Nano 2009: Chaptor 4: Day 0

Jennifer lay quietly in bed unconscious. The only sound in the room was the dripping from the iv line running into her veins. Her breathing was too shallow to hear. The room was empty, with the door locked. There was a guard outside of course. He had no idea who was in the room, or why she needed to be guarded.

There was, however, another person in the next room that watched Jennifer through the two way mirror with a perplexed look on his face. The doctor held is white coat to one side so he could put his hands in his pocket. It was habit he did when he was deep in thought.

The sound of the door opening behind him startled him. It was Major Cork. He was assigned as a liaison officer between the medical staff on base and the Pentagon. There was a time when a visit from a Major was a big deal, but there has been a study stream of generals and high ranking civilians from the pentagon in and out of this place every since the “subjects of interest” (as the Pentagon folks called them) were brought in.

Still, he was thankful. The last few days have been very interesting from a medical perspective. The politics and “national security” was someone else’s concern.

“I understand you finally got the results back from your medical tests. Have you learned anything?” asked the Major.

“Why don’t you just ask me if they are still human?” The doctor replied.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve heard the rumors. You want to know if they are who they say they are, and not spies or something.” The doctor said.

“Well?”

“Well…Yes and No. Their DNA has been altered yes, but I wouldn’t go so far as to call them completely different people. The change has some surprising results though.” The doctor said.

“What kind of results? Have they developed any…well abilities of any kind?” The Major asked.

“What kind of abilities did you have in mind?”

“I don’t know. Anything out of the ordinary: super strength, mind reading ability, anything,” the Major said.

The doctor looked at him in puzzlement. “This is…what? This is real life, not a science fiction movie.”

“How was I suppose to know that?”

“By possessing a high school understanding of basic physics?” came the doctor’s sarcastic reply.

“What exactly are the effects of the changes,” the Major said in a stern voice.

“It is impossible to know the full extent of the effects without more observation. So far it looks like they have all had an increased metabolism, which has increased their strength slightly and upped their bodies ability to heal itself somewhat. It has also made them generally healthier. We have also seen an increase in brain activity, which seems to indicate an increase in intelligence. We want to give them all IQ tests tomorrow.”

“I should be clear these are only slight increases, not beyond other people out there. They are not super men. However, the changes appear to be deliberate. It is like someone molded their physical body to match their natural abilities. For example, the increase in strength is most apparent in Michael, who, as a soldier, would benefit him the most.”

“What about the others. What area have the others benefited the most from?”

“John seems to have a larger increase in brain activity. We can’t tell the effect of the changes in Jennifer, “ replied the doctor.

“What about Secretary Stone’s daughter? What abilities did she gain?”

“She is still puzzling me. She definitely has the largest increase in brain activity, but not in the same areas as the others. Her brain scans show an increase in activity in the areas responsible for memory and emotions. Whoever did this might have botched the procedure with her. If not that, then I don’t know what effect they were going for.”

“Thank you Doctor. I should report this to my superiors immediately,” The major said and turned to leave.

“About that. I’m sure it can wait until the morning. I was just about to leave. I’ll be here first thing in the morning to answer any more questions your superiors might have. I’m sure they would rather not be disturbed this late at night anyways, “ replied the doctor.

“Sorry Doctor. I’m afraid we will need you to work some overtime tonight, “ the Major said as he walked out the door.

“But its nearly 1 am. I didn’t take a government job for the pay you know, “ mumbled the doctor to the closed door.

It would be a late night for the major as well. Although he, wouldn’t take part in tomorrows activities directly, the military was bringing in the best (or at least the highest paid) “interviewers” available to them. He, of course, had to make sure everything was set up, including the boring details like hotel rooms and catering. I hope they like pizza!

Early the next morning, after only a couple of hours of sleep, the major was back at work in his dress uniform awaiting the military convoy. There were several high ranking officers, and the secretary of defense to greet. “I’m sure they had a good nights sleep on their plane,” he thought to himself.

The brass wasn’t in the mood for pleasantries (thank god!). The introductions went quickly, with very little small talk. Everyone was far to tense and fearful which kept them focused on the tasks at hand.

Secretary stone was particularly interested in seeing his wife and daughter, of course. He hadn’t even so much as hinted at letting them go. Everyone else was sure he would at least issue an order to release his daughter. The generals had assumed the president had ordered him not to, or he realized no one would obey that order, at least not until it becomes clearer what is going on. Not only are the aliens holding all the cards, they are the only ones that know which game is being played. They needed answers and the escaped prisoners are the only hope of getting them.

