Urban Legend Could Be The Answer
City officials are seeking an unnamed woman of unusual appearance for questioning. Based on the woman’s behavior, the timeline of her disappearance, and the strange events happening around the city, many have surmised that her absence is the cause of the city’s disturbances.
Ida Moore, 23, and Anthony Lambros, 44, are purportedly the last people to see the suspect in the city. This last sighting occurred between two and three pm on Carter Avenue between Sunrise Hotel and Baker’s Dozen Eatery. Moore, a student of chemistry at a local university who sometimes changes into a flock of birds, was leaving a lecture. Lambros, a single father of two who is also a cathedral, was on his way to his part-time job waiting tables. The axis point at which Moore and Lambros met was a narrow part of the sidewalk in front of an alley, where the person in question then stood. Moore reported and Lambros concurred that: “She had suspension cables coming out of her head like hair. Her skin was shining with rain and reflecting slow flashes of red, green and yellow, and her arms were raised before her in slight curves, palms up.” Moore and Lambros had differing opinions about her posture as they recounted the experience. Moore suggested she might have been waiting for something to fall from the sky. Lambros insisted that she was shielding herself from something. Both witnesses moved on, stating in the interview that it felt rude to linger.
This encounter occurred on December 12th, about a month after the city experienced splintering. Having been the first city on the continent to splinter, it is worthy of noting that the town experienced minimal panic. Mayor Elizabeth Li’s splintering was fortuitous: she now becomes a library every few days, and subsequently inspires calm and a sense of purpose. Her post-splintering speech was one filled with references to research, solutions, and the Dewey Decimal System.
In terms of traditional splintering, the city began with changes mirrored in the three cities that followed. Moore is a perfect example: She was just entering her second year of graduate school. She describes her splintering in this way: “My skin filigreed into millions of weaved lines–that’s really how it felt– my bones hollowed and disassembled, and then I was a flock of sparrows.” The first change was, naturally, quite a bewilderment and she missed a class on Writing in the Sciences. However, other than being late for a class now and then, her transformations have not altered her lifestyle greatly.
“I just think of it as exercising,” she said. “I always meant to spend more time in fresh air.”
(We should note, here, that there is currently no evidence of exercise or injury in one form having any effect on the original form.)
While Moore and her fellow residents experienced what is now considered typical splintering, where this city stands alone is the presence of the woman in question. Her existence went unacknowledged for some time, as many assumed she was participating in the local Anime conference. She has been described by witnesses to wear many layers of clothing, have skin with the likeness of cracked cement, and hair that appears to be made of the thick metal cables of a suspension bridge. Her presence seems to affect the city in particular ways: traffic runs smoothly, telephone wires hum louder, statues change postures, and lost pedestrians have reported suddenly finding their way again. Once locals became aware of her effects, they began referring to her as “Metropolita.”
The so-named Metropolita’s disappearance has caused significant problems. Phenomena such as upside-down parks, cars riding over invisible hills, street lights changing colors or sagging, and turnstiles giving passengers money are some of the recorded occurrences. Certainly, the circumstances bear a strong, if inverted, resemblance to Metropolita’s influence on her surroundings.
Chief of Police Jacob Blau is reluctant to jump to assumptions concerning her involvement and motives. “We have no evidence that confirms she is indeed responsible for any of these changes.” he said in a press conference on Tuesday. “At this time, the suspect is only sought for questioning. While we encourage citizens to report any information on her whereabouts, this is in no way a manhunt.”
Chief Blau was asked to comment further for this article, but was unable to respond due to his transformation into what his secretary describes as “that particular mix of morning fog and smoke that turns the air a soft gray-blue.”
Anyone with information regarding the city’s recent events, or information on this woman’s whereabouts, can email the e-hotline at splinter-at-metro.gov.
© Kelley Bell 2014
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Kelley Bell 