What really caught Theo's eyes was her lack of belly button and purple-ish eyes that seemed to swirl and mix like a cloud of gas. As she floated closer He noticed freckles scattering her body colored like her eyes and somewhat iridescent. She stopped a foot away from his face and smiled, her silver colored hair floated back and forth while covering her ears. A small nose and soft lips confirmed in Theo that she was beautiful. “This shouldn't hurt” she whispered. It hurt.

20XX

The popular name for it was the “Stargate” or “Monolith”, neither movie reference properly described the 'interstellar debris/bomb/starship', but it did a good job of making it much less frightening. Nicknames weren't the only thing people used to cope; movies/television fictionalized the 'object', never-ending hordes of monsters pouring out of the 'wormhole' or the 'device' was the modern day burning bush or book ends of our story spectrum. Unfortunately for earth the 'Alien' didn't appreciate a good story arch and promptly stood still at its landing/crash site since its arrival.
If only it hadn't been suspended 20 feet in the air and was the size of a basketball court, people could begin to ignore and forget about it. Amazingly the first groups of people to actively ignore the 'construct' were conspiracy theorists, having deduced that the 'UFO' was a government feint, because no g-man worth his salt would let such a 'weapon' become public knowledge. The crackpots' faith in the government made the idea of a bloated, inefficient governing body which couldn't respond to an earth shaking situation quicker than the local media a quaint and an uneducated point of view. Not much later the general public learned to look at the 'portal' as a landmark, a weird landmark in Central Park but New Yorkers were used to looking at weird stuff.

--------------------

Theo's directionless life agonized and depressed him every night. He'd lie in his bed drifting off to sleep; at twenty seven years old his only accomplishments were a long string of low level jobs and some credits from a community college. His nightly thoughts would usually end at the subject of his pathetic sexual and romantic exploits. He found it harder and harder to live as a virgin but harder still to find a girlfriend, 'why would they even be interested in me anyways', he often thought. He knew it was his personality to blame, at 5'11 and an average build with fairly attractive facial features, part of his mind understood he had a good chance at love.

With a controlled beard and a constant supply of Converses to put on his feet he felt cool sometimes, so cool, in fact, he doubted girls would even notice. The past few years for him went like this; wake, work, read, video game, Internet, and minimal human contact . His schedule 'slightly' changed when the 'starship' landed; he was working 20 or so blocks away, so with a quick and frantic run to the park he found his direction. A Government grant for schooling and AV club experience got him a job and as the documenter for a team led by his theoretical physics professor. The waning public/government interest in the 'object' opened up opportunities for private companies and learning institutions to rent out time to research the 'device'. 90% of the renters were colleges.

--------------------

A crisp cool September's morning saw a small group of college students and their professor loading up their respective cars in preparation. Theo's compact was filled to the brim with camera equipment and various tools of the trade, he was happy he fit everything in without sacrificing the use of 2nd and 4th gear. Looking over the top of his car he spotted his professor and called out “I think I'm pretty much ready, even got the smores packed in.”

“Yeah, I got my fishing pole in here just in case.” replied Professor William Locke, finely aged to 48 years and sporting a bald head, glasses, stubble, and a slight build. Taking from a kids hall sketch and changing slightly; 'He's Hip, He's Cool, He's Freud' was the way Theo would always remember Doctor Locke.

“Looks like everyone is ready, let’s get out of here!” Beth excitedly said. Cute and pixie like Beth was the “Velma” of the group, glasses included, the only difference was the rumors of Velma's orientation weren't rumors for Beth. She was fun and easy to talk to for Theo, He often wished he was a lesbian(it never came into his mind to wish her straight).

“Yes let’s, who is riding with me?” Dr. Locke asked

“I will, Professor,” Heather volunteered. Ginger haired and curvy, Heather was much too attractive for the male dominated class to take. The awkward and nerdy male class members never moved past their ogling phase and Heather responded by dressing more conservatively but stylishly. Theo had formed a crush on her as did most of the class, but never in a billion years did he think of trying to become anything closer to her than an acquaintance. He felt like a boy compared to her, though younger than him she seemed so put together, so adult... no way she would be interested in him.

“I guess you're with me, Beth.” David said as he inspected my crammed car. Lanky and as shy as Theo, they become good friends, same taste in shows and video games. Most of their conversations were back and forth quotations of the Simpson's, Futurama, and Mr. Show and various other cult media that only really made sense to other geeks.

“Saddle up!” Theo commanded.

--------------------

The section of park where it 'landed' was in the southern corner by Columbus Circle. After the 'object' was deemed mostly safe, the government cleared out the trees, flattened the ground and build a lab around the 'bottom' of the 'object', and the lab was split into two sections by the 'object'. Climbing the stairs up to the lab, Theo gazed at the 'StarSeed' as he called it. Far from being poetic the name he gave it was quite literal, It came from space hence 'Star' and it looked like a sunflower seed ala 'Seed'. The two big differences were; its immense size and its glass-like composition, 'If someone could put a nebula into a glass bottle, this is what it would look like' he thought.

--------------------

“Recording.”

“Thank you, Theo. Now kids, just follow the list of experiments, record the results and continue,” stated Dr. Locke.

“You think we'll find the door on this thing, doc?” jokingly asked David.

“When it opens, get ready to say 'My gawd, it's filled with stars'.” Theo quipped .

“I think we can crack this thing, I mean, did all those teams of super scientists have college sophomores who could rapid fire movie quotes like you two can?” Dr. Locke replied back

'No expectations' was the keyword of their scientific outing, every super power of the world had time with the 'monolith'. The result from every one was 'nothing'. X-rays, gamma rays, nearly everything, passed through it like nothing was there, all except visible light and curiously, sound. Sonar tests proved either the inside of the 'object' was transfinite or the matter of the 'thing' didn't vibrate or move.

“Could this be 'Dark Matter'?” asked Beth.

“When we figure out what 'Dark Matter' is I'll tell you.” Dr. Locke said smiling while staring at the 'monolith'.

“I think it’s a drive core from a saucer, it's obviously not affected by gravity” David stated.

“Then, why did it fall down to earth?” Heather pointedly asked.

Raising an eyebrow, David said “Programmed to land on nearest planet for pickup , it was probably up here since Roswell”.

“Oh that's YOU calling up Coast to Coast AM every night!” beth exclaimed.

“Duh huh huh huh” David mock laughed dumbly to signify he had no snappy response.

“There's no way the reptilians that rule the government made this thing, it's too advanced” Theo stated as he walked along the side of it and ran his hand along its surface. It felt like his hands were magnets and the surface was repelling his hand, the absence of a sense of texture bothered him. Forgetting the joking, everyone stood in silence and gazed at 'it', thinking, waiting.

“I need a smoke” Beth called out.

“I join you” Theo said.

--------------------

Standing outside on a deck that circled the lab Beth took a petite puff of her cigarette and smiled at Theo “Do you have a girlfriend?”

“ Naw, Theo said with a cigarette in his mouth trying to put on the bravado of a casual sex-having bachelor “You?”.

“Currently? No, I've had a few, nothing ever serious, I'm surprised you haven't asked Heather out yet, I think she kind of likes you.”

“What? No, I...uh... I'm not good at talking to girls.”

“You're doing fine now.”

“Yeah, but you know you're not attracted to me and all that so that whole romantic flirt talk doesn't come up.”

“Uh huh.” she said looking out into the dimly lit park, To Theo she was opening him up and and exposing all of his guts. He left the conversation to wither out there as they looked over the skyline. He liked the restful silence they shared.

A wild hare took him ”What do you want that 'thing' to be?”

Beth looked over to him and grinned while rolling her cigarette in her mouth in contemplation. “A test... like some aliens send it down and to gauge our response, to see if our culture could take such a shock”

“I hope you’re right and I wish they'd hurry up and make an appearance, I’m getting bored of talking to humans.”

“Heh, yeah, I can't wait for small talk to be about space weather”

“It's pretty cold in space today, I'm glad I brought my heavy space suit this morning” said Theo in his best mid-western accent.
“At least it's a dry cold, ay.” Beth said in her Fargo impression.

“well... Best be gettin' back to work, those cars won't anti-gravity themselves.” Theo said scratching his belly.

“Yep” Beth smiled, putting out her cigarette.

--------------------

The girls and boys split to separate labs to sleep, so when the scream came it was muffled through a glass door. The guys woke startled and confused, looking to each other for the source of the scream. Beth burst through the door as much as a tiny girl could, dressed in pj's. “THERE'S A HOLE IN IT!”

Pants were hastily thrown on and the boys followed Beth into the second lab. Nearly stretching to the ceiling, the 'hole' was about 15 feet high and 8 feet across in the shape of the 'object' itself. “I woke up to... get some water and it was just there.” Heather quietly said while staring at the 'aperture' as if waiting for a hell beast to emerge.

The professor neared the hole with a quiet step . “Amazing! It looks like a tunnel, an opening in space and time maybe, or the inside is bigger than the outside. I wonder.” He sidled up to the hole and felt the edge.

“Why did it open now?” Heather asked, The guys interpreted the question as rhetorical.

“I say we ask whoever is on the other side.” Beth exclaimed, Theo could almost see the imaginary adventures playing out in her head.

“Let’s go learn a new language!” Theo trumpeted, He was sure the adventures playing out in his mind were shared by Beth.

“Whoa,. whoa, whoa... you're not going through there!” Dr. Locke demanded “I'm not letting my students walk through a potentially dangerous hole in space even it isn't dangerous and there is someone on the other side, I'm not comfortable having a couple of college students be the representatives of earth.”

“You could do worse.” Theo pointed out.

“Even so, I don't want you going into that hole” the Professor said.

“Yeah we should at least wait for someone with a tri-corder or something to tell us it's safe” David cautioned.

“Yes, we need to get some officials, government, people who trained for this for this kinda of situation” Professor Locke agreed. “We need to call everyone who needs to know about this, and please for the love of God, STAY HERE!” Dr. Locke said walking backwards towards the door. The group watched Dr. Locke back up to the door and fumble with the handle while his eyes where still locked onto the hole. As the door clicked shut and the professor was out of sight, Theo and Beth turned to each other.

“If the Men in Black get here we'll never get to see the other side of that portal.” Theo said in a hushed tone

“Fuck that, let’s go before he get back” Theo found he liked when the word 'fuck' came out of Beth's lips, it made her cuter than before to Theo. They gave each other a nod and turned to the tunnel. “Now or never, guys, are you going to join us?” she called over her shoulder.

“No” Heather meek-ed out. The look of terror that played over her face tugged a few heart strings in Theo.

“David?”

“Come on dude, don't go, don't make me break the bad news to your parents.” David pleaded. Theo could see his point of view, too many unknowns. Neither of them went to many parties because of the same frame of mind, but he wasn't going to stray from his 'direction' now. He felt a real need to step into that unknown and it would not be denied.

“Sorry bro, I've got to...it's my destiny”

“Haha, bullshit!” David laughed. “ go if you have to, then, but be safe, okay?”

“Sure thing” Theo turned to Beth. Another nod and they took their first step into the hole.

--------------------

After a few steps into the 'aperture' the gravity they knew and loved decided to abandon them. Luckily for Theo and Beth, momentum carried them down the tunnel toward the ever-growing daylight. “Got to think of something smart to say when we get there.” Theo suggested.

Beth grinned “I hope these aliens don't mind waiting for you.” Theo started to form his response when a bright flash of light passed through them. The sound of warping metal mixed with high voltage arcing quickly followed the light. Covering his ears, Theo's heart dropped at the sight of the tunnel bending and warping around them. His attention went to Beth when he saw shewas floating 15 feet ahead of him.

“BETH! Try to 'swim' back to me!” He paddled his legs in vain while reaching out to Beth.

“We've got get to the end before this thing collapses!” Beth screamed

It felt like hours to Theo as he tried he best to tread through the air towards the end of the tunnel. He estimated that he had about 25 feet to go when a compression blast of air pushed the pair apart, he fell farther into the tunnel. “BETH” Theo yelled. His vision was filled with white light and his ears deafened by the silence he was now in. The next thing he experienced was his body falling apart.

--------------------

Gravity embraced Beth again and pulled her to the ground, knocking the wind out of her. Coughing and sputtering Beth lifted herself up to her knees, she sat there with eyes closed trying to catch her breath. With breathing under control and her eyes adjusted to the bright daylight Beth took her first look around.

Sand as far as she could see. Black sand in fact, much like the black sand beaches of Hawaii. Littered in the foreground of her vision were settlements. Their white color contrasted against the black sand quite beautifully and their shape reminded Beth of a shark's fin.

“Do you see this?” she asked... no response. Beth looked behind her expecting to find Theo lying passed out on the ground. All she found was the 'object' buried in the sand 10 feet away and more importantly the tunnel she came out of was gone.

“No...Theo”

When the shock and grief faded Beth wondered why there was no one here to greet her. Getting up to her feet and Looking up into the blue sky she glimpsed the massive star that heated this planet. She licked her parched lips and looked to the settlements and decided to start walking.

--------------------

“Hello?” a soft female's voice called out

Theo's ears perked and he opened his eyes to look around for the source of the greeting. Still weightless he found him self in a void surrounded by a nebula. his thoughts of the girl's voice were replaced by the fact that he was breathing. “How?”

“I made a bubble of atmosphere for you.” replied the same voice. Theo looked around wildly for the girl he just heard.

“Who are you?” he asked to the void.

“That would be kind of hard to tell you right now” She answered

“What? Why?” He couldn't pin down where the voice was coming from.

“Well you are a creature of 3 dimensions and I am not, so trying to explain would be pointless with your current point of view, like explaining color to a blind person.”

“I see”

“Oh, a joke!...it's been a along time since I've heard a joke” 'Where ever she is, she must be cute' Theo thought.

“and how long has that been, may I ask?”

“A little bit before the creation of this universe”

“how can you be older than the universe?” Theo asked in disbelief.

“Well I'm not as old as the universe, but I went to the beginning”

“Huh...where am I? And where is my friend?”

“Your friend made it through to the end of the 'Fold' , you, though, did not and fell into “extra dimensional space” extra to you anyways.” Theo detected some concern in the disembodied voice. It was strange to Theo that this entity/alien appeared to have very human like emotions. “It was awful, all your organs and bones falling out of you, I find myself wondering from time to time how you creatures don't fly apart all the time.” she/it paused as if in deep thought but Theo felt like it was more for his sake. “I almost forget, I was like you”

Theo chewed on that last comment for a while before responding “Well, thank you for saving me”

“You're welcome!”

“I'm Theo, by the way”

“Hello, Theo”

“Um... can I ask what your name is”

“Oh, a name? I haven't used a name in while, I guess you could call me SATAN or GOD which ever one strikes more fear in your heart!” she said with a follow up giggle.

“Heh okay...so I've got ask, were you one of the aliens who built the gate”

“Nope” she paused again perhaps waiting for Theo to ask a follow up question. “I am the “Gate” it's like my 'footprint' into your home dimension.”

“Wait, I don't quite understand.” I'm trying to downplay my ignorance to a ancient being, Theo thought. “Why did you make the “gate” then?”

“Cause”

“For fun? Is that all you do with your abilities?” Theo asked

“And make sure the universe is a habitable place for all life” she said almost off handedly.

“How's that?” he wondered why his statement came out sounding disbelieving.

“I bleed off the excess gravity from the universe” Theo was about to respond, but she cut him off. “just ask your professor when you get back”

“Okay”

“I should put you back now, but first I have to alter you.”

“WAIT... why!?”

“you wouldn't survive the trip back, you'd fall apart again.” Theo really hoped she was being sincere. “I've got to patch all those 'holes' on you, don't worry, you'll still have two arms and legs.”

“Thank God for that”

“You’re welcome” she joked? “and tell your friend hi for me!” as she said that her voice became more localized in front of Theo. Fading and twisting into his view 'she' appeared. Slim and elven in appearance she was definitely human looking and very naked. Her small breasts and thin hips gave her a graceful and almost prepubescent look. What really caught Theo's eyes was her lack of belly button and her purple eyes that seemed to swirl and mix like a cloud of gas. As she floated closer, he noticed freckles scattering her body colored like her eyes and somewhat iridescent. She stopped a foot away from his face and smiled, her silver colored hair floated back and forth while covering her ears. A small nose and soft lips confirmed in Theo that she was beautiful. “This shouldn't hurt” she whispered. It hurt.

--------------------

He felt sand on his naked skin and the hot wind blowing in hair. “Beth” he called out in a unfamiliar voice. He pulled his face out of the sand and opened his eyes. Black sand everywhere and the open 'Gate' 100 feet behind him, his gaze finally fell onto the settlements that were a half a mile away. Looking down to get his footing Theo saw the extent of 'her' alterations. He could now use the same words to describe his own body as he did for 'her'. Theo raised his small hands up to his breasts and cupped them. “Oh shit.” He let his left hand trace down his chest, past where his belly button should have been and stopping at his pussy. The touch of his fingers on his new genitalia sent strange messages to his brain which sent signals to his stomach to empty itself. He hunched over and dry heaved into the sand while tears formed in his eyes. “What the fuck...”

Theo's thoughts raced in his head; Is this real? How am I going to prove I'm me? How will my family respond? What will the world think of me? WHY?! The panic was fading and his brain started to remember why he was here. “BETH” his mouth horsed. Raising himself awkwardly to his feet, he spotted the closest settlement and started walking.

He reach the entrance of the structure and leaned against the hexagonal shaped ceramic bricks that the building was made up of. Looking into the dimly lit interior he called out “Hello!...Beth?”. The sound of sand scraping on tile came from a kitchen like room to his right. He plodded over to a table made of stone block and looked to the corner of the room. Beth was propped up on curved corner of the room with her eyes closed. He neared her, he saw her dirty clothes and dry and cracked lips, 'how long has she been here?' he thought. “Beth” he said softly while touching her arm to wake her.

“Wha...who?” she mumbled

“Beth, are you alright?”

“No one is here” Beth said in a sleepy tone with her eyes still closed.

“We need to get out of here, you're very dehydrated, can you walk?”

“Did Theo make it?”

“Beth...I'm Theo.” he gulped.

“No...” Beth started to cry but no moisture escaped her eyes.

“Beth? It's me” but Beth pulled away. “Beth, you aren't crazy! I'm real.” she didn't respond, 'She must think this is a hallucination' Theo said to himself. “Come on Beth, we're going home” Theo grabbed her arms to pull her up. He managed to get up to her to her feet despite being in a much weaker body. She swayed back and forth upon seeing Theo for the first time she fell back into the corner while staying on her feet. “I'm as short as you now” Theo said to the shocked and unresponsive Beth. He put his back to Beth and said “Come on Beth, put your arms around my shoulders” He grabbed her hands and put them around his neck. He bent over and hoisted Beth onto his back. Holding on to her upper arms he started trudging back into the desert.

“Where are we goin'?” Beth whispered.

“Home”

“Wha planet is that?” Theo sighed.

--------------------

Weightless again Theo moved Beth in front of him and held her tight in case the 'fold' collapsed again. Gravity slowly took hold again, The feeling of growing weight on his naked chest made his stomach do flips. Theo dragged Beth from the 'fold' onto the lab floor. The clicks of safeties being disengaged brought Theo's attention to the large group of people surrounding him. A dozen scientists, an equal number of suits and three MP's holding M4s stood in silence, staring at Theo.

“Beth!” Heather called out, she pushed through the suits and looked Theo up and down nervously. 'Great, I look like an alien to them' Theo thought.

“Get her some water she's been severely dehydrated” Theo said as he push Beth towards Heather. Her eyes opened wide, not expecting to hear English come out of the 'Alien's' mouth. David stepped out from behind her and grabbed Beth and lifted her up into his arms, he looked back to Theo “Was there another one with her?” Theo lowered his head in pain 'They won't believe me, this is going to be hard'.

He raised his head and looked to his friend with a grimace “David, It's me, Theo”. David just stared down Theo then looked over to Heather and walked through the crowd to the cots.

A suit stepped forward from the group “What happened in there? Miss?”

“Theo, my name is Theo....Me and Beth almost made it through the 'fold'” Theo pointed over his shoulder to the hole “When the thing went unstable and we got separated, I woke up floating in some kind of nebula and this being talked to me.” He could tell they wanted more “She apparently built or somehow IS this thing” again pointing to the 'gate'. “She told me she is older than the universe but also not older and that she makes sure the universe is habitable for all life by “bleeding” off the excess gravity”.

“Wait, are you saying she's the reason gravity is a much weaker force than the others like electro-magnetism?” Dr. Locke asked while sliding into view.

“I guess so Mr. Locke” the Professor's eyes widened a bit, 'I have to keep surprising them like that, maybe they'll start to believe me' Theo thought. “Then she told me she was sending me back but had to alter me; 'patch all the holes' she said or I would die, and then I woke up on “Dune” like this” Theo gestured to his new body. “I found Beth in a ruined settlement, she must have been there for at least two days, Jesus... how long have we been gone?”

“3 hours” David called out, That fact was just another drop in the bucket of weirdness for Theo. Staring out into the middle ground Theo's mind went blank, A few people in the room recognized that he was 'shell shocked'. At that moment the suits in the room decided it was a good time for an impromptu conference, words like Alien, Unknown threat, and Quarantine were shared among them.

--------------------

It had been close to an hour since the 'Girl' went silent and unresponsive. In that short time Beth managed to gain some cognitive thought. Her eye's still fluttering she saw her friends seated beside the bed. “How did you find me? The gate was gone.” Beth said in sleepy tone. Her eyes started to close when they shot open wider than before. “Theo... did he...?”

“We didn't rescue you Beth, she did” Heather had been holding Beth's hand and using her free one she pointed over the foot of the bed. Beth shakily raised her head and peered in between a couple of G-men and saw her. “She's real?!” Beth breathed, Her second viewing filled in the gaps of her dreamlike first encounter. Her hair was a boy's hipster cut and the same shade as Theo's and poking out of her hair was her ears. Sticking about five inches from her head and they were shaped almost like a cat's but more slender and delicate; they were angled down. The combination of her open mouth, wide eyes and downcast ears telegraphed well feelings of hopelessness and sadness. “She said she was Theo” Beth mumbled.

“She said the same to us, too” David replied

“Could she be one of the inhabitants where you were?” Dr. Locke asked Beth.

“No one was there, no bodies.” Beth's eyes were closing.

“What about the fact that she speaks English and look at her hair it's like Theo's” Heather's tone said to everyone that she was still skeptical of the girl's claims that she was Theo.

“Could we test her? Ask her some questions only Theo knows?” Dr. Locke asked the group.

“I didn't even know Theo's last name much less anything personal.” Heather's comment sounded like a passing remark at a funeral.

“It's Holmes” David told Heather. “I've known him for about 7 months I think... Jesus! I don't even know if he had...” He looked over to the girl “...has any family.” lamented David.

Their silent recollections of Theo were interrupted by and sound of the door's air seal breaking and the commotion of feet. A baker's dozen of clean suits stormed the room, setting up a guard at the door and dishing out orders to the suits. The two spare clean suits circled around the sides of the alien girl with hermetically sealed body bag in hand.

“What's going on here!?” David yelled over the commotion.

Clean and the regular suits ignored David and continued with procedure. The two closed in on the vacant alien girl pulled the bag over her head. She didn't react until they had the bag down to her waist, she jerked around trying to fight them off. Her feeble struggles didn't slow the clean suits who each had at least a 150 pounds on her.

