The day started off quietly enough. Karen awoke to find herself wondering if she dreamed it all. Looking in the mirror didn't help. Maybe she only thought about cutting her hair and fingernails last night before she went to bed? She was still looking at the model she and Henry designed two days ago. Be thankful for small favors, she decided. At least she didn't have to apply hardly any makeup. Everything was designed in. She couldn't change it now.

Looking at her eyelashes, she knew she wouldn't have designed them so long and thick, if she thought for one second, she would be the recipient of that design. For that matter, she wouldn't have put so much into everything she was having to cope with. Her long sharp fingernails, her platinum blond hair lying across her shoulders, those full luscious lips, her .... She was holding her breasts as she looked back into the mirror.

It was too late now, but she and Henry over did a good thing. If it had to happen, why didn't it happen with the model she finished the day before? Designed for a western wear store, the model was thirty-four, twenty-six, thirty-two. Hands with no fingernails to speak of, designed to hold a rope or a saddle, feet for cowboy boots, almost no makeup, and a short bob of hair.

Karen felt she could have accepted an adjustment like that. She wished with all her heart, she could return to her old self again. She knew she wasn't pretty but at least it was her. No use crying over spilled milk. Karen put on a bra and a slip and ate a piece of toast for breakfast. She brushed her teeth and picked out a rust colored shirtwaist dress to wear to work. Henry certainly had good taste in clothes, if one could call it that. Everything was short and obscenely sexy. Karen felt as if more skin was showing from the top and bottom of her dress than what it covered. The deep plunging neckline was accented by her black lacy slip. She finished dressing and was getting concerned about David. He should have been there by now. Maybe, she should find a dress that didn't show so much of her?

David drove up and slumped in the seat as he waited on Karen. It had been THE worst night of his whole life. And, he looked like it. His eyes looked like two piss holes in a snow bank, he had a stubble of beard he forgot to shave, and he looked and felt like death warmed over. For sure, it certainly hadn't been his best night.

Watching for his car, she saw him pull up out front. Before he could collect his thoughts, she was out the door and down the sidewalk. David watched as she came out of the house. This certainly looked as if it could be a rerun of yesterday. She still took his breath away. She also looked good enough to eat. Karen asked a silly question yesterday. Mac would remember her as long as he lived. Without a doubt, David knew he would.

With David's lab coat over her arm, she slid into the seat and turned around to her favorite position. She took an incredulous look at David. His shirt was buttoned crooked, and only half of it was tucked in his pants. His tie was halfway done. His hair was disheveled and looked like a mop. His clothes were wrinkled and looked like he had slept in them. Down to his different colored socks and untied shoes, she couldn't believe this was David who was always the epitome of the neat corporate image.

"You look like hell."

"Thanks, I needed that."

"You shouldn't have worried all night. It doesn't do much for your social behavior the next day. I’m going to mark your report card, you don't play well, nor get along with others after a bad night."

He didn't answer her wit. She was right. He didn't feel like joking nor getting along with others. Mostly he was running his mind back over yesterday and hoping today wouldn't be a repeat. In fact, he fervently prayed, today wouldn't be a duplicate of yesterday. He couldn't take two days in a row.

He glanced her way as he pulled away from her driveway. He had to tell her what he was thinking. "Sink or swim, I hope you stay away from my lab. I’m not sure I’ll be able to repair the damage you did yesterday. I’m barely here myself. You can bet your inheritance, Al and Jr. aren't coming to work with the lab on their mind. I know without a doubt, I'll have to go down to the cafeteria to get them. They will be busy telling every single person in the place, about 'the model' walking into my lab yesterday. Maybe, everyone will think they have been drinking the mouse juice."

"David, I’m not your problem. I wouldn't have dragged you into this if there was any other way. If you feel I’m endangering your work or compromising your position with Comm Tech, then take me back. I will drive my own car. You did more than your share when you helped me get into my lab yesterday. If I knew you felt this way, I wouldn't have asked you to drive me home. It was foolish of me to let you take me to work. I was alone and scared. I thought you were there to help since you were already in my house. I’m sorry. The past couple of days, I haven't been thinking too straight. Please, take me home. I won't bother you anymore."

