SRFD07
[Date: Dec/3/24]
[Cycle: SNOW PRIME]
[Barista: Caramel]
[Subject: Mrs. Jejune]
[File Reference: SRFD07—Paid]
Tabs are a funny thing, aren’t they? Let them run too long, and they start to feel like they belong at a CVS register instead of your ledger. Mrs. Jejune’s tab was no different—carried over from another Cycle. We’ve spent countless hours chasing her spirals and broken ideologies. I won’t say every late night was worth it, but I will say this: whatever Mrs. Jejune was in our Cycle, her time there is done.
The final bits of comfort food? Gone sour, of course. Shards and spirals leading us in endless circles—classic Jejune. But something changed when Lavender and I followed the trail to Lands End. Whatever Mrs. Jejune had been building in our Cycle unraveled the moment she crossed into Snow Prime. She’s not the same here. …Maybe we aren’t either.
So, I’m paying the tab out. Done, closed, filed away. SRFD is no longer our problem—not in the “usual” sense, anyway. But Mrs. Jejune isn’t off the hook. The Jejune Institute is still lurking in this Cycle, tucked away in the still very much standing Sutro Baths in San Francisco.
I’ll open a fresh tab under RER. Call it a continuation of SRFD. We’ll keep a closer eye on her this time. But for now? I’m giving myself permission to just breathe for a day. It’s been…a lot. The jump here. Trying to adjust to the constant background noise. And the worst part? There isn’t a single book in this Cycle! None!! Outlawed by President Keith back in 1905, apparently. Still, there’s something satisfying about scrawling Paid across a tab that’s been hanging over your head for ages—even if it’s just a clerical thing. I’ll take that moment of peace for what it is.