Agent Replacement

I don’t think I can rely on Amanda and Jackie to bring the time-travelling kid to me anymore. They’ve failed to apprehend him too many times, and he is an asset I simply cannot afford to lose. That’s why I’ve come to the 2020s myself to capture him. You see, this isn’t about capturing a rogue time traveller at all. It’s about learning how he is a rogue time traveller. My agency uses expensive backpacks with time travel devices built into them, but the boy doesn’t have a backpack at all. Somehow, he can time travel on his own, without any technological assistance. It shouldn’t be possible. I need to find out how he does it.

So, I’ll be stopping by a good buyer’s agent in Brighton East to officially relieve my two time hunters of their duties. And by relieving them of their duties, I mean that I will be evaporating them. That’s what happens to people who fail me too many times. It’s part of the deal when you agree to join the Time Travel Agency. I can’t fire them, given they have knowledge of the biggest secrets in the world, so they get turned into gas and put into the heating system at the agency. Seems fair, no?

As for Benjamin, I’ll hunt him down myself. You know what they say. If you want something done right, don’t leave it to low-level employees. I know where the kid is going, and I will be able to capture him easily. He’s desperate and almost ready to turn to the suspicious agent that helps people who look like children find houses. So, I’ll simply go there and wait. I can’t think of a better place to capture him than a buyer’s advocacy. Melbourne is my home city, and I actually used to work in the business of buyer’s advocacy before joining the TTA. It’s like coming home.

I’ll find out how this kid has been time travelling, and then I’ll be escorting him straight to time prison. With the knowledge of how to time travel without expensive devices, I’ll be saving the TTA time and money.

– Mr Manager

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Settle This

I thought we’d had him, that we were about to complete our mission, but it seemed as if the boy had realised who Jackie and I really were: time travelling bounty hunters sent to bring him to time prison. As he dived toward the ground, he shot off a round of laser beams, which struck the nearby walls of the conveyancing firm.

Jackie and I dove for cover, drawing our own weapons. Before we could even fire, the boy was on the run, making for the exit.

“Get him!” I shouted to Jackie. “Mr Manager wants him alive!”

We set our blasters to ‘stun’ and fired another round, but the boy managed to dodge each of the projectiles. He smashed through the glass door and broke out onto the street, Jackie and I following.

“Are you sure you don’t want us to help with your conveyancing in the Elwood area?” Jackie shouted, taking aim and firing another stun bolt. 

The missile struck a random passerby, who fell to the ground, completely paralysed. Jackie stopped to help her, but I pulled on his suit as I rushed past.

“There’s no time!” I told him. “The boy is getting away. And the jig is up, Jackie. We don’t need to pretend to be conveyancing and settlement lawyers anymore.”

“Where do you think he’s going?” Jackie asked as we saw the boy round a corner, heading down a side street.

“Straight to time jail,” I said with a laugh. “That’s a dead end. We have him.”

A moment later, Jackie and I reached the corner, turning it ourselves. I was right; it was only a short distance to the wall, which completely closed off this alleyway. There was no visible way out. Not even a ladder to climb or a dumpster to hide in.

And despite all that, he was gone. The boy had vanished from existence, gone to another time. We’d failed to capture him again.

Mr Manager is going to kill us.

– Amanda

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Saving the Designer

I can not believe that my husband is too afraid of a dog to get out of a storage closet, and would rather starve to death than call me and admit the truth about his secret office designing plan. Thank goodness that I found his hidden blog and have been reading all his posts, otherwise I never would have known.

Bandit has been stuck in the office for three days now, but finally, I am on my way to save him. I’ve been to the pet store to grab a few dog treats and some toys to deal with the supposedly crazy beast, and I’ve just returned from my little trip out to the coast, where I found the business that works at the building. They’re all on a retreat for a couple of weeks, but I managed to convince the boss to hire me. I pretended that I wanted to work for them so desperately that I tracked them down to their holiday location just to beg for a position. They agreed to take me on as a receptionist and gave me a key to the building.

