"Ahh!!", screamed the man as he entered the square room. It was dark, with just enough light to see. His body flew down onto the hard floor. The floor was hard, too hard.

The man was wearing a blue 2 piece uniform/jacket. It had a dark blue stripe running down his jacket zipper. Along with a "United Earth Military" written in small letters on the corner of his jacket. His name was under it. It stated "Lieutenant John J. Sanks".

He got up while clutching his hand on his arm. He screamed again in pain, as a sharp pain rippled though his shoulder. He turned his head up into the light from the ceiling vent. He pulled his head down and looked at the surroundings. There was nothing, just a dark color in a room of nothing.

He noticed two bodies on the ground. One was female while the other was male. These two people couldn't of been more than 18 years old. He went over to the girl. She had silky black hair, with blue eyes and a face that contoured into a unavailing cuteness. Her body was nearly perfect while her male companion was built strong and big. His face was one of anger while her's was one of sadness and despair. He had brown hair with a never shaven face. She looked up at the Lieutenant.

He asked, "How old are you?"

The girl looked up at him. She had the same uniform he had on with the exception of having no jacket. Her shirt was filled with sweat. Her name tag hung from her neck. It was clear, it read as 'Private Brithon Gades'. Her pants and shirt were ripped. Brown frayed holes surrounded these rips in her arm and her knees.

"I'm seventeen years old." She stated with a unsureness in her voice. Her face was bruised up, but not like the lieutenant's.

The Lieutenant turned to look at the man besides her. He asked, "How old are you?"

The man wore the same clothes as the Lieutenant and private but they weren't ripped as much as Brithon's. He turned to face John. His face was semi-scorched with scabs of cuts. He had black hair over his devastated face.

He stated, "Same as Brith. We were captured together."

John looked up at them in surprise. He inquisited, "How long have yous been here?"

"A day," answered the man, "They dragged us off the battlefield. It seems like they're testing or examining us."

"What did they do to you?" John asked to understand what was happening. He pulled his knee up for a seat.

The man looked directly at him. His face stared in horror, the horror they saw. There was a sound. It sounded like a loud bang. The bang blew in a cold drift of unhealthy air. John jerked his body around to the direction of the bang. He was facing it now. From the open door came a creature. The creature had a bony body. It looked almost like a human. The creature had a exoskeleton look about it with a gel substance around the bones of its body. It gave out a white light as it moved. The creature put out its arm, on the opposite arm there was something in its hand. It was a weapon, sort of in the shape of a whip. The creature pulled back its opposite arm and released a sound that ripped the hardness of the floor. The echo of the whip reflected off every solid wall around them. The man reluctantly got up. He walked towards the creature. The creature put its arm over the man's neck and pulled him out.

Bamm!!! Went the door for a second time. The door was atleast the size of two normal doors stacked up.

John jumped up to investigate. He went over to where the door was. He felt the wall. There was nothing but the material that pushed out of the door. Similar to brick. He turned from the wall in disgust. He looked at Brithon. Her face was still on her knees from the way she was sitting. He sat next to her.

Again he asked, "What did they do to you?"

She hesitated from speaking. Her mouth was shut while her eyes looked like a dog's stare. She then pulled her head up and out of her legs to speak.

"They. They.," she struggled with her emotions, "They drug me into a room, similar to where he is going. Then they took my clothes off."

She stopped abruptly. She started to give a cry. Her head fell into her knees again. John pulled her closer to him. He grabbed her and put her on his side.

She turned out of the cry and tried to continue. She pulled her head up, while staring out into the distance.

She sputtered, "They are doing something. Here look at my shoulder."

She pulled her shirt down her shoulder. It looked similar to the aliens who had them captured. There was the bone and a glow on her shoulder.

She mumbled out in fury, "They're changing me." She started to cry again. The Lieutenant held her tight against him waiting to see if the man would come back. The darkness of the prison was too dark. John noticed the lights from the circulation vent on the ceiling fluctuating. He sat there and pondered for a while. He held her close during the thought. She still wept.

As the hours went by the Lieutenant fell slowly asleep. Then suddenly another sharp bang was heard! The door had opened again. Beneath the heavily lighted background were two dark bodies. One was tossed into the room, while the other standing up. The creature one closed the door and walked away. The body fell. It rolled to the side against the wall. It was the man. He had been returned. His clothes all dirtied up.

