Kyle:

Allen had left, allowing me and my guardian to settle down. I started looking around the inner-workings of the clock, trying to find the blankets Allen had told us about, while for some reason Jessica watched the road from outside. I supposed the girl was fine standing outside for the moment; it was actually pretty dark, so no one would see her.

For a while I did examine the gears of the clock, just to see them... and take a few notes... if I was going to live here for- probably a few months- best to know how it worked for... I was just curious. It's a thing for me.

I unpacked my few belongings. Besides clothes that meant a few books on earth culture, some project components (I still wanted to make that magnet weapon), and a few pictures of my folks and a few of my better friends among the house servants and guards. In Jessica's declared area I saw her normal belongings aside clothing as well: a few earth books, a few books from our homeworld (actually she was a big reader), and an old worn Bible. Jessica was a Christian, but we rarely talked about it because I wasn't. Still, I did wonder why she never bought a new Bible, maybe I would ask someday.

I found the blankets. Seeing them covered in dust, I held my head. I was about to grab them anyway when Jessica shouted from outside. "He's finally gone!" She zipped back into the main room, spinning several times. "Kyle?" she said aloud several times, looking around for me. I left the blankets and headed back out of the gear room. "There you are. Look, get in the elevator, I want to go somewhere."

"Since when do you tell me what to do?" I asked.

"Since I'm half a century older."

"I'm still royalty."

"When has that ever mattered between us?" she asked.

That was true to a degree I supposed. Jessica, being older, stronger, and more experienced at just about everything, never felt the need to look to me for orders or guidance of any kind it seemed. In fact, back home, if ever we were in danger, I was to almost take her word as law. However, when not in danger, I really did have the final word as her boss's son. It irritated me, but her independence was also one of the crazy things about her I would never change. So I let her tell me what to do and give me advice, even if half the time she was off her rocker. I stomped my foot when I meant to be taken seriously, but there was no need now and I knew it.

I looked over at my magnet device. It was a device on a wrist band with a small computer attached to it that looked something like a small earth calculator. I really had been looking forward to working on it, but... I refrained from sighing, not wanting to upset Jessie.

I walked over to the lift, pushed the button and... waited... and waited... and waited... sheesh things took a while in that building... how did humans do this? I guessed I was going to learn patience on this planet if nothing else.

Maybe I could have worked while I waited.

While we waited, Jessica opened her bag. "Ya know, in that get-up, you stand out like a dragon on a puppy farm," she commented, pointing at my basically ruined slacks and dress shirt. I had to think about that statement as she continued. "If we're just going around town, people will wonder why you're all dressed up." She pulled out a light blue sleeveless jacket with a red t-shirt and blue jeans. "I'll hold the lift. You go behind the partition and change into these alright?" I looked at the clothes. We wore things like this on my world too, like a set of play clothes. I shrugged. "Hurry up will ya?" I smiled and dashed off to change.

(***)

After we reached the base floor of the Jackson Tower again, Jessica hurriedly asked directions to somewhere from a random person... I didn't hear where, she jetted off to a counter in the room and had finished getting the directions before I was able to walk over. She then grabbed my hand with nary another word and almost dragged me outside and down a few city blocks. Finally, she stopped in front of a building with glass doors in front. The entrance to the building read "Oregon State Police". On our world the police force was pretty small, relying mostly on groups of armed citizens paid by bounty to enforce its laws. There were several rules about the conduct of hunters, however, they were pretty much autonomous. Thus I had never actually seen a police station in all one hundred years I had been alive. I knew what they were, but this place looked well manned, yet not especially important, like it was just another office.

Jessica quickly ran up the stairs to the door, pushing one open and waving for me to follow. I wasn't liking this, so I let on. "Jess... are you sure we should even associate with law enforcement?"

"They're friendly here Ky, don't worry about it."

"I'm not worried about being attacked Jessie, it's just we're not supposed to exist remember? Besides, don't these people have a thing about kids wandering around alone on their own? Folks on the street probably didn't notice us, but in a law enforcement establishment... it just might stick out, ya know?"