So yeah, I’m technically an employee of this business now. I actually don’t mind the idea of working there, so hopefully, they don’t assume that I’m responsible for Bandit’s commercial design. Melbourne offices aren’t safe from Bandit, yet, I don’t think. He’s going to want to see this designing streak through to the end, even once I save him and it’s clear that the truth is out. And because I love him so much, I probably won’t stop him.

At least I’ll be working in an office with one of the best commercial fitouts around Melbourne, provided the business doesn’t suspect that I was involved. Come to think of it, I probably shouldn’t be posting all this information online. But whatever, if I lose the job it’s not a big deal. I’ll just go back to teaching my third grade class. 

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Not the Bandit

I swear it’s not me this time. Yes, I did once go on a long streak of smashing glass, but that life is behind me now. I would never compromise my life with Frankie by breaking the law. I mean, true, I did trespass into offices to give them a design makeover, but that’s different. I’ve left glass smashing behind. I don’t know who this new Glass Smashing Bandit is, but it’s clear that they are just a poor copycat. 

Why would I give up everything I’ve earned, just to smash a stair balustrade? Why would I make such a sacrifice, after everything that I have been though? Why would I get legal immunity for my past crimes through Australia’s Next Top Office, only to throw that away several months later? I have a good life, a life that I’m happy with, and I’m not going to sacrifice that.

Honestly, I’m pretty hurt that everybody assumes this was me. I’ve seen the pictures, and they are clearly the work of an amateur. Frankie believes me when I say that I had nothing to do with this, but nobody else does. Yeah, I understand how bad it looks, but this is clearly not my work. My glass smashing was art. It made a statement about society, about the world. This is clearly just some psycho who wants to smash glass for fun.

At least every glazier near Melbourne will have a lot of work at the moment, I guess. That’s a bit of a silver lining, however slim. I’m sure those bumbling detectives will be here to question me soon, but thankfully I have a pretty strong alibi. I should be fine, because I didn’t smash all that glass. Surely the law will recognise that.

Honestly, it wouldn’t even surprise me if they forgot to check for fingerprints at the scene of the crime. If they did, they’d clearly be able to know that I’m not the criminal this time. I’m innocent, I’m telling you.

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Kitchen Appliance’s Shoes…

The Trumpeting Moon has had a bit of a slump recently when it comes to their brain teasers. It’s usually the part of the day I look forward to the most, sitting on the train (or mostly standing on the train) and thinking about all sorts of wonderful things. But I opened the paper this morning and it just said ‘if you were a cooking utensil, which one would you be?’ I thought for a few minutes and concluded that I’d like to be a bottle opener because it’s the least messy job and I basically never have to be cleaned, and that was it. I had to actually read the rest of the paper. And all the other questions have been in the same dull vein.

‘If you woke up one morning with a commercial fryer in your kitchen, how many chips would you make?’ I don’t suppose I’d make any chips. A commercial fryer is good for much more than just making one thing. Now…a commercial oven is something I could use. One thing I’ve always wanted to do was host Christmas dinner, and I’ve never had the space. So in addition to all the commercial kitchen equipment I’d have to get some extra lounge space, maybe another bathroom and an actual driveway that can accommodate a few cars. Also, a bigger kitchen. If a commercial oven suddenly appeared there overnight, I wouldn’t be able to get round to put anything in it because it’d be pressed against the wall. And therein would lie the main problem.

So that little thought exercise kept me entertained for a few more minutes, but it eventually collapsed under the weight of impracticality. No commercial steamer or any other equipment fits in the average kitchen, so it was a bad question, and the person who wrote it should feel bad for not thinking it through. They should hire someone new to make up brain teasers. I could be that person!

-Percy

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Actually, My Kitchen

Of course, Priscilla would be the one to win the Skimmer’s Digestive competition. What did she win?  A top quality kitchen renovation of her dreams. Priscilla, who never cooks and knows the number every single takeout place in Melbourne by heart. Priscilla, who probably can’t even make an omelette without asking her phone for the recipe.

