The FMC Corporation Green River Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The FMC Corporation Green River - Coursework Example The FMC Corporation Green River specializes in chemicals while one of its sister plant at Aberdeen deals with the manufacture of guided missile canisters for the U.S. Navy. These are two far apart industries. The facility moreover possesses numerous product lines making it able to successfully satisfy its global market share. The fact that the plant's employees are members of the United Steel Workers of America is in itself a tremendous motivation. Moreover, the plant does business under FMC corporate strategies, thereby enjoying considerable flexibility in how it runs its businesses (Carter, 1999).Looking at the sister plant of FMC at Aberdeen, one notices some difference between the two FMC Corporations. The FMC Aberdeen plant is younger and smaller than The FMC Corporation Green River and quite different in that its management is at its bare minimum basically because most of the work is done by self-steered work groups as opposed to the massive, older Green River, Wyoming facility , which is operating in totally a different industry, as earlier established (Carter, 1999).Not withstanding the differences existing between the two plants, the Green River Wyoming facility plant manager is trying to evaluate whether the extraordinary management approach at Aberdeen would suit his facility and be able to emulate a few management approaches (Carter, 1999).... The intention here is to identify the type of organizational design that will best suit the Wyoming facility (Carter, 1999). In analyzing the organizational design of FMC Corporation's Green River, Wyoming facility, it is crucial to match the structure of the organization as closely as possible to the objectives of the organization. The design process attempts to advance and facilitate the efforts of members within the organization. Therefore in connection to FMC Corporation's Green River, Wyoming facility, under the capable leadership of the establishment's site manager, Kenneth Dailey, the organizational plan should be considered as an internal change within the organization and at the same time attempt to encourage all its members to work in unity so as to define the wishes of the organization and then finally come up with structures aimed at accomplishing the said wishes most effectively (Carter, 1999). Considering the purpose of FMC Green River, in Wyoming, which is to mine and manufacture sodium carbonate soda ash, its design should be in conformity to this key function. For this reason, it will be prudent for this facility to maintain its status as the largest sodium carbonate soda ash plant in the world, since it relies on the coal and natural gas abundant in the Wyoming basin (Carter, 1999). Alternatives and Recommendations The alternatives open to FMC Green River, in Wyoming, are basically to patent with other companies in the sodium production process. The company can also utilize some of its existing infrastructure, and obtain a continuous revenue flow from the sale of the sodium. It is also well known that Green River has the world's largest reserves of trona mineral, which is mined and processed onsite. This, in addition to abundant supplies

Sexually transmitted diseases Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Sexually transmitted diseases - Essay Example The foremost factor that contributes to the pending problem is that people are not knowledgeable about the dangers and risks of sexually transmitted diseases. In-depth awareness of the causes, risks, and effects of STDs is clearly lacking in the public. Such lack of awareness is evident in the lifestyle that many Americans live today. Although people may have realized the need for safe sex, they continue to be uninformed about the other ways by which they can contract sexually transmitted diseases. Increasing awareness regarding sexually transmitted diseases has become a growing concern in today's society. Various means of educating the public have been continuously been explored. However, the most important public information source has yet to be fully utilized, the media. The media in the modern times has served as the primary means people gain knowledge about the various issues that are present in society. It is from the media that people get information about current issues ranging from politics, global affairs, economics, and public health. The media is the information resource that has the most extensive reach. Moreover, the influence of media in the lives of people is vast. It can sway public opinion towards one side. (Stoughton) With such great influence over public perception and opinion, media can easily promote awareness regarding important issues