THE MOMENT
"Hey, boss...," the interruption came with a knock on the open door. Brad, the teenage clerk, walked in with his hand stretched out. His palm was open and he showed Carrie a handful of round metal pieces. Six in total with two of them being full spheres of different sizes and colors; the rest of the coins also varied in size and color. Each piece was stamped with an elaborate, official-looking seal. "...some old man is trying to pay with these," Brad said.
Carrie glanced out the small office window at the tall, rugged-looking stranger. He was a portly man with a thick, bushy blonde beard with golden strands peeking out from under his cowboy hat. He wore a green leather duster that shimmered like scales and he had a leather rucksack hefted over his left shoulder. The man looked almost normal; but, there was just enough 'strangeness' to him to give him an air of authenticity.
"You checked with Sharp Bank?" Carrie turned her attention back to Brad once she made her mind up. Once word got out that her shop accepted 'strange' currency she often had fakers trying to spend buttons or even a pile of chicken bones in one case. Luckily, she was only accepting 'strange' currency, not 'worthless'. Most of the 'weird money' she accepted was actually from multiversal travelers. Sometimes they were unaware of how or why they arrived in a different universe; but, their money was still good. She had access to a multiversal bank that handled the exchange rates.
"Yeah, nothing there yet," Brad replied. It was only his second week on the job; and, it wouldn't have been the first time he approached her with a problem before trying to solve it himself. Carrie focused on the metal bits in her hand again. She separated the coins in one hand and tried to compare the weight of the coins versus the spheres. Then, she brought the larger sphere closer to study the imprint. It read: "Consolidated States of Ameranada - 2011".
"Ask him if he's in a hurry," Carrie told Brad. He nodded and walked out of the office. She sent in a support ticket once she was alone again. It didn't take long for Brad to return; the stranger had left Carrie's view.
"He said no," Brad replied. "He went to sit down."
"Thank you," Carrie nodded. "I'll take care of this," she said. As she told him to go back to work, a black portal opened in the center of her office and two teenage girls walked out. The taller one wore a crisp white suit with a red scissor logo on the front of her blazer. She was pale with short rainbow hair. The other girl wore a black suit with the same red logo. She had long white hair and red eyes. Carrie expected the rainbow-haired teen; her friend was new.
"Hi, Monday," Carrie smiled at the teen she knew. "Friend or Trainee?" she asked as she smiled at the white-haired girl.
"Both," Monday replied. "This is Rhapsody," she introduced her friend. "She's learning the ins and outs of the company. So, how can we help?"
"I got some new currency that isn't recognized by your app yet," Carrie extended her hand across the desk to show the two teens.
"Oh, perfect!" Monday grinned. "Try it out, Rhapsody," Monday said.
"Okay," Rhapsody nodded, then she plucked the largest sphere from Carrie's hand. She held it in her fist for a moment, then another black portal opened in the air next to her. She walked into it and disappeared.
"She seems nice...," Carrie tried to fill the silence.
"Yeah...," Monday giggled. "...at first anyway."
"Is she ...not?" Carrie asked.
"You've been a Sharp client for a while now, right?" Monday asked. Carrie nodded. "You've never met Ms. Sharp. Still, given your dealings with us, your conversation with Mundo, and everything you've learned...," she paused to study Carrie for a moment. "You probably feel like you have an idea of what she's like, right?"
"Genius, amazing, determined, unstoppable...," Carrie rattled off the words that came to mind when she thought of Ms. Sharp. Monday nodded.
"Would you ever call her, 'nice'?"
"No," the thought was so foreign that Carrie needed to voice her disagreement as she shook her head. "Nice' wasn't a word that suited Ms. Sharp. It wasn't that she couldn't be nice; she was often very kind. But, 'nice' almost seemed to imply innocence that certainly did not apply to Ms. Sharp.
"Rhapsody is Ms. Sharp's daughter," Monday said. "She's a lot like her mother."
"Oh," Carrie nodded. She understood what Monday was trying to say; it was almost a warning. Rhapsody was in training which meant she might have more interactions with Carrie in the future. Now Carrie knew not to let her guard down. As she had the realization a black portal opened again and Rhapsody walked out of it.
"It's good," she said. "Sharp Development doesn't have a presence there yet; but, I passed it up the chain."
"Great," Monday nodded as Rhapsody gave the metal sphere back to Carrie along with a small white leather sack.
"Here's something to get you started until it's in the system," Rhapsody explained.
"Thank you, Rhapsody; you've been very helpful," Carrie replied.
"Glad to help," Rhapsody smiled at her. Then, a portal opened behind her. "Next call?" she asked Monday. The rainbow-haired teen nodded.
"But -," Carrie began to say something; but, Monday interrupted her.
"Go ahead, I'll catch up," she said. Rhapsody nodded, waved at Carrie, then stepped into the black hole.
"Don't worry," Monday smiled at Carrie as she stepped into the portal. "I'll explain the finder's fee to her and see how much this new Earth earned you," she said.
"phew" Carrie made an exaggerated effort to wipe non-existent sweat off her brow. The only reason she had signs posted that read: 'We accept unusual and strange currency' was because she knew how to profit from it. "I was worried there for a second."