“NOOOOO....PLEASE DON'T...” she moaned through the plastic bag. The gang could hear her starting to crying out in fear. The clean suits finished stuffing her in and sealed the writhing bag. Grabbing each end they lifted her up and carried her out of the air tight door.

“What are you doing!?” Heather called out in alarm.

“Quarantining the alien” The closest Suit told them. “removing the contamination and sealing this area in case of foreign diseases.”

“They're sealing us in!?” David questioned.

“Yes, for the standard 30 days” The suit said turning his back to the gang and walking off to the other suits.

“Fuck me.” David muttered.

“Where...are they taking Theo?” Beth mumbled half asleep.

To Be Continued...

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Update: proofed and edited by djkauf, thank you.
Authors note: My first time really writing and I just finished this. I should probably wait until I have some of the second part done before posting but I was too excited. The part about how weak gravity is compared to the other forces(Electro-magnetism,Weak Nuclear force,Strong Nuclear force) is true. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesseract maybe this will help you get into my mindset of higher dimensional space. Also called a 4th dimensional hypercube, the cube shown is a "shadow" of a 4D cube, remember that in 4th dimensional space the cube would have all 90 degree angles unlike the picture in the wikipedia page.

Her chest tightened after seeing the next set of images. “Little is know what happened to the fifth member Theo Holmes, the official press released today is saying he was either lost and or killed in the 'fold'”. The screws were tightening harder in her chest

"Monolith"

Contact

The “Monolith” was a world affair and the US government quickly learned it couldn't keep a monopoly on it. It tried its best to keep a tight rein on access to the “Monolith” at first but information leaked here and spilled there, and soon every world government was demanding access. Within a month resources and data about the “Monolith” were shared with nearly every world leader and another month after that to the general public. By the time “Contact” happened, the government was resigned to the fact that anything to do with the “Monolith” wasn't go to stay a secret for long.

--------------------

+8 days
A White House press conference was staged and sparse details of the events of eight days ago were revealed. If anything was learned during the press conference it was the fact that the White House press secretary could repeat “Sorry I couldn't answer that at this time” ad nauseam. One concession they gave the hungry press was a photo of the alien clad in a paper gown sitting behind thick glass. That photo was all the contact Mr. Locke, David, Heather, and Beth had with Theo for over a month.

--------------------

+26 days
With some slight modifications, a CDC bio-hazard lab in Maryland it became the world's first extra-terrestrial quarantine zone. In the corner of building 8 stories up, A meeting of government officials and PhD's was in progress.

“We've finalized our medical analysis of the ET”

“Thank you, doctor, could you give us a synopsis?”

“Yes, At a height 5'1 and weight 103 lbs. 'She'...” The PhD looked to his other colleagues for approval of the title of 'she'. “She looks remarkably human like, save for the lack of bellybutton and her elongated ears. The lack of bellybutton didn't exclude her from being mammalian but further examination determined she is sterile and lacks milk producing breast tissue. That fact gave credence to our theory 'she' was designed.” The PhD shuffled and sorted her papers, in expectation of a question she knew was coming.

“Designed for what?” one of the older suits asked.

“We couldn't say. As for her internal structure she lacks many functional organs. Like her lungs, they take in air but tests show she either doesn't process the air, or she doesn't expel carbon back out. As for her heart and circulatory system, to the best of our knowledge, their only function is to distribute heat through her body and maybe carry nutrients. Her digestive system seems to be functional and extremely efficient, what little she eats is broken down and passed through her urine. As for her brain; it has no distinct areas or compartments and is totally devoid of folding or wrinkling. MRI scans and tests show external stimulation of any sort is processed in the whole mass of her brain but activity we associate with higher thinking is absent in her brain. Example; we gave her a test where we asked her to think about images we showed her. Her brain would light up with the activity of seeing the new image but paths of activity would stop or end in seemingly random areas of her brain. To put it plainly, she should not be able to think much less function with the brain patterns we saw. Then again we don't have another ET to compare her to, so she might be normal for an alien.”

“Interesting, doctor, But some of us are still wondering if she could be a threat or dangerous.” the same Suit asked.

“Physically? No, she has average strength and stamina for a human female her size. The only threat she could pose that I see, is culturally. But it's been what? 18 days since the government announced her existence and we haven't had any civil wars or mass riots yet.”

“Thank you, doctors” The older suit got up and gave out firm handshakes all around “now please excuse us, we're going to meet with the presidential cabinet and decide our next course of action.”

--------------------

+31 days
It had been harder and harder to get to sleep, at first Theo would wake in the middle of the “lights out” hours but now it was difficult to become sleepy. She was thankful they didn't see her as a big enough threat to deny her TV, books, and paper.

So Theo took up writing in a journal with a unhealthy zeal, partly in boredom and partly in fear. It started when she realized her semi unconscious actions like going to the bathroom and her posture were radically changed without her noticing. 'How long have I been thinking like a girl?' was her first journal entry. Her feelings of awkwardness and embarrassment poured out onto the pages. Blood tests, x-rays, Cat scans, MRIs, and a whole page dedicated to her first gynecological exam. Her smaller status and its impact on her relations with the lab technicians. The first 20 days, where the only people she saw were behind glass. When the door first opened and Barbra walked in, treating her almost like a child. Her heightened moods and jags of unstoppable crying. Watching the discussion of the alien on the news and no mention of Theo. Headaches and ghosts in the corners of her eyes and hallucinations of cross-section objects and people. Theo felt like it was a race against time before she lost her mind.

“Morning, Theo” the writing stopped and Theo looked up as his “human liaison”, Dr. Barbra Fleming walked thought the door seal. Theo would of guessed her age at about 45 years, her look and demeanor was that of a Jane Goodall of aliens.

“Hello, Miss Fleming” Theo quietly said while pushing the small stack of journal papers to the side so Barbra could set down a small bowl of vegetables and fruit. Theo poked through the bowl and started to eat while Barbra took a seat across the table and watched.

Dr. Barbra had been there since the start of Theo's confinement, leading the team which studied her. Even though she had been the one running all the tests and examinations, she also had been the one to hold Theo's hand and talk to her when she was scared and feeling lonely. Theo's treatment had certainly not matched her nightmare visions of being strapped down to a table and tortured and she knew Barbra was the reason for that.

“Am I ever going be to let out of here?” Theo learned that with her new tiny fragile body and soft voice she could drop massive pity bombs with the slightest effort.

“The government is still deciding, hun, so you've got to be patient, okay?” Dr. Fleming knew by now that she was playing it up but it didn't stop her heart from breaking a little. Theo lowered her head farther towards the bowl of food.

The creature who sat in front of was not fitting into Barbra's idea/dream of what first contact would be like. When Barbra first saw her huddled and naked in the corner of the isolation room, she look to the other people in the room for a prankster. How could this be an alien? Evolution couldn't be so 'limited'. It took a day for her thoughts of pranks to move on. Her thinking brought her to the idea of a 'ambassador'. She's a bridge, a means of familiar communication, a stepping stone. That idea held sway in her brain until the alien started talking. She said her name was Theo and she was the man who disappeared into the 'fold'. Did they change that man into her? Did the alien make her think she was Theo? If so, then what did they do with that poor man, and why? Barbra took every opportunity to talk with the girl in hopes she could get some of the puzzle pieces in place. Conversation was slow at first as the girl was terrified of her situation, but the fear faded. Then she would answer every question, fill in every detail she could. She's trying to prove to us who she says she is. When Barbra realized that, the girl's story became very real to Barbra.

“I'm full.” Theo said pushing to bowl back to Dr. Barbra.

Barbra looked down to the half empty bowl “You're eating less and less every day.”

The look on Theo's face told Barbra that she hit a sore spot. Barbra reached out and put her hand on top of Theo's.

“You are still you, don't worry about things like your new appetite.”

Theo gave her a sad smile “I'll try”

--------------------

Theo's breasts bounced slightly as she sat up from the toilet. They still feel brand new some times Theo thought. Turning the faucet she put her hands under the cold water and looked up to her reflection. I look almost exactly like 'her' now. The last Theo part of her, Her hair grew quickly and her roots showed the same shiny silver of the being he had met. It had been a hard day when her hair grew longer than she was comfortable with. She asked for a hair cut knowing they couldn't cut off the silver hair and keep her original brown intact. Now her silver hair came down just past her long ears.

Walking out into the main isolation room she flipped on the television and started writing again. Her journal took up most of her attention, relegating the TV to background noise. Still scribbling away, the local news station came on.

“After a whole day of debriefing 3 college students and their teacher were released from quarantine today.” Theo head jerked up.

Dr. William Locke, Heather Brown, David Noble, and Bethany Nasso seen here.” Theo watched as they cut to footage of her friends being ushered out of a government building into a white van.

“We’re the group who discovered the 'fold' as experts are calling it and made first contact with the still unnamed extra-terrestrial.”

Theo's chest tightened after seeing the next set of images. “Little is known about what happened to the fifth member, Theo Holmes. The official press release today is saying he was either lost or killed in the 'fold'”. The screws were tightening harder in her chest “Theo is survived by his mother, Debra Holmes.”

Tears were pouring out of her eyes and she was short of breath. Theo paced back and forth between the overturned furniture as Barbra's voice came over the intercom.

“What happened?” the Doctor said almost breathlessly after a run

“THEY THINK I'M DEAD! DIDN'T YOU TELL THEM WHO I WAS?!”

Barbra sighed “They don't believe your story”

“W-W-Why?!” Theo cried

Barbra stayed silent for a while deciding what to tell Theo, she opted for brutal honesty “We...They think you're a construct, you don't even come close to fitting the mold for a biological life-form, Theo, our best guess is that you are an android.”

“They think Theo's memories were copied to you somehow, they think that! I believe you Theo!”

Theo's back was turned to Barbra, she couldn't even imagine the look on Theo's face. Who could? Theo swayed side to side and slowly shuffled to her bed and collapsed into it. Barbra's own eyes were misting up, what could she say to make it better? She dimmed the lights and let Theo cry alone.

--------------------

The gang rocked back and forth in silence as the shuttle took them to their respective homes. It had been a grueling and boring month in semi-isolation. Locked in with the suits and scientists that had been there when Beth and Theo came back out of the 'fold'. The scientists at least had a mysterious hole to study and discuss. Outside communications weren't made available to them until a week and a half after their quarantine. Monitored phones calls were made to their families telling them what they were allowed to. Their requests for news about the alien were outright denied citing “national security”. Discussion between themselves mostly centered around Theo and the alien girl. Every day they would bounce their new theories and ideas off each other, remarkably many of the theories matched or came close to those of the scientists studying the alien first hand. With no evidence to back up their ideas, “gut feelings” and hope played heavily in their conclusions. She just had to be Theo, any other outcome was too sad for them to think about.

After the mandatory 30 day quarantine they were bussed out to the Pentagon for a debriefing. They had testimonials in the morning and intensive interviews after lunch. After some “rinse and repeat” the suits were satisfied that their stories were accurate and without holes. Late afternoon they were grouped together in a meeting room and the threat of treason was waved in front of their faces. When the proper amount of fear was obtained the suits gave them most of the information they wanted. She was safe, unharmed and still quarantined in an undisclosed location. Her composition was far stranger than anything the scientists studying her could imagine. They thought she was an Alien ambassador, a stepping stone to first real alien contact. Theo was brought up, but the suits felt she wasn't really Theo and if she was, integration back into society wouldn't be “feasible”. The gang did strongly object but the suits reminded them they had no say in the matter.

David swivelled around in his seat to face the others “I was thinking, we've become pretty famous, we could started up a petition or something, force the government to release her.” he said in a conspiratorial tone.

Beth eyed the driver “Yeah, they can't just make us disappear.”

“Are we going to tell the press that we think she's Theo?” Heather asked.

“We have no evidence to back our claim and plus it would sound crazy, it even sounds crazy to me some times.” Dr. Locke said to the van's window. Locke turned to the group “They can't keep her locked up forever, the public wouldn't allow it, the best we can do is to make them release her earlier than they wanted to.”

“Let’s meet up later and form some kind of plan of attack” Beth shook her fist as if her plan involved actual combat.

The others nodded their heads.

--------------------

The lights were set low for night time hours and in the darkness Theo paced back and forth. She felt the same sense of claustrophobia as she did after the first few days she'd had been put in her cage.

What did her friends think? Did they believe the government?

Her mother...

She looked in vain for a escape, she needed to get out. The front of the room had a observational window and an air lock door. The glass was at least 6 inches thick, the door was heavy and locked and behind it was another sealed air lock door. She turned clockwise looking at the other walls. Windowless, she couldn't tell if she was above or under the ground. The vents on the ceiling measured about 3 inches across, it would be tight fit for just her hands. The bathroom; if somehow she could fit into the toilet, the system was closed and not connected to the city sewer tunnels. She spun back to the front of the room and blinked. She realized she had glanced over the 'other' sides of the room.

'Didn't this room have just four sides' she thought.

She turned to a direction no one could turn to or point at.

“Oh” she mumbled

She walked around the room into the hallway. She was in the straight hallway that was in front of the isolation room. Guards stood at each end looking at her in surprise.

“HEY! STAY WERE YOU ARE” the guard to her right yelled

She frantically looked at each guard who were edging nearer and nearer with their hands on their sidearms. They were 10 feet away when she saw an empty hallway and ran. She glanced 'behind' herself and saw the guards were standing frozen in shock while looking at the place she had been standing. Whipping her head back she scanned the hallway around her and saw that she was on the 3rd floor of an eight floor building. She wound through the corridors and descended stairs in a rush. It seemed to her there was a new guard or suit at every turn but there was always an empty hallway to run down to avoid capture. She finally made it to the ground level and turned the last corner to the exit. The same two guards she first saw where stationed at the doors.

They spotted her “Hey! Stop! Please! We won't hurt you, just please come back with us.”

“Don't disappear again, will ya?” the other said.

She slowed down to a walk and surveyed the situation.

“Thank you” one said in relief.

She saw her opportunity and ran for the identical exit that wasn't guarded.
“Shit, she did it again!” cursed one of the guards

“What the hell was that?!” the guard yelled to the other while she busted through the doors into the chilly night. 'Why didn't I escape weeks ago?' she thought.

--------------------

+32 days
Beth stood in the dark looking out into the street through her blinds. A nondescript car was parked across the street, she noted the lack of a license plate. 'Why do they even need to keep tabs on me' Beth wondered. She pattered back into room and sat down in front of her computer. Beth would have hated to admit it but her apartment had a very “Hot Topic” feel to it. Posters of bands like Daft punk and Justice and cartoons like Invader Zim scattered her walls. A few plush characters laid on her bed would make Beth think of a fantasy slumber party with Totoro, Gir, and Nibbler.

She opened up her IM client and found David was online.
'I think the government is watching my house.'
'No shit?'
'Are they watching your place, too?'
'Dunno, let me check.'
'Why would they need to keep tabs on us?'
'Oh shit, I think I've got an FBI car sitting outside my place'
He continued 'maybe they want us to stay away from the press'
'idk'
'It's funny, I'm not even really freaked, it's not like I'm an international spy the worse thing they'll find is my tentacle porn room.'
'Ha ha gross'
The chat soon devolved into joking and little else. Beth was typing away when she heard a knock on the door. It took a moment for her brain to tell her that the knock was coming from her bedroom door.

Slowly she turned in her chair, before she swung around completely a soft feminine voice called out “Beth”.

Beth couldn't help but scream out before she saw the source of the voice. The girl, Theo, She was standing in the door way looking out of sorts. “You--Y--THEO!” she cried out “Fuck! You scared m---” she lowered her voice “How did you get out of their quarantine?!”.

Beth got out of her chair as Theo responded quietly “I...uh...kinda of just walked around it”

As Beth got closer she noticed what Theo was wearing. Hanging off her small and skinny frame was a white baggy tracksuit, it made Theo look like she came from the pleasure planet Risa in Star Trek. It was pure white but now it was stained with dirt and grime. 'No shoes, she ran here barefoot' Beth thought.

“You...you called me Theo...” Her lip quivered and her voice came out shakily.

“We... I believe you, we don't have any proof but we believe you.” Beth paused as Theo's earlier comment puzzled her brain “how did you walk around it? And how did find where I live?”

“Well...I just kinda realized that they didn't put walls on all of the sides of the room and walked out and then I stowed away in a few trucks until I got to the university, that's when I saw you driving home and followed you back here.” Theo mumbled

“I'm confused, Theo... I wasn't at the university tonight” Beth was getting a little scared of the weirdness Theo was putting out.

“What? No, I saw you all getting out of that van and into your cars” Theo looked to Beth in confusion.

Beth reached out and took one of Theo's hands “Theo...that was yesterday”

More confusion poured into Theo's face as she started to cry “there's something wrong with me...”

Beth rounded her up in her arms as Theo sunk to the floor in a fit of sobs. Kneeling on the floor Beth comforted Theo with some pats on the head and cooing. This reminded beth of a girlfriend she had, the one thing that pulled her out of her recollection was the long pointed ears poking into her neck. It was took a few minutes for Theo to calm down enough to say something.

“The news said I was...was dead...my mother thinks I'm dead...I want...I need to go and tell my mom that I'm not dead...” Theo said into Beth's collar.

“Oh honey, I'm sorry, of course we'll help you” Beth felt like a mom holding a scared child. “I'll call up the gang tomorrow and we will figure out how we're going to do this without the government knowing. Now I know why that car is out there now.” Beth pulled away a bit to look into Theo's exotic face “You look exhausted, let’s get you into bed.”

She helped Theo back on to her feet and lead her over the bed. Theo plopped down on the edge of the bed and looked up to Beth with tired eyes. “Let’s get those dirty clothes off of you okay?” Beth leaned down and grabbed the cuffs of Theo's pants. Theo made an 'Eep' noise as Beth pulled the pants free of Theo's legs. She was half surprised to see Theo sporting a pair of white panties. “Your top?” Theo's face turned a light purple, 'She blushes purple! Cute!' Beth thought. Theo lowered her head and grabbed the collar and slowly pulled the shirt off like any guy would. 'ah, no bra, that’s the reason for the blushing' Beth mused. Theo awkwardly covered her chest and unwittingly gave Beth the puppy dog eyes. “Aw, sorry, I'll get you a shirt” Beth tore her eyes away from Theo's perky, purple speckled breasts to find a top.

“Thank you” Theo quietly said.

Beth turned back to Theo with a light pink shirt in tow. “arms up” she offered. Theo closed her eyes tight and held her arms in the air. Beth kept her eyes locked on Theo's chest as she pulled the top over. Theo's face was a darker shade of purple now as she looked down to her chest.

“Princess?” she asked half smiling.

“Couldn't help it” Chuckled Beth. “If you want a top that's not too girly, I'll get one.” She said turning back to the dresser.

“No...it's okay, I... I don't really feel like a guy anymore” Theo sighed “A month of peeing sitting down, bouncing breasts, and crying jags does things to a person.”

Beth dropped down unto the bed next the Theo “What about periods?”.

“Nope...I don't get them...I guess I...I guess I don't have anything past my cervix...I'm sterile”

Beth draped her arm over Theo' shoulders “I'm sorry.”

“Oh, woe is me, I can't get knocked up...” Theo's face scrunched up while she compiled her thoughts “What bothers me is that it’s one more thing that makes me feel less like a human, you know?”

Theo laid back onto the bed and covered her face with her free hand. “I can't stop thinking about the 'Transporter Paradox'.” Theo peeked through her fingers to look for a sign of recognition in Beth. “It's the question; If you use a teleporter, does your soul get teleported with you or does the person who comes out the end become a new person with your memories?”

“How could you tell?” Beth asked

“You couldn't, Not even the person who got teleported could.”

“Why are you thinking about that?” Beth leaned back and propped herself up with her arm.

“‘Cause that could be me...I wasn't awake during the alien's procedure, she could just as easily have made a copy of my mind and put it in this body, They could be right in thinking I'm a robot/android” Theo removed her hand from her tear stained face and looked into Beth's eyes. “I saw some of the images of my brain...It didn't look normal...its just a solid mass crammed into my skull...How am I still me, without being human?” she cried.

Beth squeezed her hand tighter and struggled to find something to say. There were few if no strings of words that could comfort a person who thought they were not real. Beth laid down and held Theo close and stayed silent.

Theo had been quiet for a while now, so quiet Beth assumed she had fallen asleep. Beth carefully removed herself from Theo, her arms were on pins and needles. “Don't leave, please.” Theo reached out.

Beth smiled down to her “Okay, I'm just going to use the bathroom.”

She finished washing up and tip toed over to the window to check on the surveillance car that sat outside. 'How are we going to get her out of here?' Beth pondered. She made her way back to her room and found Theo glancing at the mirror that stood at the side bed.

“Are you used to seeing 'her' in the mirror yet?” beth asked.

“Almost...the hair is kinda of new, they cut off the last of my original hair last week.”

“Hey! Your hair, did they test it for your DNA?” Beth moved up to the bed and sat down on her knees across from Theo.

“Dunno, they never told me.” Theo said “And it would kinda of be hard to prove it was mine.”

“I guess...*yawn*” Beth tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes.

“You better get some sleep” Theo chided

“Yeah, okay” Beth groaned as she slipped under the covers with her back facing Theo. She felt the bed shift slightly as Theo got under the sheets. What she felt next was Theo's head rest against her back.

“You don't mind do you?” Theo said in a small voice. “It's just I...I was really lonely in that cell.” Beth could tell Theo was blushing just from the sound of her voice.

“Shh” Beth soothed as she moved to face Theo. She pulled her closer so that Theo's head was resting on her chest.

After a few minutes of silence Beth whispered “Why did you come to my house?”

“Dunno” It wasn't an 'I'm madly in love with you' but Beth was glad it wasn't a 'you lived closer', She fell asleep smiling.

--------------------

Barbra rewound the security footage again and watched Theo's escape for the 18th time. The guards were closing in, she's looking back and forth, then she makes her 'move'. She moves forward a bit but then quickly starts to bend, twist, and collapse on herself into nothingness. Rewind again, Barbra notices Theo gets a little bigger for an instant before she disappears. What is that? Why does it do that before she disappears? When she first saw the tape she got sick to her stomach, seeing Theo's flesh twist, fold and pass through itself on its journey to becoming a dot on the screen. She rewound the tape again, not like she had anything better to do.

As soon as Theo stepped foot out of her building she wasn't in control anymore. 'A quiet manhunt' Barbra would of described the current search effort, surveillance at her friend's houses and search parties combing the area between here and New York. The 'quiet' was the use of unmarked cars and no police or media assistance, they didn't want to compete with a news frenzied mob to find the girl.

'Like she would let them catch her' Barbra mused. She could probably walk right by you with you seeing her. 'all the luck to ya' Barbra thought as she rewound the tape once more.

---------------------------

Thanks to DJKauf for editing.

Note: Sorry for the wait, it's hard to get into the right mood to write anything thats more than a few sentences at a time. I think I could manage one chapter every 8 or 9 days, maybe. I think I'm going to get some comments about the escape, let me just say I know it doesn't make sense.

Debra gave them a sad smile “what... what happened to my son?”
Theo choked down a sob and lowered her head farther. “Is she alright?” her Mom asked.
Beth looked at Theo “she's actually the reason we came.”

"Monolith"

Contacted

--------------------

The exploration team made their way out of the fold with the grace of a drunken man. As they were picking themselves off of the floor the alpha suit spoke.

“What was it like boys?” If a suit aficionado was in the room, they could quickly determine the hierarchy of everyone one present, and at top of the food chain was Director Farris. Standing about 5'9 and a gut nearly that long around, Farris had the look of a mustachioed beat cop.

