69 Degrees

Contents

Chapter 1: Awakenings

Chapter 2: Tuning in

Chapter 3: Fear of monsters

Chapter 4: Natural functions

Chapter 5: Time and distance

Chapter 6: Demand and supply

Chapter 7: Nutrients

Chapter 8: The frail and the weak

Chapter 9: Feelings

Chapter 10: Day and night

Chapter 11: Who we are

Chapter 12: Darkness

Chapter 13: Memories

Chapter 14: Nightmare of reality

Chapter 15: Confinement

Chapter 16: A tight squeeze

Chapter 17: Recreating reality

Chapter 18: A shift in perception

Chapter 19: Reality to be sure

Chapter 20: Echoes

Chapter 21: Is this reality?

Chapter 22: Let's get real

Chapter 23: Taking life as it is

Chapter 24: Repressing memories

Chapter 25: Time's up

Chapter 26: Emotions

Chapter 27: Final report

Chapter 1: Awakenings

This whole saga began when I slowly awoke. I wasn't sure what had happened beforehand, to be awakening without ever remembering going to sleep.

The few times that I've over indulged with alcohol never left me with this feeling of drowsiness but full conscious.

My eyes wouldn't open, and the sound I could hear, were like the soft murmuring you'd expect within a hospital. A general noise of people talking quietly.

A hospital would explain the drowsiness, I thought. Maybe there had been some accident; I'd been run over by a car, or something. It wouldn't be the first time I'd come close to death, because I didn't understand something about the place I was in.

So I tried to remember back what had happened. I was touring through some of the European counties on foot, and a few other forms of local transport. Travelling through Finland and Denmark I had used a bicycle. Just me and my backpack, travelling through the green countryside. Through Sweden I'd hitchhiked with the locals, stopping every so often to help a hand to pay my way through the country.

Contrary to what people say, the Swedes are a very friendly people, but they hold strict to their form of living. Keeping in tune with nature, even in the built up areas of Stockholm itself.

From Denmark, I'd made my way though the northern part of Germany, going through Berlin, planning on cutting back through the southern areas, after Poland and Czechoslovakia.

Much of the old buildings still stood in Warsaw, a reminder of the last World War from last century. Much of the countryside through Poland bore similar reminders to all who stopped to at least look.

From my memory, I knew I had at least passed through Czechoslovakia, and back into Germany.

I was headed towards Munich, somewhere between Regensburg and Passau, taking lifts from some of the more friendly Germans, and getting to know some of them better.

Travelling along the highways in German, which they call the Autobahn, is a thrilling experience, especially in one of the modern convertible Porches, and next to the wonderful German woman who was driving.

Oh, she looked to be in her forties, but she was extremely friendly in giving me a lift. My German isn't all that good, but we were able to have a small conversation as we travelled along.

I mentioned some of my travels, and she talked about her family, and children. I had some feeling that she wanted me to meet them, but it was just her way of been friendly to a stranger.

It wasn't she that bothered me, but rather the speed they travel along the Autobahn. You see the speed limit on the Autobahn is 100 Kph. Minimum. If you're travelling slower than this, then you're liable to be pulled over and booked by the police, who always use supped up Turbo Porches that could easily match speeds with whatever they were chasing.

I had no problem with the physical speed, but I was travelling to see the country, not to have it whizzing by at more than 180 kilometres per hour. If I wanted to do this, I would have caught the train.

So at the next small town, I asked her to turn off, and thanked her as I bid her farewell.

This I could remember with some clarity now, as it was recent. I missed the name of the hamlet, only noticing the words hamlet and turn off on the sign before we passed it.

It wasn't a big place, as I could most likely walk the length of the town centre in under 10 minutes, but I wasn't there to just walk through. I stopped in one or two shops, basically looking about, and learning what I could of the small town.

I recollect now, stopped inside a third shop, a bakery, as I was feeling hungry. German breads are ok, but not as good as their meat. I was considering what would be best to get to mix with a selection of sliced meat, when I heard a scream outside, which stopped just as abruptly as it began.

I looked to the large shopkeeper who looked back at me with just as much confusion on his face.

Without a word to me, he took off his apron, and rounded the counter, draping it over some bread, as he headed through the front door.

I followed, in my half curious nature to find out what was happening. That and I couldn't order anything until the baker returned.

The light outside was strangely bright, so I hastily grabbed my sunglasses, the same one's I'd worn in the convertible, to keep the wind out of my eyes. They were one of the expensive Polaroid glasses, that I'd picked up a last year ago in a duty free store. They cut down the glare as I followed the baker outside, who had to shade his eye's with a hand, and feel his way along the path to a couple of people who appeared to have collapsed on the path outside.

It was strange, to see them just lying there. I suspected something disastrous as we approached, but saw nothing to indicate what had happened.

I was right behind the baker as he bent over the two people, and then suddenly fell over them. It frightened the hell out of me, causing me to step back, fearing a gas leak or something. Without stepping closer, I called out to the baker, asking if he was ok, trying to get a response, a call, a grunt, or even a shift of his foot.

There was nothing. I turned about now, seeking help from anybody else within the hamlet, and what I saw, disturbed me even more. In the doorways of shops, on either side of the street, and on the paths, were more collapsed people. Just lying there.

This was more than a gas leak. With some trepidation, I approached the collapsed baker, and the couple. I didn't smell anything, except the fresh bread smell coming from the clothes of the baker, as I lent over them. They each had a pulse as I checked them over, which made me, feel better. But it was still a mystery.

The whole town couldn't have collapsed, so in desperation I called out, hoping that there was someone else.

