Renaissance Smith: 10/28/96 (10/29-29/96)

 (Beth Miller)

Events of Oct. 28-29, 1996

Well, Mr. Diary,

Cab and I arrived at the hospital at some ungodly hour of the night, and were promptly smacked in the face with the realization that after knowing each other for a month and a half, we were all still strangers. We had no idea what the last names of either Nathaniel or KC were. Of course, the hospital didn't know KC's last name, either, since she didn't have any ID on her. Good thing, I suppose, or someone might have noticed that she was the missing girl whose house had burned down that morning.

Anyway, I claimed to be her aunt, so I could get in to see her. That meant I also got to fill out all the paperwork. I didn't think to use an alias, but since my last name is Smith, it probably didn't matter. I mad up an address based on a cross between my apartment and the Place, so I could remember it again. Hmm, I wonder if Daedalus would make me up a fake ID on that computer of his with it. I'll have to ask.

KC was pretty bruised, and had wrenched her ankle, but there was no permanent damage. She woke up complaining that she'd had strange dreams, and that she kept seeing things, fairies probably, moving out of the corner of her eye. Poor kid. This had been a rather spectacularly bad day for her. I really wished I could heal her, so something would go right for her today, but I just couldn't quite figure out how. I sat watching KC for most of the night, thinking about that.

My thoughts ran on about how I could manage to heal myself; no problem. After all, I knew what felt wrong and what felt like me inside my own body, so I could set that to right. The problem comes from trying to figure out what's right in any other organism. In something simple, like a bacteria or a spider, I understood the basic life pattern just fine, so I could heal it, alter it, destroy it, as I wished. More complex organisms, like cats and people, are more difficult.

You're letting me go off on a tangent here, Mr. Diary. Where was I? Oh, yeah. We couldn't find Nathaniel anywhere. Apparently he wasn't really hurt, and he had checked himself out before we got there. The last the nurse had seen of him, he'd headed off in search of a drink. I was starting to get worried about the way our party was disintegrating. First John had wandered off, then Daedalus, Eric, and Reuben had been arrested, and now KC was injured and Nathaniel had disappeared. I realized we were also down to two vehicles: Daedalus's motorcycle, which Cab had borrowed and Eric's car, which we didn't have keys to.

We hadn't been at the hospital very long when we heard a beeping noise coming out of the closet in KC's room. Upon investigation, we discovered the beeper that Daedalus had given her. I headed out to call the number displayed on it, feeling hopeful. I didn't think anyone but Daedalus could call the thing. Sure enough, Daedalus answered. I think I gave him a shock telling him I was on the phone because KC had been in a car accident, and we were at the hospital. One of these days, I've got to learn to be more gentle about springing surprises on people.

Anyway, I filled him in and he told me that they had been arrested, yes, but the situation had been dealt with. He didn't seem inclined to give details over the phone. He said they were on their way to meet us at the hospital, then he signed off.

Daedalus and I stayed at the hospital all night. KC was very happy to see Daedalus; I a pretty sure he's the only one of us she trusts completely. (Not that I can complain; I don't feel that close to them all, myself.) As her self-proclaimed relative, I felt I ought to stay, too, to add an air of legitimacy to the proceedings.

In the morning, they gave KC a pair of crutches, and let her check out. We got back to the Place, and KC went to feed her cats. She was annoyed that no one had thought of it the night before. I got Daedalus to give me a ride to my apartment so I could pick up some clothes, then we went back to the Chantry and I took a shower and collapsed for a few hours sleep.

I got filled in a bit after I woke up. I know there's a lot I never heard; the four sentences I got out of Daedalus couldn't have been a complete summary. Anyway, they got arrested, framed for drug trafficking, transported towards Richmond, had all records of their existence erased, and were rescued by a police officer in conjunction with Betsy and Ogre. Have I confused you, Mr. Diary? Good, then we're in the same boat.

The most important part of all that, I think is that Daedalus, Eric, and Reuben no longer existed. There were no computerized records of them ever doing anything, from paying taxes to being born. They just weren't there. It appeared that we had gotten ourselves a pretty powerful enemy. Just what we needed, huh? More complications.

I spent the rest of the afternoon on the phone with the police, the garage, and my insurance agent, finding out about my car. It was totaled all right. I wondered if Nathaniel had disappeared to keep from having to face me. It might explain why he kept hanging up the phone on Monday night. I decided I was going to wait until after we were done dealing with the Weather Machine before I went looking for a new car. We seem to be awfully hard on cars, and I didn't want to tempt fate.

Tom Brady <tabrady@mindspring.com>

Last modified: Tues Dec 24 15:10:00 1996 by tabrady