The Universe's Mixer

Is the Mayor in Bed with the Justice League?
by Lois Lane

(below the headline is a picture of Jack and Zatanna kissing in the street)

Recently, Mayor Heart has spotted around town with a certain fishnet-sporting mystic who just happens to be a member of the Justice League. Previously, the mayor has been outspoken about his views in opposition of the Justice League operating in our fair City. With this latest development, one might wonder if the mayor is starting to change his tune? While it's possible that the mayor has been attempting to form some sort of allegiance or peace treaty with the League, the hero in question is not the official leader of the League. Moreover, sources say that he appears to have spent at least one entire night in her company.

The above picture also suggests a very different kind of allegiance between the mayor and Ms. Zatanna Zatara, the league's resident spellcaster.

So where does this leave the mayor's official position regarding the Justice League and other similar heroes? A spokesperson for the mayor declined a comment on this article. However, according to Ted Earley, who is in charge of finance for the City, it would seem that those in the Mayor's office may not agree with the official position on costumed heroes as well. According to Ted: "His position is his alone... I can't even say for sure that his official statement on the matter matches what he really believes."

Ted also goes on to say that "I think the superheroes do good. I was personally saved by Batman just recently. I don't think that they would hurt anybody on purpose, and from what I read about the King Kong thing, they made sure to have people on hand to help any bystanders who did get hurt."

It would seem that there might be a change of heart (no pun intended) in the works for the mayor and, one would hope, for City legislation regarding superheroes.

It felt odd to say that he had his job back when Errol felt as if he'd never left. The layout of the store had changed enough so that it didn't feel as seamless as returning to his apartment, but books were books and it was easy enough to turn on the coffee pot, make sure that the sign in the door said "Open," and he began to browse himself for a book to settle behind the counter with.

Or he would have, if curiosity hadn't gotten the better of him and he picked up one of the City newspapers left out near the coffeepot instead. Since arriving in the City Errol did his best to avoid the news. After Libria, he preferred to live in an insulated bubble. But a long absence meant that the City had possibly changed around him. That bubble could have changed without him knowing. It was safer for him to know than to exist in happy ignorance right now.

He sat back behind the counter, a paper unfolded in front of him, and soon began making notes of back issues to find in the library. Apparently things had been very interesting since he had been here last.

(Headline backdated to the day after the press conference)

City Answers Questions
by Lois Lane

The human embodiment of the City took the stage yesterday at a press conference in which all of us were promised answers to our questions regarding the City. While each attendee was only allowed to ask one question per person, there were several people who attended and were able to answer questions. Some believe that the answers given just led to more questions and more mysteries, while others polled after the conference stated that they would rather not have known some of the more disturbing questions.

When asked what there was to gain in bringing people in from other worlds, the City responded with "I need you. Each of you is special in your way. I need what you have. You don't feel it, and I don't touch you directly, but having you means having you in my arsenal. Combined, you help me defend myself." While it wasn’t explained exactly how the City draws protection from us, a follow-up question regarding what we’re helping the City to protect itself against, he explained that there are other beings like himself. "There aren't many left, but as I am sure you are aware of the theory of Survival of the Fittest, the remaining are strong. We have spent thousands and thousands of years in constant battle. To be the last one. It is random when we encounter one another, but when it happens, there is a fight. None of you has been aware of when it happens, so far I have defeated all I have come across. If I were to fail, we would all die."

Another question that was posed involved the people who are sent back to their worlds. The City explained: "Sometimes, they can't stay. Who and what they are upsets the balance. Sometimes, they become of no use any longer, they are used up, but not by me. By themselves. If they don't go back, they would wither." This would again raise questions about how exactly the City is using us all to protect himself and whether or not he’s drawing upon our life force to do so.

When asked where exactly we were located in space, the City explained that it is always moving and never staying in one place. For those who haven’t been outside the walls, the City seems to be an island floating in space and one would assume that we’re always moving through space. Whether or not the City is on some sort of orbit or the movement is random is up for debate, but it would seem that we’re moving more quickly than, say, the planet Earth rotates around the Sun.

