Lisa and Stacey were getting worried…

Shan hadn’t been in for days. She wasn’t answering phone calls or texts, and she’d missed several important appointments. Last thing they knew, she said she had been going out, to resolve a problem…

It was Hannah, searching the village, that found the black clad figure sitting silently in the local park. She was just quietly sitting there, doing nothing, with her hands folded in front of her, her now featureless, expressionless face showing nothing. Just for a moment, though, her face caught the light just right…

A ghost outline of Shan’s face showed for an instant, then the face faded to black again.

Hannah screamed. She couldn’t help it. She then threw her arms around Shan…

Shan, startled by Hannah, tried to push her away. Hannah then tried to reassure Shan by rubbing her hood against hers…

Shan shook. She was crying, silently, soundlessly. This time, when Hannah took hold of her, Shan let her, and Hannah steered her into her car…

Lisa broke down when she saw what had been done to Shan. She frantically inspected her all over, trying to find a seam or a join. Nothing.

She yelled for Stacey, who came running…

Shan had resigned herself to her fate, long ago, so she just felt her way over to a seat and sat down. The special suit that she had been sealed into was a ‘perfect environment’; it captured all liquid, sweat or urine, processed it in the built in backpack, that was perfectly moulded to her back to only make her slightly wider, and provided it as drinking water through a tiny straw in her mouth. She was still, however, getting very hungry, as she hadn’t eaten for three days…

Stacey had managed to scratch a tiny sample of the suit off, and she rushed back to the medical bay to analyse it.

Frantically working away, she suddenly nodded.

“I thought I recognised the material. Now, if only it’s not been on her too long…”

She hurriedly mixed a set of chemicals together, came flying back into Shan’s quarters, and sprayed her all over.

Nothing seemed to happen, to start with; suddenly, the black suit just started falling off. Within minutes, Shan was standing there, naked.

Lisa, sobbing, threw her arms around her. Shan, however, said nothing. All she did was push Lisa away, then went off to her bedroom. Lisa went to follow her but then, to her amazement, she heard the door lock…

Stacey and Lisa looked at each other, not knowing what to do. They were still doing that when the noise started… an animal-like wail that rose to a loud screech, followed by a deafening howl…

Furniture started smashing. Things were being broken wholesale. All the time, the howl went on…

Lisa had had enough. She charged over, and broke down the bedroom door…

Chaos met her eyes. Clothes were everywhere, ripped and torn. Furniture was smashed, even the bed; the dressing table was in pieces. In the middle of the room, cross-legged on the floor, was Shan, howling.

Lisa strode straight over to her and slapped her. Hard.

“Pull yourself together, you stupid bitch!”, she yelled. “You’ve got your life back. Be grateful!”

Lisa hauled off to slap her again. Shan’s arm was like steel, blocking her…

“You’re beautiful when you’re angry…”, she said, kissing her…

Once Shan had calmed down, she and Lisa found some clothes that she hadn’t destroyed in her rage, and they and Stacey gathered together.

“I want whoever suited me up”, said Shan. “I want them badly…”