Secretary Stone of course was still holding out hope they didn’t know anything, even after hearing the reports. He wouldn’t be convinced until he heard from them directly. He only wished he could talk to them directly, but of course, that wouldn’t be allowed.

The contractors that would be doing the interviewing were arriving in the early afternoon. The generals spent the morning sitting in on interviews with the other prisoners that has survived. None of them showed the same DNA changes as Jennifer, Myra, John, and Michael, so they were considered less important. They all, had been interviewed before of course, but that was before they discovered someone up there had been making those 4 into super humans for apparently no reason.

It was an intriguing story and confusing story. After watching the tapes of the interviews for the 10^th time, Stone watched the snow on the TV lost in his thoughts.

All of the survivors had mentioned Regolia. The mysterious alien who was instrumental in their escape. Myra, John, and Michael had tried desperately to convince them she was a slave, and a valuable ally. She knew more about the enemy then anyone else, and could even speak their language. The aliens had invaded her world as well, and had enslaved her people. If they were telling the truth, then she could be a valuable ally. But what would she expect in return?

Or was she even an ally? A plant would be a clever way of setting up an ambush. Maybe they are not as advanced as we think. Maybe we do have a possibility of winning, however slight, and they don’t want to take the chance.

Their escape had been engineered and executed (for the most part) by the aforementioned super men. It will make one hell of a TV movie, if anyone survives the inevitable invasion of course. He didn’t know Michael or John, but there is no way Jennifer or Myra could have pulled off something like this. There must have been a mistake. Maybe the aliens let them go? Maybe they are not going to invade? No, that seems likely. Then why let them go? Are they plants as well? Is the entire thing a ruse? There is only one way to find out: ask.

They had been questioning Michael for several hours. It was decided his military background would mean he would be more cooperative. It turns out he either doesn’t know anything or isn’t being as cooperative as hoped.

“Jimminy crickets, I told you before and the time before that, and before that, I didn’t go through any medical procedure. I’m not under their control. I don’t know how I was changed, or even if I was. I’m the same person I was last week,” Michael said.

“But your not. We have the test to prove it. Someone up there changed you. That is for certain,” Dr. Marks said. Marks was brought in for this interview. He is an academic, but was a former CIA analyst and has done some contracting work for them before. So far Marks was the only person talking. The other woman hasn’t said a word. She just sat there, sipping her coffee and listening intently. “How can you not remember it? You can’t expect us to believe you. Why even try to lie?” Marks continued.

“I’m not lying!” Michael yelled. He took a sigh. “I’m sorry. I can’t help you. I don’t remember anything that happened before I appeared on the ship. None of us do. All I can say is that I am myself. What ever happened didn’t affect who I am, or my loyalties.”

“We know you are a spy, whether your aware of it or not. There is no point in pretending otherwise.”

“I am not a spy!” Michael yelled. “I will kill them all, or die trying! You must believe me!”

“Why would I believe you? All the evidence says you are not who you say, at least not anymore. There is no evidence otherwise.”

Michael lowered his head, clearly exhausted. “Well gosh, I’m afraid I can’t help you if that is the way your going to be.”

“Lets go over this one more time. Where were you just before you appeared on the ship? What precisely were you doing?” Dr Marks asked. Michael leaned back in his chair and refused to speak further. “Your silence only proves your hiding something. Answer us or we will declare you an enemy combatant and put you in the brig for the rest of your life. Think of your wife and child.” Michael glanced up, considering his next move. There is nothing he can help them with by speaking. At least silence will show them he wasn’t being intimidated before. He told them everything he knew and did it freely, not out of fear of being locked up.

“Look, we both want the truth. We both want to find out what happened to you. Lets work together and try to figure out what they are plotting,” said the Women, speaking for the first time. Michael still refused to speak.

Secretary Stone considered remaining silent behind the one way mirror. The quicker these 2 interviews were over with the quicker he could see his daughter. His duty gnawed on his conscious until he was spurred into action. He walked out the door, around, and into the interview room.

Michael immediately stood at attention. He was clearly eager to show his loyalty. A little too eager perhaps? “Have you told us all that you remember, every single detail, and any other pertinent facts?” Stone asked.

