Enjoy!
The flavor set off a supernova in my head, like fire had been cooled, condensed into liquid and poured into this cup. I reveled in the heat of the coffee rolling around in my mouth, every nerve ending leaping up and down like a toddler in a toy store.
David stared at me.
"Umm, that's a bit hot don't you think? Be careful, you'll burn your mouth like that and ruin the flavor."
I thought for a moment. This was hot. Damn hot. So that's what hot is. Huh.
"So tell me what you can remember. Let's start with your name."
"My name is Adeline Rabinowitz. I'm 36 years old, I am a teacher at Mary Mumford Elementary School in Richmond, Virginia and I live in the Museum District."
I reeled a bit as the memories clicked into place. I didn't know how I could remember anything.
David cocked his head. "Well then, it appears you remember quite a bit ma'am."
"I suppose I do."
"So what's the last thing you remember before waking up on the street? I'm quite curious how you ended up in Cincinnati."
"I remember walking home from work. I had left late after grading papers and eating dinner at work and was walking through Carytown on my way home. It was, I think, a little past 11 that night."
"I decided to cut through the alleys behind some shops to try and make it home a little faster. I was about three blocks north of Carytown when I heard screaming. About a half block down I saw this guy trying to force a woman into his car, she was screaming at the top of her lungs and trying to fight him off. I started running over and drawing my taser out of my purse. The guy stopped, turned towards me and I saw a bright flash."
My hands started shaking, coffee spilling over the rim of the cup.
"Oh god. He shot me. I was trying to stop him from hurting that woman and he shot me."
David leaned over the table and placed his hand over mine.
"Are you certain that he shot you? You appear to be in perfect health, well, aside from being a bit chilly and nerve wracked."
"No, I'm certain of it, he fired three shots at me. One of them hit me."
David drew a long, shuddering breath.
"Well, that's a hell of a tale miss. It still doesn't explain how you ended up shivering here in Cincinnati."
"No, I suppose it doesn't. I can't really remember much beyond that, there's this hole in my memories that I just can't explain. Listen, David, I know this may be a little weird for you but I'd like to ask a favor."
"I'm all ears."
"I'd like you to help me figure out what's going on here. I can't remember anything in order, I'm trying to remember someone's phone number. Someone I know..... I know they can help but I just can't seem to recall their face or number or anything."
I felt the tears well up in my eyes again, the coffee shop closing in around me. Why the hell am I here? What the fuck is going on? The questions rolled around in my head as it started spinning out of control.
David sighed. "Alright then, I can help you out. The greatest joy of being retired is having no plans in particular. I think the first thing we should do is get you some new clothes, some solid food and then we'll go speak with the police and see if there's a missing person report filed on you."
I nodded and smiled. We sat in amicable silence for another fifteen minutes or so, sipping the coffee in front of us and listening to the patter of the winter rain on the street, the clanking and whooshing behind the espresso bar and the murmur of the patrons talking in quiet tones. I felt warmth returning to my bones and seeping into my heart. As strange as all this was, I knew that in this place none would cause me harm.
David walked over to the bar and paid our tab while I gathered myself up and headed to the door. The wind and rain was a cold as it looked, I felt my skin tense as we stepped out onto the street.
"There's a thrift store about a block from here Adeline, let's get you something warmer to wear."
The door opened to a thousand relics of past lives, broken dreams and passing fancies. Porcelain statues, worn out baby strollers, lamps of an indeterminate age, mysterious kitchen utensils that made no sense rolled past my eyes as we made our way to the clothing racks. I pawed through the women's clothing until I had found some passable pants and shirts. There was even a rack of used underwear for me to look through. I had to wonder at this, who drops underwear off at a thrift store?
Soon enough I had warm clothing in hand and was heading with David to the counter when I felt a strange tug in my mind. David peered curiously at me as I wandered over to the electronics section. I stood there staring at the obsolete computers, piles of old beige mice and keyboards and ancient video games. Something was calling me here. Something from my past.
David stood next to me. "What is it? Do you recognize something?"
"I don't know, there's something here I need to see. Give me just a moment David."
"Take your time, I'm in no hurry."
I walked over to the shelves full of electronics and peered closely. There it was, tucked up behind a dusty old Sega Master System. A slender leather case was lurking in the shadows. I reached back and pulled its considerable weight out and opened the cover. Inside was a fairly new smartphone.