“It was amazing, I've never been in zero gravity before.” The words left the soldier's mouth before he could stop himself.

Farris chuckled at the response “That's good but I was talking about the planet, son.”

The commander of the unit stood to attention “It was like it was described in the briefing; black sand and a group of settlements a little less than a klick from the fold. The climate was a little cooler than your typical earth desert. We actually saw some higher altitude clouds, so I'm thinking the desert must stop around 30 kilometers from the fold position.”

“Interesting...could we send an air reconnaissance drone thought the fold?” Farris asked the grunt.

“Certainly, sir”

“Good to hear, get rested up and get yourselves back through that thing as soon as you can.”

“Yes, sir!”

Farris turned back to his suit underlings and asked “What's the situation with our missing alien girl?”

“Um...still missing sir. We have lookouts posted at the homes of the civilians who discovered her, but most of our resources are combing the area around the lab. But I think we should expand our search grid, with her apparent ability to teleport she could be much farther away then we think.”

“if she could teleport then why did it take her an hour to get out of the facility we were keeping her in? No I think she's still bound by how fast she can run... tell me again why we didn't put a tracking device on her?”

The underling almost felt like his job depended on the tactfulness of his coming response. “a possible human extra-terrestrial incident? The White House wanted to play it safe.”

Farris reached back with some effort to scratch the back of his head “fucking hell, all they do is make my job harder... well I want some better surveillance on those civilians, they're our best bet right now.”

“Yes, sir” the underling stood there a bit confused as if he was relieved to go.

“Chop, Chop son, I want that done now.”

“Yes, sir.”

As the underling took off, Farris turned back to the monolith and stared into the opening. 'If only nothing came out of that hole' Farris thought. He didn't bear any hate towards the alien, more like a intense annoyance. Everyone was running around like headless chickens wondering what to do and Farris was the one they turned to. Everyday she is gone meant another report to fill out and another meeting to go to. All the alien had to be worried about was getting caught, she didn't have to worry about the president breathing down her neck. No sir.

--------------------

Beth squinted through her blinds looking for the stakeout car. They upgraded to a van sometime last night, she wondered if they were listening to them with directional mikes. Beth moved into the kitchen and got herself and Theo a bowl of oatmeal and walked back into her room. Theo was up staring at the mirror with an unreadable expression, Beth wondered if she went to sleep at all last night. She put down the bowls while Theo turned and opened her mouth to speak but Beth put her finger to her mouth. Theo's eyebrows raised as Beth rounded up some paper and pens.

Beth scratched on her piece of paper 'they have a spy van outside I think they’re watching us, they might be listening too'

Theo nodded her head then Beth wrote more 'we should meet up with the gang but I can’t drive out of here with you in the car.'

Another nod and more writing 'can you walk to the university while I round them up?'
Theo nervously nodded and beth wrote 'don't worry we'll get you a hoodie and a scarf and you can leave through the back alley'

Theo gave a resigned nod as Beth passed over the bowl of oatmeal. She picked at for a bit then put some in her mouth. The oatmeal stayed in her mouth for about 5 seconds before she let it fall back out into the bowl. Beth gave her a look that said what's the problem.

Theo reached over for the paper and wrote 'I'm not hungry... actually I haven't been hungry for a few days now.' Beth gave her a quick look of surprise followed by a one of concern. She placed her hand on Theo's knee and mouthed “it'll be OK”

Beth rummaged through her closet threw out a hooded sweatshirt and a knit cap and scarf. Theo zipped up the sweatshirt and pushed her ears into the cap with some discomfort. While she was wrapping the scarf around her neck Beth wrote out 'I'll give you some bus fare and my cell phone number just in case but don't use it unless it's an emergency they might be listening to my calls. I'll try to get everyone to Mr. Locke's class room in two hours'

Beth grabbed her keys and walked over to Theo and took her hand squeezed it reassuringly, Theo gave her a little smile. She pulled out her cell and dialed a number.

“Hey David...so hey we should meet up and talk about getting Theo out...I know it’s a long shot” She gave Theo a fun smile “But we should try anyways...good... now put some pants on and call Mr. Locke for me and I'll get Heather...two hours at Locke's class room...uh huh...” Beth gave the shoo gesture.

Theo gave a little wave and quietly as she could opened the door and walked out into the hallway. A flight of stairs and a door later Theo emerged in the brisk alleyway behind beth's.

It was half way through November so the many layers didn't stick out like a sore thumb. Theo pulled up the hood on her blue sweatshirt and walked out onto the windy street. She looked up and down the street looking out for any suspicious vehicles or people and started walking towards the bus stop Beth told her about. The people on the street gave her a feeling of dread, as if she'd be recognized as the alien. She kept her strangely colored eyes down as much as she could and when she needed to look around she squinted in case someone was close enough to see. Her view most of the time was of her short and skinny legs clad in tight black jeans. She found it amusing that even a with gender change nothing could keep a pair of Converses off of her feet.

She walked the 10 blocks to the bus stop and found a few people waiting. She found a lamp post to lean on and stuffed her thin hands into her sweatshirt and waited.

--------------------

Beth gave a quick few raps on Heather's door and made a few quick glances over her shoulder.

“Hey Beth, I'm still not ready yet, come on it.” Heather said as she walked away from the door. Beth surveyed the front room and found it far more geeky than what she thought Heather was capable of. Beth was considering telling Heather right now about Theo but she liked surprises too much.

“Do you want some coffee?” Heather asked from the other room.

“No thanks, I had some before coming here”

“Okay”

“Come on, I told David we'd meet him there in a half an hour.” Beth said brimming with excitement.

“Okay, okay, I'm ready” Heather responded.

--------------------

Beth and Heather walked down a quiet hallway, going towards Mr. Locke's classroom. As they turned the corner she spotted a girl wearing a blue sweatshirt, sitting on a bench with her head down. “Oh, Heather, I got to go to the restroom go on ahead.”

“Kay” Heather said as she walked past Theo without sparing a glance.

Beth waited for the classroom door to close and Heather went in before she spoke “I'm so glad you made it. Did you have any trouble?”

“Naw, no one looked at me twice...god, walking out there made me feel so tiny, I don't know how you can deal with it.”

“Ha, you make it sound like I'm differently-abled , yeah having to use a step stool to get the cereal is such a burden.” Beth said with mock anguish.”

“Well we normal people did have a special club that wouldn't let you short people into.”

“I shoulda known! Anyways wait a minute and then come in, I want to surprise them.” smiled Beth.

“Kay” Theo smiled back.

--------------------

“How do we go about this? Just call up the New York Times?” David asked scratching his small beard.

“We should plan out what we want to say to them first, we're going to get a lot more of media coverage than we already have.” Dr. Locke pointed out.

“I don't know about this, I want to get her out but I don't want to get locked up for treason.” Heather said glumly. They mused silently until Beth came through the door.

“We need to break Theo out.” Beth exclaimed

“WHAT?!” Dr. Locke said.

“You heard me, they might not let her out, if ever. If it was anyone of us, Theo would do the same.”

“We're not some kind of special force group here Beth, we'd be caught so quickly and we don't even know where she is.” David said

“I've got an ace up my sleeve, I got some from the inside, she knows the ins and outs and the location of where they're keeping her.”

“Oh yeah? Let’s see this person.” David felt like he was slipping into a heist movie.

“Come on in!” Beth said over her shoulder.

A girl about the same height as Beth walked in and stood next to her. She started to remove her layers of clothes, when she pulled off her cap the group gasped. “Hi guys.”

They rushed up and started to rapid fire off questions. Theo smiled and laughed at their excitement “slow down guys...” they quieted “thanks...it's good to see you guys again.” Theo smiled

David cleared his throat “I hate to ask this but...You are Theo, right?” David looked miserable after asking the question.

“Yeah...well, at least I think I am Theo.” Theo said with down cast eyes.

“Theo think she might be an alien android with Theo's memories, She's read too much sci-fi, I don't think that’s true.” Beth said passing the idea off like it was childish.

“It’s possible, though” Dr. Locke said

“How did they treat you” Heather asked as she put her hand on Theo's shoulder.

“Fine, I suppose, Lots of embarrassing tests and being stuck in one room for a month was awful, but they didn't torture me or anything like that.” Theo shrugged.

“Thank God.” Heather breathed

“It's good to see too, but I've got to ask How did you escape” Dr. Locke asked as patted Theo's head.

“Uhh I...walked around the cell.”

“Walked around a sealed room how?!... What was it like?” Locke asked

“I couldn't say how and it’s hard to explain, I was stressed at the time...I just kinda saw that there were sides of the room that I could get through, extra sides.”

Dr. Locke turned away and did a few cookies on the carpet with a look of amazement. “You could be describing seeing a fourth spacial dimension or maybe even the time dimension...You could have walked through a time when the walls didn't exist... are you still seeing this way?”

“Not...all the time... I prefer to tune it out... I don't like seeing into peoples' guts.”

“What do my guts look like?” David asked smiling.

“More shit than a regular person” Theo quipped.

“I knew it.”

“Theo...can you see your insides?” Dr. Locke asked gently.

Theo's eyes twitched and she started to take in short breaths. “It's okay it's okay, you don't have to...I'm sorry I asked.” Locke apologized as he squeezed her shoulder. The rest gave each other worried glances and wondered what happened.

Beth put her arm over Theo's shoulder and took each arm in her hands and led Theo over to the nearest seat. David too, looked to the professor for some clarity but Locke shook his head and stayed silent. Heather joined Beth, knelt down and put her hand on Theo's knee to see if she was alright.

“So now that Theo is out, what are we going to do... they're looking for her right?... should we find somewhere for Theo to hole up in and maybe get a hold of the media...take it public so it's harder for the government to keep her locked up?” David asked the group.

Theo snap out of her state “My mom... she thinks I'm dead... I need to go tell her I'm alive.”

“Well, that's a plan.” David said.

--------------------

Barbra walked up to the observation glass that looked into the room where Theo had stayed. Director Farris stood a few paces away looking into the same room.

Farris turn to her “Nice to meet you again, Dr. Fleming”

“What brings you here, Director?” Barbra asked.

“Motivation” Farris grunted.

“Why she escaped you mean?”

“Yes... why? And why now?”

“No how?” Barbra said.

“I don't think I'll ever get an answer for that question.” Farris chuckled. “No, I realized we were in such a rush to find her we never got a full report of her escape.”

“I wasn't here when she broke out, I don't know what I could tell you” Barbra was getting a bit nervous that he would start asking her some hard questions.

“I had the techs pull up the footage from a few hours before she escaped... she threw quite a tantrum from the look of it.”

Barbra looked back to the room and swallowed the lump in her throat. “I saw you talking to her, what was she so upset about?” Farris asked.

Barbra stayed quiet “Look, doctor I'm not the bad guy... I gleaned enough to see you befriended her and you don't want to see her locked up again... but I have a job to do... the way I see it she's in more danger than we are from her... there are some nuts out there. Hell, some of them are calling her a demon, if one of them found her who knows what they're going to do.”

Barbra looked back to Farris with a downward turned mouth. “Fine... you win... She saw a news report... They reported Theo Holmes was dead or missing... she was very upset.”

“You think her story is true.” Farris said in a non-judgmental tone.

“Yes...”

“Don't worry Dr. Fleming, I'll find her and bring her back here unharmed.”

“Will they keep her here for the rest of her life?”

“Don't know ma’am, it's up to the White House.” Farris said walking away.

Barbra watched him leave. “I wish he was an asshole, why couldn't I get a real bad guy?”

--------------------

Theo was lying down, kicking it fetus style in the backseat of David's small car. The plan they devised was to sneak into the parking garage and drive out of the city, 'elegant' Theo thought. Heather and Dr. Locke offered to stay behind and try their best to make some contacts with the press. Beth and David stay quiet until they made it outside of the city.

“Do you have any music that isn't made with a Gameboy? Beth asked.

David looked to Beth with confusion on his face “how do they make music without a Gameboy? Have you heard of such a thing, Theo?”

“I think my grandpa mentioned something like that years ago.” Theo said.

“if you start to dodge around monkey thrown barrels I'm getting out of the car.” Beth said.

They merged onto 87 going north when David asked “How much farther dude?”

“An hour or so” Theo mumbled

Beth turned in her seat and looked back to Theo “Have you thought about how we going to do this?” she asked.

“I figured the same way you broke it to David here.”

“Yeah if we spill the news at the front door she'll probably slam it our face.”

“Yeah... we need to get into the house, she'll probably recognize you two from the news, she'll want to know what happened to me.”

“How do you think she'll react?” David asked.

“Well I don't think she'll call me a abomination against God.” The joke fell a little flat.

--------------------

The sun was close to setting at 6:30 when they pulled into the driveway of Theo's house. Theo saw the window curtains being pulled back by someone inside.

“It'll be okay” Beth said. She grabbed the knit cap and pulled it over Theo's head and gave Theo a smile.

They got out of the car and walked up a few steps to the door of a split level home. The porch railings were lined with planters filled with cold bare soil and damp leaves littered the lawn. When they neared the door it opened and Theo's Mom stood behind it giving them a curious look.

“Can I help you?” she asked. Towering over Theo at 5'8 she made Theo think back to her childhood when he was 8 or 9. At 50 years old she made most 40 year olds look bad, hardly a wrinkle in sight and no middle age weight gain. Theo remembered back to high school and hearing from all her friends how her mom was grade A Milf. As Theo noticed more details she saw the red eyes and crows feet from crying.

“Uhh yeah... we were released from quarantine a few days ago, you're Debra, right?” David asked

Her eyes widened “Yes! please Come in, please.” she choked.

Theo followed David and Beth in the house with her head down and tried to keep from making eye contact with her Mom.

“Thank you Ms. Holmes” Beth said.

Debra ushered them into the living room where there were boxes of pictures and memories strewn around the floor “No, thank you for coming... the government wouldn't tell me anything.”

They sat down on the couch that faced away from the window with Theo sandwiched in between Beth and David. Theo's eyes moved from box to box, identifying all the knickknacks in each box.

“You're Bethany and David right?” Debra asked.

“Yeah... you can call me Beth”

“Beth... David... again thank you for coming.”

“You’re welcome... I've bet you've got a million questions” David said.

“Yes, I've got a few.” Debra sighed

“Well that's why we came, you deserve more.” David responded.

Debra gave them a sad smile “what... what happened to my son?”

Theo choked down a sob and lowered her head farther. “Is she alright?” her Mom asked.

Beth looked at Theo “she's actually the reason we came.”

“Was she Theo's..?” Debra asked.

“No she... let me start at the beginning.” Beth said.

--------------------

“So I ended up stuck there for close to two days, thats when she...” Beth patted Theo's shoulder ”she showed up and dragged me out of that desert and back to the lab.”

“So brave of you.” Debra said.

“It's kinda funny, when she came and told me her name I thought I was hallucinating, I was thinking I was dead.” Beth said

“Wait... why? I thought you knew Heather before.” Debra asked.

“She's not Heather” David said.

Beth poked Theo in the side, so she started to take off her knit cap, Her Mom gasped in surprise.

“We she rescued me she said her name was Theo.” Beth said

Debra looked back and forth between the three of them in shock “What?...you...”

“It's me, Mom” Theo said with a shaky voice.

Debra shot up and rushed into the kitchen with anguish painted on her face. Theo scrabbled off the couch and chased after her.

“What is this?!” Debra moaned.

“We're telling the truth Mom, I got trapped in that portal when this alien who looks like I do now saved me... she said I wouldn't make it back alive without changing me... so I woke up looking like this.” Theo cried.

Her Mom shook her head and doubled her tears. “I can prove I'm Theo... let me prove it, please.”

Debra gave her a look of resignation. “Thank you...” Theo launched into every other memory she had: temper tantrums, family trips, awkward teenager moments, and her recent therapist visits.

“And our family password... remember that?... it was the name of our old dog Bear... remember how much I cried when he died?” Theo pleaded.

By that point Debra's eye were locked onto Theo in amazement. Once Theo stopped and took a breath she saw a look of revelation pass onto her Mom's face.

“Baby?” She sobbed.

Theo threw herself into her Mom's arms and hugged for dear life. “Why did they say you were dead, baby?”

“They didn't... don't believe me... They just think I'm a alien.” Theo cried.

“Shhh... shhh” her Mom soothed, stroking her hair, Theo almost felt sleepy in her mom's arms.

“They might be right though...I might just have Theo's memories... I might be fake...” Theo said into her Mom's chest.

“Shhh... Shhh...” she soothed again.

Debra continued to stroke Theo's head while she asked “So are you all girl now, honey?”

“I look it, but they said I was sterile... I don't have any ovaries.”

“Oh... are you hungry?” her Mom asked.

“No... I don't really get hungry anymore...”

“That doesn't mean you should stop.” She chided

“I suppose..”

“come on, I'll make your favorite.” Her Mom lead her to the kitchen table and sat her down. “Beth! David! Come on in, let eat something.”

They poked their heads in to make sure the coast was clear then walked in and grabbed seats next to Theo. They gave Theo a smile and a pat on her shoulders.

“Thank you so much for helping Theo” Debra told them.

“Not a problem Maam” David in cowboy mode said.

“You welcome.” Beth said “What are you making?”

“When Theo was 9 I think, I forced him to eat some Baklava, now it's his...” she turned from the counter and looked to Theo “HER favorite dessert, She'd ask for it breakfast, lunch and dinner. So now I make sure I'm always ready to make some for when she visits.” Debra paused and asked “Do you want me to call you him or her?”

“Uhh... I... I'm used to her now, so thats fine.” Theo said with embarrassment.

“Okay, honey”

Debra popped the dish into the oven, set the timer and took a seat at the table. They chit-chatted and talked about the events of the last few days and made jokes.

“So I never asked how did you guys Theo out of that lab?” Debra asked.

“We didn't... Theo got out herself.” David said.

“Really? How?”

“I think I... basically walked through the wall... I've got some strange ability now... I see weird stuff...I” Theo paused when she saw her Mom's attention wander to something behind her. She turned in her seat and saw a row of police lights blurred through the curtains.

“Oh no!” Beth yelled.

--------------------------

Thanks to DJKauf for editing.

Notes: LOL I wrote almost half of this tonight, most of my week was taken up by procrastination and a trip to the coast for fishing and oysters, tasty tasty oysters. Nothing really note worthy other than I listened to this song( http://www.youtuberepeater.com/watch?v=mmESmaLObVo ) looped for hours on end while writing.

Theo could hear the grunts of David, Beth and her Mom as the officers loaded them into the carrier. The door slammed shut and the transport fired up and followed it's trail to wherever it was going.

“Thank you for cooperating” A gruff voice said.

Monolith

--------------------

Capture

Theo stood frozen as she watched Beth stretch out in two opposite directions. Both ends turned and twisted around the room even through itself and other 'thread snakes' that were growing as well. The front door expanded into a shape that looked like a slice from a wheel of cheese.

Through the fog of thread Beth cried out “What are we going to do?! They're going to take Theo again!”

A gray 'snake' passed through the front door and split into four 'snakes' that stopped in front of the kitchen. Theo stood on her toes and looked over the top of the fog and saw the heads of the snakes were Swat officers. They slithered into the kitchen and circled around Theo. From the fog a pair of hands grabbed Theo's upper arms, She screamed out and reeled back into the kitchen table.

“Theo! What’s wrong?! Look at me!” Beth cried.

Theo aimed her head at the direction of Beth's voice “I can't see you, there's a cloud or something around me.” Theo moaned.

“What?!” David and Beth said almost in unison.

Theo realized She never heard the front door being opened. “I think some Swat guys are going to come in here...I saw them come in...”

“They're coming up to the door!” David yelled from the living room.

“Go out the back door, try to run!” Debra urged.

Theo looked behind her to the door and saw it was a wedge too with a gray snake coming out of it as well. She felt around and grabbed Beth's hand and squeezed it “They're behind the house too.”

“God dammit!” Beth screamed.

“Lie down, don't give them a reason to use force on you.” Theo told them.

“Can't you just do that thing you did to escape from quarantine?!” Beth pleaded.

“Beth... I can't even see my hand in front of my face...” Theo said sadly. “Please just get down... I don't want you guys to get hurt...”

Theo got to her knees and laid down on her stomach. She heard Beth sob as she did the same. Theo turned her head and looked into the fog that was growing more and more gray. Less than 30 seconds later she heard the sound of wood cracking and feet shuffling.

“Police! On the ground now!”

“Hey! Ouch! Not so tight!” David yelled.

“The oven! turn the oven off please.” Theo called out.

She could hear the officers chuckling around her. A pair of gloved hands took her own and pulled them together. After a quick zip sound her hands were bound and she was pulled up to her feet.

“Bastards.” Beth yelled.

“Beth... don't make it worse...” Theo said.

Another pair of hands grabbed her just under her arm pits and both hands dragged her towards the door. She shuffled down the stairs and into the lawn. Theo emerged from the gray fog and could see finally. All the trees and houses around where stretched out as well but not as much as the people snakes that surrounded her. She noticed the building and trees stretched in a east and west direction unlike the twisted paths the snakes took. She glanced up and saw a bright white streak in the sky that she guessed was the moon. The two hands brought her into to a larger square shaped snake that was just racing around the corner of street. She was blind again as the hands picked her up and put her in what she guessed was a police carrier. Theo could hear the grunts of David, Beth and her Mom as the officers loaded them into the carrier. The door slammed shut and the transport fired up and followed it's trail to wherever it was going.

“Thank you for cooperating” A gruff voice said.

“Who are you?” Beth sneered.

“Director Farris, I was tasked to find “Theo” here” he responded.

Theo was pointing her ears around listening to the exchange. “What wrong with her?” Farris asked.

“I can't see.” Theo said.

“Sorry , flash-bangs can do that.” Farris apologized.

“No, that's not it.” Theo said “I... I think I'm seeing the future.”

“Are you serious?” Farris said disbelieving.

“I saw the SWAT come into the house a minute before they did.”

“Well, thank you again for cooperating.” Farris said.

“Ha... I would of run if I could see through all this 'future' mess.”

“Interesting.”

“What are you going to do with my child?” Debra demanded.

Farris cleared his throat, even without seeing, Theo could tell he was put off by the question. “Well Ma'am, as of right now she isn't a US citizen so she can't wander around freely like she has been, so we are taking her back to our quarantine facility for her own safety.”

Beth laughed derisively while Debra followed up with her questioning “How long?”

“Couldn't say ma'am, it's not up to me.”

“At least give us a ballpark” David said.

“Heh... nothing like this has every happened before, so I have no idea what the higher ups are going to do.”

“What about my Mom and friends? What's going to happen to them?” Theo asked.

“Some interrogation... and maybe some charges will be brought against them for harboring an illegal alien.” Farris responded.

“No!... I have a deal...” Theo pleaded.

“I'm listening.”

“You probably couldn't hold me, I'd break out again.”

“True...”

“I'll promise I won't escape if you don't bring those charges against them and... let them visit me...” Theo said.

Farris was quiet for a while before replying “I can do that.”

“Thank you...” Theo breathed

“So how did she convince you, Ms. Holmes?” Farris asked.

“That's personal.”

“They're going to ask you about everything you talked about and keeping asking until you slip... Please do me a favor... I'm awfully curious.” Farris told her.

Debra looked to Theo who was staring into empty space with a grimace “It's okay, mom...”

“She... told me about Theo's... thoughts of suicide... I found a bottle a pills Theo had saved... He hid his depression well...”

