Sophie just wanted to sleep. It was something she had always loved, and generally had no trouble doing. But, now, every time she closed her eyes, she saw the horror that was Violet’s brutal death, and when she opened her eyes again, the serene setting and the sexy companions trying to distract her did nothing to alleviate the pain she was feeling. She felt like a hollow shell, just sitting in the poolside chair, waiting for the next thing to happen. After an indeterminate amount of time, something did.

A message popped up saying that Lieutenant General Ramindar Sangwan was joining her session. She didn’t register the words for a moment, but upon reading it a couple of times, her training kicked in. She immediately swiped away the companions, causing them to vanish, and stood up from her seat to stand at attention. She had never been visited by a commanding officer in a digital environment before and wasn’t sure if there was any difference in etiquette. When the Lieutenant General spawned, Sophie raised her hand to her head in salute.

“Special Agent Sophie Donner.” General Sangwan stepped toward her, looking down into her eyes. He wasn’t generally known for his cheerful demeanor, but his scowl was particularly more serious than Sophie had remembered.

“Sir, yes sir!” She hadn’t barked in years, but in the formidable presence of her former drill instructor and mentor, she was able to slip back into it like a glove. General Sangwan matched her salute, and they both lowered their hands.

“Be at ease, Agent Donner, if you can.” General Sangwan said. His voice was both assertive and somehow calming. She tried to relax. The General glanced down, then back up at her with a deadpan expression. “But, maybe, don’t get too comfortable.”

It was only in that moment that Sophie realized she had been dropped into the simulation in a very revealing swimsuit that was decidedly less comfortable in the company of authority. She pulled up her cosmetics menu and quickly changed to a dark formal dress, complimenting the style of the general’s attire. The General didn’t exactly smile, but Sophie could infer his approval all the same. He turned away from her and walked toward a small poolside table. He pulled one of the chairs out and motioned toward it.

“Please, have a seat.” He spoke. As Sophie sat down, so did the General in the seat next to hers. A cigar and a flip lighter appeared in the air in front of him. He grabbed them, then put the cigar to his lips and lit it. After it was sufficiently started, he pulled on it and inhaled deeply as he leaned back in the chair and let out a long, cathartic breath.

“As I’m sure you could imagine, many things have happened in the past few hours. First off, your body is in an infirmary on Athenon. You are in good condition save for dehydration and a few cuts and scrapes. You’ve also been cleaned and re-dressed.”

“Thank you, sir.” Sophie said. The General nodded and took another puff on his cigar. He rolled it between his fingers as he eyed Sophie incredulously. “Am I... under arrest?”

“Your fate hasn’t been decided yet, because, frankly, nobody knows quite what happened. We are in the process of reviewing the footage you captured, while at the same time trying to maintain diplomatic relations.”

“So, then, what happens now?”

“Now, you’re going to be presented before an emergency tribunal, of which I am a chair. As your mission has come to an end, the tribunal will also be a debrief of sorts. You will be questioned regarding the events, and whether you want to or not, you’ll assist in finding a resolution as well.”

“I want to help, I do. I just...” Sophie nervously pulled at the fabric of her pants. “Are they going to make me watch the footage again?” Sophie’s anxiety didn’t go unnoticed by the General.

“I’m afraid it can’t be helped...” General Sangwan said, “but I’ll do what I can to keep it at a minimum.” He took another drag, observing Sophie’s dour reaction. “You really got close, didn’t you?”

Silence was Sophie’s response. Beneath the pain of her lover’s death, she felt no small amount of humiliation. She had fallen into a trope as old as time. In as many books, movies, television shows, and video games about spies that she’s played, it seemed that one thing was common; you don’t fall in love with your target. It never seemed to have a happy ending. She was even told by colleagues, and it was drilled into her head in training. She was even selected for active duty partly on her callous attitude toward love, affection, and general human connection.

“I didn’t think I had... I didn’t know...” Sophie looked down at her lap, and even though her avatar produced no tears, the General could see her heartache. He reached over and gripped Sophie’s hand in a comforting gesture, holding it for a few moments. He had no words to impart, but Sophie felt the gesture was enough.

“The Tribunal will be meeting any moment now, are you ready?”

“Do I need time to get dressed? I’m not even sure where my body is right now.”

“In the interest of time and practicality, this will be done digitally.” The General said. Sophie was surprised, but had no objections. The General pulled his hand back, and took one last deep drag on his cigar, then despawned it. “I will see you shortly.” He said, then disappeared himself.

