This morning started out like any other morning for Ryan. He started out with a 5 mile run to clear his head and go over what he had planned for the day. He then came home, had some breakfast, eggs, toast, with coffee, which was his normal breakfast, and then got dressed for the day. Joe and Brian also got up early, but not for a run. They checked the website for any updates through the night. The sighting that Joe called Ryan about, had been seen by many people and they had GPS locations, times, and some pictures. All the new documents that had been put together from the data gathered throughout the night were being sent to Joe. Joe had put all the new files on a thumb drive and was going to head over to the copy store, while Brian stayed and did the admin duties on the website. Joe was not going to be gone long. He was just going to have a few copies made and then come back. Joe called Ryan and told him about how eventful the night was with sightings of the object. He told Ryan that he had new information for him and that he would like to meet in the early afternoon to give him the new documents.
Joe said to Brian, “I will be back in an hour.” Brian was involved with the website and just waved his hand in the air; which was his response to Joe. As soon as Joe got to the copy store, he went in to make the copies. While he was in the store, a chemical sleep agent was being put in his car. When Joe was done getting copies, he went back to his car, got in and shut the door. That was the last thing that Joe remembered before waking up in a strange white room strapped onto some sort of a metal examination table. It had been three hours since he left his house. Brian had been working on the website and after a while he looked at the clock and realized it had been several hours, and Joe had not returned home yet. Brian tried to call him, but it went right to voice mail, like the phone was turned off. Then he tried to call Ryan. He thought that maybe he decided to just go meet with Ryan since he was already out. Ryan told Brian that he had not seen or heard from Joe since he got the call this morning.
Brian kept trying to call Joe, but there was no luck, his calls were just going right to voice mail. Brian started to get a little bit worried, because this was out of character for Joe. Brian remembered what time Joe had left, and noticed that it had been three and a half hours since he left. Back where Joe was being held, he was given several injections; and, he was feeling very drugged. A lady in a dark suit came into the room. She was obviously in charge. She asked how long it had been since he had been given his injections. She was informed that it had been at least twenty minutes. The lady said “that is good” and then looked right at Joe and said I am Miss Black and I have some questions for you to answer. The entire line of questioning was more like an interrogation. She first asked what his name was. He said “Joe” but he felt that he had no control whether to answer or not. The questions went on for around an hour. Joe had not been hurt up to this point, but it was because he was being very cooperative with his captors; not that he had any control over that.
The questions consisted mostly about Captain Scott Ryan. They wanted to know what he knew. What documents he had been given, and what was he going to do with them. He was asked how long he had been in contact with Captain Ryan? He answered “a couple of days” then they asked how loyal Brian would be. He replied “Brian is very inquisitive. He will ask lots of questions.”
Brian was getting very concerned, and Ryan was waiting at the location where they had met the day before. He had been there for about thirty minutes and no one had shown up. He was getting concerned as well, because Brian had been in contact with him just that morning, keeping Ryan in the loop. Brian met up with Ryan after a while. He told him what he knew about the new information. Ryan jotted it all down in his journal and then they went their separate ways. But Ryan did tell Brian to keep him up to date on what he finds out about Joe. Miss Black was still questioning Joe. She told him that he was now going to be one of “them.” One of the other men in suits grabbed Joe’s head and strapped it down, and then put clamps on his eyes to keep them opened. An instrument table was wheeled in, and the cover was taken off. The thing on the table was some kind of mask that went over his eyes. It looked like strange glasses with hinged syringes on each side, which would penetrate the eyes. The metallic contraption was strapped over Joe’s eyes. He tried to scream but they put a very stretchy material over his mouth, which did not allow any air or sound through it.
