Amelia Fischer
X-COM Headquarters
Siberia, Russian Federation
5:11 PM
Emily blinked, looking around. She had spent some time just laying in bed, thinking. Waiting for an alarm, an alert, something to indicate life beyond these walls. Half of her bunkmates were still nowhere to be seen. There were some things to do out there, pool and drinking, but nothing that would entertain her for an entire day, surely.
She looked nervously towards Sunny’s computer, worried that her friendliness with the girl resulted in some security implications. She wondered if she should disclose it to the commander, if it was worth breaking trust for. She remembered all the steps that were necessary, though. Who could possibly abuse it? No one would get her access. She suddenly jumped forward, sitting upright. Her eyes focused forwards and she squinted quickly.
// MEMORY: MISCHIEF //
Amelia Fischer, 14
Portsmouth Harbor
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA
August 2nd, 2005 - 6:47 PM
I look around, curious, but lost. The sea breeze rolls in, carrying the smell of cresting saltwater and crates of captured fish. Lances of orange and purple shoot out from the sea as sunset begins. I smile as the wind brushes across my cheek, scattering my hair. A man in a beanie comes to me. Gruff, dirty, smelly.
“Oi, you shouldn't be wandering around here, little girl,” he says authoritatively.
I point at one of the random men walking around.
“It's ok, that's my dad.”
“Oh, well, just be careful around here. It's no place for kids.”
It’s like it’s their catchphrase or something. A big ship rolls in, towering over the rest. Cranes and nets and tarps. Smoke billows out from it, the black refuse being blown across the dock.
“Where's that boat going?”
“That's the Bethany. It's going to...Argentina, I think. If you know where that is.”
“I do,” I smiled.
The man goes off to talk to my “dad”, but I'm too fast. I watch, laughing, behind a tower of crates as they confusedly look for me. I dash for the administrative building, sneaking across the clutter and mess of the dock. I look at the crates I'm hiding behind, reading the labels. Tools, fish, vegetables.
I grab a bar from the tool box and pull open the vegetables one. I root around in some beets and foul smelling garbage until I find it: an onion! The onion holds to my face as I rub my eyes hard, making them red and puffy. The tears begin to form in my eyes as I sort through the long, short tool crate again. Spokes, pulleys, lines, hooks, silverware. My hands finally find a folding knife. I kick the crate away and run up to the administrative office. I come up to one of the office workers, poke her, and frown.
“Help, help!” I cry. “I lost my dad!”
“What? What? What?” she stammers madly. “Who's your dad? What happened?”
I pull the card on her waist up to my face, the string whizzing and relinquishing it to me as I read the name. I point away frantically.
“Ms. Mina, my dad was over there and now he's gone!”
She looks where I'm pointing, and the hook of my knife slips around the string. Snip. The clip hisses as it pulls the bare string back. As it zips back, empty, I tap her waist with my prize for the illusion, whipping it behind me just after.
“What's he look like?” the woman asks, “Do you know his first name?”
“Wait, I see him. He's that one there,” I point randomly again. “Thank you, ma'am!”
“Uh, no problem, I guess,” she looks back at me, “be careful around here, it's not a safe place for kids.”
I rushed up to the side door of the building, flipping through the cards. I slip the card into the slot, the subtle ding and the satisfaction of the red lock turning green. I carefully open the door and slip inside, the cool air conditioning breezing out through the cracks. No one’s home.
I tossed everything onto a table and started pulling out scrolls. The Theresa, The Cassandra, The Delilah, ah...The Bethany. Tower plans, hull plans, cargo lists, crew lists. I unroll each, looking for empty places to hide and names to take. My fingers caress the perfect hiding space, and then get to linking up names. Plenty of last names, but no girl names. I look at the staff badge and smile. I think I’ll take it. I hear a voice coming from beyond a thin wall.
“Andrea, the cops are here, they’re looking for some missing girl,” a man says.
“A missing girl? Shit,” Miss Mina says. They both rush out of the building, just footsteps away from me.
Now’s a good a time as any. I take a few papers from The Cassandra and stuff everything back where it belongs. They'll never know where I went now. I sneak out of the door and skip towards the slip, finally looking at the Bethany looming over me. I giggle excitedly.