Sophie was alone again. She stood up from her seat and began walking around the pool. She still felt numb, but after a short break from reality, she was now able to prepare herself mentally for what comes next. She paced for a few minutes, taking slow, calming breaths before she received a notification requesting her presence in a private meeting. It was a courtesy Sophie hadn’t expected. She accepted the request.

The mountainside resort faded away, and suddenly Sophie was in a dark empty void, empty except for a dozen shadowed figures before her, and over a hundred onlookers surrounding them. The location was an extreme case of utilitarian design, with the only skeuomorphic element being a floating chair in front of Sophie, which vanished from sight as soon as she took a seat. The tribunal, she assumed, were the twelve sitting in front of her, their importance emphasized by being physically larger and elevated higher than herself, but also being the only ones in the room that were titled, reading Chairs One through Twelve. When the first chair began speaking, a disembodied light began pulsing at the location where the form’s mouth would be.

“Please state your name and date of birth for the record.”

“Sophie Donner, July 18th, 2033.”

“Would you tell us a little about your time on Earth?”

“Okay...” Sophie hesitated; this wasn’t exactly the line of questioning she was expecting. “I was born to a couple in North America, who’s names I’m not really sure of...” As she spoke, she could see contextual images and text being presented to her and, she assumed, to the Tribunal and gallery. A few images of her biological parents appeared with their names displayed underneath. She opted not to speak them and continued. “They both passed away from drug overdose shortly after, and my sister and I went to foster care until we graduated high school and turned 18.”

“In brief, how would you characterize your experience in the North American Foster System?”

“Uhh... It was... fine...”

“You do not need to mince words here. We have little affiliation with the governments of Old Earth.” Said the First Chair. Sophie shifted in her invisible seat, noticeably uncomfortable discussing it.

“It was... unpleasant. I’m just glad I wasn’t alone.”

“You’re referring to your sister, is that correct?”

“Yes.” Sophie wanted to address the chair properly, but wasn’t sure of the etiquette in this scenario, so she skipped it entirely. “That is correct.”

“Could we have your sister’s name please?” The Fourth Chair asked.

“Sarah Donner.” Sophie said, and a few images of her appeared in her vision. Sarah’s image caught her off guard.

“I understand that you two went separate ways when you left Earth. That she went to Apollon to pursue a career in science, to help in the search for the Observers.”

“That is true.”

“Twin sisters separated by ten thousand light years? It must have been difficult.”

“Yes... It was...”

“Even more so after you went into deep cover, I imagine?” The Third Chair said. Sophie looked down at her lap and clenched her fists.

“Y-yes, that is correct.” Sophie said. She now had an idea of the next line of questions.

“Have you attempted contact with Sarah Donner since you’ve been in deep cover, anonymously or otherwise?”

“No, I have not.” Sophie said with confidence.

“Did you seek out any information about Sarah Donner since you’ve been in deep cover?”

“No, I haven’t.” Sophie said, only this time it was a lie. Often in times of stress, boredom, or loneliness, she would seek out news articles with any details about Sarah, and she was well read on every one of her published papers, however dry Sophie found the subject matter to be. This was generally frowned upon for agents in deep cover, so Sophie decided not to disclose that information. As an entire planetary community built around intelligence gathering, Sophie was pretty sure the Tribunal already knew.

“You may be happy to know that our most recent reports indicate your sister is alive and in good health.” The Seventh Chair said. Sophie blew a sigh of relief, but the Third Chair continued.

“However, we have reason to believe that she may be in danger and could have some involvement in recent events.”

“W-what?” Sophie was shocked by the information. “How? They can’t have mistaken her for me, right? What do you mean ‘involvement’?”

“We will go into further detail later, but first, we want to discuss your mission on Apollon. Would you inform the Tribunal of what that mission was?”

“My mission was to gather intelligence regarding the development or production of weaponry based on Observer Technology.”

“How did you go about carrying out that mission?”

“I made personal relationships with a number of researchers and politicians, most recently integrating myself into the life of Violet Hodges, Chief Operating Officer of The Organization for Research and Design on Apollon.”

“You have spent more than six years on this mission. In that time, have you seen any evidence indicating illegal OTech weapons development?”

“No, I have not. All intel that I had gathered that may have been related was also sent back to Athenon for analysis, though I never received word if any of it was actionable.”

There was a moment of silence. Sophie could see several of the Chairs turn to each other, appearing to have a conversation she could not hear. They seemed to be surprised or confused at the information.

“Did you have reason to believe your cover may have been compromised at any point during your mission?”

“No. Not until a few hours before the... the incident.”

“Describe what it was that made you feel compromised, please.”

