝓍𝒸𝒾𝓉𝒶𝒷𝓁𝑒 𝒸𝒽𝒾𝓁𝒹 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓈, 𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇𝑒𝒹 𝑜𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒻𝓁𝑜𝑜𝓇 𝓈𝓅𝑒𝓃𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒 𝓅𝓇𝑜𝒹𝓊𝒸𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑒𝓂𝑒𝓇𝑔𝑒𝓃𝒸𝓎 𝓇𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒜𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓌𝒶𝓇𝒹. 𝒮𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒽𝒶𝓉𝑒 𝓂𝑒, 𝓈𝒽𝑒'𝒹 𝓈𝓅𝒾𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒸𝓇𝓎 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝑒𝓁𝓁 𝓂𝑒 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓈𝓃'𝓉 𝒽𝑒𝓇. 𝒜𝓃𝒹 𝐼 𝒶𝑔𝓇𝑒𝑒, 𝐼'𝓂 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝓂𝑜𝓇𝑒. 𝐼'𝓂 𝒶 𝒽𝓊𝓈𝓀 𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓅𝑜𝒾𝓃𝓉, 𝒷𝒾𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒 𝓊𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓁 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑀𝑒𝓉𝒶-𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓎 𝒾𝓃𝒸𝒾𝒹𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝓉𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓈 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑜 𝓊𝓈. 𝐼𝓉'𝓈 𝒶𝓁𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹𝓎 𝒷𝑒𝑔𝓊𝓃, 𝒾𝓃 𝒶 𝓌𝒶𝓎, 𝐼 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀. 𝐿𝒾𝓃𝓊𝓈 𝒸𝒶𝓂𝑒 𝒷𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒹𝒶𝓎 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒽𝒶𝓃𝒹𝑒𝒹 𝓊𝓈 𝒶 𝒷𝑜𝑜𝓀 𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝓇𝑜𝓉𝑒. 𝐻𝑒 𝒸𝓁𝒶𝒾𝓂𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝒸𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓇𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓉𝓇𝓊𝓉𝒽 𝑜𝒻 𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓎, 𝒹𝑒𝑒𝓂𝑒𝒹 𝒽𝒾𝓂𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒶𝓊𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓇 𝑜𝒻 𝒶 𝓃𝑒𝓌 𝒻𝓊𝓉𝓊𝓇𝑒, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝓂𝑒 𝒽𝑒 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓈𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹𝓈 𝒹𝑒𝓁𝓊𝓈𝒾𝑜𝓃𝒶𝓁. 𝐼 𝓇𝒶𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓅𝒾𝓉𝓎 𝐿𝒾𝓃𝓊𝓈, 𝒾𝓃 𝒶 𝓌𝒶𝓎, 𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝓅𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝓈𝑜 𝓂𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶 𝒻𝒶𝒾𝓁𝓊𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝓉𝓊𝓂𝒷𝓁𝑒𝓈 𝒶𝒸𝓇𝑜𝓈𝓈 𝒶 𝓈𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓁𝑒 𝓂𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝒷𝓇𝒾𝓁𝓁𝒾𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒾𝓉 𝓇𝓊𝒾𝓃𝓈 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓂𝒾𝓃𝒹.
𝐻𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀𝓈 𝓌𝑒'𝓇𝑒 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝒹𝓈 𝑜𝓃 𝒶 𝓅𝒶𝑔𝑒, 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓈 𝒾𝓃 𝒶 𝒷𝑜𝑜𝓀. 𝐼 𝒹𝑜𝓃'𝓉 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝒽𝑜𝓌 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝓁𝒾𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓃 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓂𝓈𝑒𝓁𝓋𝑒𝓈 𝓈𝒶𝓎𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓈𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈. 𝒯𝒽𝑒𝓎'𝓇𝑒 𝒸𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓁𝓎 𝓈𝑜 𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓇𝒾𝒷𝓁𝓎 𝓌𝓇𝑜𝓃𝑔. 𝐵𝓊𝓉 𝒻𝒶𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒾𝓈 𝒾𝓃 𝒹𝑒𝒷𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝒾𝓂, 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝓊𝓂 𝑜𝒻 𝓈𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝒶𝓁 𝓂𝒾𝓁𝓁𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝒹𝑜𝓁𝓁𝒶𝓇𝓈, 𝓈𝑜 𝓌𝑒 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓃𝑜 𝒸𝒽𝑜𝒾𝒸𝑒 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝓊𝓅𝒽𝑜𝓁𝒹 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒹𝑒𝓂𝒶𝓃𝒹𝓈. 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝑔𝑒𝓉 𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒, 𝑔𝑜 𝓇𝓊𝓃 𝒶𝒸𝓇𝑜𝓈𝓈 𝒶 𝒻𝒾𝑒𝓁𝒹 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝑒𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝒶 𝓃𝑒𝓌 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒. 𝐼 𝒶𝓂 𝓉𝒾𝓇𝑒𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝓊𝓅𝒽𝑜𝓁𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶 𝒻𝒶𝒸𝒶𝒹𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝐼 𝒶𝓂. 𝐼 𝒶𝓂 𝓉𝒾𝓇𝑒𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝒻𝑜𝓁𝓁𝑜𝓌𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓂𝓎 𝒻𝒶𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇'𝓈 𝒻𝑜𝑜𝓉𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓅𝓈 𝒾𝓃 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓅𝒶𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓈𝓉. 