Sitting on an open sofa bed, the young woman is holding a PC remote control. She presses the “enter” button, then leans towards the webcam to make sure it’s working. Her image appears on the computer screen. She’s an attractive brunette with sizzling green eyes. She’s wearing a large white man’s shirt uncovering her bare legs and feet. She puts down the remote, picks up a passport and shows it wide open to the webcam.- The one you see is Georgia Miller, born March 73 in Sydney Australia. Average childhood, fell in love in a nightclub, moved to London to get married.
*
Georgia, dressed in a bathrobe, rushes to the shower. She turns the taps on and feels the water. It’s not the right temperature yet. She gets out of the bathroom, leaving the water running so it can warm up. She picks up her watch and looks at the time.
- Crap…
Very quickly, she picks up a small handbag and throws in lipstick, sun glasses, mobile phone...
The latter rings. She looks at the caller’s name: Linda. She hesitates then decides not to answers. She puts the mobile in her bag and rushes back to the bathroom. She checks the water. It seems fine. She takes off her bathrobe and gets into the shower.
- But the one talking to you is not Georgia. The one talking to you is me. You can call me B. I took possession of Georgia’s body several month ago.
Georgia turns off the taps and gets out of the shower. She picks up her bathrobe and puts it on. She takes a towel and starts drying her hair as she walks out of the bathroom. Suddenly she stops as if frozen in mid-motion. Her whole body seems fixed, still, immobilized.
The towel drops on the floor.
- Taking possession of a living human body was the only way to know you from within.
Slowly, her eyes roll back to life. She looks around, but strangely, her eyes seem to belong to someone else. Someone discovering a strange environment, someone discovering a new body.
- I come from a planet at the edge of your solar system. A planet that soon you’ll be able to reach. We have been watching you. Today your cameras can explore Mars, tomorrow who knows? But that day, would you, humans, represent a threat to us, our world and civilization? Or not? That’s what I came to find out...
Little by little, B. starts getting familiar with the body she recently possessed. The fingers begin to move slightly, then the toes. She raises her hand to her face and looks at the palm, then the back. She starts moving her fingers as one does with new gloves. She looks down at the feet and starts to move the toes. She smiles and tries to put the feet back in motion. She moves one foot but the ankle twists. She tries again. One foot after the other, she starts walking, a bit clumsy at first but then better and better. She moves around, perfecting her walk, enjoying the experience.
The phone rings.
The answering machine’s outgoing message start playing.
- Sorry we’re not able to get to the phone right now, please leave us a message and we’ll call you straight back.
B. jumps, surprised by the beep.
- Georgia, it’s Linda! Says the voice in the machine. Where the fuck are you girl? And why are you not answering your bloody mobile. I can’t wait any longer, some people work you know... Anyway, I’ll check on you later.
B. looks around and catches a glimpse of her reflection in a mirror.
She walks towards it.
She looks at her face, touches it, rubs it, first the cheek, then the nose, the mouth... She opens her mouth looking at her teeth, then close it in a bite. She repeats the bite several times. Then starts having fun testing all the facial muscles: eyes, eyebrows...
Suddenly, she hears a noise coming from the hallway. Scratches, a squeak, then a slam.
She looks towards the hallway. A man walks in and seems surprised to see her.
- I... I thought you were having lunch with Linda...
He puts down his attaché-case. He is a clean, smart looking man. He is probably in his early thirties. He is wearing a dark suit and a trendy tie. He seems embarrassed but tries to hide it.
- I... I forgot some important papers for this afternoon’s meeting...
B. looks at the man, wondering what to do. He walks into the bedroom.
- Collis will rip my eyes out if I walk in without them. You know how nervous he can be sometimes, especially today, it’s the big one you know, THE meeting. And if I fuck it up I’m dead… Here they are!!!
B. looks towards the bedroom like a curious cat. The man walks out, showing her the papers he is holding.
- Hallelujah!!! With this I’m going to blow their minds!!
