Survival

“Ugh, Where am I?”

Kay groans, trying to put a hand over their eyes to block the light. Kay, however, finds they cannot move at all.

Squinting through the grogginess, Kay surveys their surroundings.

Everything is Bright, and Metal, “A laboratory maybe?”

“It's awake”, Kay hears a voice nearby that makes the hairs on their neck stand up.

“Finally! Make note, the sedative is more potent to human physiology”, Kay feels bile rise in their throat, as panic begins to set in.

A panicked and giddy laugh bubbles uncontrollably from Kay, tears stream down their face as the two voices move into view.

Two Alien figures loom over Kay. Grey skin, large black eyes, Tall, and thin. They're both wearing lab coats, only one is holding a tablet in their hands.

“This isn't real”, Kay chokes.

“Relax, we need only study your Hippocampus”, the Alien with the tablet says distractedly.

“Wha--”, Kay feels a sharp pain in the base of their skull.

Kay sits straight up in their bed, out of breath and sweating profusely. Kay gropes the back of their neck, but nothing is there.

Kay leaves bed to make their way to the kitchen for a glass of water.

In the kitchen Mochi, Kay's cat, weaves in between their legs while they sip their water.

Kay looks down at Mochi lovingly, they make eye contact.

Kay pales suddenly, “Yo-you're dead, You died last month”, Kay drops their glass in horror.

The glass shatters onto the floor. The floor, along with their surroundings follow suit, and Kay plunges into darkness.

Kay hears the horrible voice pierce through the void, “Maybe if we stimulate the Endorphins, the subject won't reject the Dream-State?”, With a gut-wrenching twist, Kay loses consciousness once again.

“COME ON KAY!”

Kay Snaps to attention. It's a beautiful sunny day, Kay is laying on their back looking up at a blossoming apple tree, a few seem to have fallen on Kay during their siesta.

Kay sits up, twirling a blossom in their fingers. Shading their face from the sun Kay tries to locate the origin of the summons.

A young lady runs up to Kay and sits next to them with her lips pursed, “Hey, didn't you hear me? I totally set up the trailer all by myself while you were busy taking a nap you know.”

“PFFT! I'll bet! When did you learn how to connect the hydro and plumbing all by yourself Babe?” Kay teases, mussing her hair and giving her a kiss on the cheek.

“Oh, You!” She pulls away playfully.

The pretty girl stands up and dusts off her skirt, “We should probably head back”.

She extends her hand warmly to Kay.

Kay reaches for her hand, but hesitates.

“We love each other right?”

“What? Of course we do! That's why we bought this trailer together. It was your dream”, She is still smiling, but looks worried.

“Then... Why can't I remember your name?”

She laughs, but then everything freezes in place.

Kay cries in anguish, falling to their knees, “None of this is real!”

The picturesque landscape and beautiful woman fade away to darkness.

It feels like they are falling, but Kay can't tell if it's real, or another trick of the mind.

Kay is not sure how many memories have been replayed, nor how many of them were just fantasies created by the stimulus from the experiments. Kay only knows this has to end before they lose themselves completely.

Kay waits, every time a fantasy broke they listened and focused on them. Kay used these snippets of conversation to anchor themselves to reality. Kay begins climbing out of the ocean of their own mind, one heart-wrenching fabrication at a time.

No idea how much time has passed when they finally regain consciousness, Kay concludes the Aliens must have been keeping their body healthy this whole time. In fact, besides being groggy from the sedatives, Kay feels healthier than before this all began.

Kay hears the Aliens coming, Kay forces their breath to be even and keeps their eyes relaxed and closed, “Pleeeease fall for it”, Kay prays to themselves, terrified.

Willing themselves to stay limp and still as the aliens move them to a stretcher for transport, Kay's skin breaks out in goosebumps at the alien's cold touch.

Kay waits a couple of hallway turns before Shifting their full weight suddenly. Kay catches the aliens off guard, dropping the Stretcher, and Kay, onto the ground.

Kay scrambles to their feet and runs, they don't think, and they don't look back. Whenever they see an alien, Kay changes direction.

Kay is lost and out of breath, they notice the aliens are only watching them as though curious.

Exhausted, they find themselves in a large room. Aliens all around, looking at Kay with pity in their eyes.

“WHAT?? What's going on? Why are you looking at me like that?!”

The Aliens point at the viewing window, Kay looks out the window, but cannot process the information.

Earth, or what's left of it, is floating in pieces before Kay's tear-filled eyes.

“I'm sorry”, An alien hand is gently placed on Kay's shoulder. A poor attempt at comfort, but Kay appreciates it nonetheless.

“We only want to preserve life, Humans have a more complex neural-network than other earth species though. Additional Testing was required to prevent brain death during the Cryo-Coma, for safe transport to the Conservation Planet, Canus 4”.

“I'm an endangered species, science experiment, and future Zoo exhibit?”, Kay repeats flatly.

Kay sobs and drops to their knees, defeated.

“Things will get better, you'll see. You aren't our only human.” the alien places another cold hand on Kay's shoulder, but Kay is in total shock. The Aliens nod among themselves.

“We will give you some time”.

Kay is left alone to say goodbye to earth.

The End