Anya opened her eyes and poked her head out from beneath her covers. Pale yellow morning light streamed through her window and the sounds of traffic mingled with voices and a distant radio blaring. She took a deep breath.

Totally normal so far.

The hole in her window pane was the first sign. It was no bigger than a golfball, but the hole indicated that something had happened last night.

Bad sign number one.

But maybe something had just fallen through her window, knocked her down, and she’d dreamed everything, or been concussed. She glanced around her apartment.

No floating orange baby AI thing.

Good sign number one.

Anya allowed herself to relax a little.

Time for the big one.

Anya stared up at the ceiling and took a long, slow breath then threw her covers back. She glanced down at herself.

“C’mon man!” she said. Her pajamas were shredded, and so was she. On the one hand, she still had her Olympian body; but on the other, it meant everything else she’d heard last night was true. She swung out of bed and cracked her foot on the bedpost as she did. She swore and bit her lip. Did all tall people have to deal with this or was it just because she was new to it?

“Good morning!” The AI said as it floated out of her microwave, passing through the plastic door as it did. Anya shouted and threw a pillow at it in reflex, but only managed to knock her microwave to the side.

“Sorry,” Anya said. “You scared me. I was kinda hoping you would be gone. Like a dream or something.”

“Nope! I’m still real!” the AI said.

“And so are…” Anya trailed off and drummed her fingers against her legs, “…so are aliens.”

“Two kinds of aliens!” the AI clarified.

“Yes, thank you,” Anya snapped. She had one last bastion to retreat to, one last hope that maybe all of this wasn’t real: maybe she had completely lost her mind. Her whacking her head on the bathroom door frame and her foot on the bed suggested otherwise. She didn’t know if hallucinations were that detailed and tactile.

Anya spent the next several minutes making her menu system appear and disappear. Tap. Bright orange menu. Tap. Nothing. Tap. Menu. Tap. Nothing.

“AI, can you disappear and come back?” Anya asked.

“I sure can! Now that I’ve been activated, you can just summon me again verbally!” it said.

“Good to know. Disappear, please,” Anya said.

“Here I go!” the AI said and vanished with a tiny flash of orange light. Anya stared at the empty space it had occupied for another several minutes. It was easy to think it wasn’t real with the AI gone.

“Hey, AI!” she said to her empty apartment.

The AI appeared at once in a flash of orange light beside her. “Here I am!”

“Go away!” Anya said.

“You got it!” the AI replied and vanished again.

Anya clenched her teeth and called once more. “AI!”

“Reporting for duty!” It said with a salute as it appeared.

“Disappear again,” Anya said.

“Poof!” the AI said as it winked out of existence.

“Well if they’re hallucinations, they’re reliable,” Anya said as she covered her face with her pillow. She felt a wave of nausea welling up in her stomach and rising into her throat, but managed to force it down.

She needed to know.

If nothing else, she needed to know if she was really seeing things. Her experiments alone weren’t telling her anything, so she needed another pair of eyes. Anya picked up her phone and opened her contacts list and selected “TORI.”

The phone rang several times before it was finally answered. There was a thump from the other end of the line, a curse, and then a mumbled, irritated, “Hello?”

“Tori?” Anya asked.

“Mmmfff,” Tori replied. “Anya? What time is it?”

“It’s a little before noon. How much did you drink last night?”

“You sound like my grandma,” Tori said. “What’s up?”

“I know you’re hungover, but I need help. Can you come over to my place?”

“What’s going on?” Tori asked, her voice a fraction more alert than it had been a moment ago.

“Something’s wrong with me. I don’t wanna say over the phone. Just…please. I don’t think I can go outside like this and I need some help. It’s not an emergency but something’s going on with me.”

“Oh god. The subway with a hangover,” Tori said and groaned.

“I know, but Tori, please?”

“You owe me big,” Tori said. “I’ll be over soon.”

“Thank you,” Anya said and hung up. She spent the next hour with her face in her pillow and only looked up when her phone buzzed with a text from Tori.

TORI: Stopped to get coffee. At your building now.

ANYA: My door is open. Just come in.

TORI: ok??????

Anya got out of bed long enough to unlock her door and then hid under her blankets again. If this was all real, she didn’t want to scare Tori off upon seeing her.

