I used to work in a call center. We were a legitimate operation, but I would be lying if I said I never wanted to attack some idiot’s bank account or mortgage. Why, no sir, I have no idea why your account is forty-two thousand dollars in the negative. Do your kids play Roblox? There were days I’d come home feeling frazzled and ready to either spend time with Jose, Jim, and Jack at Taco Bueno or with my girlfriend and lament to her about how much I hated my job…at least until I received my next paycheck.

So, an average day would start with myself sitting in a cube with a dual screen set-up and a humongous—for my desk at least—conference phone with several lines. Once you signed-in to your line you would be immediately bombarded by whining and crying babies. You’d think you were working at a daycare or an elementary school. You try to keep it all in stride and try to avoid burnout. I had seen the glassy, “I’m-going-to-scream-and-run-out-of-here” look in the eyes of several former co-workers who, to me, had no name. They had a designation number. If they were lucky, I’d give them a name like “Buddy”, “Dude”, or “Hey, you!” Instead of treating them like a teenager too deep in their TikTok to stop at an intersection.
There was one person who had graduated beyond “Buddy” and I bestowed upon him the title of
“Beanie” as he always wore a beanie hat that his thick hair seemingly oozed out of.
He had the stereotypical look of a tech that probably owned a Macintosh or used Linux and was biding his time until something better came along, but he has been there about as long as I had been.

My girlfriend, Jamie, told me to try and get to know him. She usually brought this up right before I would take a drink after complaining about a screaming caller who demanded I change the photo on his checks…as in all of them…even the ones already cashed and sent as a digital image.
“You may have a lot of common, Donnie.”
“Sure, we both have issues with our hair,” I said as I twirled my shoulder-length hair around with my left finger—the right hand held onto the shot glass that had not as of yet touched my lips.
“You haven’t even sent him an e-mail?”
“Citing section four-one of the articles of dictatorship, I mean, employee manual, ‘The use of company e-mail for personal reasons is prohibited’.”
“What about calling him for a meeting?”
“He’s in technical support and I’m in customer service and never shall the two meet in the course of a business day.”
“You should invite him out with us, to come here for a drink and a quesadilla.”
There were a few things in my life that were sacred to me: my girlfriend, my wallet, and my favorite restaurant. None of those would I ever want to invite another to enjoy.
“Why not we just invite him to our place for pizza?”
“Are you being serious?”
“No. However, I will take baby steps and ask for his name.”
“That’s a start,” she replied as we clicked our glasses and took a drink.

I promised Jamie that I would try to talk to “Beanie” and because of said promise I hoped for a fire to break out at work or a massive server failure that caused the help desk to be ground zero for the remainder of the day. I could say that I “wanted” to make conversation with him but, the zombie apocalypse occurred so it didn’t happen,
“Maybe he likes the same movies you do,” came the text from Jamie. She wasn’t going to let it go. I liked my privacy, I liked my introverted-self, and my closeted love of vintage Sailor Moon anime. Beanie was probably some kind of kale shake vegan who enjoyed binge power walking or something. Sure, he was thinner than me, but I think I could take him in a fight if ever it came to one. I also think I could use a beer as a crucifix toward his pale as a vampire pallor.
He did appear like he was kind of dead to the world as he intensely stared into the void that existed between his three monitors and the keyboard.
I hoisted my backpack and cautiously moved towards my desk. I tried to not look at him and instead looked at the various fire alarms.
“Go off, damn you!”
It was like the universe had it in for me. I didn’t like to talk to people—that was why I was in customer service: where no one actually wanted to talk to you, they just wanted the job done and I was happy with that. One- and-a-freaking-hundred percent fine. But, if I attempted to lie to Jamie, she would hear it in my voice. If I tried to rehearse said half-truth, she would throw out an out of this world question that I should have asked him, which would throw me off and she would be able to call me out. This would lead to no sex for the foreseeable future.

