DRONE Abduction

I wake up in a room devoid of light, yet instinctively I know this place to be unfamiliar. I listen, but hear nothing except the sound of my own breath. In and out. In and out. Something's not quite right, I lay here motionless aside from the gentle rise and fall of my chest.

In and out. In and out.

I don’t know where I am, but this is not where I should be. Am I still asleep? Is this just a dream? Have I fallen into some liminal space in between? As I lay here, my thoughts spinning around and around. Over and over. My mind is lost in a maze.

I notice something cold beneath me. It’s firm and rigid, quite unlike the soft bed in which I fell asleep. My arms are at my sides and my fingers twitch as I try to make them feel the surface under me.

It’s smooth and metallic, cold to the touch, yet contoured around my body. Like a carefully sculpted mould, there are no corners or seams pressed against my flesh. I lay almost peacefully still, as if a corpse in repose, I ponder the metallic embrace of the unknown. My eyes are open, my body motionless. I try to speak, yet no sound escapes my lips.

So I lay here breathing. In and out. In and out.

I think about the infinite and divine, pondering my existence. What else can I do alone in the dark And that’s when I notice them. Shadows. Forms moving in the inky blackness around me. Their bodies are somehow darker than the absence of light, yet I can see them clearly.

The three of them move closer and closer, slowly and in perfect synchronicity. Each form is tall and slender, their movements graceful and almost entirely inhuman. They slowly surround me as I lie still and somehow I can tell they’re looking at me But more importantly, I am looking back at them… and what I see astounds me.

Their skin, if that’s even what it is, appears sleek and oily. Like polished latex. Somehow they glimmer even in this perfect darkness and I have no doubt that if there were light I might even see my own reflection.

Almost as if on cue, the room is suddenly filled with an indescribable glow and I’m forced to shut my eyes. When I reopen them, the world takes a moment to come back into focus. I stare at the entities looking over me, their outlines fuzzy as my eyes continue to adjust.

My breath quickens as everything becomes clear. In and out. In and out.

I can see them now. I can see everything around me. This place, it’s unlike anywhere I have ever been. I lay upon a silvery metallic table, its organic contours look as if they were grown instead of manufactured. I am unrestrained, yet I feel unable, perhaps unwilling, to make any movements aside from rolling my head and moving my fingers.

The trio of entities loom over me. I cannot tell if they are biological or machines. They move so smoothly and gracefully, surely there must be people under there? Yet they make no sound and move with a precision one might expect from some sort of synthetic. They are all identical. Flawless, actually. Clad in perfect seamless latex from head to toe.

Just as I had anticipated, when I gaze upon one of the entity’s smooth synthetic skin I see my own face reflected back in the latex. The look on my face is not one of fear or dread, instead I seem to almost have a serene delicate smile of surrender. I remain silent as the nearest entity leans over me, its delicate latex breast mere inches from my face.

It reaches overhead and grabs a breathing mask connected to unseen machinery. A moment later it’s fixed in place over my nose and mouth and a voice in my head compels me to breathe.

In and out. In and out. Over and over.

This is not where I should be.

Yet this is where I belong.

With the hive.

With the collective.

I am drone.

I will be beautiful, just like the others.

Soon, so shall you.