“I'm sorry.”

Beth tore her eyes away from Debra to look at Theo, her back turned, she had found the back corner of the carrier to bury her face into.

--------------------

Barbra stood out in the chilly night time smoking her cigarette with two guards behind her leaning against a wall. The transport rounded the corner and she stamped out her cigarette and brushed her hands down her clothes to smooth them out. The vehicle came to a stop, she moved to the back as the door opened. Theo was helped down with her arms tied behind her, as she looked around her eyes passed Barbra but kept going as if she didn't recognize her.

Barbra yelled at the guards “What did you do to her!?”

Theo swung her head back to Barbra “Hey, Dr. Fleming.”

“What's wrong Theo? What happened?” She ask in concern.

“I'm kinda of blind... oh wow the moon is a solid line in the sky now... and the sun is coming up.” Theo said with her head craned up.

Barbra's brow lowered “Theo?”

“Ah, sorry... I think I'm seeing the future... it's all stretched out though... it's like play-doh being pressed out of a form, I can't see through it all.”

Beth hopped off the carrier “It started just before they rounded us up.”

“Oh, you must be Bethany!” Barbra said.

“And you? Are you one of doctors who poked and prodded Theo?” David said as he got off the vehicle.

“She's cool.” Theo said to the area David had been.

“I'm Barbra Fleming, I'm the team lead, I looked after Theo while she was here.”

“Do I have you to thank for her escape?” Theo's Mom asked.

“Oh, Ms. Homes... no Theo escaped by herself.”

“Can you help her?”

Barbra looked down to Theo “I...I don't know... she's a mystery to us... I don't even know how she works.”

The three of them stared at Barbra “What do you mean?” Debra asked.

“Hold that response, Dr. Fleming.” Farris said as lumbered out of the transport.

“Who else is in that thing?” Barbra asked.

“I'm having you lot debriefed before we tell you anything.” Farris told them.

He turned to Barbra “Take her to her room then you can take off those zip cuffs.”

Theo faced Farris “Remember our deal, I want to see them after you're done, and make it quick.”

Farris shook his head “Yes, Ma'am.”

“Come on, Theo.” Barbra guided her over to the entrance.

Theo turned and tried her best to face where she thought her Mom, Beth, and David were. “See you in a while.” She said.

“Over here, honey.” Debra waved.

“Oh” Theo said as she adjusted.

--------------------

When you think of a quarantine lab you'd most likely think of gray concrete and warning labels everywhere. In contrast the hallway Debra found herself was no different from any other office building, with more warning labels. A guard had pointed the way and she found herself in front of a door with a bio-hazard seal on it. She came up to the door and looked through the glass portal into a small room where Dr. Fleming sat. Debra gave a few polite knocks on the door, just to be on the safe side.

Barbra opened the door and swung her head out and met eyes with Debra “I'm sorry about the interrogation. I hope it wasn't too bad.”

“No need, they were quite civil.” Debra said as she was escorted into the small room.

“Is this the room where you're keeping here?” Debra asked.

“Ah.. yes, through that window there is her room” Barbra pointed.

Debra saw Beth's and David's backs as they sat at a table with Theo sitting parallel. “They got here fast.”

“David and Beth have already had the treason threats, so they could skip it.”

Debra sat herself down and gazed into the room for a moment. “What did you mean, when you said you don't know how she works?”

Barbra quietly sat down next to Theo's Mom and measured her words. “Well... we think she doesn't need food to survive... and same with oxygen.”

Debra keep her heading pointing toward the room “It looks like she's breathing now.”

“For talking yes, she be taking in air but it comes back out exactly the same... when she's not talking? I don't know.. maybe her mind can't forget breathing.”

“She said she might be a robot? Android or something, why did she say that?”

“Well the leading theory is that she's artificial... we've taken microscopes to her cells and they look almost normal but they're missing a few things human cells have, add that and a number of other factors and well...” Barbra snapped out of science mode. “Whatever changed Theo was alien enough and advanced enough that our medicine can't make heads or tails on her. It doesn't mean she's not who she say’s she is.”

“I know” Debra smiled, she looked back to the window and asked “What about her blindness? Do you think you can do anything?”

“I think she'll have to fix that herself, from what she described I don't think any kind of treatment would help.”

“Psychosomatic?”

“No, I don't think so... did she tell you how she escaped?” Barbra asked.

“No, I don't think I asked, Beth did mention something about that when the police were breaking down my door.”

Barbra sighed and logged on a computer that was in the corner of the room. “Here, I'll show you the footage... I'm going to warn you though... it's a little disturbing.”

Debra raised her brow and followed Barbra to the computer, leaning over Barbra's shoulder, she started watching.

--------------------

“So, how you like ma crib?” Theo asked.

“Tight bro, tight.” David said while he was macking on the interior design.

“Is your vision any better?” Beth asked.

“No, I'm completely blind in this building... when we were outside I could see stuff above head level, I'm too short though, so I can't see over most people's heads.”

“That's some shitty future sense you got there.” David said.

“Ha yeah, I don't see crime fighting in my future.” Theo laughed.

“Don't shoot down the costume yet, maybe you'll be able to control your power eventually.” Beth told Theo.

“I'd be the crappiest superhero ever, using my powers to avoid criminals and run away.”

Beth's eyes fell onto a small stack of papers with messy handwriting. “What's this? A journal?” she said as she reached for the papers.

“What? No that's nothing!” Theo waved her hands around table trying to get to the papers.

Beth held the journal out of reach of Theo and glanced at a few pages. 'Please, it's personal.” Theo moaned.

“Better get used to having a very public life from now on, honey.” Beth said.

“What?”

“You're an alien to everyone, you're already famous around the world... there is no way you are going to pick up your life the way you left it.”

“I...” Theo sputtered, Beth could almost see the self delusion fade from Theo's face.

“Yeah... now I'm thinking that staying locked up here wouldn't be too bad.” Beth mused.

“I'm sure she doesn't want to stay here forever.” David said.

“I know... I just saying that it's going to be a shit storm when she does get out of here.”

The conversation lulled and Beth took that time to take a better look at Theo's journals. Her eyes would shift from reading to looking at Theo, when she finished the first page she had sad look on her face. “I'm sorry... I shouldn't have.” She put the stack back onto the table.

Theo heard the paper hitting the table and made a grab for the pages, clutching them close to her chest. “It's... okay.”

The airlock hissed and Dr. Fleming and Debra walking in. Theo looked to the noise “Hello?”

“It's me, honey.” Debra said.

“Hi, Mom!” Theo smiled.

“David, Beth... Barbra here has something to show you, so if you could give us a few minutes.” Debra told them.

“Sure thing, Ms. Holmes” David responded.

“Of course” Beth said as she and David followed Barbra out of the room.

Theo was still pointed towards the door as she heard it close. She jerked her head when heard her Mother's voice coming from right next to her. “How are you doing?”

“Fine... I guess.” Theo mumbled.

“Theodore, I want a better answer than that.” Her Mom scolded.

“I'm scared... I feel like I have less control over my life than I did... I'm confused...”

Debra wrapped her arms around Theo and tried to rub the bad feelings out of her. Debra's words came out in a whisper “Do you want to hurt yourself?”.

“What?! No I... I guess I haven't... I haven't had a thought like that in while now... since I changed in fact...”

“You think your depression is gone?” Her Mom asked.

“Maybe, I don't know...I hope it's gone.”

Debra smiled. “Same here.”

They started up the conversation they left open when the cops had arrived. Theo told her about the exploits of the past month up to the nighttime escape.

“Barbra showed me the tape.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yes... I have to say honey... it was a bit disturbing.”

“What?! How?”

“The way you described it... it doesn't describe what's on that tape.”

“What do you mean?” Theo felt a little unhinged with the way the conversation was going.

“When those guards got close, you... sort of imploded into nothing. Your body twisted and folded up until it was gone.”

“I think I would have felt that.”

Debra gave her a look that a mother gives a petulant child. “I'm not joking. Just watch the tape.”

“Ah... I am blind here Ma.” Theo laughed.

“Sorry, I forgot... Do you think you can make this blindness go away?”

“HA, I don't know... maybe I can concentrate it away. It's hard though, being blind is disorientating.”

“I'm sure you'll get it.” Debra soothed.

Their conversation moved onto the future and plans, no details came about. The talk was more about giving Theo some hope for a life out of a laboratory.

“Well honey, it's late...”

“Is it?” Theo asked.

“Yes, and I'm getting tired. They're going to bus me back up and I'm going to cash in some vacation time and drive back down in a day or two.”

“Okay...” Theo's shoulders slumped.

“Don't try that on me. I've been desensitized.”

“You win.”

“Don't worry, I'll be back. Anyways your friends will be here, you don't need me to get in the way.”

“Ha, yeah right”

“Love you.” Debra said as she patted Theo on the head.

“Love you, Mom.” Theo mumbled with hair in her face.

Debra knocked a few times on the airlock and it opened and she switched places with Beth and David.

“Hey.” David called out.

“Sup. Is Beth here too?” Theo asked.

David was about to speak when Beth gave him the prank signal “Naw, she's in the can.”

“You paint a pretty picture there.” Theo said.

“Words are my brush.” David gloated.

David watched as Beth snuck her way to Theo as they talked. With a evil thought David decided to turn the situation against Beth. “So, I think Beth has got the hots for you.”

“Y... you really think so?” Theo blushed.

David realized he didn't know how he wanted this prank to come out and it was already heading into uncomfortable territory. He locked up, David's computer wouldn't spit out any words for him to say.

“David?... Beth is in here isn't she?” Theo said

“What the hell was that, David?!” Beth yelled.

“I thought it would have been funny, sorry, Theo.”

“it's okay.” Theo mumbled.

“It's late, why don't you go home and let me talk to Theo, okay?”

“Uh... yeah alright.” David reached the door and turned back. “Sorry again.”

“You're forgiven, bro.” Theo told him.

Beth watched David leave then turned back to Theo. Her head was downcast and hands sandwiched between her knees, 'she has such a girly posture.' Beth thought. Beth sat down next to Theo and took a moment to be silent.

“Sorry about that... you can forget what I said If you want.” Theo said to her lap.

“No, It actually made me happy.” Beth whispered.

“You better not be fucking with me!” Theo yelled at the door.

“David isn't here, honest.”

“I... I... don't.” Theo sputtered.

“I like you... I always liked to hang out with you but now... it sounds shallow even to me but I think you're hot, really hot.”

Beth moved closer until their hips were touching. “I don't want to push you, your world is crazy right now I know that. But I just want to be there for you... and to have sex with you.”

Theo's mood broke after that comment. “Haha ha... can't say I haven't thought the same.”

'I've got to know' Beth thought. “Have you tried it out?”

Theo did her best fish impression for a second. “Not really...”

“Why not? you had a month here alone.”

“‘Cause...” The lights flickered and dimmed and the blinking lights on the camera's ceased blinking. “There's always someone watching...”

Both of them heard the outer door open and close then silence. “who came in?” Theo asked.

“No one, Dr. Fleming left, but not before turning off the cameras and dimming the lights.”

“I'll have to take your word for it.” Theo dead panned.

“I'm serious! Listen!... the cameras stopped buzzing.”

Theo got up and felt her way to the observation window and pressed her ear against it. “I'll believe for now.”

“Come here.” Beth grasped Theo's hand and lead her over to the single bed. “We'll take it slow... you set the pace.”

“Ah ah... okay.” Theo said with nervous breath.

Beth sat her down on the end of the bed “Your sweatshirt.” Theo fumbled with the zipper and brought it down to her lap and let the garment fall off her arms.

“Pants?” Beth asked for permission.

“Okay.” Theo popped the button and lowered the fly. Beth lifted Theo's legs and helped pull off the tight pants. Theo sat there in a shirt and panties with her head moving back and forth trying to hide her embarrassment. Beth sat down right next to Theo and gave her a comforting pat on the knee.

Beth pulled back the covers “Lie down.” she asked. Theo complied, rested her head on the pillow she brought her legs up and under the covers. Beth moved under the covers, the small bed made them press tight against each other.

Beth rested her hand on Theo's stomach. “You want a safe word?”

Theo giggled as beth ran her hand up Theo's chest and stopped on her bra clad breast. Theo's breathing began to pick up speed. “This is my first time.” She breathed.

“On the receiving end? I'll bet.” Beth whispered.

“No...ever.”

“Oh...”

Beth kept her hand on top of Theo's breast and waited “Go easy on me.” Theo breathed.

Beth started slow and kept her attention to the fun stuff on Theo's chest. Theo gasped and whimpered, she shook her head around and arched her back for relief. Beth worked with patient care as she nuzzled head to head against Theo. Beth gave her a peck on the cheek and Theo moved her head to line up their lips for another. Theo's breathing increased in pace until she plateaued at short little gasps. Beth slowed her play, knowing she couldn't coax any bigger reactions out of Theo. Eventually her hands left their target and roamed the surrounding area as she and Theo kissed. After a good round of kissing they parted and held each other.

“That was nice? Huh?” Beth asked.

“Yeah...” Theo said while a million miles away.

--------------------

Farris woke to the sound of a ringing phone. Stumbling in the dark he found his robe and made it to the phone.

“Farris here.”

“Sir, we have a situation here.” Underling said.

“What happened?” Farris yawned.

“The gate/fold, it closed.”

“Any explanation?”

“Not yet...”

“There's something worse isn't there?”

“Yes, The exploration was still on the other side.”

“God Damn it!”

--------------------
Thanks to DJKauf for editing.

Notes: did anyone watch the latest Futurama? they have a time machine that only goes forward, so they have to go so far forward they arrive at a new past. That idea had been theorized before, I find it almost comforting to think about. In the episode though they show the universe float away until all matter and energy decays into nothingness, depressing. I'd take the "big crunch" over the "big freeze" any day.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_fate_of_the_universe#T...

Her eyes slowly adjusted to the light after a whole day of darkness. She took in the sights, floating limbs attached to a skinny female body and a corridor made of squeezed space with a laminated finish. The feeling of falling passed as she concentrated on the fold opening that was rolling around her.

Monolith

--------------------

Conscription

The airlock hissed in preparation to opening, the sound woke Theo. She jerked up to a sitting position and looked around in the darkness. Her thoughts were a jumble, second after second they put themselves back into order. 'I'm still blind... I'm in a alien girl's body... I'm in a lab... I was asleep!' The last puzzle piece hit her hard. 'It's been more than a week since I've slept.' She thought. Theo closed her eyes and reveled in the memories of early morning consciousness. The buzz of fluorescent lights filled the quiet room as Beth groaned and shifted to hide from the light. The door clicked open and a cool breeze followed. Heavy foot steps chased the breeze into the room.

“Sorry to interrupt but I need you to come with me.” Farris told Theo.

Theo put her memories on hold and opened her eyes. “Why?”

Farris sighed. “Our exploration team is trapped on the other side of that gate.”

A factoid of her trip through the fold popped into her brain. “How long?”

“11 hours here or...” Farris tapped his fingers against his palm to match the math in his head.

“Almost seven days there.” Theo finished.

“Yes, so time is of the essence here.”

“What am I suppose to do?!” Theo said in disbelief.

Farris spoke his next words through gritted teeth. “Anything you can.”

Theo felt her cheeks flush “Okay... let me get my pants on.”

She swung her legs down and felt the floor near her for the pair. “Beth! Where are my pants?” She said over her shoulder.

“What's going on?” Beth asked as she opened her eyes. Seeing the others in the room she yelped and covered herself in the sheets.

Foot steps moved across the room and stopped, a second later the pair of pants were thrown into Theo's lap. “Thanks...Beth get up, these guys need me to try and help them. We need to go.”

“I'm not your chauffeur! She's staying here.” Farris barked at Theo.

Theo pulled the zipper and fastened the button on her borrowed pair of pants. “Yeah okay. Beth, I'll see you later.”

“Where are you going?” Beth asked.

“The Monolith.”

“I'll try to get there as soon as I can. Be safe...” Beth said with concern.

“Come on princess, lets get going.” Farris ordered.

By habit Theo looked down to her chest and saw in her mind's eye the princess shirt she was still wearing. 'fucking hell.' she thought as Farris lead her out of the room.

--------------------

The carrier bumped and jostled Theo around in her seat as she glowered the best she could at anyone who sitting across from her. She didn't want to be here, and she certainly didn't want to go back to 'there'. She didn't want to go back the room she calls 'The kidnap scene'.

“Hey Princess...” Farris called out. Theo snapped her head towards Farris's direction and gave him the evil eye.

“Do you think you're a fake?” Farris asked.

Theo grimaced and turned away. “Screw you.”

“Just asking a harmless question.”

“Would you?!” Theo tried her best to get a more gritty and authoritative sound out of her voice box. The best she could do with her new equipment was a sound most people would agree was cute.

“Would I what?” Farris answered almost knowing what question was coming up next.

“would you feel the same if you were in my place?”

“Yes, If I was in your position I would think I was a fake.” Farris said immediately.

Theo didn't know how to take that comment, was he sympathizing with me?. Or was he accusing me of being a robot? She realized she had only one response to both, she lowered her head and clammed up.

--------------------

The stairs, she was being taken up the stairs to the Monolith. She could hear the birdsong out in the park, it didn't sound like music to Theo. Filtered through her brain it sounded like bad premonitions.

She heard one door, two doors, and then murmuring and shuffling and the click of many keyboards. The escort's hand left her arm and swung back into the fog. Standing still she swept her head across the room and tried to process all the sounds. A cliché scene came to her of agents and techs scrambling from terminal to terminal trying to stop the next terrorist attack. No doubt there was a coffee pot in some corner with a pair of agents talking about a recent intelligence report. Amidst the orchestra of sound She swore she heard someone say “Zoom and enhance.”

The hand was back and it moved her to the center of the room. The orchestra faded and conductor Farris spoke.

“You have some kind of connection to this, either its like you said and the monolith itself changed you or the aliens who built it built you too as well, it's doesn't matter though cause we've ran out of ideas and you're one of our last options.”

The quiet audience in the room faded from Theo's mind, it was just her and Farris in this room now. “I don't know what to do! It's like you expect me to flip a switch and open it up! I don't even know how that thing works, even the fact that it floats here creeps me out.” Theo moaned.

“At least touch it.”

The hand spun Theo on her heels and guided her to a few steps away from the smooth surface.

“Fine I can do that.” she said over her shoulder.

She raised her arms to her sides and slowly extended outwards. She reached out and kept reaching until she started to lose balance. She waved back and forth trying to find the surface of the Monolith.

“Did you point me in the wrong direction?!” Theo said aghast.

“Nope, you are touching it now, in fact both of your arms are in it.” Farris said in amusement.

Theo never recovered her lost balance stumbled a step forward. “Woah! Don't go any farther!” Farris warned her.

Theo kept falling in when Farris called out “Mobilize! Follow her in there!”

Theo noticed a slight chill move up her arms and wash over her face as she fell forward. Her hair was tossed around with a passing of a wind vortex. Then light, a bright light came into focus and she recognize it as the other end of the fold. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the light after a whole day of darkness. She took in the sights, floating limbs attached to a skinny female body and a corridor made of squeezed space with a laminated finish. The feeling of falling passed as she concentrated on the fold opening that was rolling around her. She kicked her feet around and flapped her arms in a vain attempt to stop her spin. Her world kept spinning so she closed her eyes and forgot about it. By the time she made it to the end she knew what is like to be in an sensory-deprivation tank. She rolled out into the gravity and felt its pull as her back made contact with the ground.

Theo bolted up to a sitting position and caught her breath and opened her eyes to view the alien world again.

“I can still see!” She exclaimed.

No sooner as she said that the settlement and dunes around her started to stretch in two directions. Theo started to panic, out of some kind of instinct she squinted her eyes like you would try when seeing a double image. The stretching slow to a stop, she remember what it felt like when stuff was stretching. She took that feeling and reversed it, she fine tuned the feeling until the landscape snapped back into focus. Theo moved the feeling into the background of her mind and concentrated on standing up. On her feet Theo looked across the black sands, the dunes stretched a bit but a little concentration made them snap back into place. Theo studied the nearest fin shaped settlement and practiced making it stretch and constrict to her will. After twenty minutes Theo could make the settlement stretch in just one direction she choose. She played with the stretching, trying to figure out which was the 'futurepath' and which was the 'pastpath'.

The sound of feet impacting on sand turned Theo's head. The sight of the four man search team set against the monolith's inter dimensional opening made Theo think of 'SG-1'.

“I can see now.” She informed them.

“Good for you.” The black soldier stood about six foot with a strong build and sported a healthy beard, Theo guessed his aged to be 42. His name tag said 'Gibson'.

Gibson turned to his team. “Let get down to those settlements, maybe we can find a clue to where the exploration team is.”

“The sand would of eaten up their trail by now.” Said a skinny, smooth faced lieutenant named 'Williams'.

“Maybe they left a note.” 'Ford' said through perfect teeth, he was a jockish looking fellow. 'He's too bulky to be a quarterback, maybe a defensive line or something.' Theo thought.

Gibson started down the dune towards the settlements with his team following. Bringing up the rear was another skinny guy named 'Parker', he was the youngest of the group. 'a total red shirt.' Theo said to herself.

“Hey! I could maybe find them.” Theo called out.

Gibson kept walking while he yelled over his shoulder. “Your job is over, princess.”

“God dammit! Stop calling me that!” Theo wined.

The commandos chuckled and kept walking, leaving Theo behind at the Monolith. Theo took a deep breath and decided to test her vision on the search team. She extended them in one direction, their paths took off at a run leaving the commandos behind. She constricted their future paths back and kept pulling until their past paths started to scaled back up the dune. She tried pulling harder, their paths sped up. The dunes around her stretched out longer and longer until she was waist deep in the perfectly smooth fog. Theo kept it up, soon enough she couldn't see any movement through the curved plane of fog. After a minute she caught sight of three tan 'snakes' passing over a dune towards the settlements.

“Over here! They went that way!” Theo pointed.

One of the soldiers yelled something but the distance and wind covered his speech. Theo closed her eyes and concentrated on her starting position, opening her eyes Theo saw everything put back into place. The search team was still hiking away from her, so she took chase.

“I saw them! They walked out that way.” Theo called out as she neared the team. The commandos stopped and looked to each other before turning to Theo.

“You saying you saw them in the past?” Parker asked.

“Yes.”

“In a report I read, you said that ability made you blind.” Gibson said.

“Well I was standing on that dune, it was high enough I could see over. And then I saw them walk over that dune there.” Theo pointed again.

“We haven't picked up their radio sir, they're probably out of range.” Williams said.

Gibson gritted his teeth in contemplation as Theo came with a few steps of the group. The sound of sand grinding against sand drew the search team's attention. The Monolith was inching towards them and pushing sand aside with ease. Theo turned as the Monolith came to a stand still with sand cascading down the dune. She unconsciously took a few steps back in awe of the sight. The Monolith responded by moving a few more feet near them.

Parker looked back and forth between Theo and the Monolith then spoke up. “Walk ten feet over there please.”

“Huh?” Theo asked.

“Humor me please.”

She complied, walking backwards with her eye still on the Monolith. It delayed for about two seconds but sure enough it moved another ten feet closer almost clearing the dune it had been in. The commandos all turned to Theo and gave her a questioning stare.

“I didn't do that!” Theo nervously laughed.

“But you did.” Williams said.

“Hey boss, if we take her it would save us the trip back.” Ford pointed out.

“yeah yeah, alright princess if you're up to it you can join us.” Gibson said.

