SAM RIOT: A VERY SHORT SLIPSTREAM NOIR

 

SAM RIOT

A VERY SHORT SLIPSTREAM NOIR

It was eleven minutes past eleven a.m. on a bright Monday, and Sam Riot was playing a duet with the starlings perching outside the office window. When the snoring grew louder, the birds stopped whistling and flew away.

There was a knock on the door – soft, careful – followed by a question: "Detective Riot?"

Sam Riot opened one eye, was hit by the light of a million fireflies, and shut it again.

"Go away."

"I've brought you coffee," said the voice on the other side of the door. "Black, one sugar."

"Beware of assistants bearing coffee," Sam muttered. "Didn't I fire you?"

"Maybe you did. I'm afraid I stopped paying attention after the tenth time," said the assistant as he entered Sam's office. "Or was it the twentieth? I can't remember."

"Isn't that rather tortuous of you?"

"Do you mean wise?"

Sam grinned from the sofa's depths. "Yes."

"So where's the fire, Trevo?" asked Detective Riot after a long sip of coffee.

"There's a client outside," the assistant explained.

"And you thought that was reason enough to wake me up? You're fired."

"I don't like her color."

"What?"

"She seems sick – and she flickers."

Sam trained a worried gaze on the door and asked: "She's flickering?"

Trevo nodded. "It's like she's blinking in and out of…"

"Existence," Sam added.

"I was going to say ‘this place’ but I guess ‘existence’ works, too."

"Trevo."

"Yes?"

"Hold my coffee – and stay here."

Detective Riot entered the hallway, and the woman sitting there rose to her feet. 

Trevo was right; she was flickering. Her colors were fading as well. 

An impressive vision, nonetheless. She was wearing an elaborate clockwork hat – that alone would have stopped the traffic.

The woman lifted her thin, fading eyebrows at Sam and said: "You look terrible!"

"You don't look all that exalted yourself," Sam noted. "Who are you? And what are you doing here?"

"I'm looking for Detective Sam Riot."

"Well, you’ve found her. What can I do for you?"

The client gasped and flickered. "You're Sam Riot? I didn't know you were a woman!"

"Don't worry about it; happens all the time. It's the name," Sam said with a forced smile. "So, what's your problem, lady? Besides looking like a defective light bulb, that is."

"I'm running out of time," said the spectral woman, motioning to her Steampunk hat with a flickering hand.

Sam noticed that the clocks on it were all going backward. "Widdershins," she muttered.

"Yes, that is my name. Assonance Widdershins."

"So you're a Visitor."

"Why Visitor and not Endurant?"

Sam scoffed. "Because we don't flicker."

"You're right," stated Ms. Widdershins. "We're not like you: we can't load properly into different timelines – and we pay a steep price for even a short visit."

"I know," said Detective Riot. "So what are you doing here? Why are you risking your life like this?"

The woman opened her mouth, but no sound came out of it. She flickered rapidly for a moment and then just vanished.

Sam frowned at the faint glare she had left behind, made a short salute, and said, "Nice meeting you."

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Thank you for reading SAM RIOT: A VERY SHORT SLIPSTREAM NOIR!

This character was created in 2024 but she already made an appearance today -  

https://noironthevine.blogspot.com/2026/03/this-is-not-date-is-it.html

- and she might even return in April, so I thought a proper (re)introduction would be a good idea.

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©2024-2026 CE