I was rewarded with the voice of a small child who appeared in the doorway across the street. His small face poked out from the shop, looking at the collapsed people on the paths without much concern. Then he turned to look at the light, and then fell to the ground.

Holding my breath, I wished for the small boy to jump up, exclaiming it was a big joke on the tourist.

For a short while, I stood there waiting expectantly, then turned towards the light. It was the last thing the boy did, looking up at the bright light.

The sun was off to my right a bit, but this light was something separate, and brighter. I could almost say it was pulsing. It seemed like the only feasible explanation, as I looked up at the glowing dot. But how could a light, knock out all these people, but leave me standing?

The answer was right on my face, as I felt over the frame of my glasses. The lenses must have been blocking whatever it was, that knocked these people out.

I felt sure of it now, but as I looked up at the bright light, it grew brighter all of a sudden. It was painful to look at, almost burning my eyes even through the glasses. I had to avert my gaze, as I pulled my glasses off to rub my eyes. I must have turned back to quickly as I slipped my glasses back on, because that was the last thing I remembered.

Chapter 2: Tuning in

So where was I now? Had the light disappeared, and the towns folk awaken? If so, why was I in hospital now? Unless a passing car had found us, and everyone had to be taken to a hospital.

I remembered the light had been far up in the sky, appearing almost like a second sun, so many more people could have knocked out just as I was, perhaps all over Germany. Maybe all over Europe, or the world.

It seemed ludicrous to think that the entire world population had been knocked out. But I couldn't drop the idea, as I lay in the half dark. Most of the population knocked out by a freak light in the sky, and now waking up. I must have been out longer than most other people, because I'd looked at the light when it was brighter.

Well, it explained a lot, except why I felt drowsy. Maybe it was an after effect of looking at the light.

I considered why there was a light in the sky, thinking about strange phenomena like quasars, and quantum irregularities. I'd studied physics for a couple of years, but I wasn't a physicist, and they weren't exactly working fields of science, so much of my thought lay with the few stray articles I'd read, outlining the possibilities of these events. It wasn't much to consider really.

But then I had this strange thought. U.F.O. 's. Not in the alien sense, as most people had come to consider it, whenever they say the letters U.F.O. But the strict sense, of an unidentified flying object. This was definitely an unidentified object. Whether it was flying, is an academic question. If the object was low enough in the Earth's atmosphere, it was most definitely flying, even if it appeared stationary. Which could explain how it could appear so much brighter than the sun. A bright beacon, hovering somewhere over Germany.

Well, then. Maybe not the whole planet hadn't been affected by its knock out affects, and only parts of Europe, those that had looked in its direction.

I was interrupted from my thoughts by a rhythmic mechanical sound, getting louder. As if it was approaching my bed in the hospital. I listened as it approached, hearing only part of the mechanical squeaking, before it stopped. There was a short silence, before I felt the familiar prick on my arm of a needle, or a pressurised injector.

Then after a moment, the mechanical noise resumed, a little louder now, but going away. Whatever I had been injected with was dissipating my drowsiness. The sounds around me were coming in clearer now. I could hear the mechanical squeaking, coupled with the hissing sound like a hydraulic lifts, except these shifted in beat with the rhythmic clapping of metal on metal.

The sound of voices was also clearer, as I recognised the whispering voices of people all around me. I could feel that I was also sitting up, not lying down.

That's when I heard her voice. Almost next to me was she, but I didn't recognise a single word she said, as it sounded like she was speaking French.

A French hospital? Was it that bad? I thought.

Finally I risked trying to open my eyes again. My sight was cloudy, and I feared that maybe I was blind. Working my eye lids, I could make out shapes, so I raised an arm, and rubbed both eyes with a thumb and finger, dispelling the stickiness you get from keeping your eye's closed for a long time.

Dropping my hand away, everything was bright for a moment, after pressing against my eyes, until they focused on my surroundings.

At seeing where I was, I drew in a sharp breath. That voice sounded again, off to my right, speaking French. I turned my head in the direction, hoping the vision I saw was just a vision, and would disappear as I focused on something from a sense other than my eyes. As I turned my head, the expanse of what I saw, astounded me further. I was aghast, and confused.

I turned my head, looking around the other way, seeing that my vision didn't disappear, but surrounded me entirely.

On all sides, I was encircled by cages. Small metallic cages, filled, with people. For I sat in one of these cages also. I still had this feeling, one I associated with been in a hospital bed. This was explained entirely when I looked down. As with the people I saw in the cages near by, I was completely naked. No clothes. No watch, not even the ring I usually wear. I'd been stripped of everything I had in the world.

That voice continued to speak to me in French, so finally I focused upon its source. A girl. Or I should say a woman from her attributes, was in the cage next to me, with her hands grasping on the angled bars joining our cages together as she spoke to me.

I was still confused by my surroundings, by my condition, and by the people around me, without the need to be further confused by a language I hadn't picked enough up in the course of my travels.

Slowly I shook my head, and she stopped.

"English? Can you speak English?" I asked, haltingly, as I got my voice working.

"Pas." She replied. It was one of the few words I could understand.

"Sprechen auf deutsch?" I asked of her in German.

"Aber ja!" she replied. Finally I could understand her.

"Are you ok?" She asked.

"I think so." I replied, "But that all depends."

"Did you hit your head when you fell over? You were out for so long." Her German was better than mine, as I had only learnt enough of the language to travel through the country, and picked up anything else I needed to know as I passed though.

I worked out what she said after a moment, as I put a hand up to my head, and felt around my scalp, finding no bumps or soft spots that could indicate problems.

"No." I finally replied, returning my hand to the floor.