“I will if you stop calling me princess.” Theo demanded.

“No deal.” Gibson responded.

The other commandos laughed as Theo blushed in frustration.

“let's move.” Gibson ordered.

The team marched out in the direction Theo had pointed, Ford turned and called out. “Come on kid move you feet!”

Theo shook her head and followed the search team. Behind her the monolith pushed it's way out of the dune and matched her speed, keeping itself no more than sixty feet away.

--------------------

The local star was dropping below the horizon as the search team was setting up camp on the flattest piece of sand they could find. They had hiked as long as the day lasted which was around seven hours. It had been a hard trek, they stopped often and rested in the shade of the Monolith. The hike had really brought out differences her new body had over her old one. She would watch the commandos drop down and wipe the sweat off their brow and drink their own weight in water. She'd realized while watching that she hadn't broke a sweat all day and her throat never so dry it would call out for water. The hike had made some impact on her, making her legs sore from constant use but she felt that she could keep going without rest.

The team hadn't offered water at first, wanting her break down and plead for a drink all in good humor. After the second stop they grew a little uneasy when she still hadn't asked.

Gibson finally broke the silence. “Princess, you need some water, you haven't had a sip for 3 hours now.”

Theo was laying down with her head turned towards the group. “I don't think I need any... I haven't been sweating anyways.”

The commandos stared at her for a few seconds before turning to each other and murmuring. Despite Theo's larger ears she didn't hear what they were saying but she had a good idea.

The small tents were up by the time the sky turned a deep red. The group circled around a bright camp lantern and watched the last of the light faded from the sky.

“Jesus look at those stars!” Ford exclaimed.

“Yeah I almost trick myself today into thinking we were still on earth.” Williams said.

“How far out do you think we are?” Gibson asked.

Theo was still looking up into the alien sky. “If we were only a dozen light years away the constellations would look almost the same.”

“Time to make our own then.” Parker said.

“There's the big pencil.” Theo pointed.

“I see god's ruler.” Parker pointed in a another direction.

“Well gentlemen and lady, lets get some rest, I want to start early before the sun comes up.” Gibson said.

Ford compared the tents versus the number of people in their group. “Who's the lucky guy that gets to sleep with the princess?”

“I... I don't need to sleep so..” Theo stammered.

“It's going to get pretty cold out here, don't want to see you freeze to death.” Williams said.

“Suck it up and pick a tent.” Gibson said.

Theo sized up the guys in front of her. “Parker... I could probably take him in a fight if he tries anything.”

The guys laughed as Parker blushed. “Gee thanks.”

Theo felt a sense of dread as she followed Parker to his tent. He ducked into the tent and Theo stuck her head in opening.

“Oh god... one sleeping bag.” She moaned.

Parker gave her a whithering look. “Jeez come on, we'll sleep back to back and no funny business I promise.”

“Fine.”

Parker already in the sleeping bag as she crawling in, Their feet got tangled up as she crammed herself in.

“Sorry.” Parker said.

“No it's alright...”

They stayed silent for a while and Parker started to drift off to sleep. Theo remember back to when they offered her water and whispered to each other after her refusal.

“Do you think I'm a robot? Or do believe my story.” Theo asked.

“wha...” Parker had almost fallen asleep. “what story?”

“Oh they didn't tell you, need to know I guess. I'm not an alien, My name is Theo, The guy they said disappeared in that thing that's following me.”

“You're a guy?” Parker asked.

“Well not anymore...”

“What changed you then?” Theo imagined Parker was asking so he could avoid a similar fate.

“There was a girl in the Monolith, she looked like I do now, she said I would of died if she didn't change me.”

“Huh.”

“Yeah...” Theo mumbled.

“Well get some sleep okay?” Parker said as he shifted to get more comfortable.

--------------------

They set out as the planet's star was rising behind the Monolith.

“At least we'll have some shade for an hour or two.” Gibson said.

The trek was a silent affair, it was only interrupted by the sound of the Monolith cutting it's way through a sand dune or the occasional radio check. During their breaks Theo would crawl up the tallest sand dune she could find and stretch out the past and look for the tan 'snakes'. It had been day for about eleven hours when Theo took another look for the exploration team. The dunes stretched out like usual but coming over the horizon was a lumpy wave of dark green. As it neared and passed through Theo, she made her guess.

“I think we are close to a forest of some kind, the team went straight for it.”

“Good news.” Gibson called out.

The forest was a two hour walk away. The desert had flatten out and walking became much easier. The flat sand soon became peppered with rocks, then the sand receded to reveal cracked water parched clay. A mile after the sand was gone they spotted the forest. The trees looked like they were made out of huge grasshopper legs with large segmented leaves at the top. When they reached the edge of the forest they saw that the massive leaves didn't let any light through. Scattered among the trees were short cactus with segmented bug armor, in between each segment rows of course hair stuck out.

“These things are making me nervous.” said Theo.

“don't touch then, Can you see where they went?” Gibson asked.

“All the trees block my sight.”

As they reach a little farther into the forest they were rocked by a crunch and a wet snap. The Monolith pressed into the forest knocking down the first few trees at the edge.

“Shit...” Theo sighed and turned back to the Monolith. “I'm no use to you guys anyways, how about I stay here, guard this thing and wait for your return?”

“Sit tight then, princess.” said Gibson.

“That's getting old!” Theo called out to the departing search team.

Theo turned back and walked back out of the forest, towards the Monolith. It sat lower to the ground than it's sister in New York, two feet or so rather than the twenty feet back on earth. She strolled up to it and ran her hand along it's surface, the towering Monolith didn't push back. Theo couldn't tell if she pushed it away or the Monolith was repelled by her touch. She put her hand out again and the Monolith moved to her touch.

“Fucking weird.” Theo muttered.

Theo put both of her hands out and pushed the Monolith out of the forest. The star was past it's zenith and it headed to the horizon behind the forest. Theo took a few quick glances at the star before burning her eyes out. 'Looks like it would be four o'clock right now' Theo said to herself.

--------------------

It had been five hours since they left but the sun told Theo is was only six in the afternoon. Theo was propped up against the smooth surface of a grasshopper tree. She was staring off into the distance in that meditative state when you run out of thoughts to think. The sound of rocks scuffling on dirt broke her Zen state. Theo whipped her head around the base of the tree to find the source of the sound. The forest was thick enough that Theo couldn't see more than thirty feet in. She got to her knees and tensed up, waiting to run for it at the first sign of trouble.

“I wish they gave me a gun or something.” Theo whispered.

Theo jumped when she heard something rooting around about forty feet away. She could tell a lot of dirt was being moved out in the forest. The digging stopped and Theo heard the thing out there breathing. It sounded like wind passing through a tube and it's repetitions sounded exactly alike. It's breathing had a almost instrumental quality to it, no wheeze or variance a mammal would have. The digging picked back up for another couple of minutes before stopping again. Next came a sound of tearing like someone was pulling the bark off of a tree.

'It sounds like it's an herbivore.' Theo concluded.

The fear in Theo faded and her curiosity took hold now. She raised herself up as quietly as she could. On two feet she listened for the sound of the creature eating. Confident the animal didn't know she was there she slowly advanced towards the noise. Edging closer and closer, Theo stepped on a brittle patch of dried clay that cracked and broke. There was a second of silence before Theo could hear the animal running off in the opposite direction. Theo decided she really needed to see the animal before it got away so she gave chase. Theo darted and weaved between the trees and jumped over a freshly dug hole. Theo reached a barren strip of ground spanning eighty feet long with a wall of trees on each side. The creature was half way down the treeless corridor and still running. It looked like a insect, a five foot long and two feet high insect. It had only four legs but it's feet looked far more dexterous than a humans. The creature crawled away almost like a salamander.

Theo kept paced until she heard trees breaking behind her.

“Shit!” She cursed.

Theo slowed to a stop and took in as much detail of the animal as she could before it disappeared into the forest. It neared the end of the corridor and dove back into the forest, it's iridescent armor strobed between the trees as it faded from sight. Theo stood staring at the spot it disappeared for a few minutes while she processed what she saw.

“HELL YEAH! I SAW AN ALIEN CREATURE!” Theo cheered.

--------------------

Theo was back at her tree, to Theo sitting was just as useful as pacing around. The shadows where almost to the horizon and still no word from the search team. Theo passed the time by playing around with her new vision. She made the landscape stretch faster and faster with every try. She threw a rock and made it's path arch back to her. She grabbed another rock and wound up to throw it, She stretched out the future and looked for it's path. Nothing, everything around her moved in it's path but the rock had no future.

“Maybe I'm never going to throw it?” She pondered.

She snapped back time and tried again, the rock still didn't have a path. Looking at the rock in her hand Theo noticed that she didn't have a path either. That put a pit in Theo's stomach 'What does it mean?'. She tossed the rock and after leaving her hand the rock's path jumped out and traced it's movements to the ground.

Thoughts of destiny and free will floated through Theo's mind. Am I the only person with a choice now? Theo wondered. How am I effecting the world with my actions? Could I of killed the next Einstein cause of my mucking about? Theo felt like she was a wild card, she didn't fit into the world anymore. She didn't have a path that flowed with the rest, She imagined making wakes and rips in the fabric of space time with every movement she made.

The shadows faded into the night as Theo still sat against her tree. The planet's night time unnerved Theo, unknown alien monsters lurked out in the darkness. The wind died down after the star had dropped passed the horizon. The whoosh and whistle of the wind was replaced with the unbearably silent forest. The lack birdsong or insects buzzing in Theo's ear made her uneasy.

'How do you know when a monster is coming when the crickets aren't there to stop chirping.' Theo to herself.

It was quiet enough now that Theo could hear the voices in her head. Someone called her name but she couldn't recognize who. Murmuring and unintelligible conversations drifted around Theo. A twig snapping in the distance? No there aren't any twigs here. Theo threw a rock into the open desert in front of her, the impact made the voices quiet down.

The hiss of a beer can opening, 'strange' Theo thought. A high pitched whistle, Theo still thought it was her mind playing tricks on her. That is until she saw orange lit shadows moving across the ground. Theo bolted up to her feet in time to see the flare reach it's zenith and start falling back to the earth. 'Earth? No not earth, alien soil.' Theo thought fleetingly.

The ramifications of what the flare meant hit Theo in her gut. The implications made her stomach threatened to release its empty contents on the ground. She paced a circle in front of the forest waiting for her brain to tell her what to do.

“shitshitshit...” She felt wobbly, like each doubt and fear attacked her motor control. She remembered feeling a little like this before going back through the fold.

'Anything you can.' she remembered Farris telling her. It didn't stop her legs from shaking but it did help push her to a decision. Theo crouched down with her hands on her knees and took a deep calming breath.

“God dammit.” Theo said as she walked into the forest.

--------------------

Thanks to DJKauf for editing.

Note: I apologize for making the Monolith follow Theo, It seems a little contrived to me but I liked the image and I couldn't think of a better way to get her to join the commandos. LOL. Has anyone here read any Stephen Baxter?

The swarm was undeterred and doubled it's numbers, coming in from any angle behind them. They followed the knocked down trees until they reached the clearing filled with cacti. On the other side Theo could see the insects coming out of the tree line.

“Oh sh*%! I think we're surrounded!” Theo yelled.

--------------------

Uncertainty

The last commando had just disappeared through the fold and less than a minute later it was business as usual. People, paper, and information flowed around Farris, the three foot radius around him was a no man's land.

A nameless suit was taking paper from one side of the room to the other, he had made sure it looked important enough to warrant the trip. He hit some congestion, people where milling around blocking the way through. Split second decision, he risked invading the Director's personal space. He had high hopes of passing by without a word, he was half way into the danger zone when his hopes were dashed upon the rocks. Farris's bear claw of a hand shot out and gripped his shoulder stopping him in his tracks.

“I'd like all the psych reports we have on the alien girl.” Farris rumbled.

“Yes, sir.” the suit choked, he feared the paper work he would have to soon tackle.

“Psych reports? What are you looking for?” Farris's right hand man asked.

“How she escaped.”

“You saw the video, and our eggheads here could only give us theories.”

“I want to know how she escaped when she couldn't even run away from a swat team.”

“She said she was blind.”

“Yeah, blind because of her abilities that she seemed to have mastered the day before when she escaped.”

“I get ya, see if she gave off any signs of lying.”

“Yup, or that she has split personalities.” Farris chuckled.

“What do you think you'll find?”

“Couldn't say.”

--------------------

Theo sprinted away from the broken trees that were falling a little too close for comfort. When she heard the first tree snap it broke her concentration from navigating the dark forest. The tree fell fifteen feet from where she was standing sending a gust of wind at Theo. She had turned to see the tree fall in front of her, now in the tree's place was the Monolith.

“At least the loud noises will drive any wild animals away, if there are any out here.” Theo said to herself.

Leaving a path of destruction behind her, Theo found a clearing filled with the hairy cacti. She noticed holes dug around adult varieties, in the holes were half eaten cactus shoots. Theo looked around for any sign of the search team, none. She looked to the sky and pulled out the past, after a moment a smoke trail started to coalesce in the sky. The flare jumped back out of the forest and traced its path back to the gun it was fired out of. She was maybe a two and half a miles away from the flare's starting point. The world snapped back and Theo dodged through the patch of cacti to the other side of the clearing. The closer she got the more she could hear the pop of small arms fire over the sound of trees breaking and falling.

The trees thinned and Theo caught sight of the Commandos walking backwards still firing rounds into the forest. As Theo neared them she saw foot long insects scurrying away. They had four legs and walked like the creature Theo had seen before, but they didn't undulate and swim through the air like the larger creature did. The creatures had a ridged torso with a segmented neck attached to large jaws, their shape plus their dark coloring made them look pretty nasty.

“What happened?!” Theo yelled out.

Gibson turned and released an empty clip from his pistol. He grinned “We found em.”

Theo took a sideways glance at the missing guys. “I see that.”

The rest of the group finished emptying their clips and turned to Theo. “What was that?” Theo pointed to the place they had been shooting.

“We found these chuckle heads at a small oasis and when we were coming back we walked over an ant hive or something.” said Ford.

“Yeah, those thing poured out from a hole in the ground and chased us here.” Williams said.

“We had ourselves a bug hunt.” Parker had obviously watched Starship Troopers.

“Your buddy there scared them off.” Gibson pointed to the Monolith.

“You're welcome?” Theo said.

“Hold that applause folks, Those goddamn bugs are coming back! OPEN FIRE!” one of the three man recon team yelled. The soldier was missing some bandoliers of ammo but he did his damnedest to look and act like Dutch from Predator.

The commandos slapped in new clips and turned in unison towards the alien threat. All at once they opened up on the insect horde, Theo could of sworn she saw one of them Rambo'ing.

She felt like she was losing grip on reality and falling into an action movie. Theo screamed over the gunfire. “What is going on?!”

“We are moving, stay behind us!” Gibson roared.

Theo sighed in resignation and complied with Gibson's orders; she turned and ran back towards the Monolith. She had to run parallel to the domino stack of trees that the Monolith had made. The commandos followed, covering and falling back with swift efficiency. The swarm pushed them back past the Monolith and farther, soon they were leaving it behind. The invisible rope connecting Theo and the Monolith went taut and it start pulling the Monolith to Theo. They kept retreating back into the forest, leading the Monolith into more tree fodder. The gunfire slowed as the commando only had to pick off the insects that didn't get crushed by falling trees. The swarm was undeterred and doubled its numbers, coming in from any every angle behind them. They followed the knocked down trees until they reached the clearing filled with cacti. On the other side Theo could see the insects coming out of the tree line.

“Oh shit! I think we're surrounded!” Theo yelled.

Gibson turned and assessed the situation “Williams, Ford, Parker get in front and clear a path.”

“Yes, sir!” They yelled in unison.

The group advanced to the center of the clearing when one of the recon. team yelled. “Where is the Monolith?”

Theo swung her head back and saw the ruined tree line sans Monolith.

“Where did it go, princess?” Ford barked.

“Like I tell it where to go!” Theo yelled.

Theo whipped her head around looking for the Monolith until her eyes caught some movement above her. The Monolith was floating horizontal a couple hundred yards above them. “It up here!” Theo pointed.

The Monolith started to fall slowly towards the group. Theo stared up into the fold opening as it came close and closer. “It's coming down! everyone get under that opening.”

The commandos backed up to Theo's position until they were shoulder to shoulder. They were still blasting off rounds when the Monolith slammed into the ground.

--------------------

“Thanks, Dr. Fleming for taking me with you.” Beth said.

Barbra checked for oncoming traffic and made her turn, not till she drove the car between the lines did she look to Beth. “It's no problem, in fact I want thank you for telling what happened I might of not known where they took her.”

“Yeah, no problem.” said Beth.

Beth spent a few minute looking out the window, watching all the boring scenery. Identical house after identical tree scrolled by her. She yearned for more than what those houses could provide. Beth thought what she was feeling is what a Dr. Who companion would feel after stepping into the Tardis. She felt like the improbably huge universe was available to her now. And her universe was getting bigger, time travel, alien planets, and a Stargate; what other science fiction inventions will become real in the near future? she asked herself. 'Yup, I'm a Dr. Who companion now, except I'm falling for Miss Who.' Beth said to herself.

Her musings fell onto Theo, what were they having her do now? She was a victim of that thing, what do they expect her to do? All that bullshit Theo has had to put up with, How is she dealing with it? Debra's comment about thoughts of suicide fired through Beth's brain, Is she still thinking that way? Beth could imagine the feeling of hopelessness, despair, and not being loved coursing through the mind of a person contemplating suicide. She hoped Theo wasn't thinking similarly, how could she make sure that would never happen?

“Did you keep her hair?” Beth asked.

“Ahh, yes I do think we kept samples of her hair, why?”

“We could get some of Theo's DNA and compare it with the hair samples, prove she is Theo.”

“I'm sorry that wouldn't prove conclusively that Theo is who she is.”

“Why?”

“The 'Alien' half and the human half of the hair don't blend, We put it under a electro microscope and found there is a perfect division between them, it's like some one glued the pieces together at the atomic level.”

“Oh...” Beth deflated.

Barbra tried to raise Beth’s hopes up. “Don't worry about it, proving she is Theo isn't too critical we just need to find a way for her to get out of that cell for good.”

“Yeah” Beth said.

--------------------

Stairs, Beth was walking back up the stairs to the Monolith. Through the first door was the reception room. It was more of a hallway than a room, it sat perpendicular to the 'sharp' end of the Monolith. You signed in here and got your key badge for the other doors in lab. At each end of the room where large double doors to either the north lab or south lab. To the south Beth saw two MPs standing guard at the door, 'Oh I wonder where the business end is?' Beth thought.

Barbra moved up to the reception desk and flashed her credentials. A minute of discussion later, Barbra was pointing to Beth waving her over.

“You need to sign in for your guest pass.”

Beth filled out the two page document and signed with a flourish. With a fancy new necklace Beth and Barbra approached the guards, She let Barbra do all the talking. They passed by with little fight and entered the room she was locked in for a month. It wasn't as boring now, to Beth it was like a little piece of the trading floor. She followed Barbra through the crowd to Director Farris, If Beth squinted she was sure he would look like her’s and every other person's uncle.

“Ah, Dr. Fleming, I actually wanted to talk to you, Ms. Nasso if you would excuse us.” Farris said, sounding very courteous.

Beth was bit distracted by search for Theo, so it took a moment for her to respond “Where's Theo?”

“Through the fold, two and half hours now.” Farris replied while looking at his watch.

Farris escorted Barbra away to talk as Beth stood here looking at the commotion. Almost two days, Theo has been gone for two days on that desert planet. Theo's trip wouldn't be anything like her trip she knew. Beth remembered sitting by the Monolith waiting, until the star started setting. She didn't want to search an alien house in the dark, so she hiked down and made it there while the star was still shining on the structure. It was taller than she first thought, maybe three stories high and as big around as a six bedroom house. It was dim inside, but not as dim as it should have been. It wasn't until morning that Beth noticed the pin pricks of light dotted all over the ceiling from the alien fiber optic line threaded into the shelter. Beth used her remaining daylight to search the house, she didn't want to begin sleeping with something else tonight.
There were steps all the way up to a third floor, the steps were large, two foot by five foot and two feet high, big alien or big feet, Beth didn't know. Most of the rooms were barren, no furniture to speak of just piles of black sand. The rooms at each edge of the fin had a flue and fire pit and one of those rooms had a device half buried in the sand. It was the size and shape of a large pizza but made out of a ceramic that wasn't stiff and rigid. One side had a black on black finish, it didn't reflect her image or any light that hit it. The illusion of a deep nothingness was broken by the scuff and scratch marks on the surface. Beth found a corner to sit in and fiddle with what she called the iPod of the gods. She played with it until the local star light was gone and now only the million plus old light lit the desert.

Yawning, Beth stopped the tinkering and found somewhere to sleep, it was getting cold and she hadn't found any blankets. Finding a large pile of sand in one room Beth figured it would retain some of her body heat, so she dug a hole and buried herself up to her neck. She twitched and jerked a lot that night, She thought is was the consequence of not being able to toss and turn in her sand bed. The next morning Beth was stiff and tired and thirsty, She debated about whether to stay here or wait by the Monolith, sweating to death outside didn't appeal to her. She found a corner to sit in on the ground floor and waited until he came. Midday she heard him call out, Theo made it and was coming for her. She had yelled out for him but he didn't respond and never came. More hours later and Beth was out of it, she heard a girl call out. She didn't even remember what she said to the girl when she came to the rescue.

Barbra and Farris where still talking when people started to fall out of the fold. Theo was sandwiched between a half a dozen jar heads and looking worn out.

“Theo!” Beth waved.

The blank face on Theo dropped and was replaced with a grin as she noticed Beth. She wove her way through the crowd and wrapped her arms around Beth and squeezed tight.

“You ruined my princess top.” Beth said.

“Payback, my name is princess now thanks to you.” Theo grumbled.

“Oh boo hoo, it must have been horrible.” Beth giggled.

Theo giggled into Beth's shoulder and paused a moment in Beth's arms. “I can see now.”

“I noticed.”

“I kinda reset when I went through the fold, and I managed to control it before it made me blind again.” Theo said as Beth rubbed her back. “I used it to help find those missing guys, then bugs attacked and everyone went eighty's action movie, it was nuts.”

“Seriously?”

“Ha yeah, Ford there said he didn't have time to bleed.”

“Awesome.” Beth swooned.

Theo giggled again into Beth's neck and then sighed “They were probably right in calling me princess, I was a whiny brat. I wonder if I would of acted the same way before this happened to me?”

“I...” Beth paused realizing the question, intentional or not, was a trap, a no right answer question. She spared Theo's feelings and just patted her on the back, in Beth's mind though she answered the question: No, you've changed.

“I, I want to go back into the fold, I want to find that alien, I want to ask her why.” Theo mumbled.

“Okay, what do you think she'll tell you?”

“I...” Theo's response was drowned out by shouting and the sound of guns being cocked.

--------------------

Farris took a break from their conversation to talk to the leader of the search team. Barbra watched as the man named Gibson talked to Farris in hushed tones while sneaking peeks at Theo when he could. 'This isn't going to be good.' Barbra thought gravely. Farris slapped Gibson on the shoulder and shook his hand then made his way over to Barbra.

“Mr. Gibson there told me something about 'Theo'.” Farris told her.

“What?” Barbra sighed.

“The Monolith followed her.”

“What!?” She hissed.

