"Thank you, I'll see you on Tuesday," Xander said, carefully hanging up and placing the phone next to another just like it. She sat across a stainless steel table in a clean but dimly lit commercial kitchen. She waited for the second phone to ring. Her manager was finishing up something in the office, or so he claimed. It was ten in the morning now, an hour before opening, and they were the only ones there. It was likely that they would be the only ones who showed up, considering everything. If all went to plan, Xander would be on her way out too.
The second phone rang, for the seventh time today. Xander's hand immediately darted towards the phone, picking it up and flipping it open. She hesitated for a moment before answering.
"Hello?"
"Hello, is this Xander Soldavi?" a woman's voice asked.
"This is she," Xander answered.
"Pleasure to speak with you Xander, my name's Sara, from Monolith Holdings, and I wanted to run a reference by you, if you have got the time."
Xander mumbled and then looked around at nothing in particular, before eventually replying,
"Sure, what's their name?"
"Sophia Grace."
"Oh..." Xander said, smiling but feigning concern.
"Is something wrong?"
"I'm sorry, but I cannot recommend that particular individual to any position."
"May I know why?"
"No, you may not." Xander said with finality. A silence followed, until Xander spoke up again,
"However, I do hear that Monolith Holdings is looking for a new president, yes I know it's hush hush, but I heard it through the grapevine, am I correct?"
Sara didn't reply for a while.
"Are you th-" Xander began.
"I don't know what leads you to believe that, but I don't know anything about the matter. Can I help you in any way?"
"Sure. Send a message to your higher ups. Hire me instead of scouting around. Under me, the Morantis Railroad Cooperative has grown to surpass the influence of the Citadel, as I'm sure you're well aware, and we just recently exceeded over two hundred employees! Tell them I'll meet on Friday, at six, at the Sun Crossing Cafe, can you do that?" Xander commanded.
Another pause from Sara.
"I'll pass your message along. Is there anything else Monolith Holdings can do for you today?" she replied with a hint of annoyance.
"Nope, see ya." Xander said, hanging up. She smiled and then whistled,
"Let's see if this one pays off," she said to herself. It was the last phone call of the day, and the scam had worked out quite well, as she saw it. A door slammed open, with Alan and Norian walking in. A few shouts echoed from the streets behind them as the door swung. Both of them immediately caught Xander's stare and gave her a knowing nod.
Alan was a Mordite, mostly humanoid, but with the curious tendency to, as many of his species could, sprout extra fully formed, strong, capable limbs, alongside their former ones. Very few of them lived in the Milky Way, and likewise were quite rare in Morantis. He was short and thin, and largely unassuming, and today he was wearing a thin tan shirt and a white canvas skirt.
Norian, on the other hand, was an Ocrain, giant ratfolk, standing as tall as a human, with bristly hides and quick movements. They were quite numerous in Morantis, though they numbered far under the humans, like all other species.
Xander, on the other hand, was an Anmoran, but few knew that, not even Norian or Alan. She looked close enough to a human, and she never betrayed that misconception. It kept her safe. The signature red scars were hidden by clever use of clothes and makeup; sometimes people would give strange looks, but most were fooled. Since Anmorans were so few and far in between, she had never met a single one other than herself since arriving in the City. In light of that, she chose to blend in with humans, who were by far the most numerous in the City. She dressed in plain clothes, just jeans and a blue button up shirt, short sleeved, so she wouldn't look too formal, as she saw it.
"Xander!" a shout came from Dan's, the manager, 'office'. It was hardly an office, such a thing would be far too out of budget for this particular establishment. An array of boxes formed a cubicle, and then stood a bar stool in the center, with a small plastic crate as a table for his laptop. The walls were stained from smoke, and the floor was splintered and cracked, the wood aged from centuries of use. He was crouching down on the bar stool when Xander entered.
"Where the hell is Sid?" he demanded.
"Am I my brother's keeper?" Xander asked with a small smile.
"Is she going to show?" he asked, with a hint of worry.