He pulled up to the stop sign before jumping onto the highway, and turned to look at her. The look on her face told him she was serious about going back. He felt like a heel. She was in deep trouble. Her whole world had been destroyed, and he was partly to blame. He design engineered the chemical splicers that did this to her. Now all he could think of were his own petty problems. If what happened to her had happened to him, would he be able to take it as well as she had? Definitely not, he would have slit his own throat as soon as he looked in the mirror. Here he was telling her to stop asking for support because he didn't want to get involved. Short bad nights do that to a guy. It was the only excuse he could think of.

"I’m sorry again, Karen. Seems all I do any more is apologize to you for being stupid. Of course, I want to help. I didn't believe you at first but I still helped you, didn't I? Deep down inside my little brain where stupid doesn't control my thoughts, I must have known who you were. I can't help it if sometimes I have a canary brain running an alligator mouth."

David pulled off the highway past the gate guard. The graveyard shift was there along with Mac. As he drove through the gate, both guards leaned down for a better look into David's car. Mac waved them on through, but David and Karen both heard Mac shout at the other guard.

"See, I told you! It’s her, isn't it? Now, pay up."

Karen had been thinking about what David said to her. She knew he didn't need to worry, but how could she possibly convince him of that? If Henry said he would take care of them, then he would. "I don't know what Henry has in mind, but he will get us through the day. You believed in him when he told you to stay with me last night. Stop worrying, David. It will make an old man out of you."

He heard her, but he was more interested in all the people in the parking tower. It took him less than a second to comprehend why they were there. He knew this would happen. All the people who had seen Karen the evening before called all their friends. Everyone wanted to talk about the model leaving the parking tower. Now it seemed, everyone was waiting there to see if it was true and, if she was coming back.

David felt like the Judas goat leading the lambs to slaughter. He brought Karen back into the same mess they escaped from yesterday. Why hadn't he taken her and run away someplace? His work wasn't important enough to put her through this. They already knew the process was irreversible. Why were they hanging around? He made up his mind. Karen didn't deserve this.

He was about to pass by his parking space when Karen pointed to it. "David, your parking space. Pull in."

Instinctively he turned the steering wheel, the same way he had for the past fifteen years. He cussed himself mentally as he stopped. This wasn't what he intended to do. Karen was out of the car almost as soon as the wheels stopped rolling. It kept him from backing out and leaving. He turned off the ignition and met her at the back of the car.

First it was quiet. Then they could hear people talking as they turned toward the building.

"It's her."

"Ron, do you see her? Did anyone bring a fucking camera?"

"Sue, you work in administration. Where does she work? What's her name? What do you mean, you don't know?"

With his hand in the small of her back, David pushed Karen at a fast walk. If he could have made her run, he would have. They reached the building, and once again Henry locked the door behind them for a couple of minutes. David gave a mental note of thanks everyone was outside the building. No one had thought of waiting for her inside. Their labs would offer a respite from the curious for a while, until the wheels in this place started rolling. David hoped those wheels didn't roll over him. All hell was going to break loose and someone would have to pay. He was afraid that someone, would be him. Ah, what the hell, if they attempted to abuse Karen, they could take their job and put it where the sun didn’t shine. He would tell them what he thought of this entire company.

Looks were exchanged as they parted company at David's lab. He pretended to unlock his door as she continued down the hall. After she turned the corner, he followed along, tiptoeing on the balls of his feet to prevent her from hearing his footsteps. Cautiously he waited until she entered her lab, daring to expose only enough of himself to watch from the junction of the hall. As hard as he was trying to make her think he was disgusted with getting involved, he found himself caring for her well-being more than he wanted to admit.

Curiously, Henry observed David's antics through the hall cameras. Both amused and delighted with what he was seeing, he logged it into study on human psychology.
Karen found DANGER RADIATION LEAK signs posted in her hallway and on her door. She knew it was a lie. No one on her side of the building used atomic material, except David. The infinitesimal amount he used certainly didn't constitute a radiation leak, even when it was out of its’ container. He used it for tracers in his research to find where he cut splices in his DNA spirals.

Henry sent out the interoffice memos directing the posting of the signs Karen saw in the hallway. There were several things he accomplished last night, but the one which took the longest was arranging for the signs. When humans are involved, it certainly takes a long time to get anything done. Then they usually managed to make a mess of it. They were supposed to put out quarantine signs, not radiation signs. He double-checked his directives. He had given the correct order. Why was it he had to put up with half-wits? Was Karen the only intelligent life among humans? This could stand some checking into.

