A month later, when a visitor shows up

Weeks went by as Jason acclimated to working with Carrie, and Jason had long since forgotten about Carrie's awkward admission that there was some secret he would eventually learn. He pondered it the first few days, but he quickly absorbed himself into his work, of which there was plenty. Jason had a lot of data generated by Carrie's observations and simulations to pore over, knowing he had months of work just to get the chaotic data sets organized. The two ETSA employees worked well together, collaborating effectively to make sense of the signals the observatory detected. And then every other night, after work, Carrie just... vanished, basically. She left to her own room, or to one of the storage garages, or elsewhere--Jason didn't have a clue where Carrie went those evenings, but as long as she showed up the next day to keep working together, he didn't ask questions. If anything, this was the best job he'd had, with a coworker he got along well with.

About a month into his time at the ETSA observatory, Jason looked out the window of the common area, which looked out at the road that led up the mountains to the facility. He sipped his morning coffee, often watching whatever creatures scurried through the trees just beyond the perimeter of the parking lot. He just so happened to be looking toward the road as a black SUV came into view, furrowing his eyebrow at the strange sight. The only times he'd seen a car drive up that road was when Carrie had gone into town for a supply run when it was her turn, so the sight caught him off-guard.

Jason turned to the kitchen table where Carrie poked at some very unappetizing scrambled eggs that she made from powder. "Hey, was someone supposed to be coming up today?"

"Huh? Not that I know of," Carrie said, glancing out the window. Carrie stood up, walking to the window to get a better look. "Hmm, government plates. Who could that...Cassie!" Carrie's eyes went wide in recognition, bolting to the door and running outside toward the SUV as it parked.

Jason stayed inside, curiously watching as a woman stepped out of the SUV. If this was really a government agent, she didn't really look the part. Her light brown hair had been partly tied back into a ponytail with a red ribbon or bandana that almost looked like rabbit ears from the right angle. She wore a reddish-brown bomber jacket peppered with patches along the sleeves atop a white tank top and cargo pants, and a grin under her aviator sunglasses as she saw Carrie approach. The two hugged, chatting about things Jason couldn't decipher from his vantage point inside, though the expressions didn't stay happy and carefree for long as the new girl seemed to say something that surprised Carrie. Carrie pointed up toward the common area's windows, as this friend of hers looked up at Jason, removing her sunglasses as she got a good, long look at him.

Jason just sipped his coffee, deciding not to try and insert himself into whatever the two were talking about until Carrie introduced the other woman. The cold weather eventually pushed the two girls inside, as Carrie brought her friend to the room. "Jason, I'd like you to meet Agent Cassandra Bell."

"Cassie for short," the other girl interjected. "I'm off the clock, not here as an agent." Cassie glanced at Carrie, nudging her friend. "You really didn't do anything with him yet? You're up here, alone in the mountains, and you're 'just coworkers'? If you're not going to fool around with him, then I might..." Cassie winked at Jason as she shrugged her jacket off her shoulders, making Jason spill his coffee a little on himself when he lost focus on what he was doing. Jason noticed Cassie had as equally ample of a bust as Carrie, and she seemed to happily make sure he saw it, crossing her arms behind her head as she 'stretched'.

Jason cleared his throat and glanced between the two girls with such similar names. "So, uh. Cassie, what brings you up here if it's not for work? It's not exactly the best tourist destination, and if you're here for game night I hope you brought your own games with no missing pieces... except for Carrie's Damsels and Druids miniatures that she thinks I know nothing about."

Cassie chuckled, though her demeanor quickly shifted again, losing her smile as she glanced at Carrie. "Does he know?"

"Does he have to know?" Carrie asked back, crossing her arms. "I think we could handle this on our own."

Shaking her head, Cassie took a seat as she fiddled with the ribbon in her hair. "It might be too dangerous. If we don't tell him, then we're introducing a new variable into the mix that could lead to new problems. Do you think we can trust him?"

