"Excuse me, miss, but I don't think you're allowed here."
Cassandra turned to face the voice and found herself face-to-face with Pete. "Who, me?"
"Oh- oh... Not you," he stuttered, flustered, "of course not!"
Cass rolled her eyes as she turned back around, pulling out a key. She inserted it into the lock on the door in front of her, twisting it until it clicked. She was in! Now, if she could just get Pete off her back- a task that was going to prove very... Trying. Especially since he wanted to chat for awhile.
"You know, Cassandra, how come you never applied for Captain?" Pete inquired suddenly, "you would've been a shoo-in, Cass, we all know it."
She heaved a deep sigh. She missed her father. She wished she had applied for Captain of the guard. But... Things were different now. Everybody who knew she would've been a perfect fit for the job also knew that things had changed.
"I've got a family now, Pete," she said softly, gently putting a hand to the door, "or perhaps you didn't notice the two-year-old running around the castle while I sat knitting with two more human beings growing inside of me."
Pete was even more flustered than before. "I- I'm sorry. I- I didn't mean to sound insensitive or anything..."
But Cass had something she needed to do, and she had to hurry to do it. "Look, Pete, I have to go. It was nice seeing you."
"Uh, yeah, you too."
But she had already gone inside the building.
~-~
"I can do this," Varian whispered to himself, looking down at his three children, "I've got this."
He could do this... He could survive taking care of the three little ones- his two-year-old and the two-month-old twins- alone for a few hours without help. No help whatsoever: not from his father. Not from his sister. Not from the prince or princess. Especially not from Cassandra.
It was all on him- no "baby swaps." No "phone a friend." Nothing.
"Daddy?" Trystan asked him, looking up at him with her wide, hazel eyes, "what's wrong?"
"Nothing," he replied quickly, messing her hair playfully, "let's see..."
He consulted the list that Cass had left for him and groaned as he saw that "Give Journey Meds" was there.
At the top of the list.
He still hadn't gotten the hang of giving his youngest child her medicine- though he insisted that he was doing fine and she was just being stubborn- and he always had to pull a "baby swap."
Nope. Not today.
Not while Cassandra was out and about.
He sighed and scooped Journey out of her little cradle, ready to try this once again.
~-~
Cassandra entered the room, shutting and locking the door behind her.
She looked around in awe and wonder. She had been expecting a bunch of old filing cabinets and shelves full of papers and parchments. Instead, she found that the Census Archives building of Corona was completely updated far beyond anything else she had ever seen- and she lived with Varian!- and... She was just amazed.
In the center of the room, a silver table: metallic base and a white tabletop that displayed a black... Was that a black screen?
She pulled the mysterious note out of her pocket and studied both it and the table before deciding that her best option would be to lay the note facedown on top of the patch of black. Perhaps it would scan it or something...
Cass shook her head. That was silly. Sure, she lived in a world where simple technological advancements were commonplace, but... This just didn't seem logical.
Suddenly, there was an ominous female voice- not exactly human, but not necessarily unhuman, either- spoke. "Cassandra Marie Vatter, formerly Cassandra Marie Pendergraft, formerly Cassandra Marie Fitzherbert. Family: Byron Dawson Fitzherbert, father; Katia Jane Fitzherbert, formerly Katia Jane Dirkwood, mother; Eugene Levi Fitzherbert, brother; Kade William Pendergraft, adoptive father. Spouse: Varian James Vatter, husband. Children: Trystan Elyzabeth Vatter, daughter; Jackson "Jax" Joseph Vatter, son; Journey Joy Vatter, daughter."
Cass paused, curious. It had just listed her entire family, including her birth parents. It had just rattled off facts like it was reading off of a Census Record, though Cass had never had to fill one out herself. She was always part of someone else's, as was custom in Corona.
So... What else did this fascinating machine know?
"Unborn daughter, later this year; unborn son, two years; unborn daughter..."
Cassandra didn't quite catch the last part. She was too busy trying to process this all. The machine had been accurate thus far; why should she question it now?
Still, though, how much did it know? And... How much of it was true?
"Wha- what?"
"How can I be of service?" the voice finished.
Still in a little trance, she put the note facedown on the table. There was a pause before the voice spoke again.
"Handwriting identified."