The syringes’ were loaded and they slowly got closer to his eyes, which were being forced open. Miss Black said to him “if you fight it, it hurts more.” From Joe’s point of view the needles looked very large as they got closer to his eyes. The point of the needles penetrated his eyes at the same time, as he tried to scream from the pain; but he went into shock. The needles were approximately two inches long, and they penetrated all the way through his optic nerve. Once the needles were in all the way, the injectors started pumping an unknown substance into the back of his eyes. Joe felt like his eyes were being burned from the inside out. His eyes started to dissolve and morph into new eyes. It was so painful for Joe, that his entire body was involuntarily pulsating; like every nerve in his body was being charged and uncharged, which he could not control. The injections lasted around 45 seconds of constant material being pumped into Joe. He finally passed out from the agonizing metamorphosing that was happening in his body.
Three hours later Joe woke up in a hotel. He remembered what had happened, but he did not know whether it was a dream or not. He felt like himself, but very different as well. He looked in the mirror and noticed that he had changed some. For starters, his eyes were a different color. He did have brown eyes, but now he had hazel eyes. He had glasses, but now did not need them, and he could hear the slightest sounds. All of the sudden, new thoughts started to flood his mind. At that moment he knew that he was not a regular human any longer. He looked at his watch and it was 3:00 pm in the afternoon. He knew that Brian would be worried and wondering where he had been, so he had to make up a good story. Joe’s car was parked out front of the room he was in. He decided to just head home. Ryan and Brian had been in contact with each other. They had met up at the copy store and asked the manager questions about Joe. He said that he remembered him getting copies and then left by himself early this morning. The two of them had been searching around town looking for Joe’s car, but they did not find it; and they had not heard anything from Joe either.
They decided to go back to Joe’s house. When they pulled up, Joe’s car was in the driveway. They both ran into the house and saw Joe. He was just in the basement Command Center; just watching what new information was being put out on the website. Brian enthusiastically yells, “Where the hell have you been?” Joe already had a story made-up. Joe said that he went to Wyoming to get fitted for new color contacts. It was a spur of the moment decision. Than when he was there he ran into an old friend, and they had lunch. It was a convincing story. Joe was very sincere about it, like it was no big deal. He apologized to them both, and said “I should have let you guys know.” It will not happen again. Brian had known Joe for thirty years and he knew when Joe was lying. And this was one of those times, but he could not prove it, and he did have new colored eyes. So what was he to believe, his gut feeling or Joe’s account of the day?
Ryan said to Joe, “you told me that you had copies for me.” Joe pulled out a file from his bag and gave it to Ryan. He looked through it and said this all happened last night. Joe looked at him and just shook his head and said “that is what I was told.” Ryan all of the sudden remembered that he had a date tonight with Amanda, in just over an hour, and he needed to go get cleaned up. He told the guys that he had to go, because he had an appointment tonight with a girl he met in the library yesterday. So they told him to have fun and said there goodbyes and Ryan was off. Ryan headed home very quickly. He was just praying that he did not get pulled over for speeding. He was weaving through traffic, and eventually made it home. Ryan changed very quickly and then he was off all over again. But this time he remembered to lock up all the documents that he had collected in the last two days, before he left. On the way to Amanda’s apartment, he had to catch his breath and wipe the sweat from his forehead. Since he had been rushing so much, he was dripping all over the place.
He got to her apartments with just two minutes to spare. He was the kind of person that being on time was late and being early was on time. So he felt that he was running behind schedule. He walked up to her door and rang the doorbell. She answered the door and he was stunned by the way she looked. He said “you look amazing.” She blushed and said “thank you.” She then asked if he wanted to come in for a drink before they went to dinner. He said “yes, that would be great.” He went in, sat down as she made them both a little cocktail. He looked around at her apartment, and saw that she was still living out of boxes. But she had only been in town for a few days since transferring with her job. They talked and got to know each other while they were drinking their cocktails. She was asking what he did for the Airforce. He told her that he was a jet pilot.
She then asked the normal questions, where are you from, “Colorado is what he told her.” Are your parents still around, “yes, but I was adopted.” Do they live close by, “no they are in Colorado.” What are your hobbies, “Flying and UFO hunting.” And what is your last name, “Ryan, “Scott Ryan. He answered all the questions to her liking.
