Dreams and Coffee Stains

“Did you come to find refuge?” the woman sitting by the fire asked Lina.

“Refuge? No…I’m looking for my own personal flat tire. So what did you mean when you said the city is a refuge for others like you?” Lina glanced down at the coffee stain on her skirt again, giving it another rub with her gloved fingertip.

The woman’s expression shuttered slightly, a further wariness in its depth. “Toxia takes in all sorts. Some obvious sub and super species, some not so obvious. I’m not so obvious. Here… we can live without being hunted down.”

The woman stopped in mid-thought, turning her head slightly, and looking beyond Lina to a lycan in a frilly pink floor-length gown that had wandered into the Library from the street. She waved her hand to the lycan to get her attention. “If you require something I won’t be long. If not, please feel free to look around.” The lycan nodded and half-growled, half-spoke something that sounded like thank you. Lina took it all in, muttering “She’s quite a sheba,” under her breath, her eyes widening at the incongruous combination of tooth and claw and frills.

Suddenly and with a rush of wings, a brilliant flash of white light spread through the library. In its wake walked an angel with a little pink-haired cyber girl in tow. The angel smiled. “Greetings,” she said in a beautiful, airy voice.

The cyber girl replied in monotone that lacked all the usual inflections of natural speech. “You greeted me earlier, Miss.”

“Larissa…hello,” said the woman at by the fire.

The angel, Larissa, chuckled and gestured to all in the room as she spoke to the cyber girl. “I meant to greet the others, Millicent.”

Lina looked over at the angel and the pink-haired cyber and the frilly lycan. “Lots of shebas,” she said again, this time not quite under her breath.

The lycan cleared her throat. “What’s a sheba?”

A whirring ensued from Millicent. “Queen of Egypt, Circa 1263 B.C-1244 B.C.”

The lycan smiled. “Don’t you mean the Queen of Sheba who went to visit King Solomon and he showed her his vast kingdom?”

“Unsubstantiated,” the cyber girl replied. “Possible fictional Sheba. Also, No ruler of Sheba was ever named Sheba. But self has been instructed as to the pointlessness of arguing fact or fiction of biblical reference text. Subject is Code 34771-J, not expressly forbidden, but 77.28831% likely to cause argument without resolve.”

Lina shook her head, wondering why she’d suddenly become so hard to understand. “You know…shebas..brees..dames…girls?” She sighed, “All I wanted to do was find the powder room….”

Millicent continued droning on. “Angels are fact. However books written by humans before the age of reason are not always optimum sources.”

The woman by the fire burst forth with laughter, sitting further back in her seat and saying to Lina, “Welcome to Toxian City.”

The lycan chuckled at the cyber girl. “For a cyber, you sure are cheeky.”

“Cheeky. Adjective,” Millicent intoned. “See also, snark, snide, sarcasm, lippy. I understand the accusation, but not the reasoning behind it. This unit tries her best to maintain proper etiquette at all times.”

The woman shifted in her seat by the fire and returned her attention to Lina. “You asked what I am?” She folded her hands in front of her. “Some call me a mystic. Some call me a psychic. Some wonder how I can tell who’s walking on the other side of the city or ask our Lady Library to send me a book. It’s all part of what this place is to those who call it home.”

“Oh…hoodoo,” Lina smiled. “I know all about that. So where is the Library Lady?” She looked back at Larissa for a moment, mesmerized by the glow, and then she turned her attention toward the lady by the fire again.

The woman gave the library a sweeping glance with her eyes, the quickly grown affection for her home shining in her face beyond the light of the fire. “Our Lady Library is all about you. Every bit of history, every nuance, every dash of knowledge or experience collected over time from the…before the Shift, to now and beyond, is part and parcel of our Library. It has a life of it’s own…and then some.”

The angel stepped closer to Lina and waved around. “Our friend speaks of a spirit. It is rather nice to refer to her as a woman….I like that.”

Lina laughed and crossed her legs primly in the sitting room armchair. “Oh…and here I thought she was just fond of metaphor.”

The angel smiled again. “I am Larissa, by the way. It is nice to meet a new face.”

The woman smiled, too, and made an excusing gesture with her hands. “Pardon my manners. I am called Rhaven.”

“Suyuan, here,” said the lycan.

Lina smiled and stuck her hand out to the angel. “Nice to meetcha, all. I’m Lina.”

