Eric Morrison wasn't supposed to work that night.

But his partner caught the flu, and his boss said, "Either you come on or find another job." Eric had no choice, so he went on shift. His rent in Brooklyn was already overdue. The last thing he needed was to lose his job.

By midnight, he'd delivered eight deliveries. The ninth was in Queens. He was almost there, but his bike got a flat tire on the windshield. He had to abandon it at a diner, get on the subway, and ride the train. He decided to return the same way. Jamaica-Van Wyke station. The platform was empty. The clock read 12:17 AM.

Eric stood at the edge, looking into the darkness of the tunnel. The train appeared suddenly from the depths of the tunnel, as if it hadn't been approaching gradually, but had literally leaped out from around the bend. Eric didn't pay any attention to it. Old carriages. Yellow-silver, and something seemed off about them. The doors opened with a hiss.

The light inside was dim. Not a soul.

Eric hesitated for a second. But fatigue got the better of him. He really wanted to go home. He sat down by the door, placed his empty cooler backpack next to him, and buried himself in his smartphone. The train pulled out.

"Just six stops," he muttered under his breath. "Six stops, and I'm home."

Suddenly, the lights in the carriage flickered and went out.

In the glow of his smartphone, Eric looked around. The train was moving slowly through the tunnel, slowing down. Eric thought it was possible the cables were shorting out, and if there was something serious, the driver would have applied the brakes. The lights didn't come on, and Eric noticed something—the smell. The subway smelled different. Eric frowned.

He looked up at the route map above the doors.

In the flickering light of the lamps, it showed an unfamiliar map. Circle lines. Names in Japanese. 山手線», «中央線», 新宿 Eric blinked. He thought he was hallucinating from fatigue.

And then the burning began. All over his body.

He clutched his chest. His heart was pounding, but the burning wasn't coming from his chest. It was coming from his fingers. He looked down. The strobe lights pressed against his eyes, but he saw: Eric was dark-skinned; he knew his own skin color. Now his hands were a few shades lighter. Yellowish. His fingers were thinner. His nails were pale, oval. Eric jumped up from his chair and realized he had become shorter. His body had shrunk, his arms and torso losing the weight and muscle he'd built up in the gym and on the bike. His shirt hung loosely on his thin shoulders.

"What..." he began.

His voice cracked. Something tightened in his throat. Elijah coughed. The sound was different. Higher.

He ran to the door. He looked in the glass. It reflected his terrified face, but with each passing second it was changing: Eric saw his cheekbones sharpen, his skin tone pale, his eyes narrower, and his nose smaller and thinner. His hair grew thicker and straighter, reaching his ears. Eric's dark eyes widened with terror.

He clutched the glass. The reflection clutched back.

"そんなはずはない！" he screamed.

Eric froze. He realized what he'd said. He didn't know Japanese. He knew Spanish, a little, because he'd studied it in school. But not Japanese.

He covered his mouth with his hands and looked around for help. Staring at his reflection, he didn't notice that the car around him had also changed: the seats, the handrails, the advertising posters... everything had become unfamiliar. The train slowed. Station lights flickered outside the windows. The platform. People. Bright sunlight. Advertising in Japanese.

The doors opened. A crowd of Japanese-looking people boarded the train as if nothing had happened.

Eric barely managed to step onto the platform, squeezing through the crowd. He looked around. A sign overhead: "Shinjuku."

A man in a station attendant's uniform approached him. Eric noticed a strange symbol on the lapel of his jacket.

"何が起こっているの？ここはどこ？" Eric asked. Before the man could answer, he was roughly pushed aside by two people in blue. Man and woman.

さあ、若者よ、我々と一緒に来なさい。the woman said.

INCIDENT SUMMARY

Date: July 23, 20■■, Tokyo.

A subject named Eric Morrison was found by Tokyo agents immediately after USTR Command reported the movement of STR-1055. The victim was extremely disoriented. He answered questions in perfect Japanese.

Emotional reactions varied, including frequent screaming and tears. An interrogation was conducted. The subject is fully oriented in his personality and memory, but notes the presence of false memories of his childhood in Tokyo. He was placed under observation.

