Too Late
"Um," you say, staring blankly at the control panel. You don't know any passwords. You suppose you could try blind guessing, but you don't even want to think about what might happen if you fail. "Never mind. Cancel, abort, end..."
There doesn't seem to be a button marked "Cancel" on the panel, which is still blinking at you. AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED.
"...Disregard? Undo? Cut?"
"Please state your name and password" - the disembodied voice sounds annoyed now - "or security will be activated."
Left with no other particularly attractive options, you turn and run. Maybe you can get out the door before the computer or whatever it is realizes you're gone-
You have just enough time to see the flash of blue light that hits you before you lose consciousness.
When you wake up, it's with a strange, weightless feeling. You can hear a faint bubbling sound. It's actually quite relaxing, like you're floating in...
Oh, no.
You open your eyes to find yourself in one of the blue tubes. Thick curved glass distorts the room, just a foot away and utterly unreachable. The blue light makes your skin look oddly colorless. Your fingers are already getting wrinkly.
You're also completely naked. Whoever put you in here neglected to include your clothes. Your hair has also been removed. It's been an eventful stupor.
There's an oxygen mask strapped to your face. You almost pull it off, out of an instinctive objection to having things strapped to your face, but you stop when you realize it's the only thing keeping you breathing. There's a two-inch sheet of glass between you and the nearest air. There are other tubes and cables strapped to various other parts of your anatomy; you're not sure exactly what they're doing. You suspect that if you did know, you'd want them to stop doing it. Still, it seems unwise to start pulling things out of your body without knowing what they are, so you leave them alone for now.
Looking to your right, you see the prisoner you tried to help floating in the tube next door. The eyes behind the oxygen mask are staring at you with an equal mix of sadness and despair. Help is no longer an option; all you can do now is share the same fate.
Far too soon, you get the first hint of what that fate will be...
Written by Chrysalis on 04 April 2010
The end (for now)