Connie Hops was a little bored. The worst time of the day for her was from about twelve to four. She usually caught up on her work in the operations room by noon, and the girls weren't back from school before four. So it was always a dead period. She usually watched a movie or when Edward was on duty he would come in and keep her company until he came on duty for the night shift. But he was away on a priority mission. Sometimes he'd bring his daughters in, and when she didn't have an assignment she would play with them. They were getting very fond of her. But their grandmother wouldn't bring them in when he was away. There was a rap on her door. She snapped "Come in!" It opened. It was the young male guard whose girlfriend had said if he was ever in her room other than on business she'd kill him. He always looked nervous.
"Excuse me, ma'am," he announced, "we've got a delivery. Nobody seems to know about it. It's a young girl. She looks really scared and she's just standing there by the desk while they're trying to figure it out. Could you come and take charge of her until they decide rather to keep her or send her back?"
Connie quickly snapped "Of course!" and hurried after him down the hall to the main desk. The girl was wearing the usual red cloak and jail coveralls. "You men!" Connie snapped. "Whenever this happens, don't make the poor thing stand here! Summon me immediately and let me take care of her. You'd think after a year we'd have this thing down pat!"
"Sorry, ma'am!" the desk guard sighed. "In the future we will follow that procedure ma'am!" He handed her a handcuff key.
"Come along, dear!" Connie comforted. "I'll get you to a place where you can sit down, or even lie down if you want to. Come on!"
The girl followed her back to her room and looked at her curiously as she shut the door. "You're wearing red, too!" she remarked. "You're a prisoner?"
"Yes dear!" Connie answered. "Though I help people like you I'm a prisoner, too. Come on! Let's get those handcuffs off, and that cloak. Sit down! Or, if you like you can lie down on the bed if you're tired. Would you like some tea?"
"Yes!" the girl answered, sitting in one of the chairs by the little table. "You're the one," she asked, "the one that will send me home? I was told to say it that way. Is that right?"
"Yes dear," Connie answered. "I may have some help, but with a little luck I'll get you home safe and sound. I can't guarantee that you won't suffer a bit, but you will have eternal life. That's why you were sent here. Because someone wanted to be sure you'd make it. That's what I do, with my daughter's help."
Connie finished the tea and sat a cup before the girl. "Is your daughter here?" the girl asked.
"Yes," Connie answered. "She's sitting on the bed. There's a girl with her that came with you, just as pretty as you. You look a lot alike."
The girl shrieked and pushed her cup away. "Please have her go?" she moaned, "Please? Send her back with the captain? Don't let her stay? Please?' "Now, now!" Connie comforted, "If she's here she's supposed to be here. No spirit could get in here that would want to harm you. They wouldn't be allowed. She probably wants to help you go home. She wants to tell you she loves you, no matter what. Please calm down and accept her presence. I can't send her away. I wouldn't be allowed to do that."
The girl trembled, and began to sip her tea, staring at the containers on the counter. "Is that what you do it with?" she asked. "Is that what will send me to Heaven?"
Connie smiled. "These are only a facsimile," she explained. "When it's time either him or a guard will bring the real thing. But these taste exactly like what the real thing does. Sometimes people like to try it then when they have to take the real thing they're not so scared. Do you want to?"
The girl nodded. Connie removed the cover from one of the containers, put the mouthpiece on it, and brought it over. "Just put it in your mouth," she said, "I'll press the button and you just swallow."
She pressed the button, the container emptied, and the girl swallowed with a little bit of hesitation. After a moment she smiled. "My mouth's getting a little numb," she remarked.
"There's something in it," Connie explained. "It simulates the first reaction. Again, so you won't be so nervous when it happens for real. You'll go to sleep and slowly become numb. When your body can't feel anything you'll stop breathing. If you're short term, if you get home quickly, you'll be taken to the cremation center within an hour. If you're long term I'll hold you all night and make sure you get home."
"That must be terrible!" the little girl sighed, "When you have to do that!"
"No," Connie answered, "it isn't at all. I just go to sleep too, and keep you safe until I wake up in the morning, knowing that I get you home makes it perfectly all right, and that my daughter gets the energy that's left in your body to repair her soul makes it even better. It doesn't bother me at all, as long as I get you home safe. When all our efforts fail and we lose one, that's when it hurts."
"Does that happen often?" the little girl asked.