Letting the guards follow Karen through the security cameras, and the confrontation with the gate guard the previous evening, was part of his plan. They couldn't hide Karen forever. It was best to get it out in the open once it started. The percentages were more favorable if they straightened this mess out immediately. The longer one let things go, the more difficult it was to face those problems.

As Karen reached her lab, he opened the door. "Get in here and don't dawdle. In spite of the signs, some people are still trying to get into this part of the building. Everyone wants to know where you are disappearing to. I may be able to discourage them, but just in case, I need to bring you up to speed before anyone questions you. With any luck, the percentages are excellent I can pacify them until tomorrow. I wouldn't count on too much luck right now. You're a real hot item in this building. Everyone is trying to locate you. If they do, it will mean more questions."

Karen was about to speak as she stepped inside, but for the first time in her life, Henry didn't give her the opportunity to talk when she wanted. He slammed the door behind her. "Wait a minute and listen up. You have to get your act together or we all go down the tubes. I can only do so much. The rest is up to you. I have David on the phone and I’m about two-thirds of the way through what I’m telling you."

Karen knew Henry was capable of carrying on several different conversations, about different subjects, and accessing input information while disbursing information himself. All this, while running one of her model programs and controlling the lasers. The human mind was capable of only one single thought, one subject, and one voice at any given instant. She usually didn't give Henry too much thought, but every now and then, he reminded her of what he was capable of and she felt especially proud of him. Like a mother with an exceptional child. He was her child.

Henry was still talking as she returned to listening. "You are Karen Long. You have the same background and personal history you always had. Nothing about you has changed. Your daddy and his brother both had a daughter at the same time. Both daughters were named Karen Long. Your cousin was the other Karen Long who worked here before you. I changed the records to reflect what I’m telling you. No one has looked at your personnel file since you started work here. The other day when Betty pulled your file, the only thing they were interested in was your picture, not your history."

"I gave you a week since you started working for this company. I wanted to give you more time but it wasn't possible. There wasn't anyway anyone would have believed you have been working here longer than a week, and not be noticed. A week is going to be tough sledding at best."

"You and your cousin have been working on the model who came out as a duplicate of you. When you consented to her and the computer taking a dimensional hologram photograph of you, you had no idea she would allow the model to be sold. It was supposed to be your project. You submitted new ideas and programming that made the model possible. It was only supposed to be a test of your engineering skills. If everything worked and it came out okay, the model was to be destroyed."

"Remember Karen was sick yesterday? Today, she is in the hospital with contagious hepatitis. They will check the hospital and she will be there. You and this lab are in quarantine today, provided they manage to get the signs straightened out in the hall. I guess we will have to settle for radiation exposure until then. Hope you don't come down with radiation poisoning in the meantime."

She lowered her head, closed her eyes, and shook her head. She had built a monster. At a time like this, he wanted to be a comedian.

"Anyway, you only have to answer questions by phone if you want to. If you don't, I will answer them myself. It'll give everyone a day to cool off. You need time to get use to being who you are. According to the lab reports you have already been tested to see if you contacted your cousin's disease. The tests will all be negative tomorrow. There are a lot of people at the head of this company. You will have to talk to most of them, but not until tomorrow. Everyone in this building wants to see the real model, Karen. You might as well make up your mind it will happen."

The phone was ringing but Henry had it on mute. He turned it on and looked at Karen to see how she would react. She didn't act as if she was ready to handle a conversation yet. "I got it. Relax, take a deep breath, get your mind adjusted for this and let me know when you are ready. This will be good training for you. You have to answer questions in person tomorrow. I can't substitute for you, then."

Although Karen didn't know it, her phone began ringing after she left last night. Calls to people who made the company work, were made by the security office after they checked her and David through the security files. It began as unbelief and was treated as a joke by most people, but there was that nagging doubt. By the time morning rolled around and people began coming to work, the phones throughout the plant began to heat up in earnest. There were wild rumors the model in room two had been a real person. The woman who ran the duplication department hired a model as a stand in for one of her own models. Everyone was talking about how the whole building had been conned by the lady in the duplication department. Every kind of story imaginable was being told, and then repeated in one form or another.