Although to be fair, I’m not sure why an omelette is always the benchmark for that kind of thing. Some people just never grew up making omelettes, because their parents didn’t and they didn’t teach them. So what would be the food that EVERYONE knows how to make?

Maybe…toast. Let’s say toast. But never mind; Priscilla’s kitchen is soon going to be a paragon of kitchen interior design. She’s invited me to the design gallery to help her pick things, which from anyone else might come across as rubbing it in my face. After all, we both wrote an essay on why double-sinks are the greatest invention since the polio vaccine, and hers was the one that was picked despite her not really caring about the prize. Priscilla really does like to write essays…

Anyway, we’re going to the gallery, and Priscilla being totally oblivious in all this will help me not to seethe with jealousy as she picks out the kitchen of her dreams, that doesn’t exist. Although…maybe I can work this to my advantage. If i can’t have MY dream kitchen design, then maybe I can push Priscilla into having it. She doesn’t know what she wants, whereas I’ve been researching really good companies in Melbourne. Kitchen renovations are all the rage since every second reality television program is now about flipping homes. I know how the internet works. I’ll basically be designing it for myself, and then I can think of all kinds of excuses to come over and vicariously live my dream. Again, I need to mention the takeaway. If I don’t use this kitchen, no one will.

-Myra

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Things Said About Cars and Such

car mechanic FairfieldI feel terribly invigorated after this weekend’s seminar, and it’s all thanks to…the things that were said at the seminar.

Truth be told, it was about 50% talking, and the rest of the time we spent doing the thing you should spend 75% of the doing, except we were doing it 50%. And that…is listening. We had regular rhythmic meditation and transcendental absorption sessions, where we were to simply lie down and absorb the ambient sounds of the session, take them into the little house that is our soul and ruminate upon them. I heard SO many new and wonderful noises during that time, including the mating cry of the capybara, the gentle whisper of the aurora borealis over downtown Seattle, and a car engine.

Of course, that one I knew, but there was a fellow who’d visited every single auto repair centre, Fairfield, Preston, Brunswick, and also other, less important places. He’d watched the mechanics at work, fixing cars and creating a marvellous cacophony of noises, and recorded them with their permission while they carried out a number of tasks. He then spent hours remixing all the sounds into a marvellous mix of mechanical majesty, for our listening pleasure. And a pleasure it is, because I requested a copy for my private meditations. Many an hour since then have I spent, simply drinking in the whirrs, the clicks, the…you know, whatever sound the thing that lifts up the cars makes when it lifts up the cars. You know, the car-lifty-wub-wub-zurr noise. It speaks to me, like an unusually-mechanical symphony. Special thanks and prayers sent the way of all the best car mechanics Thornbury has ever seen. Thanks to those who gave us this gift through their hard work and determination! I know I’m just listening to them work, but trust me…I know determination when I hear it relayed through a series of bangs, crashes and clangs.

-Deirdre

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Please Be Polite When You Sneeze

oxygen therapyYou know what I find disturbing? People with really violent sneezes. There are different tiers of sneezing, sure, and some people just have more visible reactions than others. I myself am at the bottom of the tier list, because all of my sneezes are so very weak they sound like minor coughs.

And then…well, we’ve all heard them. There are those people who sound like they’re trying to expel all of their internal organs through their nasal cavity. And it’s not just the outburst of air, either; they accompany it with a sudden, violent cry, as if they were charging down the hill to expel the British from their fair and bonny homeland when they suddenly tripped on their kilt and face-planted.

