Future - 2020

• The whole process of time crinkling up and flattening out seems to have gone unnoticed for the past two years. 

• It seems just about done.

• Detective Dick Reckard is just about the only woman in the FBI with her snout in all this supernatural business.

• A possum with a sharp nose and a keen wit.

• What seemed like a regular car accident to everyone else stuck out to her like a flashing red tail light

• The victim’s jacket, shirt - their entire outfit just sitting in the front seat of the car

• As though they had disappeared right out of it

• No body

• No nothing

• Barely even loose hairs to identify her with.

• A cell phone, though

• A wallet, too

• Reckard flips through the phone, searching for something.

• Google maps, three searches from the top: Team 35 Logistics.

• She scoffs, of course.

• The possum flips open the wallet, then her own phone, and takes down the victims details.

• Address

• Name

  • Mention Fehlender Jones by name

• Etc

• Puts it back

  • Uh, Detective Reckard?

• The possum stands bolt upright smacking their horns off of the car’s door frame

  • You should probably be wearing gloves

  • Uh-huh

  • Yeah

  • For sure

• Rubs the spot on her head where the horns connect

• The other guy is annoyed

  • Did you- hear me, detective?

  • For sure.

• Pockets her own phone

  • I think I have just about all I need anyway-

  • Hey boss

• Another cop

  • Is there a reason uh, the detective’s bike doesn’t have a license plate.

• Detective justice looks over

• Standing near her motorcycle

  • It’s- a motorcycle. I don’t need a license.

• Cop 1’s head snaps around

• Glares at her

  • No, you super d-

  • Is that paint on your jacket?

• Looks down

• Yep

  • Are you wearing sweatpants?

• Also yep

  • It’s- if you- I gave that guy my badge, so-

• Points

• Dude shakes his head

• Beat

  • ANGEL, JIG IS UP

• Ratty drops this dumb little character

• Shoulder check’s the nearest cop

• Grabs his gun

• Pulls the slide release catch and scatters both halves of the gun.

• One slides under the foot of cop 2, tripping him as he starts towards the possum.

• Cop 3 draws and fires in a single motion

• Hits Ratty

  • FUCK dude that FUCKING HURT

• Whips out baton

• Charges

• Slams him against a cop car, knocking him out.

  • Should I start-

  • Start it but don’t execute yet.

• 1 and 2 grab Ratty from behind, freeing 3.

• Pin her against the car.

  • Hey!

• Nobody seemed to notice as the slug fell from her chest onto the roof of the car.

  • Freedom of the press! Freedom of the press!

  • Social distancing! I’m infected!

  • Shut the fuck up. Look at the scanner.

  • I’m wounded! You gotta- 

• Snorts

• Starts laughing

  • Augh! You gotta get me to a hospital.

• Stares, grinning into Angelcorp logo at the centre of the t-shaped deep face scanner

• Flash

• A half-mile away, 40 college st, Eleanor Sloth-Bunny Jr. glared intently at the screen of a crummy little scraptop

• Hot enough in the centre of a column of servers to have to actually use her body to keep her body up

• Thankful that her job before death consisted mainly of core workouts.

• And for a few minutes after she heard the scanner click, she held her breath.

• Then

• A quick blink

• She selected the changed file, set it to decrypt

• Slotted the scraptop into a little free space

  • Got it, Ratty.

  • Fuck yes.

• A few moments and the TOPS file on Ratty Vermington populated the screen.

• A few after that, the program spread to her known associates

  • Are you okay to get out?

  • I’m

• Shoe slips

  • Fuck

  • I’m a little stuck, actually

• Looks up at the access hatch

  • I’m not sure how I’m going to make it back up

  • Could you- ow, fuck. Hold on.

• Ratty makes herself as tall as possible as not to be pushed into the back of a cop car

  • Okay,

  • Yeah, 

  • I think it’s time, Angel.

• Her bike’s little engine roars to life

• Speeds up to the open door

• Stops hard, pops up on one wheel

• Spins and puts a barrier between her and the cops

  • Gents,

  • Pleasure working with you

• She winks

• Straddling the bike backwards as it tears off with her on it.