When the questioning turned to the things that the City does to us-such as bringing in a living King Kong and setting it loose on downtown, he claimed that he doesn’t abuse us and that "I give you things. I do things because I think you will like them. I admit, it hasn't always gone so well. But I want to keep your lives exciting." On a related note, according to the City, "The streets move in synch with my thoughts." He claimed that the streets being still were a result of him not being connected with them at the moment and he claimed that it was doing great harm for the streets to be still. While there’s no evidence or further explanation to support or refute this claim, it’s hard to deny that it’s a lot easier to get to appointments on time when the streets stay in one place.


The City also claimed that he does things for us because, “I like you to be happy. I like to give you things so that your lives are easier. Not having to deal with garbage and rotting food, or hunger, or worrying about buying something you might need or want, those are things I can do to help with your lives being easier. I know there are many other things that go on that aren't easy, but if you don't have to think of the little things, it means you can put more effort into the more important things." While wanting our happiness doesn’t seem to coincide with shanghaiing some of us from our worlds, it does seem that he genuinely takes an interest in us. What sort of important things he wants us to put effort into is certainly up for debate.

When asked about the storm, the City claimed that it wasn’t his storm and “if I'd known it was going to happen, I would have stopped it." He seemed genuinely angry at whomever did cause the storm. There aren’t many known beings in the City with the power to do something like that, so who might have caused it is at this point unclear.

From one of the questions asked at the press conference, it would appear that a few of the people who had met Thomas before the conference didn’t quite believe what he was and understandably so. One young woman even blurted out “you weren’t high?” From the answer given, it would seem that the City is unaware of any sorts of drugs that might cause an altered state of consciousness. Given the fact that the streets move with his thoughts, this reporter finds a small relief in that revelation.

In spite of the promise to answer all questions, there was one question left unanswered. When asked how he came to be in that specific body, the City got very agitated and began to shout, ordering the audience not to ask him that question again.

The City Hall was chosen because it held a room within it that was big enough to accommodate the droves of people that were sure to come. Plus, being inside space, there were no worries over weather that couldn't be controlled. The people could sit and listen and not have to try to hear past traffic or wind.

Even with the late notice, everything was done well before the scheduled start time, which Thomas was proud of. He was glad that the ones who were born here weren't entirely useless without him around. They were keeping their heads together, doing what needed to be done. Of course, it also could have been the fact that they believed Thomas was who he claimed to be, and with his presence there with them, they felt better about the situation they were currently in.

Thomas looked at the stage. That's where he would be standing, talking to the people he had brought here. He had no doubts that they would be the ones with the questions, the ones who demanded answers. He was ready. He could do this.

He sat in a seat hidden by a curtain, where he could still see the stage and the rows of chairs beyond, and waited.

The City Calls a Press Conference
by Lois Lane

Today Mayor Heart announced that Thomas, the embodiment of the City has called a press conference. The conference is open to all residents of the City with the promise that "all of your questions will be answered."

Whether this means that the City plans to explain why he's brought so many of us here or not isn't clear, but it would seem that now is the time and place to ask any questions you may have.

The press conference will be held on Monday, April 23rd in the City Center. It's sure to be crowded so get there early!

Sued. She was being sued. For libel. Lois wasn't sure whether to take that as a compliment or be completely pissed off.

She settled for a bit of both. After all, if you weren't making someone angry in journalism, you probably weren't doing your job.

There was the smallest part of her-the part that still sometimes indulged in Rocky Road at night and wished she had at least one friend in the City-that was sad about this. But that part was pretty much buried under the layers of armor that Lois was very good at wrapping around herself.

So instead, she had her head held high and was ready to fight this lawsuit when she let herself into the office of the lawyer that had been recommended to her.

She'd called ahead to make an appointment. While she might be pretty good at bursting in on people unexpected even she knew that there were some times when it was better to simply make an appointment.

Interviewed?

Ted got the memo on his desk and sat staring at it for a really long time, trying to understand if this was really for him or if it had been meant for somebody else, but accidentally dropped at his desk. Because, who would want to interview the guy who was dealing with the City's finances? His job was really boring to most people. He knew because when he started to talk about what he did for a living, in previous jobs along these lines, their eyes had a tendency to glaze over after just a few words spilled out of his mouth, and once or twice, Ted even caught them drooling.

"Excuse me." He asked his secretary (HIS SECRETARY!) when she passed by. "Are you sure that you didn't take this message for somebody else?"

"Of course, Mr Earley, that's for you. She'll be here soon." His secretary was the kind of girl that he might have gotten into trouble with when he'd been a CEO, but now he just wanted to know why her parents let her out of the house in skirts that small.