I sighed as I placed my backpack on my chair and took my laptop out. My company embraced the work from home mentality during COVID, which allowed us to work from home but then someone blew it by using a filter while at a baseball game. He got slammed by a foul ball and the rest of the department got a ‘return to the office’ summons when the government gave out an all clear. Speaking of which, Beanie also wore a mask, one of those professional ones that was just shy of being a rebreather or some form of scuba gear.
“To each their own,” I thought as now I was going to have to talk to a nearly faceless dude whose voice would sound like he was behind sound-dampening foam.
The laptop beeped to life as I slid my backpack to the side underneath my desk.
“Think of the brownie points,” I thought to myself as I turned back to the lone guy and walked in his direction.
“Excuse me, hey, I know we never talk or anything.”
“No, no we don’t,” he replied with a higher tone to his voice than I expected.
“I apologize for that. I mean, we’ve been sitting near each other for awhile.
“Seven hundred and fifteen days, to be precise.”
“I’ll have to take your word for it. Say, um, I’m going out for drinks with some friends and I wanted to know if you wanted to come.”
“What time is this rendezvous to commence?”
“Tonight, around eight at Willoughby’s Ale House.”
“I would be…delighted to join you, Donnie Serling.”
“Great. We will see you then,” I replied with a clap of my hands and then turned around to go back to my desk. I sat down right as the “welcome” screen came up and felt that I accomplished something good for the day. Jamie would have been so proud. “You broke out of your shell, Donnie,” she would say. I logged into my phone and then looked back at Beanie.
And how did he know my name?

Willoughby’s Ale House, formerly known as Happy Harry’s High Club, had the appearance of a small-town pub that could hold maybe twenty people at the most, but that was just the front façade. If you walked past the front bar and continued walking down the hall, you’d hear the steady crescendo of house and techno music mixed with the din of maybe two hundred people. It was an adult version of Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Bar and they even gave out complimentary earplugs for the tables that were near the club’s Great Wall of Sound.
We sat at our standard table: Jamie, Eric, Jeff, Kim, and myself. I would periodically turn towards the hallway to see if Beanie was coming in.
“You did invite him?” Jamie asked.
“Yes, I even gave him the time.”
“Maybe he didn’t want to come but didn’t want to say no to you,” Kim said. “Is he cute?”
I was about to answer when I saw a tall looking man walk in wearing a suit, complete with a top hat.
“Is that him?” Jamie whispered.
“Yes.”
“Is he wearing a suit?”
I nodded as I got up.
“He looks like an undertaker,” Eric said.
“Okay, everyone, try to absolve of your first impression of him, and let’s give him a chance. Maybe he’s dressed to make some kind of point…I hope,” I replied as I walked over to meet him. He looked like he was either going to perform a funeral or bust out a rendition of ‘Puttin’ on the Ritz’.
“Donnie, it is good to see you,” he said with a strange smile.
“You too.”
“I admit we’ve never been on first names, but my name is Victor.”
“Thank you for coming, Vic. Is it okay to call you Vic?”
“That will be fine.”
“We’re over here. Have you ever been here before?”
“No, I cannot say I have.”
“You have to try the Peter Gunn.”
“What is a Peter Gunn?”
“A Kiwi and whiskey-infused desert. Can knock you out after two bites.”
“I shall keep my bites small, then.”
“Hey gang, this is Vic from work. Vic, these are Kim, Eric, Jeff and my girlfriend, Jamie.”
“Very nice to meet all of you. Thank you for inviting me to. Here.”
I pulled a chair out next to Kim and invited Victor to sit down.
“What do you do, Vic? Are you with help desk like Donnie?”
“I am in programming. What do you do, Eric?”
“I’m an internet influencer, but I’m between projects at this time.”
“He’s a trust fund, kid,” Kim piped up, much to Eric’s chargin.
“Everyone has to. Try. For different things,” Vic stated in a tone that sounded either like he was drunk or I was.
“Excuse me for a moment, I have to go to the ladies’.”
“I’ll go with you,” Jamie said as Victor stood up and moved his chair out of the way for Kim.
I held onto Jamie’s hand until she let me go and motioned that she would be right back.
“Gentlemen, depending on whether or not I get too drunk or the world ends, I plan to give Jamie this.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out a large ring.
“How much did that set you back? Jeff asked,
“By the looks of it, three thousand, two hundred and fifty dollars,” Vic stated as he sat back down.
“How did you know that?” I asked.
“One learns a lot being in helpdesk, right?” Vic asked with a small laugh.
The rest of us laughed as well.
“Eric, I’m going to trust you to hold onto this for me, in case I get shitfaced and drop it.”
“What happens if he drops it, Donnie?”
“Then Eric will owe me, how much again, Vic?”
“Three thousand, two hundred-fifty dollars and seventy-eight cents.”
“So don’t drop it. You have that hole in in your pants fixed?”
“Which one?” Jeff asked as Eric took the ring.
“Do you have a code word to say when you want me to give it to you?”
“Didn’t think about that. I’ll ask the DJ to play a song and that will be the clue, sound good?”
Everyone, including Vic, nodded.
“Why now, Don?”
“Because I love her and I’m not planning to ever let her go. One could kill me and I would come back for her, shambling like the undead.”
“Would you go for her body or her brain?” Jeff asked.
“Both,” I replied as I got up. “I’m going to try and select the trigger song.”
“You may want it to be a ballad or something or she won’t hear you,” Eric said as he placed the ring in his pocket.
“I will go with you and. Request a song as well. To see if they have it.” Vic stated as he stood back up.
“Sounds good to me. We’ll be back guys.”
We passed by Jamie and Kim.
“Going to request that same song, aren’t you?”
“No, something different for tonight. It’s a special night,” I said and then gave her a quick kiss. “We’ll be right back.”
The lights in the club flickered and flashed with the music as we approached the DJ booth.
“Either way, Vic, this will be a night I will never forget.”
“You are correct, Don. You are correct.”
I turned to see Vic take off his hat to reveal a third eye on his forehead.
“I’ve only had one drink, but I swear it looks like you have three—”

