Natasha walked down the steps of the bus and out onto the pavement. She was in town to visit relatives who had moved from Russia to America over a decade ago. Her English wasn't the best in the world, but she knew enough to get by.
After getting off the bus, she froze as she watched a woman run past her, ripping off her shirt, declaring that she didn't want to wear women's clothing. Half a block down the road, she witnessed a child trying to drive a car and a group of teenagers shouting and panicking. What was happening? Why were people acting so strangely? Or was this how people normally acted in America?
She moved away from the bus, her suitcase in hand, and then suddenly someone slammed into. She became dizzy, as a bright light filled her vision. When the light was gone, she saw that she was somewhere else. In a building of some kind. There were people in suits and all of them were in a heated discussion with each other. She could feel the tension in the air.
"Where ... am I?" she asked.
A fifty-something man turned and looked directly at her. "Lyndsay?"
"I was ... near bus. Now ... I am here," she said slowly, trying her best to speak English.
The man moved towards her, but was stopped by another man. "I'm sorry, sir. But it looks like your wife has been affected."
The first man (who was actually the mayor of this town) looked at her again. "Who are you?"
"My name is Natasha Piotrovsky," she said, with an obvious Russian accent, one that the mayor's wife definitely did not have.
The mayor moved towards her, but his bodyguard stopped him again. "Sir, you can't touch her. She's been affected. She's not even your wife anymore anyway."
The mayor looked at him. "Then you find me my wife," he said, poking him in the chest.
"We will. But first, we need to get you out of town. From our observations, the affect of this phenomenon extends six miles outward from about the center of town. Once we get you out of the affected area ..."
"Yes, yes. But I want my wife with me. You find her and bring her to me. Then we'll leave together. Is that clear?"
"Sir, I'm against this. The longer we wait, the more likely that ..." Suddenly, the man became dazed. Then he looked at the mayor and said "Where's my mommy?"
"Oh god, it's happened again," the mayor said, looking at his former bodyguard with wide eyes.
Another bodyguard approached him and grabbed his arm. "This way, sir."
As he left the room, he took one more look at his wife, who now had the mind of a foreign woman.
