THE MOMENT
"You have no reason to feel foolish, there's no way you could have known...," Chance said as he brought the conversation to a close. He'd established credibility with a simple shapeshifting feat, and he established rapport by being patient and open with the home owner. He sat on the edge of a golden leather couch that he tried not to judge too harshly. The cracked, faded, now-yellow leather looked much worse in comparison to his clean, silky chrome suit that seemed to almost glow with magic. He wasn't always human, but it was his preferred form. He thought he looked best in the suit. "... but, I'm glad that I and Chroma Corp. could help you deal with the burglar. You made the right decision, and now, I must move on," Chance stood up more eager than he meant to.
"You're leaving??" David stood just as quickly, though his was more from panic. "I mean.. what if there are more of them?? And what am I supposed to do with all the cat food?" he gestured at a pair of 20lb pet food bags. It was easily the most trivial of is concerns at the moment; but, it was the only one he could wrap his mind around. The past 45 minutes had been a whirlwind of events that not only revealed his feline friend to not be that at all; but, along with the existence of shapeshifters and Fae, he learned about the multiverse. His cat, and reality itself, were no longer everything he thought they were and the best he could do at the moment was cling to the very normal problem of having too much cat food but no cat.
"You have been through quite an experience haven't you?" He smiled as he reached into the pocket of his shining chrome blazer. He withdrew his hand again and offered David a clear glass card. "I'll tell you what, I'll buy it off you. Here's a node from Chroma Corp. in exchange for the pet food. Chroma Corp. hasn't completely established our presence here yet; but, that doesn't mean you can't get an advanced peek."
"It cost me like $75...," David replied as he examined the card. It was transparent as nothing, but digital numbers showed the time and they seemed to be hovering in mid-air.
"With that node, you'll be able to travel the multiverse as easily as I can do this...," he gestured toward the stacked bags and a black portal opened beneath them to swallow both large bags. "If you really wanted to, I'm quite sure you could sell it for more than $75."
"What are you going to do with that much food?" Dave asked. He was still working with simple questions, but his mind was making progress on the entire situation. He was sure, mostly positive, that Chance wasn't going to eat the food himself.
"Chroma Corp. has a number of pet shelters across the multiverse, they'll make good use of it," Chance smiled as he made his way to the front door. "My contact info is already preloaded into the node; feel free to reach out again if you suspect any more trouble."
"Uh, okay, thank you," David nodded. The visit was over; but, he didn't quite feel done yet. He felt like he wanted more answers, but there were too many questions vying for first position. He resigned himself to hoping he would get them answered when he began using the node.
As Chance walked out, David had a friendly visitor approaching. He wasn't expecting her, but, he wasn't surprised. She seemed to always known when he needed to talk and he definitely needed a sounding board to sort through his thoughts. The young woman exchanged a polite nod with Chance as they crossed paths, then she arrived at the door.
"He's fancy, what's that all about?" She asked as she followed David inside.
"Ughh...," David sighed. "The best way to describe what just happened would be that my pet was not actually a pet and that my burglar problem no longer exists."
"Yeah?" Evelyn grinned. "They finally caught the guy?" She asked as she looked down and around the living room. "Where's Mr. KittMitts?"
" Yeah, I caught him red-handed in the act. It was freaky enough that I knew the cops couldn't help, but I remembered Chroma Corp. has been advertising they can handle the weird stuff. Turns out they can," he smiled with a sigh. Now that he was relaying the story to her, he could start to feel like it was over. "That cat burglar is on his way to rot in jail, hopefully for a long time, the thieving shape-shifting bastard."