★Memorable Author: [El_Roy_1999] The Procedure

[El_Roy_1999]

We reached the main square of the town the city had become and got out of the car. It was odd to see these streets again, deserted as the buildings now where. The world had truly changed. Squatters lived in the sorry remains of our civilisation and the streets were full of people scavenging from the wreckage. The main square had once been a large plaza framed by malls and office buildings. People had set up stands in it and were selling produce and the results of their sapping. The market was being patrolled by human militia, clad in the uniforms of the far away federal government. Some of the stands offered alien technology and food. The owners were easily recognisable by the bluish tinge of their skin and the small metal flakes that emerged from it. Some of them had the same ink-black eyes as the invaders. Other than them, there were few aliens to be seen. They tried to stay away from areas with a lot of humans, preferring not to provoke them.
The sellers and their clients gave July hateful stares as we drifted through the masses. They made way, but there was a feeling of intense animosity. Finally, we arrived at a shop that sold some kind of stew, probably rat. July bought two cans and offered me one. Then, she addressed the seller:
"Any news?"
He looked at her, she lifted the cowl a little so he could recognise her and replied:
"I see. Yes, quite a few. The Friends say an offensive is coming. They want to arm the population and prepare us for war."
"Sounds good. What are the problems?"
"Actually, I heard this was a complex ploy. They want our people to become assimilated. They give us the weapons, but the weapons will turn us into them."
"Where did you hear that?"
"Word on the street. Just a rumor. You may want to ask Wanda."
I had to interrupt. It wasn't a common name:
"Wanda Ofaro?"
"No. Who's that?"
"My wife, no, my ex-wife. Wait, how about Wanda Shahab?"
"That's her. Returned to her maiden name, didn't she?"
"Apparently. Where do we find her?"
"She works at the Friend-Human relationship bureau, but you can meet her after her choir practice without causing any trouble." He hesitated and turned to July. "I hope they won't mind you, though."
July shrugged and said:
"Don't worry. I'll manage."

[El_Roy_1999]

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[solitariodude]

Uh oh, getting the ex involved

[El_Roy_1999]

We saw Wanda as she was leaving the Friend-Human relations building. It was a sleek, elegant construction that was covered in the blue tiles the Friends used to grow their strange plants and gave off a solemn atmosphere. People were standing in front of it, chatting. They were wearing Friend-inspired clothes, composed of tight fitting scales and fractal elements. There was a certain calm elegance to them, completely different from the chaotic paranoia of the regular folks we had seen until now. The city was different here too. Instead of the run-down buildings that marked its outskirts, the new Friend-constructed houses and condominiums were bright, shiny and clean.
I approached her discreetly and made a sign for her to see me. She was clearly surprised and came over, excusing herself.
"Ed? Where did you come from? I thought you were dead."
I always wanted to say this:
"The news of my death were exaggerated."
She almost wanted to kill me, I could tell. Then, to my surprise, she embraced me.
"I'm so happy you're alive! I was afraid you had been killed. What happened?"
What a welcome. I hadn't expected this to happen.

[Metal Sphere]

Involving the ex is a bad move. IIRC they did not part ways amicably. I suspect something's up.

[El_Roy_1999]

"I'm sorry I couldn't reach you. Honestly, I thought you were dead as well. When the attack came, I was in the wilderness. I only recently returned to the city. I am glad to see you alive."
"That's good. Does that mean we can strike you from the missing persons' list?"
"I'm not sure about that. Listen, can we talk?"
"We are talking."
"No, I mean in private."
She frowned.
"Why?"
"It's just that I'm not entirely comfortable around this." I made a vague gesture at the surrounding buildings. She smirked.
"You're the guy who's going around with a Friend. What do you mean?"
"Well ..."
This was not going according to plan.
"Listen, let's just talk in private. Shall we?"
"We can go to my apartment. Is that 'private' enough for you?"
"I'm not sure."
"Fuck your indecision, Ed. You couldn't even bring yourself to say 'yes' to either our marriage or our divorce. Come along."
I looked pleadingly at July, but she just stayed silent under her hood.
"To the apartment, it is then."

[solitariodude]

Gotta reply before I get deleted. Out of town for months with no computer access until I visited a brother with internet connection. El Roy, please continue with this one and K as always!