"You worry too much Munchkin. C'mon." With that, she moved inside without me. Truth was, half the time, I was pretty sure I was the one keeping an eye on her. I shrugged and moved in after her.

Inside I noticed her looking around the lobby area of the station. I looked around too. It wasn't particularly interesting, though I guess different for me. There were several desks with men in blue uniforms at them, each with a large stack of paperwork. Most of these men appeared armed and I felt like shifting uneasily, thinking about the swords Jessica and I carried. I'd seen many people carrying weapons on the way here and it didn't seem like a big deal, but I saw no children doing so. Course I had only seen two or three kids anyway so... I tugged on Jessica's shoulder, motioning for her to come in closer, and then whispered in her ear. "What about our blades? As far as these people know, I'm five and you're seven. If someone that age walked around with a weapon on our world, what would you think?"

"Considering most folks are still in diapers at that point on our world, I'd ask how they were walking at all."

I shook my head but whispered again. "Please tell me you get the point."

"I do, we could just say they're toys, ya know some toys look pretty close to the real thing sometimes."

"Yeah, I guess." I moved away from her ear. She was still scanning the room. "What are you looking for anyway?" I asked.

"Um... THERE!" she shouted. I felt every eye in the large office turn to the two of us.

"Try NOT calling attention to us will ya?" I asked in whisper.

"By constantly whispering, you're doing that better than me," Jessica noted. I paused, trying to deny in my own head that she had a point.

The man at the desk in front kept watching us, even as the others went back to work. Jessica ran over to a small partitioned blue wall that stood only four feet tall like it was just a divider more than an actual wall. On the wall were a series of photographs. I moved over to the partition to look at them too, though at a walking pace. The pictures were of people the law enforcers were looking for. Some were just lost kids, but others had descriptions under their names that made them sound like pretty scary criminals. I was sure I could handle myself, but I was hoping Jessica wasn't thinking about going after them. In fact, "We're not fighting crime here Jess."

Jessica looked back at me from the wall. "It looks like these people could use the help." I stomped my foot twice. "Fine... I wasn't planning on that anyway. Although something in the same vein you could say..." I didn't like the sound of this, so I stomped my foot again. "Stomp all you like, you're going to hear me out." I REALLY didn't like the sound of that. "No way am I staying cooped up in that tower for the next two hundred years bud, and don't think you will either. I won't hear of it."

"You aren't in charge here Jess."

"Except when it comes to what's best for you. Stuck up there we'll both go stir crazy and you know it." I grunted but listened. "Alright, so here's the deal. Folks go missing on our world all the time, but with DNA tracing technology it's usually pretty easy to track them down."

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"Yeah, unless they don't want to be tracked down. Need I remind you that some of the Joe's on this wall might be members of the societies that had to be relocated because someone was noticing they were too different?"

"Not the Joe's under twelve."

"You mean to... no... no no no." I stomped three times this time.

"Find lost kids," she replied. I shook my head. "Oh c'mon Ky, it's a good thing to do. Your dad gave me a DNA tracer, so all we have to do is scan something that has majority DNA from the missing kid and we can track him within two miles."

"And how do you suggest we get into a missing kid's house to do this?"

"Oh that's easy," Jessica said, she pointed at myself and herself. "Meet whoever's best friends that the parents just somehow never knew." I gave her a raised eyebrow. "Oh c'mon Ky, you said it yourself, we look like kids to these people, it's not like they'll suspect anything."

"It's not so much that Jess really, and I'm sure it's a good thing to do and all but... c'mon people care more about getting their kids back than catching the most violent criminals in the world. You don't think we'll be noticed running a search and rescue?"

"They don't care who does it Ky, just that it's done."

"What are you two up to?" asked a voice behind me. I turned around, almost spinning as I did, looking into the eyes of the man who had been watching us earlier. "Where are your folks?"

"Um..." I began, doing my best not to sound conspicuous and... failing miserably probably.

"Oh they're just outside," said Jessica, casually pointing- really in a random direction, but there were people in that direction outside the glass doors. Okay so... maybe she was better at subtlety than me... her own brand anyway.

"And what are you doing in here then?" he asked.

Jessica looked at the man, checking his name tag, "Well officer... Raymond, we're looking for... a friend of ours."