“It was shortly after check-in and maintenance at my cell’s safehouse.” As Sophie spoke, she saw a video scrubbing through the previous day’s events. For a brief moment as the video started, she saw a few frames of her last intimacy with Violet. She felt embarrassed, but none of the tribunal or gallery seemed to notice or care. Sophie continued. “I was working my cover job as a barista within Apollon City Tower when Misty Hodges, the wife of my target, arrived in the storefront.” The video began playing the described events in real-time.

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“You reported this encounter to your cell’s mirror. What made you think that it was more than a coincidence?”

“The Mirror thought it might be a coincidence too. I was already surprised to see Misty in my store, as it’s quite a detour between the docks she had supposedly just arrived at, her regular business, and her home. Then, when she started speaking to me, I had the feeling that she knew much more about me than she should have.” Sophie said. “In hindsight, I’m very glad that I did. If I hadn’t done that, I think this conversation would be very different, if we would be having it at all.”

“You are referring to the interstellar media reporting that you are responsible for Violet Hodges’ death, that you are an assassin.”

“Yes, that is correct.”

“It is true...” The Second Chair interjected. “Had you not reported your encounter with Misty, it is likely that you would have been deactivated, and your body left on Apollon. If you ever meet your mirror again, you may want to thank her for supporting you.”

“We did, in fact, analyze the footage sent back to us.” The Eighth Chair spoke up. “Interestingly, while the woman you encountered passed all internal digital identification, facial recognition failed at every point of her route since she was on Hephaestus, where her body was later found. Suffice it to say, you were speaking with an imposter, and as forthcoming evidence will show, an imposter the likes of which we have never seen.” When the Eighth Chair finished speaking, the Second Chair picked up from there.

“On that note, let’s move onto the incident in question.” The video scanned through to pick up as Sophie was approaching Violet’s house. Sophie’s demeanor immediately changed. She was frozen as the video began to play, but just as her past self was about to enter, the video paused.

“There is no benefit to have her sit through the experience again.” The Seventh Chair said. “She is clearly traumatized. Watching it unfold again will not help her recount events in a calm and collected manner.” The reason seemed more pragmatic than concern for her wellbeing, but Sophie wanted to thank the Chair all the same. The video was removed from her vision. “Please, Agent Donner, continue.”

“I had received a message from Violet, in distress, worried as her wife had not arrived per schedule, nor had contact with her for a day prior. She wanted me to meet her at her house.”

“You contacted the Mirror again after this interaction and showed some reservations about the situation. You even stated, and I quote, ‘It seems very fucky to me’. Why did you ultimately decide to go back to Ms. Hodges house if you felt something was off?”

“I’m... I uhh...” Sophie scoured her mind for an answer that wasn’t ‘I was in love with her’. “I contacted the Mirror for direction. She could have told me to stop.”

“She did, in fact, tell you to stop.” Chair Twelve said. “She told you to hold position and wait for orders while you were outside Ms. Hodges residence.”

“I-I heard a scream.” Sophie said, the pressure beginning to grow. “Violet... My target was in danger. I thought the mission would be in jeopardy should anything happen to her.”

“The mission was jeopardized the moment you disobeyed a direct order.” The Fourth Chair said. “And I hate to say it, but your intervention failed to save Ms. Hodges anyway.”

Sophie had no response. She was now reconsidering her actions. If she hadn’t gone inside, Violet still would have died. Sophie may have been framed for the murder just by being in the vicinity, but at least she wouldn’t have had to stare into her eyes as it happened.

“We aren’t here to discuss what should have been done, and there will be plenty of time later to discuss punitive action.” The Seventh Chair said. “For now, please continue your description of events.”

“Okay.” Sophie said. “After hearing the scream, I went inside the residence and found... Ms. Hodges, with a freshly slit throat. She came and collapsed on me, and I helped her to the ground, then looked around to find how it happened, where I saw Misty Hodges standing in the same room.” She couldn’t see the video itself, but she could see the silent fervor of the gallery upon seeing it the first time. “I tried to move to her, but Violet held me and pulled me back down. I must have looked away for a second, but when I looked back, she was gone.”

“Not gone.” Said the Twelfth chair. “After completing a thorough spectroscopic analysis of the footage, the woman appears to have a near perfect cloaking ability, even in infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths.” This was met by another round of excited movement from the other Chairs and the gallery. “Furthermore, this is not a piece of wearable tech, but a piece of biotech implanted directly into her skin, or...” There was a pause from the speaking chair that seemed to trail on. They were clearly hesitant about continuing with their second hypothesis.

“Or... what?” The First Chair asked.

“Or... It could be... a natural mechanism, similar to that of the cephalopods back on Old Earth.” There was visual confusion across the entire space. Sophie, too, was unsure of what she had just heard.