"Well that's not something you see every day!" David peered over my shoulder as I tried to turn it on.
"Why do you say that?"
"Well, that particular phone hasn't been released yet. Finding anything made within the last five years is rare in a thrift store. Finding a prerelease model is akin to finding the Fountain of Youth in a Wal-mart bathroom."
The power button wouldn't work. I fiddled with the switch for a while until I realized the battery must be dead. I looked at the bottom of the phone for a power connector. Thankfully it charged via USB so there wouldn't be any problems getting it charged.
"David, I know this phone is mine. I don't know how I know it, but this is definitely mine. I hate to put you out, you've already done so much for me. Can you buy this for me? I don't have anyone else to turn to. I can pay you back as soon as I figure out where my money is."
David smiled and took my hand.
"Of course, that's why I'm here. To help you."
Curious turn of phrase, I thought.
David tried to pull a USB charger out of the squidlike horror of the cabling bin and cursed under his breath. I looked back down at the shiny screen of the phone. My past was in there somewhere, lurking in the binary memory of this innocuous looking device.
The clerk at the counter cocked her head at the cellphone.
"Wow, I wonder who dropped that off. Nice find lady!"
I nodded my head and smiled weakly. Who did drop this off here? Did I do this at some point? There are too many mysteries here. My stomach began to turn. David waved his credit stick over the reader and stuck his thumb on the scanner.
A few beeps later I found myself changing into the second hand clothing in the back of the store. As I pulled the shirt down over my head I noticed a tattoo on my left arm for the first time. Three solid parallel lines right below my armpit.
☰
Weird, I thought. What does that mean? How did it get there? I looked over the rest of my body for anything else I had missed. There was a light scar running down my right thigh, just above the knee. That's not that unusual I suppose, plenty of people have scars. Eventually I'll figure out where that came from.
I headed back to the front of the store where David was waiting for me.
"Better?" he asked.
"God yes. I'm actually warm. David, I found a tattoo while I was dressing. Three lines right under my left armpit. I have no idea what they mean."
"How curious! More mysteries from your past no doubt. I must be honest, this is by far the most interesting thing that has happened to me since I retired."
"I'm glad you're so intrigued." I scowled.
David looked aside and muttered an apology.
"No, no, it's alright David. I'm just really burned out, my head isn't working right and nothing makes any sense to me."
David turned and looked me in the eyes. "You have nothing to apologize for my dear. These are extraordinary circumstances and you are perfectly within your rights to be testy. Let's see if a good meal doesn't help you out. What's your pleasure?"
I thought for a moment. "Indian? Is there an Indian joint around here somewhere?"
"I believe so, let's see."
David pulled out his phone and started looking for a place to eat. He glided his fingers over the surface of his phone with practiced ease, painting mudras over the glowing screen. I watched his fingers dance with amazement. His face went calm and focused in that moment, his eyes clear and a faint smile on his face. It was like watching a dancer, if the dancer used only their fingers to paint a picture in your mind.
My reverie broke with his words. "Ah, there's a highly recommended Indian restaurant three blocks from here. Good Yelp reviews, decent price and... there we go, online booking. We've got a table."
I pulled my new overcoat tight around me and headed with David out into the street. The rain kept coming in waves as we walked through another series of dimly lit streets and old cars. We made it to the Indian place without getting too drenched, though my raincoat was starting to leak a little as we made it up to the door.
The smell of the Indian restaurant nearly knocked me out. Spices laced with sweat and meat trailed past my face in a stream of wonders. I had never smelled anything so tempting, so unspeakably delicious in all my life. My mouth began to water as I watched a plate heaped with curry pass on a waiters hands to a table. David looked over and smiled.
The maitre'd walked smoothly over to us and bowed slightly, his AR headset bobbling slightly.
"Dr. Halifax? A pleasure sir, your table is waiting for you right this way."
As we sat down at the table I peered over at David. "Doctor?"
"Well, yes actually. I have a Doctorate in Computer Science and Psychology. I spent most of my life as an AI researcher and programmer. It's been a strange time, no doubt. I've seen and done things I never dreamed possible."
"Oh..."
I reached down to plug in the USB charger and hooked in the cellphone I found in the thrift store. The LED blinked red, angry at its badly powered state. That'll take some time, I thought. The rain continued to pour outside, I gazed out the window and got a chance to let my mind wander for a while as David poured over the menu. This has got to be the strangest day I have ever had, I mused. The menu slid across the table with a hush and David recommended the yellow curry.