Rhaven turned toward Suyuan, Larissa and Millicent, spreading her hands in a welcoming gesture and pointing toward the seats. “Please, be at ease. This is a safe place.” Larissa settled comfortably in an armchair, but the cyber girl and the lycan continued to stand.

Lina looked at her skirt again, fiddling with the stain. “Say, do any of you girls know where I could get some belch water?”

Rhaven blinked and mouthed the the words belch water, as if trying to turn them into something she understood. “Um…the Haven has water. Don’t drink the water by the docks, though. That’s a true death sentence, I think.”

“No, no, no,” Lina sighed in exasperation. “Not water…belch water.” She pointed to the stain on her skirt. “I’ve got a little problem here. You know…seltzer?” Lina shook her head, not getting why these people didn’t seem to understand modern English.

The angel sighed. “You could say ‘Szóda’, too, you know.”

“Actually,” the cyber girl interjected, “We have stain remover in the book hospital. For use with cloth and leather-bound books. But I fear there is nothing in regulations regarding distributing it for clothing application.”

Lina looked over to the one that appeared to her to be a robot. A fancy robot, but a robot, nonetheless. “Would you happen to know if it’s stinky?” Millicent just tilted her head quizzically in reply.

“Lina,” Rhaven began in an attempt to explain, “You’ll find that Toxian City is a bit a part from the rest of the world, cut off, so to speak. Some even doubt our very existence. So some of your…dialect might seem strange to most of us, myself included.”

“Well, it is apart, I’ll grant you that,” Lina replied. “But President Roosevelt knows all about….” She shut her mouth realizing she’d said too much.

Both the angel and Rhaven gave a double take, asking almost in unison “President Roosevelt?”

“Umm…I mean the man who is president of the company my husband works for,” Lina said, hoping the explanation sounded plausible.

“Oh…you more belong here than you think,” Rhaven observed aloud, forgetting to pause between thought and speech. ”What year is it, for you, Miss Lina?”

Lina looked at Rhaven as if she’d lost her mind. “What year is it for me? What year is it for you, sugar? It’s 2040 last time I looked.” She pulled out a small watch with a broken band made from two black woven cords. The hands of the watch flew around its face in nonstop motion. “Yes,” Lina said to herself as she examined it. “2040…say, you don’t know where there’s a jewelry store, do you? I could stand to get this watchband fixed.”

Larissa frowned at the watch then looked out the window to the street. “Jewelry store? Hmm….I don’t recall. We sometimes receive packages from the mainland, but I don’t think anyone runs a store.”

“Oh, well then,” Lina sighed, tucking the watch back into her kick.

Suyuan finally moved toward the seating area and settled into an armchair. The cyber girl joined her after being prodded by Larissa to sit down, not on the floor, but in a chair. Lina turned toward the robot. “So…about that stain remover….”

“Negative. I possess none,” Millicent replied. “The Library stores have a supply. But, as I said, there is no listed protocol for distribution for application to garments anywhere in library regulations.”

“What stain do you need to remove? Coffee?” Larissa asked.

Lina nodded yes and then sighed. “I went to the diner for some angels on horseback, but they didn’t have any. So I just had coffee. Leastwise, I think it was coffee….”

Larissa looked baffled. “Angels on horseback?”

“My favorite!” Lina nodded enthusiastically. “Oysters rolled in bacon, served on toast…it’s just…wonderful.” She looked a bit wistful. “I don’t think they have oysters here.”

“Not the non-toxic variety, I don’t think.” Rhaven furrowed her brow quizzically. “Lina…you seem very…out of time, if you don’t mind my bluntness.” Actually, even Rhaven couldn’t mind her own bluntness. “I don’t know where…or when…you come from but everything from your speech to your mannerisms…to your dress, leads one to think….” She paused and then turned to Larissa as if seeking confirmation, “1920’s, North America, perhaps?”

“I had a friend who was capable of time travel,” Larissa nodded in agreement.

“I’m not out of time,” Lina laughed. “At least I don’t think so. I believe I have all the time in the world. Well, at least until Christmas, anyway.”

“Christmas?” the angel asked. “How come?”

“Family dinner,” Lina muttered in reply.

Rhaven persisted, focusing in on Lina. “No, no,” she shook her head slightly. “I don’t mean out of time, as in the end of a particular action or event. I mean out of time as in…your modern appears to be our past.”

“No, I’m here,” Lina smiled. “It’s now. 2040. Just like it says in the papers.” Rhaven fell quiet, her eyes narrowing slightly as she attempted to inwardly decipher Lina’s reply.

