Officer Valerosa stepped out of her patrol car and firmly closed the driver's door, her attention not on her vehicle but on the incident right in front of her. As the first responder on scene, Valerosa immediately took stock of what she was seeing. One of the cars - referred to as a bus - for DexLabs' slider system had gone off the rails and was now laying on the grass in broken pieces. Luckily, none of the bus had fallen into the street, nor was the slider's railing broken. It wasn't noon yet, so traffic was light, but the drivers were moving slowly so that they could rubberneck and see the accident. A few pedestrians were standing by the broken vehicle, with many more standing on the other side of the road looking at the scene from afar.

Valerosa approached the bus, parting the pedestrians so that she could get a closer look. Immediately her eyes attached to a pair of legs sticking out from the behemoth of the vehicle. The faint smell of brimstone wafted past her nostrils, and Valerosa grimaced at its fragrance. It was going to be one of those calls.

"Did anyone see what happened?" Valerosa inquired of the assembled group.

Only one had witnessed the actual event and was in fact the caller who had reported it in to 9-1-1. A college student named Gabriel relayed what he saw to her, and it seemed very straightforward. He had been walking underneath the northbound slider rail when he heard a noise that spooked him into running for the hill. When he looked back, he watched as a woman was thrown off the bus before it followed after her, crushing the woman. He called 9-1-1 immediately after, but didn't go move the woman since the vehicle was too heavy for him.

By the time Gabriel finished the story, Valerosa's backup had arrived. Since she had been first on scene, Valerosa was in charge, and immediately delegated out orders. The pedestrians were pushed back a respectable distance and the area was beginning to be taped up to prevent further tampering of the crime scene. An officer began controlling traffic, moving the drivers along faster so that a second accident wouldn't occur. With her orders issued, Valerosa went over to the bus and crouched down by the legs sticking out from under it.

The bus had fallen on the woman - mentally referred to as Jane Doe in Valerosa's head - particularly the upper half of her body. What was visible was from her waist downward. Based on the woman's scrubs, Valerosa took a stab that the woman was coming from Memorial Hospital. Valerosa checked the woman's pockets for any sort of identity, but came up with nothing.

"Hey, Valerosa," Officer Perez called, approaching the woman. In his hand was a beige purse. "I think this may be hers."

Valerosa took the purse from her fellow officer and began looking in it. Inside were the typical things a woman's purse would contain: a wallet, a set of keys, makeup accessories like lipstick and blush and mascara, a packet of tissues, tin container of breath mints, a DexLabs' communicator, and a small brush. What was unique to this purse was a badge attached to a lanyard that Valerosa suspected came from her place of employment. She pulled out the lanyard along with the wallet.

"Gale Spacebyte, age 54," Valerosa read from the driver's license she pulled out of the deceased woman's wallet. "According to this badge, she's a doctor at Memorial Hospital."

"So if she's on the northbound rail, she must have just gotten off shift," Perez theorized. "Where was she heading?"

"To the Peach Creek neighborhood," Valerosa answered, getting the information from Gale's license.

Perez nodded, figuring the woman lived somewhere out of Downtown since she was leaving the area. He did a sweep around of the area, and frowned when he noticed that the crowd that had been pushed back had grown with the appearance of the media. Reporters from the news were standing at the very front of the crowd, setting up their cameras in an effort to get the best camera angle of the accident.

"The reporters are here," Perez said with no enthusiasm. "Should we say something?"

Valerosa spared the reporters a quick glance before shaking her head at her co-worker. "Wait for Sgt. Pepper. He handles the media. Grab a sheet, however. We want to be respectful to Miss Spacebyte."

Perez nodded in agreement and immediately went for his car. While Perez was going one way, another one of Valerosa's co-workers was coming toward her.

"Hey, Valerosa," Officer Comedian addressed. "One of Dexter's bots is here. They want to inspect the bus. We allowing that?"

Valerosa thought over it for a moment, and then answered, "Bring the Dexbot to me."

Comedian whistled and waved the Dexbot over. It rolled under the police tape and rolled its way over to the two officers.

"Greetings, officers," the Dexbot greeted in its robotic voice. "Nice weather we are having."

Valerosa didn't roll her eyes because she was a professional, but she was very close to doing so. That was the pre-programed line every Dexbot gave upon meeting someone. Given that she was standing next to a dead body inadvertently caused by the Dexbot's employer, it seemed incredibly distasteful.

