Digital Heretic

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Book: Read Digital Heretic for Free Online
Authors: Terry Schott
most people thought it was just an illusion. Most, but not all.
      I can’t wait any longer. Living day to day, scraping by at odd jobs just to eat and pay for a place to sleep… I need help, and Danielle seems like the most likely person to trust. We’ve seen them coming in here for a few days now; if she comes in today, I’m going to approach her. 
      The door opens. Sam is facing it; he looks at whoever comes in, then catches my eye and nods. I raise my eyebrows questioningly. Is it her? He knows what I’m asking and shakes his head slightly, pointing with his chin for me to take a look. I don’t turn around; instead I wait till the person approaches the counter. Then I stand and casually get in line behind her. It’s not Danielle, but this lady is the next best thing. It’s now or never for me. I’m very nervous, afraid I’ll come off like some crazy person. Who knows, maybe I am.
      “ Excuse me,” I say. “You’re Stephanie, right?”
      The woman continues to look at the menu board, ignoring me completely.
      “ Um… hi there,”  I say. This time I lean into her space just a bit, to try and get her attention. That seems to do the trick; her eyes move slowly from the menu and lock onto mine. Wow, those are some strange eyes. Brown with gold flecks… yeah, it’s her, all right.
      “I’m sorry, were you talking to me ? ” she says. “I thought you were talking to someone named Stephanie.”
      She wants to play games. Okay, I’ve come this far — I’ll play. “Yes, and yes. That’s what I was doing. I guess I must have confused you with another person who looks identical to yourself.” I stick out my hand. “My name’s Melissa, what’s yours?” I know I shouldn’t use my real name, but this is Danielle’s bodyguard Stephanie; I know it. She might want to lie, but I’m telling her the truth. 
      “ Nice to meet you. My name’s Christine.” We shake hands and then she turns away, eyes focused on the menu. Sorry, Stephanie. I’m not going to leave you alone that easily.
      “ This Stephanie that I confused you for is close friends with a person I need to talk with,” I say.
      “ Sounds interesting,” she says over her shoulder. “Good luck finding her.”
      “ Yeah, thanks,” I say. I’m not going to back down now that I’m so close. “Listen, Steph, I have to show Danielle something. I know this might sound crazy, but I can do something that is pretty incredible, and I need her help.”
      “I’m sorry, miss, but that’s not my name. You’re starting to worry me a little bit. If you don’t stop I might have to call the police.”
      “ You feel free to do that,” I say. “When they get here I’ll have them pull up Internet video of Trew and Danielle at any of a hundred major events. The cops won’t have to look too hard to find you standing off to the side protecting them. Then they might have more questions for you than they do for me.”
      The woman looks at her watch and sighs a small sigh. Then she looks up at me and nods very slightly. “Every once in a while I go to get a coffee, or something even more fancy, and a person tells me I look like this Stephanie. It’s really quite annoying, miss.”
      “ Hey, look, I’m really sorry, but I need to talk with her.”
      Stephanie snorts and drops her façade. “That won’t happen,” she says. “Your best course of action is to get out of this line, grab your boyfriend sitting over at that table, leave here, and never enter this coffee shop again. Don’t tell anyone I come in here, don’t tell anyone you were here and saw me or talked to me. Don’t tell anyone anything . How does that sound to you, sweetie?”
      Her eyes aren’t as pleasant as her voice. I can recognize threats, and Stephanie is delivering a very effective one. I look at her for a couple of seconds, then nod and start to get out of line. Before I do,
    I say to her in a very soft voice, “I can fly. Danielle

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