"Doubt it. Anyways, I just needed to use your phone for an interview. I quit." she said, taking off her apron, and handing over a pair of keys. Xander basked in Dan's genuine confusion for a while, before smiling and throwing him his phone. He caught it, and as his confusion turned into anger, Norian smiled again and turned around.
Norian and Alan walked out with her.
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Two days later, they were all at the Sun Crossing Cafe, plus Sid, who was a confident young Jungei, who often took her native form of swarms of thin parchment, swirling violently in a mass, pulsating in movement and flow. It was an older institution, serving all species of Morantis. The dining room was dimly lit by overhanging lanterns, which Xander hated. They seemed to be hanging only by a thread, a conflagration in waiting.
"So walk me through this again, because this shit seems like a losing gamble," Sid said, constricting her parchment body into a smaller ball-like mass.
"I applied for intern positions at every large company in Morantis, using a fake name. I then put myself, with my real name, as their top reference. I told them I was the president of the Morantis Railroad Cooperative. Just kept using the old 'I heard you guys were looking for someone'' trick until I hit someone desperate enough."
"And the intern positions?" Sid pressed.
"Never followed up on them!"
"There is no way anybody would fall for that," Alan said, scoffing, "The railroads run themselves, what would a company do? Shine and wax them?"
"It doesn't matter. We just needed one to take the bait, and I kept trying until one bit. I'm meeting them here today, in just a few minutes," Xander replied.
"How do you know they fell for it?" Sid asked.
"Just trust me." Xander replied, while looking around.
Nobody was nearby where they were sitting. It was a popular spot among travelers, but they were between train arrivals, granting a calm before the storm. They had chosen a spot in the corner, secluded from everyone else, until a rather loud couple announced their entrance, and seated themselves a table across. Both of them were Somians, a people Xander was still getting used to.
"Fine then, who fell for it?" Sid pressed on.
"Monolith Holdings," Xander replied with a coy smile. Alan gasped and Norian's fur stood on end.
"No shit?" Sid asked.
"This could be our golden ticket. Just need to make a good enough impression at the interview that they don't look too hard at the background check. Easy enough, right?" Xander said. Alan whistled in admiration,
"Hells, chief, if this plays out, this'll be more than just a ticket, it's the damn train," Alan said, grinning. Sid curled up smaller and stayed silent. Norian finally spoke up, breaking her own silence,
"I don't know Xander, this was all fun and games before but messing with Monolith..."
"Oh come on, like you can talk, with your King's Court bullshit," Xander said, interrupted with a laugh, "I think we'll be fine. We always are."
Everyone stayed silent for a moment after that. Next to them, the Somians were angrily hissing at each other. She'd never seen their kind before arriving in Morantis. Large, mantis-like creatures, they were few and far between, though remarkably friendly to Xander whenever she met any. Both of their bodies were covered in a gray crystalline exoskeleton, off which the faint candle light of the restaurant reflected.
This particular couple were particularly engrossed in a particular argument over a job in the Citadel, or the lack of it. Alan and Norian looked equally as irritated, or at least uncomfortable. Sid was happily swirling in a mass, laughing as the argument got more heated. Norian told her to shut up, which she ignored. But as the scuffle between the two guests increased in volume and length, even Sid began to see the problem.
"Afterlife, and all anyone can think about is a job, including us. Funny how that works," Sid said, followed by a sigh.
"I can't believe this, shit could bomb the interview," Xander said through gritted teeth, "Alan, do something quick, before they come!"
"Don't worry about it, what's going to happen? Just find another table, worst case scenario," Alan replied. Xander didn't respond but scowled silently.
Norian cleared her throat and reached into the pockets of her jacket, with a concerned look on her face until she smiled, and pulled out a small cylindrical can of roasted almonds. She placed it on the table, much to the bewilderment of the others, and then reached back into her pocket. She pulled out two more identical cans, with plastic lids, and placed them on the table side by side. Norian smiled and then, with a careful delicacy, began removing the plastic lids from each one. She put the lids in a pile, and then quickly grabbed several almonds from each can.