He puts the papers in his attaché-case.
- I’m going to make them sign and I’m going to make them thank me for it.
He goes towards her and kisses her on the cheek.
- Hi honey... You smell good...
He kisses her on the neck, several times, more passionately every time. He talks and kisses her at the same time.
- You know, if I make the deal, I’ll get the fattest bonus you’ve ever seen...
B. is very confused. The man puts his arms around her, opening her bathrobe and caressing her breast.
- So we can finally have the fabulous wedding I promised you.
All of his body is now rubbing against her. He pushes her on to the couch. She lands on her hands, her back towards him.
- Collis is going to love me forever...
He lifts her bathrobe, opens his pants and penetrates her. B. is surprised. She seems annoyed at first, but slowly, she starts analyzing the strange sensations. As he moves in and out of her, the man carries on talking.
- I can see his face when the client is going to congratulate him on how amazing his team is. I’m telling you, this man is going to love me forever...
He groans as he comes inside her. B. feels a strange sensation, a very refreshing one. The man adjusts his pants and looks at his watch.
- Oh shit, I’ve got to rush...
He picks up his attaché-case and rushes out.
- See you later honey...
B. hears the door slamming. She is still in the same position.
She starts to feel uneasy. Her eyes start rolling in a growing panic.
Suddenly she is sucked out of Georgia’s body. She sees the walls of the flat sliding away, wall after wall. The floor is flying away below her. The closed door is getting closer and closer. But rather than hitting it, she goes right through. She is now in the staircase. She sees the stairs rushing away. She is attracted by this incredible energy. She is flying very fast towards it. She sees the man’s back. He is standing at a neighbour doorstep. She is getting closer and closer. As the door opens, she hits the man’s back.
On the doorstep, the man is standing still. A woman pulls him in.
- Don’t just stand there, come in.
She has a quick look at the staircase then closes the door.
B. walks in a studio flat where the bed takes most of the space. She passes in front of a mirror and sees her reflection: Georgia’s boyfriend.
- You’re late! And where’s your outfit?
- It was amazing! Something we never thought possible... My trip to earth was a one-way ticket. We have the technology to transfer but not to receive. And when transferred into a body, that was it, there was no way out. And to our knowledge, humans didn’t possess this kind of technology. But here, there, it just happened. I was literally sucked out of Georgia and transferred to another body. See, we choose Georgia because she represents, what we call, the average human being. As such, we thought she could be the ideal thermometer of humanity. My mission is simple: take over a human body, Georgia, live a normal human life and communicate back all my findings. My mission is unique, you see, I am the first living being in what you call the milky way to try such an experience. And then how bad can it be to live like a human...?
B. is laying on her stomach, her hands tied up to each extremity of the bed. The woman is standing on the bed, whipping her. She is dressed like a dominatrix, full leather and chain. B. is silently taking the whipping, reacting slightly to the pain.
- What’s the matter, you don’t like it anymore?
The dominatrix stops the whipping. She looks tired.
- We’re going to try something else... You’re lucky you’re a good client, you know...
- I had to communicate what happened. Urgently. Maybe this was going to jeopardize the whole mission...
*
COMMUNICATION N˚1
The dominatrix adjusts the frame of her webcam, sits back and looks straight into the lens.
- This is the third body I have taken possession of. This one and the one before, the possession happened against my will. I was transferred from one to the other by the same energy used to send me to earth. I don’t know how this can be possible... Every transfer happened straight after procreation. Strangely, humans don’t seem to use procreation for exclusive reproductive purposes.
She picks up a condom and shows it to camera.
- I procreated twice and the second time I had to use this. This is used to stop and contain male reproductive secretions. Why do humans procreate? And is procreation the key to my transfers?
*
COMMUNICATION N˚2
A priest is sitting straight and looking right into his webcam.
