East/West by Dr Oolong Seemingly

   West awoke to blackness.  Not complete blackness, there were stars overhead. Billions and billions.  West had never seen so many stars, too many stars . . . 
   Where am I?

   "Is she asleep?"
   "We're joined at the neck, not the brain," East snapped. 
           
   West raised her left arm, the only one she could control, toward the night sky, but they were just out of reach.  Her arm drifted back down to her side as if underwater.
  I am dreaming.
      
   "Her arm rose up," Dr. Jonathan Taurus-Littrow insisted, confused by the woman's sudden anger.
   "She's often restless in sleep. I can't tell you how many times she's poked me in the eye, or punched my nose while we slept."
   She sensed her sister was with her–she was always in reach but never in sight–so she was not afraid. West saw through East's eyes.The landscape was dusty, dark and barren, illuminated by sporadic, soft white beacons. She saw what looked like huge, white balloons bouncing lazily across the landscape, lit like fireflies. They appeared to be herded by a lovely pink angel.
   It was beautiful.

   "Is it not true that dicephalic parapagus twins share thoughts, at least some forms of rudimentary consciousness?" The doctor asked.
   "That's a myth," East lied.

   I must be in Heaven. West thought then fell back asleep.

   "I must be in Heaven..." was all East received. She paled. "I thought you said that the Neuro-blocker would work for fifteen hours? I'm not prepared for her to wake up early."
   "Yes, yes," he explained. "But many things function unpredictably here."

   'Here' was the dark side of the moon, more specifically The Fermi Institute for The Obese, an outlaw research institute far from the prying eyes, laws and regulations of that planet below.  Located on the rim of the Fermi Crater, it could not be viewed from Earth and even the occasional satellite crossing would be unable to distinguish it from the surrounding rocks, as it was mostly sub-lunar. One had to be in the know to even know it existed, much less be invited to become a patient.

   "Have you had enough site seeing?" Dr. Taurus-Littrow asked.
   East spun lazily in her high-bounced arc to face him. Even here they made a strange sight: two space-suited figures taking loping bounds across the harsh, dark landscape; one beautiful and slender, with dual bubble helmets; the other, an obese, silvery beach ball of a man, unexpectedly graceful in this element.
   "I can't wait for West to see this. She loves stars more than anything. Her greatest wish has always been to see the stars from space, her vision of heaven," East sighed. 
         "She'll see it all, soon enough," Taurus-Littrow said, glancing at his watch. "We should get back." He bounced off.
            East waited a moment longer. She looked to the stars for forgiveness. She hated tricking her conjoined sister; she loved her with a love that was entangled into her soul, something impossible for separates to understand. I am doing this for her as much as me! she insisted.
   She felt West stir. What are you dreaming about, dear sister?  Do you have any idea what is about to happen?  Are you excited to be free?  Are you afraid?  Will you still love me? East wondered.
   Neither her sister nor the stars answered.
           
   Dr. Taurus-Littrow eased his bulky frame through the door. East noticed an unusual amount of massively obese people, dulled and passive, being led through the halls by attendant women in smart pink jumpsuits.
   "Who are those people?" she asked.
   "Left-Overs," he replied dismissively. "Your Somas are in B.D. 3." They made their way down a warren of passages to a closed, frosted door marked: Birthing Dock 3. He opened the door.

   East was dumbstruck by the sight before her. A slip of dream-thought from West penetrated her mind.
   We are binary stars, linked and forever circling.
   We shine and shine and shine...

   It had been difficult keeping the secret from West. Circumstance naturally allowed for no privacy, but they had taken a solemn pledge to respect each other's needs.West had been naturally curious when she noticed an onslaught of scrambled correspondences from one
'DRT-L'.
   "A secret lover?" She had teased."Is he handsome?"
   "If you must know, it's a secret for your birthday. So mind your own business."
   West had laughed her airy, sparkle of a laugh. "Now I'll have to figure out what to get you."
   "You're all I need," East had replied, choking on the enormity of what she was attempting.
           