David cocked his head. "Well then, it appears you remember quite a bit ma'am."
"I suppose I do."
"So what's the last thing you remember before waking up on the street? I'm quite curious how you ended up in Cincinnati."
"I remember walking home from work. I had left late after grading papers and eating dinner at work and was walking through Carytown on my way home. It was, I think, a little past 11 that night."
"I decided to cut through the alleys behind some shops to try and make it home a little faster. I was about three blocks north of Carytown when I heard screaming. About a half block down I saw this guy trying to force a woman into his car, she was screaming at the top of her lungs and trying to fight him off. I started running over and drawing my taser out of my purse. The guy stopped, turned towards me and I saw a bright flash."
My hands started shaking, coffee spilling over the rim of the cup.
"Oh god. He shot me. I was trying to stop him from hurting that woman and he shot me."
David leaned over the table and placed his hand over mine.
"Are you certain that he shot you? You appear to be in perfect health, well, aside from being a bit chilly and nerve wracked."
"No, I'm certain of it, he fired three shots at me. One of them hit me."
David drew a long, shuddering breath.
"Well, that's a hell of a tale miss. It still doesn't explain how you ended up shivering here in Cincinnati."
"No, I suppose it doesn't. I can't really remember much beyond that, there's this hole in my memories that I just can't explain. Listen, David, I know this may be a little weird for you but I'd like to ask a favor."
"I'm all ears."
"I'd like you to help me figure out what's going on here. I can't remember anything in order, I'm trying to remember someone's phone number. Someone I know..... I know they can help but I just can't seem to recall their face or number or anything."
I felt the tears well up in my eyes again, the coffee shop closing in around me. Why the hell am I here? What the fuck is going on? The questions rolled around in my head as it started spinning out of control.
David sighed. "Alright then, I can help you out. The greatest joy of being retired is having no plans in particular. I think the first thing we should do is get you some new clothes, some solid food and then we'll go speak with the police and see if there's a missing person report filed on you."
I nodded and smiled. We sat in amicable silence for another fifteen minutes or so, sipping the coffee in front of us and listening to the patter of the winter rain on the street, the clanking and whooshing behind the espresso bar and the murmur of the patrons talking in quiet tones. I felt warmth returning to my bones and seeping into my heart. As strange as all this was, I knew that in this place none would cause me harm.
David walked over to the bar and paid our tab while I gathered myself up and headed to the door. The wind and rain was a cold as it looked, I felt my skin tense as we stepped out onto the street.
"There's a thrift store about a block from here Adeline, let's get you something warmer to wear."
The door opened to a thousand relics of past lives, broken dreams and passing fancies. Porcelain statues, worn out baby strollers, lamps of an indeterminate age, mysterious kitchen utensils that made no sense rolled past my eyes as we made our way to the clothing racks. I pawed through the women's clothing until I had found some passable pants and shirts. There was even a rack of used underwear for me to look through. I had to wonder at this, who drops underwear off at a thrift store?
Soon enough I had warm clothing in hand and was heading with David to the counter when I felt a strange tug in my mind. David peered curiously at me as I wandered over to the electronics section. I stood there staring at the obsolete computers, piles of old beige mice and keyboards and ancient video games. Something was calling me here. Something from my past.
David stood next to me. "What is it? Do you recognize something?"
"I don't know, there's something here I need to see. Give me just a moment David."
"Take your time, I'm in no hurry."
I walked over to the shelves full of electronics and peered closely. There it was, tucked up behind a dusty old Sega Master System. A slender leather case was lurking in the shadows. I reached back and pulled its considerable weight out and opened the cover. Inside was a fairly new smartphone.
"Well that's not something you see every day!" David peered over my shoulder as I tried to turn it on.
"Why do you say that?"
"Well, that particular phone hasn't been released yet. Finding anything made within the last five years is rare in a thrift store. Finding a prerelease model is akin to finding the Fountain of Youth in a Wal-mart bathroom."
The power button wouldn't work. I fiddled with the switch for a while until I realized the battery must be dead. I looked at the bottom of the phone for a power connector. Thankfully it charged via USB so there wouldn't be any problems getting it charged.