• Turns a corner

• Goes out of sight

  • Alright, angel, check this out

• Goes to stand up on the seat

• Then

• A vivid flash of the future if she continues down this path

• Having failed a jump through her handcuffs

• smearing her face across the pink letters of “DEFUND THE POLICE”

• the only time Hanratty Ishmael Vermington and Hanratty Ishmael Vermington had been in the same place.  

• Sitting in a police station with Road burn all up her face

  • Never mind, actually

• Starts to pick the simple lock.

  • I need a-

• Sirens roar around the corner behind her

  • Find me a long alley where I can change out of sight

  • Bashful, are we?

  • When did you turn into a night rider car, stop having a sense of humour.

• Back at T35

• Watching over a crowd of angry people

• Monitoring threats

• Jamming what drones she can see from her window

• Barely any processing power dedicated to chauffeuring Ratty

• Angel enjoyed fucking with the police department

• It took a hot minute to figure out what she could enjoy from her glass tower

• But this was one of them

  • Would you like that to line up with Sett’s march?

  • That would actually be fantastic.

• It took a half-second to reroute Ratty

• As she watched an absolutely feral little goat

• Dressed in a perfect image of the 2020 enchanted forest Winners catalogue save for the smear of facial-recognition scrambling face paint across their eyes.

• Swinging their banjo like a weapon to break up a police corral

  • Uh

  • Angel

• Something popped up at police headquarters

  • I- could also use an escape route

  • Cant you just like, go ghost and slip underground

  • Okay, first of all, the entire time I have known you you’ve used your shit one time.

  • I don’t see why that’s relevant

  • I wouldn’t argue it, Eleanor

• Sett says

  • Second, way too hot.

  • Third, I would have to leave the laptop

• Stared up from the spot they had fallen to

• A simple virus but most effective

• Ratty’s face- everyone’s face in fact - would be recognized the next time they walked in front of a traffic camera. Her file would be recovered from that

• It was no good just to delete it

• Instead, Eleanor’s first big project - with Steph’s guidance - was to make something that false flagged every face in the database as Ratty Vermington’s...

  • I might have to leave the laptop anyway

  • Did you fall

  • Shut the fuck up

  • Did you, though?

  • Can you just get out of sight so my thing can work?

  • I’m working on it.

  • Eleanor, have you tried climbing?

  • I-

  • Shut the fuck up, Angel.

• Trapped emily

• Radio

  • I need suggestions

  • Whats up, sett

  • Cop trying to disperse the med tent

• Perspective switch

• Sett is in a tent

• Tending to someone

  • This is an illegal gathering

  • Just one?

  • Yes.

• Beat

  • You can take him.

• Sett looks down at their patient

• Almost done 

  • Hows the pain?

  • I'm okay.

  • Good, give me a moment

• Crosses to the door

• Pokey frantically trying to explain

• Sett steps in

  • This is a place of healing

  • You have no right to be here

  • This is an unlawful gathering.

• Sett

• Exasperated

• Leaves the tent

• Looks around

• More people than pigs

• Goes back into the tent

• Pokey still arguing

• Cop pops the top on his spray

• Sett jumps in to catch it before his fingers get a good hold

• Jams their arm over his shoulder, empty’s the canister into his visor

• He drops.

  • Strip his gear, lead him out, tie him to a lamppost

  • Make sure he keeps breathing.

• Stripped of gear and uniform

• Tosses it into the medical waste bag

• Except for the shield, gun, baton

• Goes to light a cig

• Remembers they're in a medical tent

• Looks around

• Gets a look from pokey

  • Its okay. Take a walk. We can hold it down here.

• Long sigh

  • Thank you pokey

• Kisses the top of the lizard's head

  • Sett

• Angel on the radio

  • I thought you might want to know, ratty will be joining the crowd in moments.

• Uh ratty keeps going 

• Changes into her little anarchist jacket in an alleyway

• Stuffs her ‘professional’ coat into a saddlebag

  • We good?

  • We are good. You have not been seen.