- New transfer... Fortunately procreation doesn’t seem to be a regular habit for my new host. So I had the time to gather some information. Humans are not much different from the other animal species. More intelligent perhaps. They’ve created a complex system of community life. They call it SOCIETY. The importance of humans in SOCIETY depends on their material possession. The more possessions a human has, the more important he becomes. These material possessions are turned into a numbered value. They call it MONEY.
He picks up few notes and shows them to the webcam.
- MONEY is then put in a place called BANK and becomes a printed number. So the most important humans are the ones who have the biggest printed number. And the main purpose of human life is to increase their own printed number.
He takes a long deep breath.
- They believe in one most powerful God who created them to rule the universe. Each group of humans claims that God has given them the right way of life. And in the name of life they kill. Actually they kill for any reason and even for no reason at all, for leisure, sometimes. They kill to teach that killing is wrong. Humanity seems like a tragic misunderstanding.
*
COMMUNICATION N˚3
A woman, all dressed in black, like a Sicilian widow, is sitting and looking at the webcam.
- Non-reproductive procreation is called SEX. And SEX has one purpose: PLEASURE. SEXUAL PLEASURE is what generates the energy necessary to my transfers. The intensity of energy depends on the degree of PLEASURE. The highest degree is called ORGASM. If an average ORGASM can generate enough energy for a body transfer, we can rightly assume that an ULTIMATE ORGASM, ULTIMATE in intensity and passion, could make possible a planet transfer. My way back home.
*
COMMUNICATION N˚2735
The sun rises behind the roofs of West London. Some white smoke is rising from a chimney. The streets are peaceful and empty. A green light goes on at an empty crossroad.
A scruffy drunk walks on Putney Bridge, a wine plastic bottle in hand.
- ULTIMATE ORGASM... What does it take this ULTIMATE ORGASM? Being a man or a woman? Slow foreplay or furious sodomy? Giving or receiving a blowjob? Being a man with a man or a man with a woman? A woman with a man or a woman with a woman? Threesomes? Foursomes? Orgies? The penis or the clitoris? I’m stuck here... Who wants to be stuck here? Not me!! Not me!!
He falls, then stands up with difficulty and starts walking again.
- How bad can it be to live like a human? That’s the wrong question...
He stops and takes a long sip out of his bottle.
- The right question is... how worse can it get?
He laughs, feels dizzy, then throws up.
He looks up and sees a blond girl standing on the banister, looking at the river below.
- Nice view?
She doesn’t answer.
- Do you fly by any chance?
- I’m catching a plane.
- A plane? Where to?
- Who cares.
- And why are you catching this plane?
- Nothing to stay for.
He smiles.
- You’re not from around here, are you?
She looks at him.
- No, I’m not.
- Me neither... What time is your plane?
- Why?
- There’s a story I want to tell you.
- Then what?
- Then I might take the same plane.
She thinks for a moment.
- Your story, is it long?
*
At Dixon’s, the Audio-Visual store on the lower end of Oxford Street, B. is looking at different webcams when she notices the presence of Georgia and her boyfriend They are looking at stereo systems. She walks through the store’s aisles and looks at Georgia from behind the portable printers shelf display.
Georgia notices her. Jealous, thinking it’s her man the blond girl is looking at, she grabs him by the hand and moves towards the PC display, few meters away. B. discreetly walks in their direction.
Now Georgia realizes it’s her the blond girl is looking at. She seems confused and surprised. She doesn’t dare looking back.
Finally she does, from the corner of her eye. B. smiles. Georgia quickly shies away. But after a while, she looks back at her.
*
In her large man’s shirt, B. takes a deep breath.
On the computer screen, in the webcam window, Georgia’s sizzling green eyes glance towards the blond girl, naked under a long black t-shirt, as she walks into the frame. She hands B. a glass of white wine, then sits next to her on the sofa bed.
B. looks back at the webcam.
- So that was my story. You can choose to believe it, or you can choose not to. But the most important thing is: what’s going to happen now?
She looks at the blond girl and smiles.
- I guess I’m going to hang around for a while.
© Claude El Khal, 2009