I awake as a dim light floods my eyes, leaving me blind. My head aches in a manner I have never known before. My vision returns to me, but is still hazy. My stomach is upset and threatening to dump its contents. I trace the line of my scalp, finding a tender protrusion that throbs with the same rhythm as my aching head.
I look the best I can and find it's dark despite the low light. I strain my eyes as best I can to get my bearings, but it's no use. The situation seems far too alien to even hope to make sense of. All I can tell is I'm lying upon a metal floor which houses small holes in every direction my hand can probe and spans slightly wider than my body.
I press my face against the barrier which I presume to be glass. It is cold and transparent and the only means that I have to break through the obstructing light. I gasp out loud and pull away. Mine is not the only such tube in the room. On the contrary, there are several of them scattered about the floor. Inside each of which lies another person as evidence by the shadow they cast and the breathing I hear.
Beyond this I can tell nothing, neither that they be man or woman. Though it would do little for me to have such knowledge, I nevertheless crave distraction. I try to... A sudden flash of light nearly blinds me and it takes several moments for my vision to return. Now the situation seems completely alien. As far as I can make out, I'm trapped inside a giant clear tube for sure.
I was also correct in my assumption. There are indeed several other individuals with me, all no better than I. As with me, they're all men and just starting to waken, each of them rubbing their heads and looking about with unbelieving eyes. I suppose the one mercy we all possess is that we are clothed and I assume in our own garb. At least, I am.
The metal beneath me begins to shake. I surmise the vibrating floor is the result of a large machine cranking to life. This is shortly followed by a low whistling sound that fills the entirety of the receptacle. Suddenly, my lungs and throat begin to burn. I cough and choke, as I struggle to both clear and then fill my lungs. It's no use.
Whatever is in the air has completely replaced the precious oxygen my lungs rely upon and the toll it takes upon me cannot be overstated. My head hits the glass and it does not budge or break. My eyes open wide as I gape like a fish and I just note the other men struggling with the same difficulty, as I. I drag my body along as my mind flashes upon my life thus far.
All of it surmised by a single thought: Absolutely everything in my life had been decided by someone else. My childhood, my schooling, my job, my home life, never had anything been left to my discretion. So, it only seems natural that my death would be beyond my control. Still there's one burning question, why?
I can deal with the certainty of my death, but I need to know why? I stare through the haze of the thick air, spying a single being on the other side. I drop myself to the floor and greedily gulp what little oxygen there is left. I only find enough for a single lung full. That means I only get one chance to make myself clear.
I don't even need to think about it. I slam my fist against the solid glass encasement."To what end!?" I scream and hold myself upright while I feel forces pulling me backward.
The stranger stops what they are doing and rises, allowing me a good look with what little brain I have left in the tube. They are covered from head to foot in a white gown of a sort that is tied tightly around any opening with broad straps. The face is completely concealed by a mask, goggles and a trim kind of hat.
I can't tell for certain, but they appear to be human, though I honestly can't be sure as their attire is completed with thick rubber gloves and boots to match. Having no other means to describe what I see before me, I take to referring to them as a doctor within my mind and take note of their approach, the gait of which betrays nothing of identity. They stop in front of me and stare as they stoop.
I'm completely taken aback. I honestly expected my entreaty to go unheeded as I languished into the grave. But such is not the case and through some miracle I find air again in my lungs. "To what end?!" I shout all the louder as I renew my assault on the glass.
The doctor pulls down the face mask, revealing a fairly human face. "You are needed," he slowly mouths the words which I cannot hear inside my confinement. The mask snaps back in place as they continues to stare.
I cough and sputter, splattering blood all over the surface in front of me. I am needed! Needed for what?! What possible purpose could this horrible death serve? My mind is robbed of all further activity as I slink to the floor. My eyes watery and burning, close for the last time. My only solace is the cold floor which tells me I yet live till I slip away entirely.