"David, I know this phone is mine. I don't know how I know it, but this is definitely mine. I hate to put you out, you've already done so much for me. Can you buy this for me? I don't have anyone else to turn to. I can pay you back as soon as I figure out where my money is."
David smiled and took my hand.
"Of course, that's why I'm here. To help you."
Curious turn of phrase, I thought.
David tried to pull a USB charger out of the squidlike horror of the cabling bin and cursed under his breath. I looked back down at the shiny screen of the phone. My past was in there somewhere, lurking in the binary memory of this innocuous looking device.
The clerk at the counter cocked her head at the cellphone.
"Wow, I wonder who dropped that off. Nice find lady!"
I nodded my head and smiled weakly. Who did drop this off here? Did I do this at some point? There are too many mysteries here. My stomach began to turn. David waved his credit stick over the reader and stuck his thumb on the scanner.
A few beeps later I found myself changing into the second hand clothing in the back of the store. As I pulled the shirt down over my head I noticed a tattoo on my left arm for the first time. Three solid parallel lines right below my armpit.
☰
Weird, I thought. What does that mean? How did it get there? I looked over the rest of my body for anything else I had missed. There was a light scar running down my right thigh, just above the knee. That's not that unusual I suppose, plenty of people have scars. Eventually I'll figure out where that came from.
I headed back to the front of the store where David was waiting for me.
"Better?" he asked.
"God yes. I'm actually warm. David, I found a tattoo while I was dressing. Three lines right under my left armpit. I have no idea what they mean."
"How curious! More mysteries from your past no doubt. I must be honest, this is by far the most interesting thing that has happened to me since I retired."
"I'm glad you're so intrigued." I scowled.
David looked aside and muttered an apology.
"No, no, it's alright David. I'm just really burned out, my head isn't working right and nothing makes any sense to me."
David turned and looked me in the eyes. "You have nothing to apologize for my dear. These are extraordinary circumstances and you are perfectly within your rights to be testy. Let's see if a good meal doesn't help you out. What's your pleasure?"
I thought for a moment. "Indian? Is there an Indian joint around here somewhere?"
"I believe so, let's see."
David pulled out his phone and started looking for a place to eat. He glided his fingers over the surface of his phone with practiced ease, painting mudras over the glowing screen. I watched his fingers dance with amazement. His face went calm and focused in that moment, his eyes clear and a faint smile on his face. It was like watching a dancer, if the dancer used only their fingers to paint a picture in your mind.
My reverie broke with his words. "Ah, there's a highly recommended Indian restaurant three blocks from here. Good Yelp reviews, decent price and... there we go, online booking. We've got a table."
I pulled my new overcoat tight around me and headed with David out into the street. The rain kept coming in waves as we walked through another series of dimly lit streets and old cars. We made it to the Indian place without getting too drenched, though my raincoat was starting to leak a little as we made it up to the door.
The smell of the Indian restaurant nearly knocked me out. Spices laced with sweat and meat trailed past my face in a stream of wonders. I had never smelled anything so tempting, so unspeakably delicious in all my life. My mouth began to water as I watched a plate heaped with curry pass on a waiters hands to a table. David looked over and smiled.
The maitre'd walked smoothly over to us and bowed slightly, his AR headset bobbling slightly.
"Dr. Halifax? A pleasure sir, your table is waiting for you right this way."
As we sat down at the table I peered over at David. "Doctor?"
"Well, yes actually. I have a Doctorate in Computer Science and Psychology. I spent most of my life as an AI researcher and programmer. It's been a strange time, no doubt. I've seen and done things I never dreamed possible."
"Oh..."
I reached down to plug in the USB charger and hooked in the cellphone I found in the thrift store. The LED blinked red, angry at its badly powered state. That'll take some time, I thought. The rain continued to pour outside, I gazed out the window and got a chance to let my mind wander for a while as David poured over the menu. This has got to be the strangest day I have ever had, I mused. The menu slid across the table with a hush and David recommended the yellow curry.
"Sure, that's fine."
The meal arrived silently, the waiter gliding across the carpet and sliding the dish of curry under my nose with practiced ease. I ate the entire dish without chewing, one swoop of the spoon. David stared at me silently, his jaw hanging slightly open.
"Uhhh, that's quite an appetite there miss...."
"I guess I was hungry. Sorry to be so impolite David. I feel like I haven't eaten in weeks."
