'Good evening, Doctor Frost, Mr. Hunter and welcome Mr. Downs.'

Arlen spun around, gun at arm's length pointing all around frantically. "Who's that? Where is she?"

'My name is Alice. I am the security service for Doctor Frost's laboratory. I am everywhere. Would you care for some beverages, Doctor?'

"Whatta ya mean everywhere? Where are you? Come out or I start shooting!"

"Alice is an artificial intelligence that lives in virtual reality. You can't see her. Nobody can." Frost gestured for Arlen to calm down.

"No tricks, Frost."

"It isn't a trick. She's virtually everywhere in this room."

"Yeah, well tell Alice to get this transition thing going"

Frost took the sample from Arlen's pouch and placed it in the transition chamber Diane had used for her experiments. He stepped back and wiped his forehead.

"Quit stalling!"

"I'm not, I'm not . . . Alice, Mr. Downs would like the sample transitioned to its previous form."

'My scan of the object does not reveal the data necessary for that operation, Doctor Frost.'

"What's she talking about? What's that mean?" Arlen aimed his weapon at Frost.

'It means, Mr. Downs, that the sample mutated in the first stages of Promession and is now of a totally different biological composition.'

Hunter stood and ignored Arlen's weapon. "Don't go any further, Arlen. That could be the same thing that wiped out the team on Galapagos."

"You better sit down and shut up or I'll wipe you out!"

"Alice what does your scan show" Frost asked nervously.

'Nothing I have encountered previously, Dr. Frost. Its composition is alien to me.'

"I told you!"

"Shut up, Hunter. You can operate the transition stage right, Alice?"

'I am perfectly capable of initiating the program, Mr. Downs.'

"Then do it!"

'Should I execute the program, Dr. Frost?'

"Tell her yes or Hunter dies!"

Frost wavered.

"Tell her!"

"Y-yes, Alice."

********

"How long is this gonna take?"

'Because this sample is foreign to me, Mr. Downs, I first have to map its structure and create compatibility with Dr. Sommers' transition coding.'

"I asked how long?"

'Seven minutes, 19 seconds.'

"Don't do this, Arlen, you have no idea what it could be and if it is the same as on Galapagos we are all dead." Hunter pleaded. "Dr. Frost can't you do something? Tell Alice what it might be and what could happen!"

"You say one word and it will be your last, Doc. I don't need either of you now that it's in the works."

'Four minutes, six seconds.'

Three pair of eyes fastened on the computer screen as Alice finished the count and the transition commenced. At first the image was cloudy and nothing was discernible then it cleared.

"Oh, Christ! It's the slime!" Hunter jumped up and ran for the stairs. "Doc, come on!"

Arlen stared at the screen then turned and fired at Hunter. It missed and burned a small hole in the stairwell wall and there was a shrill noise followed by static that seemed to fill the room. Frost stumbled onto the stairs, shoving Hunter ahead of him and screaming something about Alice and for him to hurry.

'Core breach-ch-ch . . . execut-t-t- maintenance . . . data loss-s-s-s . . . compliance denied-ed-ed . . .'

"What's happening? What the hell's happening?" Arlen fired again at the stairs but Frost and Hunter were out of sight. He turned quickly when a shower of sparks flew from the equipment on the bench and he had to duck back against the wall.

"Alice! What's happening?"

'Virtual circuitry compromi-i-i . . . core da-a-a breac-c-c . . .'

The garbled message was drowned out by a small explosion in the air in the middle of the room. Streaks of electricity seemed to fill the room and then struck the transition chamber on the bench, blowing it apart.

Arlen watched in horror as the black substance from the machine splatted onto the floor and began moving toward him.

********

"What are you doing, Doc?"

"I'm trying to deactivate Alice with the lab pass code. I think the firing of the weapon in there has severely damaged the virtual part for sure. I want to save her if I can."

"What about that sample. Arlen is dead meat by now if it got out. Can Alice do anything if you get her working?"

"I'm not getting her working, Hunter, I'm shutting her down. Frankly I don't care about that man."

"Doc if that stuff was the slime and it got out, shutting this door won't stop it. It went through pressure seals in HEEP labs."

"What do you suggest?"

"Empirium's Critical Response Service - let them figure something out, they have all kinds of experience with alien incursions."

"But they'll learn bout Alice!"

"Trust me, you won't care if they can't stop this thing."

Frost finally agreed to call the CRS and would wait until they arrived. Hunter said he was going to Diane's and tell her what happened.

"Stay away from the door, Doc. If you see anything seeping out stay well away. Let the CRS handle it . . . hopefully."

********

Diane stepped into the aircab and settled beside Hunter. Her expression became one of concern when she saw his.

"What happened? What's so urgent?"

"First, I'm still being monitored so we have to talk in here. Just keep your voice down. Arlen forced the Doc to transition the sample he stole."

Diane's intake of breath was so sharp she had to cough and Hunter reached over and rubber her back until she signalled okay.

"He made Doc turn Alice on threatening to shoot me; she confirmed it was an alien of some kind and I started to protest. Things got out of hand when I made a run for the stairs with the Doc. Arlen fired his gun and that set the whole mess off."

"Mess?"

"Somehow, because Alice was virtually, the room. It did something to her circuitry and then he tried another shot and we heard an explosion as we reached the street. Doc locked the door and tried to deactivate Alice from the keypad."

Diane's hand was over her mouth as she listened with a growing fear. "Did it work?"

"We don't know; we sure weren't going back in. Doc called CRS and I came here to warn you. He said he would stay behind and tell them it was an experiment in the lab gone wrong . . . certainly not a lie."

"But what if it was- a locked door won't stop it!"

"I know. We can only hope CRS has some tricks from experience that might work on it."

"We can't hope, we have to know, Hunter. Direct the cab to the lab - please!"

The cab stopped well back from the building as CRS units could be seen scrambling to secure the area with contaminate barrier over the font of the lab. Dr. Frost was seated on the back step of the CRS vehicle, arms waving as two men in bio HAZMAT gear questioned him.

Diane exited the cab and ran toward the scene with Hunter in reluctant pursuit.

"Dr. Frost are you alright?" She was stopped abruptly by the arm of one of the CRS men and steered to one side. "I'm Dr. Sommers, Dr. Frost's assistant. Is he alright?"

"I'm fine, Diane. Just trying to explain what might be inside. I'm sorry but I had to tell them everything about the experiment."

Her heart sank but she knew it was inescapable. "Just as long as you are okay, Winston."

"What about Downs?" Hunter asked, stepping closer.

"No idea. There doesn't seem to be a breach, but the building was evacuated, luckily only a few people were inside and they've been removed in a decom truck for safety. They have the whole thing pretty well sealed now.

Hunter looked at the barrier gave a slight shiver. "I hope to hell that thing works."

"You people have to step aside. The CRS man aimed an identity scan at both of them in turn and gave Hunter a stern look. "You are under Empirium surveillance."

"It's a long story."

"You can tell it to Inquisition."

Before He could complain, Hunter was escorted to a vehicle and driven away. Diane tried to intervene but was sent with Dr. Frost to CRS headquarters for debriefing. Nobody knew the state of Arlen Downs or the lab.