Where’s the Rest of Me?

Special thanks to MisterDoe, the Deviant who made the image that inspired the story.

Carlie wasn’t sure why she was being called in on this.  Sure, as an assistant forensic psychologist, a part of her job was to try and figure out the motive behind things, but she was only the assistant.  Her superior was the one who really knew his stuff and could figure out pretty much anything, but they wanted her.

She was also warned that Jane would be a particularly strange one.  Jane Doe 4312 was all they would tell her of the name, which meant this poor girl had no real name.

She read the report, half a body suddenly appearing out of nowhere in the middle of a kitchen floor, but there was something unusual about her.  She was fully clothed, for how much of her there was, which meant something she knew she could probably figure out.

But why did they want her? As she entered the exam room, a voice perked up. “Excuse me?  Can someone please tell me what’s going on?”

Carlie perked up, unaware of the other girl in the room. “Hello.  My name’s…”

She cut off as she saw the other girl who she thought was sitting there, just in a wheelchair.

The other girl’s body ended neatly at her waist, covered entirely by only a shirt. “Yes?  What?”

Carlie shook it off. It all made sense now.  They wanted her there because this one was still alive, even though she was clearly cut in half. “Uh…Carlie.  My name’s Carlie.  And what’s yours?”

The girl sighed. “I…I can’t remember.  I don’t remember much of anything before I woke up on that kitchen floor, except the fact that I don’t know where the rest of me is.”

Carlie still tried to shake off the strangeness of the situation.  There wasn’t anything particularly weird about this girl, except that she had no lower half, just the fact that she seemed to be suffering from some sort of amnesia. “Okay Jane.  Is it okay if I call you Jane?”

Jane shrugged. “Fits as good as any other I guess.”

Carlie smiled at her. “Let’s get started.”

As the readings from Jane’s MRI came back, Carlie explained what she understood to Jane.  It appeared to be retrograde amnesia, which meant that most of her normal functions remained, but she had no memory of her identity.  There was no sign of trauma to her head, but Carlie had to wonder about something. “Jane? It seems that, on your MRI, there was a slight…uh…impression of some kind of seam on your neckbone.”

Jane’s eyes widened, not sure what that was about. “Really?”

Carlie thought it might help, but Jane’s case needed a bit more time apparently.

Over the next few days, Carlie began by asking Jane what her favorite color was.  Jane remembered it was blue, but that was about it.  Carlie had an idea, brought on by her supervisor. Block Jane’s eyesight from her right hand, then simply ask her to write her name.  Carlie had to sigh at the result.  Ben’s idea was that writing took a different part of the brain than speaking, so that part might at least give them her name. “Well, apparently, you still think of yourself as Jane.”

Jane sighed, then smiled. “It was a good idea anyway.”

Carlie looked through the reports and the tests.  There was no record of her fingerprints or her DNA, no missing persons report that matched her description.  They even had Jane’s photo in the news, trying to find out more about this strange half-girl.

The next day, Carlie had an idea. “Jane, can you tell me where you got the party dress you were wearing?”

Jane thought for a moment, then spouted off a store Carlie had never heard of.  As soon as she was done, she stopped. “Wait.  How did I remember that?”

Carlie looked up the store’s name online, but it didn’t exist.  What was going on here?  But she went on. “Okay, that’s good.  Now why were you in that party dress?”

Jane smiled, laughing a little. “For a party silly.”

That triggered something else. “We were celebrating…something…with some friends.  I can…almost…see their faces now.”

At that, Carlie brought in a sketch expert.  Maybe actually having her friends’ faces would help keep Jane’s memories coming back.

Jane looked through the sketches again, smiling.  She’d already labeled each sketch with an unusual name, and Carlie had to wonder more about this half-girl.  There was a wide variety of ethnicities there, as well as different ethnic names, but Jane seemed to have some attachments to them.

Carlie had her tell her what she could about them.  It was about halfway through the memories of this girl named Judy that Jane stopped in the middle. “OH YEAH!  We were celebrating graduating from college!”

That didn’t make any sense. It was February, nowhere near graduation time. “Go on!”

Jane seemed to be blown away from what she was remembering, telling Carlie all about it, but Carlie had to stop her. “Why are you cut in half?”

Jane shrugged, smiling big and laughing. “It’s the greatest feeling, being cut in half.  Being beheaded is closer, but…”

Jane suddenly stopped. “My name really is Jane.  That’s really my name.”

Carlie leaned forward, encouraged by this, before Jane stopped again. “Wait.  What year is this?”

Carlie told her quite simply. “2022.”

Jane’s eyes went wide. “No. No, it can’t be.  Oh, I’m in so much trouble.  It’s the wrong year.”

That surprised Carlie. “What?”

Jane settled in. “I’m from the year 2082.  There, we’ve perfected the technology to make what was only illusion before, happen.  I remember so much, I was part of the group that was trying to develop the technology a little further to make a person disappear and reappear a little while later.  I had been split in half before then, and, as we were drunk, we decided I should be the one to try it.”

Jane leaned back. “We must’ve gotten the calibration wrong.  It was only supposed to send a person forward in time by about a minute, essentially making them disappear.  I think that it sent me back in time instead.  My legs must be somewhere, but, with that, I’m sure I can’t ever go back.”

She explained about the paradox of reverse-time-travel, how, with her there now, the future she came from no longer exists.  She started to cry, thinking that she was alone, but Carlie knelt in front of her, telling her she wasn’t.  She had a friend here, now, and the two of them embraced, Carlie being very careful not to topple her over.

It took a few months, Jane working with the university, before they were ready.  Carlie still felt nervous, not sure what it was, but she had to know if Jane was right, that it felt really good being cut in half and beheaded.

They kept an ear open, trying to find Jane’s legs.  Surely, though, there must be some report of errant legs running around out there somewhere, but Jane wasn’t too worried.  She’d grown accustomed to being only half a girl, and assured Carlie that they found that, when cut in half or beheaded, they could stay like that indefinitely.

But now Carlie lay there, feeling some kind of tingle in her skin, as Jane turned the field on.  Jane smiled at her assuredly as she brought out a large sword.  Carlie gasped as she felt the blade on her skin, closing her eyes, ready to know what it felt like to have her legs and hips cut from her torso.