The Machine

PART I: An unexpected Encounter

Jax was on his way home. It had gotten late at the party, but it was still dark. He was drunken a bit, but mainly he fought his drug trip. That little pill had kicked in about 3 hours ago and was still keeping him on the rainbow. Jax didn't see anyone within a mile at least and that wouldn't change until he reached the house. He had passed the last street light about a minute ago and now there was only him. The way home was actually his private one. He knew there was a shortcut through the fields and some loneliness was just what he needed right now. Jax wasn't frightened at all in the dark. He enjoyed the moment. The half moon was slowly being hidden by some soft clouds at the horizon, painting everything in an unreal light. The air blew into his face and was more and more taking him back down to planet earth. He enjoyed the chilly summer night. A bit too cold for a shirt only but OK for the moment. The sounds of some crickets were guiding him as he left the street and entered the corn field trying to find his way. He was using this shortcut since he was a child. His inner compass knew the way.

Just a few minutes had passed when he suddenly reached the other end. That was unexpected and much too early. It took 10 minutes at least and in addition the high corn slowed him down tonight. He lowered his speed and slowly approached the boundary.

Immediately he knew something strange was going on here. It was a crop circle - at least here where he was standing right now. The stalks were kinked by something big taking the space. The schemes were blurred as if there was dense fog. But there was no fog. Slowly he walked towards the object and the closer he came, the more his view cleared. He realized that the dark object was some kind of ship. Was it a space ship? It's outer shell was painted in some kind of dark camouflage he never had seen before. Did he accidentally stumble in some kind of military operation? Was this even human?

He knew that he should get away from this thing, but he was fascinated and thrilled at the same time. Maybe the fear was suppressed by the remnants of the drugs, but the ship magically pulled him closer.

Jax went forward and touched the surface with his fingers. It felt somehow abnormal but cold like the ship being here for quite a while. Then he stood still and tried to listen. Nothing except the crickets. How could this huge ship be here without anybody noticing? Maybe the pilot had landed because of an emergency or defect and left it behind? And what if the pilot was still in there, injured and in the need of help? He sneaked around the ship and found an open gate with a ramp at what seemed to be the front. It was as deserted as the rest. The ramp led to a corridor that seemed to lead through the entire ship. It ended with another opening at the back of the ship were he could see the corn slowly moving with the air. It was open. He thought about his options for a moment. How could he withstand?

The ramp wasn't steep and with a few steps Jax entered the corridor. It was painted in the same pattern as the outer shell, but apart from that there was nothing obvious to fear so he went forward and made a few steps deeper in the to ship. Suddenly there was a muffled sound and something started to operate. The entrance gates on both ends slid close.

Fuck! Jax felt like he'd been caught while peeking into the changing room. The good trip was instantly getting bad - or worse. Lights in the ceiling came on, blinding him for a moment. An artificial sounding voice from somewhere started to speak:

"Prisoner entered, lockup protocols in operation."

That didn't sound good. Prisoner? Lockup? Before he could make up his mind, two lines of green lasers appeared that started to scan him head to toe. He didn't dare to move. When the lasers vanished it took a few moments until the voice continued:

"Prisoner will remove clothing and any other items!"

"Wait? What?!" Jax replied almost automatically.

Something from the wall in front was moving towards him. It was some kind of empty box and of course he understood. No, he would not comply. Never he would do that! This started to become a nightmare. He was shivering from coldness and fear.

"Prisoner will start to undress now! Last warning!"

Did it just sound more aggressive? Jax was close to panic. He moved around to get back to the entrance gates but only made one step before he was stopped. A glowing wall of white light punched his face painfully. It seemed to be some kind of energy field, looking like liquid, but horizontally. Jax turned around and tried the opposite direction - more careful this time - but with the same result.

"Increasing punishment level. Force required, activating guard."

A hidden door slid open and revealed some kind of armoured creature. A robot? Jax froze with fright, looking up to the machine that was staring back at him. It was huge! Then suddenly the dark eyes started to glow. He could feel the robot's attention on him.

The machine moved forward in an unexpectedly smooth transition. Jax felt some cold metal claw grabbing his left shoulder painfully, pressing him down consequently. The only way to get some relief was accepting the force down. He fell on his knees but the robot didn't stop. It pushed him further forward and down until his chest was hitting the steel floor. The robot went on it's knees too, pressing one of them into Jax's back. His hands tried to fight it but no matter how hard he hit the robot's leg it didn't move at all. Jax was fucked and he knew it. He moved his head to the other side so he could at least see what was happening. The robot was just next to him. It was a highly armoured beast. The body of the machine was almost black with protecting steel plates all over. What he saw was intimidating. This monster knew what it did. There was no way out.

The robot came closer and began to talk directly to Jax in his own dark voice:

"I'm taking you as my prisoner."

The robot's hand reached to it's chest were some kind of glowing ring was coming off his armour. It grabbed the ring and with a beep it jumped open. Obviously that was some kind of collar and the machine made no doubt about where it would go in a second. Again Jax tried to escape but of course he was as unsuccessful as before. Then he felt the collar sliding around his neck, getting tighter and finally closing with a click and another two beeps. It was cold and heavy! The robot began to explain without releasing Jax in any way.

"From now on I'm your guard. You're bound to me. The collar around your neck is locked in maximum security mode. Trying to take it off will kill you. Destroying me will kill you. You will follow my instructions. You will obey my commands. You will be rewarded and punished as needed."

This was truly horror. What the robot said was real, Jax knew this. He was close to passing out. His world was slipping away. The robot took his knee of Jax and stepped back, releasing him for the moment. Immediately Jax turned around and raised his arms to protect himself somehow while looking at the robot in disbelief.

The machine continued:

"Punishment mode is enabled. Human protocols are disabled. You will stay on all fours at all time. You will not talk. You will bark for communication. I will call you 'Dog'. Bark now to confirm the rules."

Jax couldn't produce any sound. Then suddenly he was screaming in pain and before he realized what was happening it was gone. It did came from the collar and had hit him like a hammer. That pain was unsustainable and the message well received.

Jax tried to bark. It was quite silent and more of a croak, but obviously it was enough to be accepted by the machine. It reached to it's chest again and produced something that looked like a shiny thick steel cable coming right out of his body. The cable had some kind of hook at the end.

"Come to me, dog!"

Jax crawled towards the robot and the machine took the cable and connected it to Jax's collar where it snapped into place.

"Dogs stay on leash. Guard is in full control now."

The robot's voice sounded strange, somehow... joyfull.

(tbc)