John woke up startled. Brith shook in the surprise of the loud noise. She pulled her hands over her ears. The noise made it seem like she was noise sensitive. John rose up. He offered a hand to Brith. She lazily accepted it and stood up. The Lieutenant walked over to the man. He laid there, shaking and in pain. John stooped down to the man's level. The man had concealed his hand. Tears were actually running down his face. John reached in to try and pull his hand out. But the man resisted. He kept his hand as close as it could be to himself. Brith walked over to him.

Finally John opened up the man's grip. His hand had changed. It was now alien to the body. Instead of being one, it now flashed as being semi-transparent. It contained a gellike substance on the outside, and a lining of the bone on the inside. John pulled himself away in horror. They had changed him. The fifth finger in place of the thumb had showed. John dropped his hand and jumped back.

Brith took a peak only to shriek in sickness. John stood up and walked back to the wall. He sat back down.

Again another loud bang took the room hostage. The Lieutenant kept a keen eye on the guard. With the bony arm came a few jelly-fish like creatures. They had full transparent bodies. Tentacles hung out from underneath of them. And they were all dead. The door slammed again.

John pulled his arm back from where it was. The glare was now gone. He stood up and walked to where the creatures laid. The private walked over to them.

"We've been fed these before. They taste something in the range of raw liver," she stated as she kneeled beside one of them. She picked it up and ripped off the protective layer it had on top of it's body. "But, it's all we got."

A slime, white liquid flowed out. John squinted back in disgust.

John replied, "I'd rather die."

He kicked one of the creatures towards the door. Then he abruptly ran towards the door and began banging on it. His fist was tight. The sounds, tried but couldn't make it through the wall. He began to go crazy.

"Why! Listen to me!! Damn Yous!!! AHHHHHH!!!" Atlas he exhausted all of his energy. He went over and sat up against a wall again. Brith just stood there staring at him.

He finally calmed down. He began to relax. The lieutenant looked towards Brith.

They began to hold a conversation. While they were doing this the man had fallen asleep.

John looked to Brith and asked, "So, if you're seventeen. How did you make it into the war?"

Brith looked back at him. She shrugged, "I was drafted. I've seen what happened on the front lines. I didn't want to go. But it seemed like everything was lost anyway."

"My God, the war's gotten that bad?" He gave out a long sigh in frustration.

She nodded.

She continued, "Most of us were thrown right out into combat. We didn't have a clue at what was happening. One day the sky was blue and not a sign of danger was in the atmosphere. The next day, the sky was brown and there was not a sign of life."

She started to give a little weep. Tears rolled from her eyes.

John watched her.

"You know the last thing I remember, was being on a beach. Relaxing. Thinking what a great place this world is. Since it has made the Earth, the land so beautiful. Now I find it hard to think about the Earth ever being the way I remember her." He took a breath while staring out into the darkness of the room. He continued,"Damn, we were just about to think up a counterstrike. We figured if we could capture one of their ships. That we could use it as a sort of Trojan horse into their defenses."

She went and sat next to him. She looked at him curiously, "A Trojan horse?" She asked.

The lieutenant looked up and then back at her. Her face was seemingly perfect. Her body continued that trait and everytime he looked towards her he couldn't help but think, why? Why her?

He gave a chuckle, "Something in Greek mythology. The Greek's entered their enemy's base through the use of a huge horse. The enemy didn't know what happened till it was too late."

She smiled and then stared into his eyes. He continued on, while she watched him observantly.

"In ways we could of won this war. It looked like it was finally turning."

She moved herself closer and put her hand on his hand. She looked down at his hand. Then back up at his face. Tears started to roll down her face.

He looked down at her hand. He put his arm over her shoulder.

"Sir," she looked up to him. "I've never experienced love...And I don't think I ever will."

He listened to her. Following her lips as she talked.

"I seem to be not human anymore." She stopped briefly to turn with her back facing him. She pulled off her shirt. As she did this a whole line of alien skin showed. It was becoming more of a common sight on her back. Now it spread from the lower back up to the shoulders, all whitish gel and showing the spinal chord with it's vertebrates.

She continued, "They seem to be using a drug on me. It's changing me.."

She turned to him in a crying plea. "I don't want to live without ever experiencing it."

He looked down at her, noticing the fulfillment of her body. A tight stomach with a descent chest for her age. "You never have? What about in school, I find it hard for anything to not be attracted to you?" He stated quietly.

"We've been fighting them since I was 7, school relationships were mostly shattered. We were raised as machines, to keep our race alive." She explained.

