Every morning it was the same. The unit known as Leanne McGregor awoke, donned her body cohesion suit and did her stretches and exercises to make sure her human body was functioning at peak condition. Since changing her appearance she had found that she was more prone to liquefying and that she had to don the suit more so than in her previous form. The tell tale signs of a thin layer of bodily fluids covering her flesh followed by a sudden looseness of limb function gave her some time to either don the suit or else spend time in the bio-conversion chamber. This was her third human form since arriving on Earth and it was proving the most troublesome. The problem wasn't her looks, although she was still very fond of her second form, it was that the bio-conversion technology was still experimental and there was still so much that was unknown about genetically altering the body over and over again until all cohesion broke down. Such was the price she was paying for the mission...
As she was stretching and working out her legs suddenly gave way. She could feel her inner structure weaken and she ended up on her knees, trying to get her legs to function.
"No! Not now! There's so much I have to do today! Just...keep...going..." she said out loud with exasperation in her voice.
The suit did its job and repaired the cartlidge that was breaking down and soon she was able to stand again. Another hour wearing the garment should fix the problem but she thought that maybe she had done too much exercising and had weakened her systems.
She went to lie down on her bed whilst the suit did its job. She couldn't relax but instead sat there inwardly cursing that her plans would have to be delayed because this stupid form was proving troublesome. She thought about home and whether she would ever see it again. If she did how would she and the others of the advance party would be welcome by her own kind if they knew they had been altered? Then she thought about how she came to be in the advance party in the first place. Unlike the others she had not volunteered. She had committed too many crimes on the homeworld and her punishment was to be genetically altered so she could shapeshift and then be sent to this backwater planet. She was spared conventional punishment because her talent for murder made her useful to the cause.
An alarm went off telling her it was time to change. She took off the suit and changed into conventional human clothing, noticing that she was solid. Already behind schedule she grabbed her secret communicator and opened a channel to her supervisor.
"Probyka, Lurgid" she said to the person who answered the call.
"Yop English, Kar-el" came the reply. The voice on the other end was masculine and a deep baritone.
"My apologies, Luke Kendall. Is this a convenient time to talk?" she said, switching languages.
"It is. Is everything alright?"
"We have a potential situation, Luke Kendall. My surveillance of hu-manns on our risk list as detected a problem."
"What is the nature of the problem? Which hu-mann poses a risk?"
"It's two. One you're aware of, the other is new and you won't have encountered them before. They are Jeremy Saint and Darrin Lew." said Leanne, wondering if Luke Kendall would be angry or annoyed by what she had said.
"What have they done?" asked Luke.
"The two men had a meeting two days ago where Jeremy Saint asked Darrin Lew to investigate the Landgraab Corporation's most secret files. Darrin Lew has access to them and I believe he is going to turn them over to Jeremy Saint."
There was a long pause on the other end of the communicator, then Luke said slowly and softly. "Most secret implies our dealings with the Landgraab family and the work they are doing for us."
"It does...it also implies the things the Landgraab family did before our first contact with them. I believe they had some of their competitors assassinated." Leanne replied, matter-of-factly.
There was another long pause so Leanne decided to fill the space with a suggestion. "Luke Kendall; I propose the safest solution is to eliminate both Jeremy Saint and Darrin Lew. Stop them before they can get started."
"Nancy Landgraab and Malcolm III Landgraab have requested that they deal with Jeremy Saint and that we are not to target him" came Luke's reply.
"As I am responsible for mission security, I must disagree with this policy. I can eliminate both without a trace and if the Landgraab family are proving too great a hindrance then I can eliminate them as well..."
"Enough!" Luke cut her off short. "Already your assassination of Geoffrey Landgraab is attracting the attention of the hu-mann investigators. We must only eliminate hu-manns if it becomes absolutely necessary, not as a precaution. Our existence must remain a secret. Say yes if you understand me."
"Yes" she said with a heavy sigh.
"You will not eliminate the Landgraab family nor will you eliminate Jeremy Saint or his associates. Say yes if you understand me."
