By the time my consciousness returned, I was naked, my pants and belt lying on the floor behind me. I was in a small, white room with white walls, a small table with my belongings gathered in a pile in the corner.
I quickly looked down. I was still a woman, but changed. My body had a slight tone to it like a fitness model - still feminine, but not overly fat or muscular. My breasts were the same, although they appeared bigger, my cleavage a little more obvious. I actually found that sexy, but I had no time to waste on aesthetic appreciation.
I touched my face, feeling my almond-shaped eyes, and thin lips. I was a woman again. I started to search the room for signs of my - my - my alien biology, but I learned that the humans had taken that from me, too.
It was something I could never cure or reverse, but I still tried, searching for any sign of my former alien existence, but I found nothing. I looked in my handbag and found a note:
Do not panic as you will again gain your alien form.
-Dr. Richards.
'Great,' I thought to myself. Dr. Richards had left me a note - a note I did not understand. I decided to ignore it and follow my instincts. For now, I would assume that 'my alien form' was the white woman I was now - I did not know any other.
All I knew was that the former alien woman, Kara, was gone - consigned to a lab somewhere or maybe even dead. I checked my watch.
It was twelve o'clock. How long had my consciousness been out of me? Two hours? Four? I knew very little about this technology, but I knew it was fast. On Earth, it had taken years to extract information from the crew of the ''Red Planet'', the ship of the first humans to visit our planet. This device could do it in seconds. I shook the thoughts from my head. I had to learn more.
I needed to know exactly who I was and what had become of the former-alien-woman-woman-whatever, Kara. My head pounded with every thought and action I took. I also struggled to keep my voice natural and relaxed as I finished dressing and started heading downstairs.
'Easy,' I told myself. 'You are on Earth. You are awake. You are in control of your actions and thoughts.''
Dr. Richards had once told me that he only used the full power of the mind control machine. I wasn't sure what that meant, but I was sure that I had a good amount of leftover willpower. I could think again and determine my actions and thoughts.
I needed to find out what I was. I went down the stairs, trying to appear as human as possible, hoping that the Americans were prepared to accept me.
I made it to the main door, checking out the security on the door - nothing I couldn't handle. I pulled it open to find a large, quiet hallway, a table covered in brain scans, and around it, the Americans dressed in their normal comfortable, boring, navy blue office attire, engaged in some frat-boy activity.
I stepped inside and my attention was immediately drawn to the security monitor hanging on the wall and the blond-haired, blue-eyed woman sitting at the table, looking at the brain scans. She looked up as I entered. She was a pretty woman, with a beautiful smile.
"Kara?" she asked.
I smiled,
"Hi, Summer. How are you?"
"Fine thanks. Who are you? What happened to Kara?" she said. She stood up, and she looked at me curiously, but still as a friend,
"I'm her friend from work. I stopped by to ask how Kara was. Where is she?"
She walked up to me,
"They took her to the lab. She hasn't moved since she arrived. It's been like that ever since they took her here," she said.
"When did you last see her?" I asked.
"Yesterday, when she was packed in ice and brought here."
I nodded, aware that it was almost impossible to clone a live person. Dr. Richards had said it was possible, but only in extreme circumstances, not just in a matter of hours.
"What exactly happened to her?"
"I don't know. I wasn't allowed to talk to her. I heard her telling a nurse how she didn't want to move and how she wanted to see everyone again. She said she never wanted to go back to them. She was telling the nurse she didn't want to move, but she was unconscious."
"What did the nurse say?" I asked.
"Nothing. Dr. Richards was in the room. They just took her into the cold room and brought her in there. I don't understand science sometimes."
I nodded.
"I think I know exactly what happened too. You haven't been here long, have you? Did you know Kara was a trans-woman?" I asked.
She raised an eyebrow,
"Not really. Nice to meet you. But you sound like you know more than you should," she said.
