Down the rabbit hole...

Frankie cursed a bit under her breath as the tell-tale chill enveloped her body again.

"Shifted again," she thought, and then looked at the roads for tell-tales signs of where she might be. Of course, the landscape was identical, but this time, the road signs were completely unfamiliar. Even the strip malls contained different stores.

She pulled into the first Starbucks she found and pulled out her netbook. That's when she realized she might really be in trouble this time. None of her passwords worked, none of her email accounts seemed to exist. Her online banking IDs were not valid. This time she had gone too far and wasn't sure how to get back.

Checking her gas gauge, she sighed in relief. "At least I've got a full tank of gas for this adventure." Navigating her way through familiar streets, she got to her address, wondering what she would find there. Her condo was gone, and in its place was a ramshackle cottage that looked abandoned.

Screwing up her courage, she parked the car in the driveway and walked to the back door. Luckily, her key fit into the lock, and she let herself inside. She heard his ragged breathing before he called out to her.

"Frankie, are you there?"

"Pappa? Is that you?"

His voice was choked with tears, "Yes child, I finally found you."

Frankie flew into the next room to find a barely recognizable figure laying in a hospital bed that had been positioned so that he could look out the front windows.

Sobbing, she fell into his arms as he stroked her hair. "Don't cry Frankie, at least you'll get to say goodbye. I'm sure the Corporation will be here soon to issue my final orders. We haven't much time to make sure you stay safe after I'm gone. They'll never stop looking for you, you know."

Frankie sat up, wiping back the tears and looked him squarely in the eye, "But why Pappa, why? Maybe I should just let the Corporation take me, I'm of no use to them. I don't have any control, not like you do... I can't shift when *or* where I want to, I'm just random."

"No child, you're not random, you just haven't learned the last lesson yet. You couldn't learn the last lesson, not until you found me one last time. All will be clear in time, but we must hurry."

Frankie's father drew open the hospital gown to reveal his familiar tattoo. But the tattoo didn't look so familiar any more. It was changing right before her eyes. She watched in amazement as the tattoo turned into a brilliant platinum pendant, the 8-pointed star encrusted with gears that began to shift and whir now that it had been removed from her father's body.

"This is yours now Frankie," he said. "Pull up the loose board in the floor beneath my bed, my diary is there, along with several thousand dollars worth of gold coins."

"Now!" he barked, as Frankie looked up to see the long, black limousines of the Corporation pull up in front of the house.

Frankie grabbed the diary and the bag of coins, throwing the pendant around her neck. When the platinum pendant hit her chest, a searing pain enveloped her.

"I love you baby girl" was the last thing she heard her father say before her world went black.