8 May 2012
... masked creatures stare down at me against the background of a dark stirring sky. I’m lying on my back. I feel every bump as they carry me towards one of the Stones, illuminated by flashes of lightning. A black Stone. Those red and blue lights spin on top of it, emitting an incessant screeching. The creatures begin to communicate through muffled voices and frantic gestures with their one, no, two arms. A doorway opens in the Stone. I’m taken inside...
... my passenger is lying to my right. His eyes wide open, staring at me. I try to muster words but nothing comes out. My breathing is frantic, the pain in my arm excruciating. Through a darkened window I see some grand prisms in the distance as we fly past, like the ones that fractured light into its array of colours. Only these weren’t glass...
... masked creatures dressed in white stare down at me with a halo of pure light behind them. Shinning metal instruments in their hands move in and out of view. I roll my head to the side and see my passenger. The top of his head is open. The skin of his torso is pulled apart and clamped to the side. Creatures stand around him sticking equipment into his skull, into his chest, into his legs, into his arms. I panic. I try to move but my body is restrained. I watch helplessly as the creatures approach me with their shining, blood-smeared tools. A tear breaks free from my eye, and then everything fades again...
I jolted upright in a panic-ridden spasm. My whole body ached. There was something clasped around my face, a mask. I ripped it off and instantly my lungs contorted, sucking in frantic mouthfuls of air. A mixture of medical aromas filled the room and stung the back of my throat. The air felt coarse as I struggled to take it in and I fought the urge to put the mask back on. The blurry veil in front of my eyes slowly lifted as my consciousness recovered.
The room was simple and white, no sharp corners or jagged lines, just curved edges. Around my torso tight strips of fabric kept me rooted to my seat, about arms-length away from the smooth white table in front of me. The most unsettling aspect of the room was the silence. Not a single hum, or tap, or breath could be heard, not even my own.
“Help!” I tried to shout. Even though I knew I had spoken, no sound came out. Had I gone deaf? Then out of the silence came a voice, a low, echoing voice:
“I would keep the mask on if I were you”...
Weathered Worlds: 7/10 • Opuss № I