Krista was listening to talk radio when Rosa came into the cafe. News stories from around the world seemed to soothe her uneasy mind. If people could survive draught, war and even genocide, how could she not survive a couple bumpy weeks?

"I'm glad you finally called."

"I didn't." Krista backed away.

"You were going to. Tonight. I'd say you've been thinking about it for a while."

"How do you know that?"

"I already told you, I know things I shouldn't."

"Then what am I thinking now?" Krista crossed her arms.

"That's not how it works."

"How does it work then?"

"I'm not going to tell you all of my secrets, Krista."

"Why not? You seem to know mine."

"Only the ones that my higher self thinks are necessary for me to know."

"I'm sorry... You're 'higher self?'" 

"Yeah, don't worry about that for now. The only thing worth talking about is if you've considered my offer."

Krista put her hand on her forehead and sighed. "What offer? We haven't spoken in weeks and all you did then was creep me out. You definitely did not make me any offers."

"Oh... didn't I? I'm sorry, sometimes I get lost in my own mind, then I get a little ahead of myself."

"Okay... So... What's this offer?"

Rosa shook her head and laughed. She moved to the door and the sound of the lock slipping into place made the delicate hairs on Krista's arms raise. "First we should talk a little bit. Just you and me."

Rosa sat at the table closest to the cash register and Krista shook her head. "No, I'd rather stand."

"Okay, well I'm going to sit anyway. So, tell me about it."

"About what?"

"Everything. All the weird things that have been happening."

"How do I know I can trust you?"

Rosa leaned back in her chair and sighed. Krista could see she was thinking very hard about something. "When I was sixteen, I graduated top of my high school class."

"So you were always a smart ass, what's your point?"

"I got accepted into every college I applied for. I knew I would be though."

"Is this story going anywhere?"

"In my first year, I aced everything. I didn't even have to do any of the readings I just... Understood it all, you know? Even things I couldn't possibly have learned before just came spilling out of me. It was all just so easy." Rosa smirked and folded her hands on the table. "Maybe that was part of the reason my philosophy professor shared my papers with his colleagues. I always thought he was just proud of me, but looking back on it... Maybe he was always doubtful."

"If you're such a shining star, what are you doing in a crap town like this, drinking coffee made by amateurs?"

"This one paper, it was for mid terms... I was so proud of it." Rosa ignored Krista as she continued her story. "Until Dr. Melanson accused me of cheating. He said he'd shared the paper with a friend, who instantly recognized it as one of his own unpublished works."

"So you cheated, nobody's perfect."

"But that's the thing, I didn't cheat! That paper just... Came to me. My professor showed me his friend's paper... Mine was the exact same, word for word. Then all of my papers were being picked apart, there were so many instances of plagiarism which had been over looked. I knew I hadn't been cheating, but I couldn't explain how I knew the things I knew... I ended up expelled. No university would take me after that."

"What does this have to do with me? And what about this mysterious offer?"

"I didn't know it then, but my higher self was guiding me. Providing me with the information I needed, when I needed it. Once I recognized what was happening, I was able to use it to my advantage."

"So... The weird things that have been happening to me... They're because of... My higher self?" Krista couldn't believe what she was saying.

"No, it's most likely something different with you." Rosa sounded as if she was discussing the proper color palette for Krista's wardrobe. "My ability is purely a psychic one. From what I've seen of yours it seems a little more... Physical."

"Ability?"

"Think about it. Think about how small you were the day I met you. Think about the way you avoided me when I tried to grab you."

"How do you know I was small? I was alone, in my room!"

"Questions like that will eventually become useless for you, once you get to know me better."

"Why would I get to know you better? Or is your psychic power not tipping you off to the fact that I'm about to tell you to never show your fucking face around here again?"

"Because, you've accepted my offer."

"You still haven't even made it yet!" Krista felt like her mind was spinning out of control.

"Haven't I?" Rosa stood up and moved back to the door. She unlocked it and looked at Krista. "You coming?"

"I'm working."

"Krista, you and I both know you don't work at this crappy cafe anymore."

"Why not?"

"Because you work with SSI now."

Rosa stepped onto the street and Krista allowed the lingering sound of bells to fill her mind as the door swung closed. SSI, she thought to herself, pulling Rosa's card out of her pocket. She really had been planning on calling the other woman. She ran her thumb over the black letters as she read them out loud. "Slipstream Investigations..."

"In local news," the man on the radio announced, "the search for Wilhelm Gregor, a doctor from St. Joseph's Hospital for Women and Children, is still going strong today."

Suddenly stories of other people's misfortunes were no longer keeping Krista calm. She stared through the windows at Rosa as she leaned against the building across the street, staring back with a smile.

"Krista..." She continued to speak out loud as she took off her apron. "What are you thinking..."

After scrawling a hasty note to her boss, explaining that she was quitting, Krista made her way to Rosa's side.

"So... What exactly is Slipstream Investigations?"

Rosa blinked and her brows cinched tight over her eyes. "We investigate anomalies in the slipstream."

"Um... And that is?"

"The source of all paranormal activity." It was like Rosa was explaining to Krista that the sky was blue.

"Paranormal?"

"You don't think that what's happening to you is normal do you?"

"Well... No... But..."

"But nothing. Come with me, I'll take you to the local door to HQ."

"Local door?"

"We've got operations around the globe, and beyond, it wouldn't do to have only one door."

"I'm sorry, but what's 'beyond' the globe?" Krista watched Rosa smile as she turned to lead the way down the street. "I guess... This slipstream thing, huh?"

"I hope you're planning on keeping up. HQ won't be easy to find unless you're here by my side."

Krista sprinted to catch up with Rosa, even though she couldn't quite decide if she really wanted to.

"How long have you been... Doing what you do?"

"Investigating the paranormal?"

"Yeah, sure, we'll start with that one crazy thing you do. Then we'll move on to the others."

"Others?" Rosa asked, "there are others?"

"Um... One or two, yeah"

"I've been with SSI for four years."

"And you've seen a lot of weird things?"

"You might call them weird."

"Have you seen anything like what I can do?"

"No."

"So I'm the weirdest of the weird..." Krista felt her stomach sinking.

"No, definitely not. You're just... Unique in your weirdness."

"You know unique is just a non-offensive word adults use with middle schoolers to tell them they're weird."

"Well... Were you offended when I said it?"

"... Not really."

"So it works then." Rosa stopped abruptly at the door to a building Krista had never noticed before. "Here we are."

"It doesn't look like much."

"No, from this perspective it doesn't."

"What other perspective is there?"

Rosa opened the door and ushered Krista inside. She was instantly quiet as she stared around the huge room, filled with shining metal equipment. Her mouth gaped as Rosa edged her further inside.

"It's about time you got back, Sam's been worried."

"Sam's never worried," Rosa said.

Krista turned to see who Rosa was talking to. The woman who waited for them looked tough, and a bit intimidating, but what really caught Krista's eye was her pink hair.