To the Time Machine! - Part 18

"You Must Be…."


The Present
Underground Research Bunker


Andy looked at the files scattered across the office floor. Somewhere under there was perhaps carpet. It was impossible to tell.

Bending over carefully in her nurse's uniform, Morgborg stooped to pick up one of the folders. When she leafed through the file, her eyes widened at all the information collected, reports submitted, and embarrassing photos snapped. She felt sorry for all the poor minions whom the Empire had been collecting intel on.

Then she realized with a shock that it was her file! A file on her! Photos of her! Implications on her! She quickly removed and pocketed the photos, even though her uniform had no pockets.

"We must determine what targets Lorma Doom was assigned," Andy told her. "Sift through the stacks and see if there's a pattern."

Morgborg frowned. This was not in her job description.

Mouthpiece dumped the contents of a banker's box out onto the desk, or rather on top of the papers already on the desk. Well, presumably there was a desk under there somewhere. She guessed it could just be a large pile of personnel files.

"Who collects all this information?" Scott asked, staring down in disbelief at the sheer amount of info.

"The Watchers," Andy told her, not even looking up.

"And who watches the Watchers?" Mouthpiece Scott asked, as the box contents spilled over the sides of the desk into the floor.

"The Watcher Watchers," Andy explained, and tossed another unhelpful file over his shoulder.

"Ow!" cried Morgborg.



Hours later ….

They had been at it for what seemed like days, but was, according to the header, only hours. Morgborg had long ago gave up looking through the files, having lost all track of which mound had been searched and which heap still required examination.

Instead, she sat vacant-eyed atop the largest stack and smoked her last cigarette. Below her, on opposite ends of the room, Andy and Scott sorted and read in silence.

After a while, Morgborg checked her own pulse to see if she was still alive.

"Noelle," Mouthpiece suddenly announced, bursting to her feet. Morgborg nearly swallowed her cigarette in surprise.

"There's no 'L' section?" Andy looked up quizzically to see why she had stopped her search.

"No, I mean the Empress' file is not here," Mouthpiece explained.

"Ex-Empress," Andy corrected, also standing.

"Of course," Mouthpiece winced.

"Maybe it's under 'X' for Ex-Empress," Andy said, wading with difficulty through the stacks toward Scott.

"No, Great One, I thought of that," Scott pointed at the 'X' files. "There's hasn't been anything good in there for years."

Morgborg shrieked and slid off the stack of papers and onto the floor.