Hello, thanks for taking my call. This happened in Fresno, summer of 1983. I'd just moved to California from Ohio, needed to get my license transferred over. I went to the DMV on Stanislaus Street. Anyone who's been to a DMV knows what it's like, fluorescent lights, long lines, that particular smell of recycled air and cheap disinfectant. I got there around nine thirty in the morning. Took a number. I remember I was annoyed because I'd left my coffee in the car, and I knew I'd be there for hours. The waiting area had maybe thirty people in it. Rows of orange plastic chairs, all facing these little windows where the DMV workers sat. I sat down near the back. Had a clear view of the whole room. Could see all the windows, all the people waiting. I'd brought a newspaper but I wasn't really reading it. Just kind of zoning out, watching people get called up one by one.
There was this woman sitting a few rows ahead of me. Late twenties, dark hair, normal looking. Wearing a green dress, I remember that. She kept checking her watch like she had somewhere else to be. Her number got called, G47 or something like that. She went up to window number three. The worker there was this older guy, balding, thick glasses. Very matter-of-fact, you know how DMV workers are. No expression, just going through the motions. I watched her hand over her paperwork. He looked it over, typed some things into his computer. Then he pointed her toward the photo area. It was right there, maybe ten feet from his window. Just a white backdrop, a camera on a tripod, and a stool. She sat down on the stool. Straightened her hair a bit. The camera flashed.
The worker looked at his computer screen. I could see it from where I was sitting, I had a good angle on it. And on that screen, the photo that came up... it wasn't her. The face in the photo had gray skin. Smooth, like plastic or rubber. No hair at all. And the eyes were huge,completely black, no whites, no pupils. Just these enormous black ovals that took up half the face. The head was too large, elongated. The neck was thin. I'm looking at this woman sitting on the stool. Normal woman, green dress, dark hair. Then I'm looking at the screen. Gray skin, black eyes, no hair. The worker didn't react at all. He just looked at the screen, clicked something with his mouse, and said, 'That'll work.' Like it was the most normal thing in the world. Like he was looking at a regular driver's license photo.
[ Story continues in the full game... ]