𝐼 𝒶𝓂 𝓉𝒾𝓇𝑒𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝓁𝒾𝓋𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝒽𝒶𝒹𝑜𝓌 𝑜𝒻 𝒶𝓃 𝒶𝒷𝓈𝑜𝓁𝓊𝓉𝑒 𝓁𝓊𝓃𝒶𝓉𝒾𝒸. 𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝑜𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝒽𝑜𝓅𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒷𝓁𝑜𝓌𝓈 𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓈𝑜𝑜𝓃 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝑒 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓇𝑒𝓉𝓊𝓇𝓃 𝓉𝑜 𝓁𝒾𝓋𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶 𝓃𝑜𝓇𝓂𝒶𝓁 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒. 𝒜𝓃𝒹 𝐼 𝓈𝒾𝓃𝒸𝑒𝓇𝑒𝓁𝓎 𝒽𝑜𝓅𝑒 𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓈𝓊𝒸𝒸𝑒𝓈𝓈𝑜𝓇𝓈 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓉𝓎 𝓎𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓈 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓁𝑜𝑜𝓀 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝑜𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓂𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓅𝒾𝓉𝓎 𝓊𝓈 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝑒𝓃𝒹𝓁𝑒𝓈𝓈, 𝓇𝒶𝓂𝓅𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝒹𝑜𝑜𝓂𝓈𝒹𝒶𝓎 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓅𝒶𝓇𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈.
There was so much to digest. I almost needed to mark down these pages and show them to Mrs. Wilson, show them to anybody. Everything about the afterward today, the Nexus, metamancy, even the food packets, they were all part of some sort of terrible event decades ago, and nobody seems to know or care anymore. How bad have things gotten? I attempted to open the door knob, but found it stuck. I knocked on the door. "Hello?" I called.
The door opened. "Tammy, what can I--"
I showed Mrs. Wilson the page from Tammy's journal. She read through it all, examing the worn pages, and closed it, handing it back to me. "We... we're living a lie here, aren't we?"
"Mrs. Wilson, I can't call that one. But I can tell you that I am not her. The Tammy you knew is gone. You might even argue she... didn't exist."
"So..."
"...I don't know, myself. I'm just trying to get back to the body I belong in, just trying to find my way home. I hope you understand."
"I... I do. I apologize, I really do."
"But I have to thank you for letting me learn a little more about Tammy, about how things used to be. I am meeting with Linus Linoleum soon, and I want to present this journal as a part of my case for the things he's done."
"You...?"
"I promise I'll take care of it, Mrs. Wilson, and I'll return her diary back to you when all of this is said and done."
She gingerly handed me the diary, and after cleaning it up with my sleeve I stuck it in the pocket on my hoodie. "Thank you for stopping by," she said.
I wished her well and headed back for the next boat. As it headed back to the mainland, I sat on the upper deck, a bit sad about today. Everything turned out so much bigger than I ever could have imagined, everyone was so somber. It really did feel like the end, in a way. I gave a heavy sigh. "Long day?" someone asked me.
It was Connor. "Rough day," I responded.
"Getting your memory back?"
"That's not really much of a concern anymore. I have to meet with Linus Linoleum. It was originally just about finding my old body, but now it's a lot more than that."
I carefully took Tammy's old diary out of my pocket and showed him. As he flipped through the pages, I could tell he was having a difficult time digesting what she had written. "Gosh, I'm... I'm so sorry," he said.
"It's... it's fine, Connor. Oh, and before I forget to ask, why does Shim have it out for you? Her friends have no clue, either. I figured if I'm wrapping up all my loose ends it really should be all of them."
"Oh, it's because I used to have a pet lizard."
"...Oh, that's it?"
"Yep."
"Huh, I expected a bigger answer than that."
"Yeah, no, that's about it. Well hey, thanks for stopping by again. Everyone I've talked to that recognizes the name loves what you do, it's really great to hear so many kind words about one person. You're meeting with Linus? That's big. Well, I wish you the best of luck in that, that's no small feat. Hey, the town's right over there. Want to yell anonymous obscenities over the side of the boat?"
"No thanks, I'm good."
"Alright. Well, Tammy, take it easy. It's been cool getting to see you here and there."
"Thanks."
I walked back to my apartment and set the diary down on the counter. There was so much racing through my mind right now, I was really hoping tomorrow would be the day I could get to meet with Linus. Here's hoping things go well.
"Well, I guess I underestimated you, Jim," I said.
"Thanks for that. I learned that takedown during my time working with Felix."
...Huh, that was a quick one.
ns 15.158.61.51da2