"Yes" she replied, still annoyed that she couldn't eliminate anyone.
"You did the correct thing in alerting me to this issue. Keep me informed and I will issue your instructions when the time comes. Nilharoi, Leanne McGregor"
"Nilharoi shebber shenty, Luke Kendall" she replied, shutting off the communicator.
If it becomes absolutely necessary... she thought to herself. She began to concoct a plan.
Leanne McGregor's suspicions were well founded as Darren Lew had indeed been up to something and that wasn't good for her mission. He had been digging around in the archives for evidence that would seriously undermine the Landgraab family; possibly even destroying their reputation forever. Darrin Had spent nearly two years in the company, secretly collating any information that they didn't want the world to know about. He knew where the dirt was.
The tricky part was how to get all this information to Jeremy. He couldn't just smuggle the document out himself, not when he knew he was being watched by company hawks like Alice Ethington, there had to be a secret way.
When he left the documents room he saw a work colleague walking past him. She called out "hey are you going to sign Carstairs's birthday card?". That gave him an idea.
Like a lot of men of his generation he had been in the United States army, including two years in the cryptography division. That had taught him a few skills that would now come in very handy. He would have to access the company computer but was confident he could smuggle the information out in an unusual form.
It took patience and precision to mock up a Birthday card And print a suitable message that would contain a clue as to what the true nature of the card meant. He just hoped Jeremy was smart enough to work out the clue in the card.
Leanne McGregor was working on her own schemes but she needed more information before she acted on them. She didn't seek approval from Luke Kendall before she went to visit Affluista Mansion but once she had carried out her plan then she was sure he would approve of her actions, retroactively. She had waited outside the mansion, out of view, until she had seen both Big Mal Landgraab and his grandson, Malcolm, leave the house. She knew that Big Mal was not easily intimidated by her or her kind and little Malcolm...well, she thought him amusing and would entertain thoughts of having intercourse with him in the human way before absorbing him, was but a distraction which she could do without right now.
Nancy Landgraab would be alone, her family plus her new cleaning lady were gone, and Leanne knew Nancy was more frightened of her than any other Visitor. She thought about the previous cleaning lady, the one who panicked and fled after she had performed a mind scan on little Malcolm. At some point she would have to be tracked down and eliminated. Leanne had so much on her plate she thought about delegating that task to one of the others.
Leanne didn't bother to knock on the door or ring the bell. Instead she used her MultiDevice to unlock the front door and then walked straight into the mansion, where she found Nancy pondering a game of chess.
"Greetings, Nancy Landgraab" said Leanne.
"Wait? What! How did you...." spluttered Nancy when she saw Leanne. She didn't finish her question because she already knew the answer 'how?'.
"Do you know that on Earth it is customary to knock first?" said Nancy, indignantly.
"Most inefficient" Leanne replied, sitting herself opposite Nancy at the chess table without being given permission. This too annoyed Nancy.
"What do you want this time?" said Nancy, who was resigned that this Leanne would never respond to lessons in etiquette so instead shifted to trying to get to the point with her.
"I hear you've had another breach in secrecy, Nancy Landgraab" said Leanne.
"We're dealing with it" Nancy replied in a deadpan voice.
"Hmm, that is what you said last time before Jeremy Saint confessed to the FBI. We had to take serious and immediate action when that happened. Do we have to take the same steps this time?"
"Now wait a minute!" said Nancy, becoming agitated. "You murdered my husband! We said we would deal with that situation and we were: He would go to prison for a few years, that's all, but that wasn't good enough for you so you went and murdered him!"
"He presented a significant risk. Your argument is both emotional and sentimental and therefore invalid. Geoffrey Landgraab was eliminated because you refused to have Jeremy Saint killed. Now we face the same problem all over again: Jeremy Saint and his new co-conspirator, Darrin Lew."
"I said we are dealing with it. These two men are being closely monitored..." said Nancy.
"Not good enough" interjected Leanne.
"I don't want any more killing!" said Nancy, with the first signs of panic in her voice.