“Yes, sir and if I remember anything further I will make sure it is reported up my chain of command immediately,” Michael replied.

“Good. Then lets talk about your childhood, if that is ok with you,” Stone replied.

“Childhood? Why? I mean yes sir. I would be glad to answer any new questions you have for me.”

They questioned his childhood extensively, and then asked the same questions over again. They verified all the facts they could. Of course much of it could not be verified easily, and the things that could is freely available for anyone that knows how to work google, which according to Michael, would probably include the aliens.

They would have to get the answers they seek from John then…

“I answered that question 3 times already. Why don’t you just play back the tape if you want to hear it again,” John yelled.

“Answer the question doctor,” Marks said firmly.

“Look I understand why you asked the same questions twice. I’ll even give you asking them a third time to be sure. But do you really think if I didn’t screw up my answers before now, I would on the fourth time? I’ve told you everything that I know, “ John said in a calmer voice.

“Why don’t you tell us what you think then,” the women said, speaking for the first time. “Why do you think the aliens messed with your DNA?”

“They didn’t. I’m sure of that,” John said. “Someone else must have. It has to be some other player in this game, and much more powerful, or God if you want to believe Michael.”

“What? Why didn’t you mention this before, and why didn’t Michael?” Dr. Marks asked. Secretary Stone stood from his chair and took a step towards the glass as he watched intently at the conversation taking place behind it in the next room.

“Well did you ask us what we thought before now?”

“That is the kind of information you volunteer, not keep it to yourself!” Marks said.

“I tried, but nobody was interested in theories until now,” Michael said.

“You could have found a way! If you’re telling the truth, then this may change everything!” Marks said.

“Doctor Cox, why do you say there are other aliens? What evidence do you have?” The women said, interrupting both men. She had remained calm the entire time.

“The escape was too easy,” John said.

“Easy? Nearly all of you died attempting it. How can you call that easy?” Marks said.

“We nearly all died. Like I said far too easy. There is no way that plan should have worked without a lot of help,” Michael replied.

“Like the surveillance equipment, and where you all appeared on the ship?” The women asked.

“And Rogalia, and the others on the ship with us, and the incompetence of the crew. Plus the timing was all perfect. There were far too many coincidences, to many random events that all broke in our favor. There isn’t anyway any of us should be alive.”

“And the changes in your DNA,” the women finished his thoughts.

“So the question is who?” Marks asked.

“And a bonus question of why?” John added. “I haven’t got a clue, but they must be really advanced.”

“No, you’re lying. It makes much more sense that the aliens manipulated your minds like they did your bodies, or replaced you outright,” Marks said. “These things that you remember are fake. They didn’t happen, or your lying. We are on to you. What ever you are planning won’t work!”

John thought for a minute. “I suppose it’s possible, but highly unlikely. If they were skilled enough to manipulate our memories so precisely, and get every other detail right, then they would have found a way to hide the DNA changes. No it’s some third player in this mess. I’m sure of it.”

“We want to talk to you about your childhood,” the women said.

John considered the proposal for a moment. “Ok, but I’m only answering the questions twice this time.”

Stone’s attention to the various details of John’s past began to wane quickly. He tried to consider the possibility of yet more aliens out there somewhere. Where they trying to help us, hurt them, or is it some other plan? The truth is his thoughts were on his daughter, and the possibility that she might be dead, and replaced with some alien thing.

It was nearly midnight. Myra’s interview would have to be done tomorrow. He wouldn’t be allowed to talk to her, but surly nobody would try to stop him from seeing her. And he can step in and see his wife, as well. When he decided to do that first when the interviewers stepped into the room.

Normally they would build up to the really interesting parts of the interview, but everyone was exhausted at this point, so Stone cut to the chase. “Do you think he is telling the truth? That there is some other alien race out there that is on our side?”

“That would not be a good assumption to make. If there is something or someone out there, it will be a third front in this war, not an alliance. The best we can hope for is that it is a third front for both them and us.”

“What do you think, Mr. Secretary?” The women asked.

Stone looked like he was considering the question. Really he was trying to remember her name. “I have no thoughts. I only have hopes.”

“Your wrong. There were no human survivors of that crash. Our races survival will depend on you coming to terms with that,” she said.

“He is right about the DNA being an obvious flaw in their plan. It doesn’t seem like they would get so much detail correct and miss that.” Marks said.

