A Young Chinese woman, Mei, is hurrying along the road, trying to get home from work. She’s tired, had a long day, and not really looking where she was going.

Someone bumped into her; they apologise, she carried on, then got dizzy and passed out.

She woke up lying on a bed in a strange room. Looking down, she saw she’s now wearing a secondary school uniform, with a tartan pleated skirt, as well as the matching blazer.

She tried to get up; she couldn't, however, because there was a collar round her neck that's fastened to the bed by a short chain.

All the uniform fasteners are also securely locked, and something was also in her mouth, preventing her from talking.

Shan comes into the room.

“Ah, you’re awake. Good. I can finish you off, then we can start your training. You start school in September, so there’s no rush, but you’ve got a lot to learn before then.”

Shan strokes Mei’s head: Mei tries to pull away, but the chain won’t let her.

Shan reaches around behind Mei’s head, undoes the gag and removes it.

Mei immediately tries to call for help, but all she can manage is a loudish moan.

Her panic-stricken face looks at Shan, and she starts gesturing, pointing at her mouth.

“Oh, sorry, forgot to tell you. That’s why you were gagged, to stop you panicking. You can’t talk any more. I’ve removed your tongue and vocal cords.”

Mei tries to scream. She thrashes about on the bed, almost throttling herself with the chain.

“Calm down, beautiful, it’s not a curse, it’s a gift”, says Shan. “You don’t have to worry about social graces anymore; people just understand that you are handicapped and leave you alone. The school you are going to already has some special needs pupils there, so you won’t be out of place. At least you can still hear.” The last was said as a veiled threat…

Shan went to the dressing table and picked something up.

“I had this particular mask made especially for you”, she said. “I’m particularly proud about how well I matched your skin colour. It covers your face from you nose downward, blocking your mouth, so you won’t make those ridiculous noises anymore.”

Mei tried to wiggle and move, but Shan held her head still and fitted the mask.

“You won’t need to eat and drink while you’re out, and the collar round your neck has a small hole at the front where we can give you liquid food and drink”, Shan continued. “The hole, however, only unlocks when you are back here, so if you try to escape you will starve to death.”

Mei, now wide-eyed with terror, frantically tried to get free. She looked like she was trying to scream, but the mask kept her completely silent.

“The staff at the college are well aware of your ‘injuries’. Your name is still Mei, but according to your records you are now 14, not 22. Anyway, we’d better get started on your programming…”

Shan opened the drawer under the bed. Mei’s eyes went wide as she saw the person-shaped hole in it, waiting for her…

Moaning quietly (which was the best she could now do), Mei still tried to struggle, as she was tearfully lowered into the drawer, fastened in, and had the programming harness attached to her head.

Shan pressed a button, and the drawer slid closed. Mei jerked and shook as the programming started…

Anthony was getting really worried.

His wife, Mei, was missing. He’d also tried ringing her a few times, with no answer. This was so unlike her…

She had had to work late a few times that week, and had stayed in the office overnight, but she’d always rung home to let him know.

A phone call to her work made him worry even more. Mei had left work as usual yesterday, so she should have been home over 12 hours ago!

Anthony started ringing round the local hospitals, without any success.

Once he had tried everything else, he was going to call the police…

Suddenly, his mobile rang. It was Mei’s number!

“Hello, Mei? Where are you? Are you OK?”

“Who is this?”, said the voice at the other end. “I’m calling this number because it says ‘Home’.”

“This is Anthony Clarke”, said Anthony, now worried. “Mei’s my wife. What’s happened??”

“Mr Clarke, my name is Shan Chen”, Shan said. “Your wife has been in an accident, near to me at Samoto. She’s currently in our medical bay, as we have the same facilities as the local hospitals. She’s unconscious, but she’s being treated.”

“Oh my god”, said Anthony. “I was trying to find out what had happened to her. Where are you? I’ll be right over.”

Jumping into his car, Anthony drove to Samoto.

Shan met him when he got there, and the two rushed into the medical bay.

Stacey was waiting with a syringe…

Looking at the unconscious Anthony on the bed, Shan said “Ok, now what do we do with him…?”

Stacey looked the unconscious man up and down, then made some measurements.

“Interesting…”

“What?”, said Shan. “Come on, if you’ve got something, spill. I’m tired, it’s been a long day.”

“It’s going to get a little longer”, said Stacey. “I could do with Lisa’s help as well. Also, do you have any of those college uniforms left…?”

Shan raised an eyebrow at this but went to get Lisa. She soon came back with Lisa, slowly because Lisa was still walking with a stick.

“Have you got your programming kit still set up in here?”, Stacey asked.

“Of course,”, said Lisa. “Let me get it up and running…”

Stacey silenced him and converted him quickly into a girl. He was then sealed into one of Shan’s spare Asian bodysuits, which Stacey then ‘tweaked’ a little

It only took a few minutes for Lisa to wire Anthony up and strap him down.

Whilst he was being programmed with Lisa’s rig, Shan looked down at him.

“I can see the family resemblance, now”, Shan said. “Mei’s now got a big sister.”

“’Her’ names ‘Yui’”, said Lisa. “I’ve sent the updates over to Mei’s programming cradle, so she’ll know all about her. They both start in the same class in September.”

“Ah… I like bringing family together”, said Shan…