They left her place, got into his Durango, and headed for the Italian restaurant that he promised her. On the ride over Scott was asking her the same line of questions, and she was answering them, just like he did. Then he said what is your last name, and she said “Black, Amanda Black.” They got to the restaurant and sat at a corner table. It was a very nice Italian restaurant. Scott ordered a bottle of red wine, which was what she said she liked. While they were waiting for their food, she asked how his day had gone. He told her what had transpired, with Joe and his disappearance and then randomly showing up again, like nothing was wrong with what he did for the day; and not telling anyone. Amanda asked how the UFO hunting was going. Scott told her about the recent sighting, just that night in the same location that he saw it, that April night flying his F-16. Amanda told him that what he was doing was fascinating and that she would really like to know more about it. Scott said “well, I am planning a camping trip out at the sighting location this weekend if you want to go.” She kind of got all giddy and said “absolutely, I love camping!”
They talked over dinner and enjoyed each other’s company, and talked like they were old friends. They talked about the camping trip they were going to go on. She said that she didn’t have any camping equipment. Scott said “I have plenty of camping supplies.” She was glad to hear that. They finished there dinner and wine, and then the waiter asked if they wanted dessert. They told the waiter, that they would love some cheesecake and coffee; which gave them more time to sit and talk. They finished everything up and then Scott paid the bill and then they walked out of the restaurant, and to his car. He drove back to her place and they sat in the car for several minutes, talking. Amanda asked if he wanted to come in for a while. He said that he had to get some other things done tonight, for his day trip tomorrow. She understood and said “okay, maybe next time.” He just smiled and said “yes, for sure.” Scott was anxious to go through the new papers that Joe gave him earlier.
While Scott and Amanda were at dinner, Joe and Brian were finishing up some work on the website. Brian stopped working for a moment and turned and looked at Joe and said, “what really happened to you today? I know that you were not telling the truth!” Joe slowly looked up at Brian and said “what I do is my business.” Joe had never been disrespectful towards Brian before; and it was out of character. Brian asks “what is wrong with you?” Joe stood up walked over to Brian, grabbed him by the shirt; pushed him against the wall and told him “leave it alone, it is none of your business,” and then said “do you understand me?” Brian was flabbergasted, by Joe’s behavior. He knew that something had changed, but he didn’t know what. Brian looked at Joe and said “okay, just calm down.” Joe let Brian go and said “hey I am sorry, I am just tired and have had a long day,” trying to play it off like it was because he was tired. Brian just said “no problem, you should just try to get some sleep. I can finish things up.” Joe agreed and left the basement and went to his room, but he was not sleepy.
While Joe was in his room, he called Ryan. Joe said that Brian was trying to sabotage any investigation on the sighting of the UFO, and that he should not discuss any finding with Brian. He also stated the Brian was acting very irrational, and that he was worried that he might try to interfere, so do not trust him with anything. Scott did not understand how Brian could act that way. He seemed fine throughout the day, when they were looking for Joe. Joe just said “I don’t know either, he is never like this,” so only talk to me. Scott told Joe that he was planning a day hiking trip tomorrow, and that he was leaving in the morning. Joe asked him if he could tag along with him, on his trip. Scott said “sure, he would love the company!” Joe asked Scott if he would pick him up in the morning. Scott said “I will be there by 9:00 am. Joe knew that he had to tell Brian something, so he walked downstairs. Brian was still working. He told Brian that he was not feeling well and that he was going to take the entire day off tomorrow and sleep. He asked if he could cover for him on the website. Brian looked at him for a minute and thought that this is very strange. Joe has never taken a sick day off. Brian just said sure thing.
