1st April 1995
12:57 GMT -7
"Um. Hey."
The Pink Ranger -sans costume- approaches as I look out across the Angel Grove Park. I want to call her… Trinity..? But that's probably not right.
"Afternoon.
" I shrug.
"I'd say
good afternoon, but…
"
"Ye-ah." She looks up at my face for a few moments then follows my stare out across the park. "Are you, like, looking for something?"
"If you think about it, this is the first park I've ever seen.
"
"What, they don't have parks in… Comic book land?"
"The comic wasn't a portal to a parallel universe. It was fictional, and so was I. Nothing I saw, or… Remember seeing, was actually real. It's like-.
"
I take a moment to consider who I'm talking to.
"I'm.. going to guess… You're not a big Star Trek fan.
"
She shakes her head apologetically.
"The past does not exist, only our memories of it. Doubly so for me. You and your friends are the first people I've ever spoken to; the first
real people. This is the first
park…
"
"Yeah, I…" She nods. "Get it."
I watch some sort of toddler group meandering across the grass, shepherded by their parents.
"So.. you're dying then, huh?" … "That sucks."
"Yes, it does.
" I breathe in and out slowly.
"In other situations there are a few things I could do to put it off or get around it, but your boss was pretty clear that when time runs out everything I made vanishes. So there's no point building a new body, because it will just vanish. Same with uploading-.
"
I've lost her.
"Same with putting my mind into a really powerful computer. I'd have to build it with local parts and program it with…
" I shake my head.
"Basically, it's not viable. And the little magic I can do myself doesn't appear to work here due to this being a different universe.
"
"Oh." Her eyes dip. "Sorry."
"Oh, better to have existed for a day than to have not existed at all, I suppose.
"
She… She smiles. "That's the spirit! So what're you gonna do?"
"How do you mean?
"
"If you've only got, like, a day left, what're you gonna do with it?"
"I… Ah.
I'm going to do everything I can to get out of it.
"
"Oh." She frowns in confusion. "'cause I thought you couldn't do anything."
"I can't think of anything right
now, but I could have
days.
"
"Yeah… But..? Do you really wanna..? Use them like that?"
"The first successful heart-lung transplant was performed in nineteen eighty one. Someone receiving that chirurgery will have to cope with the procedure itself, then with the immunosuppressant drugs they'll be on for the rest of their lives so that their own immune system doesn't attack their new organs. That will make them more vulnerable to
all other diseases and might not be entirely effective anyway. They might still get problems with the organs being rejected.
"
I turn to face her.
"So tell me; if it was you, if you had a fatal heart disease and the opportunity to
maybe get a transplant… Do you stay in a major city that has a hospital that could do the chirurgery or do you go backpacking in Belize in the understanding that you won't need a return plane ticket?
"
"I dunno." She shrugs. "I haven't really thought about it."
"Then I strongly advise you to never take up smoking.
"
"As
if." She looks thoughtful for a moment, then perks up. "Hey, did you know Supergirl?"
"How do you mean?
"
"Supergirl. Like Superman?" She squints. "You know who Superman is, right? Or is that, like, a different company? Or something?"
"I… Allowing for the fact that all my memories of them are fictitious, I know Kara Zor-El, Kara El, Linda Danvers and Angelika Kant.
"
"But do you know
Supergirl?"
I…
"I know several women who've used that title, yes. How… Familiar are you with 'Supergirl'?
"
"I think there was a
film a few years ago?"
"Not-. Where I'm from. But I'm aware of it, and I don't think it was anything like as bad as the reviewers said. Ah. But none of the Supergirls I know are actually like she was in the film.
"
"Oh."
"Though I do appreciate your attempt to relate to me.
"
She perks up slightly. "Oh."
I mean…
Power Rangers. I barely remember anything about Power Rangers. Certainly not enough to do what I did on Earth 16 and exploit my metaknowledge. I know… Goldar's got a
zord buried somewhere, but I've got no idea where it is or how to get at it. And that's it, really. Rita's people generally made their monsters as and when they needed them or when inspiration took them, so there's nothing I can acquire first...
The Green Power Coin? I have no idea where that was before Rita gave it to Tommy. Various others… I don't even remember where their costume-changes came from. Apart from that
one alien who really wanted to go home… I don't even remember what it was called, but it left Earth and then…
Rita's staff made
a giant copy of it to fight the Rangers.
Which…
Which is something I haven't particularly wanted to think about, but… The one readily available source-. The readily available sources of magic around here… Are in the hands of Rita's team. Minions.
I mean, Baboo
made me. He can
probably work out how to sustain me. And Rita's staff…
"So… Do you want me to show you around, or..?"
"No. Thank you for offering, but I doubt that what I need is in Angel Grove. But.. I.. do appreciate you making the effort.
"
"O
kay." She smiles. "Well, if you need anything, you know where to find us."
"Thank you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll get back to my search.
"