“Anya?” Tori asked as she opened the door. She wore large sunglasses and held a cardboard container with two coffees in it in her free hand. Her voice cracked when she called out and entered the apartment. “Why are you hiding under your blankets? What’s up with you? Call with your mom not go so well last night?”

“Yeah, uh, something happened,” Anya said. “Either I’ve gone really, truly crazy or…or something incredibly strange is happening.”

Tori raised her eyebrows as she locked the door behind her and set Anya’s coffee down on the counter. She took a sip of her own and then sat in the overstuffed armchair. “Okay. Crazy how?”

“Just…tell me what you see, okay?” Anya asked. She took a deep breath, then stood up and dropped the blanket.

“Holy shit!” Tori shouted and fell out of the chair. Her coffee dropped to the floor and spilled in a creamy brown puddle around her. “Who the fuck are you?”

“Tori,” Anya said and put a hand out as her friend scrambled to her feet and lunged for the door. “Tori, it’s me.”

Tori looked back over her shoulder, her eyes wide behind her glasses, her hands frozen over the door locks. She stared at Anya, then focused on her face before looking her up and down.

“No,” Tori said. “No, no way.”

“It’s my voice, right? That’s the same? And my face? It’s just thinner,” Anya said and pointed at herself. Horror and relief welled up within her in equal measure. Tori was panicking just as she had, so Anya wasn’t crazy and she wasn’t hallucinating. It was real.

Which meant that all of it was real.

“Jesus Christ. What the what?” Tori’s mouth wobbled around the words and her lower lip quivered when she was silent.

“It’s me. It’s Anya,” she said. “Something happened last night.”

“No,” Tori shook her head. “You’re like, her twin sister or something.”

“Tori…” Anya said, then sighed. “AI, get out here!”

The AI appeared once more with a quick bow and said, “At your service!”

“You can see this too, right?” Anya asked and pointed at the AI. Tori’s sunglasses slid down her nose as she gawked at the chubby, luminescent orange figure floating in the air beside Anya.

“Hah!” Tori said, then slid to the floor as her legs gave out from under her.

“Tori?” Anya asked.

“Who?” Tori asked and looked at Anya. “What?” she pointed at the AI. She shook her head, laughed again, then took a deep breath and rubbed her temples.

“I can explain,” Anya said and knelt down on the coffee-soaked floor. Over the next several minutes, she did her best to explain and had the AI confirm what she said. Tori’s face remained slack for most of this, her wide eyes flicking between her friend and the floating AI. She demonstrated how she summoned the menu, dismissed it, dismissed the AI, and summoned it again.

Anya was able to get Tori up off the floor and into her armchair while she cleaned the spilled coffee and gave her the other cup. Tori’s hands shook as she took it, but she managed to hang onto it. Anya sat on her bed across from her and waited for her friend to respond or do anything but stare in numb silence.

“Tori?” Anya asked.

“Yeah,” Tori said with a nod, her voice flat.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Tori said again in exactly the same way.

“Are you just saying that?”

“Yeah.”

Anya sighed. “I’m sorry for putting this on you, but I thought I was hallucinating.”

“Ye——” Tori started to say then shook her head. “I’m…I don’t know what to say. I’m not hallucinating?”

“No,” Anya said and shook her head. “Neither of us are.”

“I’m not hallucinating either!” the AI said.

“This is…really, really, really weird,” Tori said as she studied the AI then Anya. “That’s really you, isn’t it? Same face, same freckles, same voice, even same…I dunno. Mannerisms? You move the same as…well, as you.”

“Yeah,” Anya nodded. “It’s really me. And believe me, it’s just as weird looking at myself. I mean, it;s kinda cool, but it’s also a lot to take in.”

“And this thing,” Tori reached out to the AI and stuck her hand through its rounded tummy and out its back. The AI cocked its head to the side and glanced down as her hand phased through it and then back out. “Honestly, if it wasn’t for this thing and that menu popping up I’d think that you were just Anya’s secret buff twin sister she never mentioned. But floating hologram guy here kinda doesn’t fit with that.”

“No, I do not,” The AI said and grinned.