  • Good

• Bike kicks her off into a crowd of people

• Immediately anxious

• Keeps her head down

• Anxiety mounting

• Too many people

  • Miss Vermington?

• Spun

• Goat

• Beautiful goat

• Ratty’s beautiful goat wife

• Immediately lifted spirits

  • Are you doing okay, hun?

• Fern steps forward to offer the possum a mask

• Describe the mask as cool

  • I’m

• She puts it on

• Stands up into Sett’s arms

  • I’m okay, I think.

  • Did that one see me?

  • Everyone sees you, ratty

• Fern steps up

  • I keep telling you not to dress like that for a riot

  • Well, but-

• Grumpy beat

  • I meant that

• Points at a security drone

  • Oh

  • I got it.

• Thread

• Pulls it down

• Fern takes off running to catch it

  • Good, march is almost over. We can break off at any time

  • Hey Ratty!

• Slapped on the back

• God Prisha was getting tall

  • We’re almost done

  • We’re gonna stop at 40 college and then we can take the subway home from there

  • Then you can go back to arguing with class-splitters on Twitter

• Patronizing

  • Okay well, that shit is real, and maybe remember which one of us has media training

  • Okay hun 

• Beat

  • Oh!

  • I got a lead on-

• Sett interrupted

• Started yelling again

• That was okay

• Being next to them made ratty feel safe

• Powerful

• And so she stripped her jacket

• Down to the black thermal underneath

• Folded it

• Tucked it safely in her backpack

4.1 / 5

(based on 13 postings)

Fehlender Jones

Professor of Humanities at Multiple Schools

Posted: Jan 6, 2018

Fee is great! You can tell she's clearly passionate about the subject matter and really wants her students to be too. She had to cancel class a few times, but I'm not complaining. Don't buy the textbook, she has copies she'll loan you.

👍2 👎1

Posted: April 20, 2018

Lectures frequently go long. Will sometimes spend the entire class on a tangent. Very scatterbrained, but easy grader.

👍1 👎3

Posted: Dec 12, 2019

Had her for mysticism and the modern world. Cool course, but it got intense sometimes. Once she came in covered in blood, tracked it through the classroom, and then passed out on the carpet (still bleeding). I like Fee, but I'm not planning on taking any of her other courses if I can help it.

👍4 👎1

Posted: April 4, 2020

I posted here before after taking Fehlender Jones’ Intro to World Religions, took her Mysticism and the Modern World because I enjoyed it so much. She tried to kill herself in the middle of the semester, her passion is gone, I feel bad saying it, but I don't think I would take another class with Fehlender.

👍0 👎0

Posted April 7, 2020

She used to be a Lenscrafters model. She GLARES at anyone who interrupts. Deep black eyes. Fucking scary.

👍1 👎0

• Danny phantom twilight sparkle vibes

• Sett goes door knocking

• They says

  • "Fehlender?"

• Surprised to see her after she straight up got poofed from her car

• Shes shaky

• Green eyes

• Newly installed door chain

  • "Wh, what do you want? I'm- I'm busy."

  • "We were wondering if we could talk about the car accident you just got in?"

  • "Car accident?"

  • "No, i need to- i should get back to my research."

  • "Fehlender-" 

• Sett jams her boot in the door.

  • "We understand. You've just been through a traumatic experience. I just want to help-"

  • “It’s just Fee, just call me Fee.”

• Beat

• Beat

  • "What’re you studying?"

• Beat

  • "Old, religious texts..."

  • "I'm uh, I study history."

  • "Our wife studies history, actually." Didn't bother to mention that it was contemporary history. That didn't really matter.

  • I’m uh- a doctor.

  • "Anything... paranormal?"

• Beat

  • "I- everything is all wrong. My home is all wrong, the- the- the books in the complete wrong order, my books. I- I'm not from here. I just want to get home."

  • "We understand."

  • “Is there someone else-”

  • “no, I’m sorry, verbal tick.”

  • "Listen, you were on your way here when you crashed." Hands business card "that also happens to be the building I work in. Stop by sometime... we have an extensive library of uh... old religious texts..."

  • "Might be able to help you out."

• Turns to leave

• Beat

  • Actually

  • Would you come in, please.