Lina turned toward Larissa. “Hey, d’ya mind me asking why you glow like that?”

“I glow?” Larissa looked down at herself. “I am somewhat pulsing aren’t I?”

Rhaven leaned toward Larissa confidentially. “Glow is a bit of an understatement, girlfriend. You should check your reflection in a mirror…you’re looking…quite spiritual. I’m surprised They haven’t come by to check on you yet.”

“They,” Larissa replied, “Have someone who prevents Them from hurting me, I think.”

Millicent studied Larissa and the whirring sound emanating from her increased in volume. “I concur with Rhaven. You are somewhat luminescent, Larissa.”

“Pulsing like a drugstore cowboy hoping for some whoopee,” Lina agreed.

Larissa began turning another shade of white that was somewhat less distinguishable from the previous shade. “I woke up a bit different, that is true.”

“Well,” Lina laughed, “If you could bottle that and sell it you’d put every joint in town out of business.”

Millicent tilted her head. “I don’t care about waking up different, myself. It’d be a small price to pay to find out about sleep. I can power down for recharge, but, it is not required, nor is it the same, I understand.”

“Oh, sweetheart.” Larissa reached over to stroke Millicent’s pink locks. “Even androids dream about electric sheep…you should definitely talk to the cybers and ask if the have an upgrade for dreams.”

Lina nodded, “The value of rem sleep and dreaming cycles to artificial intelligence is invaluable as it promotes abstract creative thinking and provides a sort of reboot to the entire system.” She shut her mouth abruptly, realizing once again she’d said too much. “What I mean is…um…dreams help you sleep better.” Lina turned sheepishly to watch Suyuan, who appeared to be listening very carefully from her perch.

“I tried dreaming once,” Millicent said with the first trace of sadness in her otherwise inhuman voice. “Ran a mental depiction of randomized characters and situational happenings. It was perplexing and unfulfilling. But nonsense is a key factor in many dreams, so it had to be random. Still…as I understand it, buildings do not sing.”

Lina thought about the comparison for a moment trying to sort it out, and then pointed to Rhaven. “Well…she said this building is a spirit…so maybe some of buildings…and other constructs…do.”

“Indeed, but…Wagnerian opera?” Millicent asked. “It was in the dream.”

Larissa smiled and looked around. “Buildings do interesting things, Millicent. You will learn in time.”

“Do you like opera, robot?” Lina brightened visibly. “I love opera!”

“Yes, I tend to like it much more than what is currently in fashion,” Millicent replied.

“Oh,” Lina nodded. “You mean that stuff they play over at the gin mill.” She made a disgusted look. “Hard to jive to in my opinion.”

“Jive?” Rhaven asked. Again, she fell silent, though her mind was, no doubt, moving a mile a minute.

Lina sighed at the obvious lack of understanding. “Yeah, you know jive … jitterbug…dance?” She stood up, pulled her compact from her pocket and flipped it open. She then puckered her lips, checking her lipstick again.

“Jitterbug…” Rhaven said slowly. “Now that is an old dance.”

“Indeed,” Millicent agreed. “Positively archaic.”

“Archaic?” Lina laughed. She snapped her compact shut and deposited it in her pocket. “Well…it didn’t come out of the stone age,” she smiled. “You girls need to get out more. Hey!” Lina snapped her fingers, “Speaking of gin joints, maybe the Haven has some belch water.” She looked down at the coffee stain on her skirt again. “I think I’ll just stroll over and see if I can take care of my skirt. It was nice to meet you Larissa. You, too Rhaven and Suyuan.”

Rhaven chuckled and shook her head. “Enjoy.” She smoothed her hands over her skirts. “I ought to get back to my astral projection. I’ve been well out of practice since arriving.”

Larissa smiled, stood and said, “I need to take a walk, too.” She leaned down to kiss the cyber girl’s pink hair.

“It was nice to meet you too, little robot,” Lina grinned. “And…um…thanks for the help, Rhaven.”

Rhaven nodded, pleased. “If you need anything…any…information, please don’t hesitate to come and ask. It may take a bit to pull myself back, but I’ll be here.”

“Yes, well…while you’re astral projecting, Rhaven, take care that you don’t slide through a….” Lina stopped speaking abruptly again, then smiled. “Umm…thanks. I’ll take you up on that. Gonna take a powder, girls. See you later!”

Timeless Toxian Tip: A teaspoon of baking soda will help neutralize the acidic Toxian water from your hair in the final rinse.