"Nori, the hell-" Xander began, before Sid interrupted her with a "hush!"
Norian took all of the almonds and stuffed them into her mouth, crunching loudly on them for far longer than deserved.
"Okay, now the plan will work," Norian said, after she was done.
"Enlighten me," Alan replied, furrowing his brows.
"It's three different spice levels of roasted almonds, and I ate three from each, totaling to nine, a perfect symmetry, it's good luck, yknow?" Norian said, "I call it the Nine Nuts of Bethlehem."
Confusion ran across the faces of Alan and Xander, and even Sid looked more constricted than usual. All of them thought of questions that they immediately decided better go unasked. Quickly stealing away their attention, the Somians began throwing utensils at each other, and a knife flew past Xander's face, grazing her but not breaking skin, as expected in the afterlife, and landed on their table. Nobody said anything, and Xander looked around at all of them with a smug vindication, then nodding with annoyance at Alan.
Alan sighed and slowly arose. Xander mouthed a silent "thanks'', but gave Sid a worried glance. Alan loudly announced his presence to the Somian couple, with a cough and a grunt. He stood tall in front of their table and took a deep breath. Cracking noises came from Alan's shoulders, and two small masses of flesh began to grow from his sides, growing into longer limbs while snapping and cracking grossly, until they were fully formed hands and arms right below his formerly lone limbs. He took a deep breath and raised his arms,
"Garçon!!" he shouted angrily, while waving all his hands wildly, each one now equipped with a white handkerchief, "Garçon! C'est dégoûtant!"
The two Somians perked up and stared angrily at Alan. Their necks made clicking noises as they turned, directing all their eyes, the two large ones at the sides of their head, and the two smaller ones in the middle of their face, toward the new disturbance. The candlelight glinted off their exoskeletons and reflected off on the table and walls around them. Alan's four arms flailed aggressively in rigid waves, the handkerchiefs turning into a blur in his hands. Around the corner, a human in a shiny blue suit rushed to the scene, with a concerned smile on his face. The Somian couple let out a crackly sigh of relief, and returned to their silent glaring at each other for the moment. The waiter presently rushed over to the scene, and smiled wide at Alan and his seated companions.
"How may I help you, monsieur?" the waiter asked gently, wincing as Alan's arms swung to a halt in front of his face.
"This is unacceptable, mon ami," Alan said, snapping his four hands in front of the waiter, "I just witnessed these two spit, yes Monsieur, spit in my glass of wine just now. We all saw them do it."
As soon as the words left his lips, Xander facepalmed. Norian crashed her head onto the table and groaned. The waiter began to tap his foot slowly,
"My friend, you must be mistaken. Please, sit down and let us all look past this," he said, frowning at Alan.
A snapping and cracking sound came from Alan as the arms retracted into his body, somehow leaving his shirt and suit intact.
"And why would I do that? Please, have them removed immediately, we're meeting an important client soon!"
"Well then you'll have to do it elsewhere!" one of the Somians snapped at Alan.
"Indeed, I must ask you to leave at once," the waiter said, "I'm not exactly sure what your game is here, but we don't tolerate fraudsters in this establishment."
"Fraud!? What ever the reason- how indeed! Why would you say that?" Alan stumbled awkwardly. Sid and Norian already began to walk away from the scene in shame. Xander stayed and watched.
"Somians can't spit, shit-for-brains," the other Somian said with contempt.
Xander bit her lip to stop herself from laughing as Alan stammered and slowly backed away from the scene.
"I'm so sorry for my friend, he'd had too much to drink, I really don't know what came over him, terribly sorry once again," Xander said, extending a hand to the waiter. The waiter looked over to the Somian couple, looking for approval. They both shook their heads.
"I'm going to have to ask you to leave," the waiter said.
"What? What'd I do?" Xander demanded.
"I'm afraid you're making our other guests uncomfortable, madam."
"I don't think you understand, I'm meeting someone for a job interview here in a few minutes, I need to stay," Xander said, putting effort into a smile.