   Later that night East had injected a neuro-blocker into West as she slept. Fortunately their vehicle had been specially equipped for either to drive independently ­– the perk of being an elite fashion model sensation–allowing her to make her clandestine rendezvous.
   The industrial complex had displayed no signage only discreet unit numbers. East had located 1147, was scanned, verified then allowed in. She had been met by Dr. Laura Taurus-Littrow, Jonathan's sister, slim, handsome and warm (all that he was not). Funds were exchanged, legal waivers signed (most likely unenforceable) and a private rocket secured.
   "You are doing the right thing," Laura had assured her with a hug. "Your sister will be forever thankful."
   Next she had known, East was slipping from Earth's gravity. She slept as the blue planet dwindled below and then awoken on the Moon.
           
   "I want her to see the big picture first," East said.
   "You do know she can't back out," Taurus-Littrow added apprehensively. "We have invested considerable funds in you two."
   "Don't worry. I've never had any trouble leading her along."
   They were in Hangar C going over the checklist and instructions for the Rover.  It was largely foolproof: program in the coordinates and then set the autopilot. East/West climbed in.  
   "May I ask why you have not chosen a thinner body that would allow you to live on Earth with your sister?" East asked.
   Taurus-Littrow sucked his lips as if seeking to taste the correct response. This was a question most patients eventually asked, and in turn would have to ask themselves. He had an answer prepared, but it was a lie.
   "It was essential that one of us remain permanently here to oversee the operation.  We cannot operate legally on Earth for religious and ethical reasons, and though I cannot be extradited, I cannot ever return to Earth without facing severe consequences. It was decided that Laura, also obese, would take a Soma replacement, and I would stay here. Given the lesser gravity, I am quite comfortable here, so I saw no reason to exchange."
   East nodded and as she rolled the Rover out the exit ramp, she realized that she suddenly knew the answer to a puzzle that had plagued a handful of conspiracy theorists, namely: To where had all the obese suddenly disappeared? 
   In 2061 the Extreme Consumption Act had been introduced in the World Court making excess consumption illegal, outlawing the amount one could consume in one sitting.  It had become fashionable for the elite to gorge in secret restaurants that trended fast and large, in direct proportion to their clientele. If one had been found to weigh more than one-and-a-half times their ideal body weight, they would be incarcerated and sentenced to diet and exercise until their ideal weight was achieved.
   The elite obese had gone underground, seemingly en-masse.  The World Court had been satisfied. Earth had continued to spin. Only a few wondered or had even cared what had become of the obese.
   It should have been obvious, East realized, bumping along the uneven surface.  What better place for the obese than on a satellite where no matter how heavy you were, you were only 1/6th of your Earth weight?  Much more than a fat farm, this had become a haven for outlaw genetic experimentation, advanced cloning, Neuro-programming and transference, which was why she and West were here.

   Dr. Taurus-Littrow went into a private inner office.  Left-Over Laura, obese, slack-jawed and dimmed, ate ice cream and looked up at him happily.
   "Wan' sum?" she asked through a mouth full of chocolate and whipped cream.
   "No, thank you. You enjoy."
   "Okie-dokie!" She happily went about her business.
        
   'Left-Overs' were an occasional, unfortunate side effect of a soma transference.  It was listed in the small print, but few saw it or understood the ramification. Generally a transfer was complete, but on the rare occasion that some residue of the former self lingered, a Left-Over remained. It varied from individual, but anywhere from a mere flicker to 60% full retention could exist. What to do with the Left-Over was an ethical, moral and very personal decision. On Luna there were no laws to dictate policy, so Dr. Taurus-Littrow left the decision solely up to the individual. His sister, however, had told him to destroy her Left-Over as it had made her feel creepy. But Jonathan couldn't bear to do it.  Knowing Laura would never come back here, and he could never go home, he had lied.

   East approached the horizon. She held the hypo-plunge to West's neck and slowed the Rover down to a crawl as the light side of the Moon came into view.
   West beheld the amazing sight: a curved line of grey-white surface, scissor-cut by a stark, black horizon.
   "Where are we?" she whispered.
    "Just watch," East croaked.  She hadn't expected the sight to be so profoundly beautiful. West was the poetic one–the spiritualist–while she was the pragmatic–the 'get it done girl'–who fearlessly pushed them through all obstacles.
   When Earth finally slid into view, their heart stopped.
   "Happy Birthday, Sis," East managed to whisper, but she wasn't sure West heard as she was too busy 'aweing' and 'ooohing'.
   "My God," West exclaimed, taking her sister's hand. She turned her head as much as she could to touch cheeks, their version of a kiss.
   They watched Earth spin in silence.
   "There's more," East announced, feeling like Judas.
   "How can there possibly be more?" West sighed, so trusting.
  
