I smiled politely and responded, "Please, just call me Tam."

"All right Tam. What can I get you to drink?" Sidney repeated her question. "I'm afraid I don't have any coffee, but I could brew you up some tea. Or we have soda, milk, I've got some coolers if you'd prefer an adult beverage."

"Just water would be fine, thank you." I replied.

She got out a bottle of spring water and poured it into a glass for me, then got herself a can of cola. Zoe had a half glass of milk in front of her. With the refreshments taken care of, Sidney sat down as well.

The three of us were seated around a small table in the kitchen. We could still hear the noises from the girls' video game, but it wasn't overly loud. I was confident it wouldn't interfere with my hidden recorder.

"So you said you're looking into Cindy's life?" the blonde asked.

I nodded, "That's right miss Metcalf. For someone who achieved so much, who made such a profound impact on the world, there's surprisingly little known about her. And I know some people aren't pleased with the way the world has changed thanks to her, but she's had a positive impact on a great many lives. I think the world needs to know who this mysterious benefactor is, or was. And speaking as a Canadian, I think a lot of my fellow countrymen and women should know about the girl from Welland who changed the world."

Sidney and the catgirl exchanged a glance, then the blonde looked back to me again and asked "So how do you reckon I can help? I've never even been to Canada."

I smiled, "My research indicates you were friends with Cindy for the last couple years. I've read interviews some of your neighbours gave to other colleagues, that suggested you and Cindy might have even been related? She was your niece, or grand-niece?"

The young blonde looked uncomfortable with that line of questioning. She glanced over at the catgirl again.

In all honesty I'd rather be talking to Zoe anyways. No other reporter had ever got this close to the catgirl, and I didn't want to blow it by pushing too hard for a one-on-one interview with her. Just having her sit in while I spoke with Sidney was more than I'd ever dreamed possible.

Zoe met Sidney's gaze, then she sighed as she looked at me. "I'm sure you'd rather be talking to me Tam. And it's pretty clear Sid's not comfortable with this. She's not really interested in the attention, and I think she'd be happier if both she and Ciara could avoid being put under too much scrutiny."

The catgirl added, "At the end of the day both Sid and Ciara are just a couple ordinary people who're trying to get on with their lives. Whether or not they were once friends with Cindy is their own private business. The last thing they want is a bunch of strangers hounding them."

I couldn't miss the look of grateful relief on the blonde's face, like she didn't want to be rude but she really didn't want to speak with me. And feeling like this was my chance, I decided to take it. "That's quite understandable. Miss Metcalf, I'm sorry I put you on the spot and made you uncomfortable."

My attention returned to the catgirl as I asked, "Having said that, would I be able to impose on you instead miss Zaitsev? Would you agree to an interview with me?"

The catgirl's expression shifted to a wry grin and she commented, "I guess I left the door open for that huh?"

It only took her a moment to make a decision, and she got to her feet as she told me "Yeah why not. We'll leave Sid and Ciara in peace though, and go do this at my place."

I stood up as well, and did my best to contain my excitement. This was potentially the biggest scoop of my career. Nobody got an interview with Zoe, and now I was minutes away from a private conversation with her.

"Sid I'll catch up with you and Ciara later," the catgirl told her friend. I followed out of the kitchen toward the door, where Zoe stopped and addressed the younger of the two girls.

"Aeron? I'm going home to talk with this reporter. Are you ok to stay here with Ciara? Or do you want to come home with me?"

I had a better view of the girl now, and I wished I had a hidden video camera on me in addition to the audio recorder. The child in question looked about ten years old, and she was apparently transfixed by the violent video game she was playing.

Her eyes were wide and her expression was a mix of wonder and joy as she happily gunned down a half dozen digital nazis then lobbed a hand grenade into a small building and killed a few more. When a couple wounded emerged from the structure she actually giggled as she finished them off with a burst of her machine-gun.

