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This was just not acceptable. Bayley Matinez was thinking this rebellious thought even as she slid the wrist band she always wore over the clock on her skin. The same clock that marked all of humanity, or ‘marred’ them in Bayley’s opinion. For most, the so-called ‘soul mate’ was something they just accepted. Some people saw it as a marvelous sign of hope, others of despair, still others of indifference. Some people found their ‘soulmate’ and happily watched their collective clocks gain time for years or decades. Others never found anyone and sunk into existential angst. Bayley wasn’t exactly on either end of this spectrum, in fact, she didn’t think of herself as being on the spectrum at all. To Bayley, they were abominations. Wicked impositions of fate marring the free will of men and women everywhere. Reminders of a universe that kept trying to cram her and everyone else into a pre-deterministic box. Bayley hated the very notions of this, and even if the clocks were impossible to cover up or remove (many had tried) she intended, in the words of the poet Dylan Thomas, to “...not go quietly into the night.” Yet, it seemed there might be some truth in the old adage that the best way to make the universe laugh at you, was to make a plan. Ever since she’d been old enough to truly consider the issue, Bayley had decided that she would be one of the exceptions. The people who pointedly chose to ignore, reject, or not seek the validation of their brand. These people pointedly chose to be with others who did not cause their clocks to move. And many were perfectly happy for it. Yet as her eyes had looked down at her wrist for the first time that morning, Bayley had been equal parts shocked and horrified to find that, instead of the 00:000:00:00:00 that had been there her whole life, it now read: 00:000:03:47:19. “What the hell?” Bayley muttered incredulously. If the clock was right, and Bayley had always been skeptical of this notion, she had apparently spent almost four hours in proximity to her ‘soulmate’ yesterday. She actually gave a sour laugh at this. Who or whatever ran these damn clocks apparently did have a sense of humor. A dark one. For Bayley, who was usually very much a loner, had spent most of yesterday surrounded by literally thousands of people. Bayley worked for TJP games, a local video game store in San Diego. SHe’d been there for years now, having initially taken the job as just a way to make money out of college. But she’d found she actually really liked where she was at so her degree in Philosophy with a minor in communications sat mostly unused as Bayley kept people happily gaming. Sometimes this bothered her but then she remembered that philosophy wouldn’t get her a 30% discount on games. It was Comic-Con season in San Diego and for the last few years, the convention had been setting aside two of three spots on the main floor for local San Diego area vendors. The competition for them had been intense but this year, Bayley’s boss and the owner of TJP Games had been one the lucky three. Of course, when he’d gotten this news he’d immediately informed Bayley that she’d be going. “What?!” Bayley had asked incredulously, almost dropping the armful of pre-owned accessories she’d been carrying. “What?” TJ, the owner, had asked sounding confused. “You want ME to go?” “Yes! You’re my best employee, no one knows more about this place than you!” “Except you, of course, Mr. Owner,” Bayley said dryly. They both knew this was untrue. TJ was many things, including a very nice (if somewhat absentminded) human being. But he simply couldn’t have run the store without Bayley by now. She’d been there so long that many of the systems and procedures in place just wouldn’t make sense for anyone else. “Come on Bayley! This is a huge break for us. You know we need every edge we can get over the big chains,” TJ pointed out, with only the barest edge of pleading in this voice. Bayley had sighed, he was correct in this. The store did pretty well but they both sensed that eventually they’d be squeezed out if something didn’t change. “But why me? Mustafa? Sonya? Even Harper would be better choices. They love this sort of thing!” Bayley had suggested. “Bay...you’ve BEEN to Comic-Con twice!” “Yeah but as an attendee not as a vendor!” Bayley protested somewhat childishly. Comic-Con was in-fact her own private heaven. But this was different. She’d have to be there in ‘work’ mode, and being ‘on’ that long to so many people seemed VERY exhausting. “I’ll send someone with you, it won’t just be you,” TJ tried to reassure her. “TJ!” Bayley whined. “Come on Bay! Do this for me, please! If you do I’ll buy the drinks next time we go out and you can have that new Goose Studios game on the house when it comes out!” “Great…” Bayley muttered, knowing she was going to cave “...Then I can wait another nine years for the sequel.” “So you’ll do it?!” TJ had asked eagerly. And so Bayley had spent the entire previous day stuck in the far corner of the main floor of the convention. She’d worked out a smile that she could paster on her face and leave there all day as she tried to flag people down to come by the booth. To her, the expression seemed more like the prelude to a biting attack than one of cheer but people had seemed to