such as STDs just as it promotes awareness regarding violence so easily. This paper will discuss the role of one form of media, newspaper, in increasing the public's knowledge and awareness regarding sexually transmitted diseases. New articles found in the nationally-circulated newspapers that tackle the issue of STDs will be analyzed to determine the extent to which the issue is discussed. Furthermore, past researches and studies will likewise be reviewed. The primary objective of this study will be to determine the extent to which print news media informs the public regarding sexually transmitted diseases. Review of Related Literature In this section, previous studies will be discussed to determine what their findings suggest about the coverage that the subject of STDs receives from print news media. Also, news articles from nationally-circulated newspapers will be analyzed to ascertain whether sexually transmitted diseases received ample substantive news reporting from the newspapers. Furthermore, this section will discuss how print new media reports STDs to the public and whether such kind of reporting contributes to increasing the awareness of the public significantly regarding the problem. A study conducted by Davidson and Wallack (2004) involved a content analysis of articles from the leading American newspapers to determine the type of new coverage that print media outlets gave to the issue of sexually transmitted diseases. The results of the study revealed a lack of substantive reporting on the subject of sexually transmitted diseases. Davidson and Wallack found that less that one-fourth of the articles they reviewed contained anything that pertains to the causes, consequences, prevention, signs, or symptoms, screening, transmission, treatment, trends or rates of STDs. (2004). Most of the articles contained statistical information regarding sexually transmitted diseases. According to Davidson and Wallack (2004), statistical information may be what journalists perceive as newsworthy about STDs; journalists report that they are

Socio-Cultural Influences on Human Sexuality

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Socrates and Socrates: A Philosophical Pair for the Ages Essay

In Walter Mosley’s Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned, the reader is introduced to Socrates Fortlow, an ex-convict who served twenty-seven years for murder and rape. Fortlow is plagued by guilt and, seeing the chaos in his town, feels a need to improve not only his own standards of living, but also those of others in Watts. He attempts this by teaching the people in Watts the lessons he feels will resolve the many challenges the neighbourhood faces. The lessons Fortlow teaches and the methods by which he teaches them are very similar to those of the ancient Greek philosopher for whom Fortlow was named: â€Å"‘We was poor and country. My mother couldn’t afford school so she figured that if she named me after somebody smart then maybe I’d get smart’† (Mosley, 44). Though the ancient Greek was born to be a philosopher and Fortlow assumed the philosopher role as a response to the poor state of his life and Watts, both resulted in the same requir ed instruction to their populations. The two Socrates’ both utilize a form of teaching that requires their pupil to become engaged in the lesson. They emphasize ethics, logic, and knowledge in their instruction, and place importance on epistemology and definitions because they feel a problem cannot be solved if one does not first know what it is. Socrates was essential in first introducing these concepts to the world and seemed to be born with them inherent to his being, Fortlow has learned the ideals through life experience and is a real-world application in an area that needs the teachings to get on track. While the two men bear many similarities, their differences they are attributed primarily as a result of their circumstances provide the basis of Fortlow’s importance in Watts and as a modern-... ...Devious or Divine." Greece & Rome 2nd ser. 32.1 (1985): 32-41. Web. . Groeller, Alison D. "From Rage to Reason: Race and Politics In Walter Mosley's Socrates Fortlow Novels." Crossroutes: The Meanings of "Race" in the 21st Century. Ed. Paola Boi and Sabine Broeck. Munster: Lit Verlag, 2003. 161-72. Google Scholar. Web. Mosley, Walter. Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned. New York: Washington Square, 1998. Print. "Socrates." Free Study Guides for Shakespeare and Other Authors. Web. 10 Mar. 2012. . "Socrates." The Basics of Philosophy. Web. 10 Mar. 2012. . Taylor, C. C. W. Socrates. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1998. Print. Wilson, Charles E. Walter Mosley: A Critical Companion. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2003.