   "I don't understand," West said upon entering Birthing Dock 3. "What is this?"             Soma East and Soma West stood side-by-side, identical twins (save one had blue, the other brown eyes) in the soft, glowing light, hands held, no longer joined at the neck. They were nude, their skin flawless and their hair luxurious; twin shells waiting for their spark of life.        
   "Imagine two legs of your own to walk or run in any direction.  Or having the freedom to make singular, unshared love...To be truly free, truly you and you alone at last?"
   "I don't understand," West repeated, "Is this what you want?  To be apart from me.  Forever?"
   Their blood ran cold, East couldn't control the feeling.
   "No. No. We would still be together. Our bodies would be separate but our heart's will always be together."
   "Our minds will be transferred to those bodies?"
   "Yes. Aren't they beautiful?  You can choose, blue eyes or green!"
   "What about our souls?" West wondered.
    Dr. Taurus-Littrow stepped in, attempting to assuage her fears. "A soma placement is not like a clone.  We 'map' your consciousness onto this new version of you, and activate it.  You come alive in this new body with all memories intact.  All you felt, thought, imagined, dreamt will carry along with you. Your new life will start up just where this one left off, except as two separate beings."
   "And our old body?" West asked.
   "It is disposed. Without a functioning brain the autotomic support systems shut down." Taurus-Littrow cleared his throat. "On rare occasions some retention of the host body remains-"
   "In English!" West insisted.
   "What remains, a Left-Over we call them, may have some slight cognitive abilities."
   "Lovely name," West replied sarcastic. "What do you do with the Left-Overs?"
   "If the Source insists on keeping it alive, it can continue on living a peaceful life here."
   "I don't understand... I would be in two places at once?"
   Dr. Taurus-Littrow cleared his throat. "Well, yes, in a manner of speaking–"
   East stepped in."What's important is that we could return to Earth and begin living a normal life. Dr. Taurus-Littrow has created an extensive cover story detailing our fictional operation and plastic surgery."
   "So," West tried to reason it all out. "I could choose to remain here. In this body, while you transfer, to that..." she pointed to the Soma East.
   "Why would you want that?" East asked, shocked. "Haven't you always wished to be apart? To be normal? To be whole?"
   "I think God made us the way we are for a reason," West said simply. "I, we, have had no experience living any other way. This is normal, this is whole."
   East felt a helpless wave of emotion wash over her. "How can you assume that this is not all part of a divine plan?  What if our destinies are inside those bodies?"
   "That may be true," West conceded. "But this is all so overwhelming. Please allow me to meditate on it." She closed her eyes and went deep inside.
   The two Somas stared at her blankly.


   "I love you, East," West said after several minutes, "but I don't want to risk losing my soul. I have no other birthday gift for you, I'll give you this. You go ahead.  I'll stay here as I am."
   East was stunned.
   "You want to stay in this body? Here? Without me?"
   "No! I don't ever want to leave you, but I also don't want to imprison you. You deserve to be normal."
   "I don't know that I can do that," East cried. "I thought of this as a great adventure we'd experience together.  I never considered ... "
   West pulled East's head close to her.
   "You gave me Heaven, the least I can do is give you Earth."
   East turned toward the doctor, incredulous, tears flowing down her cheek.  "Is that even possible?"
   The doctor rubbed his chin, deep in thought. "I had anticipated this ... "


   West watched the Earthrise over the horizon. She came here every day at the same time, just as California was spinning into view below.
   "East. I love you," she whispered to the detached part of her skimming freely on the planet below. 
   The part of East that was with her, had eyes perpetually closed in a deep sleep, (for that is how West had to imagine her, always asleep, always dreaming). 
   If West could have turned her head enough, she would have seen her sister's lips silently echo her words: I love you.