The personnel department and executives, who were high up enough in the company to have some clout were able to obtain information about the rumors. The security tapes and Mac's report from last night were hot items. Of course, security made their own duplicates of the tapes. Everyone who heard about the tapes was in personnel taking a look. The tapes from last night, along with the new ones of Karen arriving this morning, were busy running through the cassette recorder. The brass had found out which department Karen was in and were calling her lab. They were trying to get answers or an interview.

Bill Chambers was beating the top of his desk with one of his golf clubs. "Why didn't anyone tell me, the woman who posed for the model was working in one of our labs? How could someone like her become lost in the system? Think of the publicity we missed. Do I have to think everything myself? What do I pay you people for?

Betty didn't think this would be a good time to interrupt, so she let him rave on.

"We could have had pictures of her and the model together. Why do we have a public relations department if they can't put together a good public relations story when they have it dropped in their hands?"

"You call buddy. Tell him we want our model returned for some more pictures, and you get the real model up here right now. What's her name? Where does she work?"

Bill finally paused long enough for Betty to try and pacify him. "We must have missed her file when we looked yesterday. She has only been with us for a week. She and Karen Long are cousins. Her name is also Karen Long. She is in our human duplications department. Obviously, she knows what she is doing. I understand the model was her creation and design."

"I already called Bob Kincaid. I suggested he bring our model back. Bob said it was his model. If you wanted some pictures, then you could bring the real thing over to his place. He wasn't letting the model out of his store for any stupid photo session. He also said we should stop trying to..., uh, I can't repeat what he said. What he meant was, he didn't believe there was a real person who looked like his model."

David wasn't as lucky as Karen. Henry knew it would happen sooner or later. He didn't post any signs or try and keep anyone away from David's lab. After talking to David on the phone, Henry left him on his own. Henry knew David wasn't scared of any authority or power brokers in the building. He was a big boy, he could handle anything which came his way. Besides, sometimes it seemed David went out of his way to antagonize the brass. He would probably enjoy this.

After he finished talking to Henry, David attempted to get back to work but his phone began ringing. It was an official request from administration for an appearance. David was tempted to tell them what he thought, but he decided to wait and see what they had in mind. He wanted to know how they were going to treat Karen. All day long he went from one executive office to another. He had to keep explaining how long he had known Karen, what their relationship was, and any other dumb questions they could think of. It wasn't they were interested in talking to David. They wanted to hear straight from the horse's mouth, anything and everything about this woman who had turned Comm Tech upside down. If they couldn't get an interview with Karen, they would settle for talking to the man who was seen with her.

David told them he had known Karen over fifteen years, no, not this Karen, her cousin. He was introduced to this Karen last week, when she came to work. He figured someone would ask about the breech of security when she entered his lab. Not one single person thought to ask the question. It never occurred to anyone she was in a restricted area without clearance. Obviously, plant security was the last thing on anyone's mind.

He began to believe THIS Karen was the worst thing to ever happen to him. As a research scientist, he maintained an organized routine a sharp penciled bookkeeper would envy. Now she had come along and made a complete shambles of everything. Hell, why mince words. She had made a complete shambles of the whole damn building.

Because David came in contact with the old Karen who was supposed to have contagious hepatitis, the in-house medical staff made him give up some blood for testing. He had a heck of a time convincing them to not go into his lab with cotton swabs and petri dishes. Finally, he persuaded them he had a containment problem with radiation. The radiation signs, mistakenly posted at Karen's lab earlier, should have been posted in front of his lab.

Humpf, infectious hepatitis indeed, why didn't Henry keep him out of the middle of this mess? Karen had “promised”, Henry would look after him. Henry wasn't as good as she led him to believe. He decided he wasn't afraid of her computer. In fact, he had developed a strong dislike for Karen and her computer. No, strike that. Dislike wasn't strong enough word. Substitute hate for dislike. Yeah, this was what he felt toward those two, a real hatred. Every time he had to go talk to another executive, it grew stronger.

Finally getting a chance to return to his lab, David glanced at the wall clock to see if it was lunch time. The darn thing was reading four-thirty.

He asked no one in particular. "Is that the right time?"

As David was asking the question, Karen walked in the door and glanced up at the clock he was staring at. "Yes it is, and I’m ready to get out of here. Are you free to go now or do you have things to catch up on? That is, if you are willing to give me a ride home. If you prefer, I could call a cab."

