Gloria didn't make a fuss as she walked back to her chair and picked up a towel. She knew she couldn't escape, so why bother trying. "Ma'am, would you mind coming with us," said one of the security guards flatly. Gloria obeyed, though they let her finish dressing first.
She was led through the corridors of the Transformation Resort, then several flights down to a hallway that looked more like an industrial building or dilapidated office complex than a beautiful tropical resort. She was ushered into a nondescript office and asked to sit down. By this point most of the guards had left. One guard sat at the other side of the desk, and the other blocked the door.
"You know why you're here," the man said, again flatly. "Ms. ..." He looked down at a sheet of paper he had been carrying. "... Ms. Levy is no longer with us thanks to your conduct. In the eyes of the resort, you are a murderer."
Gloria started to panic, but she knew she had nowhere to run to. Almost reading her mind, the man held up a hand. "However, finding you to be a murderer in a court of law may be another matter entirely. We wish to keep the activities of the Transformation Resort out of the public record."
"That said," he continued. "You cannot get off scot-free. Ms. Levy's connections back home will want to know what happened to her, and without her here to help, we cannot come up with an effective cover story. However, you can help us cover up your own, shall we say, untimely passing, and then you can take over Ms. Levy's life for her. We will transform you into her, give you all her belongings and all information on her we have, and send you on your way."
Gloria couldn't believe it. Her life as she knew it was over, and now she would have to take over the life of a middle-aged woman she had barely met. She thought it was all fun and games when she was a fly and bit a giant Barbra at the cocktail party, but now this had become real.
"What if I don't?" she asked. "What if I don't go along with your plan?"
The man in the chair sat back. "Well then," he said, letting out a long sigh. "Then we're a bit stuck. But only with respect to Ms. Levy. I assure you that you will never leave the Transformation Resort in your own body again. And you don't want to know what we've done to similarly uncooperative individuals in the past."
Gloria sighed. She had no choice.
An hour later, Gloria was in Barbra's hotel room with a glass of blue liquid in front of her. She had told the guards everything they needed to know to fake her own death back home, and now she was about to turn into Barbra. Dragging it out, she looked at the papers that had been placed on the desk, describing Barbra's personal and professional life. This is me now, she thought.