The Hunter

Cult.org?

Finn hated the internet, it didn't think the same way she did so finding anything always seemed to take more time than it should have. Going to the library wasn't something she would call enjoyable either, but at least it was usually quiet. Today was a good day, with few people and the librarian was the least tolerant of noise anyways. Finn paid for the use of the computer and went into the cubical she'd been assigned. She sighed as she moved the cursor over the screen and clicked on the Search Engine.

She typed in her query and wished researching cults was as simple as when she'd started this job. It used to be you would stalk the recruiter, get recruited, participate in the cult for a while, and eventually either disappear or break down the cult. At all costs the biggest goal was always to avoid situations like Jonestown.

Now of course, even the cultists did background checks. They could find out what use you would be to the cult as easily online as Finn could surround herself with a shield or magic, and they would often stalk potential recruits long before first contact was ever made.

The key was knowing how to use the damned internet. Finn added a word to her search and was dismayed when the number of 'hits' got bigger. She scrolled down the list, wishing she were anywhere but here right now. She had left a note for Gloria, who had still been snoring when she left, so the younger girl would eventually find her, and maybe rescue Finn. In a fit of frustration Finn imagined Gloria would find her as nothing but bones, still trying to find anything on the specific cult she was looking for.

There were a dismaying number of Cults in Canada. She tried specifying 'not political' and wasn't surprised that somehow she had gotten political cults added to the total list rather than removed. She checked the clock. They rented out computers by the hour, and these two searches had taken her almost half that already. For a moment she considered scrying instead, actually seeing them  in whatever reflective surfaces were around them, but that would take time and power and ingredients she wasn't sure were still good in her pantry.

She blinked. She would have to teach Gloria about the pantry. How and what to keep stocked. What to do with the items in there. She pulled a pencil and scrap of paper out of the small container provided for computer users and started a list so she wouldn't forget. She added a few notes specific to the pantry to the list, and then looked back at the computer. She cleared the search, and typed in the name of the small town in northern Saskatchewan. The first thing that popped up for that search was the town's website, Finn clicked the link and dug around the site for a bit, confirming that it was a lot of boring small town council notices and not much else before the computer told her she was out of time.

Finn sighed. Another wasted hour. She went back towards the front counter and was pleasantly surprised to see Gloria. As she approached she realized the younger woman was trying to convince the librarian to let her bring Finn the coffee in her hand.

"No need, I'm out of time anyways." Finn said, and she nodded at the librarian as she sipped the coffee Gloria offered her.

"Find what you were looking for?" Gloria asked.

"No. I'll have to come back later." Finn said, and Gloria frowned.

"Why?"

"Well they only rent the computers for an hour at a time." Finn answered.

"So? Get it for more than one hour at a time." Gloria said and Finn blinked. The Librarian looked at her curiously.

"I can do that?" Finn asked.

"Of course," the librarian answered. "I didn't realize yo weren't aware of that. Would you like more time? I'll let you have another hour free of charge since you didn't know."

Finn shook her head and didn't meet anyone's eyes. "No, I'm good. I'll let chagrin win this time."

"If you're sure." Gloria said. "I need to get my computer, then I could help you with this stuff." Gloria waved to the librarian and started walking away from the front desk.

"We could set you up with an office for the computer, but I don't have internet to the house." Finn frowned in thought. "At least I don't think it's got that yet."

"Wouldn't you need to have it installed? Pay for it?" Gloria asked.

Finn shrugged. "Sometimes I get a bill in the mail for the phone, sometimes not. I did have the phone line installed, and I remember signing up for service, but the bills aren't ever from the same company and sometimes they aren't in English." She met Gloria's disbelieving stare. "Comes with having a house that doesn't have to be in the same place from one moment to the next."

"I can help you look into that too I suppose." Gloria frowned. "How old are you?" Finn stared blankly at Gloria, who's face turned a brilliant shade of red. "Only sometimes you say things and I think you're much older and sometimes you say things and I think you're only a bit older than me. I feel like I could be more helpful if I knew how old you were."

Finn shook her head. "Old enough that the question doesn't bear answering."  Finn opened the door to her house, also conveniently the front door to the library, and stepped inside. "I realized we need to talk about the pantry. You ever had to stock one?"

"What are we talking about here? Canning home made jams and pickles?" Gloria asked as she walked towards her room. Finn followed only because she lacked her own destination at this point , but she was stunned by what she saw when she stepped through the door. Gloria make a tsk sound and emptied her pockets onto her narrow bed. "It keeps changing. I need to go through the book and figure out how to make it stop."

"Oh," Finn said slowly. "This time it didn't change because of you." Finn eyed the empty bookshelves, the dust coated desk, the windows that looked out onto barren rocks,  the bed that was little more than a cot. No lights hung from the ceiling or walls, and no vents or wall units would heat the room. "It's a reminder that I haven't asked you something important. I keep telling myself, in the few moments I've thought about it at all, that I'm giving you time to tell me about where you came from on your own. In my mind I'm being respectful, and as true as all of that may be you need more than the clothes on your back and whatever you have in your knapsack. I'll give you a choice. Today, right now, we can either go to wherever you are from and get your things, or we can go shopping for more clothes." Finn shifted her gaze to Gloria. "Whichever you choose you have one week and then we're doing the other one."