Today was the day they would be leaving Earth forever. There was some excitement but also fear, mostly from the humans that were going with them.

It turned out there were more than Guy was expecting. Ten-thousand humans were going altogether and Guy had to wonder whether they had loved ones that would miss them. But from what Valixia had told him, they wouldn’t remember them. The same as no one would remember Chloe or know she ever existed.

It was hard to believe that was possible. Surely they couldn’t scour the internet and remove all traces of these people? There was the saying after-all: Once on the Internet, always on the Internet. Or was it: Everything on the Internet lasts forever? It was something like that.

Of the normal people, Guy was to be among the last to be teleported up to the ship. It was going to require a lot of energy and a lot of time to teleport Chloe. Guy hoped that it was all worth it in the end. Maybe it would be, maybe it wouldn’t. Whatever happened, he simply wanted a happy life with Chloe.

Before he left, though, Guy said goodbye to Valixia who would live her life trapped in a human illusion on Earth.

“Surely they would see it from your point of view?” Guy said. “It was a mistake.”

“It does not matter,” Valixia said. “I will live my life separated from my people. Alone. Trapped in a body that is not my own.”

“That might not be true. You might find someone.”

“Perhaps.”

“Have you said goodbye to Chloe?”

“She did not wish to speak with me,” Valixia said. “I can understand.”

“Goodbye then, I suppose.”

“Yes, goodbye Guy. Chloe is very lucky to have a man like you. So caring and gentle. Much like she is. You are so alike. You shall both live full and happy lives, I am certain of it.”

“And you?”

“I will live.”

“You make it sound worse than death.”

“Perhaps, but I have a job to do. I am not here solely because I have to exile myself, but I will also be recording and logging the development of humanity.”

“So you’ll be keeping busy?”

“Yes, I will. Now you’d better be off. You don’t want to be left behind.”

“No, I don’t. Goodbye Valixia.”

“It’s Veronica now. Goodbye, Guy.”

“Veronica?”

“Yes. I’ll be taking another form.”

“Oh, okay.”

Guy took a step towards her and gave her a quick hug. It was a lot easier to do considering she was in her human form.

“What was that for?” Valixia, now Veronica asked him.

“It’s thank you for saving me.”

“Have a good life Guy. You deserve it.”

Guy nodded and left. Veronica closed her eyes and breathed deeply. She would have a new life. A new background and she would be replacing a young woman who had no friends or family. The young woman in question was leaving along with the other ten-thousand humans to have a new life and a new chance. They would be instrumental in the survival of her own people.

Veronica took the elevator to the large balcony where the meet and greet had taken place some weeks earlier and watched Chloe as she sat there waiting to be whisked away. She envied all of them. For their new life in an advanced civilization, where as she was trapped here on a world full of people that barely gave a shit about their own kind.

The alien took the device from the harness around her waist under her clothing, the one that allowed her to take human form. It worked by duplicating the DNA of a subject then allowing the user to transform into that person or an amalgamation of people. The extra mass was stored in the fourth spacial dimension to be claimed later. If the device was damaged or destroyed, she would instantly retake her default form so she had to keep it on her at all times.

It was likely that when Chloe reached her new home, that they would construct one for her. Not so that she could take on a different form, but so that she could take on her original. That much mass had never been stored before so the device would have to be hefty and have a large power cell. It would also likely need recharging, something that Valixia-no Veronica’s device never would need.

She secured it back to the harness on her waist and pulled her top over it and watched as Chloe began to glow and shimmer. She was being teleported away and would soon be on her way to her new life.

Briefly, Veronica had been up to the capital ship. It was a lot larger than she had anticipated and Chloe had her own area, which was a converted landing bay for medium-sized ships. It was big enough for her to move around in and have a semblance of a life on the long journey.

“Good luck,” Veronica said as Chloe finally disappeared.

Veronica turned and took the elevator down to the first floor where she left the building. Within the next few days it would be gone, as with every other trace that they had ever been on this world.

In some ways it was a relief that the people would no longer be under their influence. They could get on with their lives without worry of alien interference.

Veronica felt guilty. If the accident with Chloe hadn’t occurred, then they would have been away from this planet a year ago. As to how and why it had happened, it was still a mystery, one she didn’t know they would ever discover the cause of.

Veronica climbed into the car of the human she had taken the identity of and drove away. It was time to start her new life.