* * *

  Sarah suppressed a yawn as she stepped into the elevator. She stared at the numbers, her brain glitching for a second as she couldn’t remember where she was headed.

  “Good morning, Phoenix.”

  Sarah whirled. She hadn’t realized someone was already in there.

  Lore smiled at her, tucking her hair behind an ear. “Are you headed down?”

  How did Lore know her? And when did she arrive?

  Sarah searched her wrist for the faded words in Pegasus’s handwriting. Nothing but pale skin that really should go out into the sun more often.

  This was not her world.

  Her tongue ran along dry lips as she met Lore’s waiting gaze. “Do you know the files I sent you by mistake?”

  “What about them?” Lore seemed to not think much of it.

  Sarah rubbed the empty spot on her wrist. Even if she’d made mistakes here too, they might not be the same mistakes. But it was worth a shot. “There’s been something bothering me about those files. Did you look at them?”

  “Not closely.” Lore smiled, pointing behind Sarah. “You forgot to pick a floor. Unless you’re headed down with me.”

  Probably not.

  “You should take a look at them.” Sarah chose the main floor, pressing the button hard enough that her fingertip turned white. What else could she offer other than that vague hint since she didn’t know anything herself?

  Her next bout of hurried excuses died on parted lips. Lore was gone. The elevator wasn’t moving. She pressed the button for the main floor—again?

  Deep breaths went in and out as she glanced down at her wrist. Pegasus’s handwriting, once again where it should be, promised her she wasn’t dreaming.

  Would her words have made any sort of difference to the Lore in that one world?

  That one world. It was still insane to think that there were many various worlds out there that she could see and interact with.

  The elevator doors opened, letting her out into Comm. It was busier than she expected, though that seemed to have become the norm.

  She headed for an empty station and logged into the system. The waiting list of general, low-level tasks stared back at her. There were always emergency calls to sort through. The number only went up, never down.

  She wandered over to Cypher’s station, tapping on his desk when he didn’t acknowledge her.

  He looked up for a second before returning his attention to his screen. “Are you done with all the calls already?”

  “Of course not. That’s enough work for a battalion.”

  “Then what?”

  “About Lore’s project—”

  “Do I have to add you to that obsession?”

  Maybe. “Am I allowed to help in my free time?” That way, she might find whatever the other Lore did. If there really was anything to find.

  Cypher stopped typing. “You’re volunteering to help?”

  Sarah nodded out of reflex.

  “Be sure to tell Pegasus it’s not my fault you’re surrendering your downtime.” He turned his attention back to his screen. “Lore arrived early this morning.”

  Barely had he finished speaking, the elevator doors opened to reveal November and Lore. November pointed here and there as if showing her around.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Sarah reflexively checked her wrist. The words remained, partly faded and smudged at the bottom of the letter ‘g’.

  “Have you met her before?” Cypher asked.

  “No.” Not in this world.

  “If you want to talk to her directly about her obsessive-compulsive disorder, I mean, project…” Cypher grinned like a Cheshire cat. “She doesn’t have any real work assigned to her until the afternoon, so this is probably as good a time as any.”

  Sarah couldn’t help stare at Lore. There was no discernable difference from the person who’d spoken to her in the elevator not more than ten minutes ago.

  “Are you shy?” Cypher laughed. “Do you need me to go with you and hold your hand when you talk to her?”

  Sarah snapped out of it, turning to him with an over-the-top adoring smile. “Would you?”

  Cypher’s complaints about his good intentions being abused fell on deaf ears as Sarah checked her wrist again. This should be the real Lore. Well, the Lore from her world and not some alternate version of her. Reality was pretty much subjective at this point.

  Unsatisfied with her lack of response, Cypher returned to his station. Sarah felt very much like a stalker, waiting for November to step away. She was on her feet and walking over before her mind had processed what exactly she wanted to say.

  “Hi! Lore?” she asked as if she didn’t know.

  At her name being called, the woman turned to her with an expectant expression. “Yes?”

