Status: This is the strangest story you will ever have the pleasure of reading.
The Entanglement of Cat and Rin Schrodinger
Ch. 16
Part II
POLARIZATION
Chapter sixteen
Cat
I don’t think I honestly knew what to expect when I met Rin. I have to admit that I did idealize her some: she’s be the person I’ve always wished I could be, the one that that never made all those stupid little mistakes, the one who was better at life, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera....
But I suppose, as in the case of the poor soul who has to open the box and find Schrödinger’s cat dead or alive, no one has any idea what it’ll be like. A non-informational limbo, you could call it. Or something like that. But I’ve noticed that life likes to turn out the least like you anticipated. Not quite the opposite, but something off to the sidelines that you didn’t even consider.
Like right now, I consider this girl, as she rushes about her bedroom, gathering miscellaneous objects that she’s deemed useful. She’s a near copy of myself, only a bit smaller and somewhat prettier too. These facts are all within the range of reasonably predictable. Then there’s Rin herself, the paradox I can’t quite step around.
One, she was expecting me and answered my questions without inquiry as to why. Two, she attacked me, then stopped and started crying. She was just so, so happy you’re here, she said. Three, the curtain. I’m not blind enough to miss the blood smeared curtain in the living room, or the knife dropped clumsily under the table. I know I need to be figuring out the next rift to Pax Illume or how to explain all this to Rin, but my attention keeps being eclipsed by one other thought: this girl could’ve been me.
“I’m ready!” She’s in front of me, hands on her hips looking down from my crouched position on the floor against the wall. The effects of traveling through the rift have yet to wear off, and I’m exhausted. I get up from the ground and assess Rin. All she has is a denim colored backpack and a coat swung over one shoulder. Her eyes shine aquamarine with excitement. She looks ready to go to a sleepover, not end a civil war.
“Rin...” I start “Listen, I just barged into your home; I’ve never met you and only told you that need to go some place with me. And then you just packed up and now you’re ready to go.”
She nods slowly, a habit of her’s. She waits for me to finish my thought and I know she’s missed the point. I could just let the others explain, give up the whole thing to them. But after I show Rin the rift, that’ll be it. After that, I’ll be done with Pax Illume, Bennu and my exploits to other worlds. The Schrödinger’s Cat that just Walked Away.
Rin is watching me anxiously. “I—I feel like you had a point, and people say I’m not good at perceiving things like that and—”
So I swallow my hesitation and say “Come on. I’ll try my best as we walk.” Rin leads me out the door without even looking back.
POLARIZATION
Chapter sixteen
Cat
I don’t think I honestly knew what to expect when I met Rin. I have to admit that I did idealize her some: she’s be the person I’ve always wished I could be, the one that that never made all those stupid little mistakes, the one who was better at life, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera....
But I suppose, as in the case of the poor soul who has to open the box and find Schrödinger’s cat dead or alive, no one has any idea what it’ll be like. A non-informational limbo, you could call it. Or something like that. But I’ve noticed that life likes to turn out the least like you anticipated. Not quite the opposite, but something off to the sidelines that you didn’t even consider.
Like right now, I consider this girl, as she rushes about her bedroom, gathering miscellaneous objects that she’s deemed useful. She’s a near copy of myself, only a bit smaller and somewhat prettier too. These facts are all within the range of reasonably predictable. Then there’s Rin herself, the paradox I can’t quite step around.
One, she was expecting me and answered my questions without inquiry as to why. Two, she attacked me, then stopped and started crying. She was just so, so happy you’re here, she said. Three, the curtain. I’m not blind enough to miss the blood smeared curtain in the living room, or the knife dropped clumsily under the table. I know I need to be figuring out the next rift to Pax Illume or how to explain all this to Rin, but my attention keeps being eclipsed by one other thought: this girl could’ve been me.
“I’m ready!” She’s in front of me, hands on her hips looking down from my crouched position on the floor against the wall. The effects of traveling through the rift have yet to wear off, and I’m exhausted. I get up from the ground and assess Rin. All she has is a denim colored backpack and a coat swung over one shoulder. Her eyes shine aquamarine with excitement. She looks ready to go to a sleepover, not end a civil war.
“Rin...” I start “Listen, I just barged into your home; I’ve never met you and only told you that need to go some place with me. And then you just packed up and now you’re ready to go.”
She nods slowly, a habit of her’s. She waits for me to finish my thought and I know she’s missed the point. I could just let the others explain, give up the whole thing to them. But after I show Rin the rift, that’ll be it. After that, I’ll be done with Pax Illume, Bennu and my exploits to other worlds. The Schrödinger’s Cat that just Walked Away.
Rin is watching me anxiously. “I—I feel like you had a point, and people say I’m not good at perceiving things like that and—”
So I swallow my hesitation and say “Come on. I’ll try my best as we walk.” Rin leads me out the door without even looking back.