The waiter didn't respond, and simply gestured to the door with a nod.
"Oh come on, please?"
The waiter narrowed his eyes and stared at her shoulder. Xander winced and moved her shirt to cover it.
"I especially won't have someone like you in here, Girin."
Xander bit her lip and turned to the door, paused for a moment, and then began to walk away. After a few steps, she turned around and made a great show of spitting at the floor of the establishment,
"I can spit, motherfucker," she said, turning around and slamming the door behind her.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
Outside, Norian and Alan were waiting for her. It was a few minutes after six now, and the orange sun on the edge of the horizon illuminated the green sky, and red sandstone skyscrapers around them. The streets were crowded with buses and people of every species, and the sound of the buildings shifting and restocking, at will of the City, filled the air. It was like a low rumbling drum beat, to consistent equidistant intervals.
"Where's Sid?" Xander asked.
"She went to hide in the bathroom, apparently it happened again," Alan explained.
"Great, more good news. Why the fuck would you make up a reason, when a real one was right there, good gods man, your head's thicker than concrete sometimes," Xander ranted. Alan looked ashamed and didn't answer, and instead retracted his arms back into his body, leaving only his original two.
"I mean honestly, why the fuck do I have to bail you all, especially you Alan. Christ man, you've got to let me rely on you sometimes,"
"It was your damn idea, Xan," Norian interrupted, "May come as a surprise to you, but not all of us are gifted enough to lie like a snake," she continued, sneering at Xander. She scoffed in response.
After a silence, interrupted only by Alan shuffling back and forth, Xander began looking around for anyone approaching, when she noticed a yellow sedan come to a halt a street away from the Sun's Crossing Cafe. Red sand flew through the air as he doors opened, obscuring the car for a moment. Two women in striped yellow suits came out, one carrying a small white box, covering their eyes with their sleeves as they fought through the blowing fine sand. They were far enough away enough.
"Are those our guys?" Alan asked.
"Probably," Norian answered, adjusting her glasses. The two women paused for a moment on the sidewalk, writing something down on a notebook, before proceeding.
"Wow, I can't believe it actually worked," Alan said. He and Norian watched the two women approach until Xander coughed angrily,
"Shit! Big problem," she cursed, "Look," pointing towards a black car, coming to a stop, with two Anmorans stepping out with great haste. They ignored the wind and sand, and after a moment of looking around, began walking with determination towards the Cafe. Xander's eyes darted between the two groups slowly approaching the cafe.
"What are we looking at Xan?" Alan asked. A reality dawned on Norian and she began shaking her head.
"I may have..." Xander gulped, "I may have gotten two people to fall for it, I think. I told them all the same time, goddamn stupid..."
"So? Just meet with Monolith," Alan said, confused.
"That'd be easy if-" Norian began, before darting her head towards the entrance of Sun's Crossing.
At the front of the restaurant, the doors swung open and SId came swiftly floating towards them in a hurry.
"Sorry, I was eavesdropping, I heard everything! So we don't know which one of them is Monolith?" she said quickly in everyone's minds. Alan and Norian nodded, then turned to Xander.
"No, we don't," Xander said behind gritted teeth as she watched both parties approach the restaurant.
"Easy, Xan, give me a vial," Sid said, out loud this time, in an ethereal voice that emanated from her swarming parchment body.
"You're joking," Xander said, "No way."
"Come on, we've been practicing, this is the best opportunity to use it."
"I'd rather gamble on choosing one of them, than gamble with my life, Sid. Every time we've tried..." Xander trailed off.
"We can't fuck this up, golden ticket right? I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not going back to that damn kitchen," Sid said, carefully watching the approaching people of interest. They had about thirty seconds, by her estimate. Xander grumbled and cursed.
"Fine. I'll go to the Anmorans over there. I hear Monolith is friendly to them, they're the best bet. You meet with the others," she said quickly and authoritatively, while reaching into her pockets and pulling out a thin, small vial, with a blue powder inside, about a half teaspoon.
