The Final Phase

The Final Phase

Kami woke up to the sound of crystals clinking. As she rose from the bed, she noticed that she was not in her own room. Staring at the strange crystal structure suspended from the ceiling, she slowly recognized her surroundings and she did not like it. She was back. This was, what, the fourth time she had been here? Tahz had told her that she would not be harmed, and she had not been, at least not in any tangible way. Of course, she had no memory of the experience when she was returned other than a feeling of being hung over after she woke up. She did recall everything that had happened in the interim between “visitations” and apparently it was important to them that she did. Tahz had not told her why she was there other than something about her genetic material was instrumental for the survival of their species. Kami had always felt like an alien in her own world, so she thought it ironic that she was chosen by her abductors for her human qualities. They had not gone into detail about what these were specifically, but Kami had always had a very strong immune system and was rarely ill. She surmised that this was what they were studying and it didn’t seem so bad. However, this time something felt off and she had a nagging sensation that this trip would not be like the others. She got up and put on the slippers that were next to the bed. She was looking for the usual white shift that she was issued, but noticed a purple tunic with a strange gold insignia hanging on the door. As she took it off its hanger, she also saw a pair of black, flowing pants underneath. She had seen something similar worn by Tahz and she wondered about the change in apparel.

As she was pondering this, she heard the tinkling of the crystal structure and the sound of Tahz’s voice resonating through the room. “Ah, I see Sleeping Beauty has finally awakened,” he said with amusement in his voice. She remembered her initial “evaluation” (as they liked to call it) and the first time she heard him speak. His voice seemed to be in surround sound and there was a cadence to his speech that she had never heard before. It was unsettling to say the least, yet there was a gentleness and almost hypnotic quality to it. When he told her that she was in an alien research facility, she immediately tried to escape by running out of the room. She looked back on how stupid that was. What made her think she could escape an alien compound and even if she did, where the hell would she go? Besides, she didn’t get very far as there was some sort of force field barring her exit. After bargaining, threatening, and then begging for her release, she had given up and began to sob. Tahz had then injected her with something that had a calming effect. He had told her that she had nothing to fear. They merely needed samples of her DNA for study. After this, I would be returned home for a while until the next phase began. She balked at the thought of repeated abductions, but slowly the apprehension was replaced with curiosity. What were they using her DNA for and what was so special about hers? She had questions and Tahz very seldom gave answers. He kept saying his role was to make her visitations as comfortable as possible. To look at Tahz, you would wonder how the hell he could make anyone feel at ease. To start, he was about 7 ½ feet tall, with a protruding forehead and huge eyes. However, he was not exactly ET.  His eyes, though grotesquely large, looked human and were proportionate considering the size of his head. He did have a nose of sorts, and a very small mouth. His lips barely moved when he spoke, which made the volume and resonation of his voice seem impossible. His skin was a copper color, as was his hair, which had a very thin, fragile texture, almost as if it would fall out if you touched it. The rest of his body seemed more human like, at least the part that she could see. He always wore the tunic and billowy pant outfit, similar to what was left for her. Though intimidating at first glance, he had a very tender quality about him that made any feeling of danger dissipate rather quickly. She supposed it allowed him to develop a rapport with the subjects so that he could gain their trust. Despite the circumstances, she liked Tahz and felt safe around him. 

Her reverie was interrupted by Tahz once again. “We were very excited about your report. You are ready for the final phase.” With this, her heart both soared and dropped at the same time. She was relieved that the end of this ordeal was near, but something told her that all was not what it seemed.  Tahz instructed her to get dressed as he would be there to retrieve her shortly. She put on the clothing, which surprisingly was a perfect fit, and waited for him to arrive. Normally she was fed before the interview, and she was feeling a bit hungry. In a few minutes, she heard the chime on the door. It opened and Tahz walked in, smiling with arms outstretched. Well, this was new. “Greetings, Kami! How was your trip?” She eyed him cautiously and replied, “Same as always; unplanned.” He laughed and hugged her. She flinched slightly as this type of behavior was highly irregular. Tahz had always been jovial, but never the touchy feely type. Now she knew something was off. He released her and then looked at her very strangely. For a moment, she could have sworn she sensed something from him. It felt like anxiety. He recovered quickly. “Come, I’m sure that you must be hungry. Plus, I have a surprise for you. To show our appreciation for your contributions, we would like to introduce you to our home. We will be dining in the Marketplace. ” Ok, something was definitely up now and she hesitated. She had seen other aliens at the facility, but she had never interacted with them socially nor felt they had any desire to do so. Doing it now didn’t make sense, not if she was leaving. Maybe they were going to kill her after all. Maybe they were going to take over her body and use her to destroy Earth.  Maybe she was their Soylent Green. Suddenly, all kinds of terrifying scenarios filled her mind as she remembered every alien horror story she had ever seen. As her fear began to grow, Tahz noticed and pulled out a small device. He grabbed her hand and pressed it into her wrist. She immediately began to feel calm, much like she did after that first encounter with him. “There now, that’s better,” he said softly. “No need to be afraid. You are like family to us and we would never hurt you. Are you feeling better?” She nodded and began to relax. Tahz took her hand and led her out into the hallway. 