“Cool,” Tori said, but the quaver in her voice made it sound like it was anything but. “So, I think I’m psychologically scarred for life, or something.”

“Me too,” Anya said.

“Can I touch you?” Tori asked.

“Uh, sure?” Anya said. Tori pinched Anya’s cheek, then poked her in her abs. Anya flinched and let out a laugh. “That tickles!”

“Sorry. Holy shit it’s like you got rock implants in your stomach or something. This was six points?”

“Yup. Took about two or three seconds,” Anya replied.

“Jesus,” Tori said and let out a breath. “Aliens.”

“Aliens,” Anya shrugged.

“Aliens!” the AI cheered.

“Invading aliens,” Tori clarified. She pointed at the AI again. “So you’re here to what, help us fight the bad ones who’re getting here in a year? Something like that?”

The AI shrugged. “The data I have access to only says the menu system was sent ‘as a defensive measure.’ I would assume that means to help you in a fight, but I can’t be sure.”

“Why not?” Anya asked. “Aren’t you from them? The Triangle Galaxy aliens, I mean.”

“Triangulum Galaxy,” the AI corrected.

“Whatever!” Anya said.

“I do not have access to all data within the menu system. Many facets of it are locked.”

“This doesn’t make any sense,” Tori said. “Aliens send this thing from another galaxy to supposedly help you defend against other aliens, but don’t show up themselves. So they send a helper AI, but lock it out of the system it’s supposed to help you with. And they give it to you completely at random.”

“Yeah, they sound like assholes,” Anya said.

“I’ve never actually met them!” the AI said. “But I’ll follow your lead.”

“What about the other ones? The invaders?” Anya asked. “How do you know they’re not going to be here for another year?”

“The menu told me,” the AI said. “While I don’t have a map of the exact path the menu system took from the Triangulum Galaxy to Earth, I have some isolated notes of interest that I’m permitted to access. This includes the menu’s scanning systems picking up alien signals on a trajectory for Earth roughly one Earth-year from planetfall. This time estimate was made based on observed speed and known intelligence.”

A picture appeared in the air in front of Anya where her menu usually popped up. To her, it just looked like a black field with a few pinpoints of reddish light. Mathematical equations and numbers, lines that charter likely paths, and more information that was well beyond the scope of Anya’s understanding came into view around the dots of light.

“Earth is also the only planet with life on it nearby for quite some distance in the direction they’re traveling,” the AI continued, “and according to the menu system, they don’t stop on uninhabited planets.”

“Does the menu system have any other stuff on these guys? Or whatever they are?” Anya asked and pointed at the reddish dots on the picture.

“Only that they’re a year away, they’re definitely coming here, and they need to be defended against,” the AI said. “Any other internal queries I conduct tell me that the data is locked.”

“Shit,” Anya said and chewed on her thumbnail.

“So what now?” Tori asked.

“What do you mean?” Anya replied.

“I mean,” Tori said and gestured at Anya with both hands. “What the hell are you going to do? If you go into work like this on Monday, people are going to flip right out. Assuming they believe you. Assuming anybody believes you. Hell, just assuming you can even find anything to wear. You’ve torn those PJs to shreds.”

“Believe me, I’ve noticed,” Anya replied. “As far as work as concerned, I don’t care. Not even sure if I should bother if aliens are gonna invade in a year. Or even if anybody would really notice.”

“I think a few people might notice that you’ve grown a foot and filled out like a superhero.”

“Fuck ‘em,” Anya said and shrugged.

“Well, shouldn’t you call the government or something? Y’know regarding the whole alien-life-coming-to-Earth thing.” Tori asked.

“Yeah, probably,” Anya said. It had occurred to her last night when the AI had first mentioned aliens. It had been pushed back by coming to the realization of aliens existing in the first place but now it rushed to the forefront of her mind. This was all beyond her. She was clearly out of her depth.

“I don’t even know who to tell,” Anya said. “The cops? FBI? NASA? The UN?”

“I think you gotta tell somebody. You’re living proof of alien stuff! That’s an alien right there!” Tori jabbed a finger at the AI.

“Actually, I didn’t exist until I merged with Anya, so I was born right here on Earth! Hello, fellow Earthlings!”