She threw it towards Sid, who immediately began wrapping her body around it, and slowly, after it disappeared within the parchment strips, she began to take the form of a humanoid. Facial features began to form at the head, with high cheekbones and a large aquiline nose, mirroring the Image of Xander. The strands of parchment began to connect, then took the appearance of bone, then tendons and muscle, then skin, each growing outward, and then clothes began to form, the exact ones Xander was wearing. Alan and Norian stared in surprise, mouths agape and in stunned silence, until they all were startled by Xander wincing in pain and hiding behind a nearby car.
"Shit, that hurts," she panted, staring around her, fighting through the vertigo, "but, it actually worked, wow," she said, staring at someone who looked exactly like her in every way, "that is freaky. No offense, dude."
"None taken," Sid said, out loud, in Xander's voice. Alan recoiled, and Norian laughed.
"Well, time's up," Norian said, "on the count of three," she continued, watching the assumed Monolith Holdings employers. Sid, disguised as Xander, walked out from behind the car and brushed the dust off her coat, and then smiled and waved to the women who were nearly at the entrance now. Norian cursed, "I said at the count of three!"
Xander, the real one, dashed out from the other end of the car to Norian's immediate dismay. Alan chuckled nervously. She walked deftly towards her targets, the two Anmorans. She smiled and waved to catch their attention. They looked up and gave her a quizzical look.
"Hi! I'm Xander Soldavi, pleased to meet you two!"
They exchanged looks with each other, and then continued to walk towards her, until they were at arm's length of each other. One was taller than the other, and younger looking, with no red scars on his face. The other was wrinkled and older, with fading hair and a face covered in the red scars many Anmorans are born with.
"Likewise. I'm Lin, and this is Furakim, shall we go inside?" the taller one, Lin, said. Xander winced.
"Ah, you know what? It turns out they're fully booked," Xander explained, waving her hands in the general direction of the Sun's Crossing, "Couldn't get a table inside, would you like to sit outside?"
"That works fine," Furakim said after exchanging looks with Lin again. Xander smiled and turned around, walking in a straight line to the nearest outdoor table. Lin and Furakim followed while opening folders and glancing over them. They both found themselves at a red stone table, thin but strong, with two benches on either side. Xander took a seat opposite the two of them, who were waiting for her to sit down before sitting down themselves. They exchanged a few pleasantries that Xander replied to with the requisite "Very good, I've been fantastic, how are you?" and so on and so forth. Then came the dreaded "tell me about yourself". Xander blinked briefly before smiling and continuing.
"Well, I love working in large teams, tackling big problems, things like that. Really gives you a sense of accomplishment, y'know?" she said. Lin and Furakim didn't respond.
"Right! Well, I like kickboxing, used to do that quite a bit back when I was alive," she said proudly, "and between you and me, I still stumble into the ring every few weeks," she continued with a smile. Furakim furrowed his aged brow and scribbled down something on his notebook.
"So, Xander, let's just discuss the..." Lin started, looking at a paper in his folder, "Morantis Railroad Company. Impressive stuff, I hear." Xander smiled wide. Hook, line, and sinker.
"Ah, my passion project, of course. It's a lovely organization really, and as we always say, the trains of Moran-" Xander stopped suddenly and squinted her eyes, fixating on something behind the Lin and Furakim. Sitting at a table a mere ten feet away from them, sat Sid, disguised as Xander, sitting directly across the two women from the other car. Sid winked once she caught Xander's stare. She thanked the stars that the two interviewing parties were facing away from each other, but couldn't fathom why Sid would choose to sit down there of all places. She probably knew what she was doing, Xander figured.
"Yes?" Lin pressed. Xander snapped back into focus.
"Oh, well, it is quite a success yes, the Railroads. Just check our numbers," she explained, pulling out a small stack of papers that she had written and printed that morning. On them were several graphs that all communicated as little information necessary, with several green lines on an upward trajectory.
