RING RING RIIIIIIIIING.

    "AHH!" Annora shouted at the top of her lungs and bolted up right. Shuffling through her stuff she quickly found her phone and shut off the alarm.

    Trying to calm her racing heart, she glanced around and realized she had fallen asleep on the couch. She had spent so much energy on her application she forgot to go to bed! And she couldn't remember exactly what happened before then, I better have finished that thing.

Call Annora a procrastinator, but today was the day all applications were due. She hadn't worked on it before yesterday due to the move and partially because she thought she wasn't good enough. But if she learned anything from cat posters from the thrift shop it was to, 'Believe in yourself. Mew.'

    Frantically whipping out her computer she opened it and checked her application. Everything was filled out! For the last question she had come up with the idea of a bioluminescent lamp. She'd actually had that idea for a couple months but never found the time to write it out. Adding a couple details to it, she saved her progress and slumped in relief.

    Before she could doubt the quality of her writing she sent it to the job provider in one swift motion. She screamed with her mouth closed, now all she could do was wait.

    Throwing on a clean t-shirt, and jeans, she slipped on her combat boots and bonton jacket and hopped in the car. Hooking up her phone to the radio she pulled out of the apartment complex and drove to her favorite place in all of Wood's Borough, the art museum.

Even though the town was small with little tourists, everyone took pride in the community and loved to encourage the creativity of everyone. Annora never submitted anything, still feeling out of place in the little town's unique culture.

When she visited, she never paid attention to the painting or drawings, mostly out of spite. But to the tiniest, most underappreciated section, the sculptures.

All of them were built by hand and with stunning beauty she could only dream of replicating herself. She went there mostly for inspiration, or a calming break, but today it was for celebration. And maybe reassurance.

Unlike yesterday, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. She smiled and rolled down the window feeling the air rush to greet her. Bringing with it the sounds and smells of the city. The relief of having work done and out of her control was liberating. Annora laughed with delight, she couldn't name the last time she felt so free.

Stores were buzzing with customers and people milled around on the streets. Conversations floated through the air accompanied by the sweet smell of barbeques. Even a band played off in the distance, the singer's voice riding the cheerful waves of music that seemingly radiated from everywhere at once.

Pulling up on the outskirts of town, she parked her car in the lot next to the museum. Annora stepped out like she owned the place, and put on her shades. They honestly made her feel like a badass, although the original reason for getting them didn't spring from confidence.

Annora checked in with her membership card and strolled through the endless galleries of painting.

She passed by a group of people. "Look at the color contrast on this one!" Someone exclaimed, pointing to a slab of rock with different layers of 'color'. She clenched her fists and bit her lip to prevent herself from screaming. Ignore them, just get to your favorite part, ignore them, she repeated over and over again in her mind.

She rounded a corner in the back, and a short hallway lay out before her. Sculptures lined the walls and at the end it opened up into a larger room (although not as big as the rooms the paintings were displayed in).

No one could be seen, so she gently brushed the top of the first artifact, its label reading Jade Bowl Carved from Hand. She felt its smooth surface, and was instantly relaxed. Walking farther down until she reached the end room. It's walls made of pure glass, making her feel like she was outside in the surrounding woods. She sighed contently and settled on a padded bench with her back pressed against the glass.

Before Annora could blink, she spotted someone. Now this may seem a little weird at first, most times when you seem someone, you don't think anything of it. But this person was different. She stared in shock at them, they were sitting calmly on a chair in the corner observing the face of a man carved in stone. They were oddly positioned in a way that didn't allow for them to be seen from the hall.

She grappled for her purse and ripped out her phone. Annora still hadn't seen their face and they hadn't moved an inch, or appeared to be breathing for that matter. For all she knew they could be a mythical creature from how weird they looked. She quickly took a shot of the person before they realized it and tried her best to act normal when she look at it.

The person in the photo looked normal.

She covered her mouth in shock, eyes wide. Whoever it was didn't look the same in photographs.

Annora shook her head, she was delirious. All the stress of moving and applying for a job had finally gotten to her. She realized how creepy she had been and deleted the photo of the....different person.

She stared at a sculpture of a whale in front of her and tried to forget the person in the room with her. They still hadn't moved.

Despite all her concentration Annora could not figure out what was so weird about them. They were physically neutral in every sense, yet they seemed to pop out against everything else.

Stop staring! She scolded herself, and focused all her attention on the whale statue. After a few minutes of looking at it, she realized the cetacean was horribly made and felt like complaining to someone for not honoring a piece with more work put into it.

Soon enough she found herself staring at the other person. Just talk to them, what do you have to lose? A tiny voice in her head said. Humans may be social creatures, but that doesn't mean all of them are good at it. In fact, Annora may just be the most socially awkward of all. Maybe I could complain about the whale, she thought. Getting a last good look at the aquatic creature, she made note of all its flaws, including a deformed dorsal fin, and missing eyes and mouth. Then scooted to the other side of the room.