Demographic Segmentation

Study of a demographic segment and its sub segment falling in the age group 18 year to 25 years Saneel Gaonkar IBS Gurgaon Study of a demographic segment and its sub segment falling in the age group 18 year to 25 years Introduction Different kinds of people display different buying patterns even in a segment of age group 18 years to 25 years. This truth is well understood by those people who are responsible for market research, product development, pricing, sales and strategy. Market segmentation is the identification of portions of market that are different from one another. Every individual falls under one or other demographic segment of the society ‘Mr. Philip Kotler has defined a market segment as a group of customers who share a similar set of needs and wants (Philip Kotler, 2009). ’ A market segment is a sub-set of a market made up of people or organizations with one or more characteristics that cause them to demand similar product and/or services based on qualities of those products such as price or function. The criteria that a true market segment should meet are as follows: distinct from other segments, homogenous within the segment, it responds similarly to market stimulus and it can be reached through market intervention. Researchers try to define segments by looking at descriptive characteristics: geographic, demographic and psychographic. Then they examine whether these customer segments exhibit different needs or product responses. Few other researchers have tried to define segments looking at behavioral consideration such as consumer responses to benefits, use occasions or brands. Researchers than see whether different characteristics are associated with each consumer response segment. (Philip Kotler, 2009). The key here is to identify customer differences. The major segmentation variables are Geographic, demographic, psychographic, and behavioral segmentation. Living in metropolitan city like Mumbai exposes you to a wide competitive market in all sectors. Segmenting Consumers in Mumbai by using these segmenting techniques gives a thorough idea of the consumers in Mumbai Geographic Geographic segment calls for division of the market into different geographical units such as nation, states, region, countries, cities or neighborhoods. In India geographic segmentation assumes importance due to variation in consumer preferences and purchase habits across different regions, and across different states. In India rural and urban markets differ on number of different essential parameters like literacy levels, income, spending power. There is a vast difference in infrastructure such as electricity, telephone network and roads. The need to segment the market geographically becomes clearer when we look at some of the characteristics of the market. In India there are 5000 towns and over 6, 38,000 villages (Pradeep Kashyap, 2003-04) (Philip Kotler, 2009) Region Mumbai falls in Western region of India. There are few significances of this region that needs attention, Maharashtra the state with Mumbai as its capital derives its culture from Indo – Aryan Vedic culture influenced by the Maratha Empire and the British Empire. City of Mumbai According to 2011 census, the population of Mumbai was 12,478,447 (The Registrar General & Census Commissioner, 2011). (censusindia. gov. in) According to extrapolations carried out by the World Gazetteer in 2010, Mumbai has a population of 13,830,884 and the Mumbai Metropolitan Area has a population of 21,347,412. The population density is estimated to be about 20,482persons per square kilometer. The sex ratio was 838 (females per 1,000 males) in the island city, 857 in the suburbs, and 848 as a whole in Greater Mumbai, all numbers lower than the national average of 914 females per 1,000 males. PopulationIndia. com, 2011) The low sex ratio is partly because of the large number of male migrants who come to the city to work (â€Å"Parsis top literacy, sex-ratio charts in city†, 2004) As Per 2011 census, Greater Mumbai, the area under the administration of the BMC, has a literacy rate of 94. 7 %, higher than the national average of 86. 7%. (The Registrar General & Census Commiss ioner, 2011)Sixteen major languages of India are also spoken in Mumbai, most common being Marathi, Hindi, Gujarati and English. The religions followed in Mumbai include Hindus (67. 39) , Muslims (18. 56%), Buddhists (5. 22%), Jain (3. 99%), Christians (4. 2%), Sikhs (0. 58%), Parsis and Jews making the rest of the population. (Mehta, 2004) Mumbai is also home to the largest population of Parsi Zoroastrians in the world, with about 80,000 Parsis in Mumbai. (â€Å"The world's successful diasporas†) Looking at the data it is clear fact that Mumbai is a large market with intelligent customer. Amount of exposure to brands and products a person goes through in Mumbai is vast. Culture This Research also includes finding new potential markets in the age group of 18 to 25 years, for this purpose knowing the culture of Mumbai is also essential. The culture of any place is always determined from its people, cuisine, religion, language and festivals. Mumbai has a mixture of people from various communities and subsequently they follow different religions. The metropolitan observes modern trends; here people enjoy participating in all festivals irrespective of caste, creed and color. Mumbai is the birthplace of Indian cinema. The influence of the Bollywood in the cities culture is observed. The cultural heritage of Mumbai presents a combination of old and new. The ‘bindaas' or carefree approach of the Mumbaikars comes alive in their dialect of Mumbaiya Hindi too. (Principal Cities) Economy Mumbai is the financial and commercial capital of India. It generates 6. 