The Semblance of the Thing

Posted on Fri 30th Apr, 2021 @ 11:55pm by Lieutenant Damion Ildaran
Edited on on Sat 1st May, 2021 @ 12:06am

968 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Business Not At All As Usual
Location: Riverside Village, Tivoli Gardens
Timeline: MD-9, 12:05 hours

"She's always there on the tram," Experiment Number Six Addams expounded as she walked with her Aunt Chlamydia toward a park bench. "She dresses in black and pretends to read a PADD, but she spends as much time watching me. She dresses in black... I wonder if she's a witch, or a ninja? No, Thing, you may not have a fry until we are seated."

Chlamydia ignored the interplay between her child and the family's Zeta Reticulan spider, currently trying to creep down Six's arm toward the newsprint-wrapped bundle of fish and chips. "Having the semblance of a thing is not the same as being the thing," she commented, taking a seat on the bench facing the slow-flowing river. "Take, for example, this fishwrapper. Do you know what it is?"

Six paused in unwrapping her lunch to award Thing with a thick-cut, deep-fried wedge of potato. "Yes. It's The Daily News, the newspaper Mr. Clement prints every day."

"Yes," Chlamydia agreed, sprinkling malt vinegar over her own deep-fried fish and chips, "that is its semblance. But it's not -- not paper, at least. Whether it's news is debatable." She looked up as a tall young man walked along the path toward them. "Mister Ildaran? Good evening, sir."

"Hello, Dr. Addams, Experiment Number Six. I don't think I've seen either of you since Halloween," Damion said as he paused at their bench. "I'm on my way to buy some fish and chips, as well." He caught sight of Thing and grinned. "You watch out for that hand, there," he told Six. "It's a rascal."

Thing waved its chip in the air as if protesting its innocence.

"Why don't you get your dinner and join us?" Six invited. Chlamydia nodded agreeably.

"That's very kind of you, Miss Addams. I think I will," Damion said, once he saw that her aunt wouldn't mind. "I'll be right back." He continued walking down the path toward Charlie's fish cart, where he bought a fish filet and some chips and returned to the park bench the Addamses occupied. He seated himself on Six's other side and partially unwrapped his fish. Steam rose from it, and Damion inhaled deeply. "Mm, that smells good! Just like a proper chippy in Edinburgh."

"Aunt Chlamydia says that the fishwrapper isn't actually newspaper," Six said, politely involving their guest in the conversation.

"Looks like Clement's newspaper to me," Damion said, giving it a brief look. He took a bite, moaned in appreciation of the flavor, then chewed and swallowed. "On the other hand, fish and chips aren't ever directly wrapped in newspaper anymore because of the grease and the ink. The grease would soak right through the newspaper and get ink on your hands and your food. Whatever the fish is wrapped in now has a plastic coating on it so the grease doesn't soak through. So your aunt's right; it isn't actual newspaper." He smiled at Six. "The fish is a lot tastier this way."

"It's a step beyond that," Chlamydia explained, as Thing oh-so-casually dropped its potato wedge behind the park bench and waited. "What we call 'paper' is actually flimsiplast, long-chain polymers woven to resemble the organic threads in paper. It's less energy-intensive as well as material-intensive to replicate, and easier to recycle. And I do not know what Mr. Clement uses for ink, but it is at least not water... or grease... soluble."

"Oh," said Six, swishing her breaded and fried fish plank about in tartar sauce before taking a bite, "So it looks like paper, and it acts like paper, but it's not actually paper? Is a difference which makes no difference truly a difference?"

"She's got you there, Doctor," Damion said, highly amused. He looked back at Six. "If you want to burn it to start a fire, then yes, it would matter. Flimsiplast will just melt instead of burn."

"She does," the elder Addams agreed. "She is entirely too smart for my peace of mind. But the point is made: just because it looks like a ninja and sneaks like a ninja, doesn't mean that it is a ninja." A pigeon landed a few steps away and eyed them, then eyed the dropped potato wedge, then eyed them again.

"Has someone been sneaking around you?" Damion asked Six, keeping his tone casual. The girl was amazingly intelligent; he'd seen evidence of that at the Halloween party. He didn't at all doubt that she would notice something that others might miss.

"No," Six said, as Thing waited motionless next to her shoulder on the back of the bench. "Maybe. There's a woman I've noticed on the tram. She seems to spend a great deal of time watching me."

"I'd watch you, too. You're devious!" Damion said, smiling. "What does she look like?"

"I am not devious," Six protested. "I'm a scallywag. And even a hoyden." Behind her, the pigeon strutted forward cautiously, making for the dropped potato wedge. It made a lunging grab with its beak, spread its wings, and... vanished in a puff of feathers, leaving only Thing, looking strangely self-satisfied.

"She looks," Six went on, apparently not having noticed the scene, "like Aunt Chlamydia. Or Aunt Ischemia. Only... bleached out."

Chlamydia looked up sharply. "Bleached out? And this woman... she hasn't made any contact, only watched?"

It was hard to imagine anyone paler than an Addams, Damion thought. But if Six was referring to hair color... "So pale hair and pale complexion? Straight hair? like your aunts?" he asked Six.

Six looked from one adult to the other as Thing climbed up the back of the bench and settled on top of her head. "Right," she said to Damion, then just looked at Chlamydia for a long moment before finally answering, "only watching."

 

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