She felt younger, more alive. She also felt a whole foot taller.When she got out of bed, she noticed a beautiful young woman sleeping next to her. Mar...la entered the bathroom and stared in the mirror. The reflected image gave her the shock of her life. She was a man!The face looked about thirty years old, with brownish hair full of golden highlights. Exactly like Marla's own hair had been at age thirty. This man was also six foot five, and had little flab. Marla weighed herself, and discovered. All that remained was to recruit him.Colin watched through the sensors of the ID probes that had followed him. He saw through the 'eyes' of the MIs the evidence of his suitability for the job. His sense of wonder grew as he watched the very things that had separated him from most of his race, and had made him a failure in their eyes become the traits that fit the profile the MIs had built.His unwavering sense of duty - the very same that had kept him working long hours at his software. "I'm also going to make you glad you let me talk you into coming to this island," she whispered in my ear.I picked up my bag, put my arm around her, and guided her out of the terminal."It's over there," she said, pointing to a Jeep. "I hope you can drive a standard transmission," she said, handing me a single car key.I'd never driven a car that required depressing a clutch to change gears, but I recalled the tractor that I'd used to mow the grass at the park when I was fifteen. It had a clutch. "Quite a bookworm ..." ... And Barbara. And that's it. No Ronald, no Ronnie, no Ron, no meanymore. If I want to stay in school here, I'll have to do it asBarbie."I realized I still had the purse. "And this damned thing. It's afreaking woman's purse. I already threw it away once this afternoon. Idumped it in a locker but here it is again." Angrily I pitched it awayfrom me.Picking it up, he laid the purse on the roof of the doll house. Helpingme to my feet, he led me wordlessly into the bedroom..