Isekia Reverse

Who is Olivia Smith?

I wake up in a bed in a foreign place. For a minute I have forgotten that I am not in Pergamum anymore. The deep reality of what is happening sinks in. I sigh. How in the world am I supposed to know what to do? I get up and get something to drink. There is a spout in the kitchen/bedroom. I drink water from it. The crispness of the water gets me thinking. I should find something to eat. I open what looks like an icebox and find food inside. I look at the shelves above the oven and realize there is more food up there. I grab something from the cupboard that looks ready to eat. I have never cooked a meal before and the thought of trying to use the oven terrifies me. I pull out a food square and pop it into my mouth. It tastes horrible. It's called a "protein bar". I can't be picky but I need many drinks of water to get through this protein bar. I finally swallow the last bit.

Now that I am not so hungry I can start to think about how to get back to my own country. I seem to have appeared in Olivia Smith's body at the Peacock. I am going to start my search there. But in all the mess of last night, I don't know how to get back there. I start to make a plan about asking others around here if they know how to get there. I will need to probably pay for another carriage ride to the location. I search around for the rectangle from last night. Besides plastic cards it appeared to have some money in it. I open it up and find paper bills and coins. I assume that the coins are heavier and therefore worth more. There aren't as many of them as the paper money. I see that each paper currency has a number on it. 1,5, 10, and 20. I hope that it's as simple as it appears and that the higher number is higher value. I sigh. This is all so overwhelming.

I look around for the other rectangle from last night. The one that lights up when I pressed a few buttons. I open it up again. I try pressing a few buttons. The first two light it up again but don't do anything else. All the sudden the third button causes a fingerprint to appear on the device. I gasp! This is what happened last night. I put my finger up to the rectangle and the device shows a new image. I suddenly realize that the picture it shows in the background is Olivia Smith and a guy. I look at it quizzically. I wonder if that is a brother? Or maybe a husband? I look around at the place she lives. I don't see any signs of a man living here, so I rule out a husband. I breathe a sigh of relief. A husband would definitely make things more complicated. I wouldn't be able to convince him that I was the real Olivia Smith.

The screen goes dark again. I am still not quite sure what to do with this thing. But it's connected to Oliva by her fingerprint and that seems personal. I decided to keep it on me. I look at her closet. What should I wear today. Olivia looks like she might be a cross dresser. She has so many pants. I rifle through her clothes. There is no way I am wearing pants again. I get to the very end of her closet and find two dresses. A yellow one that is short and has no sleeves. The second dress is black, longer, formal, and has sleeves. This one. I pull it out of the closet and put it on. I look in the mirror again. I try making faces to see what looks best. Its strange not being me. I then gather up the pocketbook that has money and my rectangular picture device and put them in a purse I found hanging up around in the back of the closet. I guess this will have to do.

I walk outside. There are people walking around and others driving carriages. I see people staring at their picture devices while they walk while others have the device up to their ears and they are talking to no one. It's wild. What strange behaviors. Maybe this world worships their own images? I try to think of how that could make sense. I look over the signs. I start to read them. I continue walking for three streets until I finally read a sign that says "market". I get so excited. I think that I have finally found a store. I am going to go inside and ask the owner about the Peacock building that I first appeared at. I walk in and see food on shelves from wall to wall. It's unbelievable. This must be where the richest people shop?! How can they have so much food in one place. I look around. There seems to be endless food. Do people not go hungry here?  I walk up to the person who packing up the food for people to take home. I assume he works here. I go over to the man and ask him, "Hello. Can I have a moment of your time? Could you please help me find a building labelled the Peacock?" The man looked at me and shakes his head. "No English." I look confused. What could that mean. The lady who is handling money leans over and she says, "I don't know where that is. Have you tried googling it?" Once again I don't answer. I have no idea what that means either. 

I start to get teary-eyed. I didn't realize how overwhelming it would be to be in a place that I have never been before. This is all so confusing. I had grand ideas about a great adventure when I ran away from home. But so far, this trip has been draining. I start to feel really frustrated. Just as I am about to walk out I get an idea. A map. I at least could find my way around better with a map. So I turn back to the woman and ask her, "do you have a map, by chance?" She smiles and says, "This is the only one I have." Grateful for anything, I grab the map she is handing me. I look at the front of it and it says, "Hollywood Stars Walk of Fame Map." I walk out the door and open it up. People start looking at me strangely while I stare at the map. I can't make out where I am. But as soon as I find something on this map, I should be able to follow it somewhat.

 I am just about to head back to Olivia's home when I smell coffee. I gasp again. If there is something I love, it's a good cup of coffee. I follow the smell to a building with a giant green woman on it. It is called 'Starbucks'. Apparently stars are a big thing around here. I get in line behind others in the café. The whole place smells of coffee. I am so excited. I get to the front of the line and say, "I would love a cup of coffee." The employee working there asks, "do you want Tall, Grande, or Venti?" I look confused. Next the employee points at three cup sizes in front of her, slowing down to emphasize each one, "TAAAAALLL, GGRRRAAANDE, or VEEEENNNTI"  Tall, I repeat after her. I cannot imagine ever being able to drink any more than that. Even the tall is an obscene amount of coffee for me. Next comes, "room for cream?" This is a question I know, "yes!" Then she tells me, "4.50, please." I assume she is referring to money. I pull out all the bills and ask, "can you help me with this part?" The employee grabs the 5 bill out and gives me two coins back. I put them back into my pocketbook at then wait. Her final question for me, "what is your name?" I start to answer without thinking, "Ana...." I stop suddenly. I am not Ana, I am "Olivia". She writes my name on the cup. Then She then tells me I can pick up my coffee at on the other side when it's ready. She points again for my benefit to where the coffee will be delivered. I walk over and wait. A few minutes and I have coffee. I watch another person go to a counter that is loaded up with cream and sugar for coffees and I do the same. This isn't so bad. I take a sip of my coffee and smile. It's the first smile I have made since I arrived last night. But at least they have coffee.