“It followed her through that desert and into a forest, and when they were under attack it swooped over them and dropped the fold opening on them. He said they might not have made it out if that didn't happen. So now will you look into what I asked?”

Barbra looked to Theo, she was hugging Beth and looking sympathetic. “Fine, I'll do it.”

“That's all I ask, it's not like I think she is evil, Doctor, I just want to find out what’s happening...” Farris words died in his mouth as he saw Barbra’s jaw unhinge in shock. He turned to to where Barbra was looking, coming out of the fold was an identical copy of 'Theo' clothes and all.

“Freeze!” an MP yelled.

The copy put her hands up. “Okay, okay.”

“Who are you?” Farris demanded.

“Theo.” She answered.

Farris pointed at the Theo who had her back turned and was still embracing Beth. “Who is that then!?”

“Me.”

Beth stared in shock at what she was seeing, a shameful thought passed through her head. 'What am I hugging right now?' She pushed that thought out of her brain and pried Theo away from her and spun her around.

“What the fuck!” everyone turned to Theo as she cried out.

The copy looked to Theo. “You said you wanted to go ask her why just now, didn't you?”

“...” every word was caught up in Theo's throat.

“Well, I went and asked her, I just, I just got back too early.” The copy sounded embarrassed.

The copy let that digest before saying. “I can prove I'm Theo.”

“No! I'm Theo!” Theo yelled.

The copy smiled. “Don't worry I can prove that both of us are Theo. Director Farris, may I try?”

“As long as you stay right there.” He ordered.

“Sure thing, Theo go over to the Director and whisper a password to her. Anything you like, make it as complicated as you want.”

Theo untangled her hands from Beth's and slowly walked over to Farris while keeping her eyes on her copy. Farris gave her an uncertain glare, he covered his mouth and whispered into her ear.

“Golf Oscar Bravo Echo Alpha Romeo Sierra, did you grow up in Chicago, chief?.” The copy said.

Farris and Theo gave her a brow raise, “Don't mind doing that again?” Farris asked.

“I knew you would say that.”

“Cut the shit, and just do it.” Farris barked.

“Sorry, give me something to write on please.”

A pad and pen was thrown to the copy as Ford step forward. “You mind if I try, sir?”

Farris sighed. “Sure, knock yourself out.”
Ford leaned down and was about to whisper his words into past or future, he wasn't sure which one.

The copy blushed and closed her eyes in embarrassment and spoke before Ford could. “I'm a pretty little fairy princess.”

Ford laughed out loud as the crowd chuckled, Theo's face turned a deep purple and she hit Ford in the arm. “You asshole.”

The novelty quickly became apparent and so a queue formed in front of Theo.

The copy pointed to the line. “I'm not psychic, I only know your passwords up to Beth, Sorry everyone behind her.”

With a collective 'ah shucks' half the queue disengaged and returned back into the crowd. The rest took their turns whispering into the loop of time-space that was connected to Theo's ear. The copy would alternated between saying the password out loud or writing it down minute before the password was given. Beth was paying close attention to Theo's copy now, and she noticed the copy was blushing and getting antsy the nearer Beth got to her turn. Beth felt like the copy was telegraphing her emotions perfectly, she knows what I am going to say. Beth had to say it now, she leaned close to Theo while keeping her eyes on the copy.

“- ----- - ---- ---.” She whispered.

Theo spun her head to Beth with a shocked look as the copy rocked side to side on her heels. Beth could see the deep purple color flush over the copy's face, her lips were pursed she didn't want to say it.

“What did I say?” Beth asked with a smirk.

“Ahh... it's kinda of hard to remember, the time travel and all.” The copy bullshitted.

Beth slapped Theo in the face, it was the kind of slap someone would give to a heavy sleeper. “Why won't the you over there say it, Theo?” Beth asked with her puppy dog eyes.

“It's embarrassing.” Theo mumbled.

“Fine, I won't embarrass you.” Beth pouted.

“It's about now when we go through the fold and talk to her.” The copy said.

“Yeah, Mr. Farris, would you mind if I went through the fold?” Theo asked.

“The universe might be destroyed by a time paradox if you don't let her go.”

“On one condition, a full debriefing I want every detail.”

“Deal.” the copy said.

“Go ahead then.”

It was like a prisoner exchange as Theo and her double traded places in the room. As they neared each other the Copy spoke up. “You remember Time Cop? When the bad guy touches his future self and is unborn or some shit.”

“I...” Theo managed to say it before her copy grabbed her making her scream. Was she going to melt now? Nope she just made the crowd laugh.

“God, you asshole! Don't do that shit.” Theo said with raised voice.

“Sorry, It was tradition I was told.” The copy said.

They stood in each other's place now, you couldn't tell though if you hadn't seen them switch. Beth eyeballed the Theo in front of her. “Are you the evil twin?”

The Theo chuckled and looked over her shoulder. “This is your cue to go, I shouldn't say anything more until you leave.”

“Okay, see you in a bit, Beth...” Theo shook her head. “Never mind.” she smiled.

--------------------

Theo was floating halfway through the squeezed space when she felt a tug. She was thinking about the best questions to ask and how angry she should be when the pull of gravity sent her through the wall of the corridor. It didn't feel like falling, there was no wind... nothing to resist her directionless plummet. She had no reference point in the white abyss she was in, she couldn't even tell if she was moving anymore. The abyss dimmed and became patchy and soon the blobs of white dimmed until they focused into the stars that surrounded her. She was back in that nebula again, alone floating in space.

Where was she? Was she in some remote part of the universe? Or was she in some part of the Monolith? More questions for the girl, wherever she was.

“Hello again, Theo.” Her own voice called out to her.

The alien girl turned and twisted into reality, fifteen feet or so from Theo. She was what Theo saw every morning in the bathroom mirror, beautiful but alien. Her image finally stopped warping and bending, she was smiling. “How's life been?”

--------------------

Thanks to DJKauf for editing.

“How's life been?”
Theo was flabbergasted “You turned me into, I don't know what. They think 'Theo' died and that I'm a fake, am I a fake? I've been having a awful time.”
“I'm sorry.” it was the kind of sorry when some one says they drank the last soda or beer when you're looking for one.
Theo took a calming breath “Why did you turn me into this?” Theo waved her hands down her body.

--------------------

Clarification

If the universe wasn't the way it is. If it was uniform and neat like Newton imagined. If space and time were evenly distributed along our universe, not clumped together like snow balls rolling down a hill. If that universe existed, about the time when Theo was trekking through an alien desert David would have been eating a bowl of cereal in front of his computer.

It was strange to think that just last night he had been arrested by the government, taken in for questioning, and let go before the sun came up. Now he was in his underwear watching the latest Adventure Time in his parent's house. He felt like a king, he was invincible “Ain't nothing gonna keep me from ma cereal.” David said to himself.

The music from the moon stage in the Duck Tales video game was coming out of David's pants. David balanced his cereal bowl on the computer desk and dropped to his knees and rummaged through laundry. Pulling his cell phone of the pants pocket he saw Heather's name flashing on the screen. David shrugged as he put the phone to his ear.

“Hello?”

“David, where have you guys been? Beth hasn't picked up her cell.” Her voice had a sixty forty split of annoyance and panic.

“Oh, sorry about that, after we got to Theo's house the feds showed up and hauled us in.”

“Oh no!”

“Naw it's alright, Theo made a deal and we were released and now we can visit her anytime.”

“Well that's good, considering, wait where is Beth?”

How much could he blab? David was thinking. “She stayed there, we figured one of us should stay.”

“So we can visit her now, huh? Were you going to go back and visit Theo today?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“You mind picking me up on your way there?”

“Sure! No problem.” David was thinking about the two hours it took to drive to the lab, lots of alone time with Heather. They talked a while longer, David gave her the longer version of the story, then they agreed on a time to meet and ended the call. David looked over his room and realized he need to do laundry.

--------------------

“Can anyone tell me what just happened here?” Farris asked.

An overweight fellow who looked equally skilled at D&D as he was with science took the mantle and answered. “We've had rough theories on what would happen if you went through the fold and came back as soon as you got there...”

Farris cut him off “What does that...?”

“Well you know of the time dilation between our world and the alien world? It's not caused by that planet spinning faster or anything, it's a result of the travel through that fold in space. Somehow it acts like faster than light travel and if 'time' stops for light at light speed than it's theorize than if you could move faster than FTL then you would get to your destination before you left.” The scientist was a little out of breath when he finished.

“The alien said something similar.” Theo said.

Farris looked over to Theo “Ah yes about that debriefing we agreed on.”

“You mind if Beth here joins? So I don't have to tell this move than once.”

“I suppose...”

“I'd also like to be there.” Barbra said as she walked up to Theo.

“That's no trouble, Dr. Fleming.” Farris said.

--------------------

Farris led them to the other lab, the dead lab. Since there was no fold on this side the lab was used for storage and temporary sleeping quarters. You would never find a Suit here; they were sensible and went home at night, the scientists, on the other hand, ran until they couldn't run anymore. Most nights you'd find a snoring lab geek on a cot in the corner of the room. They did find one, so they moved to a table at the other end of the room.

Farris placed a small digital recorder on the table and turned it on. “This is Director Barry Farris, I am interviewing the alien calling herself 'Theo'.”

“Uh? Hello.” Theo said to the recorder.

“Now, Theo, could you begin from the point you entered the fold?” Farris asked.

“Yes, I entered and became weightless then halfway through I was pulled out of the corridor into some kind of nebula. I was floating there in space or whatever it was for about a minute before she appeared and said.”

“How's life been?”

Theo was flabbergasted “You turned me into, I don't know what. They think 'Theo' died and that I'm a fake, am I a fake? I've been having a awful time.”

“I'm sorry.” it was the kind of sorry when some one says they drank the last soda or beer when you're looking for one.

Theo took a calming breath “Why did you turn me into this?” Theo waved her hands down her body.

“Like I just told you, I had to so you wouldn't die.”

“But why do I look exactly like you?” Theo asked.

“It's way the all of the... what would be the English equivalent? 'Fold Guides' look like.”

“Fold Guide?”

“A keeper of sorts, you'll be tasked to guide your species into the galactic theater. There are many fold gates on many habitable planets throughout this galaxy and you will be able to connect to them and meet new species. You're meant to bridge the gap between a sentient of your world and a sentient of a other. So you may have a peaceful and fruitful relationship with your neighbors.”

“Seriously?!” Beth asked.

Theo gave Beth a stare. ”seriously.”

Farris cleared his throat. “Please continue.”

“What? that is a lot for me to handle, how am I going to do this? Isn't there some one better?” Theo asked looking down to her feet.

“This is not a path you were born to, it will take experience and wisdom. You'll will have a century or two to grow and learn before you really bring your people into the stars.”

“Two centuries?!” Theo yelled.

“Did she say how long your life span is?” Farris asked.

“She didn't.” Theo said.

“You will live long enough.” the alien said.

Theo let her body relax and go limp as she though about outliving everyone she knew. There was talk about possible breakthroughs in medical science, talk about making the human race biologically immortal. Theo remembered watching a talk with Aubrey De Grey, he thought it would be possible in the next couple of decades. Maybe it would happen, maybe she didn't have to keeping going on alone.

“Am I really Theo?” Theo asked with her head pointing up and away from her body.

“Yes, I didn't destroy you I just rearranged you. You are still you but with some more sides.” She answered.

“How am I going to prove that?”

“Farris seems to have taken an interest in you and he is impartial, tell him if he wants to talk to me have him step into the fold.”

“She knows me?” Farris asked.

“How do you know Farris? You can watch us can't you.” Theo asked the alien.

“Just curious, honest.” the alien apologized.

“So did you make the Monolith Fold gate follow me through that desert?” Theo questioned.

“Yup, you don't have the mastery yet to do that and I don't want to see any harm done to you.”

“Jesus, why didn't you tell any of this the first time?” Theo moaned.

“If I did, no one would accept the job, even you Theo, only the most egotistical of your species would take the burden thinking it was their 'destiny'. I don't need those people and unfortunately I have to force the right ones into the job. Don't worry, with time comes strength and anyone in your position could do what you will do.”

“How do you know what I'll do? Can you read my mind? Or see my future?”

“I can't read your mind no one can read minds, and I can't really see your future but I can see the reactions you make in the future.”

“I don't quite...” Theo slowly said.

“You don't have a trail or paths as you call them. so I can only see you when I am looking in the right place and 'time', the space time you are currently existing in.” the alien answered.

“Oh, about that; how am I seeing into the future and how did I walk through walls?”

“You're not just three dimensional now, so now you're able to catch glimpses of what I see. You'll get better at it, it just takes time.”

“Okay.”

“Well it is time for you to go now...”

“I have more...”

“I know I will be here to answer them but later, you need to go back and continue that loop.”

“What if they still don't believe me?”

“Then it might take your people a thousand years make it out of your solar system. You need to limit your growth or expand off world as soon as you can or humanity is going to choke this planet and yourselves to death.”

“Grim.”

“Indeed... okay off you go, we'll talk later.” She waved as Theo fell away from her.

“But I...!” Theo yelled.

“Then I came out of the fold and did my Carnac impression.” Theo said as she leaned back into her chair.

Farris leaned back as well with the look of deep thinking. He sat there a moment staring at the digital recorder before bringing his hands up to his face and rubbing his eyes. “Christ...”

Theo just shrugged in response and Barbra leaned forward and addressed Farris. “Are going to go through the fold?”

“Yes, I have to, we can't just take her word for it.” Farris pointed to Theo. “I'm not going to come back out of that thing looking like you do am I?”

“Ah, I hope not... I don't think she would, it would kind of ruin my credibility.” Theo responded.

Farris growled “Well, better now than later....”

Barbra's cell phone interrupted “Sorry.” Barbra said as she dug through her purse.

“Anyways I'm going, I want you stay here for now, I want to go over want happened on the alien planet later.” Farris told Theo as he was walking out of the dead lab.

“Okay.”

“Oh, hello David.” Barbra said to her cell.

Beth and Theo moved in close to Barbra trying to listen to the conversation. “I'm actually at the Monolith with Theo and Beth” Barbra said.

“Nothing I should say over the phone.”

“Sure I can arrange that, and Heather too. What about your professor?”

“Oh, well, if I was away from my family that long.”

“Okay see you in a bit and bring some food, I'll reimburse you.” Barbra said as she hung up.

“Yah! Pizza.” Theo said with a mellow enthusiasm.

“How do you know he's going to get pizza?” Barbra asked.

“That's all he eats.” Beth said.

--------------------

David and Heather had just stopped by the closest Original Famous Ray's pizza and were back in the New York traffic. International news was coming over the radio, David figured NPR might impress Heather or at least she'd tolerate it.

“So you were with 'her' most of day yesterday, is she really Theo?” Heather asked out the window.

“Yeah she makes the same jokes Theo does, talks like him. The new packaging has changed her some but I am confident she is Theo.”

“This is so weird.” Heather muttered.

“Yeah...”

“The fact that she is Theo is weird enough but now, now she can see the future and teleport or whatever you described. I feel like I'm in a comic book...” Heather said.

“I wish.” David chuckled to himself.

“I hate to say it but, her ears, her ears kind of creep me out.” Heather was still looking out the window in to the dense sidewalks.

“Why?”

“I don't know, maybe it's my lizard brain telling me that she's different and that I should be afraid of her.”

“Could be.” David was worried he was going to run out of monosyllabic responses.

“What do you think happened that couldn't be talked about over the phone?” Heather asked.

“I don't know, maybe Theo has a new power or maybe they believe her now.” David shrugged.

Heather didn't respond for a moment. “Maybe... Oh and thanks for picking me up.”

“My pleasure.” David smiled.

--------------------

David managed to find a spot to park that wasn't taken by a Government vehicle or stray news van. David remembered that for more than two weeks straight after their quarantine this lot was filled to capacity with the news media. And in the grass next to the lab was a forty foot line of cameras all pointing up into the lab's windows, hoping for a good shot. Halfway through their quarantine the media attention dropped and most of the cameras disappeared. David figured they were waiting for the real story to start when the quarantine was lifted. Sure enough the media was back in force as they were escorted into a shuttle for debriefing. Now the lot only had a few sleeper news vans in wait for some breaking news. In this one instance David was thankful for the Government, they kept the media away. His parents weren't badgered by reporters and his cell phone wasn't off the hook with calls from news anchors because of the bullying of good old Uncle Sam.

They reached the double stairway that led up to the Monolith as Beth came out of the door to meet them.

'Hi guys!” Beth waved.

“Hello.” David and Heather said in unison.

With a look of concentration Beth raise her fingers to her temple. “I see pepperoni pizza.” She struggled.

“MY GOD!” David yelled. “HOW DID YOU KNOW?”

Heather provided the laugh as they climbed the stairs to the reception hall.

“We need to get you signed in, Dr. Barbra can help us.” Beth called out.

They had fresh badges and were already on their way to the dead lab. “Easy huh?” Beth asked.

“Piece of cake, or should I say piece of pizza!?” David waggled his brow.

Beth pointed to her brain and with a grin said. “You're fucked up in the head.”

They passed through the doors into a crowded room filled with boxes and spare scientific equipment. Theo sat on a picnic style table that hugged a windowed wall. She was faced down looking at a pad of paper and pen in hand, she wasn't writing, though. She drew long slow curved lines around the paper, the act of a truly bored person.

“Got some tasty Zaa here.” David said.

Theo spun her head up to see, to David it looked like Theo's head rotated around her long ears. “Hi guys.” she smiled as she got up from her seat.

“How is it goin...” David said as Theo gave him a hug. David thought it weird that Theo's head didn't even reach his chin now.

“Better.” Theo said as she pulled away and met his eyes.

“G-Good.”

“Hey, Heather.” Theo walked up and gave another hug.

Heather eyed Beth who only shrugged her shoulders. “Hello, Theo.” Heather said while she patted Theo's back.

“How about we fill Heather in while we eat?” Beth asked.

“Yeah okay, come on guys, sit down and listen if you dare to this truly terrifying tale.” Theo said as she escorted them to the table.

--------------------

“And then the hero tells her adventurous tale to her good friends over some pizza THE END.” Theo finished.

“Bravo bravo.” Beth droned like a zombie.

“So what do you think?” Theo asked.

“Hmm...” David furled where his beard would have been. “There just one thing, a hole in your story, a gap.”

If you were trained to recognize signs of lying on some one's face, you would have been the only one in the room who would have noticed a slight tremor of fear that ran through Theo. “Oh yeah?” She said.

“What ever happened to the baklava?” David asked.

“My god, what did happen to it?” Theo said in a hushed tone.

“It's being subjected to illegal government torture no doubt.” Heather said.

“You're getting better at keeping up with us, Heather, you’re still not at our level, of course.” Theo said haughtily .

“Of course.” David backed up.

“Yeah you're regular coin-a-sewers over there.” Beth did her best big dumb guy voice.

“I hope you saved me some, pepperoni pizza by the smell of it.” Barbra called out.

“Yes ma'am.” David said.

Barbra took a seat and grabbed a slice and started on it. “Haven't eaten all day.” she said after a few bites.

“Any news?” Theo asked.

Barbra with a mouth full of pizza pointed to Theo as if to start a game of charades. She finished her bite. “Yes, Farris is already back from talking to your alien friend.”

“I don't even know her name.” Theo said.

“Anyways, he looked a little shaken when he came out of the fold. My guess is he heard what you told him, he's probably going to have to take this to the president.” Barbra said.

“What do you think will happen?” Heather asked.

“Couldn't say, but I hope the president takes the leash off of Theo, so to speak.

“Like I said before, you are going to be popular.” Beth said as she poked Theo's nose.

“That's right, if this goes down how we want there is going to be a huge media circus around you for a long time...”

“Better pick now who gets your interview, Colbert or Steward.” David said.

“And the US won't have the monopoly on you anymore. You're probably going to get VIP invitations to all the countries in the world. Heck, most of them would probably give you honorary citizenships.” Barbra mused.

“Cool! Visit any country you want, anytime you want. You're taking me with you.” Beth said to Theo.

“We need to get you trained up on your politics.” Barbra said.

--------------------

They were talking about which hand you should shake a diplomat's hand with when Farris entered the room. The conversation died as they all looked to Director Farris.

“Theo, can I have a few minutes?” Farris said.

“Sure.” Theo lifted herself out of her seat and followed Farris through the door.

“I've talked with, she never gave her name, but you know who. I just want to let you know I'm going to write this all up tonight and present it to the White House cabinet tomorrow. Don't get too hopeful yet, there is still going to be some discussion for a day or two. And if my recommendation has any pull you just might get a new citizenship and out of that quarantine lab...” Theo started grinning. “Ah! That doesn't mean I totally believe you now, I just don't think you are a danger to country anymore.” Farris said.

“I'll take that.” Theo smirked.

“I'll trust you not to run off?” Theo nodded. “Good now I've got some paperwork with my name on it, I will keep Dr. Fleming apprised of any news.” Farris said walking off down the hallway.

--------------------

Beth and Theo were leaning on each other in the back of an agency shuttle. The sun was setting and the long day was catching up to Beth.

They had spent most of their time today sitting around that pizza box. They talked about the weirdness around Theo, they talked about news stories, they mostly talked about nothing. Late in the afternoon Barbra broke up the talk saying she had work to do, she set up a shuttle to take Theo back to the quarantine lab and left. Conversation lasted another hour before the group split going their separate ways. Theo and Beth watched David and Heather leave as they waited for the shuttle to arrive.

“Do you think you will age?” Beth asked quietly.

“I don't know, I'm kind of scared that I won't.” Theo mumbled.

“I think I understand.” Beth reached out and gripped Theo's hand.

“I, I think I love you too.” Theo stammered.

Beth slid closer and tightened her hold. “Thanks for finally saying it.”

Theo stayed silent and enjoyed the contact she was having with Beth. Theo could hear a soft snore coming from Beth, how long have I been up? Theo thought. She shifted her head carefully and looked at the busy traffic that was filtered through the dark plate of glass. There were still a lot of pedestrians walking about 'Should I feel responsible for every person out there? Will I in the future?' Theo thought.

“What am I going to do?” Theo said to herself.

--------------------

“Like I just told you, I had to so you wouldn't die.” The alien said.

“But why do I look exactly like you?” Theo asked.

“‘Cause.”

“‘Cause? I deserve more than a ‘CAUSE!” Theo screamed.

“Maybe you do, but that's going to be my answer for now.”

Theo deflated “What am I going to tell them? How am I going to prove I'm me?”

“Farris seems to have taken an interest in you and he is impartial, tell him if he wants to talk to me have him step into the fold and I will tell him that you are you.”

“He’s going to ask why, and he won't take ‘cause for an answer. It's going to make him more suspicious of me, then they'll never let me out of my cage.”

“Tell them this then...” The alien continued.

“Is any of that true? am I me? you just rearranged my body right? and I'm a Fold Guide?” Theo asked.

“It is time for you to go. Don't worry, I will tell you the truth soon it's just not the right time.” She said as Theo fell away from her.

“But I...” Theo yelled.

A gentleman in the center of the table cleared his jowl covered throat, the plaque under him read 'Secretary of the Homeland Security'. “We are publicly announcing your existence-” He held his finger up to stop Theo from responding. “as a Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Despite Mr. Farris's report and testimonial we feel that a alien cover story will be more believable to the public.”

