"An Impostor?" Victor asked, now alarmed by what Ayja had just said.
"Yes, an Impostor," Ayja repeated. "You and Anita have been talking to an Impostor."
"When would this even have happened?" Anita asked.
Ayja shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure. I was in that closet long enough to lose sense of time. All I remember is seeing an Impostor come at me with a blunt object and then hit me over the head with it. I think it might have been with my own eku, too. I don't remember much else before that, sorry."
"How do you think the Impostor got in here in the first place?" Victor asked again.
"Again, I'm not sure. They could've assumed my form or the form of one of my friends in order to infiltrate the place."
"If what you're saying is true, then it sounds like we might be in more danger than we thought."
Ayja nodded her head. "I'm afraid so. We need to find that Impostor before they can cause some serious damage."
"So have you been able to find anything new, Professor Professor?" Commander Ayja asked him as she walked back into the laboratory.
"We sure have," Professor Professor replied confidently. "Doctor Doctor pointed out to me how the Puddlehead specimen didn't seem like it'd be experiencing any long-term effects related to the space vacuum."
"I see..."
"That would mean that it hadn't been floating around in space for long, if at all. Assuming it didn't experience the space vacuum for itself, someone would have had to plant it and the other specimens in the Polychrome 3 just before the space crew arrived."
Commander Ayja raised an eyebrow at him. "That's awfully presumptuous of you, Professor Professor. What if the Puddlehead specimens had been planted inside the space capsule the crew took to get to the Polychrome 3?"
At that moment, Doctor Doctor came in with a Puddlehead specimen writhing inside its container. "I considered that, too," she said. "It's possible someone down at the space station might have let a Puddlehead stow away with the crew as part of an inside job."
Commander Ayja raised an eyebrow at her. "How do you suppose they might have done that?"
"An Impostor, maybe?"
Commander Ayja gave a nervous chuckle. "I guess that stands to reason, but then why would an Impostor be infiltrating the space station?"
"I don't know, you tell me."
Commander Ayja sighed. "Alright, I guess you got me there. Did you find out anything else about these specimens?"
Now it was Professor Professor's turn to speak up. "No, at least not what we don't already know."
"Well, I know for a fact that some Impostors keep Puddleheads as pets," Commander Ayja spoke up. "Maybe that had something to do with it?"
"Maybe..." Professor Professor started heading back for the lab. "Well, Doctor Doctor and I will let you know if we find anything else."
"Oh, uh, right..." Doctor Doctor started following him. "We will definitely let you know."
Victor and Anita had just gotten Ayja into a janitor's jumpsuit. It still hadn't fully set in for them that the Commander Ayja they'd been interacting with might actually be an Impostor. In fact, they weren't sure which of the two Ayjas was the real one, but for now, they would have to take the confused Ayja's word for it. Anyway, Ayja had just changed into a janitor's jumpsuit, which was red and wrinkly and felt a little too big and boxy on her.
"Okay, now what?" Ayja asked. "I can't just walk around like this. People are going to get confused and start asking questions."
"Okay, what do you want to do then?" Victor asked.
Ayja thought about it for a minute. "Guess I could shapeshift into a field mouse again. That's how I got out of my restraints."
"I don't see why not," Anita said. "Why don't you do that right now? It might be easier to hide you that way."
Ayja smiled. "Sounds good to me."
Without hesitation, Ayja wiggled her antennae and began to morph into the field mouse. As soon as she was done morphing, she let Anita slide her down into Victor's suit.
"Alright, now you better stay put, Ayja," Anita told her. "We don't want to draw too much attention to ourselves."
"I'll try," Ayja assured her. "But I can't promise anything."
With that, Victor and Anita decided to stroll through the I.C.E. headquarters, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. Meanwhile, Ayja decided to stretch her legs and do some strolling herself. How humiliating it must have been to have to resort to this, but she was more than happy to help the two U.Z.Z. agents out. After all, these guys were dedicating their lives to thwarting as many threats to their society as possible. The least she could do was be grateful for them.
"Hey, guys," Victor greeted the other I.C.E. workers while he and Anita were strolling by. "How's it going?"
"Oh, pretty good," replied a random I.C.E. worker. "Just a little slow, that's all."
"Good to know, I guess." Victor tried his best to ignore Ayja's little excursion inside his suit. "Anything special you're looking forward to?"
The I.C.E. worker shook their head. "Nothing in the near future, no."
Victor let out an uneasy chuckle. "That's... also good to know."
The I.C.E. worker raised an eyebrow at him. "Sir, are you okay?"
"Oh yes, we're fine!" Anita suddenly chimed in. "I think Victor and I are going to find the bathrooms now. You wouldn't happen to know where they are, would you?"
"Uh, down to your left," the I.C.E. worker replied while pointing left towards a hallway.
"Thank you." Anita grabbed Victor by the arm and started dragging him down the hallway the I.C.E. worker pointed at. "We appreciate it."
"No problem. Glad I could help."
And so Victor, Anita, and Ayja were heading down the hallway and towards a gender-neutral bathroom. They went inside and entered one of the loo stalls where they could talk privately.
"Okay, Ayja, you can come out of Victor's suit now," Anita said.
Ayja scurried out of the suit and then morphed back into her default form. She then breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thanks for having my back back there," Ayja said. "I appreciate it."
"No problem, Ayja," Anita replied. "Glad we could help."