-

“Relax, you’re quite safe here,” echoed a female voice.
I admit, I felt at peace, which was a problem because I didn’t recognize the voice, I was lying on my back, and had restraints on my arms and legs. I’d didn’t feel drunk, but I did feel disoriented, like a remote control on low batteries. I’d try to move my fingers and there would be a slight delay before they actually moved. It was dark to see, so maybe they had me in an isolated cell. Maybe I got a bit hammered with the gang last night and with Beanie or, as he said his name was, Victor.
“Hello?” I asked, but something was off. The voice wasn’t mine. “Hey!” I yelled, again, a different voice than my own spoke, not my gravelish, dry mouth-in-the-morning-after-a-bender but more like voice of a young woman.
“Jamie! Eric? Anyone?”
“I am here,” someone spoke from the darkness. “It’s about time you woke up. As they say on your planet, it waits for no one.”
“Where am I?”
“We are currently orbiting the moon.”
“Orbiting?”
“Yes, would you like to see?”
Without waiting for an answer, a series of large windows, well, the shutters, I suppose, flashed open to reveal Earth floating in the distance.
“Is that Earth?”
“Yes.”
“Oh so, I’m in a flying saucer?”
“Such an arcane way to put it. Our ships have never been saucer shaped. That is more of an attribute of a Martian warship. This is a Venusian ship, triangular in shape and is a research facility.”
“Research? Wait as in Mars and Venus?”
“Correct. We’ve been at odds with each other for over a millennia. Victory was taken from us not so long ago. Ah yes, here I am prattling about things you don’t really care to know.”
“If it involves me, then yes, I want to know.”
“Ah yes, it does apply to you, and it does not. To be honest, my superiors wanted it to be covert, under the dark of your night. I admit, I was impatient and had to prove my theories so we could overtake Mars by using the Earth against them.”
“How?” I asked, while I tried to look to see if anything had been amputated or rearranged but I couldn’t move my head.
“There was something on your planet that dealt with leading sheep across a minefield, but, why not disguise the mines as sheep and have them walk amongst without knowing.”
The windows closed and the room then glowed in a yellow light.
“Listen to me carefully, my human hybrid. It is Vesuvian protocol to incinerate failed or improperly exercised experiments, but I feel that you may be the greatest weapon ever devised.”
“Weapon?”
“If I release you, you only have one rule to follow: do not alert the governments of your world of your existence. I will provide all the documentation you need to start your new life, as short as it may be.”
“Short?”
“Perhaps short is the wrong way to put it,” the voice said as a man with three-eyes approached. “You have three days.”
“Three?”
“I should have made it longer, but this is supposed to be a test to see if the technique can be made on a global scale. Picture if you will, an entire population of organic bombs ready to go off and send a massive husk of the former Earth right into Mars. Ah, and maybe one of them will be taken by the Martians to one of their ships and then detonate. It would be a sight for my eyes to see.”
“What the hell are you!”
“No need to get all worked up. Just relax,” he replied, as the room plunged into darkness again.

