Marcia opened the door just enough to get a glimpse of them; she immediately recognized Pleiades’ counterpart with her long dark blue hair, and wearing a blue suit with gray tights.
She was talking with someone who looked like Mi-ho's counterpart who had medium-length orange hair, blue eyes, was wearing a light gray shirt with blue jean shorts, a light blue hooded jacket with darker blue tiger stripes on it, long silver socks and wore pieces of metal and glass jewelry, but her tiger ears and tail were orange with brown stripes like Terrell's.
The Mi-ho that Marcia knew in Chariots of Colors also had light brown hair with green eyes, had white tiger features with gray stripes and she co-existed with Terrell. If Terrell had a counterpart, his counterpart might not have appeared on that roster. Marcia couldn't be entirely sure though.
"Only if I could go back and check what I saw on the list... I had only a few moments." She thought and closed the door before the people the hallway would’ve spotted her. Soon they approached the door of the supply room to stop and talk longer.
"Did that trip go badly?" Mi-ho's counterpart asked Pleiades' counterpart.
"We had an argument--" Pleiades" counterpart sighed.
"Sorry for interrupting, but you had an argument with her?" Mi-ho's counterpart asked in astonishment. "I never thought I’d hear the day that she’d argue with you. Although she likes me a lot too, you and her seemed like best friends who’d never argue!"
"She made us feel like we weren't cut out for leaving and living the life she does..." Pleiades' counterpart sighed.
"Sheesh, so she let you return to this gilded cage." Mi-ho's counterpart sighed with exasperation. After she took another deep breath, she quietly but bluntly said "I know what she's going for but to help you and anyone else leave this gilded cage on their own terms, she needs to be more patient. Even I recognize this." She chuckled at the end.
"I'll be here for a while and hope I don't sneeze, but this is the perfect chance to get some intel" Marcia thought and she started to write down details of the conversation on more sticky notes. "Gilded cage... Or a walled garden. Images of luxury yet of confinement... They're exactly what I thought when I saw the security badge 'enhancements'" She thought.
Pleiades' counterpart nodded in agreement to Mi-ho’s counterpart's remark but sounded worried again. "We've been lucky that Regina's successors have been so kind and they help the other remaining legacy members and I have a place here, but still some feelings that loom over me about if we can stay, and if you can for being so outspoken against the new rules."
"I feel that and I worry about you. I still hope I can do my part to reform this place as long as I can stay here, but my popularity won't make me invincible if we have our own Decima... Not even Luna's popularity could save her place in Ministry of Panes." Mi-ho's counterpart said. She sounded pained as she mentioned Luna.
"The way she said 'Decima' sounded like someone to utterly dread." Marcia thought and wrote down in her notes. "That must be Theresa's counterpart... Theresa Decima. She was controversial even within Defending Waits for Nobody when she debuted, but she learned about cooperation to become a good team player."
DWN's strong performance in team competition events attested to that, but Marcia worried about the "Decima" of this universe. "Did she drive anyone away?... Did she exile them? Could she really have that much influence?" She kept thinking and scribbled down more notes, while she wanted to hear more, the conversation she overheard grew quieter.
Mi-ho's counterpart looked at the closest touchscreen on the wall to check the time. "Yep, I'll need to work with Regina on malware patrol in a few minutes." She said. "How fun..." She sarcastically added.
"I should check the next patrol session I'll be scheduled for." Pleiades' counterpart said.
"Good idea." Mi-ho’s counterpart said, but she sounded concerned. Pleiades' counterpart looked at the screen and sighed. "I'll be on duty tomorrow. That trip wasn't as much of a vacation as I hoped it would’ve been."
"I'd rather not be on these missions two days in a row but I could do this for you." Mi-ho's counterpart considered, but she needed to focus on the patrol ahead in the next few minutes.
She brought a holographic screen in front of her and used it to instantly change into her uniform that was shown in her attendance list picture. Along with the jacket from her photo, Mi-ho's counterpart was wearing a short silver skirt in the same shade; it had dark gray trim and she wore silver boots that reached to just below her knee. She wore dark gray leggings that had silver stripes along the sides. Her boots had a streamlined look to them each and had two vertical stripes of those blue materials running down the leg portion. The boots had dark gray trim along the bottom edge of the boots and the heels were also dark gray.