Reception

--------------------

Beth slept with her mouth open, she didn't breathe out of her mouth but it was open anyways. Theo had wondered how much drool her pillow had collected over the three or so weeks she had been sleeping here. Theo swallowed and moved her tongue around in her mouth to check her own level of drool in her mouth, normal. It's always normal, she couldn't remember the last time she had dry mouth or the smell of food made her mouth water. Always the same, her body seemed to be never changing and undemanding. When she was a guy she would have these moments where her body would disappear and she was just an invisible observer. The feelings and sensations of her(his) body would white noise away and to her brain her body had ceased to exist, until her nose itched or some muscle would get sore. Now with this new body, Theo felt she was an invisible observer almost constantly. The only demand her body had now was the occasional passing of water out of her body.

Theo got up from her seat and walked away from the journal she was writing in. She stepped around boxes of her personal effects from home her Mom had sent. The boxes had a mixture of junk from her home and her apartment. Around the time Theo had been declared dead her apartment had been cleaned out and everything was shipped to her Mom's. She was confident her Mom wouldn't have found any embarrassing items like a porno mags or sexual aids. She knew her Mom, and her lack of computer skills would stop her from finding the really incriminating evidence.

So for a few weeks now, Theo's Mom had brought a box every time she visited. It was a good day when Theo's 'Super Nintendo' showed up, Theo and Beth had stayed up all night playing 'SFII' and 'Zombies ate my neighbors' until Beth fell asleep on Theo's shoulder.

There was a box filled with cards and board games. David and Heather usually showed up at the same time, so they would pull out a game and play while the four of them talked. The default game they would go back to most of the time was 'zombies' the board game, fight the horse and get to the helicopter before anyone else did.

Theo looked around the room at the various boxes and found a common theme. Zombies; books, movies, games, if it had a zombie on it she had it. She thought about this quirk of hers at a distance like she was a third person in the room. She couldn't decide if her collection was saying 'I appreciate the symbolism of Zombies.' or 'I believe I need to be ready when the Zombie Apocalypse comes.' It didn't really matter now anyways, Aliens were real and zombie weren't .

Theo quietly made her way to the bed and sat down at Beth's side. She was in undiscovered territory now, she had never imagined what it would be like to have a girlfriend to sleep next to. Why bother when you couldn't even begin to imagine how to get a girlfriend. Theo remembered when 'he' would talk to girls who 'he' was attracted to. It would start out fine, some successful attempts at humor and genuine interest. Soon the pregnant pauses started interjecting into the conversation and over the shoulder glances for escape were made. The pauses were murder on Theo.

'How am I going to start this conversation back up without sounding like a jerk.' Theo would berate to 'himself'. Theo would feel 'himself' get dumber and uglier with every passing minute of conversation. 'He' could only bear so much, most of the time Theo would say “bathroom” and make haste.

Theo realized she was on the other side of the fence now. She thought about being that girl who Theo met at a party and tried to talk to. Theo imagined her male self shuffling up to her, it was the first time she had been drunk. 'He' slurred his words a bit as he tried to find some common ground. Jokes and quips came out of Theo's mouth half realized and not funny. 'He' would throughly embarrass 'himself' then disappear only leaving a funny story to tell to her friends. Theo wondered if she would experience anything like that, male attention. The thought made Theo's spine wiggle, no doubt there were people already masturbating to the few photos the government had released of her.

Theo pulled up the corner of the comforter and slipped into bed next to Beth. She spent a minute looking at Beth's cute little face, she didn't look so much like Velma at the moment because her glasses were off. Beth's features were taken right out of the twenties and thirties, put a skin tight cloche over her head and you'd be halfway there. The other half was her nose, it had a strong Roman straightness to it that made you think of art deco. Theo adjusted the pillows under her head and closed her eyes trying to turn her brain off.

Beth was in that half awake state when Theo sat down on the bed, it must be close to morning, Beth thought. Theo didn't want to weird her out with the no sleeping thing, so she went to bed every night for as long as Beth was awake. Beth would occasionally wake and find Theo writing in her journal or reading a book, Theo would apologize and go back to bed. On a rare night, Theo would appear to be actually sleeping, Beth found that after some heavy petting Theo would tire and fall asleep most of the time. “Heavy petting” it miffed Beth a little that they hadn't gone past making out. She didn't want to push Theo, but it seemed to her that Theo wasn't getting any more comfortable in the bedroom. Beth would start kissing and holding and Theo would follow suit but she never would make the next step. Beth was sure that if she didn't advance to second base herself Theo would have just kept on kissing until the end of time. Beth couldn't figure if Theo was scared or just didn't know what to do.

Beth cleared her mind the best she could, there would always be runaway thoughts. She concentrated on her breathing and fell into a hour long sleep.

--------------------

Beth woke in mid conversation, she lifted her head off her pillow and squinted at the blobs in the room.

“What's the big news?” Theo sat on the end of the bed.

“The White House made their decision.” Dr. Fleming said.

“Wha'd they say?” Beth slurred while rubbing her eyes.

“I haven't got all the details but it sounds like Theo is going to get out of here.” Barbra raised her hands and gestured to the room.

“Really?!” Theo said.

“Yeah, come on, let’s get you dressed up. The 'brass' wants to meet with you before it goes public. We've got to be there by lunch.” Barbra said.

Beth noticed bags at Barbra's feet “I know you've been dreading this but I've brought some clothes, girl's clothes.”

Theo groaned and fell back into the bed.

“Suck it up, Boyo!” Beth said.

“Yes, pajamas aren't going to cut it when you are with the President.” Barbra told Theo.

Theo's eyes went out of focus and she fell limp on the bed. Theo was thinking 'I'M FUCKED!' but her mouth was too paralyzed with impending doom to make a noise. Beth panned into Theo's view she had a look of curiosity. That look was soon replaced with a shit eating grin. what did she know? Beth could see into the future! She could see Theo mumbling and sounding like a moron in front of the Commander and Chief. Beth continued to stare with a grin of Schadenfreude, the grin was infectious and Theo couldn't keep it off her mouth.

Beth breathed out. “I bet you-”

“Don't say it!” Theo laughed.

“I bet you'll-” Beth said.

“Please!” Theo covered her face to slow the infection.

“I bet you'll fart in front of the President.” Beth said.

Theo bellowed out in laughter and kicked her legs to work the air pump in her chest. “NO--!” she choked out.

“It's inevitable, it will happen.” Beth put on the air of foreboding.

Theo laughed out more, stamping her feet on the bed as is she was trying to tap out of the wrestling match. Beth looked up from her victim and looked at the bags. “What have you got there?”

“Formal wear, mostly.” Barbra rapped the side of the bag with her foot.

“Mostly?” Beth asked.

Barbra took a peek at Theo and spoke a little louder. “I've decided to take your advice Beth, so I bought some lacy underwear to embarrass Theo with.” she got a laugh out of Theo.

Beth mused out loud “All according to plan, let me see those titillating garments.”

Beth moved off the bed and perused through the bags on her knees. “Yes, most embarrassing, thank you, Barbra.”

“Look at this, I found a business suit Theo's size.” Barbra removed the article of clothing and held on high.

“What do you think, Cuttlefish? Beth asked.

Theo looked up with red eyes “Cuttlefish?”

--------------------

The hallway echoed with the clicks of moving footwear. Theo could almost hear a beat in the chaos and her own rhythm was much quicker than the rest. To Theo it felt like her skirt was a rope tied around her knees. So she had to take small steps very quickly to keep up with the escorts.

Theo felt out of sorts walking down this hallway in a women's business suit. Not three hours ago Beth was using Theo was a mannequin, then double daring Theo to wear the suit, At least Theo was glad she wasn't wearing heels. With her Navy blue colors and her long hair swept out from her face, Barbra and Beth said she looked smart. When she was a guy she knew what kind of reactions 'his' clothes would make at least 'he' knew when he looked stupid. It was like wearing a Halloween costume, human interaction was suddenly changed when you had a vampire or mummy costume on. People treated you a little differently and you treated them differently as well. How were they going to act towards her? Theo wondered.

“Sorry, Beth I can't get you any farther, you'll have to wait for us here.” Barbra apologized.

“Oh, okay, good luck Theo.” Beth gave Theo's hand a squeeze.

“Thanks.”

Barbra, Theo, and two guards left Beth behind at the security checkpoint. It didn't surprise Theo that this wasn't the only security checkpoint between the entrance and whereever they were going. She had expected the Pentagon would have looked like a fortress on the inside, not drab office after drab office.

“Remember this is only a meet and greet, they've already made their decision. Just answer their questions, no sweat right?” Barbra patted Theo reassuringly on the shoulder.

“Okay.” Theo whimpered.

Beth lead her through a nondescript door into a conference room that looked into the center garden of the Pentagon. Old men lined the side of the conference table that faced the wall. She followed Barbra and sat down on the opposite side, Theo wished she could have been on the other side so she could stare mindlessly into the courtyard.

“Thank you for joining us this afternoon.” Farris called out from the end of the table.

A little evil part of Theo wanted to call out 'Sup Bro.' “Hello, Mr. Farris.”

“I know we haven't told you what will be happening, but this is why we had this meeting.” Farris said.

“What is going to happen?” Theo asked quietly.

A gentleman in the center of the table cleared his jowl covered throat, the plaque under him read 'Secretary of Homeland Security'. “We are publicly announcing your existence-” He held his finger up to stop Theo from responding. “as an Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Despite Mr. Farris's report and testimonial we feel that an alien cover story will be more believable to the public.”

Another Suit at the table decided to answer Theo's unspoken question. “First you've got think about your safety, you'll effectively become an ambassador and we would be obliged to provide the Secret Service for protection. And think about your Mother, If she was linked to you, think about all the attention she would have. And you've really got to think about the bad attention, we have no doubt there will be assassination attempts against your life. And not just against you, there is a possibility that anyone connected to you could be targets.”

Theo sunk in her chair a bit as he continued on. “Think about the media. Theo's life, your life will get paraded over the world and they'll leave no stone unturned. You'll be a open book to them and the rest of the world. Be an alien though, and suddenly you've got no past to dredge up.”

Resignation slowly faded onto Theo's face as a bony gentleman addressed her. “And if we go with your story, we've got an alien who changes you into a copy of herself against your will. I know that doesn't instill confidence in me, what about the public?”

Farris cut in. “We're already getting reports of people claiming abduction by aliens who like you.” he pointed to Theo.

The bony suit cut back in.“You know what we're talking about. We can't let the public have a negative attitude towards the aliens who built the Monolith. I hate to say it but the government needs to look like the bad guy in this story. We can't afford to have the public think that there is a indifferent alien race up there looking down at us like we're ants.”

Barbra placed her hand up Theo's arm and gave her a look that said 'you know they're right'.

“Okay.” The air came out of her lung as if she had been punched in the gut.

Farris pushed a stack of papers to Theo, “Your homework, and a list of names.”

“Homework?”

“Sorry to spring this on you, but the President is going to talk to the press tomorrow and you are invited, it's just a list of do's and don'ts. I'll go over your story with you in more detail later.”

“What about the names?” the news had made Theo temporarily dim.

“Honey, you've got to pick a new one.” Barbra said apologetically.

--------------------

David strolled around the chamber poking at Theo's possessions. “A new name for Theo, huh? What is our list so far?”

Heather flipped through pages of text and read off the twenty or so names they had chosen. “Well? Any of those jump out at you?” she asked.

“I'm pretty partial to Theodora.” David said.

“So... you like women with grandma names? I thought I knew David.” Theo rested the back of her hand on her forehead. She was back in the track suit she usually wore, no sense in dressing up to stay inside. Plus Theo didn't want David to see her in a skirt, it was a 'good' thing Beth told David all about when he showed up.

“We've all got our a dark secrets, Theo.” David rasped out.

“How many Agnes's are you stringing around, David?” Beth asked.

David just shrugged his shoulders.

Beth was buried in a book “I'm looking up constellation names, how about Aquila or Lyra?” She wagged her eyebrows.

Theo mulled it over. “Aquila is kind of a mouth full but Lyra sounds like Italian money, hmm.”

“True.”

“I think I like those more than 'real' names.” Theo said. She pulled herself out of bed and sauntered up to Beth. “Let me see.”

“I found the best sounding two.” Beth claimed.

Theo eyed Beth and turned to the book. “You're right, they are the best.”

“So what's it going to be?” Heather asked.

“Give me two to three more hours.”

“Whoa deja-vu, I remember you saying that two to three hours ago.” Beth said as if mystified.

“Now that you mention it, I do too, WEIRD.” David said.

“Aquila... No! Lyra, yep Lyra.” Theo nodded her head.

“You sure there, cap’n?” David said.

Theo focused on the middle distance and screwed her mouth up to a point. Theo looked as if all of her 'hyper intellect' as she called it, was being used up by the decision. Her eyes re-aligned and motor control was back at her disposal. “Aye.”

--------------------

Theo was back in her business suit, fiddling with a jacket button. It had been a long restless night, more than usual. She chose a new name, went over the history of her new life, and generally paced around the room. It was after she found her new name, that's when she realized. She had all these possible tracks she could have gone down, all the possible directions her or his life could have taken. Now her track was fixed, she had only one way she could go. And that track made Theo nervous, in her imagination the track expanded out, split apart, looped in on itself, and made a mockery of physics. It made Theo glad Beth was there so she could hug her troubles away. Theo made it through the night and the morning, now she was in a van on its way to the White House.

“If you keep playing with that it's going to fall off.” Beth said.

“I know! geez.” Theo muttered.

“Don't worry LYRA, you are just talking and answering some simple questions. And it's okay to be nervous, we actually want you to be 'emotional' it'll make the public relate to you better. We don't what them thinking you're too alien if you know what I mean.” Barbra didn't mean to put much emphasis on Theo's new name but she did.

“Yeah, LYRA.” Beth did mean too.

“I can still call myself Theo, right?”

Barbra looked apologetic. “We're recommending you don't, I know I can't stop you but it might lead to slip ups.”

“Lyra understands.” Theo said.

Beth gave her a one armed hug all the way to the White house. Around back they drove them to a service access that was away from the media's eye. Checkpoints littered their way to a waiting room near the Oval office.

“I almost feel like I'm going to barf.” whispered Theo.

“See? you're still mostly human, so think of it as a good sign.” Barbra encouraged.

Theo grimaced and looked away. The sight of a wall filled with historic photographs made Theo briefly think about Abraham Lincoln's ghost. Beth moved close and wrapped herself around Theo's arm interrupting her thought.

Beth looked into Theo's eyes. “Remember our bet.”

“I WILL END YOU.” Theo hissed through her smile.

Barbra patted Theo's arm. “Show time.”

A swell of people came out of door facing Theo. To Theo it looked like a sheep dog trial, Secret Service dogs herding a flock of advisors and cabinet members through the room. In the middle of the flock was the President doling out decisions and tasks to the people around. The President caught sight of Theo's crew and approached.

“Ah! Hello, Lyra is it? Nice name.” The President reach out a hand.

Theo stood and offered her hand, they shook. 'Nice firm handshake, why that's the handshake of a good, patriotic citizen.' Theo imagined a fifties announcer talking.

Theo replied “Thank you M-” there was a clatter of plates down the hall. “-Resident, It's an honor to meet you.”

“And I'd have to say it's an honor to meet you, Lyra. I think history books are going to be talking about you much longer then they will about me.”

“Oh well, I-I don't think-” Theo sputtered.

“I want to apologize for not meeting you earlier but when you came out of that thing the whole world was breathing down my neck. We've been dealing with chain of custody so to speak.”

Theo's brow knotted up asking for more details. “Other countries feel unrepresented, nearly every country has sent you offers of citizenship and they want some of your time. So we are left to organize all of it.”

“Sorry about that.” Theo said.

The President smiled. “No need to apologize.” The President looked to Beth. “Miss Nasso I hope you aren't here to be on television.”

Barbra cut in over Beth “Don't worry M-” some one across the room had a coughing fit. “-esident, we've briefed them on keeping their relationship out of the eyes of the public.”

“Good, we couldn't properly explain your relationship without raising some unwanted questions. Might cast some doubt on our story.”

“Understood.” Theo and Beth chorused.

“I've got to give my address; then we'll have the question and answer session.” and then the President was out through the door.

“Let go over your 'script' again.” Barbra said.

Theo slumped down in her chair and found Beth's hand. “I don't want to do this.”

“It'll be okay.” Beth chirped positively.

--------------------

Barbra found Farris idling in the hallway adjacent to the press room.
“Why hello, Barry.” she greeted.

“Barbra” Farris nodded. “I was wondering if you had any news about the research I asked you to do.”

“We went over every video we had, none of my experts found any conclusive evidence of 'Lyra' lying. Our consensus is that she is truthful.”

“What about this inconclusive evidence?” Farris asked.

“During that last interview you had at the Monolith, they say she gave off some possible signs. It was only a audio recording though so they weren't a hundred percent. Besides, the alien you talked to, backed up her testimony.”

Farris let the facts rattle around in his head. “Thanks, Dr. Fleming.”

--------------------

The President told the nation and the world Theo's story of origin. A sentient alien species had made the monolith and it wasn't clear if they were still alive. Then the Monolith opened, scientists assumed it had some sort of timer or it was 'testing the waters' before it opened. Two college students enter the 'fold' and a collapse like event occurs, the Male student goes missing. The 'fold' opens approximately three hours after it closes and the female student is escorted out by Lyra. She is in a near blank slate aside from the fluency in English. She was brought to Maryland and kept in quarantine in case of foreign diseases. A second trip through the 'fold' and a videotaped interview with a similar alien was made. It was unknown what sort of relationship the two have but it's thought they may be siblings of sorts. The interview backed up Lyra's claim, that she is a combination of human and alien and that she is meant to be a liaison between humanity and other sentient species.

The address ended with the President's hopes for the future and the stressed importance of the moment we live in. The President briefly mentioned the talks with the other nations and the logistics involved, then Theo is invited on stage.

“Everyone, welcome Lyra, she'll be answering some questions. Go easy on her, please.” The President lead Theo to the podium.

A bank of cameras in the rear of the room rapidly emitted wave forms of light at Theo. There weren't as many cameras as Theo had thought, and the room was smaller than her imagination. Looking around the room made Theo think of a concept she hadn't thought before. Theo always thought of the White House as a theatrical stage, like political power couldn't be contained in a mere house. But here is the President talking to the nation on a re-processed indoor swimming pool.

There was light applause as Theo neared the podium. Her stomach had twisted itself upside down by now. 'Remember the script' Theo thought “H-hello.” she meeked out.

Hands went up and at Theo's shoulder the President pointed to the lucky reporter. “It wasn't mentioned before but where did your name come from? Was it given?”

“Ah- no I chose it myself. It's a constellation.”

He followed up. “Any meaning to the name?”

“A stringed musical instrument.”

A new hand. “It's nice to meet you, Lyra. It was mentioned you're a 'blank slate', excuse the term. I am wondering how much did you know and how much have you learned?”

“Well I knew how to walk, read, and communicate. Now I'm reading about history and mathematics and watching the programs on the television.” Theo said.

Every reporter there had a cute safe joke or quip about the stupidity of television but they held their tongue. They didn't want to be the one who made the cheesy joke to earth's first alien. “So you can't remember your childhood? Or should I ask, did you grow up like we do?”

Theo wished her Mother wasn't watching. Her mom knew what was going to be said but it didn't stop Theo from feeling bad. “I don't know, I wasn't told, I suppose I could have been created or that I don't remember my past.”

“Does that trouble you?”

“I don't understand.”

Theo could see the reporter carefully forming their response for maximum tactfulness. “I mean either way you've been robbed of your childhood.”

Theo played the alien who was deciphering the metaphor in the question. “Ah- I don't know very much about childhood to be missing its presence.”

Another hand took over, it was attached to a geriatric and skinny woman. “If you've been created then it raises some interesting religious questions about the soul. Any comments?”

Theo flipped her the imaginary bird as the President cut it. “We're not here for this kind of debate, Lyra here isn't even familiar with those concepts yet. I just say this, as soon as you can prove that YOU have a soul then we'll know if Lyra here has one as well.” The President gave Theo the one-handed parallel shoulder hug, great pose for publicity photos. The President's comment will later bring the popularity polls to record lows.

The reporters chuckled and continued, The President pointed to the softball pitcher in the room. “Lyra, What do you think of our world so far?”

Phantom eyes where rolling in Theo's head. “It's very fascinating, what I've read so far. I still find it amazing we are standing on a sphere.”

“Are you saying that you had no concept of planets and outer space?”

“Not until she was taught about it.” The President provided.

“That brings up a question, what will she be taught? Will 'intelligent design' receive equal attention?”

“I'm NOT even going to answer that.” The President's buttons were being pushed and you could hear it in the President's voice.

Questions after that became softballs and stayed that way till the end. The last hand rose. “So Lyra, what do YOU want to do?”

Theo strayed off script. “I want to be a normal person. I want to be with people.” no follow up question.

A report with a casual disregard for manners spoke before being call on. “Lyra, do you know anything about Theo Holmes' disappearance?”

Theo shifted as if uncomfortable. “I hadn't ever met him, so I don't know, I'm sorry.”

“We've done a thorough investigation, and we're pretty confident this isn't an 'alien plot' despite what you think.” The President got a few chuckles.

All the boring questions about policy and world relations tail-ended the Q and A. The questions were way over the head of Lyra, so Theo kept a tight lip. The President finished up the questions and ushered Theo to the 'backstage'.

The hallways were empty and quiet as they escorted Theo back to the waiting room. Beth and Barbra were sat by a TV watching the feed of the Q and A.

“Come all the way to the White House and you watch it on a Television. Phh.” Theo said nonplused.

“Hey!” Beth cheered. She got up and gave Theo a quick hug. “You didn't embarrass yourself out there, I'm proud.”

“Thanks.” Theo looked to Barbra. “Can we go?”

“Tired huh? Yeah we can go, come on follow me.” Barbra said kindly.

--------------------

“I feel like I'm abandoning my Mother.” Theo mumbled into Beth's tiny shoulder.

Beth shifted in bed and embraced Theo. “Aww... it's okay Lyra, you'll still be able to visit her once in while. And I bet she knows you're trying to keep her safe.”

“You don't have to call me that here you know.” Theo mumbled again.

“I know, but I think getting a new name will be good for you.”

“Oh yeah?” Theo whispered.
“Yup.” Beth chirped as she kissed Theo's nose.

Theo gave her a peck back and looked into her eyes for a moment.

“Are those lusty eyes I see?” Beth nibbled into Theo's ear.

Theo responded with action as she kissed Beth harder. Breathing got heavier and their faces became flushed with blood. Beth was giving Theo's chest some TLC when Theo grabbed her wrist. Theo guided Beth's hand down past her stomach to her panties. Beth made eye contact and looked for a signal to proceed, Theo's face said 'all systems go!'. Beth kept eye contact as Theo writhed and winced from waves of pleasure. Finally Theo arched her back then collapsed back onto the bed in exhaustion. Beth gave her a quick peck on the cheek, but Theo didn't respond, she was asleep.

'Just like a guy.' Beth thought. She knew she had no basis to state that fact being she had never been with a guy, but she thought it anyway. Beth had a rare opportunity, it was one of the few times Theo had fallen asleep. She spent her time staring at lithe alien beauty, she took in all the sexy curves and valleys. She wondered how often Theo watched her sleep. 'It was a little weird to think about but if Theo was thinking about half the stuff I'm thinking about. It kind of turns me on, I'm a weirdo.'

Beth moved in closer and held Theo tight as she fell asleep. “Oh well.” She said to herself.

--------------------

Thanks to DJKauf for editing.