16% of the total GDP. It is the economic hub of India, contributing 10% to factory employment 25% of industrial output, 33% of income tax collection, 60% of custom duty collection, 20% central excise duty collection ,40% of India’s foreign trade , Rs 4000 crore in corporate taxes. â€Å"The world's successful diasporas†) In April 2008, Mumbai was ranked seventh in the list of â€Å"Top Ten Cities for Billionaires† by Forbes magazine, (Forbes Magzine) Demographic In demographic segmentation, the market is divided into groups on the basis of variables such as age, family size, family lifecycle, gender, income, occupation, education, religion, race, generation, nationality, and social clas s. Demographic variables are very popular among marketers as they are often associated with consumer needs and wants; another is that they are easy to measure. (Philip Kotler, 2009) Age and Lifecycle Age and Lifecycle are important variables to define segments as the needs and wants of the consumer change with age. Johnson & Johnson’s baby oil which is popular in India is a classic example of product of infants. (Philip Kotler, 2009) This research is focused on the market segment which falls in the age group of 18 years – 25 years. Consumers falling into this age group may have the falling into this group may be college going students, working, pursuing higher education, married and working, having their own business . Their wants and needs differ from each other. College going students will have their own wants and needs, what a college student would need is education, books, clothes, food his wants are a cricket bat, mobile, bike etc, he may desire to get education in a higher graded college, a car, Touch screen mobile etc. Working consumers have different needs compared to students. Working consumers may need a mobile, laptop, bike, blazers; he automatically becomes a prospective customer to housing development companies, car companies, furniture companies, aviation companies, Food chains, financial service companies, holiday tours and travel package companies etc. Consumer who I married and working may need jewelry for his wife, furniture for his house and other consumer durable and non durable products, prospective customers for car manufacturers, Insurance companies etc. Consumers having their own business may need, a working space, desks, electricity, ac’s, he may become prospective customer for insurance companies, luxury car companies, High end products etc. So Consumer pursuing higher education falls between these four sub-segments, His needs are all a mixture of all three, he will be getting married so all the needs and wants of a married working is a part of this consumer group. So by this we can infer that this wants and needs of this group is a mixture of all the other sub- segments. Slicing this segment further by Gender we find Men and women are different in their behavior, Research shows that women are likely to pick up the product without prompting while men often like to read product information before buying. (Philip Kotler, 2009) Income Income segmentation is a long standing practice in variety of products and services. Income determines the ability of consumers to participate in the market exchange and hence this is a basic segmentation variable (Philip Kotler, 2009) Slicing the segment on the base of income we may see college going student, Students pursuing higher education are dependent on their family’s income , while other sub- segment are earning consumers who control their consumption pattern through their own pocket. Psychographic Segmentation Psychographic Segmentation is the process of using psychology and demographics to better understand consumers. In psychographic segmentation, buyers are divided into different group based on psychological / personality traits, lifestyle or values. People within the same demographic group can exhibit very different psychographic profile. (Philip Kotler, 2009) VALS (â€Å"Values, Attitudes and Lifestyles†) (Philip Kotler, 2009)is a research methodology used for psychographic market segmentation. VALS was developed in 1978 by Arnold Mitchell and his subordinated at SRI International VALS Framework and Segment Innovator: These Consumers have the highest incomes, and such high self-esteem and abundant resources that they can indulge in any or all self-orientations and are on the leading edge of change, Image is important to them as an expression of taste, independence, and character. Their consumer choices are directed toward the â€Å"finer things in life. † ? Thinkers: These consumers are the high-resource group of those who are motivated by ideals. Their characteristics are mature , responsible, well-educated professionals. They have high incomes but are practical consumers and rational decision makers. Believers: These consumers are the low-resource group of those who are motivated by ideals. They are predictable and conservative consumers who favor established brands. They have modest incomes. ?Achievers. These consumers are the high-resource group, motivated by achievement. Work-oriented people who get their satisfaction from their jobs and families fall under this category. They are politically conservative and respect authority and the status quo. They favor established products and services that show off their success to their peers. ?Strivers. These consumers are the low-resource group who are motivated by achievements. They have values very similar to achievers but have fewer economic, social, and psychological resources. Style is extremely important to them as they strive to emulate people they admire. ?Experiencers: These consumers are the