"What is your designation, robot?" Valerosa asked.

"I am Dexbot Q-12," the Dexbot answered.

"What exactly do you want to do, Q-12?" Valerosa questioned.

"I am here to collect data from the bus car's internal systems," Q-12 answered.

"Mmhmm," Valerosa grunted. "Your request is denied."

"The bus car is property of DexLabs Inc. As a representative-"

"Currently, this bus car was involved in an incident that killed a woman, putting it under the property of the police. It is evidence that must be investigated by us first. When we have closed the case, Dexter's stuff will be released back to him. But only after we're finished," Valerosa explained. She put her hands on her hips and glared at the Dexbot. "Relay that back to your boss. ¿Entiendo?"

Q-12 did not respond to her. Due to the fact that the Dexbots didn't have any facial features, it was hard to get a read on what was going through their circuitry mind. Valerosa waited in silence, and she was rewarded for her patience.

"Very well," Q-12 replied in its cheery voice. "Good day."

The Dexbot rolled away from the two officers, ducking back under the police tape. It ignored the reports that tried to get its attention, and continued on its path in the direction of the City Station Tower. Valerosa stopped paying attention to the robot as soon as it had crossed under the yellow tape, instead directing her focus onto Perez as he returned with a white sheet.

"Sgt. Pepper's here," Perez said as he laid the sheet over the legs of Gale Spacebyte. "He's looking for you, Valerosa."

"Thank you, Perez," Valerosa told her fellow officer.

Thanks to Sgt Pepper's height, it was easy for Valerosa to find him. She immediately approached him.

"Sir, you were looking for me?" Valerosa addressed him respectfully.

"Yes, I was told you were first on scene. Can you relay what you know?" Sgt. Pepper requested.

"Of course," Valerosa said, immediately detailing what she had learned from Gabriel.

"I see," Sgt. Pepper said. "Very tragic. Has anyone released a statement to the reporters?"

"No sir. We were waiting for you," Valerosa replied.

"Very well. I shall release a statement to the reporters," Sgt. Pepper said. "Continue doing a fine work."

Valerosa nodded and watched her commanding officer walk over to the waiting reporters. Since she was still holding onto Gale's purse, Valerosa pulled out the woman's communicator. She was able to get to the contacts list, and began looking through it for next of kin. Going through the call list, she noticed that the contact "Muriel" popped up multiple times, so she took a chance and pressed on the contact. Even if this Muriel wasn't next of kin, she was at least someone who knew enough about Gale that she could point Valerosa in the right direction.

"Lincoln, get in here, quick!"

Dr. Lincoln was just passing the break room when he heard his name being called. He glanced inside, surprised by the franticness in his co-worker's voice. Dr. Xyrespace was looking at him with such a devastated look that it threw the experienced man in surprise. Tears were actually forming in her teal eyes, and that spooked Dr. Lincoln into concern; he'd never seen the woman cry before.

"What's the matter, Elizabeth?" he asked, stopping to stand in the open doorway.

"Kurt called. Gale's dead."

"What?" Dr. Lincoln exclaimed in shock. "That can't be right. I just saw her. She was alive what with the walking and the breathing and the-"

"It just happened," Dr. Xyrespace interrupted. "She was heading home on the slider when it suddenly went off the rail and she fell off. The bus crushed her. It's all over the news right now." At this final statement, she waved her hand to the T.V. mounted on the wall.

Dr. Lincoln stepped into the room, looking at the T.V. which was currently on 5 Action News. It was replaying the live conference Sgt. Pepper had conducted. Dr. Lincoln listened to the sergeant explain Gale's death.

Dr. Lincoln wasn't a stranger to death. He was a good doctor, but even the best doctor lost patients. Although his were incredibly rare, he's had patients die on him on the operating table. Their loss didn't hit him nearly as hard as the knowledge that one of his co-workers, somebody he's known for years, was dead. It was such a gut punch that he almost crumpled to the ground, but his communicator suddenly ringing gave him enough strength to stay on his feet. He answered it, and on the other side of the hologram he saw his wife, who was holding a tissue to her face.

"Mon cher, have you seen ze news?" his wife asked immediately upon him answering the call. He could hear the tears in her voice. "C'est horrible. Gale is-"

"Dead, honey. I heard," Dr. Lincoln finished, his voice expressing his grief.

