continued to erase it. The tourists were usually disappointed, and the visits slowly trailed off. The only fly in my ointment was that my health was beginning to bother me, but it was not serious, yet.
As the presence of aliens spread throughout poorer countries, it slowly began to seep into the richer countries. Western countries set up special low-level x-ray machines to irradiate people entering their countries in order to kill any aliens that might try to enter unnoticed. But it was impossible to irradiate everyone entering a country; some people cannot be exposed to radiation of any kind. Plus there were questions of endangering the human public, not just the aliens. This procedure was short lived. The U.S. Congress passed a law that stated no alien hosts were allowed to enter the country. The Supreme Court overturned this. The demand in the U.S. began to increase, and, as we learned from drugs, where there is a need, there is always someone willing to satisfy it for a price. When a person realizes that he is dying, it is surprising to what lengths he will go to stay alive. U.S. citizens began to take trips overseas where they would become hosts and then return to the U.S. Once here, the alien could clone as many copies as needed. It was similar to an epidemic, except there were people lining up to get infected. The CDC developed a simple blood test that would indicate whether someone was a host or not. There were several attempts to mandate blood tests and to have alien hosts wear badges, but, since their presence could not be proven to be harmful to the host, just the opposite actually, or the public, none of these regulations held up in court. Religious organizations were still vehemently against the aliens, as were all conservative and some liberal organizations. This helped keep the spread of the aliens down in the U.S.
Another thing, which helped keep the numbers down in the U.S. and other countries, was that many people considered alien hosts lepers. There are a number of cases where hosts were driven out of communities or even killed. In some areas, the hosts would form their own communities to get away from the persecution. Religions would expel any member who became an alien host. Families became estranged. Hosts are not allowed to hold certain jobs, including government jobs. Though some jobs require periodic blood testing, in most cases the easiest thing to do is to keep quiet. It is almost impossible to tell someone is a host just by looking. I am sure there are many hosts that go through their daily routine without anyone knowing they are a host.
Becoming a host has become, if not accepted, at least tolerated. There are places one can go to become a host. The type of person that becomes a host crosses racial, ideological, religious, sexual, and class lines. There is no typical type of host; it depends on one's desire to survive and to risk the loss of self. Today, the alien hosts represent about 10% of the U.S. population and about 20% of the world population, and they are still increasing. The percentage will probably never reach 100% voluntarily, but it will be interesting to see what happens when they get to be over 50%.
The main reason that I am writing this account at this time is that my health has continued to decline. About a month ago, I was diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer and am expected to live only for about six more months. My doctor said that there was nothing human medicine could do, implying that the "alien cure" was my only hope. As would be expected, this was quite a shock to me. I was now in the position that so many people around the world have had to face. When one is faced with death, it is amazing how the idea of having an alien inside one’s body doesn’t seem as repugnant as when one’s health is fine. Death seems so final. I have talked it over with Jenny, and, partially based upon her father’s experience, we decided that I would be better off as an alien host than a corpse. It will mean that I must retire from my job, since alien hosts are not allowed to hold government positions. This was okay with me since I was ready to slow down. It is ironic, because it had never occurred to me that I would become a host even as my health worsened.
Since the procedure is tomorrow, in about seven days, I guess I will find out the answer to the burning question: does a person retain his free will or not? Of course, I won’t be able to tell anyone, so, in at least that respect, it is like dying.
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