“Maybe it was put there for a reason. Consider the possibility that it is a trap that we don’t yet see,” she said.

“No. I can’t give up on my child and my wife so easily. Maybe John is wrong about they’re being some other player. Maybe Michael is right about God intervening on our behalf,” the defense secretary said.

“Mr. Secretary. You can not allow your judgment to be compromised. My husband, and my children’s lives depend on it. You can not hold on to hope at the cost of everyone and everything else!” she said.

“Let us call it a night. I think we all need to sleep on this information. We can meet tomorrow morning and talk about it then,” Marks said trying to head off what would clearly be an unhelpful fight.

The secretary tried to look busy wrapping things up until the others left. They couldn’t stop him of course. He out ranked them, but he thought it best to any appearance of looking soft or too attached to his daughter.

No one would be allowed inside the room unless there was a true emergency. Besides he didn’t want to wake his daughter. He decided to the surveillance room. There he could check up on both his wife and daughter. He can talk to his daughter tomorrow. He could see is wife in person. There was no danger of waking her, only a faint hope.

The guards let him in the room without any hassle. The men inside even stood at attention when he entered. There were few people inside this late at night. He didn’t see how many. His eyes were fixed on the screen as soon as he opened the door. He scanned the bank of the video screens until he saw the face of his daughter. She looked calm and peaceful as she slept, just like when she was a child and he would look in on her after getting home too late. “She is still my daughter,” he thought to himself.

“She looks peaceful doesn’t she? Not like someone should after going through what she went through,” the women interviewer said. Secretary Stone considered how to respond, but it was the women who spoke first. “You shouldn’t be here. This is already too hard for you, and you have many other decisions that will be even harder. You’re only making it worse.”

“Don’t presume to know how or what I will decide now or in the future. Remember the chain of command around here. Remember who is in charge,” he said.

“I only recognize two superiors: God and my country. The rest I’ll listen too only if I think they are right,” she responded.

“That is the most egotistical, self centered, and dangerous thing I’ve ever heard from someone of your reputation. You might just get us all killed yet,” said the secretary of defense.

“It is you who is being selfish. You should step down now that your wife and daughter are involved. A fact that I made clear to our superiors,” she said.

“Superiors? I only have one superior and he doesn’t agree with you. Does that mean you have no intention of listening to him as well?” He asked.

“Sir, Madam. You should look at this!” the officer monitoring the surveillance cameras yelled. They both turned around too look at the monitors. Myra was up and walking around in her room. She was hurt. Her arm was bleeding and she was getting it all over the wall. It was then that they noticed the blood wasn’t just smeared. It was writing. She was using her own blood to write something on the wall, something in a foreign language.

Stone rushed out the door before anyone could stop him and ran towards his daughter’s room. When he reached the entrance he yelled for the guards to open the door.

“Sorry sir, we can’t. Our orders were not to allow anyone to enter unless it was absolutely necessary,” one of the guards said.

“It is necessary. There is something wrong with her. I just came from the surveillance room,” Stone yelled. The two guards looked at each other wondering what to do next. Fortunately the rest of the people from the surveillance room rushed up behind him.

“You need to let us in. There is something wrong with the prisoner. She is bleeding. Perhaps even dying,” the interrogator women said. The guards caved once they saw everyone was against them. The immediately opened the door and secretary stone rushed in.

“Honey…Are you ok? Can you look at me?” he said tentatively. She ignored him and continued writing on the wall.

“Who are you? Is Myra dead?” the women asked.

“Myra honey. Can you answer us? Just tell me if you are all right,” her father pleaded, but there was still no answer.

The women walked up to her, grabbed her, and forced her to look at her. “Answer us! Tell us what you want and who you are!” she yelled.

“Ki ta pauk tiku,” she said in a trance like tone. Everyone stared at her speechless. She stared back with blank eyes.

Her father pulled her away from the women’s grip and forced her to face him. “Myra wake up!” he yelled. She closed her eyes. “Myra!” he yelled even lauder. She slowly opened her eyes.

“Dad? What are you doing here? Are you here to take me home?” she asked. She looked around. “What is wrong? Was I sleeping? What is wrong with my arm?” Her arm was starting to really hurt now, and she was getting blood all over her clothes. She gripped it tightly.

“Lets go take care of that arm,” her father said.

