Becoming Alice

Chapter 1 Future City

"s**t! "

Alex woke out of his nightmare.

He dreamed of the Europa mission once again.

"You okay, Miss?"

A voice pulled her back to reality. It was the middle-aged gentleman sitting next to her.

Alex frowned, but soon calmed down.

"Oh, yeah, thanks. Just a bad dream. I'm going to wash and cool down."

Alex put on an awkward smile and looked around.

It was a craft from Mars to Earth, full of passengers. Some were enjoying the view out of the window, others were sleeping.

Alex got up and walked awkwardly to the ladies' room.

Cooling herself out with water, she looked in the mirror.

It was not the majestic, strong Alex of the past, but a woman.

She had long blonde hair, blue eyes, wearing a large T-shirt, jeans and sneakers.

She was not yet got used to this new body. Her loss of height affected her vision; the weight of her chest and hips made her center of gravity weird and when she walked she felt empty.

Alex pulled out her cell phone, which contained her electronic ID, a discharge certificate with her current name: Alice Kelly.

She got a video chat invitation from Jeff, a former comrade-in-arms.

She answered it and projected Jeff's image in front of the mirror.

"Hey, Jeff."

"Captain, I heard you've left Mars." Jeff said. "Susan wants to say she's sorry about your new body... "

"Never mind. It's not her fault. She saved my life. Had it not been for her using consciousness transfer to save me, I would have died. "

Alex almost died in the battle of Europa.

In the absence of rescue, Susan was left with no choice but to transfer Alex's consciousness into a biological prosthesis.

The operation was a great success. Susan originally planned to transfer Alex's consciousness back into the cloned body after he was saved.

The successful operation, however, came with some unpleasant side effects.

Alex's consciousness and the biological prosthesis matched so well that his consciousness and brain couldn't be separated again.

"Great! " Jeff was so relieved. "I didn’t think you could take it."

"I’ll figure out a way to change back. What bothers me now is I look too damn perfect. Sometimes I feel like a custom-made doll."

Alex looked past Jeff and back at herself.

This biological prosthesis looked amazing with delicate and smooth skin, a slender figure but full of charm.

She looked just like a doll made from a 3D game, with an attractive figure and lovely face, and without any flaws.

It was too perfect to make her feel like a real person.

"Nah, I think it would be perfect if you had some freckles, oh, maybe thicker lips." Jeff smiled and bantered. "So, should I call you Alex or Alice? "

"I prefer Alex, but I’m Alice now."

She was still trying to commit to her new name.

To save her from the chaos caused by the new identity and the Marker's revenge, Alice's superior forged a new role for her as a female soldier on Mars.

Except for a few people, no one knew that Alice was Alex.

"How did you come up with this name?" Jeff asked curiously. " Because it sounds like Alex?"

Alice thought of the glass jars she saw in the Marker’s lab storing biological prostheses, and the label below was "Alice".

She shrugged. "It just popped into my mind."

Jeff let it go and continued, "Our squad is heading for the front base on Pluto. Communications there are worse than on Europa, so I've come to say goodbye."

"Ok. Give my best to the others."

"I will. You'll always be my captain. Goodbye, then."

"Goodbye."

Alice let out a long breath as she hung up the phone.

When she learned that she could not turn back to the way she was, she even thought that maybe she will die like this.

It was not her gender, and it was not what she looked like. This perfect body didn’t belong to her.

But she didn't want to upset her comrades just yet.

After calming down, she went back to her seat.

"You look much better." the middle-aged gentleman said as Alice sat back down,

"Thanks," said Alice, tugging at her collar to cool herself. Biological prosthetics had a high tolerance for temperature, but this body was more sensitive than normal people’s, so Alice could feel even the slightest difference in temperature.

The gentleman next to her was a little startled by her rude gesture.  

Alice then realized that she was a lady now, and what she did wasn't at all graceful.

She paused, embarrassed.

"As we approach the earth, the temperature will increase a little in the shuttle cabin. Looks like we are close to our destination." The gentleman eased the embarrassment for Alice and then he asked, "Where are you going?"

"Future City," Alice replied.

"Wanna make a fortune in new Hollywood?"

Alice shook her head, “I have a friend there. He said Future City is omnipotent."

"Yeah, Future City is omnipotent. It's the city of the future and the city of fortune." The gentleman paused. "But evil is secretly raging in the city and it's also the city of sin."

Alice shrugged. "But somethings can only be accomplished there."

"Looks like you have your own reason. By the way, here's my card. Call me if you want to come to the new Hollywood. I bet you have great potential to be a star."

The man handed Alice a business card. Tim Levin, a contractor.

"Thank you. Mr. Levin. Sorry I don't have a card. My name is Al... Alice Kelly."

After the conversation, Alice took out her phone again and opened an email.

The sender was James, Alice's best friend since childhood. They joined the army together, but a few years ago, he was discharged due to injury and came to Future City to make a living.

It was he who invited Alice to Future City.

Future City is omnipotent. As long as you havre fortune, you have a future. Alice thought she might have a chance here.

On top of that, the military intel indicated that the Marker's funding came from this city. And Alice’s body was made by the Marker, so they might know something.

But Alice has another problem.

She lost contact with James shortly after she received this email...