Ryan was at home going through all the new papers that Joe had given him. He had it all laid out on the table, reading the reports and looking at the pictures, and then looking at the map to try to find a good location. One of the reports talked about alien abductions around those areas that had happened to hikers that had never been seen again. The report stated that there was a possibility that they had just been either vaporized by some alien technology, or they had been changed into an Alien hybrid, that is working for the Aliens. Ryan laughed as he read this report and thought to himself “this report is so ridiculous, how could it even be true!” Ryan just put that report at the bottom of the pile; which meant, “unreliable.” Ryan spent the next couple of hours looking through papers and reading reports. There were many reports that didn’t even seem credible. So they went to the bottom of the pile as well.
The majority of the reports that Ryan was reading, talked about, experiments and how they started with animals, and now they are working on humans. They mention that the Aliens are turning regular humans into Hybrid humans that look like human but their main objective is to the Aliens. There were many reports that Ryan felt were just out of this world, and that he just could not believe what he was reading. So most of the reports he read, went to the bottom of the stack.
Throughout the night Joe, was in the Command Center. He was contacted by Colonel Wyatt. He told the Colonel about what Captain Ryan had planned the next day. Joe told him that he had changed the information on the papers he had given Ryan, so that he would be led to the wrong spot. The Colonel told Joe that he was to keep Captain Ryan away from the area, by any means possible! Joe understood, and told the Colonel that he would do as he was told. At the bottom of the stairs, Brian had snuck down and was standing, peeking around the doorway, and listening to Joe’s conversation with the Colonel. He knew then that something bad had happened to Joe. He was going to find out what it was. He just could not let Joe find out. Brian snuck back upstairs and went to his room. After he went upstairs, Joe turned his head and just looked at the doorway to the stairs, as if he knew someone had been there. Brian called Scott, and told him what he had just heard down in the Command Center. He was telling Scott to watch his back. There was something going on with Joe and the Colonel.
Scott listened to Brian; but he also was remembering what Joe had told him about Brian. Scott was very conflicted at that moment. He did not know who he could trust. He had Joe and Brian confiding in him about each other. He did not know if that was just how they were, or if something was really going on. But, Scott did wonder how Joe knew Colonel Wyatt. After Joe was done with his call down in the Command Center, he went into the computer settings and deleted all the evidence about the call. Joe went back to his room and just sat in there most of the night thinking about what he was going to do about Brian; who was getting too familiar with what was going on. He decided that he had to get Brian going down the wrong path, and keep him occupied while he did what he had to do. Brian did not sleep much that night, but it was not because he changed in any way, it was because he knew that there was something erroneous about this situation.
Back at Ryan’s home, he was up as well. He was wondering what was going on, and whether the whole situation and his plans had been compromised. He was still planning his day hike and was, at that moment planning on Joe’s company on the hike. Ryan decided that he was still going to take up some personal protection with him, but he was not going to let anyone know about it. Ryan had everything packed in his Military go bag, just so that in the morning he could grab it and go. The time was around 2:00 am in the morning and all of them were still awake for one reason or another. Brian finally got up and made himself a warm glass of milk, to help him sleep. While he was in the kitchen, Joe came in and sat down at the table with him and started up a conversation. Brian thought that Joe seemed more like himself then he did earlier. Joe was asking Brian if he could do some research for him on a sighting in Southern Utah, which he said happened just the other night. He wanted Brian to go and talk to the individual that reported it to them on their website. He wanted him to go out there first thing in the morning. Brian was not sure how to handle this request; so he just said “okay.”
Brian and Joe went back to their rooms. Brian felt like Joe just wanted him out of the picture, for some reason. Joe said that he was still just planning to stay in bed all day, so if Brian could just pick up the slack, that would be great. Joe felt that Brian was going to be a problem within that next couple of days, or at least within the week. Joe knew that he had to do something about Brian, and he had to do it very soon. It was now around 3:30 am and Ryan had finally fallen asleep, but he was still planning on leaving around 7:00 am. Brian fell asleep around 4:00 am. He was going to leave for Southern Utah at 9:00 am. Joe did not go to sleep. It was almost as if he did not require any sleep. He was wide awake and ready to go first thing in the morning with Ryan, as soon as he got there.