When she changed into her uniform she turned off the screen.
"It’s fine— I'll manage." Pleiades' counterpart said.
While both of them were talking, Marcia could hear another person in earshot.
"I'm reporting for the malware patrol!" The third person announced. Marcia didn't see who this was, but this person's voice that also sounded familiar and she tried to think about who that could've been. She had medium-length dark blue hair that was a less saturated hue, and was also in uniform.
"Oh hey there you are!" Mi-ho's counterpart said, sounding excited but also concerned. "You just got back and I assume that trip wasn't any better for you!"
"It wasn't." The third person said with a laugh before her tone turned serious and monotone. "I asked Regina if I could join the patrol mission at the last minute, and she let me."
"This one, right now?!"
"This'll help me take my mind off of what happened. I could also volunteer to take your spot on the patrols tomorrow."
"That's kind of you but you're not giving yourself a break. Your merit ratings aren't in any danger." Pleiades' counterpart said.
"They can always be higher."
Pleiades' counterpart sounded annoyed but sighed as if she knew this would've been a losing argument.
"That trip left you in a mood for arguing didn't it?" Mi-ho's counterpart said to the overeager volunteer.
"It may have, but there's no time to think about that."
Mi-ho's counterpart looked at the time on her watch and looked shocked. "You’re right! We don't want to be late!" She quickly started walking past the door and through the hallway with the other volunteer just a couple of steps behind when suddenly there was a quick clacking sound. It was quiet but noticeable to her, and sounded like a light object made of plastic falling to the ground, as if it had been accidentally dropped.
Marcia wanted to immediately check what it was but was trying to finish writing notes as she was trying to keep up with relevant details from the conversation. Moments of writing were interrupted with her needing to pull out more sticky notes and silently but quickly scribbling on them to check that the pen she was using was still working.
"I should've just brought the recorder." Marcia thought to herself. "I already brought the automatic camera disabling device and the highly experimental teleportation between universe devices that I should’ve come up with a catchy name for, so what's one more device and a rather mundane one at that?"
She quickly and quietly opened the door, but just enough to see outside of the room when she saw what had been dropped. A cassette tape that had writing on the label "Nov. 2017 tape 2".
"I'll return it and go back to just before it was dropped." She thought, quickly picked it up and quietly closed the supply room door again. "This is perfect! All of this waiting and hiding in this darn supply room paid off after all!" She also thought and smiled. Her excitement briefly pushed away her hesitance.
Thoughts in her head about this and what she observed, and the knowledge she was in another universe were all spinning in her head like a fast hard drive platter. In the silence, she opened a holographic window in front of her and quickly went to a chat program. It was a simple and universal one that has connected many OSes across Techlandia, but with an upgrade from one of Techlandia's most legendary networking experts who around 200 cycles prior began to implement this feature.
With the experimental upgrade that she recently added, it can extend the range of the network beyond and into other universes. It was time for Marcia to test this out.
She checked the time on the screen and wrote it down on a sticky note, and noted that she should return to a minute before that time. Below the time, she saw a message from Phuong that asked "How is it there?"
Trying not to think about it for too long, Marcia replied "I saw a glimpse of CC's counterpart. I arrived in a supply room and only saw one of the hallways. It’s recognizable but jarring!"
"In what ways?" Phuong's reply was immediate, which was perfect for this situation. Every second counted.
"The conversations I overheard. Differences in the atmosphere of the room. Other things." Marcia replied.
"I'll show you my notes after I return. I’ve been trying to write as fast as I’ve been observing!" She added.
"Alright, I’ll be excited to see them!"
"Please tell Piritta I said 'Hi' and her experimental upgrade was a success! I'll be heading back since I found what may be a piece of intel and I'll want to return it to the place and time I found it."
Before Marcia prepared to return to Techlandia, another thought crossed her mind that had her concerned. "Shouldn't Mi-ho's counterpart have heard that? She sounded like she was only a couple of steps ahead and she’s a catperson like me." She thought. "She was in a hurry."
It was a moment like this that led her to ponder what the penalties would've been to be late to a meeting or a patrol mission, but also how much camaraderie was there really between the OSes here. Pleiades' counterpart walked away in the opposite direction but may not have heard the object drop.
This was another mystery to Marcia, and another question she wrote in her notes.