high-resource group of those who are motivated by self-expression. They are the youngest and energetic of all the segments, . They have a lot of energy, which they pour into physical exercise and social activities. They are avid consumers, spending heavily on clothing, fast-foods, music, and other youthful favorites, with particular emphasis on new products and services. Makers: These consumers with low-resource group of those who are motivated by self-expression. They are practical people with value self-sufficiency. They are focused on the familiar-family, work, and physical recreation-and have little interest in the broader world. As consumers, they appreciate practical and functional products. ?Survivors. These consumers are with lowest incomes. They have t oo few resources to be included in any consumer self-orientation and are thus located below the rectangle. Oldest of all the segments, with a median age of 61. They tend to be brand-loyal consumers. The age group taken into consideration here is 18 to 25 year. Some of them may fall into Experiencers segment who are young and energetic and who are motivated by self expression. Some of them are thinkers, i. e. Smart buyers. Behavioral Segmentation Behavioral segmentation divides a population based on their behavior, the way the population respond to, use or know of a product. Consumer behavior is a subject studied in depth over time in marketing management. This is mainly because there are several factors which a consumer takes into consideration before taking a decision. Thus consumer decision making is affected by his behavior and that is exactly how the behavioral segments are targeted. (Philip Kotler, 2009) Forms of Behavioral segmentation Buying on occasions: Buying on occasions is the first form of behavioral segmentation. Products such as chocolates and premium foods will sell on festivals. Similarly, confectioneries will sell when there is a party. Thus these products are generally targeted by behavioral segmentation. Benefits sought – Several products are targeted towards the benefits sought by the customer. Recently, there has been a war between Colgate and sensodyne to target the people who have sensitive teeth. Similarly, there are other toothpastes which are targeted towards whitening of teeth. Hair shampoos are targeted towards split ends, anti dandruff or others. Loyalty – There are two ways to grow a business. First is to acquire new customers and second is to retain your existing customers. The more loyal your customer is to you, the more your customer base will increase. That’s one more kind of behavior which marketers target. The strategy for brand loyal customers is very different from that used for acquiring new customers. Usage rate – In residential or commercial segment, the usage can be demonstrated in the form of heavy usage, moderate usage or lesser usage. Taking the example of beauty parlors or personal care. There are some customers who use a lot of personal care products whereas others do not use personal care products much. Thus depending on their usage the customers can be targeted. Among the age group that we are focused on one may find all such behavioral buying patterns. A person can be loyal to one brand for one product , but for other product he may switch brand as he is getting discounts. Research Methodology Data Gathering and Analysis To have a clear perception of the term research one should know the meaning of scientific methods. The two main terms, research and scientific method, are closely related. Research as we have already stated can be termed as â€Å" an inquiry into the nature of, reason for and the consequences of any particular set of the circumstances, whether these circumstances are experimentally controlled or recorded just as they occur. Here the researcher is interested more than particular results; he is interested in the repeatability of the results and in their extension to more complicated and general situation. Research in common refers to a search for knowledge. Research can also be defined as a scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a specific topic. It is usually an art of scientific investigation. The purpose of research is to discover answer to question through the application of scientific procedures. The main aim of research is find out the truth which is hidden and which has not been discovered as yet. Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem. It may be understood as science of studying how research is done systematically. It has many dimensions and research methods do constitute a part of Research Methodology. The scope of Research methodology is wider than that of research method. 1. Why a research study has been undertaken? 2. How the research problem has been defined? 3. In what way and why the hypothesis has been formed? Are usually answered when we talk of research methodology concerning a research problem or study. Whatever may be the types of research works and studies, one thing i. e. important is that they all meet on the common ground of scientific method employed by them. The research methodology can be defined as a way systematically solves the research problem along with the logic behind them. Researchers not only need to how to develop certain indices, how to calculate mean, mode, median and how to apply particular research technique and what would they mean and indicate and why? All this means that it is necessary for the researchers to design his methodology for his problem. The scope of Research methodology is wider than that of research methods. Thus research methodology deals itself not only with research method but also in considering the logic behind the methods used