I'd been so intent on my surroundings and on why I was here, that I finally realised I was naked in front of a woman. A beautiful one at that.

It must have been a delayed reaction, from been unconscious or whatever it was, or possibly the drug, because I felt an erection come upon me.

I drew my hand up from the floor, sort of dropping it into my crotch, but this was quite obvious to the woman.

"Do no be embarrassed." She said, "It seems everyone is naked like you."

"It's not that." I replied.

I saw her eye's shift downwards, and then back to my face. She opened her mouth to say something, when her eye's shifted down again.

"It is quite natural under the conditions." She said after a moment, almost nonchalantly, before her eye's returned to my face. "Do not be concerned with people staring, we are all in the same predicament."

I took a glance down her body at the mention of staring. I had glimpsed it when I first took sight upon her, but diverted my eyes, thinking it was the right thing to do. But now I took a look, seeing the almost perfect circles of her breasts balanced with the curved figure of her body that I could see in her seated position. Down to her hips, and her gracious legs that were folded to one side so she could face me, providing me with a partial view of her light pubic hair.

I drew me eyes up again quickly, back to her face.

"It is fine to stare." She said, "We will have no choice to see each other, if we continue to be... cell mates." She said the final two words in English, giving more meaning to her words.

"I understand." I replied. It felt unnatural holding my hand there, so I shifted it back to the floor again, wishing for something to calm my nerves, and the rush of blood.

Chapter 3: Fear of monsters

"How long have we been here?" I asked.

"I'm not sure, but nothing has changed since I awoke." She said. "And nobody has a watch, or anything to tell the time."

"So I gathered." Holding my bare arm up.

She gave a small laugh, looking at my arm. "Yes it is hard not to figure." She said, "But at best guess, I've been awake for four to five hours. Since then, you have been my only companion."

I didn't understand what she meant, so she simply pointed over her shoulder.

I shifted now, drawing my back off the metal cage as I leant over to look around her.

I sat in the end cage of a row of cages, which continued down past her. Looking at the next row over, I counted each distinct enclosure which made up eight cages within the row. Looking back again, I could see the next two cages were empty, and the following four each had an occupant.

I turned about, looking at all the cages, seeing a row on either side of us, more than a metre apart, with people in some of the cages, but not all. Another row of cages started on the opposite side. At a guess, it looked like I was in the middle of these two rows, which looked like they extended further each way by another row, making four rows, with eight separate cages each, making 32 cages along the entire length.

Along the side of the rows, I tried to count how many there were. I couldn't see too far beyond the row next to us, but at a guess, I found there must have been about seven in one direction, and twelve in the other. With our own row, that made 20 across.

A small sum in my head, of 32 by 20, and I concluded with 640 individual cages. Not all of them filled, surely. But a good quantity was filled, with somewhere between five and six hundred people.

It was staggering. I focused myself back upon my immediate surroundings. I understood what she had meant. The nearest other person, another woman, was in a row next to us, which looked to be at least a meter and a half away, maybe a bit more.

Finally I turned back to my companion, nodding my comprehension. I rearranged my seating, crossing my legs to face her directly. "Four to five hours?" I repeated. "Nothing else has happened since then?"

"No, nothing." She replied, "Except when that mechanical monster passes."

I raised an eyebrow at this. "A monster?"

"It is a..." She said, thinking for the correct word in German, "Robot."

I didn't quite believe her. "A robot?" I asked, angling my head down and giving one of my questioning looks I always gave when I heard something I distrusted.

I was facing towards her bare bosoms, and when I realised I was staring at them, I raised my face up again, keeping the same look.

"Yes, a robot. It makes that squeaking and hissing noise as it walks by on its metal feet." She explained. "You should be able to see it, just over there." She turned about and pointed a hand one row over.

I looked in that direction but saw nothing but more cages obscuring my view. I could hear a noise over the low murmur of voices, a rhythmic clunking. Like the sound I heard just before I came to. Getting up from my seated position, I moved to the side of the cage, touching its framework for the first time as I grasped the horizontal bars in the framework.

Drawing my head to the top, I could feel the cross work of metal bars on my head as I looked out over the cages in front. There, barely, I could see a moving form, as walked down amongst the rows of cages, of a tall metal robot.

I could not see the lower portion of it, but as I watched, it came closer. Passing two rows over, I could make out some of the lower workings though the cages. It had what looked like hydraulic pumps, that shifted the metal skeleton, giving it movement.

Finally when I could no longer make out the details, as it passed between more cages, I drew away from cage wall.

My companion was staring past me, towards the robot, before I saw her shiver a moment, causing her body to visibly ripple, before looking towards me.

"A robot." I confirmed. "I am sorry I doubted you." I told her, resuming my crossed leg position.

"Understandable." She said, "I did not believe it when it walked past me the first time."

"That, robot. I remember hearing it when I woke up." I told her.

"I was afraid when it stopped at your cage." She said, "You were still for so long, I had thought that you might be dead, and it had come to collect you."

She put a hand on the grid of metal bars separating us. She had this look of fear and loneliness on her face, that seemed to stare into the distance, that I could only empathise with.

I raised a hand of my own, touching hers. She looked at me, but didn't withdraw her hand, so I covered hers with mine. "It's ok now." I said. "You're not alone, and I'm not dead." Giving her a small smile. How could I no smile at a woman, unless I was dead?

"Thank you." She said, smiling back. "But that thing, when it stopped at you cage, I wasn't sure. It extended this arm inside, and pressed something against your arm which hissed."

I looked at my arm, the same one I was touching her with. It looked fine, with no marks on it. "A gas injector." I said, guessing at the sound, and what I could remember in my half daze. "It must have injected me with something, to bring me awake."