"She?" He took off his glasses and sat back in his chair. "Who she?"

"Oh, Lois Lane, sir."

"What?"

"Lois Lane? She's a reporter at the City Voice."

"Lois Lane."

"Yes, sir."

"Lois Lane is coming here."

"Yes, sir. Is there a problem? Do you want to reschedule? Should I have not said yes to her?"

"No. No, it's okay." He closed his eyes, trying to think of his secretary's name. She'd only just started and with this Lois Lane business he was having trouble remembering. "Mandy. Mandy?"

"Mandy." She agreed.

"Thank you, Mandy. I'm just a little overwhelmed that Lois Lane would want to interview me. Me. Sure, Charlie, yeah, I can see that. But me? That's just..."

"Sir?"

"Never mind. You can go back to your desk now."

She smiled at him and he exhaled as she exited the room. What was he going to do? What was he supposed to say to Lois Lane? How was Lois Lane here without Superman? Wasn't that a breach of some Universal covenant or something?

Ted tried to work while he waited for her, feeling entirely too nervous.

The City Walks Among Us
by Lois Lane

There is a man named Thomas roaming the City streets that claims to be the embodiment of the City itself, stuck in a human body. Whether he is telling the truth or not is still under investigation, but he did seem to be privvy to information about some of the City's residents that makes this reporter wonder if there's any truth to his claims.

When asked about his thoughts on the City coming to a stop, the man stated that "It is an abomination. This is not how it should be. This is wrong. The person responsible for this will pay, believe me. They will pay." From the sounds of things, a third party may have been involved in the standstill for the City. If that's the case, I think we may see a very unhappy City whenever the streets do start to move again. There are also investigations into what sort of person might be powerful enough to make the City stop moving.

The man claiming to be the City declined to answer any questions on why he would bring so many people from different worlds, but this reporter plans to keep looking for answers to that ever-important question.

It did sound as though the City cares about its people and wants very badly to start taking care of them again. To those that have been anxious in light of this slow-down, take heart. If this Thomas is the City, he does care and is trying to get things back to normal.

Lois was not amused. At all. She'd spent the last few weeks reading all of the comics she could at the library. And watching the movies. And the TV show.

This was all...

Clark was an alien? Who flew around wearing his underwear outside his pants? And she was supposed to fall in love with him?

Which was all secondary to the fact that she was an actual freaking comic book character.

What had Arthur said-the ideal of a determined female journalist?

And apparently the dumbest person on Earth because nearly every version had her fooled by a simple pair of glasses.

Glasses. How dumb did they think she was?

Or worse, if one of those was her supposed future if the City hadn't shanghaied her, how dumb was she?

Everything was topsy turvy. Everything.

She was still keeping on top of her assignments and she'd gotten a front row seat to a nice riot instead of a press conference. It had given her another front page headline, though she wasn't happy about the state of fear that everyone in the City was in. She didn't know exactly where the Justice League had been lately, but she had a feeling that the mayor's anti-heroes stance had cowed them to some extent.

Which also didn't make her happy.

All in all, she was a little bit cranky as she hit the streets to interview random citizens for her follow-up article on the state of the City. She intended to get genuine man-on-the-street reactions to everything that was going on at the moment so she could piece together something on the current mood of the City. She also planned to slip in questions to find out how the citizens felt about the heroes who had taken down King Kong and the mayor's treatment of said heroes.

Dinah was doing the avoiding thing for the most part. Zee had tried to call and she'd sent a text telling her friend that she just needed some time and would call when she was ready. She didn't want to talk to her friends right now, but she did want to keep busy. Which meant that she'd been spending a lot of time working on getting the shop fixed up. She was currently sweeping up the glass and soon she would be installing the new windows that had just been delivered. Unlike the last time the shop had gotten trashed when the materials to fix it up had just magically appeared, Dinah had had to wait for everything to be delivered.

But it was here now, and working with her hands was exactly what she needed.

Working with her hands and... answers, really. She needed answers. She wanted to know what had happened to Jake. She needed to know if he had made it back home-even if she dreaded the confirmation of that news.

She knew how his story turned out. She knew that if he'd made it back home, he didn't have long before his death.

She knew all that.

But she still needed to know. Not knowing was driving her crazy.