“This may hurt you. It did when you initially came aboard.”
“What?” I asked the mysterious voice as it trailed away.
“You okay, miss?”
My eyes flashed open to see two police officers standing over me.
“Yeah, yeah, just been, tired lately.”
“Are you okay?” The second cop asked.
“Seems a bit unsteady on her feet.”
“Have you been drinking?”
I shook my head.
“Do have any identification?”
Instinctively, I went to reach into my pocket but realized I was now wearing a skirt. I felt a strap on my left shoulder and slowly guided my hand down to a purse. I opened the clasp and fished for something to give them to identify me.
I found what looked like a form of ID but couldn’t see a picture on it. I just wanted to get as far away from these two as I possibly could. I handed it over and tried to calm down.
“Donna Serling is it?”
“Yes sir,” I replied.
“What are you doing out so late after curfew, Donna?”
“I had an argument with an…Alie-, my, my friend, Allie and walked here, and lost track of time.”
The other officer grabbed the purse from my hand and started to look through it.
“Do you know what happens to teenage girls out here at night?”
I shook my head but had a few ideas, all but a few were bad, and as I looked at these guys, I thought of two more.

I sat in the corner of a holding cell. The metal slab that was supposed to be some form of a seat was cold and could never have been considered comfy. It was safe to assume I had either actually been in a mad scientist’s flying saucer laboratory or I really was tripping on some heavy drugs someone slipped into my one of several drinks.
I took a long hard look at my hands. They were small and slender like Jamie’s. The police asked me if I had someone I could call, but I shook my head. I thought about calling Jamie, but she would hang up of me before I could explain myself and have a room full of policemen hear me cry to my girlfriend. I took off my glasses and saw they were two-toned in black with red splotches to the side. I still had no idea what I looked like, except the red hair as it continuously fell in front of my face.
How was I going to get out of jail? The police mentioned that I was a teenager, so there was little chance I could walk out on my own recognizance and my parents would ask too many questions, such as ‘why do you sound like a girl, Donnie?’. I shuddered about being forced to go to a group home and then have to attend school. I knew how teenage guys were, so no matter what I looked like it would be hell.
But it would be better than being in that lab, alone with those two cops, or in this cell.
I thought that if I could tell some state employee a story of a traumatic life, I could find a way to leave police custody, go to a bank, withdraw a lot of cash, and run for the hills.
Police officers walked back and forth in front of the cell. Not one of them asked if I was okay. Maybe I should have said I was attacked, but that would have garnered more attention and questions I did not have the answers for.
How does one say they were abducted and supposedly experimented on. Well, not supposedly, as I felt my arms, legs and took a quick tap at my chest. I avoided touching them any further lest everyone in the room think I was doing something kinky.
I had on a loose white shirt with a long tie…they looked like the ones Beanie, or Vic, had on. Vic had a third eye, like the other guy, the dare I say, mad, scientist who somehow changed me into a sixteen-year-old. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Maybe everything would melt away and the music from Willoughby’s would come flooding back.
Failing that, I leaned my head against the wall and stared out at the officers. I so much wanted to tell them what had really happened to me but who would believe me? They’d write It all down and then yuck it up about the UFO—Unstable Female Outcast—and laugh at how she tried to persist that two men with three eyes had worked in tandem to kidnap and change her from a twenty-something banking agent to a girl.
I’d believe it after a few drinks myself. I wondered how many sheets to the wind these guys would have to be in order believe me.
“I’m here to pick up Donna Serling,” a voice said.
I darted up to the front of the cell to see a tall man in dress pants, shirt, tie and jacket walk into the squad room.
“She’s right here, sir,” one of the cops said as he unlocked the cell door.
“Hand over her purse, please.”
Another officer handed the purse over to the man and he held it out for me to take.
“We have a lot to talk aboot, Donna. Let’s go.”
I took a step out of the cell as of the officers moved in slow-motion.