"Really?"

"Absolutely, really," I confirmed. Nothing else to do I supposed at this point, so I just played along. "Our best friend in fact."

"Really? He's missing?" He shook his head. "Well, that's kinda bad, missing your best friend. Maybe I can help." He stooped down to my level. "So, what's his name?"

"Um... kinda forgot."

"Well that's not very helpful little buddy," the man chided.

"So did I." Jessica admitted.

"Really?" The man frowned. "Are you two really looking for someone, or are you lost yourselves?"

"No no..." Jessica said, waving her arms, I repeated the gesture. "I mean, I could tell you um... what he looks like."

I had a quick idea. If I could make it so this kid that we "were best friends with" wasn't actually on this missing persons wall, Jessica would be running low on options. Maybe I could spin it to make her admit she was "playing". The officer didn't appear to be taking us too seriously, so there was a chance he'd buy that. I interrupted, "he was kinda pale." Jessica looked at me, but then back at the board, I noticed several kids on the board had white skin, and realized that the more brownish complexion I actually used to on my world was the exception here. Jessica and I were pretty pale ourselves, but here, it probably looked normal. "Um... dark brown hair," Yeah, nice going on that one, half the kids on both our worlds had dark hair no doubt. "Um freckles and um... green eyes!" I shouted the last part. "That should help." The man looked at me, eyebrows down a little.

Jessica pulled off a picture from the wall. "Him!" she shouted, excited. "Thomas... Tom, Tom, Tommy!" She nodded her head and held the photo to her chest. I felt like slapping my forehead as hard as I could. How- just how? That detailed of a description and GREEN eyes. How many kids have green eyes on any world? What did I have to say he was missing a nose? Would that have been on the board too?

Jessica leaned down and whispered in my ear. "Nice try munchkin, but it's fate now. Face it."

"What are your names?" asked the officer.

"Um..." I began.

"You forgot that too?" the man asked, a crooked smile crossing his face as he raised an eyebrow.

"Oh that's my brother," said Jessica. "He's always forgetting EVERYTHING!" Jessica said. "My name is Karen and this is Titus."

"I thought he called you Jess a minute ago."

"Oh, you know... Jezebel, from the Bible, we were playing around."

The man looked at me. "That sounds like a very- interesting game." My eyes widened. Actually, the Bible was in wide circulation in the nation of Triad. Jezebel... what exactly did Jessica want this man to think? Or was she thinking herself?... Again, she was the one who was doing the better act out of the two of us if I was reading things right.

"Well look," said the man, shaking his head a little. "We do have an ongoing investigation of that kid right now. If you could tell us anything, anything at all, that would be great."

"Um... he's shorter than Karen here," I said. It was a last-ditch effort. If "Tommy" was somehow tall I was home free, even if I did sound kinda dumb for saying that.

"Yeah... he's nine. Seems normal he would be taller, but actually, I use to know the kid and he was pretty short." Darn it! Nine-years-old and still shorter than Jessica... he should have known better! "But moreover, Karen, have you seen him recently, or do you have any idea about where he might be now?"

Jessica- Karen I guess- shook her head. The man reached for the picture, but Jessica pulled back. "Can I keep this?" She looked at it, letting her shoulders down, looking as if she were ready to cry. I thought at first she was pretending, but she looked like she was genuinely concerned about something even to me. "I'll use it to see if anyone else has seen him." The man shook his head and reached for the picture again, but again Jessica backed up.

"I guess we have another picture we can put up... I don't know if you'll have much luck on your own with this." The man looked to the doors. "Besides, shouldn't you be headed back to your folks? Strange how they never came in."

Jessica shook her head. "They told me this wouldn't work anyway. But I had to try, I really need to know where my little friend is... I will find him. You'll see." Jessica looked at the door. "I think I just heard mom call." She looked at me. "C'mon Tity, say goodbye to the nice man." I waved with my right hand at the "nice man" and Jessica grabbed my left, yanking me along as she ran to the door.

(***)

Soon as the doors closed I looked at Jessica and lost it. "ARE YOU CRAZY!" I grabbed her and pulled her away from the doors, dragging her and myself behind a wall on the right side of the building, hoping those walking by wouldn't take notice.

