1923

The day had started just like any other An early morning meeting over plans for the future of the Union. And then it happened.

One minute they were talking about plans for their new town on the edge of nowhere, all the while plotting a railroad to the East. Then there was an explosion of light and noise right in front of their faces.

"What did you do this time?" demanded Alexei Mikhalovsky, the boss of the local branch of the Communist Party.

Alexei's wife, Vera, was shaking as she stepped through the office door.

"It's him!" she cried, pointing at a large man standing in front of them, holding a smoking gun. "He set off the explosives!"

Everyone stared in silence, frozen.

"Darka Abaturov!" Alexei shouts. "Who are you? What do you think you're doing?"

For some reason, though, everyone thought the man might be joking. The situation could easily have been caused by the usual accident, but somehow, Alexei didn't think so

And so, everyone looked around for signs of some joke.

No one saw anything.

"I didn't set off the explosives, sir; that job was for-"

"You're talking back now, Abaturov!?" Alexei says, irritated. "Someone has to take the blame; you're going."

"Are you sure about that, Alexei? I'll be happy to-"

before Darka can finish his sentence, Soviet police enter the small wooden outpost. They immediately question everyone they see, and after examining everyone, they ask Darka if he's responsible.

All the men in the outpost testify against Darka.

The next day, people start talking again.

"Well, that guy seems like a little bit of an idiot," one man tells the other.

"Maybe he's a spy, like the ones we used to send into Moscow," his partner replies, laughing.

In the gulag, Darka is tortured by his captors, refusing to talk. His hands and feet are tied tightly, and his mouth is covered with a cloth. Every time he tries to move, he's beaten, which only angers him even more.

But suddenly, the world turns black. When everything returns to normal, he looks down a long white corridor and a giant clock hanging above him. There's an inscription written on it;

The time is 2:23 am.

And then someone steps into view from behind the glass. It's a tall skinny man dressed casually in jeans and a shirt that looks too big for him. His face is obscured by a broad dark hat and what looks like a scarf. He walks towards Darka until he stops next to him and then starts talking. "Darka, if you're feeling fine, let's go home." the man says, but Darka is focused on the air conditioning unit. If he's disregarding the man's tacky clothes... what the hell is going on!? Darka shakes his head in denial; maybe airconditioners improved this much the last he saw them five years ago; yeah, that's it. This can't possibly be happening!

"Hey, you're not dead, right?" the man asks quietly.

"No!", Darka yells, finally breaking free of his trance. "I'm alive! How can you not tell?!" he barks. "Who are you?"

He almost shits himself when he hears his voice. Why does he sound like a woman now? He looks down at his chest, expecting his hard-earned pecks, but instead, he sees... things that shouldn't be there!

His hand goes straight to his neck, where a necklace with a small silver pendant rests. No matter how hard he rubs his skin, he doesn't find any indentation.

"My God… What is this thing?" He takes it out to examine it closer but freezes. A tiny tear drips down his eye when he sees it. 'Oh, it's still here.

"Uh, good, I was worried that you've gotten brain ds, obviously unfazed, before turning around to open the glass door and walk outside without Darka.

"But, wait, where's my real body?" Darka calls out in panic.

Darka looks solemn. His mouth would say things differently as if put under a spell; he's in a body he doesn't own, and he's in a white room with weird technology...

Am I... abducted by aliens!

Sweat trickles down his forehead, and his eyes glisten with tears.

'Oh, the Gulag is better than this; what is going to happen to me now

A middle-aged couple enters the room he's in alongside the skinny man from before.

"Darka!" the woman walks forward and wraps him (her) in an embrace. She whispers a soft 'thank goodness' into his ear and kisses his cheek. He stares back at her like a frightened rabbit. She lets go of him and smiles kindly. "Please, come with us now."

'Ummm, I don't know these people... What do I tell them..?'

"Get away from me! I don't know you!" his mouth starts to move.

Darka can feel himself becoming angry and frustrated; it feels wrong and unnatural but also familiar.

"I don't want to hurt you, Darka."

Darka's heart drops when the man's voice gets louder. He's yelling, shouting, demanding Darka stop resisting, stop running away from him.