"I came to the same conclusion." She said, "As you came to, just after."

She sat there, just looking at me for a moment, "We have been talking much, but we have not yet traded names."

We'd been sitting here, talking for who know how long, and we'd seen each other's body in the most personal way, yet we still didn't know each other's names. She was right to want to trade names.

"My name is Celine." She said, "I would tell you my last name, except that is meaningless under the circumstance."

"Celine." I repeated, making sure I had the pronunciation right. "I am Joseph."

"It is good to meet you Joseph." She said.

"It is good to meet you Celine." I said.

Chapter 4: Natural functions

We would have shaken hands, except the cross work of metal bars made it difficult to do so, without intruding on one another's space. That and we might risk losing skin from the effort.

The cage, as I had see it, was not like cages from home, those used to keep animals, or anything like the cells of a prison. I've had the fortune to spend the night in a few cells in my youth, but this was nothing like them.

A prison cell had space in it, enough for a person to walk about it, and a few amenities, like a chair, or a fixed bed and a toilet.

This had none of those. It was too short to even stand in, let alone walk, and its dimensions were short enough, to not allow the average person to lie down in, except diagonally, and even then, it might be a squeeze for a tall person.

Looking around the cell, the cage appeared to be a perfect cube, about one and half metres in length. About the same distance between the rows it appeared.

But the cage itself was the fascinating part. Instead of round cylindrical steel bars, it was made up of triangular rods, that pointed outwards, and reflected somewhat like bare aluminium. And unlike a prison, that had just vertical bars, these were arranged both up and down, and cross wise, in a grid work of bars.

The most curious part of all, was how the bars were all joined. For I could not see it. The bars in the cross work, appeared to just pass through one another, without any join marks, like it was moulded in one piece.

And where a wall joined another wall, or ceiling, it was the same. No join marks, like it was moulded.

The bars that separated Celine and me, were joined in the same fashion, but were not triangular, but cubed, with the flat edges facing in, so all around the cage, the metal bars had flat faces facing inwards.

The floor was different, as it was also a grid of metal, except it was spaced further apart, and in between was a soft spongy material.

I had not taken much interest in the rest of my surroundings until we were both interrupted from our introduction by a new sound.

I turned to look at the row next to us, where our closest neighbour was, a woman.

I am not sure how best to describe this experience, but when I first looked, all I noticed was the woman, leaning back against the corner of her cage, in a seated position, facing away from us.

It was not her directly, but what she was doing rather, that made the sound that had intruded. Like a tap running water in a sink. Looking to the floor of her cage, I saw what was making the sound and felt somewhat disgusted.

A thin stream of urine poured forth form between her legs, to fall on the floor of her cage. It shifted occasionally, to rattle off the metal on the floor, or to hit the surface between the metal grid.

I averted my face from the sight, not really wanting to stare at anything like it, but the sound continued, ever aware in my mind, of what was creating the sound.

When it finally stopped, I felt a little relieved, for thinking about a urinating woman, had set off my erection again. I did my best to ignore its presence within my crossed legs, and looked back to Celine.

"It is something I had not thought about." She said, "We have no facilities within these cells for toilet. And what do we do when, we need to excrete?"

It was not a subject that I wished to participate in, under normal circumstances. But these were not normal.

"I don't know." I replied frankly. "But if more people start doing it, we might choke ourselves to death on the smell."

It was too much to ask, as the sound of another person urinating could be heard. I did not turn my head this time, but Celine did. My hand was still on hers, and I could feel the sudden griping she did of the bar.

I waited, feeling my ever strong curiosity to look, but disregarding it until Celine turned back. She seemed to know I hadn't looked this time, "It was a man this time." She said, loosening her grip on the bar, "The sound of the woman must have given him the need. Other people may soon follow."

She was right of course. Off in the distance, I could hear the same splashing sounds coming from more than on direction.

I was able to ignore the sounds that sounded further away, as they sounded reminiscently of rain upon a roof, and did my best not to look at the closer sounds.

I did not feel the need to urinate myself, as I hadn't eaten much that morning. If it was that morning. And I never got to the lunch I had been planning to keep my going though the day. The strange thing was that I didn't feel hungry.

If I missed a meal, I would usually get hungry pangs for a short time, before they disappeared. By the second meal time, I would usually feel a more intense need, and satisfy it.

But there was nothing. Celine had guessed at four to five hours, so by this time, I should be getting to be very hungry. But there was nothing. Not even the rumbling complaint from an empty stomach.

"Celine, when was the last time you ate?" I asked.

"I will not need to go soon." She replied, thinking that I was talking about her urinating.

"No, when was the last time you ingested a meal?" I asked, trying for a more direct question in my German.

"About..." She was silent a moment as she thought, "Eight hours ago!"

"And you don't feel hungry?"

"No." She replied. "Well, maybe a little."

It didn't make as much sense as I had wanted. I had surely eaten my last meal some time before Celine did, but she was the one feeling hungry.

No it didn't make sense. It wasn't something I could think about, as I could hear another person urinating nearby.

Celine's hand suddenly clenched under mine, "Oh."

"What is it?" I asked, worried.

"I..." She, looked at me in the face, all serious, "Need to urinate."

I released the breath I didn't know I was holding, then drew in another sharply. I lifted my hand from hers, and watched as she shifted from her seated position, looking about her cage.

There was not much of a selection of where to do it. Just four corners. Fortunately, she picked one of the two furthermost from me, and turned about again in the cage, backing in the corner.

