Area 51, Nevada: Wednesday January 25th, 1995
Simona quickly found herself becoming one of the changelings favorite humans to interact with after her heart to heart with Proper. In contrast, most of the other guards were still aloof and distant toward their charges and had been more or less left alone in return, resulting in her being assigned to the role of temporary liaison with them.
As she regarded the small crowd of changelings that had gathered around her and were looking expectantly for an answer, she decided that maybe the other guards were the smart ones.
"I'm sorry, but the rumors you heard are true. The search teams are all being recalled," she said with a sigh. Seeing the expressions on their faces she explained, "Their sweeps haven't been able to pick up any other magical signatures within a hundred mile radius. At the rate the rift's energy is fading from you guys, there's just no practical way for us to continue the search at this point."
One of the changelings spoke up, her two-toned voice cracking a little. "So you're saying that's it? We're the only ones there are?"
"It's possible that a changeling could have traveled out of the area before we started searching in earnest,' Simona said, "but it seems unlikely that they would have done so. All of the craters we've discovered so far were within a thirty-mile radius of the Kenfield Array."
Another one of the changelings responded. "One of us could have flown much farther than that in the time between now and when we first arrived," he growled in frustration. "You can't give up so soon, not without making sure that none of our hivemates are out there on their own."
Simona tried to keep her face neutral, knowing it was a futile gesture when her audience could simply sense her own frustration and pity. "And if one of you went by air, you would have noticed one of the population centers nearby. Las Vegas is a veritable beacon at night, and there are several smaller towns in the area. With no supplies to survive in the desert and with no information about where you ended up, it's a natural assumption that any of you would make your way to some patch of civilization where you could get both. So far we did end up finding almost all of you guys hiding among us, with only a couple that were out in the desert."
Her face softened. "And then there's the fact that the number of arrival craters we've been able to identify so far seems to match closely with how many of you we've found. We're going to cross-reference your accounts of where you ended up to make sure that they all match and that there are no extra craters, but my superiors are fairly confident that we managed to find all of you. I'm sorry."
The room lapsed into silence for a moment as the changelings processed the news. Simona felt a pang of sympathy for them. It had to be hard knowing that there were likely only 24 members of your entire race in the entire world, 28 including the ones transfigured into inanimate objects and awaiting disjunction. She had no idea how she'd handle it if their positions were reversed.
Steeling herself for the next part, she continued, "Once the search teams and the changelings with them return to base, we're going to go into a two-month lockdown for quarantine purposes. Nobody gets in or out of the designated areas until it's over." As Simona expected, her statement wasn't received well by her audience. Muscles tensed, postures became more wary, wings began to twitch at their sides, and uneasy glances and murmurs were exchanged. The undercurrent of suspicion was plainly evident even for someone that couldn't read emotions.
Simona held up a hand to forestall their comments. "It's not just you who'll be confined during the quarantine. Everyone who we can confirm has had direct contact with you will also be quarantined right alongside you, including me. You are not prisoners, and as I'm sure you can sense, we don't have any ill will towards you. We just need to be cautious when dealing with a complete unknown such as yourselves, and the safety of millions could be at stake if we let you wander free before first ensuring that you aren't carrying any pathogens harmful to us, or that some unexpected component of your biology or magic turns out to have harmful effects on humans that only become apparent with time and exposure."
One of the changelings she recognized from an earlier conversation as Card Trick said, "What happens if the quarantine does reveal something dangerous about us? Or if it goes the other way and one of your own harmless diseases happens to be lethal to us?"
"We're hoping that nothing comes of it, but we can't afford to take chances," Simona said, "In the event something is discovered during the quarantine, our exact course of action will depend on its severity. Rest assured, we have no intentions of simply giving up on you if you get sick from one of our diseases, and unless you're carrying something potentially world-ending, we'll do our best to see to it that you get to live an isolated but semi-normal life while our scientists try to find a cure."
Simona made a wry face. "Of course, if you are carrying something dangerous, me and the other humans that are going to be in quarantine alongside you are going to be the first to discover it. I think I'm speaking for everyone when I say that I'm hoping this will be an uneventful two months, and that we'll all be able to move on to the next phase smoothly once this is over."
"And what would that be?" Card Trick asked. The changelings seemed thoughtful now, with a few looking concerned. Simona noted that most of their earlier suspicion seemed to have dissipated.
"From what I've heard, the higher-ups are still debating that. At the moment there are two main camps, one that wants to keep your existence a permanent secret, isolating you from the outside world in much the same way as if the quarantine turned up something dangerous, and another that would like to try and gradually integrate you into society. I'm guessing that the final arrangement will end up being a compromise of some kind, but I can't say for sure."
Simona shrugged helplessly. "Nerium and the other high-ranking changelings have been informed about the debate, and as soon as they're back with the search teams they'll be adding their own input to the discussion. For now though, all we can do is wait."
Proper spoke up from the rear of the crowd. "Will you be trying to help the others who might still be trapped between dimensions, like my brother?"
"Unless something comes up during the quarantine, most likely," Simona said, "There's still a lot we don't know about how the Kenfield Array works, and pooling your knowledge of magic with ours to try and rescue the trapped changelings is a logical starting point. If nothing else, the attempt would give our scientists some much-needed experimental data, as well as valuable insights into the field of magic. It would also go a long way toward cementing friendly relations with your people and helping to secure their cooperation."
Seeing the look of desperate hope in Proper's eyes, Simona had to repress the urge to walk over to her and give her a hug on the spot. Shaking her head slightly to get her mind back on track, she continued. "Moving on, I'd like to go over the living arrangements during the quarantine..."