Oliver was falling down in the darkness and didn’t know how long it was. He felt it were weeks, months. He opened his eyes and quickly sat. He was sitting on a bed. Oliver looked around and realized he was in the hospital in Prague. Sophia was lying on a bed next to his. She was sleeping. Oliver didn’t understand that. A second ago, he was lying in a lab by the Greys’ and they were making experiments on him. He tried to escape but he was caught. They fired at him a then…he couldn’t remember, what happened then. He remembered the pain in this left arm and then…the darkness. He checked his left arm, but it was healed. Was it just a dream? Was it a hallucination caused by brain concussion?
He looked at Sophia once again. She was still sleeping peacefully. Olive didn’t want to wake her up. He had no idea, what had happened. A doctor came in. “Hello, Mr. Kral, how are you feeling?” “Good, but confused.” “Why?” “How long were we away, doctor?” “Why? What do you mean? You and your girlfriend have been sleeping here the whole night. The nurse told me, you hadn’t left your room since you were here.”
“She’s not my…doesn’t matter. What’s the date today?” “August 25th.” “August, August…” Oliver couldn’t get it, which month August was. He has never known which month is which in Czech language. “Excuse me, which month is August?” “The eight.” The eight. That would stick with everything the doctor said. But what about the Greys? Was it just a dream? No, it was too realistic for him. Could they make it during those several hours Oliver and Sophia were sleeping in their room?
The door behind the doctor opened and Oliver almost suffered a stroke. Six Greys came in the room. They walked to Sophia’s bed and shook it. Sophia opened her sleepy eyes and looked at the Greys in front of her. One of them took her hand and lead her away. “Hey! NO! STOP!” Oliver was screaming.
“Don’t worry, they are a part of the hospital staff. They will only examine her and then they’ll bring her back.”
“No!” Oliver tried to stand up and stop them, but something was holding his left arm. He looked at it and saw he was cuffed to the bed with a black substance. It looked like black stripes of a plasticine. Oliver heard a voice in his head. Do not blame yourself for what has happened. He had no idea, whose voice it was or what it wanted to say to him. He saw Sophia leaving the room with the Greys, the doctor followed them. He shut the door. Oliver tried to free himself, but the black substance on his hand started to extend over his body. It swallowed him all and Oliver was falling into the darkness once again.
When he opened his eyes, he was in one of the laboratories. It was lab#3. But something was different. He woke up tied to his bed. There were lots of Greys everywhere around him. Oliver looked at the bed beside him and saw Sophia. One of the Greys was leaning over her. He had a scalpel in his hand. Oliver wanted to scream, but he couldn’t. There was another black substance on his mouth, just like the one on his hand in the hospital. What are you afraid of? The Grey with the scalpel in his hand leaned over Sophia. He got close to her chest and cut into her. Sophia woke up and screamed with pain. It was her last gasp. Oliver’s eyes were filling with tears. He tried to set himself free, he wanted to get that scalpel out of the Grey’s hand and cut everyone’s throat. The black substance started to extend over his body again, he started to fight back even more. But it didn’t help him, he fell into the darkness again.
Oliver was feeling like he had been falling into the darkness for hours. When he woke up, he was in his cell again. What do you want? What does it want? I want to get out of here! I want to take with me as many prisoners as I can. I want to help as many people I can and find my way home. If he made a better plan, he could have made it. Now, once again, he was trapped in his cell so desperate and helpless.
When he was thinking about it all, he realized, he wasn’t in his cell. The room was clean with no numbers, notes or drawings. He stood up and turned the mattress over. His map was gone, too. Oliver fell into despair again. During waiting he was counting seconds in his mind. The food should had been here. When he counted the time to food again, he realized, something bad was happening.
After two hours he knew, no one would come. After next four hours he was becoming desperate. He was depressed. Oliver started to hit the walls with his hands, but with no success. He started to scream. “Let me out of here! I want to get out of here! I will do everything! HELP!”
Do you need help? The voice asked. “YES!” What are you willing to sacrifice? “Everything! Hand, soul, knowledge. Take everything you want! Help me get me out of here, help me free other prisoners and I will give what you want. Just help me save her, if it’s still possible.” OK, then.
The black substance started to leak through a small gap around the door. It was falling on the ground and swooping on Oliver. Once again, it swallowed him up. And then, the darkness was everywhere…
Oliver woke up in a laboratory. He wasn’t tied to anything. He was standing at a table, which was up to his waist. Sophia was lying in front of him. Oliver reached his long grey fingers to the machine and pulled a tube out of it. He inserted a thick needle on its end and put it into Sophia’s arm while she was sleeping. Oliver went to the machine and touched it with his other hand, the one covered with the black glove. He tapped something out on the glove and the machine turned on. It started to pump a transparent liquid into Sophia’s body. Oliver went to the other table and took the papers on it. He didn’t understand what was written there, he saw only some signs. And once again he fell into the darkness.
Oliver was falling into the darkness, for a minute nothing was happening, he was just falling down, but, in a strange way, he was still perceiving the world around him. Even though the darkness was all around him, he was aware about his own thoughts. It wasn’t like sleeping, it was something very different. He didn’t know how long he was falling down, it could had been a minute or several hours. For Oliver it was too much torture. He was thinking about what he just saw. He felt sick, but he couldn’t puke, he didn’t know if he had his body or not. In the darkness he was in, some strange symbols, he didn’t understand, started to appear. At first, they were appearing slowly but then they were moving faster and faster. Suddenly they were appearing so fast, that Oliver’s head started to ache. He wanted to close his eyes, but he couldn’t, and those signs didn’t stop coming. There was so many of them, Oliver thought his head was going to explode. And this is when it stopped.
Oliver woke up. He was standing in a room with one transparent wall. He was using those long grey fingers and the hand in the glove to write on a keyboard in front of him. Behind the glass, that was in front of him, the door opened. A Grey came in. Oliver started to write: Record 447 – reactor overheating – test subject P6645.
The Grey behind the glass rose his hand and pointed in front of himself. The glove started to shine, just like it was shining when it was shooting energy at Oliver. He was waiting, what was going to happen. He awaited a shot. An explosion filled the whole room. Oliver continued writing. 447 – test failed. Reactor continues to explode even after the shot. P6645 dead. Move his responsibilities on P7745. Record number 448 – reactor overheating te…Oliver was falling into the darkness again.
Oliver saw only some sparkles. He was going upstairs. Door. Then a room with a computer with something like a map on its screen. He wanted to go to it. He was reaching it, he almost approached it. Surely enough, it was a map of this complex. And the darkness once again. “No, I need one more step!”
When you wake up, follow your feelings. I will help you as I much as I can. Use everything you can and don‘t think about it why. Think how and where. Help as many of your friends as you can. I am sure you are still on your planet. Find the exit and you‘ll get out.
“I don’t understand. On our planet? Who are you?”
A friend. If you need me, I‘ll be back.