As much as he wanted to cry like his wife was, he had to stay composed. He was still on shift, and he couldn't have his patients worrying about him while he was supposed to be taking care of them.

"Her poor family," Mrs. Lincoln continued, her voice a tinge on the hysterical side. "Mon Dieu! Her poor daughter!"

Doctors Lincoln and Xyrespace shared a look with each other that silently expressed what they were thinking: poor Alice! Gale Spacebyte was a single woman, had been for all the time they'd known her. She was a woman that had put her career first, and her love life somewhere around twelfth place. They knew Alice was adopted, but now with Gale's passing, Alice was orphaned. She had her aunt and uncle, but they were in Nowhere.

"What will happen to ze fillette?" Mrs. Lincoln asked, voicing their thoughts.

Dr. Lincoln composed himself and put on a comforting smile, one he's used on concerned patients. As worried as he was for Alice, he needed to be reassuring for his wife.

"She has her family, dear. What with her aunt and her uncle. They'll look out for her. We will be there if they need us."

Mrs. Lincoln nodded in agreement, feeling relief from her husband's reassuring words. "Oui, oui. Merci, mon amour. I will see you for dinner."

As soon as his wife ended the call, Dr. Lincoln's smile slipped. He looked over at his fellow doctor, who continued to wear her frown.

"Does the chief know?" Dr. Lincoln asked.

"I don't know if the police contacted him. I don't have another patient for another forty-five minutes. You?"

Dr. Lincoln glanced at the digital clock mounted on the wall. "Fifteen minutes."

"I'll go speak to the chief," Dr. Xyrespace volunteered.

Dr. Lincoln nodded at her in thanks. His fellow doctor took one last glance at the T.V. before she spun around and exited the room, swiping at her eyes so there wouldn't be a trace of moisture in them.

Alone in the room, Dr. Lincoln dropped his head for a moment. He took in a shuddering breath, one that shook his whole frame. He breathed in deeply through his nose, and then released it out slowly. He lifted his head again and straightened his shoulders. This was all he could afford for the moment. He was still needed and he had to place his attention on his patients first. Once it was over and he was safely at home, he could properly grieve the lost of a twenty-year friendship.

Muriel picked up the landline on the second ring.

"Hello, Bagge Residence," Muriel greeted into the phone.

"Hello, may I speak with Muriel?" the voice on the other line requested.

"This is she," Muriel responded.

"I am Officer Valerosa of the Townsville-City Police," Valerosa introduced.

"Oh dear, is something the matter?" Muriel asked in concern.

"Do you know Dr. Gale Spacebyte?" Valerosa inquired, ignoring Muriel's question.

"Why yes, she's my sister."

"Ma'am, where do you live?"

"In Nowhere." Curious about the line of questioning, Muriel repeated her earlier question, "Is something the matter?"

"I'm afraid there is, ma'am. I regret to inform you that your sister is dead."

"W-what?" Muriel gasped. "How?"

"Slider accident. Something in the bus broke and it fell off the rail. Dr. Spacebyte was thrown off and the bus crushed her," Valerosa explained. "She was dead before I arrived."

Tears sprang to Muriel's eyes as she listened to the explanation. Courage, who had been in the kitchen with Muriel, looked over in concern. He had been listening along to Muriel's side of the conversation, and while he didn't know what it was about, he did know something bad had happened to Gale. Based on Muriel's tears, he knew it had to be really bad.

"Oh, dear. Oh, poor Gale."

"Ma'am, did she have a husband? Kids?"

"She has a daughter. Oh, poor Alice," Muriel cried, putting her hand to her mouth. "She should be in school now. Oh, does the poor dear know?"

"Not yet. You are my first point of contact."

"Oh, Alice, the poor dear will be so devastated," Muriel murmured, only half-listening to the officer.

"Ma'am, how soon can you reach your niece?"

"It will take a while," Muriel answered. "Ohh, but I couldn't possibly tell her. I-I couldn't. I know she has to know, but the poor dear. It's only her and my sister, you see, and now she's..."