"Even if we've only recently found you from the slums, try to fit in with this family!"

'Family...? But... My parents left when I was three; there's no way this is my family!'

Darka is still trying to understand, struggling to wrap his mind around everything, when he notices the two women whispering to each other.

He wants to yell, 'Shut your mouths, or I'll kill both of you!' wait, what?

'I don't know what's going on...' he thinks, nodding to the middle-aged man.

"It's good that you know. Now get yourself ready; we're taking you home." the man says.

It is a quiet ride home in the family's black Bentley. Darka rides the car nervously, looking at the unfamiliar sights outside... He's sure he's being abducted by aliens. He starts praying to whoever's listening... Or maybe it's God. Who knows! It doesn't matter if this is real anymore; all that matters now is that he's not homeless. At least he won't be homeless. He goes straight to bed as it's early in the morning.

******

The sun rises, and he wakes up. He looks around the plain-looking room. 'Ugh, my body feels sticky' he stands up and looks at the mirror. 'Eh?' he sees his reflection and is horrified. 'Who is this woman?' Darka asks himself.

He looks at the mirror when suddenly he sees a floating label on the dresser.

"Open"

It says open. 'Are my eyes playing tricks on me? Oh... Aliens...' he sighs and looks in the direction of the label. Suddenly his body jerks forward, holding on to the handle of the dresser.

His body is moving toward the dresser. "Oh no!" he tries to keep from falling over as his body jerks forward, opening the dresser to reveal an assortment of clothes. The frilly clothes inside the dresser look foreign.

'Let's see if Alien clothing is any better than what I used to wear.' he avoids looking at more floating labels. Closing his eyes he grabs a dress. "All right..." he turns to face the mirror and tries to put the dress on. There are several buttons and holes... 'Hmm if I were to speculate, this alien world is maybe a thousand years more advanced than our world!' he marvels at the quality of the cloth. The dress is simple but impossible to wear! It does remind him of the clothes the royal family wears. Looking around the room again he sees some other things. The most noticeable was a strange object on the table... Curious, he approaches it. Looking at its design, he realizes it's some kind of metal frame. He turns his attention back to the dress he's holding. He holds the zipper when suddenly his body automatically moves, shedding his bedclothes.

After somehow wearing underwear and unwearable clothing, he stumbles out of the room and sees the skinny man from the hospital.

"Goodmorning Darka." the skinny man says. Darka looks up and sees a floating bar on his head. 'Why does this alien have a halo?' he points at the man.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Vitomir looks at his sister in front of him, looky dopey and pointing at something slightly over his head.

"What are you looking at?" he asks.

"Is that normally there?" Darka asks.

'Is my sister now braindead?' Vitomir sighs looks behind him, and sees one of the fire sprinklers on the roof.

"Yes, it's always been there," he replies. His sister continues looking dopey as she starts to walk away. "Hey! Wait up!" Vitomir walks after the fast-walking Darka until they reach the dining area.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Are you hungry?"

She snaps out of her thoughts. Her eyes follow the lady's question to see they've walked into the dining area. 'If I'm right, that must be my alien mother,' oh, this is so scary.

Darka sits down at the dining table. The luxurious atmosphere makes her feel uneasy. Suddenly words start hovering in his sight.

"Of course I'm hungry!"

"I don't want to eat with strangers.."

"Don't talk to me!"

'What? What is this!?' She looks around, trying to see if the other aliens see this. 'What the fuck?' he thinks to herself, and she stands up. She stands up and attempts to walk away, but her legs wouldn't move. 'What the hell!? The aliens are in my body!'

Tears start to flow from her eyes. The family looks at her as if she's going insane.

Darka opens his mouth to speak. "Of course I'm hungry!" she blurts out.

The family stared, shocked, while Darka continued to cry. 'What am I saying? What's happening??'

"That's enough of that," her alien father interjects, his heart pounding. 'Maybe I should cut her some slack.' the father thinks. "We are going to have to eat something soon."

'Wait.. What?? What does that even mean?! Am I gonna die if I eat!? These aliens are going to poison me for sure.'

Darka sits back down, her face looking wet and pitiful.

'She's just doing this to garner sympathy!' the mother grits her teeth.