I smiled,
"Maybe. I just had the same conversation with Dr. Richards. I think they probably cloned you."
"Why would they clone me?" she asked curiously.
"I don't know," I said.
"How did Kara get here?" she asked.
"Dr. Richards brought her here a few hours ago. You've been here all of four hours," I said.
She nodded,
"Wow. When is she coming back?"
"I don't know," I lied.
"What?" she asked.
"Well, I guess you could go and see her. I mean, maybe you can talk to her," I said.
"Okay," she said. "I really want to ask her how she is feeling."
"I talked to her," I said.
"Where?" she asked.
"I was standing near the table where she lies now."
"She woke up?" she asked.
"No, I was in her body while she was unconscious."
"What?"
"I was someone she knew. I was in another body - an alien woman who had been cloned by Dr. Richards."
She frowned,
"What? Well, Dr. Richards told me not to talk to strangers, so I'm not even sure where I stand on this one. My name is Summer Carter," she said.
"At least you know who you are," I said. "I don't."
"You don't?"
I shook my head.
"You said earlier that you knew nothing about Kara. You didn't even know Kate when you were all locked in the box, did you?" I asked.
"How would you know that?" she asked.
"I would. I'm the only one who has a memory of what just happened. I woke up here with those memory flashes, so I know."
"And the rest of you, do you have those kinds of flashes?" she asked.
"I don't know," I said.
"Wait," she said. "You said that you know what happened to Kate?"
I nodded,
"Yeah. Why?" I asked.
"Well, I've been here fourteen hours and in all that time, I haven't seen a single flash. Why has she not woke up? Do you know?" she asked.
"I don't know, I don't know," I said quickly. "I just woke up this morning back in my body, but I had memories of everything else."
"I'm sorry," she said.
I shook my head,
"No. No, it's okay, actually," I said.
"How can it be okay that Kara is still in the cold room? What's happening to her?" she asked.
"I don't know," I said.
She paused,
"Is Dr. Richards evil?"
"Probably," I said.
"Then how do we escape?" she asked.
"My guess is that we don't," I said.
"Then why did you come here, for the humans to invent cold-sleep technology?" she asked.
"I don't know. I think it was to try and awaken from a dream state. We were all put in a dream state by the humans,"
"Wow. Who is 'we'?" she asked.
"You'll meet them, if they are still alive," I said.
"But there is no such thing as an alien like you," she paused, "there is such a thing as super-humans," she said.
"I don't really think so either," I said.
"I'd still like some of those cold-sleep pills," she said.
"That's not going to happen."
"Why not?" she asked. "I came here to see my friend. Kara Adams. She's lying in there just like before."
"Because you're not going to get any sleep at all tonight. They've got an unhealthy appetite for drugs. If they knew your prescription was up, they would have given it to you by now. You're just supposed to be here until they find a way to keep Kara alive. We've been trying to help her."
"They'd take me out of an ice-box too," she said.
"I don't think so," I said.
"You mean I could leave?" she asked.
"Yeah. You could leave. You are not going to find much welcome at the labs now."
"Why?" she asked.
"Because you would probably wake one of the clones," I said.
"I wouldn't. They've cloned Kara."
"I really don't think you're going to see your friend anytime soon. Now listen, let's get out of here. I can give you some food. You're probably starving."
"Why?" she asked.
"I can't remember," I said.
"What?" she asked.
"I don't know. The memories are still real, but I can't remember them."
"What are you talking about?" she asked.
"I was in somebody else's body. I don't remember who or anything about myself or you. This is all a little strange for me too."
"I'm sorry about this," she said.
"It's under control," I said.
"Can I tell the guys? What good will it do? Kara's not awake yet," she asked.
I shrugged,
"I don't really know. It's just a memory. I don't know if it helps," I said.
"If you read it and remember it, then it's not a dream for you," she said.
"You think you should?" I asked.
She hesitated.
"I think you should, maybe you won't get into any trouble,"
