Microstory 1908: Proctor, Proctor, Help Me, Help Me

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My Parole Officer: Hello, hi. I’m glad I found you. I seem to be lost. Could you point me in the direction of Kansas City?

Street Proctor: Never heard of it.

Parole Officer: Oh. What is the city we’re in called?

Proctor: Kansas City, Missouri.

Parole Officer: That’s what I said.

Proctor: No. You just said Kansas City. There is no such thing. It would be like calling this country America when it’s the United States of America.

Parole Officer: Okay, well, it’s not the same thing. People call it that all the time, and there’s not usually any ambiguity. You should have assumed what I meant.

Proctor: You’re already here in Kansas City Missouri. Why would you ask to go somewhere when you’re already there? I figured you were trying to talk about something else. It would be like asking for a glass of water while you’re holding a glass of water.

Parole Officer: Umm...

Proctor: If you’ll excuse me, I’m on patrol.

Parole Officer: You’re not moving.

Proctor: That’s why I always get myself assigned a corner. I can see my entire day’s jurisdiction without having to move.

Parole Officer: Something’s wrong here. Who is the President of the United States?

Proctor: The president? There is no such thing. You can have a president of a neighborhood, maybe, but perhaps you mean the National Commander?

Parole Officer: Yeah, sure. Who is the National Commander?

Proctor: Commander Apostle Virtue.

Parole Officer: Apostle Virtue. That’s their real name?

Proctor: Of course it is. Why?

Parole Officer: Yeah, this is definitely the wrong world.

Proctor: What was that?

Parole Officer: Nothing. Never mind. Don’t worry about it. Listen, I’m homeless, and I don’t have any money. Is there perhaps a shelter nearby, or somewhere else I could stay to get out of the elements.

Proctor: Is that a joke? Please tell me that you’re joking.

Parole Officer: I wish I was, but I’m afraid I’m not where I should be, and I need some help. I know the law, I shouldn’t sleep out on the streets, but I don’t know where I can go. I’m obviously very unfamiliar with this area. I’ve traveled from far away.

Proctor: Oh my God. Why did it have to be my corner? Months without incident, and then you show up to make things more complicated. The paperwork, the paperwork...

Parole Officer: I don’t think that’s necessary. Just tell me where I can go. I’ll get there myself, even if it’s far. I don’t mind walking.

Proctor: No, I have to arrest you.

Parole Officer: What? Hey, watch it! Why exactly are you handcuffing me?

Proctor: Homelessness is illegal. You could have gotten away with it, and stayed hidden, but you went and confessed to me. Now I have no choice. Don’t resist.

Microstory 147: Emmanuelle Langlais

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As the sister of Andrew, Emmanuelle Langlais could heal people of their diseases, but only by taking the disease into herself. In order to be rid of it completely, she would then have to transfer it over to her brother. When they joined Bellevue, Emmanuelle suggested that they start a foundation that would heal people on the regular, in an official capacity. But before this happened, they were healing anyone they could get their hands on. They would often sneak into the long-term care units of hospitals at night and heal one, maybe two at a time. But they could not safely do this alone, because they would need a way to cover their tracks. A patrolman, sympathetic to their cause, provided backup. She would monitor security cameras and guards, making sure that there was no evidence that they were involved. Unfortunately, Emmanuelle grew too enthusiastic about their calling. She started to heal more people at one time than she should have, forcing her brother and the patrolman to go along with it. Word was spreading too quickly that something was happening in the area hospitals. A Domestic Affairs Service agent caught wind of the rumors, and opened an investigation, quickly discovering the siblings’ operation. He was prepared to send them up the chain of command, but Emmanuelle was able to convince him otherwise. Instead of reporting his findings to his supervisor, he agreed to add his expertise to the patrolman’s protection. He helped them garner special permission from the government to drop out of tertiary school at only 15 years old, months before reaching the age of majority. And so they continued their secret crusade of healing, but this time with far greater latitude, until being discovered by Bellevue. As Emmanuelle and Andrew were forming their healing foundation, the DAS agent and patrolman partnered up to become two of the first agents of the new Bellevue.

Microstory 44: A Few More Hours With Sophie

A few weeks before my dog died, she broke out of her fence. She wasn’t trying to escape; she considered the entire neighborhood to be her territory. Since the rest of her pack slept inside, but she slept outside, she thought it was her posting. She thought it was her job to keep watch, and to investigate danger. There’s no telling how many times she managed to find a vulnerability in the fence and go on patrol, then come back before we could discover her missing. I had moved out by this time, but I was staying at my parents’ home because they were on vacation. It took me hours to locate her, and it was very upsetting to me once she passed, because that time we were apart made me feel that much more empty. I regretted every second I spent without her, because she left me too soon, and I wasn’t anywhere close to being ready for it. Several years later, I’ve become successful. I’ve published several books, and produced many television series. I even found myself starting a technology company with a strong Research and Development department. We’ve been working heavily with exotic particles. Not long ago, we accomplished time travel. We followed the necessary precautions, and ran multiple computer simulations and safe tests, but yesterday, it was time for human trials. Despite protests, I broke protocol and tested it out on myself. The mechanisms for navigation weren’t ironed out, and I landed on the night of my dog’s final patrol. After arriving at my old neighborhood, I quickly found Sophie. She was scared that she would be in trouble, but she wasn’t. I spent hours with her, wrestling and hugging her. We even went on a short walk. At the end of it, I said my final goodbyes and secretly released her to the younger version of myself. While he was arguing with her for making him stay up late to search for her, I felt relief. As it turns out, I wasn’t really apart from her during her last patrol. I just hadn’t experienced it yet.