Chapter One: Original Dimensions

[Eiji]

"Sure. Sounds like a good idea to me." Anna held out her arm to let him stick the little piece of metal on. Once he was done, she pulled it back. "So...is that it? Can I go?"

[Zennshi Dormu]

Simmons nodded and opened the door for her, "Have a safe night."

[Dallas Mathews]

"Ha. Funny. You can keep your dog collar, if it's all the same. Unless you have any other questions...?" Angel said, drawing out the question. When the agents didn't respond, he took that as permission to leave. Richard slid his chair back and stood.

"Good day, agents." Richard said, stiffly and somewhat ironically. "I hope you find what you're looking for."

Without waiting for a response, Richard turned away from them and left the interrogation room.

[Zennshi Dormu]

The others were released from the building at roughly the same time. Michael had finished being interrogated as well and was already there at the front steps, he seemed to be waiting for them.

[Eiji]

"Well that was...odd." Anna muttered under her breath, mostly to herself. She nearly ran in to Michael.

"Oh, hey...sorry."

[Zennshi Dormu]

"It's fine." He said quickly, "Are you the one who was in the car accident?"

[Eiji]

"Yeah. I'm not sure what happened...I was walking down the sidewalk when a car almost hit me. It hit an invisible wall or something in front of me. Same thing happened with the second car. Weird thing is, there was no one driving the cars to begin with...or if they got out, I didn't see them. How about you?" She replied.

[Zennshi Dormu]

"Part of the Ellison Memorial Hospital collapsed just as I was leaving." Michael told her, "Just a few hours ago, in fact. You said they hit an invisible wall? Are you sure they didn't just ram into a fire hydrant and you didn't see it or something?"

[Eiji]

"Yes, it couldn't have been anything else. When I looked up, the entire front end of the car was crumpled, not just one spot. Besides, if it hit a fire hydrant, wouldn't there have been water everywhere?"

[Zennshi Dormu]

"Pipes coulda frozen in this cold," Michael pointed out, "But whatever. Interesting story. Lot of weird stuff happening tonight." He paused, seeming to remember something, "Some stuff too weird to tell the FBI about."

[Eiji]

"Like what?" Anna asked, curious. She hadn't been aware that things were happening to other people too.

OOC: THIS IS THE BOARD'S 4,000th POST

[Dallas Mathews]

Richard pushed the door open, stepping out of the station and into the chill night air. Chicago wasn't called the Windy City for nothing, and almost immediately a gust of wind threw his coat open, causing Richard to start shivering. Hurriedly, he grabbed the edges of his battered, brown leather duster, bundling it closed. The chill abated somewhat.

Richard stood for a moment on the sidewalk in front of the station, giving himself a moment to get acclimated to the cold. He fished a hand into his coat pocked, pulling out a tin cigarette case. The things were outdated, but Richard's dad hadn't spent a day without it. It reminded him of his father, so he kept it. Richard's already numbing fingers fumbled with the cold clasp. The case popped open, and he managed to fumble a cigarette loose without dropping any. He placed the cigarette in his mouth, already feeling some cathartic relief from the simple action.

As Richard replaced the case and searched his pockets for his lighter, a conversation between two of the people who had just left the station caught his attention. They had gotten out at the same time as him, and he guessed that they had been witnesses to some crime or another. He hadn't really thought of it much, until he heard the woman mention some oddities of her accident. Invisible walls? he thought. Could it be?

He stepped closer, straining to hear their conversation over the wind. Worried that they might catch him eavesdropping before he had heard what he wanted, he produced his lighter at last. It was as old fashioned as the cigarette tin, having also belonged to his father. It had been used during WWII, and it showed, however the reliable lighter still worked. He opened it, and the flame appeared, unfailingly igniting despite the wind. Richard grinned as he lit his cigarette, thanking old Blaisdell for the invention.

Taking a puff from his cigarette and shoving his lighter back into his pocket, Richard turned his attention from the habitual smoking and back to the conversation. He had a feeling that something big, something important, had happened tonight, and the incident at the store had only been a part of it.

"But whatever. Interesting story. Lot of weird stuff happening tonight. Some stuff too weird to tell the FBI about." said man who had been waiting on the front step when Richard had left the station.

"Like what?" asked the first woman.

Richard decided it was his time to jump in. If he didn't, he could lose any potential information they could have. At least his story wasn't as crazy as the invisible wall lady's.

"People, disintegrating." Richard said, stepping closer to the two. He took another puff from his cigarette. "Right into dust. Wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't saw it with my own two eyes."

[Eiji]

"Really? Wow, I've never seen anything like that. I wish I'd been there instead of almost being run over." Anna commented. She wanted to ask him if he'd saved some of the dust, but she decided to keep that to herself. That was a bit to weird, and besides, she wouldn't have been able to do anything with it anyway.

[Dallas Mathews]

"I'd rather be hit by a car than disintegrated. At least then they'll have something pretty to put in my coffin." Richard said, flicking the build up of ashes off the end of his cigarette. He was a little surprised that she seemed to be so accepting, but then again her story was as strange as his, if not more so.

"I heard you say something about the accident. Invisible walls, was it? So a couple of idiots just decided to run you down, and then inexplicably ran into nothing whatsoever?"

[Eiji]

"I don't think anyone was in the car, I checked. Well, not all of them. But in the first car there was no one, or they got out too fast for me to see." Anna replied, repeating herself. "Besides, I don't know why three people would try to run me down. I was just walking home...maybe they spun out of control on the ice or something."

[Dallas Mathews]

"Yeah. Sure. They probably just ducked their head down so you wouldn't see their face. It's not too hard to get into a multi-car collision in this weather. The roads are pretty slick." Richard said, taking another puff from his cigarette. He paused for a moment before speaking. "You seem pretty ready to accept that it was something out of the ordinary. You're not even making any of the usual excuses." He pointed out, leaving the question unasked so the woman wasn't obligated to answer if she didn't want.

[Eiji]

Anna smiled. "I'm a paranormal researcher. I like to assume it is something out of the ordinary...I have to remind myself to take everything I see with a grain of salt."

[Zennshi Dormu]

"Well, it certainly sounds out of the ordinary." Michael pointed out, "I mean, unless you think nearly getting struck by a vehicle with no passenger is ordinary. Even if there was a passenger, getting hit by a car isn't really my idea of a typical day."

Michael exhaled, his breath becoming visible in the chilly night, "Anyway, I bet all of you ten bucks that something happened to me tonight that's weirder than spontaneous disintegration or psychotic cars. I'm going to be really honest; I lied to the FBI about it because I was so afraid they'd just throw me into an asylum."

[Eiji]

Anna giggled. "Okay, what is it then? And I don't have ten dollars, just so you know."