  “I’m Phoenix.” Why was she so nervous? This was not a high school crush. “I’d been helping with some of the research for your side project.”

  Recognition finally made its way into Lore’s eyes. “Of course! Phoenix! It’s nice to meet you in person.”

  “Yes.” What else was she supposed to say? She was terrible at these random pleasantries. Better to get on with it then. “How’s that project going?”

  “No actionable results, I’m afraid.”

  “I can help when I’m free. Cypher said that works.”

  “Oh, thank you. I appreciate it.”

  Sarah subconsciously checked her wrist. “What exactly are you looking for in these files? I only know you’re looking for people who were associated with the New Nation that may not be anymore.”

  Lore’s gaze drifted along the ceiling as if she were deep in thought. “I guess it sounds like a broad category, doesn’t it? But yes, I’m trying to track down people who belonged to the New Nation many years ago. If we find even one who’s willing to talk and can give us information or even rumors about the gateway, it’d be worth it.”

  Could that have been what Lore found in the other world? A clue about the location of the gate?

  “Why do y’all look so serious?” Mermaid threw an arm over Lore’s shoulder. “And you didn’t even come say hi. I’m hurt, I tell you. I thought I was your only friend here and you already replaced me with Phoenix.”

  Lore’s only response was to adjust her hair over her shoulder, lightly brushing off Mermaid’s arm. There was no sign of annoyance though. Instead, a brief smile tugged at the corner of her lips. It seemed they knew each other in this world as well, just like in Sarah’s vision of the Foundation Day party.

  “Have you had your outings yet?” Mermaid asked.

  Lore shook her head, again straightening her already very straight bob. “I got tickets for Saturday.”

  “Same show?” Mermaid asked.

  Lore nodded, looking mildly embarrassed.

  Mermaid turned to Sarah, jutting a thumb towards Lore. “No sense of adventure, this one. Goes to the same places every time she’s in town.”

  “I should go find November,” Lore said, walking away.

  Mermaid followed, saying she’d gotten Lore a tourist map and highlighted her suggestions. Sarah didn’t know if that was true, but Lore didn’t look easily convinced.

  * * *

  Sarah took a sip of her water, setting the bottle down on the floor next to her seat. She delayed swallowing for as long as possible, a poor attempt at stalling. “I’ve been better. Not too many hallucinations.”

  Would Dr. Rutger know it was a lie?

  He jotted down something on his notepad, a light hum deep in his throat sounding very much like he didn’t believe her. Maybe she was imagining things.

  “And no out-of-place feelings of fear or anxiety?”

  “Not really.” No more than usual.

  Why was she lying?

  “I’d like to try something different today. I think that it would be fine since you say you’re doing better.”

  Sarah stared at him, unsure what else he’d want to try. They’d even tried hypnosis of a sort some months ago without any good results. Well, any good results treatment-wise. It did result in her being more confused and unsure about her surroundings.

  To say she was skeptical about whatever his new idea would be was an understatement. “What is it?”

  “Nothing too strenuous. We’ll try a simple game of word association.”

  How was that gonna help with anything?

  “Humor me, won’t you?” There it was again, that smile that had earned him the nickname of Dr. Smiley from Robyn.

  Could it hurt? “Okay.”

  “Good.” The smile widened. He looked down at his notes, and flipped over to another page. Had he written down words to try in advance? “Robyn.”

  “Sister.” Dead.

  “Corridor.”

  “Dark.” Ten minutes.

  “Blood.”

  “Red.” Wall.

  Was he using words from what she’d told him?

  “Phoenix.”

  Sarah licked her dry lips, hand pausing halfway to the water bottle. Had she told him that one? A chill ran down to her fingertips, her hand moving to her bag of its own accord. She pulled out her notebook, turning the cover over to show him the beautiful phoenix. She forced a slight smile and shifted her gaze from his.

  The word—no, the name—echoed in her mind, in a dark corridor where blue eyes stared at her intently. Not like the other time… the other dream… where he called her by her real name.