Side Story 1: Earth World

After finishing dinner, Jack and Sophia Cross cleaned the dishes, amazed at the ease with which water came out of the tap. The sponge, the soap — it was all a discovery, but they managed to use everything because they had slight recollections about how to work with them.

After putting the plates in their place inside the cabinet, Jack asked, "Do you want to watch television? I think that's the word for that box in that room where we ate."

"Sure. Maybe we can learn more about this World, or we remember something important", Sophia answered.

Jack turned on the television, and after going past the initial shock of a box that had people inside, they both sat on the couch, with Sophia joking about the softness of such a weird chair and that it was easier to sit like that since they had no tails any more.

They changed the canals and watched for a few minutes several news stories and programs before Jack announced it was time for Sophia to go to bed because she had classes in the morning.

She kissed his cheek and went to her bedroom. Some seconds later, Jack heard her screaming and rushed to her.

When he opened the door, Sophia was in the middle of the room, looking at all the pets in cages and aquariums with her eyes shining.

She went straight to the glass cage of the big yellow snake and pulled her up with both hands. She looked at her father with a big smile and said, "I remember her! I remember them all! And you are scared of this pretty snake, aren't you?"

Jack caressed the head of the hissing snake and asked, "Why would I be scared? She is tiny compared with the Monster Snakes we had in Crosslot. Oh, right, I recall something about being grossed out by her! I have no idea why. But I think…" he looked around, pointed to another cage on the floor, and said, "I like them more. The guinea pigs. Now that I am looking at them closer, they look rather tasty. Do you think we can eat them?"

"I think we can because they look a lot like some animals we had in Crosslot, but the idea of eating my pets disgusts me, actually. Maybe we can find a few somewhere, and we can cook them, but not those two!"

"By the way, did you wash your teeth?"

While looking for her pajamas inside the closet, Sophia answered, "Not yet, but I am going." she pulled out the strange clothing and pointed at her school bag, saying, "I know I have my backpack ready, with my tracksuit inside. I remember you usually go get me after school, and we come running home every day. Don't forget to check your bag to see if you have your tracksuit. You change every day after work, and then you run to get me, remember?"

"Yes, I think I do. We started running from your school to our home every day ever since you started school because I needed to keep in shape because of my work, and you liked to be with me."

"Well, no need to change that habit, right? We never did that in Crosslot, but then again, I was never in School."

She suddenly froze and made a slight frown, as if she were remembering something that annoyed her. "Some kids there often pick on me. They call me stupid and poor little orphan. If someone tomorrow dares to pick on me, I am going to slice their heads open!"

"It is better if you don't do that. Talk with your teachers and tell them what is happening. If they don't do anything, then you take care of that. Without any witnesses. Quickly, and swiftly. And if someone asks later what happened, deny it until the end."

While going in search of the bathroom, Sophia replied, "Sure thing! Leave everything to me, dad! There is nothing for you to worry about! But you better not cause any problems at work! This is a different World, and you might lose your job if someone complains you were too rough."

As the cute little girl ran along the corridor, Jack mumbled, "I was supposed to be the one telling her to be careful, not the other way around…"

…

In the morning, they took their breakfast and marvelled at how easy it was to have cold milk from the refrigerator or hot toast from the electric toaster. All of that, with no need for Magic.

Jack had some trouble remembering how to put on his suit and tie, but after some struggling, he figured it out.

They grabbed their bags and left the apartment, with Jack using the key in his pocket to lock the door and following his daughter down the stairs.

Outside, there was a young girl with long, dark brown hair and brown eyes, smiling at them.

She came to them and said, "Good morning, Mister Cross! Hello, Sophia! Are you ready? You took forever! I was starting to get sleepy!"

"Oh, right… Emma… Emma Pearson… We usually go to school together… Sorry, I am still sleepy."

"Yeah, you look weird, alright! Come, or we are going to miss the bus! See you later, Mister Cross!"

With a wave, Jake bid his farewells to the two girls and turned to the other direction, trying to find the entrance of the subway.

After ten minutes, he went down the stairs and, without even thinking, took his wallet from inside the pocket of his jacket, put it on the reader, and entered the platform to wait for his ride to work.

As he sat on a bench, he scratched his head, wondering how he had arrived there without making a blunder.

As for Sophia, she was at the bus station with her friend, looking around at all the kids and paying no attention whatsoever to what Emma was saying.

She knew it was something about a cartoon Emma saw on the television after arriving home from school on the previous day, but she had no idea what it was.

So that Emma didn't become worried about her, Sophia kept smiling and nodding, pretending to be interested in her conversation.