I couldn't help thinking the game's violence and gore was a little too much for a child her age, but rather than being traumatized by it Aeron seemed to take delight in the blood and carnage.

She finally answered, without taking her eyes off the TV screen. "I'll come home after I finish this level. There's only forty-one more bad guys left, I wanna get a perfect score."

"All right," the catgirl seemed entirely unfazed by the child's bloodthirsty intentions. "Ciara, I'll see you later."

With that, she led me out the door. I followed quietly, but we didn't have far to go. Zoe's home was only two doors down, and I soon found myself inside another bungalow that was nearly identical to the last. Rather than the kitchen we ended up sitting in the living-room. Zoe lounged on the sofa while I settled into a recliner.

"So Tam," the catgirl began the conversation. "You haven't used Cindy's spell, have you? Surely after everyone you've spoken with, after everything you've learned, you know that's one of the reasons I've never met with any other reporters? I've been waiting to talk to someone who's used her spell."

Indeed she was right, I'd been told several times that if I was willing to use the spell and change myself I'd probably have better luck talking with people closest to Cindy.

I nodded, "Yes, I've heard that. And you're correct that I haven't used her spell. That's one of the reasons my editor approached me with this assignment. He thought someone like me would be impartial, as opposed to someone who's used the spell."

The catgirl raised an eyebrow, "That right there is sort of confrontational though. I don't mean you, but the attitude. The implication that someone who hasn't seen fit to improve their life with magic would give the subject an evenhanded treatment, while someone who has taken advantage of that spell would be biased. It might even imply those who've used the spell are untrustworthy. At its core that insinuates an us-versus-them attitude. In your editor at least, but I wouldn't be surprised if that's systemic to your whole industry."

I knew Zoe wouldn't be a push-over, but I was already fascinated by this young woman. She looked no older than twenty, but in a world with appearance-altering magic her apparent age was irrelevant. She was obviously clever, and perhaps a little defensive.

"I agree," I told her. "As I said, that was my editor's idea. And I assume you've been paying attention to how the world is changing, you'll know there are already a fair number of people in the news industry who've taken advantage of Cindy's spell."

Zoe replied calmly, "Oh I know. Plenty of independent reporters, lots of behind-the-scenes researchers, even a few dozen on-camera correspondents. Zero national news anchors, zero national news editors. Likewise a fair number of actors, but zero top-ranked stars. And zero media moguls, zero decision-makers, zero influencers. How many of your direct peers, people in the same job and with the same amount of experience and clout as you have used it? And how many of them didn't find their careers tank immediately after using it?"

"You've made your point," I conceded with a grimace. "Cindy's spell is changing the world for the masses, while the so-called or self-described elite and influential are either avoiding it, or have no need for it. And yes, I'm sure your next point is going to be how it threatens them, threatens the status-quo."

The catgirl sighed, "If Cindy had any regrets, that's probably the main one. That she wasn't able to stick around long enough to see her plan play out fully. Because yes, it does threaten the status-quo. She wanted to tip that over and set it on fire. She wanted the world to be a better place for everyone, not just the handful of men who hoarded all the money and power."

"So..." I hesitated briefly then decided to go for it. She sort of opened the topic, it felt like fair game. "Since you brought it up, can I ask what happened to her? For all the stories of her magic, her power, I'm sure a lot of people are curious how she died."

Zoe sighed again. Her cheeks coloured, and I could see the sadness in her eyes. I'd seen a lot of good actors in my time, and I felt certain the emotions I was witnessing were real.

"She over-extended herself," she finally replied. Her voice was quiet, and pained. "You know the two spells she shared. She was doing a lot more than that. Like I said, she wanted to make the world a better place, and she put everything she had into that. She burned the candle at both ends, she acted like she was indestructible even when she knew she wasn't. And when that caught up to her, rather than take a break and look after herself she doubled-down. She did as much as she could with the time she had left."

I was quiet for a few moments, then asked "So she sacrificed herself, for her dream of a better world?"