We walked out in silence as I followed the man. I mean, he offered me a way out, so I took it, even though it could have meant an out of the frying pan and into the fire kind of scenario. A cherry red car sat in front of the police station, parked like the red line on the curb was an invitation and not the indication of a fire lane.
“Please step in, Donna,” he said as he opened the passenger door. I stared at him as he motioned for me too sit down. “We do not have much time.”
I stepped into the car and he closed the door. The car’s interior was immaculate, dark black with subtle red accents, and there was no steering wheel as far as I could tell.
The man opened the driver side door and the engine started up.
“Engage to previous set coordinates.”
There was a series of beeps and the car launched away from the police station.
“Now that’s we’re out of that place, we can speak freely.”
“What the fucking hell is going on!?”
“I understated your usage of language, as this is is trying situation. But please try to remain clam aboot it.”
“Aboot?”
“Soory, it is a part of your language that I have grown to enjoy saying after spending so many years in the far northern hemisphere.”
“Who are you?”
“I am Martian agent twenty-eight from section two and you, I am afraid, have been played with by a Venusian scientist.”
“I was? Yes, yes, I was, I was taken on board some kind of flying saucer.”
“Venusian research ships are usually triangular with great windows and a stark environment.”
“How did you find me?”
“Venus thinks it’s scientists are the greatest in all of the universe, but they did not count on Centauri intellects to find countermeasures and allow Mars to know aboot it.”
“So they pulled my brain and placed it into this body?” I asked as I felt at my head for scars.
“Not in a Modern Prometheus way, no. They copy your brainwaves and then infuse them into a lab-grown body. The body is created to be explosive under the right situations.”
“What are the situations?”
“We do not know at this time.”
“So, I could spontaneously explode, like right now?”
“As long as you are near me, within thirteen meters, you should not, as you say, explode spontaneously. Also, it will not be spontaneous as your body will turn a violent shade of red, enlarge, and then explode.”
My mouth looked like it had been unhinged.
“We will need some more intel. And coffee. There are no Tim Horton’s nearby, but I know of a place we can go for assistance.”