Note: I just realized my story is getting more complicated than I had planned, oh well. I feel like I've got to keep writing until I get to my "good ending", and I don't know when that will be :]
It was when I was thinking about the layers of knowledge the characters have.
First layer: what the alien has told Theo.
Second layer: what Theo has told her friends and the government.
Third layer: what the government has told to the public
I need to make notes so I can keep them straight LOL.

Barbra put down the phone and sat back in her chair. She let herself think about the idea that Lyra had lied. Plots of old science fiction movies made their way into Barbra's brain: Alien mind control, robot doppelgangers, and conspiracy.

--------------------

Exploitation

Lyra's arrival in Athens today has marked the one month anniversary since her first public appearance(picture below), it is also is her first time out of the United States. Since her unveiling there has been intense international debate and discussion, even the UN has reported all night talks between countries who wish for equal time with Lyra. It's not clear what each country wishes to gain from a meeting with Lyra, but the possibilities could range from developing good relations with an advanced alien race to monetary and material reasons.

It's been talked about before, if the end point of the 'Fold' was placed in our asteroid belt we could mine the field with relative ease and safety. In theorized plans(Pre-Lyra) of asteroid mining, asteroids would be put on a collision course with the Pacific or Atlantic ocean and then collected on the sea floor, if the 'Fold' could be used then the mining risk would drop considerably. If such a plan got underway it's estimated close to a billion dollars of ore and rare earth minerals would pass through the 'Fold' each day. The debate was at a standstill by week three, with every country jockeying for first spot on Lyra's travel itinerary.

Lyra herself broke the deadlock by attending the UN and speaking to the general assembly. The speech writer's effort made up for Lyra's nervousness and lack of public speaking skills. She had made it clear she was very interested in visiting every country in attendance plus the rest that weren't. In the politest way possible she reminded them that they have no say in the matter and it was her decision to go where she wants. She finished with a announcement that she was first visiting Greece because she wanted to see the country where her name came from. Now in Athens, Lyra has yet to give an itinerary or travel plans for her stay. From all accounts, Lyra is apparently quite impulsive like a child; it's still up for debate on how old she is. Apparently she is infinitely curious and her attention is on the Greek culture, it's highly probable she will be visiting many landmarks during her stay. We will have updates on the hour.

Anonymous Comments:

My mind can't comprehend an alien wearing converse shoes.

You have my word! I will sex her up 'James T Kirk' style.

I don't know what you are talking about, she's not sexy at all. Those ears of hers are gross and I heard she has teeth in her vagina.

Thanks for that boner killer. I don't even know why we ever hope to get a chance with Lyra. There would be no opportunity to get her alone, there is a constant swell of people around her.

Does anyone else see Beth Nasso in that picture? WFT is she doing there?

I heard Beth and Lyra hang out together, doesn't bode well with me. A New York hipster chick being earth's representative to interstellar aliens.

Add Lesbian to her description, I wonder if shes ever tried to sex up Lyra?

You have just implanted that image into the masturbation fantasies of nearly every man alive.

My faith in humanity has been shaken to its core thanks to these comments.

--------------------

Theo was surprised to see a little snow up in the hills. The travel programs didn't show this Mediterranean on TV. She briefly felt betrayed, how could her 'nanny in a box' do this to her? She thought she could escape the winter back in New York, only she ran into overcast skies and stiff breezes. Now Theo was looking out over the low rooftops that blanketed the city. The curve of the hills and the horizon of the city drew imaginary lines towards Theo like she was in a perspective painting. In contrast, Theo felt like she was in a surreal painting, with masses of people filling the street as far as she could see and helicopters buzzing in the sky.

The scene was becoming a regular sight for Theo and by extension Beth. It seemed that everyone’s free time was spent watching for Lyra. Soon police barricades were set up around the quarantine lab to keep the swell of people at bay. With the help of the protective barriers, Theo mustered up her guts and made a meet and greet. Theo would move down the barricade shaking hands and playing the wide eyed tourist, it became a six times a day ritual. Theo almost thought she could whittle down the massive queue like there was an end. As with the many 'performances' Theo put out a day, she honed and sharpened her skill at playing a cute little alien. The antagonists in her performance were the people who latched on with conversation. It would always start with an autograph, then in the act of signing they'd strike. They would ask how she likes Earth and then follow up with stories, recommendations, and their insight to human culture. Their talk would slow her momentum to a stop and generally annoy her to no end. As Theo's craft improved she was able to shrug off the stickier conversationalists, no sweat. Despite the bomb threat and the odd concealed handgun found it was a pleasant affair. What Theo liked the most was the look on a person's face when they realized they where interacting with an 'alien'. It was Theo's challenge now to do the same act but in Greek.

“I diggin' this country, dude.” Beth said.

“Rolling out that old red carpet, that they are.” Theo grunted.

“I told your Dude that we want to walk down to the markets.” Beth smirk. The UN was providing security and logistics for Lyra's traveling and in extension to that was Micheal. They didn't know the London born Indian's title but they knew he was the one organizing everything. They didn't doubt he was a very busy person.

“I feel like we kill a little part of him with every request we give him.” Theo chuckled.

“He did appear to age five years when I said that.” Beth added.

Theo tapped the tablet shaped computer in her hand. “I just read that the Grecian government is sending out garbage trucks on twenty four hour pickup so I don't see that they have a refuse problems. Trying to get me to think their country is perfect.”

“First impressions.” Beth shrugged and muttered.

“I suppose,” Theo conceded. “But I 'Lyra' want a more complete picture, I'd want to learn everything I could, even the ugly stuff.” She placed the computer on the bed next to her. “I kinda feel like I'm watching Lyra's life story, watching how the human race reacts to her. And this news story makes me feel like their trying to deceive her. Ah dunno.” Theo finished with a grunt.

“You'll have to 'metagame' them then.” Beth said.

“D&D? Beth? What else haven't you told me?” Theo mocked concern.

Beth stuck her tongue out. “Serious, dude, They'll let you go anywhere you want to, so go anywhere you want to. Ya got me?”

“They would let me do almost anything I want.” Theo pondered.

“Don't go to the dark side.” Beth warned.

“Don't worry youngling.” Theo assured. “I'd only use my power for good.”

“Like ending world hunger?” Beth asked.

Theo brow shot up as she pointed to Beth. “Yes! I don't know if we could actually succeed but that shouldn't stop us from trying.”

Beth crossed the room and close the curtains. “I don't know how you can be oblivious to the hundred of cameras pointing through the window.” She punctuated her sentence by sitting down next to Theo.

“Dunno.” Theo rested her head on Beth lap. “I'm glad you came with me though; it's crazy out here.”

“You know I'd bear the hardships of an 'all expenses paid vacation' for you.” Beth smiled.

“You really know how to make a person feel special.” Theo giggled.

“Make a GIRL feel special.” Beth corrected as she found Theo’s closest nipple.

Theo tilted her head back into Beth’s lap and closed her eyes. In a concentrated breath she said. “It still feels weird; All of my parts are tingling; Does it feel like that for you?”

“Sometimes; I but take longer to warm up, you on the other hand seem to be extremely sensitive.” Beth said as she stroked.

“Could... be the new body.” Theo sputtered. She reached up the bed and moved her hand around Beth's chest until she found one of the pair. Theo fumbled the attempt with her odd position and closed eyes; Beth didn't mind.

“Come on, let's turn off the lights and get in our underwear, before we continue any further.” Beth whispered.

Theo flowed into a upright position and said. ”Mm-kay.”

--------------------

Around the same time David was walking through the halls towards Dr. Locke's room. He got nods and looks from every one who passed, he was popular now. David would admit he was very well known now, but saying popular was going too far for him. Most people knew his name now; it didn't mean they wanted to get to know him or David likewise. A couple of new people stuck themselves in his circle of friends but the majority asked what Lyra was like, then left. He couldn't fault them for being curious, it just disturbed him to think that most of these people never read the news. Depending on whether a pretty girl was asking, David usually answered with his default: I really only talked to her for a minute. He was reluctant to say much more than that, in case he goofed and went away from the 'Official' story. It was for that reason he refused to do any interviews. David took comfort in the thought that he could gripe about this stuff with Heather.

David neared the door to Dr. Locke's small auditorium, the space was more attuned to elementary school plays, not discussion on Grand Unified Theory. A crowd of people squeezed through the door as they filed into the classroom, Locke started speaking as the last person took their seat.

“According to my records, attendance to my class has risen close to eight hundred percent in the last month. While I'd like to believe all of you here earnestly want to learn the esoteric concepts and math of quantum mechanics, I know some of you here came for another reason.” A fifth of the class shifted in their seats. “So I'm getting this out of the way, I'll give you two hours to ask any questions you have.” Dr. Locke finished.

Hands went up and he answered the same questions he’s been asked before. They asked for personal details at first; trying to find some thing about Lyra to relate to. That faded into questions about himself and his experiences, then the questioning started into the science of the Monolith's 'Fold'. The conversation was almost into purely science territory when a tall skinny girl asked.

“I haven't heard much about Theo Holmes, what was he like?”

“Thank you for asking, I don't get asked that very much.” Dr. Locke cleared he throat. “He was weird and funny, and terrible at math. I think he joined my class just for the theories and ideas, He could imagine the stuff but couldn’t put it into the algebra. You should really ask David there, they were friends.”

David awkwardly waved as the class turned to him, he counted him self lucky that Dr. Locke took back the attention and answered more questions. About a dozen people left after Locke was finished with Q and A, and few more dropped when the subject matter got too heavy for them. Now they left in droves as Dr. Locke finished his class, but David stayed.

“Oh, hi, professor!”

“Hello pupil, come on into my office and sit down.”

David followed the professor into a side room that might have been used for a changing room. Dr. Locke walked over to a modified tube radio; one of those nice stand up ones from the thirties or forties. He turned it on and a Devo song started playing, the song almost conflicted with the golden era aura the room was giving off.

Locke shrugged. “Just in case some one is listening?”

“Why not? Where is Heather?” David asked.

“She's T.A.'ing for me now, I sent her out to do some grunt work, she should be only a minute.”

“Ah. So how have you been doing?”

“Busy, I'm sure you've got the media calling you all time. I've got that and invitations for panels and lectures for other universities and god knows what organizations. I know most of them don't want me purely for my scientific knowledge.” The Professor took a breath. “How about you? Oh, and it's good to see you back in class.”

“Thanks. Yeah for three weeks there I visited- Lyra everyday. She told me to tell you that she's working on getting back into college.”

“That will be interesting.”

“Ha yeah, it's going to be a nightmare.” David chuckled.

“So how is she doing?” Dr, Locke asked.

“She’s doing fine, not depressed or anything. Sometime she acts weird; I think it's about her life span, its almost like she thinks she is dying. She gets physical, hugs and wrestles both Beth and me. It's a... weird.” David's pale face blushed some.

“Hmm. I'd imagine realizing my forever will be longer than anyone else's I knew, would be pretty scary. How she adapting to her life?”

“Good, I think, she seems to tolerate when Beth goes slumber party on her, dress and makeup, everything. And before she left she was going out to the people surrounding the crowd gates about six times a day, she said she was desensitizing the public.”

The door opened and Heather walked through with a stack of papers. “Professor I've got- Oh hi, David!”

David twisted in his chair to see her. “Hey, Heather.”

“Close the door and come in, we're talking about Lyra.” Dr. Locke said.

“Anything new?” Heather asked.

“She's trying to get back into college.” David replied.

Heather looked surprised. “, really?... I'm just imagining what a nuthouse this place would be.”

“She thinks she can overexpose herself to the public until they become bored.” David said.

Locke chuckled. “What time frame is she expecting? Cause I bet she'll have close to this level of attention for twenty years or so. I'd imagine it would wane when the kids who grew up knowing of her reach adulthood, my best guess.”

David just shrugged.

“I'm considering doing an interview.” Heather got their attention. “I've talked to Dr. Fleming about it, she said the government will let me as long as it's pre-taped and that I have a 'Chaperone'.” She air quoted. “I really could use they money they will pay me, like for my college tuition.”

“Well, I suppose.” David drawled.

“Thanks for your support.” Heather monotoned her voice.

“It's not like we're trying to stop you, I just have my reasons and Dr. Locke has his. I don't even think Lyra cares either way; heck, she'd probably do an interview too when she needed the money.”

“I-” Heather started.

“And in exchange for my approval I will take a ten percent cut.” David rapid fired.

“I never pay more than five percent in bribe money.” Heather had a stone cold look on her face.

Professor Locke chuckled. “How about you two get lunch, I have some paper work to do.” he greatly emphasized 'paper' which brought on whole new meanings to his sentence.

“Uh, yeah, okay.” David's mind was busy thinking about the implied meaning.

“Let's go.” Heather said, she was already at the door.

They left, gave each other conspiratorial looks and then had a nice lunch.

--------------------

Barbra was going over the bi-monthly status reports, they detailed the recent discoveries and progress of the research teams. Before Theo had left, Barbra asked for a tissue sample, promising it would be only a small sample Theo agreed. Now each team was taking it apart tissue by tissue, cell by cell. Some of the researchers were unsettled by the preliminary findings; cells where mis-shaped, folded in on themselves. Her cells didn't appear to grow and divide, but they did shift and slightly change shape. Interestingly the interval for the shifts matched the time a cell takes to divide. There was some stuff about proteins and amino acids but that was murky territory and lucky for Barbra, her phone rang.

Unknown caller the phone said. “Hello?”

“Hi Dr. Fleming.” Beth's voice sounded a bit digitalized through the daisy chain of cables and satellites.

“It's six in the morning there isn't it?”

“And it's nine at night where you are, working late?” Beth asked.

“Yes, we are still analyzing Lyra's tissue sample, and these people like to burn the midnight oil.” Barbra sighed.

“Sorry about that, Greece is great by the way.”

“Don't you start, I'm jealous enough. how are you both?”

Beth stretched out her first word in exclamation. “Good, I'm having fun. Lyra really likes it here, well it is her first foreign country. She got a Grecian conversation guide when we arrived, she been picking it up really quick. I don't know if she was that good before, but it seems like she has a near perfect memory now.”

“It might very well be. We thought the same but we didn't really have a test that could distinguish her capacity from a savant. We did find out her learning style hasn't changed.” Barbra replied.

“Huh. There is one other thing.” Beth was unsure on whether to say anything.

“Yeah? What is it hon?” Barbra asked.

“She's not acting depressed or anything, but some times at night I've caught her looking really worried about something. I can tell when she starts thinking about her near immortality, she gets pretty 'touchy feely'. This is different though and she’s not talking about it. Do you have any ideas Dr. Barbra?” asked a concerned Beth.

Barbra thought it over for a bit. “The opinions were mixed among the experts seeing how the tape was of poor quality. But some of them thought she might have been lying about some of the details of her second visit with the 'Gatekeeper', that's what we're calling the alien.”

“You think-” Beth started.

“No I don't, but it's my only guess.” Barbra cut in.

“Huh, well I'll keep trying.” Beth sounded lost in thought.

“Thanks, Beth. We need to catch these things quick and help her before they snowball into something worse.”

Beth didn't answer at first. “Yeah I'll try my best, I better get going I just stepped out for a coffee. Get some sleep, Barbra!”

“Bye bye.” there was a click then silence.

Barbra put down the phone and sat back in her chair. She let herself think about the idea that Lyra had lied. Plots of old science fiction movies made their way into Barbra's brain: Alien mind control, robot doppelgangers, and conspiracy. She wasn't going to jump to any conclusions though, it would just make a mess out of things. She also considered that it was a little too late in the game to raise any questions; nothing was going to stop the momentum surrounding Lyra. Barbra decided to file the conversation she just had in a mental folder labeled 'Ignore for as long as possible'.

“Farris can wait until I've got something more than hearsay.” Barbra said to herself.

--------------------

The overcast burned off making way for the winter sun to warm up the streets. The streets in Athens were just a little warmer than usual on account of the masses of gawkers and onlookers. It was a testament to their country, they conducted themselves very well(many historians agree). You'd imagine a wave of people bum rushing you and taking your kidneys, but the opposite was more true especially with the bodyguards present. They respected Lyra's space with the exception of street vendors. The citizens also kept a lane of foot traffic open, it taxied out old onlookers and brought new ones in. Everyone was aware of the language barrier but a surprising amount of the locals spoke fluent English and were able to understand Lyra's conversational Grecian. Fortunately the talkers in the crowd were few and far between, and most of them had useful information pertaining to whatever object Lyra was holding at the time.

According to one of the shopkeepers they were a mile from the Parthenon and only a few feet from the best dates in the country. He proceeded to offer a date.

“Thank you. What is this?” Theo had to play the tourist sometimes.

A women in the crowd called out. “It is a fruit.” with a heavy accent. a good humored chuckle passed through the crowd.

“Oh, thank you.” Theo projected a sense of innocence well. She bit into the date and pretended to marvel at the new flavors.

“This is good, thank you. Do you want to try?” Theo offered to Beth.

Beth took the date without comment, she though it best she didn't talk during public outings. Acting too familiar with Lyra in public was frowned upon by the suits, it was hard to say Lyra was a blank slate when she was referencing popular culture topics. It was a plus that Beth enjoyed watching these interactions. To Beth they had an Andy Kaufman vibe, Like she was the only audience to these little performances on the street. Beth was glad Lyra wasn't evil; like actively trying to get her to laugh, she knew Lyra had the capability to do so and with chilling proficiency. Most of the time Lyra used her other skill on the poor locals: 'Extreme Cuteness' as Beth puts it. It was the kind of cuteness that seems to be passed into people over the eons to protect the very young. Sometimes Lyra would hit the nail on the head with a comment only a naive, vulnerable child would utter. Despite her insider knowledge those comments still stirred her.

It took about an hour to get to the end of the marketplace. It was slow progress through the handshakes, greetings, and aggressive merchants. Lyra was licking spices off her fingers when Beth's phone chirped announcing a new message. Beth divided her attention between Lyra looking and the reading of David's new message.

'Just wanted you to know.'

Lyra worked her way down the barrels of exotic spices as the storekeeper urged on her. The merchant would point to a barrel and exclaim its name and try his best to explain the origin of the spice and Lyra in response would look fascinated.

'Heather's interview is tonight.'

Lyra was trying every spice in front of her now and the merchant was struggling to keep pace. She pinched a bit of red powder and put it to her tongue, the merchant waved his hands and made the international sign for danger but it was too late.

'She's not even giving me a cut! What a drag.'

Lyra stopped moving and started looking confused. Beth could see the inner monologue; what is this flavor?! It's hot! Is it burning me? Lyra opened her mouth and started panting to cool her tongue. The crowd shuffled and a hero emerged with a bottled soda, it was passed like a torch up above the mass of people to Lyra. There was a cheer when she took a swig of the beverage. The concerned merchant mimed swishing mouth wash in attempt to help Lyra's burning mouth. She swallowed the soda and opened her mouth again to blow on her tongue; there was a slight unease in the air. Lyra's smile quickly broke the tension and the crowd cheered.

“What was that one called?” She panted.

--------------------

Theo prodded the remote control to the hotel TV. “What channel is it supposed to be?”

Beth looked up from her dinner “six or five, one of those low numbers.”

“Low numbers huh, How much are they paying her?” Theo asked.

“Million something, why? You thinking about doing the same.” Beth muttered.

“For a million bucks!? Fo sho.” Theo rocked her head left and right.

Theo kept flipping through the channels for another minute waiting for Heather's interview. “I just realized I hardly watch television anymore.”

“I feel good for you, Lyra.” Beth mocked.

Theo gave her the stink face and then continued flipping. “You can still call me by my name you know.” Theo said off handedly.

Beth paused her eating and gave Theo a long look. “I know I can.”

The TV said Heather Brown and Theo's head snapped back to viewing position. Beth leaned in her seat at the table to get a better view of the screen. A montage was playing of Heather talking and walking through a garden as the Grecian anchor gave a synopsis of her story. The TV screen featured watermarks pasted over others and hastily written translations, the local station had obviously taped the satellite feed and put it on the air in record time. Theo and Beth were glad the station chose to leave the original audio.

Heather was talking about where she grew up, the interviewer asked the standard small talk questions before getting the real meat of the conversation. Theo was about to complain about it dragging on and on when the interviewer interrupted.

“Could you tell us your experience meeting Lyra?”

“Beth and Theo had been gone for close to three hours. The government was already there asking me and David what happened when Lyra pulled Beth out of the fold. I remember being surprised she was completely naked and when she started speaking English I was floored.”

“Could you explain why Lyra was dragging Beth out?”

“Oh well, I don't know really what happened on the other side, but Beth was without water for almost two days.”

“Where was Beth? And what do you know?”

Heather looked off camera. “I don't think I'm allowed to answer that. But if you're thinking she was kidnaped or something I can assure you nothing like that happened.”

“Okay, what happened next?”

“We got Beth to a bed while Lyra sat on the floor. She didn't say anything for while, she looked out of it or lost in thought, that kind of look. She sat there for an hour, quiet as a mouse then the guys in clean suits took her to quarantine.”

“What was your first impression of Lyra.”

“Well she didn't have a name then.” Heather smiled. “To be honest I was a little freaked out, I bet half of the people there were too. I didn't ever expect to see an alien during my lifetime, but to see one look so human and speak the same language. And I hate to say it but her ears weirded me out a bit, I don't know why.”

Theo looked to Beth and touched her long ears. “They're not too weird, right?”

Beth's eyes where locked on the TV for a few seconds. “Well, they aren't TOO weird.”

“Screw you!” Theo laughed.

“Shh.” Beth pointed back to the TV.

“-about your other meeting with Lyra?” The interviewer asked.

“I guess she was asking about Beth and us, she want to meet us. When they deemed it safe they brought us to Lyra. We were the first people she talked to so I guess she wanted us to be friends.”

The conversation drifted to Lyra's reason for being here, and her role as a 'Fold guide' and how it will affect the world. As the TV program ran, Beth noticed Lyra's changing posture. Lyra was on the floor with her back against the bed, her legs were crossed but as the interview continued she drew her legs up against her chest. Her eyes lost focus and her face showed a mix of unpleasant emotions.

“I sorta feel like it's a brand new world, Lyra has made me really hopeful for our future.” Heather said.

Beth watched as Lyra put her head on her knees, Beth's spider sense tingled. It had been a few days since she had talked to Barbra, a few days to think. She made the decision to confront Lyra. Beth ninja'ed her way from the table to the end of the bed without Lyra noticing, then she heaved herself down to the ground.

Lyra looked up. “What's wrong?” Beth questioned.

“Thinking about all that responsibility, puts me in a weird place I guess.” Theo stammered.

Beth searched Lyra's eyes as if she was getting ready for a make out session. “Why don't you tell me the truth?” Beth asked with concerned.

“I-” Theo choked. “What?!”

“You can tell me.” Beth urged.

Theo jumped up and paced to the other side of the room. Her breath was short and she looked a little panic-ed. Beth stood up, walked to Lyra, grabbed her hand, and pull her to the bed. She sat Lyra down and turned the volume up on the television. Turning back Beth pushed Lyra back into the bed and straddled her, Beth leaned down leaving only a few inches between their faces.

“Tell me.” Beth said softly.

The words on Lyra's lips were still stuck. “Please.” Beth urged.

“None of it is true.” Theo whispered.

Beth's eyes said 'what do you mean?'

“She made up the 'Fold guide' story, I still don't know why she did this to me.” Theo was crying now.

Beth shifted and buried her face into the bed sheets, she couldn't find a words to describe how fucked up this situation was.

--------------------
Thanks to DJKauf for editing
and sorry about the wait. :]