“First turn around,” the women interrogator said. “Do you know what that means?” Myra stood in silence staring at the writing on the wall. It was her handwriting, and her blood. “Myra?” the women said. “Tell us what it means. Why did you write it?” There was no answer. “Myra!”

“I didn’t write this. I have no idea what it means. I didn’t write it!” Myra yelled, trying desperately not to cry.

“We saw you write it. We need to know what it means!” the women said.

“I didn’t write it a swear. Daddy, I didn’t write it. You believe me don’t you?” she said, now unable to hold back her tears.

“Yes of course I do. Lets take care of that arm. We can talk about this tomorrow,” he said.

“We need to know what this means!” the women said to Secretary Stone.

“It can wait until tomorrow,” he replied. He then took her to the medical center, and called the doctor’s cell phone. Fortunately he was only a 5 min drive away. He stitched up the arm and gave her a couple of medications, one to help the pain and the other to help her sleep. Her father put her to bed in a different room. There were many examiners called in to go over every inch of the room.

He then decided he would sleep on a couch in someone’s office. He needed as much sleep as possible. It is going to be another long day tomorrow. As he was trying to find the office the administrator said he could use he ran into the women again. He tried to avoid her, but she stood in his way.

“We need to call Dr. Marks and start Myra’s interview immediately,” she said.

“It’s too late. The doctor gave her a sedative,” he replied.

“What? Why did you let him do that?” she asked.

“She was hysterical. You saw her. There was no way she was going to answer any questions,” he said.

“She isn’t your daughter! Certainly even you must see that now,” she said. He didn’t say anymore. He didn’t want to say anymore. He simply forced his way past her.

That night he had nightmares about his daughter turning into horrible creatures and trying to kill him. When he woke, he could no longer sleep. He just lay on the couch thinking. Could that woman really be right? Could that girl in his arms yesterday be some kind of alien waiting for the opportunity to kill him and every other human on the planet? How could he take that chance, even for his daughter?

The next morning, Dr Marks suggested they postpone the interview with Myra until the after noon, and just let her be alone with her own thoughts for a while. Maybe she could remember what happened the night before, or at least what the words that she wrote meant. She was given a TV and DVD player with only one DVD, the recording of herself writing on the wall. Marks, of course, didn’t tell Secretary Stone he had given this to her.

Another startling discovery awaited Secretary Stone when he woke up. His wife was also awake and alert. Dr. Marks agreed that he should talk to her, under close supervision of course. He thought after being ill for so long she might open up more to someone she knew, especially if she thought they were alone.

“Myra is fine. She is resting in the other room. The others are fine as well. How are you feeling?” he said to her while taking her hand.

“Hungary,” she said.

“Well you haven’t eaten in a couple of days,” he replied. He held something back. It must be the others. Something has changed with their eating habits?

“What is happening? What are the Biaz doing? Have they invaded yet? Is there any change what so ever?” she inquired.

“No. They even stopped abducting people. We have no idea why,” he responded.

“Good. That means they are waiting for their general. We have some time at least,” she said, partially to herself.

“The others told us. Do you remember anything else that might be important? Anything about what they want or why they are here?” it was his turn to ask questions.

“No. I have no idea. My best guess is that they have a very hierarchical class structure and their ruling class is compelled to bring everything under their control,” she said. “But that is just a guess.”

“Do you remember what happened while you were up there? Do you remember getting captured or what they did to you before you appeared in that alien women’s room?”

She considered the question. So the others must have told them everything by now. There really isn’t much she could add, so why should she just reiterate the facts? What good is that? “No. It wasn’t the Biaz that brought us aboard the ship. I’m sure of that. They were more surprised to see us there then we were. Someone out there is trying to help us. They set it up so that we could get aboard their ship, learn about them, and then escape,” she said. She decided it best not to mention Rogalia. He knew about her of course, the others would have told him, but there is no sense in associating her with some strange unknown alien force that may be helping us, or just playing with us.

“That isn’t very likely. The Biaz or what ever you called them must be responsible,” he said.

Jennifer again considered his words. His tone seemed abnormal. They would be watching and recording this conversation of course, but he is used to being on camera and in front of audiences. Something happened. Not to John, Michael, or one of the others. That wouldn’t affect him at all. That would only leave…”What happened to Myra?”

“Nothing. She is perfectly fine. Why would you think that?” he asked.

She thought over what he said, or more accurately the way he said it. “I have a right to know what happened.”

“Nothing happened.”