[El_Roy_1999]

Wanda unlocked the door by just blowing on a small, hexagonal patch in the wall. It slid open with a short harmonic sound and revealed a two-piece apartment with pure white walls and elegant, Friend-styled furniture. Wanda took off her jacket and led us to into the living room. There was a small niche for cooking and cleaning, a blue-tinged plate that was probably a combined TV set and stereo and some comfortable looking sofas. Also, a few simple pieces of artwork and some keepsakes decorated the room. She asked:
"Coffee? You'll probably skip the star brew."
"Star brew?"
"Something the Friends gave us. It's an acquired taste, but it's nice. Want to try some?"
"Nah."
"Thought so. Coffee it is, then?"
"Yes. Please."
"Sugar, no milk?"
"You still know me."
"You still haven't changed."
She turned to July.
"And you, star brew?"
"Just a glass of water, please."
"You're not one of the Friends, are you?"
July shook her head.
"No. I'll explain in a moment. Or will you, Ed?"
"I will."
Wanda walked to the kitchen space, slid her hand over a panel and unfolded a part of the wall to reveal some cupboards.
A few minutes later, we had our drinks and she sat down on one of the sofas. I had taken off my coat and boots, revealing the bad state my clothes were in. Wanda said:
"Ed, you look like hell. You're all skinny. Should I fix you something?"
"No. It's okay. Can we talk?"
"Sure."

[El_Roy_1999]

I took a sip of coffee and felt it warm my body. Oh boy, I never thought I'd taste the sweet caffeine ever again. It reminded me of my life long ago. Finally, I put it down and said:
"Wanda, I know it's been a while and things sort of ended on an indefinite hiatus the last time. I want to tell you that I still would be willing to continue with our marriage, but ..."
"You haven't come all this way to talk about our marriage, have you? I mean, there's been so much going on since that time ..."
July bumped me into my side, reminding me of the original purpose of our visit.
"No. I'm sorry. It was just, it's been so long."
"I know, but please, let's leave this be for the moment."
"Sure. So, I've come to understand."
"It's just that it didn't work out ..."
I interrupted her:
"No, sorry, I wasn't talking about our relationship. I was about to ask: What do you think of the Friends? What do you think they're after?"
"What kind of question is that?"
"A serious one. I lived on the brink of civilisation and I'd really like to understand what is going on."
"Fine. The Friends want to help us fight their enemies. They call them the Siblings, so there seems to be some kind of relationship, but since so few people can actually read their writing, we have next to no chance at understand their conflict. The Friends don't explain much either. On the other hand, they prevented the war from getting even worse and they gave us their technology. I'd say they really are our friends, especially since their enemies are our enemies."

[Metal Sphere]

Uh oh, politicking going on. Enemy of my enemy is my friend? Without ever hearing the other side of the story? Heh.

[El_Roy_1999]

I took another sip, marveling again in its taste.
"So they help us, give us their technology and protect us from their enemies. What do they get in exchange?"
"I'm not quite sure for now. At first, I thought they would colonise us, like in the movies."
"And do they?"
"Not really. They have built a settlement close to the city centre, but there's hardly anybody there. They're not breeding, either."
"So what do they want?"
"Maybe it's different: They're not human, so maybe they don't have human motivations. They might actually just help us for help's sake."
I got up and asked:
"Do you honestly believe that?"
"I have seen nothing that would have proven me wrong. The government is on their side too. The original government. They didn't set up their own."
I shook my head. July snickered under her hood. Wanda asked:
"What? Why are you laughing?"
"It's just that the government has its moments, if you know what I mean."
"No, I don't. But let me ask you a question: Who is that and what business do you have with the government?"
I looked at July. She nodded. I explained:
"Remember July?"
"The freak? Sure. What happened to her?"
July snorted, then pulled back the cape, showing her strange, mutated face. Wanda recoiled in horror:
"Who? What?"
With her soothing voice, July said:
"It's just me. The freak."

[Japagreipe]

Wow. Hadn't checked in for a while. Nice twists in the story while I was gone. Superb work as usual. K+

[Metal Sphere]

Haha, SURPRISE Wanda! I can't wait for the rest of this conversation.