These people are a public menace and they need help, in my humble opinion. We have oxygen therapy services in Melbourne, and I’m thinking that these need to be made available. My own best friend is one of these people who expels sudden, sharp cries while she sneezes her guts out, and yesterday it nearly made me plow into a bus shelter. That’s just not right. That’s just not normal. These people need to be cured, before they cause some kind of national incident. I’m thinking it’s a breathing problem, hence why their sneezes are so violent compared to all of ours, and why I think some time spent in an oxygen chamber would do them some good. Maybe they have deep-seated issues stemming from something lodged in their nose from an early age, like a wad of pollen that’s been steadily growing, and the body’s only way of potentially ridding them of such a thing is to make them look like they’re being given the Heimlich maneuver by an industrial hydraulic press.

I suggested it to Pauline, and she looked at me like I was crazy. Oh, so hyperbaric chambers are for everyone else’s breathing problems except yours. Well, deny it all you like. When the inevitable plane crash occurs because of a co-pilot with a sneeze like a sonic cannon…they’ll all see.

-Jarra

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Tinting, for Fun and…Well, Not Profit

Melbourne window tintingHere I was thinking we were getting our windows tinted because the outside world was supposed to be distracting! As it turns out, it’s more of a one-way tinting. It’s a bit darker outside, but that doesn’t bother me too much. This just means I can observe the streets below without the sun getting in my eyes quite as much.

Guess I won’t have to quit and move to a different office after all. And let’s just be honest with ourselves: what’s the point of an office in the middle of the city with gigantic windows if you’re not allowed to spy on people down below? Now that we’ve had the whole place decked out in some comprehensive office window tinting, we can look down as much as we like, and no one will be looking back.

It’s also a huge relief, because the saga of Mr Maziz and the uni students who keep stealing his fresh produce is really heating up. He’s known who it was for a while, because I saw him confronting them a few weeks ago. They’ve had to resort to guerrilla tactics and distractions to pick up a snack on their morning commute to their uni, which has also been pretty entertaining to watch. Yesterday Mr Aziz finally set up mirrors so he could catch them in the act, so I’m hoping tomorrow morning will bring some sort of legendary confrontation.

See, these tinted windows are GOOD for the company. Because of all the drama, I’ve been compelled to go and buy my lunch at Mr Aziz’s shop, because I feel sorry for what he has to put up with. And then there was that lady who forgot to put her pram brake on and her baby almost rolled out into the road. I’ve learned never to do THAT. Seriously, in Melbourne, commercial decorative windows should be a mainstay in ANY office. And staring out of the window? A hallmark of work contracts everywhere.

-Abigail

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A Ditty for My Fine Mechanics

car service BentleighCars are certainly an oddity to folks such as myself. Obviously I have a certain amount of suspicion for government entities, large corporations and machines in general. They’re all creations of man, and thus carry the taint of…man…liness. Woman make things too, but you know what I mean.

But also, I learned from my guru that if we spend time with objects, we can impart a small portion of our pure spirit onto them. So I own a car, because I’ve been careful to treat it with respect and love. Also, it helps me get to gigs, when I have gigs.

And is there any time purer than the time when you’re having a car serviced? I recently had to make use of a local Bentleigh car mechanic, even though i don’t live there. Not really that well-connected myself, so I had to get a recommendation. All the good mechanics are in Bentleigh…apparently? Anyway, I didn’t know Bentleigh, and I don’t believe in GPS so I didn’t want to wander off and get lost, so I thought I’d stick around the car servicing place. Didn’t bring my banjo with me on that particular day, but I had my backup banjo in the car, so I pulled it out and composed the car servicing folks a nice little ditty while they worked. I think they really appreciated it; it definitely made them work faster! Maybe that’s one I can add to my repertoire eventually, if I can figure out what goes in the thirteenth verse. See, it’s the story of a girl and the bond she shares with her car, entitled ‘The Story of Girl and a Car”. It’s about the Bond they share and the drama of needing the best car service Bentleigh has to offer. Not that I was going for flattery or anything, but the ninth verse was mostly lyrics drawn from the sound of that little whizzing machine they use to undo the bolts on the hubcaps.

“UEEEEEEEEHHHH, DRIVE INTO THE SUNSET, YOU AND I, UEEEEEEEEH.”

It’s surprisingly melodic.

-Deirdre

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