“You’re lying! Tell me what happened or I won’t tell you anything about what happened up there. Any chance you have to find some clue that can help you fend off these aliens will be gone.” It was an empty threat. She had no information that the others wouldn’t give them, and almost certainly already have.

“She is perfectly fine. She is resting in the other room, but there was a small incident last night. She hurt her arm. That is all,” he said.

“What else happened? You know I’ll find out anyways,” she said.

“Well she seems to have been sleep walking last night. She wrote something on the wall that nobody is able to read. It is in a language nobody else can interpret,” he said.

“I need to see her. Can you please let me see her?” Jennifer said.

“That isn’t possible. They won’t even let me see her right now. I’ll try to arrange it in the next couple of days. In the mean time you need to rest,” he said. Jennifer reluctantly accepted this for now. She knew he wouldn’t be able to arrange anything, but she was hardly going to force them to let her go. She had no leverage.

“Eat and rest. I’ll check in on you later this afternoon,” he said and began to leave. She didn’t respond. She was already too lost in her thoughts.

Myra sat across from the two interviewers. She wished her mother was with her, or at least her father. She had heard her mother was awake, which she was very thankful for, but her happiness was buried under her feelings about being “interviewed” by these 2 people.

It started off quite pleasant. They both smiled and greeted her. They then told her not to be nervous, that they just wanted to know more about what happened up there. She of course knew this was all pretense, but it made her feel more relaxed anyways. They then brought out pictures of the words she had written on the wall.

She had been watching her self write these words all morning. She had no recollection of doing so, or of what she spoke afterwards. It was like watching someone that looks exactly like her and even moved like her, but wasn’t her. She racked her brain for hours to remember something. What the words mean, what she said, or even what language it was. But she couldn’t remember anything.

However, for some reason, when she looked at the words in the still photograph they looked familiar. She had no idea what they meant though.

“Can you tell us what this writing says?” Dr. Marks asked.

“No. I can’t remember. Do you know? It might help me remember something,” she replied.

“No. It isn’t any language on earth. Is it Biaz?” he was still being polite at least.

“No. We say a lot of Biaz writing while we were on the ship. This is different. I don’t think it is Velarian either. Velarian seems more soft spoken then this, at least the little I heard of it does,” she replied.

“How do you know it is harsher then Velarian? Do you know how to pronounce these words?” Dr. Marks asked.

“I have no idea how to pronounce the words. I was just assuming it was harsh. I guess because the words I had spoken were,” she said.

“I see. You said it isn’t Biaz or Velarian. Is it the language of the people who changed you and the others?” Marks said.

“I don’t know. What do you think?” she said, eagerly waiting the answer.

“I’m more interested in what you think right now,” he replied.

“Oh,” she said a little disappointed, “I was hoping you could help me figure out what is going on, but I suppose I understand. I don’t know what that language is, or who it belongs to. I don’t think it is the same people that altered us 4, but that is a guess really. As I said before, I don’t know anything.”

“Can you tell me what happened on the ship?” Dr. Marks asked.

“I couldn’t possible add anything to what the others can tell you. Have you asked them already?” she asked.

“Yes, but I’m interested in what you have to say. Can you walk us through everything you remember?” he asked.

“What do you think happened?” she asked, again eagerly anticipating an answer, and again she was disappointed.

“Why don’t you tell me what you remember, and maybe afterwards I’ll tell you more about what we think so far. Does that sound fair?” he said.

She went on to tell him everything she knew, and answered all of his questions to the best of her recollection. As she did so, she realized how different her mother seemed. She was smarter, stronger, and more fearless. That made her realize she had been less afraid then she should have, which is funny to think about considering she broke down in tears several times.

She debated on weather to tell these two people, and whoever else might be listening this, but decided it best to tell her mother and let her figure out when and how to tell everyone else.

They then made her repeat her story twice more, then asked her more questions about the writing on the wall and the words she had spoken, and finally grilled her multiple times about her childhood. When they were finished, she again asked them what they think the words on the wall meant.

“I’m not sure,” Dr. Marks said dismissively.

“Look, the more you can help me figure this out the more I can help you,” she said. “Please.”

“We think what happened to you and the genetic changes are unintended side effects,” the women said, surprising everyone in the room and out side it.

“What do you mean side effects? What was their goal then?”

“To plant you 4 in our mix, in order to subvert our efforts to defend ourselves,” she said.