• Sett stops

• Smiles

  • Of course, thank you Doctor Jones.

• Follows the neurotic doctor

• Breaks off into their kitchen as they sit down in the middle of a pile of research

• Puts the kettle on

• Takes a tea bag from a little wooden box on the counter

  • What's your working theory?

  • I- god, I don't know

• Pulls an old book closer

• Flips through

  • This morning, I woke up in the- that cement area right next to the entrance of Tour CN. 

  • And i was naked, and i ran home, and-

  • What day was it yesterday?

• Beat

  • Friday, December 1st, 2020.

  • Temporal displacement?

  • It could be. How do you take your tea?

  • Heavy cream, two sugars, thank you.

• Opens the fridge

• No cream

• Almond milk

  • Caused by what, do you think?

  • There's been some interplanear meddling that's disrupted the flow of time lately.

  • I would think someone in your area of study would have noticed.

  • No, no.

  • I keep close track

• Stands up crosses to their shelf

• Runs along it for a binder

• Picks it up

  • Once a week I-

  • Ah,

  • I see.

• Sett hands Fee a tea

• They sip it

  • I'm sorry, you didn't have any cream.

  • Do you mind if I take a copy of these, they're very well kept

  • They're, they're not mine.

  • No, I thought not.

• Beat

• Fee looks

  • Do you, have a theory?

  • I would say i have the start of one.

  • It's possible that you've experienced a severe enough displacement for you to have shifted between timelines.

• Beat

  • Is it fixable?

  • If it is, you're looking at the only person on earth who could fix it.

• Smiles

• Fee thinks

  • Well, good. I'll gather up the uh, pertinent documents and, uh, you can take me back to your library.

  • And perhaps we can set this right by the end of the day.

  • Mm

• Sips tea

  • When was the last time you slept, Fehlender?

  • I- I mentioned this morning

  • What time was that

  • I don't know, before sunrise?

• Sett

• Checks watch

• Its getting very late.

  • If at all possible, I'd like to ask you to get some rest first.

  • I-

  • I will still be there tomorrow morning.

• Beat

• Considers

  • You're right. That- that's a good idea, I think.

  • Good.

  • You have my card, enjoy the tea.

  • I'll see you tomorrow.

• /

  • Hey you!

• Ratty’s voice called over the sound of cooking

• Sett hangs up their coat

• Glides into the kitchen with their eyes closed

• Presses up against ratty

• Warm cozy

  • Hi you.

  • How was Fee?

• Sigh

  • A little tiring

  • Can you, not now, help me find that book on chaos theory?

  • Which one

  • The

• Tired sigh

  • The good one.

  • What’s for dinner?

  • You hungry?

  • Mmhmm

  • Well,

  • Grill cheese and tomato soup

  • Ooh

  • Yum

  • Yeah

• Smile

  • Go lie down, ill bring it over

  • Okay

• Lies down on the couch

• Kicks their boots off

• Wiggles their hoof in the air

  • Rattyyyy

  • Stop that

  • I know exactly what ur doing

  • You gotta come rub my hooves

  • Nope. I’m cooking.

• Raspberry

  • You’re no fun.

• Shoved them into the couch cushions

• Comfy comfy comfy

  • When’s you and Eleanor's anniversary?

  • Next Friday.

  • On the 11th?

  • Mmhmm.

  • Anything planned?

  • Oh yeah. Big plans.

  • Good. Good.

• Ratty sets down a grill cheese

  • Thank you

• Slips under sett’s hooves

• Flicks on some background noise music on her phone

• Beat

• Takes a bite

• So good. Like fancy grill cheese that fancy people make.

  • Okay, I’m not saying anything, but you would have plenty of time to recover before friday.

  • Oh my GOD! You’re pathetic.

• Blows a raspberry into sett’s tummy.

  • Wait until i’ve at least swallowed my gross cheese breath.

  • Ugh!!!

  • Fine

• Nom

  • Hey ratty

  • Mmhm?

  • I love you.

  • I love you too.

• Through a mouthful of food.

  • Okay, gross.

  • Ehe