"As you can see, ever since I began leading the company, our departures and arrivals have been tighter, better trains, better tracks, and the list really goes on, sirs," Xander continued, flipping through the papers, scarcely giving her interviewers time to ponder them, lest they discover that there was nothing much to ponder at all. Behind Lin and Furakim, Sid was repeatedly raising her eyebrows and violently jerking her head. Xander ignored it and hoped that whoever was talking to Sid would ignore it too. She scarcely ever understood Sid, or her habits and mannerisms, which were especially noticeable when changing her Image like this.
"Very impressive," Lin said, looking at Furakim, who nodded, "and what did you do before the Railroad Company?"
Shit, Xander thought. She hadn't thought of that.
"Well, as a matter of fact, I didn't do much of anything. I arrived here about a year before I took leadership," she lied. She could only hope they believed it. In reality, she'd lived here for nearly a decade, doing not much of anything of note until now. A year of inactivity seemed far less damning than ten. Nothing of note had changed, but the afterlife does get boring eventually, so she turned her eyes to the life of a con-artist. That's the story Xander gave to her new friends, Alan, Norian, and Sid, at least. Her first friends in Morantis, not that she'd ever admit it. Xander's thoughts bounced around that idea for a while, completely distracted from whatever Lin and Furakim were saying.
"Miss Soldavi?" Furakim asked.
"Sorry, could you repeat the question?" she asked with a smile, blinking until she could focus.
"What changes to do you see yourself enacting if you were to lead Janira Image-Care?" he asked again.
Xander paused for a moment.
"Uhm..." she began, trailing off as she comprehended the situation. She looked up and past her two interviewers, and gave Sid an urgent nod. Sid furrowed her eyebrows and gave her a quizzical look, before her eyes widened for a moment. She tried her best to hide her reaction from her interviewers. Xander saw her say something to the two women, and then get up to walk away. She gave Xander a wink as she passed by.
"Ehm, excuse me sorry, I've got to go uh, grab a napkin?" Xander said to Lin and Furakim. They both looked at her with confusion before mumbling something affirmative. She got up and made a large show of walking towards a nearby corner. They watched as Xander left the scene, and returned to their notes.
Around the corner, both Xanders were convening and shouting in hushed whispers,
"Okay, so don't hate me, but I kind of was just fucking around, I had no idea they were Monolith!" Sid apologized.
"For the love of everything, please tell me you didn't throw it," Xander hissed.
"I don't know what to tell you Xan, I tried to give it my best shot, but you're the one who said they probably weren't our guys, I thought it'd be fine!" she replied with a frown.
"Forget it," Xander replied, stretching her arms, "I'll fix it. Just keep those two distracted.
Sid nodded quickly, and went in the opposite direction of Xander, who made a full loop around the restaurant to avoid being seen by Lin and Furakim, who were currently talking to Sid. When she sat down, the two women smiled at her,
"So sorry, I'm back," Xander said awkwardly, as she sat down.
"No worries at all, where were we?" one of them asked. Before Xander could think of a response, she noticed a scribble on the side of the table, fresh ink with the names "Stella, Mehwish". Thanks Sid. As she was stammering to give an answer, Mehwish interrupted,
"Your plan for Monolith, as I remember. We'd love to know what problems you can identify with our organization, and any solutions you have in mind," she said, smiling.
Xander cleared her throat, smiled back, and finally opened her own folder.
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As Xander explained her grand plan for Monolith, Sid was glancing over intermittently while keeping Lin and Furakim occupied.
"Tell us what Image-care means to you, Xander," Furakim said.
"Oh that's such a broad question!" Sid replied, excitement showing, "I've been a hobbyist in the world of Image-care since I came here. Trueheart upkeep, keeping it shined, a painful procedure to be sure, but I wouldn't have it any way. I simply love it, and the booming industry behind it. Never had anything like this when I was still alive. So, what does it mean to me? It's a Heaven in Hell, the one truly great thing in this city. Makes me almost thankful," she narrated.
Lin and Furakim nodded at each other.
"Wonderful, and what would you say is the future of Image-care?" Lin asked.