As they walked, she checked out her surroundings. There were other aliens in the corridor, standing around and talking. When they saw her walking with Tahz, they stopped and stared. She wasn’t sure why, as she had been outside her quarters before so they knew of her existence. Then it dawned on her; she was dressed like them now. Only they had on blue tunics. As they made their way down the corridor, she noticed some had orange tunics and others gray. She was about to ask Tahz about this when they were approached by one of the aliens in a darker blue tunic. “Greetings, Tahz. I see that you have a guest with you this morning.” Tahz appeared distracted, “Why yes, Director, this is Kami. She will be joining me in the Marketplace today.” The Director looked intently at her and then at Tahz. “Well, a pleasure to meet you Kami! Tahz, might I have a word with you? Excuse us.” Tahz walked off with the Director and entered a room down the hall. Kami stood idly against a wall and watched the aliens walk by. Most had returned to their business, with a few still eyeing her. She was beginning to feel uneasy when Tahz emerged from the room.  “I’m sorry. The Director wanted to review your file before we went outside of the facility. I assured him that you were perfectly safe to travel.” Kami nodded, although she wasn’t sure she completely bought that story. They continued down the corridor until they reached the exit. Tahz placed his palm against the panel and the door opened. Kami was momentarily blinded by the sunlight and quickly covered her eyes. Tahz reached into a box by the door and handed her a pair of dark glasses. “Here, wear these. We have a binary system so the light from our suns takes some getting used to.” Kami put them on and was able to look around. It didn’t look much different than Earth at first glance; grass was green, there were trees and flowers. Everything was meticulously designed and maintained. Although it was very beautiful, there was a certain artificiality about it that was unnerving. Tahz led her to a circular area a few yards away from the building. He pulled out another small device and took her hand. She felt a very strange sensation of being weightless and her surroundings becoming blurry. The next thing she knew, they were standing in a similar circle in the middle of a large promenade. When she tried to walk, she felt dizzy and slightly nauseous. Tahz supported her as she faltered. “Micro vortexes are worse on the system than the larger ones. It may take a moment to settle down. Another reason why I didn’t let you eat first.” As she got her bearings, she looked around at the area. Like the research facility, everything was in perfect order. She saw other aliens milling about, all wearing the same outfit, except for the color of their tunics. She saw the same blue that was prevalent in the compound, and a few darker shades. She also saw yellow, green, and red as well as the orange she noticed before. As they began to make their way through, she saw a few grays scattered about. She was just about to ask Tahz about the colors when the words suddenly caught in her throat. She saw other humans! They were all dressed like her with different color tunics. There was another difference; some of the humans had gold insignias on their tunics, similar to hers. Others had silver. Tahz noticed that she had stopped walking. When he turned, he saw that she was staring at the other humans. He gently put his hand on her shoulder, but she recoiled. “What is going on? Where did all of these people come from?” she shouted. Tahz gently took her hand and said, “Come Kami, I will explain everything when we arrive at our destination.” Kami jerked back, “No, you will tell me right now!” Tahz looked worried; apparently the sedative was wearing off. The Purples were always hard to control and one had to be careful not to dull their abilities too much before the introduction. “Kami, you are safe here. I promise I will tell you everything. Please trust me.” Kami looked at Tahz and for the first time since she met him, she felt fear. Not of him, but from him. What was he afraid of? “Kami, please. We’re almost there. You will soon have all of your questions answered.” His huge eyes bored into her and she felt a sense of weariness, almost as if she had been drugged. “Come,” Tahz said as he took her hand. “You will feel better when you eat”. They continued walking until they reached their destination. It appeared to be a café, not unlike something one would see on the streets of Paris. An alien in a red tunic appeared and asked what they would like. Tahz told him to bring some champagne and special treats, as this was a celebration. Kami felt very detached, as if she were watching a movie.  Tahz began to speak. “I’ll start with the tunics. The colors indicate the individual’s role in our society. Dark blues are professors, and leaders in their respective fields. Lighter blues are scientists, mathematicians, and other critical thinkers. Greens are artists and creatives. Yellows are athletes and individuals with enhanced physical prowess. Oranges are the teachers and healers. Reds are the hospitality workers. The grays are security and maintenance. The Purples are the spiritual leaders, somewhat like royalty. They are the least prevalent.” Kami then noticed that only she and Tahz had on purple tunics. So was he some sort of priest-king? The server returned with two glasses of champagne and a plate of pastries. Kami realized she was very hungry, but was afraid to touch anything. Tahz looked at her intently. He needed her to eat. “Kami, it is the same food you were given in the facility, only much better. Try it.” He offered her one of the pastries. She looked at it, then at him. He smiled at her and with his other hand, gently stroked her cheek. “Go ahead, my dear, and I will finish answering your questions.” She reached out to take the food, though something deep within her was screaming “NO!” But she was starving so she took a bite. Tahz took a deep breath, and continued. 