in the research study. Research Design: The research design is the conceptual structure within which research is conducted. It is a plan of action, a plan of collecting and analyzing data in economic, efficient and relevant be manner. It contains the blue print for the collection, measurement & analysis of data. The proposed study is an exploratory cum descriptive. The purpose of preparing research design could be either to test a hypothesis or to give a cause effect relationship to the given situation. The design provides answers for questions such as: â€Å"What techniques will be used to gather data? † â€Å"What kind of sampling will use? † As in this case research is to be a quantitative research. We are dealing with 12,478,447 population of Mumbai and slicing it to different segments. The data that has to be collected should be from an authentic source as the research is based on authentic facts of the region. Quantitative research Systematic empirical investigation of quantitative properties and phenomena and their relationships. Asking a narrow question and collecting numerical data to analyze utilizing statistical methods. The quantitative research designs are experimental, correlation, and survey (or descriptive). ] Statistics derived from quantitative research can be used to establish the existence of associative or causal relationships between variables. SOURCES OF DATA: The data that has to be collected has to be authentic, so it should be collected from authentic source like government websites, this type of research require authentic quantitative data. Data collection from primary sources is not a option here. So data has to be collected from secondary sources. Secondary Data: Information regarding the project, secondary data was also required. These data were collected from various past studies and other sources like magazines, newspapers, and websites which qualified as reliable. Limitations of the study †¢Limited Access to Secondary data †¢Lack of time Conclusion Mumbai is a large consumer base, the youth population following in the age group of 18 to 25 years itself is diverse in their own ways, each of them have different wants , needs and desires. All of their wants and needs are not always satisfied. Markets are oversaturated with products at claim to fulfill their needs; some fulfill the needs some partially. Buying decision of the consumer in this age depends upon what he thinks about the product and the brand and the amount of exposure he has gone through for that brand. As we are saying the needs of the consumers may be partially filled, so automatically there is a consumer base who wants something that will fulfill their needs in totality, this brings about a market opportunity for the companies which can be targeted by them, i. . slicing into that segment of Mumbai consumers. Many of the consumers are unaware of their needs as well, Example, Including the use of day today technology in household activities etc, there are many untapped markets in Mumbai that has to be exploited by the companies, Consumers of this age group are attracted to new technology and feature, they want to stay ahead of their generation, these wan ts and desires should be tapped upon by the companies. Bibliography â€Å"Parsis top literacy, sex-ratio charts in city†. (2004, september 8). Times OF India . The world's successful diasporas†. (n. d. ). Retrieved from Managementtoday. co. uk. censusindia. gov. in. (n. d. ). â€Å"Ranking of districts of Maharashtra by population size 2011†. Retrieved from censusindia. gov. in. Forbes Magzine. (n. d. ). Mehta, S. (2004). Maximum City Bombay Lost and found. Philip Kotler. (2009). Marketing Manager- A South Asian Perspective. Dorling Kindersley. PopulationIndia. com, â€Å". . (2011, June 1). Populationindia. wordpress. com. Pradeep Kashyap. (2003-04). â€Å"Selling to the Hinterland†. Business World , 88-91. Principal Cities. Government of Maharashtra.

The Host Chapter 1: Remembered

I knew it would begin with the end, and the end would look like death to these eyes. I had been warned. Not these eyes. My eyes. Mine. This was me now. The language I had found myself using was odd, but it made sense. Choppy, boxy, blind, and linear. Impossibly crippled in comparision to many I'd used, yet still it managed to find fluidity and expression. Sometimes beauty. My language now. My native tounge. With the truest instinct of my kind, I'd bound myself securely into the body's center of thought, twined myself inescapably into its every breath and reflex until it was no longer a seperate entity. It was me. Not the body, mybody. I felt the sedation wearing off and lucidity taking its place. I braced myself for the onslaught of the first memory, which would really be the last memory ?C the last moments this body had experienced, the memory of the end. I had been warned thorougly of what would happen now. These human emotions would be stronger, more vital than the feelings of any other species I had been. I tried to prepare myself. The memory came. And, as I'd been warned, it was not something that could ever be prepared for. It seared with sharp color and ringing sound. Cold on her skin, pain gripping her limbs, burning them. The taste was fiercely metallic in her mouth. And there was the new sense, the fifth sense I'd never had, that took the particles from the air and transformed them into strange messages and pleasaures and warnings in her brain ?C scents. They were distracting, confusing to me, but not to her memory. The memory had no time for the novelties of smell. The memory was only fear. Fear locked her in a vise, goading the blunt, clumsy limbd forward but hampering them at the same time. To flee, to run ?C