"It's not about what you want, Nancy Landgraab. This is about the secrecy of our mission and your wealth and power."
"Saint's out of the company...he poses no more threat to us if he is merely isolated and has no more information that can harm us."
"But others are feeding him that information. Darrin Lew must be neutralised"
"I forbid any more killing!" said Nancy, pounding her fist on to the chess table.
"I see I have to make you more amenable to our strategic aims" Leanne replied, touching the temples of her head and concentrating until a beam emanated from her forehead.
Nancy was struck by the beam and became dazed.
"Darrin Lew must die!" thought Leanne as she transmitted that thought into Nancy's brain.
"Darrin Lew MUST DIE!" she said again. "Say it after me...Darrin Lew must die!"
"Dar...rin....Lew must....d...d...d..."
"Dieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
"Darrin Lew must die!" said Nancy, completely mind controlled by now.
"Say it again!"
"DARRIN LEW MUST DIE!" shouted Nancy.
"You ordered it"
"I ORDERED IT!"
"By your command!"
"BY MY COMMAND!"
"Now say it again, all of it"
"DARRIN LEW MUST DIE! I ORDERED IT! BY MY COMMAND! I AM RESPONSIBLE!"
"Good!" said Leanne, with relish and then she stopped transmitting. Nancy slumped into her chair, dazed.
Leanne reached for her communicator and tapped a few buttons on it. Then she watched Nancy's face, contorted with a mixture of pain and confusion, with a sense of sadistic pleasure. "Hu-maans are so easy to manipulate", she said.
After a few minutes a man entered the house and like Leanne he did not require to be let in.
"Ahh, Davis Goode, you have arrived on time." said Leanne to the new arrival.
"Is Nancy Landgraab complicated?" Asked Davis.
"No, she's quite a simple hu-maan. Driven by a lot of base desires" replied Leanne.
"No, that is not what I meant. Is she complimentary? Is that the Earth word? You know, balugliag?"
"The word you are looking for is 'compliant'. Yes she is, I have her under control for the next two hours." Turning to Nancy, Leanne said "This is Davis Goode. He is a Visitor. He will look after you while I complete the mission you ordered. Say 'yes' if you understand me"
"Yessssssssssssssss" gasped Nancy, still looking off into the distance.
"If the son or the father return, keep them under control, Davis Goode"
"I understand" he replied.
Leanne returned home and changed outfits so that she would look more like a woman of business.
And then it was to Landgraab Corporation headquarters to carry out the final phase of her plan.
Using a combination of her disguise skills, advanced gadgetry and her innate powers over humans she was able to access Darrin Lew's files and trace what he had been looking for on the company computer.
As she had suspected, he had accessed files on the hidden pocket dimensions dotted around the city and also had delved into the history of the Landgraab family: Especially the parts that related to their contacts with her own kind. That was troublesome: If this information were to fall into the hands of Jeremy Saint and Suzy Humphries this could jeopardise the whole mission on Earth. She cursed her supervisor, Luke Kendall, for being so blind to the threat and weak about the response. It was time she acted for the good of the mission. Only one thing confused her. At a recent point in time, Darrin Lew had used the company computer to produce a birthday card...she was aware of this human custom, but it was odd that Lew had done something so frivolous.
She had learned that Darrin Lew was on a lunchbreak so she went downstairs to the lobby and lay in wait for him. Patiently she sat there as staff came and went but eventually he arrived. He let his gaze momentarily linger on her; he didn't recognise the woman sitting there but she was very smart and attractive.
She stood up and walked over to him. "Mr Darrin Lew?" she said.
"That's correct...you are?" he asked.
"My name is Leanne McGregor. I wish to speak with you on a matter of urgency"
"Leanne McGregor you say?" The name seemed familiar to him but he couldn't place where he'd heard it before.
"Yes...if I can just take up a few minutes of your time I will explain my predicament" she pressed.
"Well, what is this about? Would you like to step into my office and you can tell me more?" he asked, confused as to who this person was and what she wanted.