“That doesn’t make any sense. They didn’t change us in a way that effected our minds,” the moment she said that she knew the answer that would come.

“You are writing and speaking in a completely unknown language. How is that in anyway not messing with your mind?”

“Why would they change us in a way that allowed us to crash their ship?”

“You all said they didn’t value life. There were no escape pods for example. The crash was faked. It was done to deliver you to us,” the women said.

Myra began to say something, but could think of nothing else that could rebuke this. She sat quiet for a moment. “I guess I have to concede you have a point. I assume they sent you 2 here because you are the best at what you do. Remember that we are dealing with something entirely new. Your past experiences may betray you. If you can find your way to trusting us we can conquer this challenge together,” Myra said.

The women leaned closer, covered up the microphone, and spoke softly so her voice could not be recorded, “You are the enemy.” She then walked out of the room without another word. Dr. Marks followed shortly after that without saying another word.

Myra was then taken back to her room, or cell as she was now thinking of it. The TV was gone. It was now had just a bed and TV cameras in it just like before.

Secretary Stone sat behind the mirror as they led Myra out of the room. He was debating what to tell the others. Myra didn’t get every detail of her childhood correct. In fact there were some glaring omissions. That would be normal though right? Some of these things were from when she was much younger, 5 or 6 years old. She wouldn’t have remembered every little detail, and the parts that she got wrong could be explained by her age. She would have remembered things differently then an adult would right?

In the end, he had to tell them. It was his duty, and now more then ever he had to fulfill it. Of course that evil women, who was already convinced they were all alien spies, took such an admission as absolute proof, but Dr. Marks seemed to be more reasonable.

“I think its possible they are telling the truth. It doesn’t make any sense for this to be a plot of the aliens,” he said.

“It is impossible to know how good their plan is until we know what their plan is,” the women said. “It’s better that we never find out. It is a sacrifice they will have to make. It’s a sacrifice we all must make.”

“I’m not convinced,” the secretary said. “We should hold them here for now and observe them. Lets see if my wife can shed some light on this. The doctors tell me she will be well enough to question tomorrow, although we will have to keep the questions to a minimum.”

The doctors wanted the questioning limited to an hour or two, but it had already lasted several hours. Jennifer was exhausted, and still not able to think clearly. The medications she was on made her a bit loopy and a persistent headache kept her from concentrating.

Still she was no match for these two. She explained exactly what happened to them twice now. That part was easy. She just told the truth…twice. Deciphering what they were going to do to her, and more importantly Myra, would be much harder.

They had showed her the words Myra had written on the wall with her own blood. They didn’t tell her it was Myra. Instead, they told her it was John.

She was shocked how easy it was to pick up on the lie, or more accurately shocked she couldn’t do it before. Dr. Marks was particularly terrible. He couldn’t keep eye contact and suddenly got very shifty. The woman was much better. She looked her right in the eye, but couldn’t keep her eyes from dilating, or keeping her breath from getting shallow. It was slight change, but enough.

This of course meant they wouldn’t be releasing any of them soon, and probably wouldn’t release Myra ever again. Worse yet, they wouldn’t give Myra the attention, medical and emotional, she needed right now. She needed to find another way of getting them all out of here. The world needed saving after all.

She pondered this question for a while. Then decided she had no clue how to do it. She needed the others. Now she just needed to convince them to leave them all in the same room.

“Do you know what the words mean?” Dr. Marks was asking.

“No,” Jennifer replied.

“What do you think? You must have some theory,” the women said.

Jennifer considered it for a second, “I think you don’t care what I think. What is it that you really want to know?”

The women was taken back by this for a moment, but quickly recovered. “I think you are not who you say you are,” she said.

“So you think we are alien spies? That we were either brainwashed or replaced completely? You have no real evidence of it. I mean you didn’t find any record, or tape of them talking about this evil plan right? Besides in order to conspire we would need to talk to each other, and you have kept us all apart,” she said. Hopefully mentioning recording and keeping us apart will put the idea into one of their minds.

It wasn’t long after that point that she started making glaringly obvious mistakes. She was eager to get the interview over with, so she stopped fighting the fatigue and effects of the medication (which she had just taken a handful of). It wasn’t until she started confusing her college years with her preschool years that they finally got the point and let her leave. She climbed into bed and went to sleep. Tomorrow their escape would hopefully begin.