Klupkex sat in his subject wrestling for control of the mind. It was not easy subduing the drives of this creature. The consciousness had been easy. He had hit the sleep center and everything shut down, but then it all came unglued into total chaos.
      "Lepft's Right Shoe, these drive constraining creatures drive me plain nuts. Why do I always get assigned to these societies? Who doesn't like me? Can't they give me a nice assignment where I can be a lower lifeform? I hate dealing with these repressive imbeciles. Especially this type. Deliver me from impulses long denied."
      He managed his feet jerkily, trying to withstand floods of emotion that poured from the newly captured mind. He directed the bulk toward the door when he heard a frustrated cry. He felt anger, frustration, inadequacy, loneliness, desire, and it interfered with his control of the creature, distracting him terribly from muscle command.
      He followed his new ears and found his way into a small room with permanent fixtures. He searched the new memory and was confused at the multitude of memories and emotions attached to what came as 'bathroom'. He followed the cries to what he recognized as a shower stall. He reached out and opened the door.
      "Klupkex, is that you?"
      "Yes, Commander. Is that your new body?" He looked at the form and noticed a number of differences. He had to search his memory as his body reacted strongly to the presence. He felt a distinct shift in the response of his body and the control began to slip as he reached out to offer help to his commander.
      "Help me stand up. I'm having a hard time gaining a foot hold on this slippery surface."
      Klupkex fumbled the grip and fell forward, his new face and sensory equipment falling into the soft lumps that graced the torso of his commander's new subject. His creature's mind flared in reaction and it's hands started gripping the commander. His mouth started a strange motion. He fought for control, but the urges were tempestuous and beyond his ability to restrain.
      "Klupkex! What in the name of Hirakki's Nose do you think that you are you doing? Stop that!"
      "I'm trying, sir. It's the repressed desires coming unglued. It's very hard to override them at this level. Please forgive me." Klupkex fought for control with all his resolution and managed to pry the groping hands from his commander's new form.
      "Klupkex, don't ever do that again. That is extremely disturbing and highly improper for a soldier of the Hrenkas."
      "My brain tells me that you should have responded in kind."
      "Klupkex, this unit is suffering something called PMS, according to its memory. You are lucky that I did not kill your subject."
      "PMS. I can't find, oh, there it is. That is foreign to this unit."
      "So I see. Kindly control your subject from here on. I will not be so lenient in the future if there is a repeat of such behavior."
      "Understood. It was no picnic in here. It's still no picnic. This restricts mobility."
      "Then get it out of my face. I am seeing an image of a thing called a knife. It would remove your problem, and it will if you do not control your beast."
      Klupkex shivered and growled. "This is hard to put in its place."
      "I have something in my new memory that will help." The commander made a fist and punched Klupkex's subject between the legs. It screamed.
      "There, is that better?" Klupkex gurgled.
      "Oh, get on your feet and help me out of here. Klupkex, get on your feet. The skin on this subject is starting to wrinkle."
      "I can't manage, Commander. I think that you disabled it."
      "Non-sense. It can't be half as bad as what I'm experiencing. Talk about belligerent. Klupkex, get up and help me, or I'll hit you there again."
      "I'm trying. Commander, you truly underestimate the difficulty you just induced into my subject. It can not straighten up. The protection response is automatic. Fetal position, they call it. I can't override it."
      "Oh, the awful things I have to do for myself. Why don't I ever get competent troops? Why me? Klupkex, you have no idea how bad this is."
      The commander sent his new body sprawling out over the rim of the tub, across Klupkex, making him yell further, then wrestling his way to standing. "Boy, talk about water weight. I feel like I'm walking through molasses, whatever that is. Will you move so I can get a towel and dry off? Are you always going to be underfoot? I need to get dry and get some of things that you have on you on me. Clothes, dress. This one sure does have some weird concepts of concealment. Harnesses, texturizers for the legs, hygene pads, yech. Talk about a repulsive culture. Masochistic like you wouldn't believe. Leg waxing is a screaming torture."
      "I'd believe, Commander."
      "I don't know. Your form is relatively trouble free, according to the new memory. Not like this one has no troubles."
      "I beg to differ, Commander. The pain is quite intense, even yet. You are standing. I can not manage that in this subject in this condition. That says that I suffer more than you do."
      "Klupkex, will you shut your stinking trap? I've had all of your complaining and whining I care to hear for one day. You couldn't possibly have it worse than I do."
      "If you insist, Commander."
      "I do, Klupkex, and don't forget it. Hair dryer. Yes, I see."
      The commander left the small room on shaky legs, leaving Klupkex lying on the floor. Klupkex was just managing to rise when his commander returned. "Well, what do you think?"
      "Looks kind of lumpy."
      "Lumpy? Lumpy? How dare you call me lumpy? This took work, I'll have you know. What is wrong?"
      "Well, you do not have the proper combination. Too much on top and not enough on the bottom."
      "Hmph! You sure have gotten a whole lot of nerve since landing here, Klupkex. Maybe you need to be punished."
      "Commander, your behavior is not normal either. It is these subjects. They spend too much attention on their stream of thought and not enough on their smooth functioning and balance of mental facilities. They hold back energy and let it fester. Their life is one of repressing desires that makes them bigger. They do not easily flow."
      "No, they do not, and I got a raw deal with this one."
      "Commander, please, recite the Hrenka code and compare mental states."
      The commander stood there for a few moments. "Yes. I guess that the reflexes of this subject are coloring my viewpoints. This is not pleasant accommodations."
      "Mine is no better, Commander. This subject is highly impetuous in desires. Overwhelming, more intense than yours. Yours is more of a steady problem, while mine is a solar storm, flaring erratically but continuously. I will never understand how some physical creatures live this way."
      "Perhaps they are close to metamorphosing to pure mental state."
      "I don't think so. Not from what I see in the mind of this one."
      "They do seem quite physically oriented, now that you mention it. Well, help me look proper for being seen by others of this race. We have a mission to complete."
      "Yes, Commander. Back for more clothes. Get out of those and we'll start over again."
      Klupkex helped his commander out of his subject's clothes and into a different set, having to concentrate once again, now that the pain was fading. Klupkex was happy when he had his commander dressed properly. The flow let off considerably, but never completely. He growled in disgust at the baseness of physical lifeforms. That release only unlocked further emotions from the subconscious, the frustration of dealing in rejection.
      The psyche of the subject was so geared to rejection and suppression to avoid rejection. It made him want to be sick, something he never experienced outside a body. That was why he disliked the service so much. It would be a long time before Klupkex again accepted duty with grace.
      He broke into tears at the loneliness, an amplified response to his commander's rejection. The commander got quite fussy at his tears, snapping repeatedly for him to shut up. Klupkex shouted frantically in return, scolding his commander for being insensitive and cruel.
      Voices were raised between them, and a full burst of emotion issued from the both of them. They ignored the banging on the walls as the mutual assault continued. Emotions ran rampant, and it turned into an accusatory shoving match. Klupkex told the commander that he didn't know how to dress, so the commander tore off the clothes that had taken so much time to get on correctly. His commander stormed off into the bathroom, fuming, and Klupkex went back to the room where he took control.
      Separated, they realized that these two subjects would never work as vehicles for their assignment, and decided to abandon them for hopefully a better choice. They both placed their subjects where they were originally and withdrew. The subjects fell asleep, as when first taken.