“You’re a floating, tangerine, computer baby thing, with like, a rose for a head,” Anya said. “Calling you an Earthling is a stretch.”

“A baby thing from Earth!” the AI said.

“You’re from the Triangle Galaxy,” Anya said.

“Triangulum Galaxy,” the AI corrected.

“Whatever!” Anya snapped again. “Look, now that I know this is real, I guess I should tell somebody with authority. I just don’t know what the best way to do that is. They’d never believe me over the phone. But I don’t wanna walk in with the AI and get thrown into Area-51 or Guantanamo or something.”

“That’s true,” Tori said, then leaned forward and put her head in her hands. “Can I lie down on your bed? I’m still really dizzy.”

“Yeah, of course,” Anya said and got up. She reached to help Tori to her feet but her friend pulled away from her. Anya winced and Tori looked away before she got into the bed.

“Sorry. Sorry,” Tori repeated. “It’s just really weird. Not used to seeing you like this.”

“No, I get it,” Anya nodded.

“Plus, hearing about invading aliens and weird technology just kinda falling out of the sky is some pretty heavy stuff.”

“No kidding.”

The two stayed silent for a while, the only sound the quiet ticking of the toaster. The AI floated in lazy circles, casting its halo of late afternoon light around it like a tiny sun.

“So what are you going to do?” Tori asked.

“I honestly have no fucking idea,” Anya said. “There’s some kind of ‘reallocation’ tokens I can get somehow that might make it possible to change back, but they’re not available until I hit level 50. And even then, not sure if I want to go back to short and chubby. Aside from banging my head on door frames and stuff, this is kinda neat.”

“What about the rest of those points? You gonna use them?”

“I dunno. Kinda scared to. What if raising my intelligence makes my head huge?”

“That won’t happen,” the AI said. “Unless you really want it to.”

“Well I didn’t want this to happen but the menu decided it would anyway,” Anya said and gestured at herself. “It isn’t so bad, but damn, it could’ve been worse.”

“You didn’t have the menu system set to keep your body in its original form despite physical skill changes,” the AI said. “Otherwise it would have.”

“What?” Anya snapped. “What do you mean? Of course I didn’t! There was no option to do that anywhere on the menu! Look!”

Anya pulled up her menu and pointed at it. It only showed the same basic information it always had. The AI smiled and floated next to her as Tori sat up in the bed and eyed the two of them.

“That’s because you’re just on the main menu,” the AI said. Anya started to say something and then felt her skin prickle. “You gotta make a sliding motion like this!” The AI swiped its tiny mitten-hand to the side. Anya raised her right hand, touched it to the menu until she felt the familiar tingle, then swiped to the side.

The main menu slid to her left and became more translucent until it was almost invisible. It was replaced by a second menu. This one showed a picture of her, head-to-toe, on the left side of the display. On the right were a number of options like “HAIR,” “HEIGHT,” “BULK,” and a number of others related to her physical appearance. The list went on and included more unconventional options such as “AURAS,” and “EXTRA APPENDAGES.”

The menu also had a section at the top labeled “STATUS,” and then something like an EKG meter showing her heart rate and a message that said, “NORMAL: MODERATE STRESS.” At the bottom were other basic bodily readings like her temperature, BMI, height and weight, blood sugar levels, and more scrolling past slowly. A flashing message in the bottom right corner read, “MAINTAIN CURRENT PHYSICAL DIMENSIONS DESPITE CHANGES TO STATISTICS AND SKILLS,” beside which was an empty box. Anya tapped the box and a check mark appeared inside of it.

“There you go! Now your body won’t change unless you specifically alter it using this menu. But that requires Reward Allocation Currency.”

“What the hell is that?” Anya asked. She continued to stare at the status menu.

“Reward Allocation Currency, or RAC, is used to make adjustments to your physical form and purchase items from the RAC menu.”

“Another menu?” Tori asked.

Anya swallowed and faced the AI. “How many menus are there?”

“There are seven primary menus and fifteen sub-menus, with several hundreds of thousands of smaller nested menus within those,” the AI said. “Just swipe to the side!”

Though she felt numb, Anya managed to raise her arm and swipe to the side once more and revealed what else the menu system had to share.