"Yesterday Mariam got a call from someone who said," she quotes from the memory Sun had bounced her. "'My name is Mariam Kasparian. I'm you, I think, by the voice and the matching phone number, from a different universe where it's 2014 and we have necromancy instead of eclipsed and no roles. Daria and I ended up here somehow a couple hours ago.' The voice matched, she listed a bunch of facts that my Mariam hasn't really talked about to people, and when I called her Daria I tried to catch her in an inconsistency in precog. They seem - exactly like us, adjusted for the different universe."

"- okay. Can you think of any reason you'd be targeted by people with this sort of capacity?"

"I'm not doing anything high profile, impersonating me or Mariam won't get you an in anywhere better than the New York fire department, and if you can do that there are much better targets."

"They're not impersonating you, exactly, is there anything you can get them access to if you trust them - money, maybe, though not the most likely, eclipsed make bank - or an in with somebody or something like that -"

"Good point. We're paying for their hotel room, got them a couple hundred in cash, but it'd take more than just showing up and claiming to be - versions of us - to get us to hand over anything significant, at that point you'd be better off building trust the conventional way, I can't think of how this'd make sense financially. I don't think we have an in with anyone that would be worth this kind of complicated plot, any more than your average eclipsed - nothing we do is particularly unique in that sense. I do some research on eclipsed, I'm planning to do more once my contract with the fire department expires? but I'd share that with anyone, it's not secret."

"Huh. Okay. Well, worth asking the question, but it's good that it doesn't seem to be that. What's the favor?"

"I want someone to keep an eye on them. Mariam and I can't drop everything and fly to Montana, it'll take at least a week to arrange for someone to replace me, and they don't have any ID that's not from 2014, so they can't fly here or rent a car or anything. If they're who they say they are they'll be tremendously useful, the other Daria has a magic system that does communication with the dead; and if not it's probably better to make sure we know what they're doing."

"Gosh. Okay. Yeah, I can reschedule my visit with my dad. How are you planning to get them to New York without their having any ID, though, get them copies of yours via shenanigans? I can't fox the TSA, not that kinda psion."

"Haven't thought that far yet. Worst case scenario someone rents them a car and we hope nobody stops them to ask for a driver's licences, or there are buses."

"Sure. I'll change my flight."

"They're in Billings, Montana," and she names the motel's address and phone number. "When will you be able to get there?"

"Looking like three and a half hours."

"All right, I'll call and let them know."

"Give them my cell number -" She rattles it off. "- and is there anything else I should know?"

"I mentioned their world doesn't have roles, don't be surprised by that. We've picking nicknames so we're not saying 'the other one' all the time - they didn't have anything last time we talked, Mariam and I are Sun and Crescent. Can't think of anything else."

"No roles. Huh. Okay. I gotta go change the flight in real life, later."

"Thanks for not asking me what drugs I was on, that one kind of got old."

"I mean, if you had a habit of high-dialing me, we might be having a different conversation."

"I've never high-dialed anyone in my life! You'd think that'd earn me at least the benefit of the doubt. Anyway, I'll leave you to figure out your flight."

"Later."

And she changes her flight and flies to Billings, contemplating magic all the way, and lands and gets a cab to the motel.

Mariam returned from her wandering about an hour ago with a change of clothes for herself and Daria, and is leaning against the wall outside the motel when Isabella arrives.

"- Mariam?" asks Isabella, tapping up on her cane.

"That's me, hi! You must be Isabella?"

"Yup. It's nice to meet you."

"You too, thanks for going so far out of your way for us."