Jason's eyes went back and forth between Carrie and Cassie. "What's all this about? Carrie, is this that secret thing you mentioned a long time ago? ...are you two dating or something? I mean, I won't tell anybody if you don't want me to, but--"

Cassie burst out laughing. "Oh, that's so adorable! I mean, I would definitely love to get under Carrie's sheets too, but I'm not going to keep quiet about that." Cassie winked at Carrie, before turning to Jason. "No, we're just sharing bodies with aliens, is all."

Carrie held her hand to her forehead in frustration as Jason's eyes went wide. "Wait, what? C'mon, that's not funny, what's this really about?"

A green glow suddenly overtook Cassie's eyes as she leaned forward. Her demeanor seemed to change, sitting with a more rigid posture, her expressive face relaxing. "Cassandra is telling the truth, Jason," Cassie said, but the way she spoke sounded suddenly strange. It sounded... alien. Jason nearly tumbled back in his chair, shocked by the strange green glow in Cassie's eyes, as he looked to Carrie for some sort of surprised reaction from her as well. Instead, he saw the same green glow! Jason bolted up from his chair and stood behind it, like it was some protective barrier. He only started to relax after a few moments, when the two women kept still for quite some time, with neither advancing toward him.

"I wanted to tell you myself," Carrie said with a sigh. "I was planning on it, and then Cassie just came out and said it so bluntly. But... time for new introductions. You know my host as Carrie, but I am known as Aleph, and my nanite counterpart in this body is called Beta. Together, we converted Carrie's body into a vehicle for ourselves, specifically a biosuit that's compatible with my biology. We've been living in your coworker for some time, but as you can imagine, this is not an easy subject to broach."

"...what...?" Jason said, his voice barely above a whisper. There was a good chance he didn't process a single word Aleph had said.

Cassie tapped her finger on the table, attracting Jason's attention. "And you may call me Juno, with my nanite counterpart Lena. We're the 'original' alien-nanite pair on this planet, you could say, Cassandra has been my host for a few years now. Are you familiar with the Men in Black? Cassie and I are the real version of them, though not men and we tend to prefer lighter shades of attire. Anyway, Agent Bell keeps evidence of aliens from reaching the public, and I serve as a point of contact for aliens on Earth and keep other aliens from disrupting the normal flow of life here. Normally it's pretty quiet, but to answer your earlier question in a very roundabout way, Jason, we're here because I have reports of a rogue alien of our species who may or may not be looking to steal Aleph's ship."

"I still don't understand your concern," Carrie--or Aleph, apparently--said, as she paced around the room. The women seemed to forget about Jason's presence, to let his mind stew on these new revelations while they discussed their problem. "My ship's still inoperable. If your rogue alien shows up here, they still aren't getting off this planet before you can detain them."

Juno, via Cassie's body, shook her head. "It's not that simple. I'd been trying to track Xeno for some time. I think Xeno's smuggler crew stranded them when they last departed, but they may have a hidden cache of our tech that may include enough parts to nearly build their own ship from scratch. If your Q-F Compressor is still mostly intact, that might be all Xeno needs to get out of this star system with whatever illicit goods they're trying to transport. Look, Aleph, if I'm wrong and Xeno doesn't come here, then at worst we'll have a few weeks of game nights and... well, other enjoyable activities to spend our time doing. If I'm right, then we have a good chance of capturing Xeno and you still have a chance to get back to space before the next shuttle arrives six years from now."

Carrie and Cassie both turned toward Jason, their eyes shifting back to normal. "It sounds like Cassie will be staying with us for a while," Carrie said with a smile, as Cassie grinned widely, her eyes practically shimmering as she looked at the stunned data scientist on the other side of the common area. Carrie rolled her own eyes. "I hope that won't be a problem?"

Jason just shook his head, still taking deep breaths to keep himself calm.

"Aww, poor baby," Cassie said, resting a hand to her cheek. "I'll make sure that you're nice and cozy while I'm here, Jason! It's so chilly around here, but I'm sure I can keep you nice and warm, all cuddled up next to you..."

While Jason retreated to his bedroom to lie down a bit and come to terms with the new roommate as well as the fact that aliens were already on Earth thus making his work at ETSA essentially moot, Carrie and Cassie went to work, to set up sensors to hopefully catch Xeno before they could arrive at the observatory, and then it was only a matter of time before they would see if Xeno actually showed up...