“You and the other humans are the ones who were compatible with our DNA. Long ago, our race lost the ability to procreate. We had limited resources, so reproduction was tightly controlled. We attempted to use genetic modification to control fertility. We sought to limit the number of offspring an individual had. However in our haste, we made some crucial errors and the process eventually rendered our population sterile. We discovered that if we found a compatible species, we could use them as a way to procreate. Since humans were the closest genetic match, we began taking subjects for genetic testing and propagation.” Kami’s head was reeling from this disclosure. Was this some kind of alien version of “The Handmaid’s Tale”? But she noticed there were males present as well. As if reading her thoughts, Tahz continued. “This is not some indiscriminate breeding ground. We have very specific criteria. Each phase helped us to select the most viable candidates for our continued survival. The first test was to determine basic genetic compatibility. We take a sample from the human subjects and combine it with a sequence from our genome. If there are no signs of rejection, so to speak, we splice this back into the genome of the subject and return them. They are given a special neurological agent that erases memories of the experience, but can be reversed upon return so that we can gather information about the integration process. In the interim, we continued to test the DNA for any signs of mutations that would be detrimental to our species. If present, the subjects are not returned. If absent, we bring the subjects back to test for any special traits or talents, if you will, that would be beneficial to our society.  We isolate these codes within the sequence and injected a catalyst in order to activate them. On the third trip, the enhanced sequence is spliced into the subjects DNA and they are sent back for further development.” 

By this time, Kami had begun to feel increasingly groggy. Tahz’s voice seemed to be a whisper and a shout at the same time. But as she listened to him, she began to realize what was happening. “Yes,” Tahz said. “Once it is determined that these traits are being expressed, we bring you back for the final phase. You were an exciting discovery! We do not get many subjects that have such a highly developed level of empathic ability, and when we do, they are exceedingly difficult to integrate.  But we are in desperate need of beings like you as the one thing we are most lacking in our society is compassion.” Kami now remembered sensing the emotions of others around her. It had gotten much stronger lately and she noticed that not only could she detect the feelings of others, she could project her own onto them. “So what now”, she whispered. “You impregnate me, keep the offspring, and send me back home?” Tahz laughed and took her hand, “No, nothing like that. We procreate by assimilating humans and making you a part of our family. The gold insignias represent those who have been selected for adoption and the silver represents those who have not. The Marketplace is where we meet our new children and look for suitable offspring.” Kami felt a wave of sickness sweep through her. This was not a farewell to this world, but to her own. What about her family? Would they ever know what happened to her? She had children, she had friends; she had a life. To her horror, those memories seemed to be slipping away. “The food you have eaten contains a powerful amnestic.  I am a telepath and able to reconstruct your memories so that you will not suffer. Our DNA will eventually cause your physical traits to resemble ours so you will have no recollection or evidence of who you were.”  She tried to protest, to cry, but found that she could not. She looked at her gold insignia and asked one final question. “Who adopted me?” Tahz took her hand and said in words that only she could hear, “You belong to me…”