Dang It All, I Was Just Trying to Follow the Rules

[pameladlloyd]

Interdimensional Police Triage (IPT): "Hello. How may I help you?"

Me: "I’d like to report a missing dimension."

IPT: "When did you first notice the missing dimension?"

Me: "Last night. Around 9 p.m., or so."

IPT: "What was your first clue the dimension was missing?"

Me: "Movies. The movies in this dimension don’t match the movies in the one I grew up in."

IPT: "Please be more specific."

Me: "Well, in my dimension, the movie 'All the King’s Men' is about John F. Kennedy and the events leading up to his assassination. The title is a reference to his death. In this one, it’s about Huey Long."

IPT: "Your case has been filed. When we’ve determined your dimension of origin, you will be returned."

Me: "Wait a minute. I don’t know how long I’ve been away. What about my husband and my kids? I mean, I like it here. I reported the missing dimension because that’s what I’m supposed to do, not because I want to go back!"

IPT: "You know the rules. No unauthorized transdimensional migration. If you want to live in your current dimension, you’ll have to return to your dimension and file an application for temporary residency."

Me: "Wait a minute. I think I was just confused. I was probably thinking of 'All the President’s Men.'"

IPT: "In your current dimension, that movie is about the Watergate scandal during Nixon’s administration. Your attempt to deceive me will be noted in your file." Pauses. "Hmm. This isn’t the first time you’ve been found wandering in a dimension other than your dimension of origin. I see here that you were forcibly ejected from Faerie when you were twelve."

Me: "What? That’s in my file? I thought all the records for acts committed by minor children were destroyed when they obtained their majority."

IPT: "Not when they’re related to interdimensional travel. I’ve located your dimension of origin and transmigration will commence in fifteen seconds."

Me: "Wait! How long will it be once I file, before I can come back?"

IPT: "It varies. Generally, you can expect a ten year wait before your paperwork gets proc…"

Comments

[janni.livejournal.com]

But everyone mortal was evicted from Faerie that year, on account of the War. Surely they can't hold that against you!

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

It's not so much the eviction, you see, as the fact that I was there in the first place without having a passport or any of the official paperwork. In my favor, I was only seven when I wandered in, following that really cool lady in the shiny dress, who turned out to be one of the top ranking Sidhe. (You don't have clearance, so I can't tell you which one.) However, when I started manifesting powers that mortals aren't supposed to manifest, it caused quite a stir. Some people even want to claim that the uneasy truce that had held for the past several centuries would have continued, if it hadn't been for me.

It's all in my file. Which I really thought had been expunged. *sigh*

[janni.livejournal.com]

Which is pretty funny, seeing as since the War pretty much everyone under about age 10 has magic anyway.

Not that any of the Faerie folk have been seen since the War, anyway, for that matter ...

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

But there are so many dimensions. I think they may have moved Faerie.

[janni.livejournal.com]

You think some of them survived? Huh.

[Personal Message - For Your Eyes Only]

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

I know there are survivors, and more than just a few. It'd be worth both our lives if I went into any detail, but . . .

No, really, I can't say any more.

Re: [Personal Message - For Your Eyes Only]

[janni.livejournal.com]

Wait--you were in a different dimension of Faerie, weren't you? Because I know what happened after the War, and--

Never mind. Just--pretend I never said anything, okay?

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

This is why you should never, ever report things to the authorities.

Maybe you can slip dimensions again and modify your file.

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

Ooh! You think sneaky. *G*

The thing is, I've never slipped dimensions on purpose. The first time I was just a kid and the Sidhe Lady did all the dimension transfer stuff. If she'd been anyone else, she'd have done some significant time for transporting a minor between dimensions, no matter how pure her intentions.

The last time, I don't even know what happened. Or, when it happened. Thank goodness I've got an Inter-dimensional-web connection, otherwise I'd be completely cut off from my friends and family.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Yes, I can see that you're basically honest.

As for me, I've felt it nearly in my power to shift dimensions, but have hesitated, and continue to hesitate, precisely because of the problem of getting back. I'm scared for you! If they send you back to your original dimension, and you've been in this one for long enough, then--like you said: what about your husband and your son?

If they're going to force you, though, then maybe you'll just have to learn how to control shifting dimensions. Take matters into your own hands. There must be a reason why you've slipped from one to another, anyway, just like there must have been a reason the Sidhe lady wished to have you enter Faerie.

I felt we slipped into a wrong timeline after 9/11--I felt it happen, and I willed us to slip back onto the right timeline, but nothing happened, and we continued with this one, and now so much of my life is dependent on what's happened in this timeline, that I wouldn't want to lose it; now I'm committed to this timeline. *sigh*.

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

If they send you back to your original dimension, and you've been in this one for long enough, then--like you said: what about your husband and your son?

That's just it. They sent me back before my call was even over. If it weren't for the Inter-dimensional-net, I'd be entirely cut off from all the people most important to me.

I'll be leaving for the Interdimensional Registry Bureau offices in a few minutes. I used the online application process to apply for a transfer. Theoretically, they should have already assigned me to an advocate. But, instead of giving me an appointment, I was given a registry receipt to print and told to report to the IRB offices. I'll probably be sitting in the waiting room all day.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Ehhh, you're making me terribly anxious. How shall we try to contact you/rescue you if they have other plans in mind?

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

Well, first, let me see if I can managed to get back through the normal channels. I know the IPT operator claimed it could take ten years, but I've heard there are ways to, uhm, get to the head of the line. My biggest problem is being on their lists as some kind of troublemaker, when nothing that happened was really my fault. Really. People just shouldn't be leaving their magical treasures lying around where small kids can find them.

We've still got the Inter-dimensional-web, so if I need you, I'll let you know. Plus, I may be able to get a bit of help from some of the exiled Sidhe (even in hiding, they know how to pull rank), or possibly from a certain interdimensional traveler who knows how to get people through quietly. (My icon should give you a clue, though I don't dare mention his name.)

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

That guy's famous! Wow--I'm impressed.

[jmeadows.livejournal.com]

I agree with asakiyume. Don't report stuff when you're happy. You know how authorities are.

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

I know, I know. But, I got into so-o-o much trouble when I was a kid because I didn't know enough to call for help. When I got back, everyone around me hammered me for years about how to contact the Interdimensional Police and that any time I was even the least bit uncertain about my dimensional location I should report it. And there are humongous fines and penalties and I don't know what, even jail time, if they ever find out that you have been crossing the dimensional spectrum intentionally without the proper forms and paperwork.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

It's movies that made you notice the shift... how about music?

I have a recollection of a Beatles album with all their faces (each one individually) running across the front, not just four squares (one photo of each of them), but repeating, with them making different faces and having different expressions--a whole bunch of head shots.

I remember loving the songs on that album, but now I find there never was such an album. In my case, though, it may not be a dimensional shift; it's probably just that I dreamed the album...

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

it's probably just that I dreamed the album...

You do realize that dreaming is just one way of tapping into what's going on in another dimension.

You should try searching the Inter-dimensional-web. According to the hype, we're supposed to be able access media from across the dimensional spectrum. Not that it always works that way. I can't tell you how many times I've seen that nasty pop-up message telling me I can't access something unless I'm registered as a citizen of a specific dimension.

If you ever find it, I hope you'll share. That sounds like a real treasure.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

If I find it, I certainly will.