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Short Fat Stubby Finger Stories PRESENTS:

Episode 17

Daylight was slowly beginning to emerge in the morning sky as Martin’s light grey Mercedes pulled up across the road from the building that housed Joseph’s apartment … and in a small lane, just out of sight from where Joseph was standing while waiting for the car’s arrival, there was just enough darkness to cover Mary and her small green Mini.   

   From her hideaway Mary had a perfect view of what was going on.   She had been there for over half an hour … giving her time to finish the large coffee she had managed to purchase from an early opener … an early morning fix that she felt she badly needed to calm her nerves, gather her thoughts for the forthcoming trip, and reminisce about the nerve-wracking events of the previous night.

********

   Reaching its conclusion, the previous evening had become a rather more harrowing experience for her than she had anticipated.   While she sat, eating, drinking and listening in on her dining room neighbours in her little hideaway beside the Roman pillar she had realised that she not only didn’t know where Joseph lived,  she also had no idea what Martin drove, and as Joseph had walked to the restaurant she had no idea whether he had a vehicle parked somewhere nearby – or if he was going to take public transport, which would make things terribly difficult for her.   Mary had been fortunate enough to hear them agree that Martin would pick Joseph up in the morning from outside the building where he lived, and the time was mentioned which helped her with her planning, but Joseph had written down his address and had not said it aloud, which is what had planted the thought in her mind of following him home so she could be certain of getting the correct location.

   Mary knew she could return to the office and get his address from the files, but she preferred the idea of following him if possible as it would help her in obtaining some landmarks for the next day’s journey – and it would also help her become aware of any possible obstructions that may require additional time to be calculated into her departure time.    Mary had been happily multi-tasking her brain; refining her plan to follow Joseph, while simultaneously continuing her eavesdropping, when she nearly jumped out her seat in a  mindset of panic as Martin unexpectedly called an early night to their discussions – and to shorten her life span even more Mary almost screamed when she felt a presence beside her and looked up to find the waiter hovering above her with the bill.   He smiled apologetically thinking he was the sole contributor to the panicky terror that was covering her face, handed her the bill and gently reminded her that she would need to leave within the next ten minutes.  

   Mary nodded her head agreeing to his request, reached into her purse, pulled out her card, resisted the urge to have a heart attack when she saw the bill,  managed to retain her composure and swiped the payment plus tip, but not saying a word as she performed the necessary actions lest she brought attention to herself.   The waiter, however, suddenly felt the need to engage in mundane pleasantries regarding the quality of the meal and Mary began to have a panic attack with the increased loudness of his voice – then, out of the blue, had a brainstorm.   She placed one finger on her lips – then, using the same finger, Mary beckoned the waiter to lean forward till his face was only inches from hers, then, with sad puppy dog eyes, she whispered to him in the softest audible voice possible,   “Please don’t talk quite so loud.   One of those men at the next table is my husband.   I am of the opinion  that he is cheating on me, but I need to be certain.   Especially now,”    Mary looked  down and placed her hand on her stomach for a moment, then turned her head back to face the waiter, her eyes telling him to not say a word as she continued,   “I may be wrong.   It may be just business as he says, but I need to be sure, which is why I have been listening to their conversation.   I’m still not certain if he is or not, but it still remains  necessary that he is not aware of my being here.   So please be very quiet when you leave so they wont notice you which will meant they won’t see me.”

   The waiter, completely beguiled by the beautiful woman with the saddest eyes he had ever encountered, nodded his head in silent agreement and turned his head towards the other table to ensure himself that the occupants had not noticed him and was pleased to see their attention at the moment was totally occupied with settling the bill with their own waiter.   He smiled kindly, bowed – then moved away as quietly as he could.

    Mary gave him a thank you smile as she watched him moving quickly out of the room before turning her attention back to the conversation at the next table … and as she did, inside her mind, she slowly counted to ten to force herself to calm down.   Mary knew this was not the time to lose her nerve.   She was far too close to achieving her goal … and, according to the adrenaline rush that was keeping her involved, possibly becoming involved in the greatest adventure of her life.

