Miranda sat in a small booth inside a mobile home. The booth was nestled up to the table, which was nestled up to the kitchen. Everything was linked to everything. She had never seen such tight living quarters.

The mobile home was one of many in the neighborhood. This one looked the most deserted. There was a sign out front that said something about foreclosure. None of the other residents peaked out when she broke into the home, and pulled a deformed woman from a hospital regulation gurney. Seems no one was curious around here.

That suited Miranda just fine. When she saw the sign for the mobile home community, she didn't quite understand what she would find, but anything was better than staying still and letting the hospital authorities chase her down.

Skylar was still in the trance, sleeping on one of the bed panels in the back. There was no food, no furniture, even the mattresses on the bed panels were removed. Skylar looked uncomfortable as she was, Miranda hoped this would not heighten that discomfort.

She played her own memories from her archive stone, nestled atop her bracelet. The most recent in particular were drawing her attention. The last few moments of communication with her friends painted a grim picture.

Why had they stopped talking to her? What was Dixon shouting about with Talia? By the sounds of his desperation, Talia was in trouble. Miranda cut the memory, not wanting to dwell on just how much trouble her sister was in.

From the back of the home, Skylar groaned. Miranda got up from the dining booth and the floorboards creaked in protest beneath the weight of her feet.

"Who's there?" Skylar called out in panic. A moment later, there was a thud as she rolled out of the bed panel.

"It's me, Miranda."

Silence on the other end.

"Can I come in?" Miranda stood at the threshold of the bedroom section. It wasn't a door, just a part were the floors went from linoleum to carpet.

Skylar looked around at their surroundings, and then suspiciously at Miranda. "Were all of those memories real?"

"Yes, of course they were."

"How did you get them all into one memory trance?"

"That was pretty clear in the memories. I kept that part of my experiments in there."

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Again, Skylar sat in silence. Her eyes darted back and forth, trying to reconcile all of the images and memories of the trance.

"Why did you put me in this body?"

"I think the memory speaks for itself." Miranda folded her arms across her chest. "I barely pieced together where Donovan was keeping your consciousness, and by the time I found it, my sister was dumping a tsunami's worth of water into the Underlabs. I only had moments to get you out of there."

"And the only bodies down there without a mind of their own were the tetrapath experiments."

"Right."

"You could have brought my life memories with you through the portal."

"And where would have I found a host here? Sure there are a lot of people around, but I can’t rob a person of their consciousness just to upload you into them."

"Do you still have my life memories?" Skylar looked down at her deformed body. "There has to be some other body somewhere. I can't stand this body."

"I have it stored in my archive stone now." Miranda held up her bracelet. "And I promise that if we find a more suitable host, I will do everything I can to make the transfer."

Skylar smiled, and part of her skin cracked. "Thanks. Do you have food?"

Miranda turned back to the kitchen impulsively to check. Even though she had already checked. Twice.

Halfway there, she stopped herself and sat at the edge of the booth, her head resting in her hands. After a few short minutes, Skylar limped into the kitchen, her long bone arm dragging on the ground.

"The kitchen's empty," Miranda admitted. "It doesn't look like any one has lived here for a while."

"You think people lived in this place?" Skylar asked.

Miranda shrugged her shoulders. "There are other dwellings surrounding this one with people in it."

"So, we really are on Earth?"

"Yes."

"What do we do now?"

Miranda stood back up from the booth. "We find your brother, and my family."

"Do you know where they are?"

"Somewhere in America, or Africa, I think. That's where I told them I thought we were. We'll have to look on news outlets to see if there are any other stories about portals."

Skylar stared into space and held her stomach with her good hand.

“But, let’s get some food fist.”