      Mark shook his groggy head as he woke, wondering why he had fallen asleep in the middle of the day, especially now. He had never taken a nap after a fight with Leslie. He felt wet clothes and wondered how they got that way. He decided to see what she had done. He wandered through the house looking for her, and found her still in the shower, sleeping as well. He reached in and shook her shoulder.
      She came awake, startled. Then she focused on Mark. Her brow furled.
      "Hey, before you get mad, let me say something. This is weird, but I fell asleep too. And when I woke up, I felt as if I had gotten everything off of my chest. I know it's dumb, but. .
      "Mark, I feel the same thing. It's like I've calmed down, settled my anger, spent it. I'm sorry we fought. It was just it's my time and things were making me unhappy, and I started taking them out on you, and you are not my problem."
      "Bury the hatchet?"
      "On one condition."
      "What?"
      "Wash my hair?"
      "I guess I can roll up my sleeves."
      "I meant in here with me."
      "I could do that too."
      "Then quit stalling."
      "As soon as I convince myself I'm not dreaming."
      She nipped him playfully with her teeth.
      "Okay, I'm convinced." He laughed, and slipped out of his clothes. The stall door slid shut and giggles emerged.

     

      Klupkex was not happy about the alternative. This one did not have the same type of desires as the previous one. This one was filled with hatred for people with different colored skins than its own. This puzzled Klupkex, him wondering how such a thing as pigmentation could be such a determining factor. He pleaded his case to his commander. Fortunately, his commander had chosen the spouse of the subject that Klupkex engaged, and it was a common practice for Klupkex's subject to beat its spouse when upset. It didn't take long for his commander to decide there were better options.
     

      Klupkex sighed when they were recalled from the planet, their mission canceled due to unforeseen circumstances elsewhere. He released the form he held, and ceased experiencing what his mind called puking. It had not been pleasant. The soured smells, the wrenching stomach, the itchy skin, the state of intoxication and addiction had all been that close to overloading his control. It was awful, but he had learned a new one to tell when they returned to their home planet. Just wait until his fellow Hrenkas heard of the horrors inside this creature. He practiced the name "wino'' for future reference.