Employee of the Multiverse and His Darling Cat

20| Log 005 Pt. 5

Only a second after I rung the doorbell, the door swung open to reveal Darcy already dressed in loungewear.

"Did you take a car home?" I asked, surprised.

"Hm? More importantly," they held up both hands, palms out with thumb and index pinching. "My best friend is an RRR Vest. Lemme check out your fancy tech." Their eyes sparkled and I could only grin at my friend who was in sync with me.

"Darcy, I knew you would get excited," I recited. "I asked and they said nothing will happen if I take it off. So I'll let you see it for just a little while, okay?"

"Okay. I promise I'll just look. Give it now."

So they wanted it before we entered the apartment. Understood. Except I had a box of chicken in one hand so how could I unscrew it myself?

Starting to feel nervous, I lifted my arm to bring the box eye level with Darcy. "Take this?"

Darcy quickly grabbed the box and watched me unscrew one end of the comm.

They suddenly grabbed the comm just as the last thread was separated and immediately brought it close to their face.

"Wow!" Darcy exclaimed, entering the apartment and heading towards their coffee table where a laptop was sitting. They set the box of chicken down beside the computer, still peering at the tiny communicator.

If the camera had been active, all the viewer would've seen was Darcy's eyeball.

I went to the kitchen to grab napkins and saw a notepad and marker on the counter.

The note said: Take off and power off your watch. I stepped out of the open kitchen and held up the note. Darcy had set the comm on the coffee table behind the box of chicken and I presumed both I and the computer were in its hypothetical blind spots.

Darcy looked up at me and I pointed to my pocket and mouthed, "It's off." I had taken it off before cleaning my old apartment thinking it'd be an alibi hard to disprove were someone to suspect me later.

"Get the thick napkins," Darcy said. "This chicken is greasy and I won't have you annoying me by passing them over every second."

I made my way to the sofa and tossed the napkins on the table to land over the comm.

I sat on the couch and Darcy extended their hand out to me from the floor. I took the watch out and handed it to them.

Darcy turned it around in their hand once. "Ah, your e-watch is just like any other you'd get on the street. How boring." They put it face down on the table.

Then Darcy smirked, stretched, and lifted the cushion on the sofa to reveal a series of cords, some electronic looking black boxes, and a second laptop.

After configuring the devices and cords, Darcy took two cords connected to the first laptop and stuck them into the comm and e-watch. After a second of typing on the second laptop, Darcy ran a code and leaned back.

"Did you get honey lemon?"

I opened the box of chicken. "Honey lemon on the left. Black pepper on the right."

"Thank you~" Darcy sang, then reached for a drumstick. I tapped their shoulder and they turned back to see me mouth "small talk." Darcy nodded then asked, "Did you meet your partner today?"

"No. Barely."

Darcy raised an eyebrow. "What's that mean?" They handed me a black pepper wing wrapped in a napkin.

I took it and replied, "I saw him but he said he was busy and snubbed me."

"Ah, don't take it personally. He technically got demoted, after all."