Her arms spread upon his shoulders. She stared into his eyes. And gently she pressed her lips onto his. He responded. She kissed him again. He looked up to her with a surprised stare into her eyes. She turned her face away. John, being puzzled, dug his face underneath of hers.

Then a loud crack sound rippled through the room. Light flashed in. The oppressor walked over. She jumped back in fear. She pushed her arms over her head. The creature continued in. It reached down and pulled her arm up. She rose with slight resistance. Her body was drug out like a dog carries around it's toy. As she was taken away she looked back at John with pleading eyes.

Then John stood up. He hacked his arm over it's grip. The creature with it's other spare hand. Slammed it's fist into John's side, sending him flying backwards against the wall. He hit the wall and fell down violently. The door closed. The loud bang was heard.

As the door was closing John yelled out some last words, "No!! Take me!! Take me you Bastards!!"

He laid there tending to his back. It was injured during his latest confrontation with his enemy. He coughed a few times from the magnitude of the punch.


Time went by. John finally got the energy to stand. He looked over to the man. The lieutenant lifted his body off of the ground and walked over to the man. On top of the prison was a ventilation system. He figured he could use it and find a way out.

The man just sat there. John looked at him, and kicked his feet out from under him.

The man stood up. He glared into the lieutenant's eyes. The lieutenant began talking.

"Good, now that I got your attention. I think I have a plan." He pointed upwards. He continued, "See that. It's a ventilation system. Could you help me in getting up there?"

The man nodded. He looked up. Then offered John his hand so he could lift him up. John looked at the man as if there was something wrong with him. He stepped into his hand. He was lifted up to the top of the ventilation. Inside the ventilation was a 1 and a 3rd foot opening. He broke the metal grate on the outside protecting the vent. John began to rip it off.

Finally it came undone. He ripped it out and threw it down onto the ground. The man shook a tad bit. John grabbed onto the side. The man let him go and sat back down. Light shined through the vent. The Lieutenant pulled himself up into the vent. He concluded that there was only one reason for this. That there were other rooms. He began down the vent towards the light. As he traveled further through the vent he felt as if the walls were closing in on him. The only thing that kept him moving was the light. Each move he made rubbed harshly against the sides of the tubing. After a few minutes he made it to a area where another vent stood. He looked down into the grate. Through the spaces between the metal shields of the plate he saw something. A woman, or it seemed. And a alien creature.

John, in a rage, broke the seal that kept the grate together. His fist went right through the grate. Unfortunately his arm fell totally through. The woman turned around. Her face, what was left of it. She had almost totally reverted. It had a clear slime over the one side, a mucussy look about it. The mucus spread from inside one of her eyes to the underside of her nose. She just sat there not acknowledging the calls of the Lieutenant. She listened to the other creatures as if she had always been amongst them. Then the doctor type creature walked over to the helpless dangling arm. It had a scalpel type object in it's hand. Some human skin was on the end of it. It reached up to the top of his arm. John tried to pull his arm back. The lieutenant couldn't. It was gripped tightly. He began to go into a panic. A death panic. The scalpel began to rub against his skin. Break the skin and enter his body. Pain and blood flurrished. Slicing through the arm down to the bone. It roughly rubbed against the bone. The back and forth, back and forth grinding and scratching of the bone screeched through every place imaginable. This sent out a sensation like no other. Something not even hell would put against you. He squinted in the mist of the pain. Then he heard it. A slight click. A draft rose up at his arm. Blood laid everywhere being sprung out from it.

All throughout this he gave a scream. Then John suddenly broke his silence and gave one last scream, "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" One that was guaranteed to be heard throughout the complex, no matter where you were.


A long while later. The room was dark. The lieutenant noticed it. He looked onto his left shoulder, he didn't see anything. Then he glanced all around the room. No one was in it. Just a vent and walls. All dark and damp. He grabbed his left arm, the stub of bone that was left, and fell to his knees. While he gripped his armless arm the bone seemed to wiggle back and forth almost in a circular motion. Looking out into the nothingness something came to him.

Realizing what he just did and went through. He gave a last scream in this nightmare of his life, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Tears rolled down as he quieted off. "No, no, no, no, no." He shook his head violently inside the room. He began to cry in his arm. A angry cry. The rage that was inside him flowed out in this fluent way.


An illusion is something designed to fool us. And only the brain can decide what is fake and what is real. If someone wanted information bad enough, how would this person go about doing it? With that in mind, how do we know that what we see isn't an illusion?