Somewhere in the middle of sweeping up the last of the glass, it hit her. There might be someone in the City who could answer her questions. Someone who had shown up when they'd needed him most. She still didn't know if he was a god-or God, capital G, or just a guy with god-like abilities. She really didn't know what to believe in that.

She also didn't know how to get ahold of him, and she wasn't usually much for praying.

All the same, she did say a little prayer. She wasn't sure if she should say it silently or out loud. And she wasn't really sure if she was wasting her time or not.

"Um, Jesse. If you're out there, I could really use someone to talk to right now. I suppose if you are around, you're probably busy with more important things. Assuming you can hear me at all. But if you can hear me and you're not too busy... I could really use your help."

A tear slipped down her cheek as she admitted out loud that she needed help, but she just swiped at it and went back to sweeping. She didn't expect an answer, but she'd tried anyway.

Dean had been thrown by creatures much stronger than him before. He had felt that stomach dropping rush of flying through the air, and he'd done it while experiencing a great deal of pain. So, his latest bit of monster assisted flight was not new. What was new possibly was the way his hands were injured and how public it had all been. He had caused the damn thing pain, which had felt good for more reasons than the hunter wanted to think about, and he had gotten away, by luck more than anything. Only, Dean Winchester wasn't in any good way.

He hit the wall and crumpled; his Colt had made the trip and thankfully not gone off upon impact. One hand crushed, maybe beyond repair. The other twisted and turned. It was humiliating. He could hear Bobby and Sam both telling him he'd been stupid to take on the vampire alone, but he'd been alone in the street. The damn thing had been out in broad daylight. He could also hear a few others asking why he hadn't admitted that he needed help with this one. Hell, he didn't want to admit the damn thing really existed.

So, he stayed were he was for the moment, trying to figure out how to get up. He also was trying to decide how he was going to make this better, how he could work this, how he could survive with his hands mangled the way they were. It wasn't exactly a pity party for one, but it wasn't a laugh and a gas either. He knew he'd have to get the knife; the idea of attaching the damn thing with some sort of tether coming to mind was not helping his attitude.

"Just get up, you stupid son of a bitch." He mumbled to himself as his eyes started to open.

Lois turned the business card over in her hands, studying it yet again. As if somehow she would find more answers in the simple design.

She was back on the hunt for interview subjects. It had been between this person who claimed he could provide 'custom dreams' and the guy who was listed in the phonebook as a professional wizard.

Even though Lois had just been saved from King Kong by costumed superheroes, the idea of someone who could 'create' dreams seemed a bit far-fetched to her. There were rumors as to what services were actually ordered, but Lois was going to take everything with a grain of salt until she got proof otherwise.

All the same, it was interesting enough to investigate.

She picked up the phone and dialed the number on the back of the card.

Lois had been busy over the last few weeks. Between the King Kong situation (which landed her a front page headline at least) and the renewed Edgett murder investigation, she'd barely had time to stop for lunch. She was slightly miffed that Ollie hadn't done much in the way of checking up on her after the experience with the giant ape, but she supposed he was busy too.

She had a rare slow news day, which meant she wasn't going to eat lunch at her desk and she decided it would be good to actually make time for her ex. They might have been exes, but she considered him a friend now and she wanted him in her life. Especially since he was really the only person she knew in the City.

Which was how Lois ended up at Queen Industries, checking in with Oliver's secretary. She supposed she could have called ahead, but that sort of took away the surprise of dropping in on him for lunch. She was currently trying to explain to the secretary that she didn't have an appointment but still merited a call to the woman's boss.

"Just tell him that Lois is here for lunch. Let him make up his own mind about whether or not he has time for me," she said, a hint of exasperation edging into her voice. She wasn't a huge fan of gatekeepers like this woman.

The investigation was going pretty well.

It was tiring, and Veronica really had expected that. She was an intern. She did a lot of grunt work that was beneath her. Some of it really wasn't, but she thought it was. And that did a lot to color her perception of it.

After Christmas with Logan, it was back to the office and pouring over crime scene photos. Veronica was running out of puns.

There'd been a new lead, one she was hoping to check out this afternoon. Veronica would be heading back to the crime scene, just to do a once-over, then back to the office. She'd been to that damn tree more times than she cared to count.

