Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference. The Marines don’t have that problem.

  ~ Ronald Reagan

  “Wait,” Sarah shrieked in her little doll voice. “I can’t. I can’t go through that again. Not now, not after seeing it.”

  “Do you want to stay like this forever?”

  “No!”

  “Then you have no choice.” Tomas held her gaze. “Remember, you can’t let them know that you know. You have to pretend everything is normal.”

  Sarah laughed her little helium laugh. “I’m a china doll! How can this be normal?”

  Tomas smiled. “It’s all a matter of perspective.”

  If she wasn’t a doll, Sarah would have started hyperventilating just then. She tried to calm herself as Tomas walked the gigantic, alien halls back toward the lounge where they’d left Jill. She was still watching television. As he carried them both to the transfer station where their next bodies waited, Jill gushed over how wonderful the experience had been.

  “I hope we get to do that again,” Jill said. “Did you realize dolls don’t get tired? They don’t need to eat or use the bathroom.”

  Her little china doll face beamed. “I could watch TV all day without having to stop. Isn’t that great?”

  “You’re insane.”

  “You’re so old-fashioned,” Jill retorted. “This is the future. Just think, everything taken care of, no need to do anything but relax. It’s the perfect life.”

  How could Sarah possibly reply to that?

  Doctor Maerwynn herself waited for them in the transfer station where two sheet-covered bodies lay on gurneys. She asked, “Well, ladies, how are you doing?”

  Sarah could not speak. In her mind, she again saw Almeda holding the convict’s face aloft as flesh slid away, her expression exultant. Hers had been the face of a demon. Thankfully Jill was there, and she did not hesitate.

  “It was awesome. What a technological breakthrough!”

  “Thank you,” Dr. Maerwynn said with a smile.

  “I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

  “I loved it.”

  “You are a unique woman. It is no wonder you’re our only F7. I’m sure you will continue to play an important role here at Alterego for a long time to come.”

  Jill beamed.

  “And what about you, Sarah?”

  Sarah refused to meet Dr. Maerwynn’s gaze. She managed to say, “It was . . . interesting.”

  “Quite an understatement.” Dr. Maerwynn stepped closer and drew Sarah’s gaze, her face no longer friendly. “Remember what you saw.”

  She knows!

  How could she?

  Sarah was just glad the little doll body made it difficult to show her expression. She stammered, “I don’t understand.”

  “You have a meeting with Mr. Fleischer after this transfer. I recommend you remember this experience.”

  Oh, that. Sarah sagged against Tomas’s hand despite the clear threat. Take the deal Mr. Fleischer offered, or be stuck as a doll forever. Or worse. “No way I could forget it.”

  “Very good.” Dr. Maerwynn pointed at a nearby counter. “Tomas, leave them there.”

  Tomas obeyed and then left the room. Dr. Maerwynn approached, “In these doll bodies, our normal tranquilizers won’t work.” She wrapped a dark cloth around their heads. “This may feel a little strange, but I promise it won’t hurt.”

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Fear spiked in Sarah’s heart. She knew what was coming. She had to let it happen, but with her eyes covered, she could not help but see in her mind the nameless woman’s face pulling free, trailing rainbow smoke.

  Fingers slipped under the cloth and wrapped around her little china face. Sarah barely bit back a scream. Panic threatened to overwhelm her self-control, and she had to fight with every ounce of willpower not to react.

  “Now, you’ll feel a little pop,” Dr. Maerwynn said.

  Those fingers dug under her face. Searing heat burned down along her jaw and seemed to seep into her, like hot water trickling into her soul. The idea freaked her out so much, Sarah lost control and screamed.

  Her face came free with a pop.

  The scream trailed off to a whisper while the pain faded, as did all sensory input. She couldn’t feel anything, not even the sleep-like numbness of the doll’s body. That searing heat faded to a gentle warmth that flowed around her face, still seeping into her eyes and nose.

  It wasn’t painful, or uncomfortable. It was beyond weird as that heat seemed to fill her every sense for a moment. Something inside of her reacted to that gentle heat, like sipping from a cup of tea, embracing that heat and making it a part of her. That made her shudder. She didn’t want anything to do with that bizarre, horrible purple . . What? Magic?

  Her face was still covered so she couldn’t see anything. She didn’t seem to be breathing. That should have terrified her, but she felt no lack of air. She didn’t need a body for her mind to conjure images of herself as a shimmering face mask, a disembodied soul.