Muriel couldn't choke out the word "orphaned." Technically, Alice was already an orphan. Her sister had adopted the little girl nearly thirteen years ago, bringing in the cutest little blue-haired baby Muriel had ever seen. Now, with Gale dead, Alice was made an orphan yet again. The very thought sent Muriel into a fit of sobbing. Courage rushed over and wrapped his furry arms around her legs, whimpering in concern. Eventually, Muriel pulled herself together and smothered her sobbing. She was still on a call with Valerosa, and she felt embarrassed for dissolving into a fit of tears.

"I-I'm sorry," she apologized.

"It's alright, ma'am," Valerosa said compassionately. "Where does Alice go to school?"

"The local junior high," Muriel answered. "I believe it was Pokey Oaks."

"Pokey Oaks Junior High?"

"Yes, that sounds right," Muriel agreed.

"Very well. I will inform her about her mother."

"Will yah? Oh, thank yah. Thank yah so much. I will be at the school as soon as I can."

"Very well. Good day, ma'am."

Muriel didn't offer a response back. She wasn't entirely sure what she was supposed to say back. Thank you for telling me about my dead sister? Thank you for making this the worst day possible? She couldn't think of anything, so she merely hung up. She placed her forehead against the wall beside the phone. She didn't dissolve into sobbing, but she did let her tears flow freely.

After a moment, she lifted her forehead off the wall and wiped at her tears. She patted Courage on his head in thanks for the comfort he had provided her, and stepped into the farmhouse's living room. Her husband was sitting on his favorite chair, flipping through the Nowhere News newspaper.

"Eustace, get yer keys," Muriel demanded.

"What for?" Eustace whined, dropping his newspaper to his lap so he could scowl at his wife.

His wife scowled right back at him, which warned Eustace that something was wrong.

"Get yer keys," Muriel repeated as she pulled out her coat from the small walk-in closer. "We're going to Alice's school to pick her up. My sister is dead and we need to get Alice."

"Gale's dead?" Eustace asked in surprise.

Courage whined at the revelation. He had already guessed that Gale was dead based on Muriel's side of the phone conversation, but actually hearing it was painful. He always liked Gale. She was just as kind as Muriel, and even stuck up for him against Eustace and Fred. Hearing she was dead shot an arrow through his heart, and tears formed in his eyes.

Muriel swung her purse's strap over her shoulder and then shot a glare at her husband, who was still sitting in his chair.

"Get out of that chair, Eustace. Didn't yah hear? My sister is dead and Alice is alone," Muriel said. Her face then caved as she thought about her niece. "The poor dear...She needs us right now."

Eustace looked at his wife blankly for a moment, and then set aside his newspaper. He got of out his beloved chair, and fished the truck's eyes out of his pocket.

"I'm driving."

Alice glanced down at the slip of paper that was placed on her desk. It was a white slip, which confused Alice since that wasn't the normal color for slips. Red was for the discipline office, pink for the counseling office, blue for the front office, and purple for the nurse. White was not a color in the rotation. She spared a quick glance at her third period teacher and then picked up the slip, looking it over. Her eyes widened when she saw that she was to report to Principal Goodvibe's office.

What did I do? she thought with worry. What could she have done to earn her a trip to the principal's office?

"Go, Alice," the teacher instructed, cutting through her inner panic. "The principal's waiting. Take your stuff with you."

Alice's face flushed all the way up to her ears when she heard her classmates murmuring. She swiftly packed her things back into her backpack. She kept her head low as she exited the classroom, avoiding the stares her classmates were giving her.

While she walked through the empty hallways of Pokey Oaks Junior High, Alice's mind was wracked with concern over why she was being called up to the principal's office. It was only the third week of the Winter Semester; what could she have done in that short of time? She was never tardy to class, and she hardly ever had an absence because she never got sick. If her mom decided to keep her home so that they could do other things, she always called in to have the absence excused. She never talked loud in the library, never talked back to a teacher - heck, she just plain didn't talk! She didn't start any food fights or get into fights or bully other kids. She always did her homework and never cheated. She wasn't the most physically fit kid at P.E., but her inability to run the mile under a certain time wasn't grounds for getting punished by the principal, right?

The anxiety tied her stomach into such a terrible knot she felt she was going to be sick. She was practically shaking when she entered the front office. She stopped just inside of it, looking lost. She'd never been up to the front office since orientation, and had no clue where Principal Goodvibe's office was.

"What are you here for?" one of the secretaries asked when she noticed Alice.

"P-Principal Goodvibe's o-office?" Alice stuttered.