Further research is pending. METHOD: Psychometric testing 24 hours after transformation.

RESULTS:

— Original native language (English): 0% listening comprehension, 0% reading comprehension.

— Japanese: N1 (native) level across all parameters.

— False memories: stable, subject "remembers" childhood in the Sumida district, school, and university. However, the subject retains a full awareness of their original personality as their true identity.

— Physical condition: anthropometric data fully corresponds to the average Japanese man aged 25-30 (height 172 cm, weight 68 kg). Blood type: A (previously O). Rh factor is intact.

NOTES: Subject periodically attempts to speak English, makes inarticulate sounds, and becomes enraged by the inability to do so. Ongoing psychological support and English as a foreign language courses are recommended.

Informed of the threat of information dissemination. Sent to the Victim Adaptation Unit with the subsequent possibility of returning to the original city. "Protocol 17" was used for contact with civilians.

RESEARCH LOGS ARE LACKED DUE TO THE INABILITY TO CONTAIN THE ANOMALY AND CONDUCT EXPERIMENTS.

Further action is only possible using [DATA EXPUNGED]

INCIDENT TIMELINES

— Internal Field Agent Reports. Classified as "Confidential" —

SUMMARY # [DATA EXPUNGED]

DATE: 11/03/2017

CAPTURE TIME: 00:43 (local time)

DEPARTURE POINT: Piccadilly Circus Station, London, UK

ARRIVAL POINT: Chongqingmen Station, Chongqing, China. VICTIM (INITIAL): 41 years old, white British, architect, 185 cm tall, 94 kg

VICTIM (FINAL): male, Han Chinese, 173 cm tall, 65 kg

INCIDENT DETAILS:

The victim boarded an empty train at Piccadilly Circus station after midnight, returning from a work party. There were two other passengers on the train (later determined to be victims).

CONCLUSION:

DATE: 07/19/2023

The object is capable of transporting multiple victims between cities. It is recommended to tighten surveillance protocols at stations with high tourist traffic.

SUMMARY # [DATA EXPUNGED]

CAPTURE TIME: 01:03 (local time)

DEPARTURE POINT: Chkalovskaya Station, Moscow, Russia

ARRIVAL POINT: Dongguk-de-Pawo Station, Seoul, South Korea

VICTIM (INITIAL): 34-year-old male, Caucasian Russian, 178 cm tall, 87 kg

VICTIM (TERMINAL): Male, Korean, 174 cm tall, 68 kg

INCIDENT PARTICULARS:

Our agent arrived 40 minutes after the victim's arrival at the final station. The victim was in a state of acute panic attack. He was able to write Russian without errors—a manifestation of language aphasia.

CONCLUSION:

It has been established that written speech remains intact for some time. This distinguishes STR-1055 from other language-rewriting anomalies.

SUMMARY # [DATA EXPUNGED]

DATE: 05/05/2026

TIME OF CAPTURE: 00:21 (local time)

DEPARTURE POINT: Gare du Nord Station, Paris, France (Line 4)

ARRIVAL POINT: Almeda Station, Lisbon, Portugal (Green Line)

VICTIM (INITIAL): 26 years old, female, Algerian (French citizen), 165 cm tall, 58 kg

VICTIM (FINAL): female, Portuguese female, 176 cm tall, 72 kg

INCIDENT PARTICULARS: [DATA EXPUNGED]

CONCLUSION: [DATA EXPUNGED]

4. TECHNICAL DEPARTMENT CONCLUSION

Object STR-1055 cannot be destroyed or contained—if any attempt is made to dismantle the tracks in one city, it begins appearing in another with double the frequency. Recommended containment protocol: a global network of observers at all metro stations between 12:00 AM and 4:00 AM. If a train is detected, the platform will be blocked under the pretext of "technical malfunctions." All identified victims are subject to immediate isolation, psychological adaptation, and integration. Finding a method for reverse transformation is a priority for the International Department of Linguistic Anomalistics.

To date, 147 victims of STR-1055 have been identified. 89 have adapted to their new lives. 55 are in isolation with a diagnosis of "acute dissociative fugue with cognitive dissonance." Three remain missing.