I don't' know why, but I watched her as she backed into a half squatted position, with her legs separated. Maybe it was my overwhelming curiosity, or the fact she'd said it was ok to stare. So I watched as she squatted there, with the edge of her vagina open, as a thin stream of fluid squirted, and then flowed out.

She did not look my way, but concentrated on her task, trying not to splash over her feet, and not work it too far away from the corner of her cage. It took longer than what I expected, as she half sat there. I scrutinised the floor where she urinated, noticing the dark sponge floor under the cage, soaking up the urine.

When she finally finished, she looked up at my watching face, "It is strange, I could not hold it back."

"The floor seemed to soak it all up." I replied, a little strained from watching it.

"I noticed this too. Maybe it was designed to do this." She said.

"Is the floor wet?" I asked.

She leaned over, and prodded the sponge floor lightly with a finger. It deformed as she pressed a bit harder, until she drew it up and touched her cheek with the finger. "No, it is dry. Very curious."

It made some sense at least. We could urinate within the cell without feeling like we were defecating our space. But as Celine had asked before. What about when we need to relieve our intestines? Surely the sponge couldn't take in solid matter?

Chapter 5: Time and distance

Celine moved back towards me now, sitting against the cage wall next to the barrier that separated us, and stretching her legs out together.

Seeing how close she was, I shifted from my position, and sat back against the same wall, basically side by side, with only the single barrier between us.

"Joseph, what were you doing before, this." She waved a hand about, describing the cage and everything around us.

"I was backpacking around Europe." I explained, telling about my trip through several countries, the people I met and the strange things I saw.

"Not as strange as this, no?" She asked.

"No, this is the strangest of all places I've visited yet." I replied. "I hope it's only a visit."

"I do too." She said, "So where you last?"

I explained to her about coming back into Germany, and finally my last stop in the small hamlet, and what I saw up until I took my glasses off.

"I was not so clumsy, or fortunate." She said. "I was working in Strasbourg, near the German border."

I nodded, understanding where it was. I had been planning on passing through Strasbourg when I entered France.

"I work in a small office, when I took a break. I was standing in front of a nearby window." Celine explained, "It is the last thing I remember, staring outside the window at the trees. I had no warning of people collapsing as you did. I was just there one moment, and here the next."

No, she was not as fortunate as I. But I wondered if she saw the same thing as I did, but didn't realise it. That U.F.O.

"Which way does your window face?" I asked her, trying to determine something.

"North East. Into Germany." She replied, "On a clear day you can see the river Rhine for some distance."

North East. That was in the right general direction to where I saw it, over the middle of Germany. It also proved it wasn't in orbit, so it was most definitely a flying object, however unidentifiable it was.

"Do you think we're in Germany?" She asked.

"I don't know." I really had no idea. Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, United Kingdom. We really could be anywhere. It all depends on how long we've been out.

The fact that we had been a few hundred kilometres apart when we were knocked out by the light provides some estimate about the far reaching nature of whoever had caged us. That was the point really. How long had we actually been unconscious?

Celine had confirmed that I'd been four to five hours longer than her. But how long on top of that were we our, as we were transported?

One of the best indicators of time on the human body, are our finger nails. I looked over my finger nails, seeing how short they were, figuring we hadn't been here days for them to have grown. I needed a shorter method of finding out how long we'd actually been here.

A fresh scab from an injury came to mind. I looked at my fingers, the place where I get them most often when travelling. But I couldn't remember getting any recently, as I looked over my unscarred fingers. I did notice the lack of ring on my right index finger. Only a slight mark remained, where the skin remained lighter from lack of sun on my skin. Nothing to indicate passage of time further than that.

"Celine, do you have any scars, or skin marks?" I asked, looking at her through the cage. I guess my German was terrible, as she didn't quite understand.

"Uh, wounds!" I said. "Do you have any old wounds."

She spent a moment, looking at her hands, and then a knee, and drew up one foot to look at that. "No Joseph." She replied, shaking her head. "No old wounds."

I looked at her leg, as she lowed it to the floor again.

"Wait, there is something." She said, placing her hands to the sides of her face. "My ear's were pierced." She felt along her ear's, under the edge of her hair for a moment, "No I cannot find the piercing, without looking for it."

I was despondent for a sign of how long we'd been in here.

"One other thing." Celine said. I looked to her, wondering what she knew. "I had a pieced Bauchnabel."

I didn't understand that word, having never heard it before. I wasn't even sure what it meant. It was nothing like the German word for clitoris, so as far as I knew, it wasn't her vagina that she had pierced. "What?" I asked.

She pointed to stomach, to her bellybutton in fact. "Bauchnabel" I said understanding now, "Bellybutton."

She bent over, causing her breasts to push forward as she looked at her bellybutton. "Oh my, it has healed up." She exclaimed.

I couldn't quite see around her arm as she double checked the skin of her bellybutton. She sat back, with a look of surprise on her face. "It has healed completely."

"How long would that take?" I asked her.

"A day, at least." She answered, "But the tissue does not hold the mark of the piercing either, which would take more than a day. We could have been here that long, surely!"

"It may have taken that long to get us all together." I told Celine, "To pick us all up from wherever we had fallen, transport us here. And remove all our clothes."

I was silent a moment, thinking that didn't sound right.

She solved it for me. "They could not have removed my piercing last, it would not have healed by now."

Images revolved around my mind, of troops of people stripping the clothes off the collapsed people in the street, and bundling their naked bodies into trucks before transporting them here.

I turned my head about, looking at the figures in the cages around me, but did not recognise any of them from the small hamlet. No, it wasn't right, especially when I was caged next to Celine. Something more was happening, that I couldn't even begin to comprehend.

