Part 1.
Ray's mother cried and hugged her son and did not want to let go when she saw him.
Fortunately, the Professor had thought to turn him caucasian again. The effect was only temporary. It would only last a few hours at a time. Ray figured being blue was not an issue right now. He was just glad to see his mother again, and be somewhere that didn't look like a hydrogen bomb had just been dropped onto it.
He looked at the house, the piano, and the family photos on the mantle. If he weren't the macho guy he was, he'd have cried, too.
" Ray.... your father is on his way home. He'll be so glad to see you." she told her son.
Barbra and the Professor talked for a while. Ray had sat down in his father's recliner. He was bushed from having been up all night, and finding out he was actually an alien from a far away planet he'd never heard of.
Carol went upstairs to take a shower.
Ray fell asleep. He had a strange dream about a planet with blue skinned people and robots. He saw Professor Zum smiling at him. He felt the love in his eyes.
Ray woke up with a start! His father had walked in. Ray stood up and hugged him.
" Ray! Son, I was very worried for you.. thank God you're okay. " The big, burly man shed a tear.
At that point, Ray cried, just a little. I guess I'm human after all....He thought to himself.
The family had dinner together. The professor had also used the device on himself, to make himself causasian.
It was a pleasant meal. There was an unspoken undertone of concern over what had transpired in LA.
Ray ate his meal. Rather, he played with his food. He couldn't get the disk out of his mind. He made a decision.
He waited until everyone had finished their pork chops, mashed potatoes, and peas.. and announced as they were finishing up their pecan pie to tell them.
" I've decided to let the Professor download my memories of my past life on Zi - Alor into my mind."
" Son... is this really what you want?" Zum asked of Ray, a smile on his aged face.
" Yes"
Ray's parents looked at him sadly. They both feared that he would forget them. They had a feeling that this day would come. They just weren't prepared for the aftermath, if any. The uncertainty was clawing at their hearts. It was a ponderous thing.
" Professor...will he remember us? Still feel for us the way he does?" Carol asked, afraid of the answer.
" Yes. But he will remember who he was. The side effect will be that he may "Inherit" some form of meta - human abilities from Darmo, the robot I created. He will always be your son, and your brother..but he will be my son, too. Does this make sense to the four of you?"
" I guess," said Ray. " When can we do it?"
"How about right now?" Zum asked.
" Okay. Let's do it." Ray hoped he would become as powerful as Darmo was. He wanted so badly to go back to LA, find whoever or whatever had destroyed the city he had loved with all it's people, and make the one responsible pay for what he did.
Yes, Ray was a lawyer.. but he would use his power to accomplish what the courts could not. He would also become a vigilante. He had seen too many people he knew to be innocent suffer, because they either were wrongly convicted of a crime they had not commited, or a murderer had been aquitted when his feelings had told him the person was guilty.
Justice would be served.
Part 2.
Ray's father drove the professor and Ray to the empty cornfield where the ship was there in the woods nearby, cloaked. The three walked up into it. It was hard for the father to believe in an invisible space ship, but once they had walked up into it, he could see everything in it as plainly as if he were in his living room.
The Professor had Ray lie on a cot, which appeared after
he'd pushed a button on the dash of the cockpit. He placed what looked like a pair of headphones on Ray's head.
" Are you certain you want to do this? You can still back out, Ray." Asked Zum, a concerned look on his face. Ray's father was in awe of the ship. He trusted Zum, though. He had met him once before when he'd brought baby Ray to his home 25 years ago.
Ray gave the thumbs up.
" What does that mean? " He asked.
" It means do it." Ray's father answered.
Zum inserted the disk into what looked like a cd player, and pushed a button on it. All the controls had an alien language on it.
Nothing appeared to happen at first. Then Ray closed his eyes. He felt images and memories going into his head at a rapid rate. He got a headache.
Just when he thought he couldn't stand it anymore, it stopped.
The Professor took the headphones off, and put the disk back into the case and into his jacket pocket.