“We’re here to get some information. Now, I need you to sit still and to not speak, look or breathe in the general direction of our soon-to-arrive guest.”
I grabbed at a few stands of my hair and nodded.
“You hungry?”
I nodded as he passed a menu to me.
‘I was here a long time ago. Didn’t get to enjoy my food, and barely got to have my cigarette. Try the ‘All-American Cheeseburger’. Nothing beats it.”
A waitress came by, gave me a cup of coffee—did I REALLY look that exhausted—and took our order as a large man with an oversized chef’s hat walked out from the kitchen.
“There he is. Just drink the coffee and think happy thoughts.”
I sighed…happy thoughts were so the farthest thing from my mind. I had a pair of breasts, not to mention an explosive body.
The large man strutted to our table and hover over us like a chunky monolith.
“Still hiding out?” My Martian escort asked without looking at the white-coated man.
“Same as you.”
“So, the invasion, excuse me, colonization, didn’t turn out the way you planned?”
“We’re waiting for things to play out. The human race will destroy itself in a few days anyway.”
“Your people have been saying that years.”
“But it’s finally coming,” he said with a clap of his hands. “What’s the human saying? “It’s like Christmas’.”
“You’ve been plotting for almost sixty-two point three years. This is just another smokescreen.”
“Like your attempt disguised as bikers?”
“We scaled back one of your wars, excuse me again, exploration, attempts.”
“And yet, you still failed to stop us.”
“You’re all talk, Venusian.”
“They’re trying to take over Mars, and you’re just letting them trash your planet with simplistic machines?’ The cook shouted and then took off his hat to reveal a third eye, just like Victor and the scientist. “I think it’s hilarious. They have their little remote-control robots puttering around on Martian soil.”
I tried to merge myself into the wall of the booth.
“Anything else you want to speak your mind aboot?”
He put his hat back on, turned and walked back to the door. ‘Perhaps one day you’ll finally use that Illudium PU-36 Explosive Space Modulator your government’s always yapping about.”
“Your planet used to be such a lovely place. Tragically, Earth is so tranquil compared to Venus.”
“It would be best if you got off this rock before it detonates.”
“You have such confidence in your technology.”
“And you’ve gone soft in your years, Martian. Good day. And oh yes, it will be a good day.”
I looked at the man as he walked back into the kitchen, but he stopped short and turned to us. “Pity there’s no Kanamit special on the menu here. Oh wait, there will be. Just a matter of time.”
The kitchen door slammed shut with a storage click.
The waitress, who I had not noticed before, was standing motionless, like she was some sort of robot.
“Well, we’ve learned something about your situation.”
“Like what?”
“He doesn’t know your mad doctor, so it’s not a part of any military operation that we know of. He may be a lone wolf.”
“I have a time bomb in my chest and that’s not considered military?”
“The bomb, Yes. The mind tranwave? No. Please keep your voice at a low roar.”
“I thought we’d find a way to take this thing out of me.”
“We have two days to figure that out. Let’s take care of something we should have done earlier. And, please drink more coffee.”
“Wait, so that freak who did this to me was telling the truth? I really will explode in two days?”
“Again, as long as you are near me, you should be okay. Let’s go. We need to make a call.”
“Yes, I need go call Jamie.”
“Who?”
“My soon-to-be fiancée, Jamie.”
“Agreed. We will go to her location. I will make my call during the time as we do not want to arouse a lot of suspicion.”
“Oh, I think showing up looking like this will cause a lot of suspicion.”
“Is she open-minded to strange occurrences. It could be worse.”
“How?”
“You could have two heads. We have seen that occur. One head screamed all the time and the other one, in a fit of rage, sliced it off. They died within minutes of each other.”
“No explosion?”
“Would that have been more preferable?”