  She wanted to scream again, but had to hold it together. If she lost it, Dr Maerwynn might just toss her into one of those little coffins and lock her away forever. She needed something else to focus on besides the overwhelming terror, and thankfully her mind was drawn to the one sense that seemed greatly magnified. Hearing.

  Dr. Maerwynn’s breathing thundered like a bellows, while the swish of cloth sounded like the rush of a hurricane as the doctor lifted her face free and turned toward the gurney. Then there was another flash of heat coursing along the edges of her face and seeping into her core.

  Feeling rushed back, nearly overwhelming her. Again she felt muscles, skin, hair. It was like every part of the body she now owned wanted to connect with her mind at the same time. Sarah embraced the feeling, wanting to laugh and cry and hug herself. The soft shuddering of her muscles against the gurney as everything reconnected to her mind was the only outlet she could allow herself.

  The cloth snapped free of her face and vision returned. The first thing she saw was a blue screen hanging in the air in front of her. In huge, red letters, it read “F-6”.

  What did that mean, and how could she see a random screen hanging in the air? Besides, she was only F-5. Had she finally cracked?

  Dr. Maerwynn leaned forward into view above her, and the screen disappeared. Had it just been a lingering effect of the freak-show doll experience?

  “Take it easy. The transfer is a little abrupt without the tranquilizer,” Dr Maerwynn said, watching her closely.

  Sarah sat upright in one convulsive move. Every muscle quivered and her entire body shivered with goose bumps.

  “What did you do?” She couldn’t let Dr. Maerwynn know that she knew.

  “We haven’t quite perfected the transfer from the dolls yet. We’re working on it.”

  Sarah managed a weak smile and was grateful when Dr. Maerwynn turned back to Jill. Sarah looked down at her new body to see what they’d given her.

  It was not the regular body they had been using for her in recent days, but at least it was not old. She let out a sigh of relief. Then she paused, a glimmer of hope making it hard to breathe.

  The body looked familiar. Sarah slipped off the gurney and stepped to the full-length mirror. The body wore only under-garments. It was young, with graceful curves. It felt fit and healthy.

  She stared in the mirror with wonder. It looked so much like her own. She examined it closely, running hands down her flanks, feeling her face and hair. She closed her eyes and breathed deep.

  It was a very close match, but it wasn’t her body. The differences were subtle, but she could feel as much as see them. The body lacked the same level of muscle tone, as if she’d stopped working out for a few weeks. She opened her eyes again and considered her reflection. She brought her hands in front of her face and peeked between her fingers.

  Then it hit her. She knew this body. The convict.

  Sarah sagged against the gurney, trying to keep the horror from her face. She was wearing a stolen body while the convict was locked away in that tiny coffin. A coffin she might never escape.

  “How do you like it?” Dr. Maerwynn asked. She strode over to Sarah and gave her an appraising look.

  “It’s very nice,” Sarah managed to say.

  Dr. Maerwynn frowned. “You have no idea how hard it was to find such a close match. I don’t think you’re worth all the trouble, but Mr. Fleischer insisted.” She leaned closer and added, “I suggest you keep that in mind when you meet with him.”

  “I will.”

  “Good. Now go. Don’t keep him waiting.”

  Sarah slipped into the simple blue sun dress laid out for her. It looked very good on her new body. Jill, who still lay on the counter as a doll, gave her a tiny thumb’s up signal. Without a word, she left the room and headed for Mr. Fleischer’s office.

  She barely made it to the first restroom before vomiting noisily into the toilet. Then she huddled against the cool porcelain while shudders wracked her frame.

  It took several minutes to regain her composure and clean herself off. Periodic spasms still rippled through her as her body reacted to the terror bubbling in her mind.

  Forcing calm on her face, Sarah entered the elevator and rode it up to the top floor. On the way up, she considered her options.

  Giving in to his demands was still a last resort, although knowing she could get such a closely-matched replacement helped a lot. Assuming she could accept the fact that she’d be stealing the body of that nameless convict and consigning her to maybe never getting another body again.

  Would the poor woman die in that little coffin? Was she already dead?

  Sarah’s racing thoughts grasped a single idea that might offer a slender thread of hope. It wasn’t quite a plan, more a desperate hope, based on several assumptions, but it was the best idea she had. So she embraced it, and decided how she would handle Mr. Fleischer.