Zoe gave me a look then smiled "I'm not going to let you lead me into making comparisons or saying anything that sounds like that guy getting nailed to the cross for everyone's sins. Cindy would hate that comparison, and anyways it wasn't anything like that."

I couldn't help smiling as well. I wasn't actually going in that direction, but I could see where Zoe was coming from. And I knew if she was on the record making that sort of comparison it would just rile up the religious right, not that they weren't already riled up about the whole subject.

"How about we take the conversation in the other direction," I suggested. "Where did she come from? Who was she? How'd she learn magic, what inspired her to want to change the world?"

The catgirl got a distant look on her face. "Cindy was from St. Catharines, Ontario. I'm sure you've seen the inscription on her grave marker, you know the exact dates. She was exactly who she appeared to be. She was Cindy. I'm not going to talk about how she came by her talents. As for why she wanted to change the world? She saw the injustice, she saw the way trans people struggled and suffered, she saw the way people with money and power hoarded both and used it to keep people down, and she knew that had to end."

I asked, "Was she trans? Is that why she created her first spell?"

Zoe smiled slightly, as if remembering an inside joke. "I honestly don't know if she considered herself trans. And I know that statement leaves a lot open to interpretation, but that's all I'm going to say about it. She was friends with several people who are trans. I think she saw some of those friends suffer, she saw how being trans affected their lives and how other people used that against them, and she decided enough was enough."

"Forgive my bluntness but are you one of those friends?" I asked her. "Are you trans?"

She still had that same smile on her face but she hesitated for just a moment before responding.

"Yeah," she nodded. "I was AMAB. I came from a lower-middle-class family, my folks were unsupportive and at times abusive. I had a high-school education, and I worked on an assembly-line in a factory in Oshawa. I couldn't afford hormones, let alone surgery. I couldn't afford to take a day off work on a regular basis to travel into Toronto to see the gender clinic. And that's assuming I was patient enough to put up with the astronomical wait-times just to get a referral. Plus if I'd been 'out' about being trans I could have expected to be hassled on the job, perhaps even lose my job, and maybe I'd have faced more discrimination and trouble outside of work too. I'm not saying every trans girl faced similar hardships, but I doubt mine was an uncommon story."

"And those types of challenges? The fact that you had to have money and access and opportunity before you even had a chance to be blocked by medical gatekeeping? Those are some of the things Cindy wanted to eliminate, and she's done it. We still have a long way to go in terms of institutionalized transmisia and bigotry, especially in some parts of the world. But change is ongoing, it's a work in progress."

I remained quiet for a few more moments as I took all that in. I really wasn't expecting her to give me so much personal information, but it was clear she was as passionate about Cindy's plans as the mystery girl was herself.

"How did you and she meet?" I finally asked. "And when did you meet?"

Zoe hesitated, like she was deciding how much to tell me. She finally answered, "I'd given up on transitioning the traditional way. I was desperate and fanciful I suppose. I was looking for magical solutions. I came across something on a conspiracy website, and it led me to Cindy. I reached out to her on social media, she responded, and next thing I knew we were friends. She knew magic even then, and she used it to give me my ideal body."

"That was June twenty-twenty-two," she added. "Just over four years ago now."

"Wow," I smiled. "So about two years before she started her Change The World campaign."

The catgirl nodded, "Yeah. When we first met she wasn't really thinking about world-changing things. She was... I suppose it's fair to say she was a lot less mature? She was curious, she studied magic, she examined it, took it apart to find out how it worked. It was her passion, and she got herself into trouble more than once with her experiments. Nothing dangerous to the world at large, but she took a lot of risks that endangered herself. And she made some mistakes along the way, simply because she was too excited about learning and trying new things to consider the potential hazards."

There was a soft smile on her face by the time she finished talking, she obviously had fond memories of that time of her life.

Rather than forge ahead with another question I kept quiet and let Zoe enjoy the moment.

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