[El_Roy_1999]

Once she had calmed down and given July her cup of coffee, Wanda sat on the couch with us and stared at my friend's freakish body.
"You're so ... odd."
"That's the least insulting thing I have been called in a while. Thank you."
"You're ... welcome. Still, what happened to you?"
"I had the procedure."
"What procedure?"
"You never heard of it?"
I turned to July and said:
"Honestly, I doubt anybody outside your clique ever heard of it. Maybe you should explain."
"Or maybe I shouldn't. We didn't come to give answers, we came to get them. So, Wanda. Ed here wants to know what he can about the Friends so he can do something about them."
Wanda went to the kitchen-wall and got herself another drink.
"Why should he? Ed, what's your problem?"
"It's not natural."
"So's your friend. That's not an argument. And before you start: Nobody forced you to run off."
"There was the police."
"Yes, but they were after Ms. Biohazard." She shot July a less than benevolent look. "What I want to say is that the situation right now isn't perfect, but annoying the Friends won't make them go away and even if, it won't bring the people that died back to life."
I got up and walked around in circles.
"I know. I know. But I ..."
"You don't want to accept that you spent all this time in the wilderness for nothing. That's all. You're not good at accepting changes, that's your problem. We had that before."
I grimaced.
"Thank you for bringing this up. Okay. I see I'm not welcome here. July, let's leave."
July thanked Wanda for the coffee and got up. Wanda interrupted her.
"Wait. Couldn't you tell me about this 'procedure'? It does sound interesting."
"I bet it does. Sorry, but no."
"Just a moment, then. What was your problem with the government?"
I started to explain, when July gave me a crushing look. I stopped mid-sentence. Wanda was still leading me by the nose.
We walked out as quickly as we could.

Outside, I followed July until we had left the area, then said:
"I'm sorry for this. Talking to her was pointless. She's far too deep in this whole affair."
"Why? We did learn a lot. Also, we know that we can't trust her. However, we're going to follow her and see to whom she's going to talk."
"How?"
"Trust my sense of smell."

[El_Roy_1999]

Seconds later, I was clinging to July's muscular body. She was moving across the clear hexagonal plates of the buildings at breakneck speed, using her spindly fingers to negotiate the nooks and crannies of the surface. Her skin changed its colour fluidly to mask her presence. For anyone looking out, it would just look like an imperfection of the glass. Her powerful arms propelled her from house to house, following Wanda's scent from up here. I wondered just how fine her sense of smell actually was. Below, cars went by and people walked along, ignoring the bizarre spectacle that was going on above them. It felt deeply unsettling to feel her sinuous body move, contract and expand against mine. With a spectacular jump, she crossed the street and clung to the next facade, once again starting her spider-like scuttling.
I asked her:
"When did you learn that?"
"I don't know. It just sort of started. Cool, isn't it?"
"Yes, especially the chameleon thing."
"That's a nice way to call it. I wonder if I'm going to get eye-stalks too?"
"Please don't."
I imagined her with this additional disfigurement and almost lost my grip. Her obsession with becoming ever more alien was really getting to me. After all, this world was now populated by real aliens and I felt that I was slowly loosing my connection to this way of life. I suddenly remembered the crystalline structures on the bear and almost had to retch. I realised that there was no going back.

[El_Roy_1999]

Finally, we reached a huge building made of blue glass and covered in equally blue plants. It was a futuristic, twisted and organic-seeming construction straight out of a science fiction movie. Wanda had apparently just walked in and forced July to find a way to get inside. She descended back to the street and said:
"Pass me the coat, please."
I handed her the cloak and asked:
"How do we get in?"
"I'm not sure. We'd have to be discreet."
"Not your strength, huh?"
"I have to admit ..."
"I'll take a look and see whether I'll find a way."
"Fine."
I left her and quickly walked around the building. It was truly enormous. There were six major entrances, each one at the base of one of the "roots" that formed its base. Clearly, the front was to be used by official guests and important people, so the rear end was going to be our better option. Just as I walked around the place to see this door, a group of young people in uniforms that looked suspiciously like cleaners' outfits came out. They were chatting eagerly, some of them exhibiting the strange bluish artifacts under their skins. I edged closer to listen in.
Soon, it was clear that they were caretakers. I followed them to a nearby park where they took a break. This was my lucky day. I approached one of them, who was sitting a little further away. I doubt I should be proud of what I did next, but I did feel very secret agenty as I did it.
Gave him a blow to the head, made sure he was unconscious, called the ambulance and had them pick him up. Switching clothes felt good. The alien trousers and shirts fit like a glove and were both warm and refreshing at the same time. I hoped that the various pests that had infiltrated my clothes would not kill the poor guy.
A few minutes later, I let July into the building. She gave me a complimenting look. I felt like a master infiltrator assassin ninja. Also, quite stupid.