The conversation this morning was still fresh in her mind. If David changed his mind about letting her ride with him, she didn't want him to feel obligated in anyway. However, the security she felt when she was with him, was a big help in holding her world together. She was hoping he didn't tell her to call a cab even after she gave him an easy out.

Across the room, Jr. and Al had their eyes transfixed on Karen. Neither one could believe she was back for the second day in a row. At least they didn't turn anything over this time. She looked their way nodded her head and smiled. She knew who they were, but she couldn't tell them that. They knew the Karen who worked on David's computer and wrote his programs. Would David still allow her to do that? Would he even want her to do it? Henry said the background was the same. She was still a computer engineer. At least she still had the same mind, even if the body wasn't the same. She was thankful the accident left her mind intact.

"Hi, you must be David's lab technicians? He has talked about you." It was small talk while she waited on David. She wasn't trying to get a conversation going.

Astonishment slowly spread to silly grins on their faces. David looked over at her and then back at them. He closed his eyes and shook his head. He couldn't blame them for the dumb grins on their faces. She was stunning to look at. He forgot about the hate he was building up all day. Could the same stupid look be on his face?

He thought about it and decided he didn't care one way or another. After all, she was riding with him. If he looked like his help at least she didn't tell him so. "Like I said yesterday, you killed my help. They’re both brain dead. I should have known better than to hire two orangutans. You pay peanuts you get monkeys.

He reached over and took her arm. If Henry didn't like it, he could go suck on an extension cord somewhere. Looking at her, David forgave her, but he was still disgusted with Henry. "Let's go. My day has been a living hell. I had meetings with brass all day. I hate brass. The only good part was, the conversations were about you. I loved their choice of subject material."

He didn't tell her he was thinking how much he hated her before she walked into his lab. One thing for sure, love her or hate her, she and that computer of hers had made his life interesting. He figured he would give her another chance, and then another, and another ...

As they walked out the exit door, Karen looked at the camera, smiled and waved. Arnold was out in the floor again and Jack was hanging on the back of his chair. Henry watched it all. If a computer could sigh, Henry did.

Henry made sure everyone received notice of Karen's quarantine so they would stay away from her. It worked, as most people kept their distance as she and David left the building. Yet, no one questioned why David was allowed to walk with her. It is a quirk of human nature they never question authority which seems to contradict itself. However, it didn't prevent them from looking her over from what they thought was a safe distance of ten feet, more or less.

Two days of lost work in the company for a large segment of the employees was more than Bill Chambers could stand. The rest of the week finally resumed some kind of normalcy and Karen found herself doing more public relations work than anything else.

Day three, the newspapers came out with a full page advertisement extolling the pride and commitment of Commercial Technologies and its employees to future science. The company was committed to progressively building a better future for everyone. There were several pictures of Karen's model and Bill Chambers, along with a company press release, praising the virtues of Bill's experience at the helm of the company. His skills and knowledge led to the exemplary science necessary to produce the lifelike models, coming from one of their research labs. Bill had been personally involved in the development of this model. If not for him, none of this would have been possible.

Betty was listed as head of Department Fifty Four. She was responsible under Bills tutoring, for everything coming together in the development of the model. Bill and Betty, the article went on, researched and were developing several other fine projects soon to be released from Comm Tech.

Everyone in the company was laughing and making jokes about Bill and Betty. No one was fooled into believing they were smart enough to develop a model like the one in room two. However, no one laughed about the newspaper articles in Karl Adders presence. Karl was livid he wasn't mentioned in the article or had his picture made with the model. He should have been designated head of Karen's department. He took every opportunity to tell everyone, including Bill Chambers, just that. It was man's destiny to run things and he was the one who hired Karen Long. It was against his better judgment, but under his guidance and expert leadership, she had finally made something worth while. It was his department.

After a couple of days of public relations work, Karen had more than enough. She called Bill and reminded him she couldn't do public relations and assemble models at the same time. An underground movie of Karen began circulating throughout the complex. It was made up of publicity shots and video, along with the security camera video. Karen became the number one topic in Commercial Technologies.