"Honey, let's just give her some space." the mother says to her husband.

'Oh, I can move again!' Darka moves her arms to eat. She sighs happily.

'Look! That bitch did it on purpose!' the mother looks at her suspiciously.

Darka is too happy to notice as she eats the peculiar food. 'Oh well, if I get poisoned, then maybe that will bring me back to the Gulag back on earth,' she thought.

After eating breakfast, she scurries back to her room. Inside she looks for paper and pen and starts to write down a plan.

Her plan consists of leaving the house after breakfast. She would escape through the window and go down to the parking lot near where she lives. Knowing the nobility, she could order one of those old guys to take her somewhere. As a railroad manager, scoping the area is critical. And to know what to do next, she must at least see the layout of this strange city.

Sneaking around the mansion, Darka makes sure to avoid the people around the house. Her goal is to get to the parkway just in front, wait for a servant to pass by, and tell him to drive her around the city. Cool. Easy. She thinks so, at least. And, after she's done that, she has no problem going on her way.

******

Vitomir is eating sushi in the living room when he spots, in the corner of his eye, his dopey sister sneaking around the hall. A smile creeps across his lips because there's nothing more satisfying than seeing your sibling sneaking around like an idiot. Her brain was probably fried after the accident last month. He follows her, making sure he's being quiet about it. This unruly brat is probably up to something! He follows until they reach the parkway, which will lead outside.

******

'I'm finally out,' Darka sighs as she exits into the parkway in front of the mansion, ducking under the parked cars in order not to be seen if someone looks out the window. She feels terrible for sneaking away but wants to go somewhere nice and calm where she doesn't have to feel guilty. 'No! I don't feel bad! Those aliens are treating me too nicely. It's too unsettling.'

However, the parkway is empty, except for a couple of teenagers loitering around. One of them, a guy with long blonde hair in dreadlocks, waves to Darka when he sees her looking around. She stares for a while, not knowing what to say.

She doesn't know who he is, but...

'Appease the aliens. Don't let them think you're weird.'

Suddenly the guy walks towards her.

'Oh god no, he's coming closer. What should I do? Should I run? No, that'd make it look like I want attention. But what do I want? Is it okay to approach strangers? Maybe. Or maybe not, considering the circumstances.'

"Hey Daki, what's up?" the guy asks.

*Sneer at him*

"Oh, Vladimir! I miss you so much!"

"Why didn't you visit me?"

Three phrases... Sentences appear midair in front of her eyes. Her body freezes.

'Aah! Ugh... this is freaky body possession...'

Tears moisten her eyes as she's put into this claustrophobic situation.

'These aliens make me suffer all the time!'

She sneers at him and scurries away the moment her body unfreezes.

******

Looking at the girl scurrying away, Vladimir smirks. 'Is she trying to get my attention now? Ha, nice try.'

"That's right, Vladimir! The girl's trying to gain your attention!" his buddy Ilarion says.

******

Darka's hands are sweaty. She wipes them on her skirt. Her palms are sweaty, her legs are sweating; her heart is beating quickly. The whole situation is freaking her out. Why is it so hot here!? What's with this planet!

Her stomach growls. She hasn't eaten anything since breakfast. Suddenly her mind wanders to food again. What kind of snacks does she have at home? There's fruit, chips, cookies, and even ice cream! Oh, how she loves those. Ice cream would solve all of her problems right now.

Darka knows what those foodstuffs are called, but now she's curious to see what they look like.

******

'What the hell is she doing?' Vitomir looks at his dopey sister, standing like an idiot in the distance. He sighs; If she's not acting out, she's doing shit like this.

"Darka, come over here."

She turns around and looks at him, confused. He gestures for her to come closer with his hands. She slowly approaches him, trying hard not to trip on the road stones and grass. As soon as she's in earshot, Vitomir shouts, "What did you do?!"

Darka freezes, a few mixed emotions flashes on her face.

"Why are you here?" She grimaces.

Vitomir rolls his eyes. "Because I've been calling you for a while now! You're not picking up!"

"I can see that," she replies in a sarcastic tone, "And I'm sorry that you were calling me. Now please leave me alone."

"Fine," Vitomir says, crossing his arms.