"They must have removed our clothes and jewellery where we fell." I said, "And it's taken that long to transport us all here."

It was the only explanation I could come up with. Whether we'd been transported in trucks, aircraft, or both did not matter, but it was a long way away.

"We cannot be in Germany or France." Celine said, coming to the same conclusion.

"Maybe China." I said, as the Chinese had not been too friendly lately to the European countries.

"Maybe further." She added.

I had to agree. We could well be anywhere in the world.

Chapter 6: Demand and supply

The sound of someone yelling caught our attention. A loud baritone voice, in Russian close by. It was something I didn't expect.

My Russian skills were at best, limited to half a dozen words. But most of what I heard did not comprise of those words. I looked to Celine, thinking she might understand.

She had as much idea as I did, when she asked, "Do you know what he is saying?"

"None." I said, listening to the voice continue to yell out.

All of a sudden, the robot whirred past my cage, its feet thumping loudly with the hiss of its hydraulics as it proceeded down between the cages towards the source of the voice.

Quite unexpectedly, in the middle of several words, the voice stopped and a quietness settled over everyone. There was some low murmuring coming from somewhere, but it was almost dead silent.

Slowly the voices started whispering around us, like frogs resuming their calls after been interrupted by something splashing into their pond.

Some of the voices were in French, and I asked Celine, "Do you know what they're whispering?"

"Some of them are asking what happened."

"Is anyone answering?" I asked.

"Do we want to know what happened?" she said. She had that look in her eye's again, a look of fear, but it was mixed with something else now.

"We need to know what they did to him, so we can avoid it ourselves." I replied, "And I'd like to know how a Russian got in here."

"I think I understand." She said. She listened to the voices for a minutes, "They are saying that the man shot with sparks of light, but they do not comprehend the one who was next to the Russian when he was shot. They are speaking English."

"English?" I asked, surprised.

She nodded.

Someone else here knew English. What was the chance that someone was picked up from one of the dozen English speaking countries, or possibly a tourist, like myself, who had been in Germany when they were taken?

I took a risk now, and called out in English, "Hello, did anyone see what happened to the Russian?"

"What are you doing?" Celine pleaded, pressing her face and hands against the barrier.

I had to change back to German to explain, and started to reply when a voice with and English accent called out. And it was female.

"Hello? You're English?" She called out.

I took a look at the face beside me, one of fear, and worry. "I'll try not to draw the robot's attention." I told Celine, before changing back to English.

"Not quiet, I'm Australian." I called.

"Don't tell me, they got you from all the way down there!" She called back.

"No, I was in Germany." I explained, cautioning my voice, "But I wanted to know what happened to the Russian, and what he was saying."

"Russian? No, he's from the Ukraine." She explained, "But he acts like one. He was demanding some food, and vodka."

"You understood what he was saying?" I asked.

"Absolutely, I've just come from there and was on my way home through Poland, when, well... I must say, that I feel a little embarrassed by my condition."

"Naked?" I asked.

"Well, yes, that and I've got no make up or compact. My hair must be a mess. And did you see what those people were doing before? I am aghast."

I guessed she was talking about the urinating. She didn't sound too appalled, but she'd soon have to do the same herself, as Celine had.

"Is the... Ukraine ok?" I asked, "What did the robot do to him."

"He appears to be ok." She said, "he's actually got his eye's open, and he's mumbling something, but it's too quiet to make out. The robot? Well, it shot some electricity or a bolt of light though these terrible bars at him. And it gave my ears a rest a least."

"He's alive." I repeated to Celine, "Just stunned by the robot. He was asking for food and vodka."

"Vodka?" Celine, repeated, "Pah, he should have been shot."

I wasn't too partial to it myself, unless it was blended with something. My tastes were more of the lighter kind. Some of the German beers had been a bit strong on my first trip through, but I had been looking forward to trying some of the French wine.

"By the way, my name is Beth." The English woman called out, "What's yours?"

"Joseph." I replied. "It's nice to meet you Beth."

"Oh, I do believe I can make out what Mikhail is saying now." Beth called out.

"What is he saying." I called back, after a moment.

"He is saying, 'All I wanted was a bottle of vodka and sandwich.' and he's saying a few nasty things about the robot, God, and that blasted English Woman... Oh, he's calling me a whore, and something else, I won't translate."

It was enough to know that the Ukraine, Mikhail was all right, and not hurt by the robot. If anything, he sounded almost normal.

Beth sounded nice enough for an English woman, even though I couldn't see her.

"Thank you Beth, maybe we'll meet some time." I called.

"That would be nice, someone to speak English with, rather than the convoluted language of this fool." Beth said.

That's where I stopped my conversation with Beth, and explained to Celine. "Mikhail is the name of the Ukraine man. The robot only caused him to quieten down, nothing more."

Most of the fear had left Celine's face, returning it to its former appearance of almost beauty. "What else did she say?" Celine asked.

"Beth, that was the English woman, just complained about her appearance. And she was in Poland when she was taken."

"France, Germany, Poland." Celine said, listing off the countries where people had been taken from, "Do you know where in the Ukraine, Mikhail was taken?"

"Beth didn't say." I replied, "It doesn't matter much, since it appears that what ever it was, was centred over Germany."

"It is, as you say, doesn't matter." Celine said, relaxing back on her side, "But it does matter that I am feeling hungry now. Maybe Mikhail was right in demanding food."

I didn't feel the need yet. And if we had been unconscious for more than a day, I should be feeling almost to the point of starving, having not taken any food or water for that long.

Food and water. This was what I was thinking, when an urge came upon me. It was sudden, not normal or natural.