There was a press release sitting in her in-basket that she hadn't seen yet. Veronica knew the press agent was fishing for things to feed a hungry bunch of reporters who really wanted to print more on the story.

Just as she picked the release up, and started to curse, Veronica's phone started to ring. The phone on her desk.

"Mars," she said. It was both a greeting and a question.

It had been a slow news week for Lois. No, who was she kidding? She had been scooped on all of the big stories ever since she'd arrived here. She'd had a handful of interviews with some fascinating people, but where were the stories? Where was the human interest?

She was either losing her nose for news or the City was conspiring against her, as some might speculate. Either way, Lois was just waiting for the day when she got the axe.

That was, of course, assuming her editor even knew her from all of the other people in the bullpen.

She wasn't going to give up though. That was why she was currently hanging out at one of the trendier restaurants in the City, rumored to be a favorite eatery of the mayor. Despite it being late December, the restaurant, located on the patio in front of one of the City's skyscrapers, was perfectly comfortable. The warm weather normally would have unsettled Lois for the time of the year, but she was too focused on finding that next cover page story.

She supposed that some people might say that you should be careful what you wished for.

There was a rumbling and Lois heard the slight chink of dishes rattling together. She felt the ground shaking, though it didn't exactly feel like an Earthquake. It was too much of a rhythmic pattern for that.

Lois turned as the shaking began to get more intense and she heard the sounds of something very heavy smacking against the pavement.

"You have got to be kidding me," was about all she had time for as a gigantic face turned its attention towards her and then a furry hand swept downward and scooped her up as if she was nothing more than a rag doll.

As the gigantic gorilla-yes, gorilla-started off toward the Wayne Enterprises tower, Lois looked up at it, still in shock.

"No, no no. This is not happening!" she shouted. The shout gave way to a scream as the gorilla reached the tower and grabbed hold of it, beginning to climb upwards.


OOC: open to reactions from all. The JLC will be doing the actual defeating the giant ape but others are welcome to join in with the rescue if you'd like :)

Dean was tired. He hadn't seen the angel in a while, nor Jimmy. He'd also been out of touch with not only his brother, but also a few other people. It wasn't that he was trying to avoid anyone, or maybe it was. Honestly, there was only one person in the City he was actively avoiding. Fred was actually doing him a favor by keeping him busy, not that she gave him many jobs. She did give him some of the more physically demanding ones, which worked in his favor. Usually meant he was too tired to get a drink, well, maybe more than one drink, two drinks, the bottle. He didn't drink a whole damn bottle of something.

To make amends, not that he was on any number step program because he didn't need to be, he thought about stopping by Dinah's shop to see if she was in. Unfortunately, he couldn't bring himself to go in. He wasn't mad that she had gotten back with Harry; he really wasn't even mad that he hadn't known about it. He was just tired of not knowing what was going on. See? Tired.

So, he stood at the door that led to the stairs that led to his apartment. He should have gone in, either up the stairs or the shop, but he couldn't make himself do either. He hated apologizing, and he wasn't even sure why he should apologize. He hated not knowing what to do, which did happen a lot though not as often as some might think.

The hunter finally took a depth breath, sucked it up, manned up, found his balls, whatever. He started for the door to the shop. Hopefully, he was not walking into a drama trap.

So far during her time in the City, Lois had had one story that she'd had to kill to protect those involved. She'd had an interview with a genie. And a few puff pieces. She wasn't exactly blowing the lid off of anything and she couldn't remember the last time she'd seen her name above the fold.

She was losing her edge. And honestly, it was starting to really frustrate her.

When she'd found out that Wayne Enterprises was here, that had piqued her interest. Bruce Wayne would make a fascinating interview subject. What she knew about him from back home... well, it wasn't much. Most of his interviews were standard PR-approved statements.

From what she'd heard, he was even harder to get an audience with here.

Which was why she was in full-on pitbull mode when she entered the Wayne Enterprises lobby.

"Of course I have an appointment," she insisted to the secretary. "My editor called. Talked to John in PR."

She glared at the uncooperative secretary, who seemed skeptical of her (admittedly made-up) cover story.

"Look, if you want to be the one responsible for causing drama at the weekly golf game, that's on you. But I have a job to do and I'll just wait right here while you call upstairs to your boss and tell him that Lois Lane with the City Voice is here for her 1pm appointment."