   She convinced herself that all was going well and Joseph and his friends weren’t suddenly going to get up and run out of the restaurant in the next two or three seconds.   Took a deep breath as she did her utmost to make herself calm, and was about to get up so that she could pick up her keys from reception, get out of the hotel before they did, locate her car, move it if she needed to, to somewhere where she could see them come out, see which car he got into, and follow them as they drove off – that had been her plan.  But Joseph had dumped all of her well thought out plans into the nearest rubbish bin in a second when he used his mobile to ring for a taxi – because that meant they weren’t going to the car park, but to the front entrance to be collected. 

   Mary had risen from her chair in a flash.   Joseph was going to leave by the front door, which meant she would have to be quick to get her keys from reception then get to her car and move it to a park that would not only give her a view of Joseph, but also give her almost immediate access to the road when the cab arrived.   Fortunately for her Jimmy had given the reception desk a clear indication of where he had parked her car and she could not believe her luck when she realised that it was directly in line with the front entrance to the hotel – and complete with easy access to the roadway.   And as she all but ran to her car, using her remote to undo the locks as she ran, once again the strange sensation of Déjà vu crossed her mind.

********

   Mary had only barely made it to her car when Joseph’s taxi arrived, the trio boarded the vehicle and the taxi moved off on its journey as Mary’s car roared into life in the car park.    Mary switched on her headlights and had just begun to merge with the constant flow of traffic when she remembered the gizmo that Johann P Biggs had insisted in having installed in her car.   ‘You never know when …’ he had said and Mary realised that now might be a ‘when’.   A thousand thoughts and decisions were flashing through her mind, including the fact that she disliked technology, especially technology she did not fully understand, which was most of it these days.   She wasn’t even sure she fully understood how to turn the thing on, but Joahnn P. Biggs has assured her that there were no absurd complications in using the Gizmo, it was easy, it was reliable and it would be of tremendous assistance in certain circumstances he had said  – and Mary realised that this was such a circumstance.   ‘Decisions – decisions –decisions,’ she thought as she weaved her way in and out of the traffic, simultaneously trying to keep the taxi in sight … and close-by, while making a final decision on the instrument sitting on the dashboard a few inches away from a procrastinating hand whose fingers kept opening and closing in constant indecision.   Mary’s head was beginning to pound in frustration and she knew she had to make a choice.   ‘Time is of the essence,’ she finally decided, ‘it’s Gizmo time.’   

   Her mind, now made up, immediately recalled the instructions the serviceman had given her once he had finished installing the machine.   She crossed her fingers for luck, rolled her eyes back, took a deep breath then reached forward with her index finger: pressed the ‘ON’ switch: then called out the taxi’s registration plate number loudly as she travelled under cover of the cavalcade of outward motorists on their daily return journey to the suburbs and nearby towns and villages as she pursued Joseph and his friends to an unknown destination: a destination, she hoped, that would lead her to an exciting, mysterious world as the sun rose slowly up towards the heavens early in the following day’s morn.   The Gizmo whirred into life, and as it did a multitude of small, multi coloured, bright lights began to randomly flash on and off as the soft voice of an unseen woman that existed somewhere between her car and the outer reaches of space began giving her precise instructions on how to follow the taxi, which was just as well as the taxi had suddenly disappeared in a sea of cars that now filled every conceivable space between it and Mary’s Mini. 

   ‘This is G.P.S. with precision,’ Mary had thought excitedly to herself initially, and a smile had broken out all over her face as the voice continued to spit out instruction after instruction as the taxi appeared to weave in and out of lanes with regular monotony as taxis tend to do, ‘And with attitude’, she added with sarcasm shortly thereafter as the voice became more and more aggravated every time Mary failed to do the impossible and change lanes in the heavy traffic when the command was demanded of her by the voice within the Gizmo.  She knew that there was nothing that she could do about changing lanes if the space and opportunities weren’t there – and the rantings of an over-bloated G.P.S. thingee was not going to give her the ability to do the impossible, instead it was more likely to do just the opposite.   Its constant, agitating, vocal tones would most likely have the distinct possibility of giving her a massive headache – and create a guaranteed inability for her to concentrate on her driving.   And beside that, she thought to herself, what was the point of going from one lane to the other – if the taxi was going to move back to the previous lane before Gizmo had even finished her ill-mannered tirade.    Finally Mary had had enough.