Celine could see the ache on my face, "Is there something wrong?"

"My turn." I said, getting up quickly from my seated position, and kneeling in the opposite corner. With relief, I released the pressure that had suddenly built up in my bladder, allowing it to drain into the dark sponge material in the very corner of my cage.

It took longer than it usually did to empty my bladder, but I hadn't been to a toilet in something like two days now, so it was expected. I held my position, until eventually the flow stopped. With some jiggling, I rolled the last few drops out, expelling it, until I was sure it was dry.

If I had been wearing clothing, and I was sure of a shower or bath sometime soon, I wouldn't be worried. But as a prime source of possible infection, and of bad smells, I wanted to make sure I had no urine left in my penis.

So much so, to my disagreement I rolled the last few drops off on my finger, and wiped it on the sponge floor. To finish, I left the foreskin rolled down, to allow it to dry. It was unusual, to say the least. But it was usual to wear clothes some of the time, and to have access to water and cleaning agents. I had none of these.

Now that I was finished, I shuffled about, returning to my position next to the bars separating me from Celine.

"You have done it now." She said, looking to my crotch through the bars, my penis was the only object there worth looking at.

I was still self conscious of been naked in front of this woman, and the recent activities made me vulnerable to another erection, which pushed its way up.

I looked up from it back at Celine, who returned her sight to my face after another moment. "You will have to live with it, it is as natural as a woman's menstruation."

She actually said something else, but I was getting all the concepts of German now, that I understood what she was saying.

"Which will be more discomforting than a simple erection." Celine continued.

This I remembered with dread. It was not something I wanted to listen to, and Celine didn't go further with the subject. The fact that she may have to sit there for days, bleeding from between her legs, was enough to think about.

We sat there, quietly for a while, in our own thoughts. I was still pondering upon my sudden need to urinate, when something hit me.

I wasn't something, rather than a wet drop of something hit me. I looked to Celine, who was staring off at the cages opposite, and looked at her hands, suspecting play, but they were folded over her pelvis, equally idle.

Another drip hit me, on the leg, and then Celine called out, "What?" Looking form my leg to her, she was staring at me with uncertainty, when she flinched.

She took her eyes from me, and poked at one of her breasts. On it was a single drop of liquid. Slowly I turned my head up, looking past the roof of my cage, at the ceiling for the first time.

It wasn't a low ceiling; maybe three of four metres up, with what looked like panels that matched the placement of our cage, and panels of light in between.

As I stared at the ceiling, it unexpectedly opened up with a spray of water.

There was a mass of sudden calls around me; from the sudden wetting down we were getting. I turned to Celine, who was looking about the roof, and all the while, getting her hair and face wet.

She licked at a run of water from across her lips, then turned to me, finding I was already watching. "It is not water." She said simply.

Chapter 7: Nutrients

I caught some of the fluid on my hand, and without hesitation, drew my tongue across it, tasting the strange substance. It was not like anything I remember, but neither did it taste new. I could identify different distinct flavours, that seemed to flow and change across my tongue. I had to take another sample, and still I couldn't get a firm taste on it.

"I don't know, but its taste seems to change, but always remind me of one food or another." I told Celine, facing her.

"This is our food?" She asked, in the downpour that felt more like a shower now. Her hair was looking plastered, as it ran across her body. She sampled some more from her hand, "This is very wasteful for food."

"Try in the middle of your cage, it seems to be dripping there." I said, seeing a steady flow running past her.

I turned to my own, and saw the same thing, a steady flow of liquid falling to the sponge floor below, which seemed to soak it up as quickly as it fell.

I had to get up from my position, and drew my hand through the flow, to taste it, and still the taste changed and flowed. With some trepidation, I cupped my hands under the fall, drawing it to my face to drink. It seemed to flow down without any trouble, after a few more handfuls, I still couldn't feel any change with my stomach. It didn't react, and I didn't try to throw it up, so hopefully whatever it was, was meant to be taken internally.

I turned back to see Celine watching me expectantly from the centre of her cage, "It seems fine." I said, "Go ahead, and try it."

She took a double handful and drew it to her face, and letting it run down into her mouth. Half of it missed, running down her chin, and mixing with the rest that landed on her chest and ran down her body.

I took another handful, trying to draw it all into my mouth, failing just as much as Celine did. When I lowered my face, I found Celine with her face upturned, catching the gush of fluid directly into her mouth.

She swallowed now and then, as much of it overflowed, and ran down between her breasts. My eyes strayed no further; as I imitated her, and leaned forward to catch the liquid directly into my mouth, swallowing what I could, between each breath I drew in through my nose.

When I had enough, I drew back from the flow, settling on my backside, as the rain of whatever it was, continued around me.

Eventually, even Celine stopped, and dropped her face back down. She turned her head about, with the appearance of having a sore neck, then shifted back across to our old position.

I joined her, shifting across next to the bars, as close as we could get.

"It has satisfied my hunger." She said, "Like food, not water."

"It still continues to fall like rain." I said.

"Then maybe it is more than just food." She explained, "Maybe it is like rain, it satisfies us with nutrients, but washes us like water."

She had an interesting point. I looked at her body, looking for dirty patches, but turned to my own, figuring that any form of dirt would be easy to find on my own body. I gave up; realising it was almost impossible to find a dirt patch within this rain.

I turned back to Celine, who had a foot up over the other leg, checking between her toes. I admired her dexterity. I could bring my foot up, but not as far as she had hers, close enough to touch her face with.

"I cannot find anything within all this wetness." She complained, dropping her foot, and straightening her leg out.