The secretary looked at her for a moment before her face changed. When she had first spoke to Alice, her face had been a mask of indifference. Now, there looked to be pity in the woman's eyes. The look scared Alice. Had she done something horrible to deserve pity?

"His office is past me and to the right. There'll be a door that says 'Principal Goodvibes.' His secretary, Mrs. Atoms, will let him know you're here," the secretary answered.

"O-okay. Thank you," Alice said, immediately following the woman's instructions.

The door was closed, and Alice spent a minute debating on if she should knock on the door or just open it. She'd been raised to always knock before entering, but if she was being expected, wouldn't it be better to just walk in? Would she get in trouble for walking in without permission? Ultimately fearing that walking in would get her in more trouble, Alice decided on knocking on the door. From the other side, she heard an 'It's open!' and so decided to open the door and enter in.

A woman at a desk looked up from her computer screen. Alice guessed this woman was Mrs. Atoms like that other secretary said, and a quick look at the name on the desk proved it.

"I-I'm-"

"Alice, right dear?" Mrs. Atoms asked gently.

Alice was surprised that this woman knew her, but then worried. She'd never been to the office before, so how did the secretary of the principal know who she was?

"Principal Goodvibes is expecting you," Mrs. Atoms said, getting up from her seat. She walked around the desk to stand beside Alice. She looked like she was almost going to touch her, but then had second thoughts and dropped her arm to her side. With a gentle smile, she said, "Follow me."

Alice followed behind obediently. There was a door no more than an arm's length away from behind Mrs. Atoms' desk that the secretary took Alice too. This one had no markings on the window, but Alice guessed it belongs to Goodvibes. Mrs. Atoms didn't bother knocking and simply opened the door, sticking her head inside.

"Alice is here," Mrs. Atoms announced to the principal. She then turned to Alice and used her hand to beckon her. "Come in, dear."

Alice obeyed yet again, but stopped when she saw that it wasn't just Principal Goodvibes in the room. A uniformed police officer was sitting in a chair opposite the principal and she wore a grim expression on her face. Immediately, Alice panicked. Why was there an officer? What had she done!? Her fear must have been broadcasted to everyone, because Principal Goodvibes put on his most reassuring smile.

"Don't be scared, Alice. You're not in any trouble," he said in a reassuring voice. "There's just... news that needs to be discussed with you. Come, take a seat. Your aunt is on her way."

That didn't sound good, but it was better than being in trouble. She glanced at Mrs. Atoms like she was seeking out a second opinion, and was surprised to see that the woman's eyes were moist. The woman didn't say anything, but she did nod her head like she was reassuring the girl. Trusting that this wasn't some sort of trap, Alice stepped into the office and took a seat in the open chair on the opposite side of the officer. She vaguely heard the click of the door shutting behind her, but she paid it little attention as she kept glancing back and forth between the principal and the officer. She wasn't entirely sure who she was supposed to be focusing on, at least until the officer cleared her throat and introduced herself as Officer Valerosa.

And then Alice learned why the secretary had pity in her eyes and why Mrs. Atoms looked like she was going to cry and why Principal Goodvibes had tried to reassure that she wasn't in trouble and why Aunt Muriel was on her way.

Her mom was dead.

This story is going to be a collection of stories taking place before, during, and after It Calls For You. Ideally, the stories are supposed to feature other characters and what they're doing in the world, but Alice and her friends aren't exempt; I just won't focus on them as much since they already had a multi-chapter story.

This chapter mostly came about after RayO1's Cree one shot he did for the fanfic exchange. Dr. Lincoln's emotions over the death of his colleague and friend made me want to work on this. Plus, it gave me an excuse to write for Officer Valerosa (Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends) and Sgt. Pepper (Powerpuff Girls, but also a Beatles reference). Shala's going to make fun of Gale's death as Looney Tunes-esque, but it was a reference to the FusionFall Legacy manga that featured the slider being attacked by Mojo and almost falling off the rail.

I needed a random person to have seen the accident. I chose Gabriel from Dexter's Laboratory, who was Dexter's college roommate. In case you haven't done as much sleuthing as I have on random one-shot characters, Officer Perez is from Powerpuff Girls and Officer Comedian is from the Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. Mrs. Atoms is a secretary I made up from It Calls For You and she has Maxwell Atoms' last name. If SACT Agents can be named after show creators, so can secretaries.