   “Here, you take the bloody steering wheel if you’re so bloody smart, Gizmo, but I bloody well can’t move in this much bloody traffic.   I have a damn good mind to bloody well turn you off and do everything my bloody self.”   Mary, totally frustrated, finally screamed at the obsessive, unrelenting voice in the small black box.   She knew, of course, her words fell on deaf ears, but she felt much better within herself after getting them out of her system.    Mary knew she was wasting her time arguing with it, but would have to put up with the electronic machine’s ranting and ravings – or take the risk of losing sight of the taxi altogether.

   But, to her eternal surprise, the voice suddenly became more passive.   ‘You sound very upset, Mary.   Is the traffic heavy where you are?”   The voice asked, a voice no longer rude and demanding, but a soft, gentle, caring, human sounding voice.   “I cannot see the traffic conditions that you are encountering, Mary.   At the moment I am only programmed to pick up the movements of the vehicle you are following as you requested.   I cannot see any other vehicle on the road with my current  program.   Your installer should have told you to provide more information along with the request you submitted via voice activation should there be any unusual factors that may affect the pursuit.   Things like speed or movement restrictions, or if you were being followed and wished to lose those that followed you.    I have programming that can take these inconsistencies into my calculations of the best way to deal with the situation, but I need to receive them along with the initial request.  I need to receive comprehensive instructions  such as ‘Follow car registration number ABC123.   Currently I am in a forty mile an hour zone and the traffic is extremely heavy.   I wish to avoid being seen by the driver I am pursuing so let me know if the car exits or stops and its current location.’   When I  receive instructions in this manner I know I only have to advise you when the vehicle has diverted from the road it is currently using, or has come to a stop.   In the assumption that you failed to receive this important information, or simply did not comprehend the instructions, a new, simplified set of rules for communication with me will be delivered to you as soon as possible.   In the meantime if traffic problems are inconveniencing you please say ‘yes’.”

   Mary stared blankly at the black box, her mind was beginning to freak out with this unexpected turn of events.   Mary had expected a robotic voice that never understands what it was that you are saying to them on the phone, human sounding robots perhaps, but a robotic, self-centred, often snappy, voice never-the-less .   Not a compassionate voice that was all but apologising for its ill-mannered behaviour earlier and explaining  things to her the way that Gizmo was currently doing.   And  when the voice patiently, gently, repeated the question Mary could not take her eyes off the box as she began to wonder if perhaps she was speaking to a real person and not an automated answering service.   And the more she gave thought to her suggestion the more the thought began to dominate her concentration; however she suddenly found herself being brought screaming back to reality in the barest of time by the blasts from several cars behind and beside her.   Mary adjusted the steering wheel to avoid hitting the passenger door of the car beside her – then came to a complete stop with barely inches between her and the truck in front as the road turned into an unpaid parking lot.

   The muted sound of sirens from somewhere ahead of the car-pool made Mary realise that there was an accident somewhere not too far away which meant she would not have to concentrate on her driving for a while and she allowed herself to fully concentrate on the box … and the voice, which for a third time, began making enquiries of her.

   “Please say ‘yes’ if you are in heavy traffic.” The voice repeated calmly.

   “Yes.”  Mary replied, still in disbelief at the voice she was now hearing from the Gizmo, but never-the-less, also in a much more calmer voice herself.

   “Good.   Thank you, Mary.   It would appear that all traffic has come to a standstill.   Is that correct?”

   “Yes.”

   “That would explain why the pursued car is also stopped.   Do you have pen and paper at the ready?”