"Oh I think that future lies with the Jungei," she said coyly, "They're wonderful creatures really, and the knowledge they have on Image manipulation is simply unparalleled. There is one in particular I must recommend as a consultant, if that's alright?"
Furakim nodded and shrugged.
"Her name is Poseidon, goes by Sid," she said, while scribbling a few words on a napkin, and then handing it over to them, "Here's her contact information. Quite a scientist in her own right. I work with her quite closely, and I really would recommend her even if you pass up on me," she continued with feigned humility.
"We'll definitely reach out to them," Furakim said, smiling for the first time, before squinting his eyes towards Sid, "I beg your pardon, is everything alright?" he asked.
"Alright? Sure everything is alri—," she began, before grabbing her side in pain and wincing. Shit, wearing off already?
"I'm sorry, I've uh, got to go," Sid stammered, grabbing and covering her side, which was faintly emitting a red glow, "It was wonderful talking to you!" she shouted as she got up from her table, and began walking towards the side of the Cafe, where she assumed Norian and Alan were waiting.
She quickly found them a few dozen feet out of sight from the interviews, and they immediately recognized the situation. By now the glow had grown as bright as a furnace, and grew larger and larger, spreading upwards from her side to her face, eliminating bodily and facial features as they became outshone by the red glow. Her body convulsed as if she were twisted in opposite directions from toe to head, then snapping back, after which she immediately hunched over, vomiting a pitch black liquid.
"Holy shit, Sid, lie down quick," Norian said, pulling out another vial, blue this time, and quickly unscrewing and administering it to Sid's mouth. Sid spat it all out.
"Not here, they'll see," she began, weakly pointing to the front of the restaurant, where Xander still was. She tried to walk, fighting through shaking legs, until they gave out, collapsing while grabbing her side.
"FUCK!" she cursed, groaning in pain, writhing on the ground, "Sorry, I thought it'd work, fuck," she continued, holding her forehead. Norian pulled out another vial, "keep it down, she's still in the interview," she said.
"No! I don't give a shit, I'm not swallowing that thing."
Norian didn't reply, and motioned for Alan. He immediately grew out his limbs again, and used all four to hold down Sid. She cursed and screamed until the vial was poured into her mouth, melting into the glowing light that was increasingly becoming almost blinding. Norian pushed Sid's mouth closed.
A moment later, the light blinded the both of them in a flash, coupled with the sound of intense screaming, several voices, each different, all layered over each other. Norian and Alan covered their ears in pain and fell to the floor. As the pain and light subsided, they caught glimpse of Sid, now a fallen mass of parchment, still and lifeless.
"Sid? Poseidon, answer me!" Norian asked, moving her head close to Sid's body. Alan pushed her side, picking up Sid like a bag and shaking her violently back and forth,
"WAKE THE FUCK UP!" he shouted. Norian watched in horror and reached out to stop him, before they both noticed the parchment tentacles begin to rise and float, moving outwards into a larger mass. Alan backed away. Everyone was silent. Red sand blew around them slowly, accompanied by the whistle of the train arriving at the station. Alan retracted his arms slowly and approached Sid, who was floating shakily back and forth, slowly rising. He extended a hand, and helped her up, until she was nearly as tall as him. Within the mass, she began to flow faintly as she normally did.
"I'm okay," Sid reassured them, floating shakily, still tangled but regaining strength. The parchment began to untangle itself and return to its former state of circular rings within rings, overlaid each other, "Never fucking do that again, though." Alan and Norian let out a sigh of relief.
"Same to you," Alan said.
Around the corner, Xander got up from her table, and slowly backed away, approaching the back of the building. She quickly found them, and all their faces fell as she approached with a grim look on her face. The plan was a failure, it seemed.
"Xan, look, I'm so sorry, I really thought it'd work," Sid said. Xander didn't reply. Norian and Alan pivoted uncomfortably and began walking towards the train station.
"Wait," Xander commanded. All of them looked around. Her frown slowly turned into a grin.