A shiver ran down my spine as the headset was wrapped around my skull, the sharp click click of different latches being attached and pulled rang through my ears. My hands shook beneath the restraints, being tightened by the mysterious man leaning above me. My ears were covered, yet somehow I heard a slight mumble from his deep voice,
“This won’t hurt a bit.”
His face was stiff with complete concentration, cheeks lacking any pink or red, glazed over by pale skin, no longer human. Goggles were placed upon my eyes, blinding me from the fluorescent, windowless experimental room hidden beneath the ground. A sharp pain ran through my right arm as a needle pierced through my tough, bloody skin, causing my feet to pull against the tight material holding me back.
The injection flooded my veins, feet and fingers paralyzed, completely numb. Goosebumps ran through my entire body, all heat that I once held vanished in a matter of minutes. I could feel my body become weak, and my mind even weaker. The rustling of medical supplies and the twirling high pitched sound of the fan disappeared, and I lost everything I had left, sound, sight, feeling. I had become a zombie, falling into a daze, quickly transforming into another lab rat. My eyes shut, and I slipped out of reality and into another world…
~
I awoke with a crash, landing on rough grass. Cringing from the impact, I fell onto my side, and became fully aware of the moist dew below me, wetting my clothes. Sharp cold wind hit my face, and bright sunlight shot its way into my eyes. I didn’t know where I was, I didn’t know how I could have gotten here, to this barren grassland, no home in sight.
Suddenly, a deep, sharp voice from above shouted, “Tell us!” I lifted my head to search for the beholder of the ominous voice, but smack, I was slapped by an invisible hand. Heat poured into my left cheek, pain shortly after, causing my body to contort. Run, raced into my thoughts, now. My hands became damp, my head pounded to an unknown beat, and my stomach twisted and turned in every direction. I tried to lift my legs, but they were glued to the ground, mysteriously immobile. Breathing swiftly and hollowly, sweat trickled from my forehead. If I couldn’t escape, I was done for. Agony coursed through my legs, packaged with another hard slap.
“Now,” demanded the voice, “tell us!”
I finally recognized the voice; it was the man with the needle, this was the man who put the headset on me. My body began to rise off the ground, as I realized that this was a simulation, this was all a lie. I was sitting in the room, eyes closed; this was all in my head. Air swung below me, legs and arms pulled towards the ground, as if I was being lifted by my stomach. Suddenly released, I flew from a toss.