“Are you suggesting that this may be the product of gene-editing?” Chair Three asked.

“No. Not exactly. We don’t expect anyone to have that level of technology for another century, and the amount of funding and development required to be able to do it now, we would have seen something.”

“So, then, what are you saying? Clearly, it’s possible, because we’re seeing it.”

“The prevailing theory among our analysts is that Misty Hodges was replaced by an intelligent non-terrestrial entity, one that knows much more about humanity than we know about it.” The Twelfth Chair’s words again caused a visible stir among the gallery and other Chairs.

“You can’t be seriously referring to ‘Reptilians’...?” The Fourth Chair said with an incredulous tone that was shared in the body language of most onlookers in the space. Even Sophie cringed in her seat at hearing the word. “In case you hadn’t noticed, this is an urgent situation we are dealing with. There is no time for ridiculous jokes or garbage science.”

“Yes, I will admit that it sounds... absurd, but many of those in this very room may still remember a time when ‘Unidentified Flying Objects’ and the idea of intelligent extra-terrestrials visiting Old Earth was considered pseudoscience and was derided by the larger scientific community. Reptilians, shape-shifters, and otherworldly imposters have been a part of folklore in most cultures on Earth for millennia, just like the Observers. They were even significant parts of many Asian mythologies, known to them as the Naga.”

“The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and the Avengers are also considered culturally significant, but that does not make them factual or scientifically accurate in any way. Do you actually expect us to believe in Lizard People?”

“I don’t expect anyone to believe anything. I expect you to look at the facts as they are presented and consider the possibilities that those facts imply. It is a fact that intelligent non-terrestrial organisms exist. We have known that for 40 years now. It is a fact that the kind of biological camouflage we are witnessing in this footage is common to hundreds of discovered species throughout our galaxy, including on our own home world. Now, we do not know for a fact that what we are seeing is non-human, but whatever it is, clearly, it is trying to start an interstellar conflict, and if we don’t explore this hypothesis and refuse to let it inform our decisions going forward, we could be making a mistake that could spell doom for our planet.” The Twelfth chair’s words were met this time with an audible uproar from several of the other Chairs speaking at once.

“This is absurd!” Said the Fourth Chair.

“Why are we allowing this pseudoscience into the Tribunal?” The Ninth Chair said.

“It’s more plausible than the Apophis Faction getting billions in funding and advancing biomedical technology by a century.” The Seventh Chair said.

“This is tantamount to fearmongering!” Said the Third Chair.

“Fearmongering? This is not a public session!” The Twelfth Chair said.

As the Tribunal argued over each other, Sophie sat silently and accessed the footage from her first interaction with Misty. She pulled into the full stereoscopic view to experience it just as she did in that moment and paused when she saw the woman smile at her. It sent chills down her spine. Now she knew why it frightened her so much. It wasn’t Misty’s twin. It wasn’t a clone, or some surgery skinjob. Sophie realized she was staring into the face of a hostile alien being that was baring its teeth at her. Her reason was still trying to deny it, but her instinct was telling her all along that something was terribly wrong with the woman.

Sophie continued staring into the woman’s... the creature’s face. She stared at it, allowing herself to explore and identify the terror instilled in her. Gradually, the fear was giving way to fury. As she focused on the monster, the Tribunal’s conversation continued without her, still considering whether they were going to acknowledge the existence of this kind of being.

“Whether or not this thing is human, what is clear is they have the ability to imitate a person to such a degree as to be indistinguishable to human eyes. If it is also to be believed that there is more than this one, and they have been among us for a significant amount of time, then it follows with the last communication we received from our operator on Apophis before they executed him, that he was framed, similar to Agent Donner here.”

“If that is true, then the Apophis Faction and it’s rebellion were created under false pretenses.”

“There’s not much we can do about it with what little proof that we have, if you could even call it that.”

“Then what can be done?”

“This requires a much more in-depth investigation.” Said the Twelfth Chair. “And we can start with the aforementioned Dr. Sarah Donner.” The Chair’s use of her sister’s name brought Sophie back to reality.

“What about her?”

“According to recent reports, the past few days have been pretty exciting for her as well.” The Tenth Chair said. “After the discovery of an ancient, abandoned structure of intelligent design, she was selected to lead the first expedition team. Access to the site and information regarding it was lightly restricted to a few scientists, but shortly after the expedition started, everything surrounding it became highly classified, and Dr. Donner was given the highest security clearance possible within the ORD. However, it seems that her expedition was cut short and she was recalled to Apollon. We believe this could be a reaction to the incident with Ms. Hodges.”