"No, it's of no concern. I hope you don't mind if I eat at a slightly slower pace."
I blushed slightly, "No, of course not."
While David made his way through the curry I reached over for the cellphone and checked to see if I could power it on. The angry red LED was steady now and the power button was glowing. Great, now I can see what the deal is with this thing.
The screen flashed as I powered up the phone, hiccuping a few times and loading the boot screen. Android, good. At least it wasn't some locked down carrier written bullshit. The service light flared up and it got a steady data connection. There is one thing I need more than any other. The Dialer list showed the most called numbers and there at the top was the one I needed most.
I punched the record up and saw a face I couldn't quite place. John? John Wilton? The entry had his name and information, but I couldn't connect the picture with any memories. The last call to his cell went out just over three days ago so I dialed it again.
"Hi, you've reached John's phone. Leave a message or just send me a Wave and I'll get back to you as soon as I can."
Crap.
Next on the list was the schools office number.
Voicemail.
I went through the entire dialed list and got voicemail on every number. What the hell? How can everyone I apparently know be offline at the same time? I checked the wireless connection again to make sure I was connected. 65% signal strength, more than enough for VOIP. This makes no sense, I thought. If I was in a deadzone I couldn't dial out.
David set his glass down and leaned over the table.
"Can't reach anyone? Try my number, see if you can get through."
I dialed his number and without pause his phone started singing across the table and vibrating a waltz. Strauss?
"Nice ringtone David."
He smiled. "Thanks! Well now we know it's not your phone that's broken. Have you figured anything else out?"
"There's a ton of pictures in the memory card, mostly a cat. I imagine it's my cat but I can't understand why I need a hundred shots of it sleeping in the window."
"Ha! I imagine that most people would wonder that given your situation. I for one, would wonder why trees are so interesting if I lost my memory."
"So is your data connection working? Can you get on the web?"
"Yeah, looks fine to me."
"Look through your browser history and bookmarks and see if you can find anything relevant. I'd take a gander but that's far too personal."
I waved over to the browser and waited for the bookmarks to pop up.
"There's nothing special here so far. Amazon, craigslist, Boing Boing, a bunch of cat sites."
"Wait... what the hell is this? It's just an IP address."
2f01:03b8:85a3:ff00:0000:8a2e:0e7b:7334
David leaned over the table with his hand out. "May I?"
I shrugged and passed the phone over the table to David. He reached into his shoulder bag and pulled out a small grey box covered in ports. I must have looked baffled.
"It's a portable firewall I built. Damn useful when you don't know what you're getting into. The last thing we need is to brick your only source of information."
David fiddled with the phone and firewall for a while, then sighed.
"You'd think that setting up a proxy with this thing would be a little easier. Well, I didn't spend all my time in a lab for nothing."
He squinted though a pile of menus and eventually his head popped up.
"Right then, here we go. Cross your fingers, I hope this gives us some answers."
I pulled my chair along side his and watched the phones screen as it loaded the IP address. A simple frame popped up and a bar of outdated HTML loaded on the left hand side of the screen. Plain white background with blue text. It looked like something from before I was born.
1. About this page
2. Log in to Devnotes
3. Contact the Webmaster
4. External Hyperlinks
David looked like he was having a heart attack. His face dropped ten shades to pale and he slumped back in his chair, reaching for his water glass.
"Holy crap David, are you alright? What is it?"
"This is... this is mine."
"What?"
"This is my website. I mean, it's really old but I clearly remember this page. This is from my thesis project at Stanford."
I was stunned. "How the hell did that end up on my phone. David, what the hell is going on here? What are you not telling me? Do you know who I am?" I fumed at him and people started looking over at the table we shared.
"I don't know, I've never met you before in my life. I mean, you say you teach at an elementary school I have no idea why you would have this address. I don't even know why this is on the web, this was an intranet site when I was using it."
I grabbed the phone off the table and yanked out the cable leading to the firewall. I stuffed the phone and charger into my pockets and stood up.
"Fuck you man. I don't know who you are or why that's on my phone but I'm going to the police right now god dammit. Don't you dare try to follow me you freak." I flicked him off and stormed out of the restaurant. I could hear David saying "Wait!" faintly as I slammed the door and started running down the street. My phone started ringing immediately, David trying to stop me no doubt. I ignored the ringing and ran as fast as I could towards the end of the block.
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