We drove across town to my apartment. It looked strange to me. Maybe because it was five in the morning, and I had never arrived at home at such an hour to see the sunrise glare off of the glass.
“You don’t need to come with me.”
“Wasn’t planning on it. Just don’t fall asleep while you walk up or ‘boom’ goes us all.”
I scoffed and grabbed my purse, as I closed the door.
“Canadian Martian know-it-all,” I muttered as I opened the front door with my key.
The main lobby looked different, like they had re-modeled everything in Uber-Starbucks motif of browns and greens. I walked to the elevator and tapped the button for the fourth floor. The butterflies were trying to fly out of my stomach as I felt like vomiting in the corner of the elevator like a friend of our, Eric, had done after drinking ten shots of tequila.
The door opened and I slowly walked to the apartment. My hands were shaking violently. How was I going to explain my situation? I’d have to start out slowly and not just bust in with a “hiya, baby, I was just kidnapped by aliens and now I’m a teenager again.” Would she allow me to kiss her? Could I embrace her and tell how fearful I was that I’d never see her again? Would she except the marriage proposal I had been holding back on for so long?
I placed the room key in the lock but it would not open. My lobby key worked, but not my room key?
“Hello, Jamie?” I asked as I knocked on the door. “Please open the door, it’s Donnie!”
I stepped back from the door as I heard footsteps approach from the other side.
“Who is it?” A male voice asked.
“Who is that? Jamie?”
“I think you have the wrong apartment, girl.”
“No, I don’t. To your left should be a light switch that hasn’t worked since forever. The hot water sometimes goes out and the cable is in my name. Jamie, are you there?”
“Who is that?” I could clearly hear Jamie’s voice.’
“I don’t know, she said her name is Donnie.”
“Open the door, Eric.”
“Are you out of your mind?” He asked.
“Eric? Okay, great, it’s you, Listen, things are a little weird, can you open the door, please?”
The door cracked open and the two of them stood in bathrobes. Eric had cringed back for a second before he opened his eyes to see me.
“What do you want? Who are you?”
“Jamie, it’s me, Donnie.”
“Donnie? No, Donnie’s dead and you cannot be him because-”
“I get it, I don’t look the same. But hear me out. I am Donnie. We’ve lived here for about four years.”
“I’m going to call the police,” Eric said as he took a few steps back, leaving Jamie alone with me. While not exactly the smartest thing to do, I assumed he thought I couldn’t do too much to Jamie. She still looked beautiful, even in the early morning. She never had to wear any make-up, fancy—or any—clothes to get my attention. Her hair looked stunning; her face as lovely as ever; smooth skin, with a sparking diamond on her left hand.
“What the Hell is that?” I asked as I grabbed at her hand, and she yanked it back. “When did you get married?”
“Three months ago.”
“Three months ago we were skiing in Denver…well, we were going to, but a blizzard kept us at the lodge.”
“How do you know that?”
“The same reason I know about the scar below your left breast.”
She fruitlessly tightened the bath robe around herself. Nothing was visible. I could hear Eric talking with the police.
“Have you been cheating on me? With Eric-can’t-hold-his-liquor-Edmonds?”
“I don’t know who you are! Just go!”
“Not until you tell me why. I would never cheat on you, and here? You have him here, in our home?”
“Donnie has been dead for over a year.”
“Dead?”
“They found his body mangled on the side of the road. Are you happy you’re making me relive that night?” She screamed so loud I assumed the entire floor heard her.
“Mangled? Jamie, I’m right here. Something happened to me and now, I’m, I guess I’m Donna now.”
“Get out!”
“Hey, this all happened because you wanted me to be friends with Beanie, um, Victor!”
“Donnie went missing after that night. I waited for him,” she said in a monotone voice.
“I’ve called the police,” Eric came up behind her with a zombie look in his eyes.
“I wasn’t missing, I was kidnapped and had this done to me.”
“I’m sorry, Donnie, time had to go on.”
“I think that’s enuf’,” The Martian announced from down the hall.
“Did you lobotomize them?”
“No, I’ve done two things. The first is that I’ve made us out of phase to everyone around us. Please step to side left wall.”
I stepped away from the door to the side as the elevator opened and several police officers poured out.
“I’ve also made a memory recon on them. They won’t remember the last few minutes or why they called the police.”
“You didn’t tell me I had been missing for a year!”
“I assumed you would want one less traumatic experience, but, alas.”
“Eric? Seriously?” I walked down the hallway to join him as the befuddled police talked to an even more bewildered Jamie. “What happens now?”
“I am to bring you to headquarters at Hellas Planitia.”
“On Mars?”
“Yes.”
“Seriously?”
“Unfortunately, your body’s condition is a greater threat than we assumed. Without additional safeguards, your detonation will be catastrophic for this planet.”
“You might as well just vaporize me.”
“I wish I could, but the moment your blood combines with Earth’s atmosphere, you will explode. Also, I find you interesting and would not want you to go to pieces like that.”
“Ummm, thank you?”

To be continued in A Heart of Crystal

Inspired from “Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up” by Rod Serling
Main and chapter titles are from “The Art of Noise”