“Whether or not she found anything related to the incident or this supposed creature,” The Eighth Chair said, with a contemptuous tone that carried through the digital obfuscation of their voice, “Her security clearance would make her an incredibly valuable asset.”

“Are you talking about capturing her?” Sophie said, concerned about what she was hearing.

“Not in such ugly terms. We understand that she’s not so motivated by political discourse. Perhaps, if the right person were to speak with her, she may come with little convincing.”

Sophie knew what they were asking. She was uneasy with the idea, but she was also starting to understand the reason they were even speaking to her. She was still useful, and in this moment, she wasn’t sure how they would react if she refused.

“How do you expect I should do that? I’m literally dead to her.”

“Not anymore. I’m sure that she is well aware of your continued existence by now. As for making contact with her, we have resurrected your former digital identity. Dr. Donner’s has not changed. It is up to you how you do it, but I might recommend setting up a physical meeting at a neutral location.”

After hearing that she again had access to her old accounts, Sophie noticed that the small unread message counter in one corner of her interface suddenly read in the thousands. She couldn’t resist taking a look at a few. There were messages from more than one recognized world government authority, a request for comment from the Interstellar Transport Commission, but the bulk of the messages were from media outlets and individuals who seemed split between condemnation and praise.

Sophie considered asking what the incentive was for her to do this but thought better of it. In the least, she has the opportunity to see her sister again, something she had come to expect would never happen. At the moment, she wasn’t sure whether this was a request, an order, or maybe even extortion. She agreed to proceed, nonetheless. The rest of the Tribunal consisted of working out logistics and revisiting the previous subjects in a much more systematic manner. Sophie was kicked from the room before they continued in any sort of technical detail.

Returning to her physical body was slightly jarring. Sophie was laying in nothing but a hospital gown, on a cot and connected to a saline drip. Her small cuts and bruises had been treated and as such, they felt better than they did a few hours before, but the transition from the pain being digitally blocked was still unpleasant. She pulled the IV from the port in her arm and stood up beside the bed. She donned her clothes found on a nearby shelf and stepped outside of her private curtained area, meeting a large, fully armed and armored police escort. Sophie froze as she looked at them, unsure of their intention until they silently waved Sophie forward.

Exiting the infirmary, Sophie was guided to a nearby hotel room. Her escort remained outside, and once inside, she moved to sit on the edge of the bed. Even though her body had been sedentary for several hours, she still felt exhausted. She opened her messaging app and pulled up Sarah’s contact information. Sure, Sophie was already somewhat familiar with what she currently looked like, but now that she was allowed to freely interact with her, something felt different. She pulled up her most recent profile pictures, and as she looked at them, Sophie thought about all the things she had been dying to tell her since she went into deep cover. For years, anytime Sophie was privy to any level of intrigue, often her first thought would be ‘what would Sarah think?’

In particular, Sophie wanted to gossip about the new love in her life, forgetting for a moment that it was already over. The image forced its way back into Sophie’s mind. She shook her head as if it would help and shot up from the bed to start pacing the small room. She tried to focus on her job, opening the messages app and selecting her sister’s contact. She then proceeded to stare at the empty text field as she continued pacing. She began writing a greeting that evolved into an apology but was disheartened when it became a wall of text longer than any single message she’s ever written. She deleted it and started over but found herself doing the same thing again. After over an hour passed and over a kilometer paced in the tiny room, Sophie was no closer to an acceptable message. She tumbled onto the bed and held her brow in frustration.

Sophie wanted to give up. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to get back in contact with her sister. She wondered whether keeping Sarah out of this mess was the preferable option. She wasn’t sure what MI’s plans were. She was also unsure exactly what the other side, the ORD, were doing in this situation. Sophie closed her eyes and laid in the silence for a moment before she heard the chime of an incoming message.

>S1: Hey.

She felt a chill run down her spine and a familiar warmth in equal measure. She knew just how to respond, she just had to wait a few seconds for the next data packets to be sent and received.

>S2: Hey.

>S1: It’s been a while

>S2: Yeah... Sorry about that. Work stuff, you know lol

>S1: I kindof gathered haha

>S2: I guess you’ve seen the news?

>S1: Yeah...

>S2: I should probably start by saying that I didn’t do it, for what it’s worth.

>S1: It’s worth a lot, but I didn’t think you did in the first place.

>S1: In fact, I think we should meet so we can talk about it in person.

>S2: Sure thing. There’s a lot I want to tell you, and this delay really isn’t doing anything for me.

>S1: lol same.

>S2: Where do you think we should meet?

>S1: It seems things may have frozen over, wouldn’t you say?

>S2: I suppose so.

>S1: In that case, I’ll see you in Hell.