   “Yes.   No, wait, give me a minute … I have them here somewhere.”  She replied without thinking as she fumbled for her bag and retrieved both items, advising the distant voice when she had done so.

   “Inactivity of ground movement for another two minutes will cause my program to cease transmission temporarily.’ the voice explained, ‘You can reactivate me once traffic is moving again by inputting the following code, ‘Follow car indefinitely’, ensuring you include the registration number once again – and remember to include any other information such as obstacles or traffic problems that you are aware could inconvenience you in your pursuit.”   The voice of the Gizmo stopped talking for enough time to allow Mary to write the code down – then continued.  “Do you have that, Mary?”

   “Yeah, got it.”   Mary replied.

   “Should there be a need for you to stop following the vehicle for an indefinite period and then relocate the vehicle at a later stage, input the following code: ‘Temporary halt to pursuit.’   Gizmo again went silent for a second or two, then continued,   “When you recommence your pursuit input ‘Return to pursuit of registration number whatever.’   At that stage I will search for the vehicle’s current location and then guide you to it once I have obtained that information.  

   In regards to your current situation, however, if the traffic begins to move as a pack rather than a few at a time, then the majority of it will, more than likely, exit this road for the motorway … and you should be able to follow the taxi under your own steam.   The taxi is currently in the the right lane, and three vehicles up from yours, so you should be able to see it should it start flashing its indicators and then begin to move into the left lane in order to take the motorway exit should that event occur,  though that is deemed to be an unlikely event as the taxi’s computer reveals all trips to have been within a short range from the city proper for the past six months, so it is unlikely that it will access the motorway.

   The voice then said goodbye to Mary and turned itself off line, and by this time Mary’s mind was in complete awe of the small black box that sat there quietly on her dashboard, and her mind was also in awe of Johann’s intuition.   ‘What other surprises might he have in store for me on this mission,’ she wondered, ‘what other situations will arise when least expected?’   And with that thought Mary’s mind had become just as entrapped and drawn into the web that was slowly being woven around Joseph – and all those who were fast becoming a permanent part of his pre-destined future.  

********

   Thirty seconds after Gizmo’s departure the traffic began to move again.

********

   A minute later Mary passed the accident.   The voice of the Gizmo had been right.   The traffic had thinned out considerably once they reached the motorway entrance ramp, the truck ahead of her had moved over to the exit lane just after the traffic had begun to move, and Mary had been able to move at a fast enough speed to catch up with the taxi and easily followed it for some time before suddenly being forced to pull off into a parking bay as she realised it was about to pull up outside a hotel.  

   From where she was parked Mary could clearly see both Martin and Rosetta leaving the taxi and heading towards the hotel she assumed to be where they were staying, but no sign of Joseph so she assumed him to still be in the taxi.   As the taxi pulled out she could see Rosetta turning to wave at somebody in the taxi which verified her thoughts and quickly began to follow the taxi as it headed towards its new destination.   With limited traffic now travelling in the direction the taxi was heading she had been able to follow it safely to Joseph’s apartment building without any help from Gizmo.   She had even been able to park her car close by and watched him enter the building without any problem.  

   And to top up her luck on the night, Mary had been pleased to find that his unit was not far from where she herself resided, which would make things a lot easier in the morning.   The night was still young, but when she arrived home Mary would get her clothes ready for the next day, set her alarm for four in the morning … and then go straight to bed.   There was no way that she was going to be running late, or too tired to do what she was setting out to do .   She wanted to know what Joseph was up to, and that was that.  

********

  Mary turned the car around and began the trek to her own apartment – and as the car began to move forward; as the car began picking up speed; as the adrenaline began to rush madly through her veins once again; as the strange pieces of information that she had overheard at the hotel began rolling through her mind … and as she glanced at Gizmo sitting quietly on the dashboard , Mary felt certain that this holiday weekend was not going to be anything like she had expected it to be.   Certainly not with comparison to what would have been her usual routine … doing absolutely nothing.

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