Karen didn't mind, but Henry thought it needed some control. He made up an internal memo directing extra restrictions on who accessed or removed the security tapes from the camcorders. Next he made up a company directive specifying all film or pictures displayed during working hours, would be confiscated. Needless to say, no one was about to risk loosing their pictures, and Henry's directives worked to a limited extent. Karen had become the number one pin-up inside the lockers and tool box covers. Her pictures remained on walls and bulletin boards. The one place where her portraits were bigger than life and prominently displayed, was in the visitors' entrance. Bill reluctantly let public relations display her larger than him. He didn't like it, but it would happen with or without his consent, so he grudgingly gave ground knowing he might as well give his approval.

News came back from the hospital. Karen Long was discharged and decided to return to the Oklahoma panhandle, where she was from. She wanted to be home for her long recovery from the hepatitis. After the short article in the company news letter about her release, the old Karen Ann Long silently disappeared from life. For all the years Karen had devoted to Comm Tech, no one noticed or cared, except Karl Adder. Now, he exerted renewed effort into talking Bill Chambers into appointing him head of Karen's department. Duplication Processes Lab Fifty Four belonged to him, and he aimed to get it. In his opinion, he was obviously the only one with the experience to run it. The new Karen Long didn't have enough knowledge nor enough tenure with the company, to be running any department, much less one this important. That department belonged to him.

Bill Chambers finally agreed. He dispatched a memo to administration directing they appoint Karl as head of Department Fifty Four. It was lost somewhere in the system. Karl Adder had his foot in the door and he wasn't about to let up now. He prodded Bill about his appointment. Bill assured him he would send another directive. Karl boxed up his personal things from his desk and waited for the memo directing him to take over Karen's lab. He had waited a long time for this. He was about to receive his just rewards.

Karl was still waiting for the directive, when Bill received an interoffice memo delivered by a special security courier. It bypassed all the other offices and the courier refused to hand it over to Betty. He was working under explicit instructions. Personal secretary or not, this memo was to be given directly to Mr. Chambers. It began.

Mr. Chambers, Chief Executive Officer, Commercial Technologies. It has come to my attention you plan to move Karl Adder into position as head of Duplication Processes Department Fifty Four. If you persist with this matter I will expose your, up till now, private affairs with some other personnel of this company. A person's secret affairs should remain so, unless that person is using his or her position irresponsibly. I have pictures and tape to prove my claims. If I publicly release my information, I’m sure your termination with this company would be immediate and you will definitely lose all retirement benefits.

I have copies of documents you signed in acquisitions of company equipment and cars you took home, used personally, and sold as your own. I also have documents proving you sold company secrets to competitors and put the money in your account number 1-8300-29 Public Bank, Muleshoe, Nevada.

After your termination with Commercial Technologies, I’m sure you will find prison very confining. One does not go out and play golf everyday. You will appoint Miss Karen Ann Long, official head of Duplication Processes Department Fifty Four, beginning immediately. She will have no department or person above her.
End of security memo:

There was no signature or department identification code. The security courier who delivered it was no help. When he returned to the communications room after break, it was on his printer with very explicit instructions as to how it should be delivered. No one but Bill was to see it. The courier was to wait for a reply, then run it through the paper shredder without showing it to anyone. He didn't mention to Mr. Chambers there was extra information on his computer as to what would happen if he didn't follow the instructions to the letter. The courrier’s job was on the line along with Mr. Chamber’s answer.

Bill, who normally was very bellicose when he talked, sat quietly looking at the memo. He picked up a scratch pad and wrote on it. ‘Done’.

He pushed the intercom button. "Betty, make a memo. Effective immediately, Miss Long is official head of Department Fifty Four. She is to have no other departments above hers. I have the security courier in my office. Give the memo to him when you are through. I don't want this to become lost somewhere between here and mail central. Make sure every single department in this building gets a copy. I don't want one copy circulated up the line. Every department gets their own personal copy. Understood? Direct the memos to be posted in every department. I want everyone to see it."

Bill motioned for the courier to leave. He left nothing to chance. The person or persons who sent the memo had to be in the building. If they had as much access to his private affairs as the note indicated, they would certainly get the chance to see the directive. He didn't have any faith the short note he sent with the courier would be seen. The courier said he had orders to shred it soon as he returned to the security office. The memos he ordered to all the departments might get someone's attention. The thought of going to prison certainly didn't appeal to Bill Chambers.