She was now sitting a couple feet from them on the bench that lined the walls. This corner was not different than any other part of the display. Now that she was closer to the person she got a better sense of what they looked like.

They had short hair tied into a ponytail, and a plain t-shirt and shorts on with sneakers. Okay, not that exciting. They were hunched over and looked like they were asleep. A glasses case was loosely held in one hand, and an unusually large bag lay at their side opposite to her.

A nervous feeling rose in her stomach. How was she suppose to talk to some like this? Say, 'Hey you're pretty weird looking, tell me why.' Or, 'Are you some government agent? Why are you carrying around a freakishly huge case?'

Do it. Just talk to them. She fidgeted with her jacket for a brief second before doing the impossible. She tapped their shoulder.

At first they didn't react. And Annora was scared she would have to try and get their attention again. She brushed her hair behind her ears anxiously, suddenly at a loss for words.

Grumbling, the stranger straightened themselves up and lazily turned to her. Their eyes met for a brief second before she got nervous and glanced at the stone tiled floor.

"H-h-hello," The stranger stammered, rubbing their eyes, and genuinely acting a bit shocked. Their complexion and monotone voice made it hard for Annora to tell if they were a man or a women.

"Hey," she replied, scratching the back of her neck.

"I didn't expect to see y-...anyone here."

"I didn't either," Annora laughed, "Usually I'm the only one here. Everyone likes the paintings so much they forget about the sculptures." Jeez, stop nerding out! She told herself. They seemed pretty nice, and a part of her was excited to possibly meet another architect enthusiast.

The stranger cleared their throat, "Yeah, I guess. Color isn't for everyone." They glanced quickly at her face while saying the word color.

Color. That stupid word! Before she could burst, Annora quickly got herself under control. They had to have said that. It's as if they knew something.

The light reflected off their clothes in a way that made them seem unusually bright, almost popping out against the background. It's as if they were a different color than everything else. Which was impossible, since she couldn't see any color.

"I guess," she said, her lip twitching involuntarily with irritation.

They both sat in uncomfortable silence for a few moments. Eventually the stranger said, "My name is H-...Tory." They held out their hand for her to shake. "What's yours?"

"Annora," she responded, smiling slightly. They couldn't possibly know anything about her condition, so she logically shouldn't be mad at them. But she was still very annoyed.

"I take it you like it here?" Tory continued.

"In the museum? Yeah, it's kinda like my second home. I come here all the time," she said.

"Interesting. I do like to say great minds learn from each other. This place is no exception."

"Cool," By now Annora desperately wanted to know why they looked so, different. She briefly thought they were in color, but there was no way to know for sure and she didn't want to believe in something that was so far fetched. Now was the worst time to have these thoughts when she was on the cusp of getting her first real job and starting her career and new life.

Tory sat still for a moment, staring down the hall, before they stood up, "I have to go, something important it happening. I'll be seeing you, Ms. Blair." They held out their hand for her to shake.

She hesitated briefly, then grasped their hand. A blinding flash exploded in her vision, she gasped in shock and ripped her hand free. She stared up at the mysterious person in front of her, what had just happened? A pounding headache started to beat, making her nauseated and tense. 

"What...?" Annora whispered.

Tory tilted their head to the side, "Is everything okay? Do I need to call someone?"

She blinked rapidly, "No, no. I think I need to rest that's all." There was no way to explain what had just happened. She was so confused, it was all too much.

"Alright, stay safe," Tory turned away and walked down the hall. She stared after them, too overwhelmed for words or thoughts to form. They abruptly paused mid-step and glanced back at her. "Check your phone, it's important." Faster than she could comprehend, Tory turned the corner and was gone.

Exactly a second later, her phone went off the walls. Ringing like the world was about to end. She shuffled through her purse and brought her phone to her ear. "Hello?" she answered. Her hands shook as she waited for a response. Something was very wrong with Tory. They were too bright, pop-out-ish to be a normal human. And what was with that flash? Should she call someone? Argh too many questions!

"Hello. This is Annora Blair, correct?" said the voice on the phone.

"Yes..." she answered uncertainly.

"This is Seattle's Headboard of Infrastructure, my name is Mr. Lyn. I'm calling to congratulate you on becoming our official Architecture Advisor."

Annora nearly forgot about Tory, her dream was becoming a reality! She shot up and paced around the museum room with excitement.

"Thank you! Though are you sure? I only applied for the assistant's position," she said, too excited to maintain a professional composure.

"We didn't have enough applicants, and you seemed to be best fitted for the job," said Mr. Lyn.

She cupped her phone's microphone and nearly squealed. She had got the job! Brushing back the hair from her face she said breathlessly. "When do I start?"

A faint chuckle emitted from the other side. "Next week."

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Mysteriousness