it was all she could do. I've failed. The memory that was not mine was so frighteningly strong and clear that it sliced through my control ?C overwhelmed the detachment, the knowledge that this was just a memory and not me. Sucked into the hell that was the last minute of her life, I was she, and we were running. It's so dark. I can't see. I can't see the floor. I can't see my hands streched out in front of me. I run blind and try to hear the pursuit I can feel behind me, but the pulse is so loud behind my ears it drowns everything else out. It's cold. It shouldn't matter now, but it hurts. I'm so cold. The air in her nose was uncomfortable. Bad. A bad smell. For one second, that discomfort pulled me free of the memory. But it was only a second, and then I was dragged in again, and my eyes filled with horrified tears. I'm lost, we're lost. It's over. They're right behind me now, loud and close. There are so many footsteps! I am alone. I've failed. The Seekers are calling. The sound of their voices twists my stomach. I'm going to be sick. â€Å"It's fine, it's fine,† one lies, trying to calm me, to slow me. Her voice is disturbed by the effort of her breathing. â€Å"Be careful!† another shouts in warning. â€Å"Don't hurt yourself,† one of them pleads. A deep voice, full of concern. Concern! Heat shot trough my veins, and a violent hatred nearly choked me. I had never felt such an emotion as this in all my lives. For another second, my revulision pulled me away from the memory. A high, shrill keening pierced my ears and pulsed in my head. The sound scraped through my airways. There was a weak pain in my throat. Screaming, my body explained. You're screaming. I froze in shock, and the sound broke off abruptly. This was not a memory. My body ?C she was thinking! Speakingto me! But the memory was stronger, in that moment, than my astonishment. â€Å"Please,† they cry. â€Å"There is danger ahead.† The danger is behind! I scream back in my mind. But I see what they mean. A feeble stream of light, coming from who knows where, shines on the end of the hall. It is not the flat wall or the locked door, the dead end I feared and expected. It is a black hole. An elevator shaft. Abandoned, empty, and condemned, like this building. Once a hiding place, now a tomb. A surge of relief floods through me as I raced forward. There is a way. No way to survive, but perhaps a way to win. No, no, no! This thought was all mine, and I fought to pull myself away from her, but we wer together. And we sprinted from the edge of death. â€Å"Please!† The shouts are more desperate. I feel like laughing when I know that I am fast enough. I imagine their hands clutching for me just inches behind my back. But I am as fast as I need to be. I don't even pause at the end of the floor. The hole rises up to meet me midstride. The emptiness swallows me. My legs flail, useless. My hands grip the air, claw through it, searching for anything solid. Cold blows past me like tornado winds. I hear the thud before I feel it†¦ The air is gone†¦ And then pain is everywhere†¦ Pain is everything. Make it stop. Not high enough, I whisper to myself through the pain. When will the pain end? When†¦? The blackness swallowed up the agony, and I was weak with gratitude that the memory had come to this most final of conclusions. The blackness took all, and I was free. I took a breath to steady myself, as was this body's habit. My body. But then the color rushed back, the memory reared up and engulfed me again. No! I panicked, fearing the cold and the pain and the very fear itself. But this was not the same memory. This was a memory within a memory ?C a final memory, like a last gasp of air ?C yet, somehow, even stronger than the first. The blackness took all but this: a face. The face was as alien to me as the faceless serpentine tentacles of my last host body would be to this new body. I'd seen this kind of face in the images I had been given to prepare for this world. It was hard to tell them apart, to see the tiny variations in color and shape that was the only markers of the individual. So much the same, all of them. Noses centered in the middle of the sphere, eyes above and mouths below, ears around the sides. A collection of senses, all but touch, concentrated in one place. Skin over bones, hair growing on the crown and in strange furry lines above the eyes. Some had more fur lower down on the jaw: those were always males. The colors ranged through the brown scale from pale cream to a deep almost-black. Aside from that, how to know one from the other? This face I would of known among millions. This face was a hard rectangle, the shape of the bones strong under the skin. In color it was light golden brown. The hair was just a few shades darker than the skin, except where flaxen streaks lightened it, and it covered only the head and the odd fur stripes above the eyes. The circular irises in the white eyeballs were darker than the hair but, like the hair, flecked with light. There were small lines around the eyes, and her memories told me the lines was from smiling and squinting into sunlight. I knew nothing of what passed for beauty among these strangers, and yet I knew that this face was beautiful. I wanted to keep looking at it. As soon as I realized this, it disappeared. Mine, spoke the alien thought that should not have existed. Again, I was frozen, stunned. There should have been no one here but me. And yet this thought was so strong and so aware! Impossible. How was she still here? This was me now. Mine, I rebuked her, the power and authority that belonged to me alone flowing through the word. Everything is mine. So why am I talking back to her? I wondered as the voices interuppted my thoughts.