The bus arrived, and Emma entered, with Sophia right behind her. The other kids followed them inside, and as they were both walking to the back of the bus, a girl's voice called their attention by saying, "Look who just arrived! The orphan and her sidekick! You should dump that moron, Emma, or you will become just like her!"

Without even looking to check who said that, Sophia asked, "You heard someone farting, Emma? Because there is a weird smell here!"

While the kids in the school bus began laughing, the girl at the back got up and walked to the two newcomers, asking, "What did you say, dumbass?"

Sophia looked from top to bottom at the angry blond girl and made a slight frown as she covered her nose. "Damn! No one ever taught you to brush your teeth in the morning? What did you eat last night? Manure? Move your head to the side or cover your mouth! I am about to throw up!"

The laughter that followed made the young blond girl even angrier, and she grabbed Sophia's right arm and pierced her skin with her fingernails. "You are going to regret this, moron!"

Sophia pretended to slip the moment the bus began moving and grabbed the blond girl's tiny left breast and squeezed it, making her scream in pain. "Oh! I am sorry! Did I hurt you on your titty? The bus moved, and I almost fell! Thank you for holding me! I could have fallen and hurt myself! You are so sweet!"

With a smile, Sophia sat next to Emma, who was looking at her completely pale.

The blond girl returned to her place at the back of the bus, still rubbing her breast.

The moment she sat near her friends, she said in a low voice, "She is going to regret making a fool out of me! Who does she think she is? We need to remind her of her place again. Maybe she forgot what happened last time she answered me back!"

One girl on her right said in a whisper, "We can get her on the first break. But as soon as we arrive at school, and before we go to our class, we can send her a message."

With a grin, the blond girl asked, "You had an idea? Nice." she then leaned on her seat, staring at the two girls sitting two rows ahead of her.

On her seat, Emma leaned right and whispered to her friend, "Sophia, are you crazy? After everything Eliza and her friends made you go through ever since you entered our school, you go and mock her in front of all these kids? She is going to be even worse to you!"

"I don't care. Let her come. She might get a nasty surprise."

Emma gasped. She couldn't understand why, but her usually calm friend had such determination in her face and a shine in her eyes that she looked like a different person.

On the other side of the City, Jack Cross arrived at his job. He saw other men wearing the same dark blue suit with a black tie as he was wearing and followed them to the back door behind the building.

He took his ID card from his wallet, mimicking the ones he was following, and approached it from the reader on the left side of the closed door. The door opened, and he walked along a corridor to a locker room.

Other men were talking there, putting the bags or packed lunches they were carrying inside their lockers, and he went to one near the left corner.

After thinking for a few seconds, he put the code on the keypad on the door and dropped his gym bag inside. From the plastic box that was in the locker, he took a receiver that he put in the pocket inside his jacket and the hearing piece in his left ear.

Someone tapped his back and asked, "Hi there, Jack! Silent as always, I see! Ready for another day?"

"I guess so. Where am I supposed to be today? Inside?"

"Again, you didn't memorize the places for this week. You are with me at the front. Just another boring day! I prefer when we are on the floors, doing rounds, but heck, someone must do the boring job, and this week it is us! Are you ready?"

With a nod, Jack followed his co-worker, and at the end of the corridor, there was a door that led to a spacious room with a counter at the far right and an enormous, windowed entrance on the left side.

They went there, and the man asked, "Left, or right?" noticing that Jack looked puzzled, he explained, "Your place today! Yesterday I was at the right of the door!"

"Right for me, then. We just need to stay there, looking at the people that come and go? Nothing else?"

"Not inside, of course, or else, how would the visitors know this is a safe building? We stay outside, in the shadow. At least this week is fresh, so it won't be that hard. John told me that last month, he almost fainted on his second day because of the heat wave!" the man said, looking somewhat puzzled by the question.

As they were walking to the entrance, the man asked, "Are you feeling alright, Jack? Because you seem to be a bit drowsy."

"I didn't sleep well last night. The bed felt weird, and the mattress is too soft for my taste. I either get used to it, or I am going to search for a harder one if I don't."

"You still haven't got used to your mattress? But you have lived there for, like what, five months already?" the man asked while the windowed door slid left, and they went outside.

"Some nights are better than others, I suppose."

Jack Cross went to the right side of the building, and his co-worker went to the left. They stood there in the shade of the balcony of the first floor to protect themselves from the sunny day, looking to both sides occasionally and checking who was arriving.

With a sigh, Jack mumbled, "This is a boring job… I hope Sophia is having more fun than me, or she won't stop nagging me tonight that she got bored…"