<span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/6/6d/Demi2.jpg)<br/><br/>"Good morning, Mister Blare," the woman seated at the table opposite him stated politely.  She was a slender read-headed woman possessing an athletic build and piercing sapphire eyes.  To the unenlightened, she appeared human all the way down to the blinking of her eyes and inhale of breath.  But the truth, as Mister Blare and his associates knew all too well, she was in fact a newly discovered lifeform of still unknown origins.  An energy-based being that was "born" during one of his experiments in dimensional travel -- raw energy that seeped through a crack between worlds and quickly adapted into a suitable form for this reality.<br/><br/>Her arrival was not without cost, however, as a psychic connection between that raw energy and several scientists and technicians unfortunate enough to be present had formed.  All women, whether that was by coincidence or design no one knew, were drained of the consciousness and coalesced into the energy being to give her form.  They now rested in deep comas within the company's medical labs.<br/><br/>The surviving scientists named their new discovery "Demi".<br/><br/>As a shape-changer Demi had first assumed the physical forms of the women she had bonded with, as several of their personality traits and skills had been incorporated into her.  This was quickly discarded as it became obvious that her new hosts found mimicking their comatose colleagues distasteful.  She eventually reached a compromise with her current form -- an amalgamation of physical traits from each of the woman now resting in the med labs.  Kasumi's athletic build, Thelma's cheekbones, Rachel's fiery hair, Inga's piercing blue eyes and Valerie's voice.  Familiar enough for her to feel natural in the form, but unique enough to put the researchers at ease.<br/><br/>Eventually they came to accept her, and now she was preparing to<em> earn her keep.</em>  As Cindy would say.<br/><br/><br/><strong>“Good morning, Demi.  I am sorry to put you in the field so quickly, but some unfortunate events have forced us to accelerate our plans.”</strong><br/><br/>Demi opens the offered folder and begins flipping through it as Blare speaks.<br/><br/><br/><strong>“I am sure you have many questions, but we are on a bit of an accelerated time table here.  So...?”</strong><br/><br/>"Of course, sir.  I'll be brief... will I be traveling alone and have your probes reported any possible hostiles I should be aware of?  Humans of this reality are irrational with regard to the subjects of their violence... I can assume a different ethnicity or other physical quality if that would allow me to better avoid notice."</span>