Lois took a seat and crossed her arms, staring pointedly at the secretary.

The secretary let out a long drawn out sigh and then picked up the phone.

Lois was still getting used to the concept of the City. She was still adjusting to the fact that she was stranded in a place where everything moved around and there were genies and leprechauns and the Mayor was literally from Wonderland. Wonderland! Of all the ridiculous things...

Worst of all was the fact that she'd thought she'd left behind the 'new kid' feeling when she'd graduated high school. She was supposed to have grown out of wanting to fit in when she went somewhere new.

Not to mention that she'd actually started to make a home in Smallville. She'd been there longer than anywhere else in her life as an army brat, being toted from base to base like a piece of luggage.

And yet, even though she was definitely a big girl now, she still felt that 'new kid' pang at being in the City. So far the only person she really knew was Ollie, who she'd seen all of one time. Just long enough to get the rundown on this crazy place and find out that her ex was now hanging around with the blonde bombshell in fishnets that had trashed his apartment shortly before they'd broken up.

She missed Chloe, and Jimmy. And even Clark. Not that she'd ever admit that to him, but she did miss him. Just a little bit. She would even be happy to hear the chair in the desk across from hers at the City Voice start squeaking, if only to see his smug grin at doing something so obviously obnoxious.

She was trying to bury herself in her work, but tonight was a rare night when all of her leads had dried up, and when the assignment board had already been picked over. So here she was, alone in a strange City with nothing to do and nowhere to go.

Luckily, there was a bar on the corner just down the street from her apartment. Lois would happily spend a night in margaritaville, and hopefully amongst the camaraderie of her fellow barflies. It was better than staying in with a movie, a pint of Rocky Road, and far too much to mull over.

The votes were in and the announcement had been made. Jack's campaign manager had already made arrangements for a victory party, just in case. This was a new concept to him. Back home, when his mother had been dethroned, the citizens had celebrated in the streets. But there hadn't been a party to celebrate his victory. Of course, that was because it really wasn't his victory at all. He'd worked behind the scenes to set things up, but in the end it had been Alice that had made it possible for them take back Wonderland and free the Oysters (and the general populace from the addiction to the false emotions bottled in tea form that had been generated from the Oysters).

All the same, Jack was just a little bit uncomfortable with being treated as though he'd had a great accomplishment by winning the election. Becoming the leader of a place wasn't a prize to be won. It was a duty, and for sure an honor that he'd won. But an achievement? No. Making things better for those who lived here would be an achievement, if he could accomplish it.

So while he didn't feel that he 'deserved' a party, he was here nonetheless. His campaign manager had insisted that it was a good way to get to know those who had voted for him, and to start earning their trust as leader.

Jack straightened his tie and surveyed the reception hall. Waiters in tuxedos milled around with trays of champagne and h'ors d'oeurves while a few security guards watched the perimeter. A band struck up the first few chords of a song and a few people in formalwear had started to arrive,

Unfortunately, Jack thought that if the boy with the vividly colored spiky hair decided to crash, the security force wouldn't be able to keep him out. But since the last rally, no one had complained about him wearing his sword wherever he went.

OOC: any characters are welcome, and feel free to socialize amongst yourselves as well as giving your character the chance to meet and greet the new mayor.

Lois needed a story, and fast. So far she'd covered the rally for Gaius Baltar, which had been bumped to the middle of the paper while the rally for Jack Heart had made the first page thanks to some hubbub over a swordfight. Then there was the story about the skinwalkers that she'd been force to set aside for the moment. She was still looking for that pack, but she couldn't publish an unfinished story. And until the rest of the pack of she-dogs was arrested or at least prevented from harming others, publishing anything would be irresponsible.

You're only as good as your last headline, and she hadn't had a headline yet since her arrival in the City. She was in danger of getting forever stuck in the basement at the rate she was going.

What she did have was an assignment from her editor to do a series of profiles of some of the more unique residents of the City. Which was nice and vague, as she hadn't been assigned a subject yet.

She supposed she could have asked Oliver for an interview, but hitting up her ex for quotable lines felt a little bit too much like taking the easy way out.

So instead she took to the streets. Quite literally. In a place where the buildings and streets moved around at random and, from what she'd read in the news archives, strange things happened all the time, she figured that if she walked long enough she'd eventually find a story. Or a story would find her. One of the two.