buy it. Not that she’d had much of a chance to talk with people. Comic-Con might be reaching out to San Diego, but they didn’t mean to do TOO much it seemed. Not only was Bayley’s booth in the very far corner of the hall but it was flanked on both sides by much larger vendors capable of spending far more in their spaces. The whole works including demo stations, a set, and even one or two celebrity appearances. All of which made Bayley’s racks of used games and accessories plus hand-printed flyers seem very inadequate. But this hadn’t even been the worst part. That had been the booth babes. Not that Bayley had any particular judgment to throw at the women per se. They were out here making money just like her, and in fact, they were probably making much more of it. BUT, Bayley was human, and it didn’t help her insecurities as a woman to be constantly surrounded by centerfold models in skimpy clothing. She also had to admit that a few of the girls were pretty shameless in how they ‘promoted things’ though in this case, she thought the ones being exploited where the lonely bastards who bought shit they didn’t need thanks to some batted eyes and big boobs. All in all, she wasn’t looking forward to going back to the convention that day, which is something she thought she’d NEVER have thought about Comic-Con. But now the added drama of the clock. But no, she pushed this aside. The clock was a manacle on humanity and she simply wouldn’t dignify it was her attention. This was why she always wore the wristband. Bayley ate a quick breakfast and then stopped to grab two coffees on her way to the convention. After the long screening process with security, she finally made it into the convention and found her booth. As she arrived she saw that Sonya Deville was already there. “Hey Sonya,” she said as she arrived. “Hey Bay, I- oh thank you!” Sonya said happily as she accepted the coffee from Bayley. Sonya would be the one working with her today. Bayley liked the other woman and was regretting the day when Sonya finally left the game store, as all the other employees did. “You’re welcome,” Bayley said, suddenly distracted by the clock on Sonya’s wrist. The other woman didn’t share Bayley’s view on the clock and happily displayed hers, which always had more time whenever Bayley saw it. “So, hows Paige?” Bayley asked as she dug under the table to pull one of their large cardboard signs out. “She’s great! She’ll back from England in a few days,” Sonya said happily as she helped Bayley set up. Before Bayley could respond several of the booth babes arrived. “Uh, are you guys like...busy?” one of them, a tall woman with tomato red hair said. She sounded as though she were asking a toddler she didn’t like if they had pooped their pullup. Bayley blinked at the overt rudeness. Obviously, she and Sonya were setting up up the booth, she wondered if the woman’s hair coloring was seeping downward. “Uh-” Bayley started to say but she got cut off by the red head’s friend, a leggy blonde. “We need to use your outlet to charge our phones,” she explained as though this settled the matter. “I’m-” Bayley started again but was once again interrupted. This time by Sonya. “Of course ladies, we’re happy to share,” Bayley's friend and co-worker said as she stepped to one side and motioned the women toward their powerstrip. “You’re sweet,” the blonde told Sonya with a big smile as she touched the dark-haired woman’s arm before she and her friend slid into Bayley’s booth and proceeded to bend down to plug in their phones. Bayley looked the other way at this, not wishing to get a proctologist’s eye view of their worlds. Once the two girls had left Bayley rounded on Sonya. “You...are...married!” Bayley hissed reproachfully. “I can look!” Sonya insisted as she held up both palms defensively. Bayley flipped her hair and struck a coquettish pose as she spoke in a Marylin Monroe voice. “Oh Sonya, could you use your big strong arms to help us plug in our phones, we’re just too dainty!” Bayley cooed. “Shut up!” Sonya muttered as she began placing games on their display shelves. Bayley was about to mock her further when something horrifying struck her. Turning away so Sonya wouldn’t know what she was doing she surreptitiously slid her wrist band back. When she revealed her clock her heart sank. “Oh you’ve got to be shitting me,” she whispered angrily. The clock was counting up again. Though it was early at the convention there were still quite a few people moving around the area. Yet something told Bayley that the clock was suddenly moving in connection to one of the bimbos next door. “I’m going to go get a drink of water,” Bayley abruptly told Sonya as she left the booth. As she walked she pulled her wristband back again to see that her clock was still counting. Overcome with sudden annoyance she angrily shoved the band back into place. She was so annoyed she nearly forgot the hold the door she went through for the person behind her. “Excuse me,” she said quickly. “Don’t worry about it,” the other woman said, Bayley got the quick impression of sunkissed skin and magenta hair before they went their separate ways. Though she forgot this quickly. She was far too distracted to focus on anyone else right now. Nor on the fact that as soon as they left each other’s company, the clock stopped counting.