"Yeah- but is that new?"

We were standing in an alleyway now. It was empty save for ourselves and some papers that had blown in. I didn't notice at first, but maybe a cloud was going over head. The light around us started fading.

"Yes... well no- but I mean have you lost what's left of your mind?"

"It's a possibility."

"Ya think?!" I shook my head and grabbed the photo from my "sister". I looked around. "You-" I looked around again, watching the people walking by, not one looking at us. "You..." I finally couldn't take it anymore. "HELLO!" I shouted at a random person walking by. The woman waved at me.

"Yes, dear?"

"Um, nothing." She shrugged and moved on.

"What is wrong with these people?" I asked.

Jessica giggled. "We look like little kids Ky. They don't care what we do as long as we're not in trouble. Truth is, kids on this world are taught not to talk to strangers, so no one who doesn't know us is going to pay attention to us because there wouldn't be a point."

"They're not concerned that I'm yelling at you?"

"Why would they be? I'm bigger anyway, and you're probably just playing for all they know. Kids on earth are always making some kind of racket, but it's usually only important to them. Folks might notice, but I guarantee most of them won't care about anything we say."

I allowed myself a grin. "Ya know I never figured on naivety being an asset." I shook my head, "But that's worse in some ways." Jessica raised an eyebrow at me. "Think Jess. If we do something important, like beat their law enforcers to finding a lost boy, it'll stand out even more if we're not supposed to be able to do anything on our own."

She grabbed the photo quickly and flipped it over. "Look at him though." I glared at her. "No, really look."

I did. "What am I supposed to be seeing?"

"Someone who needs you." The area around us was now a little darker.

I tried to visibly calm down- but failed. I was already looking at someone who needed me. "Jessica, need I remind you? We are friends with werewolves and a wild man. What's worse, there are full societies of them out there just waiting for these people to be alerted to them by one slip up on our parts." Jessica looked at the picture like she was longing for something. "I know he's cute Jess, but what about little Jaden? Do you want to put him in danger? You want to put his father in danger?"

"We won't tell anybody what we're-"

"So what will we tell them? What will you tell Tommy if we find him?" I asked pointing at the picture.

"We could tell him the truth outright, that won't matter, no one will believe him anyway. You see how well these people listen to their offspring."

"And what do we tell his parents?"

"We just drop him off and leave. We don't explain anything to anyone over the age of twelve. You'll see, these people think there's a magic switch in their kids' heads that makes them suddenly reasonable at thirteen. Truth is I think they're actually less rational at that age."

"Jess..." I was finally calming down. I was winning this argument. Course, from the way Jessica kept looking more and more unhappy as we went, I wasn't happy about that myself.

"Kyle, Thomas is out there somewhere." She looked at the picture. "He's scared... he's probably hurt, and he's probably in the hands of someone who's the reason he's hurt. He can't protect himself." I tried to turn away, but Jessica grabbed my head and forced me to look at the picture. "Look at him, Kyle. Unless someone saves him, it won't matter what he does or how hard he tries. He can't save himself." She bit her lip, looking at me, eyes begging.

Around us, it got darker still.

I knew I was right. We could find this kid, or we could mess up and be "found" ourselves. I remembered the horror stories about the superstitious people of earth. Even if these people didn't find out about all the societies, if they just realized that Jessica and I were different, I would probably have to watch her be tortured to death and not be long behind myself. Jessica found herself afraid for this little boy, but I found myself afraid for us. I gritted my teeth, stomping my foot. "No. This is too dangerous."

"But..." she just paused, shoulders going down.

"We have no reason to do this anyway."

The sun must have gone overhead because it was getting pretty dark in this... who was I kidding? I knew why it was dark. There was no shadow, no clouds... some things make it hard to see light. Things like disappointing someone you care about.

"I know that. I just..." Jessica sighed, still looking at the picture. I grabbed her hand and pulled as I moved to go back to the clock tower. Jessica gave in, allowing me to lead her, but putting in no energy of her own.

I hated doing this, but I knew I was right.