Skin Deep

Ch 1: Double Trouble

"I want his skin," Princess Alora pointed at a tall, bald man in a bland black suit.

"Then I will supplant the short man, your Highness."

I locked onto my targets and sprinted across the dimly lit alley. Then fired two discreet mini-darts into the men's necks to collect DNA samples.

"Ow!" My short frumpy target slapped the back of his neck. "Damn mosquitoes."

The two men paid little attention when my darts auto-retracted and fell out. Then they entered a black metal door tucked away at the end of a secluded alleyway.

"Quickly, your Highness," I collected the tiny darts from the ground and handed her the tall man's sample.

Then I injected mine into my appearance veil.

"This will consume our supply of meto-compound," I noted, while Princess Alora uploaded the DNA chosen to dictate her appearance and stature throughout our extended stay on this planet.

The transformation was instantaneous.

"I'm so tall," Alora twirled in her new middle-aged man body. Her black flexo-suit automatically expanded around her new bulky physique.

No one here would ever suspect she was a seventeen-year-old blond girl and first in line to the Hyserion throne.

"We can shift back if we need to?" Alora twisted her waist around in an odd attempt to inspect her new rear end.

"Yes," I took one last glance at my pale green flex-glass forearm. "But we are locked with these disguises. Do not burn our cover."

"Quanta!" Alora wiggled her manly hips. I believed the youthful term was meant to be positive.

"I must dispose of the originals."

"I'll leave that to you, Lucio," Alora booped my nose as my own frame shrank down by a foot and I became squishier around the middle.

Despite appearing like a mildly plump middle-aged man, my physical capacity continued to operate at maximum.

Heat, infrared, along with several other sensory spectrums beyond human senses were being registered and analyzed.

My targets were underground.

This metropolis-pocked planet was far from advanced but this particular city district possessed many extravagant architectural curiosities. The most pertinent being that just beneath us resided the entrance to a steep drop-off overlooking a vast subterranean lake.

"Keep out of sight," I commanded Alora.

I doubted she'd listen but it didn't matter as long as she remained near enough to monitor.

"One moment," I shimmied up a pipe and leapt over to a half-open window above the alley. Then I folded inside the gap and snuck down into the thumping nightclub below.

It was simple to slip past and distract the bouncers. The neon-lit club was full of shadows. I opened the main entrance for Alora and let her in but the girl squeaked giddily out of character and drew a few unwanted stares.

Rather than chastise her blunder I focused on my targets. After tonight, we couldn't risk having duplicates.

Techno music blared in all directions as half-naked dancers swayed inside spindly cages overhead. The entire club was glowing red and every surface was rancid with the sticky stench of human excreations.

TARGET ONE lit up in my vision.

Where's the other one?

I performed a targeted scan of the vast underground chasm.