Introduction 8

Prologue
Dream/Vision (3 December 1963, Moscow)

In the hallway, Jen looked at her reflection. The thought would be that a Quantum Leap type body switching would be recognizable. Her face, however, looked like her own. Older, perhaps, and clear of acne, but still her own. Maybe I just recognize it as my own face. There are apparently other things which I have not noticed as unusual. Well, my eye color is correct – light brown. My hair is brown, short and easy to maintain. … Besides, nothing seems to indicate that I can't detect the oddities when looking for them. And this doesn't feel unusual, unlike the other aspects where my instincts seem to be split. 

She took out her passport from the purse. She turned to the page with her picture. It did look like her. She compared that image to the one on her id. They matched. She then compared the image to her reflection. They also matched. She looked back at her KGB id. The feeling of dread returned. I can't be this person.

Okay. I need to calm down. She breathed in slowly and breathed out even slower. There is other information here. I need to know who this woman is. She looked through the passport. My birthday is incorrect, although that would be understandable considering the circumstance. My place of birth, however, is close to my real one. Perhaps they couldn't hide my accent and mannerisms. … Although this would only make sense if this person is me, not if I were put into another's life. … I guess similar principles may still apply. Something like a “Life on Mars” type circumstance would require the other individual to still be me.