By now, both men had turned blue again. Ray's father looked a little put off... it was pretty bizarre to see your son turn blue before your eyes.
" How do you feel?" Zum asked Ray.
Ray sat up. He looked at his hands. He looked at his father, and then at the Professor.
" Father." Was all Ray said, as he hugged the old man.
Ray's adopted father lowered his head. A wave of sadness overcame him. He did his best to hide it, but Ray and the Professor both felt it, like it was a strong wind.
" Dad... it's okay... " Ray hugged his father, too.
He stood up.
The three went outside the ship.
Ray had to see what he could do now.
Part 3.
Ray aimed his hand at a nearby pine tree. It was about 30 feet tall. He tried to fire an electro magnetic ray at it.
Nothing happened.
He took a few running steps, and jumped up into the air in an attempt to fly.
He fell over onto the ground.
He got up.
" Are you okay, son?" His dad asked.
" Yeah... just give me a minute here." Ray was getting a bit anxious. What if he had recieved NO powers from the memory transfer?
Then he closed his eyes. He listened. He could hear the faint sound of a few crickets. It seemed to get louder.
He thought he could smell a trace of pecan pie on his father's breath. It was strong.
He looked across the field. Even though it was dark on a moonless night, he could see acurately a few hundred yards away.
It was an incredible experience. He laughed.
On a hunch, he walked over to the pine tree. It was dead.
He pushed at it with one hand. It fell over easily.
He now had the strength of at least ten men.
Ray's father and Zum just stood in awe. They looked at each other, then at Ray.
Or, rather, to where he'd been standing just a moment ago.
Ray had taken off and ran as fast as he could. He was running at a speed of at least 80 mph!
He ran across the field and back. He was a bit out of breath. Apparently, he was not invulnerable. He could still grow tired like any other man, but oh, the upper limits he now possessed!
A police car pulled up at the field's edge. Zum quickly pulled out the tiny device and turned his flesh caucasian.
Ray was out there, running around like a kid .. until he heard the police car. He was out of normal visual and auditory range, but he saw the car long before the car's occupant had seen him.
He ran over at normal human speed to where his father and, er, his father were standing... he would have to sort that one out later.. the new memories were beginning to sink in.. of another world.. other thoughts...
The cop had gotten out of the car. Even from far away, Ray could read the name on his jacket lapel : Office Muldoon.
Zum was praying that Ray would stay far enough away that the cop would not see him, and thus see a blue man!
Part 4.
Ray trotted over to the officer, who had not yet shined the light on him yet.
That was when he remembered!
He was still blue!
How was his father going to turn him caucasian again before the officer could see that Ray was not of this Earth?
The officer saw Ray.
" Come here, you! Yeah, you in the grey sweatpants and white t shirt."
Ray was comfortable in the cooler weather dressed as he was.
He was, however, very worried. Maybe he could say his being blue was make up for a costume party?
" Oaky, pally, now, you three tell me what you're all doing out here this late? And let's see some id." Officer Muldoon asked very curtly of the three men.
Zum pulled out his fake id. He was glad he'd thought to make one up. He began to hand it over to Muldoon when he noticed something amazing.
Ray was caucasian again.
The officer checked out their story...and noticed it was Ray's father, the bank manager. Muldoon and his wife both had an account at his bank. The officer just smiled and told the three men to have a pleasant evening.
He walked back to his 2006 Ford patrol car and drove slowly off.
Zum and Ray's dad both laughed.
" What's so funny? That guy looked right at me and didn't give a second thought to seeing a blue man!"
" Because," Zum told him.. " You aren't blue anymore."
" Hey..." Ray looked at his hands.. " You're right!"
On a hunch, Ray concentrated....and then changed into an exact double of Professor Zum! He then changed into his father's look - alike.
" That is your power... at least ten times the strength, speed, senses and endurance of a normal man.. and the ability to look like anyone." The Professor was grinning broadly as he spoke, pleased that some of Darmo the robot was now in Ray. He wondered where Darmo was now.
Ray's father was wondering how soon they could get back home. He needed a drink.