"You see, it's about security..." she began to say, batting her eyelashes at him.
"Security? That's not my department..." he replied with a nervous touch to his voice. Was this another of Nancy's honeytrap company spies, he thought?
"I think you'll find that security is all our concern, Darrin Lew" she said, taking a step closer whilst trying to entice Darrin. Leanne knew all about manipulating men through sex and desire and she was trying to exude her charms to keep him from leaving her.
"Did...Mrs Landgraab...send you to check up on me?" he asked, haltingly.
"Mrs Landgraab has authorised me to deal with you, Darrin Lew" and once she had locked her gaze on to his she hit him with a thought wave.
"Must...resist!" gasped Darrin. He tried to look around to see if there was anyone there who could help him but there was no one. Then he tried running away but found his feet stuck to the ground. He could feel his mind slipping away and soon he lost all autonomy.
"Follow me, Darrin Lew" she said to the transfixed man. She walked ahead of him and he dutifully followed, his mind no longer his own: A virtual automaton completely in her thrall.
She went to a little used and known place in the corporation building, where only the maintenance crew would go. She used her device to open the lock of the door and the two of them walked in. Then she locked the door behind her.
"No one will disturb us, Darrin Lew" she said. As he stood motionless, she surveyed the room. There were machines, pipes, pumps and power generators which hummed, whirled and chugged along. Leanne nodded and added "and no one will hear us either".
Darrin started to fight back against the mental paralysis he was under and was able to force his mind and voice to say something.
"What...are...you...doing? Who...are...you?" he strained to say.
"Who am I, Darrin Lew? I go by the name Leanne McGregor but my real name is unpronounceable to your kind. And this is not what I actually look like but I do admit, I have a certain fondness for this form."
"I...need...to...know....who...you...are..." Darrin continued to say although every word he spoke hurt his voice and mind.
"Oh you do, do you? Well, I suppose it's only 'fair' to let you know who you are dealing with before we continue. Well, here we go...be prepared for your puny brain to be shocked." she said, mocking him.
Then something both amazing and terrifying happened. Darrin watched as she appeared to shimmer, her body becoming a blur to his eyes. He clothes dropped to the floor and for a brief moment he saw her naked human body before it first changed colour, then form into something completely different, something utterly alien.
"Oh no!" Darrin exclaimed, as the realisation of who this 'person' was and what it represented hit him like a brick through a glass window.
"Oh yes!" she replied, laughing. "I am not human! Go on, get a good look at me, take it all in."
Darrin's mind suddenly snapped free of her control as it confronted this shocking revelation. "The Visitors! It makes sense now! The Visitors are aliens!"
"This is the part I really like; especially when it's one of the smarter hu-maans who works it out. Like that artist or that historian...it made the process of absorbing them all the more pleasant."
Darrin was slowly starting to regain control of his body and began to back off. "Absorb! What's that?" he gasped.
"Something that is inevitable, Darrin Lew" was her reply.
He continued to back away but he was cornered with no where to escape to and he lacked the full control over his movements which could get him to charge past her and run out into the busy part of the building or even the street. Instead he movements were leaden and stiff.
"It'll be better for you if you didn't prolong this, Darrin Lew" she said, still teasing him. She began to move towards him, he body moving sensually as she enjoyed her natural form. To Darrin it looked like a macabre dance, utterly transfixing and terrifying at the same time.
"Please...don't!" he gasped, pathetically.
"Your time as Darrin Lew has come to and end...time to be absorbed" she replied, reaching a hand out to touch him.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"
Within a few seconds, there was no physical trace of Darrin Lew left. Leanne was alone in the power room and she kneeled where he had last stood, enjoying the sensation of absorbing someone. It was something she lived for, like the hit of a hard drug. She was in no rush to move on and instead would linger in this place as she enjoyed the sensation.
Once the buzz began to fade she stood up and resumed human form before putting her clothes back on. Then she unlocked the door to the power room and left the building leaving no trace of Darrin Lew left behind.
