THE MOMENT
J.J. knew she was waiting. She did not know for whom, nor why; but, she felt content sitting by the river and watching the sun set. She'd seen dozens of sunsets far more beautiful on different Earths; there wasn't anything special keeping her attached to this one. But, the more she considered moving on to other tasks the more she felt obligated to stay where she was. Finally, when the last inch of the sun disappeared below the horizon, a voice spoke up.
"Hello, J.J.," the familiar voice urged J.J. to her feet even before she found the speaker. She whirled around once she was standing and found a pale woman in a crisp white suit.
"Ms. Sharp! Hi!" J.J. preferred to keep a cool exterior. Though, that was an impossible task around the woman she looked up to more than anyone.
"I am creating a roller derby team for a special event; would you like to join?" Ms. Sharp asked. It meant a lot to J.J. that Ms. Sharp made the offer in person. She never wanted to disappoint the woman; but, she also knew better than to agree to anything without any details. She idolized Ms. Sharp because she could never let her guard down around her; that was the kind of person J.J. wanted to be.
"As the sixth for your Pineapple Cup team?" J.J. asked. She didn't necessarily want to be on a team where she was the oldest by a few years. She would endure it if Ms. Sharp asked.
"No, I have someone else in mind for that. This is a unique team created to lead the Fall festivities taking place in October," she said.
"Yes!" J.J. nodded. "You mean the Halloween event, right? YES please!" She didn't know what the event was going to be this year, but she knew from other seasonal events that it was going to be exciting. It was always a blast to play along from the other side; but, it sounded like Ms. Sharp was offering her a chance to be part of it. "What's the rest of the team like?" she asked.
"Incomplete," Ms. Sharp answered. "You are the third member," she made a gesture toward the river and J.J. turned to see two men emerge from a black portal. The first one looked more like a homeless man in his late 40s than someone Ms. Sharp chose to be an elite. He had a scraggly silver beard on his face and he wore a frayed t-shirt with worn jeans. The other man obviously wasn't human. He hovered out of the portal and remained floating several inches off the concrete walkway. He had a lean, humanoid shape with two glowing red eyes and the rest of his face and body was covered in white cloth like a ninja. J.J.'s first guess was that he was an A.I.
"This is Sebastian Spinne," Ms. Sharp introduced the older man. "And, this is Spider," she indicated the hovering figure.
"We're all Arañas?" J.J. asked. She only guessed about Sebastian; but, Spider was one of the top-ranked Ninjas in the AlterNet.
"Indeed," Ms. Sharp nodded. "And, now there are enough of you to find the rest of the team on your own; Spider is in charge," she added. A black portal opened before her as she spoke and she disappeared into it with a wave after she delegated Spider.
"I hope you know more about what's going on...," J.J. turned and looked up at Spider. "...because didn't tell me anything. Not even a 'welcome to the team!'," she grumbled. She knew Ms. Sharp wasn't the sentimental type; and, neither of her new teammates looked like they were either. But, it still would have been nice to hear.
"Welcome....," Spider said. J.J. hadn't heard any of their voices yet but there was no doubt who it belonged to. It was a low, sinister voice that somehow came with an ethereal, high-pitched chorus of every syllable. As if dozens of tiny voices, arachnid voices repeated their master's words. "...to the Court of Spiders."