This, nutrient shower, for lack of a better name had most likely washed away any dirt or residue that we sought to confirm that it was washing away.

She started playing with her dark red hair. When it had been dry, it was shorter than shoulder length, about half way down her neck and covering her ears, framing her face in a stylish bob cut. But now, it was flat and wet, sticking to her face whenever she moved her head. Her face still looked beautiful to me, even with the hair wet around her face. My heart felt heavy for some reason, that I knew not why.

"My hair is also a mess." She added to her complaints, "It will never be the same again."

She flicked another piece off her face, only to have it swing back again.

I had to admire her restraint, and stubbornness under the conditions, which didn't seem to let up for some time. I was beginning to think I was fond of her.

As abruptly as the rain of nutrients had begun, it just stopped. Only the light patter of it dripping out continued for a short time, until it too, stopped.

Chapter 8: The frail and the weak

Looking about my cage, it seemed almost dry, except for the rivulets which clung to the flat metal in the floor. Touching a finger to the metal, one pool took to my finger, using it as a bridge to flow into the sponge flooring.

Using both hands, I cleared away all the large wet patches, letting the nutrient get sucked up by the sponging which always appeared dry.

It wasn't as bad, as the nutrient didn't cling to skin very well, but ran straight off. My hair though, was wet as it held the fluid. Like Celine had said, it was a mess.

Unfortunately I couldn't do a thing about it, except run my hands across my scalp, squeezing the residue out, before it to ran down my body, and disappeared into the floor. There was a slightly discernible feeling of dampness across my skin, but it was only vague. I had nothing to dry myself off with, so resumed my seat next to Celine's cage.

She was sitting in the back corner of her cage facing my way, doing, I don't know what. She had legs wide apart, pointing along each side of the cage at a right angle, and she was leaning over, pressing her breasts and face to the floor.

It was erotic, seeing her laid flat in this position, until she flexed up, and stretched her body out in another direction. She was exercising.

I could have laughed, at my lack of intelligence, but Celine would have heard, and maybe thought I was laughing at her.

I went into one of those half states, of blankly staring at Celine, as thought about exercising in this environment. Most of what I did was walking, as I had done during my journey over most of Europe. Actual exercising that I did came in the form of an upper body work-out. The cage itself was somewhat limited to doing anything more than simple exercises.

Celine drew her body upright, stretching her arms up to the cage top. She paused there, seeing my unfocused stare. "Joseph?" She asked, bringing her arms down.

"Sorry." I said, "I was just thinking about your exercising."

"This cell is not well suited to the human body." She said, slapping one of her outstretched legs with a hand, "We will become weak if we just sit here. At home, I do callisthenics before I bathe. But since that has been done now, I have no choice but to do it after."

She was right. In the real world, an idle person would lose their muscle tone, and become weaker and less coordinated.

"Unfortunately I cannot do my more physical movements, so I am restricted to stretching." She explained as she leaned over, stretching herself out to the foot nearest me. Celine seemed to push herself to the limits, stretching her body out.

I felt kind of guilty, just siting there and watching. So I picked myself up, stretching my body diagonally across my cage floor, and proceeded to do push ups.

I counted them off as I went, lowering myself to the floor, but not quite touching it, before pushing back up. One.

My feet were right in the corner, touching the metal of the cell, and as I lowered myself again, the framework seemed to brush close by my face. Two.

It was close, just enough distance to lie down in, nothing more. Three.

I continued, up to twenty, watching the cage shift by my face, down and up. Under normal circumstances, I would have stopped as I only did short exercises to compliment my walking as I travelled.

But with no walking now, I continued. To see how far I could go. I could make out Celine though the cell wall on my right, as I lowered myself again. She had finished stretching her body out between her legs, and was placing herself length wise across her cage; back down as if she was trying to lie down, but with her arms stretched out behind her.

Down, up. She had her body arced up above her, her breasts flattened with her arms stretched far back, and her hair hanging clear of her ears.

Down, up. Each time I came up, she had shifted a hand or a foot, bringing them further under her, as she stretched her body in a tight arc, describing a rainbow, with her hands at one end, and her feet at another.

Her head was a small object hanging underneath the arc, only a slight imperfection of the beauty of that position.

I continued, almost reaching fifty, as I finally gave out, and lowered myself to the floor ungracefully. Like a domino effect, Celine fell over sideways, rolling her body towards me as she came to a stop still holding the arc in her body.

Slowly, she straightened up, relieving herself from the awkward position on the floor.

I picked myself up also, feeling the stress in my arms from over working them. They would settle down eventually, a little sore, but no worse off. Next time, I would limit myself to 40.

Celine had arranged herself sitting on the floor, next to the barrier between us, with her knees up to her chest. She poked her feet through, half into my cell, and lifting it up to touch the metal of the grid work as she leaned back a bit.

"Joseph, could you hold my feet for me?" She asked.

I had an idea what she wanted, to do some sit ups. I usually jammed my feet under a piece of furniture wherever I was spending the night, or made do with my pack over my feet.

"Yes, I would like to." I said, arranging myself on my knees, opposite her, and placing my hands over her feet, holding them down on the floor, so they wouldn't bash the metal above as she leaned back.

With her hands behind her head, she proceeded to lean back down to the floor, then raise herself again, bringing her face right up to her knees. Her legs were spread apart just a little, as her nose slipped between each time she came up.

I watched her, declining to speak as she exercised. I didn't bother to count instead just merely watching. She was right. It was hard not to stare. Her eye's met mine each time she came up, and I tracked her face down, just between her legs, and back up again.

Several times, I didn't meet her eyes, as my eyes drifted to other parts of her body, down between her legs to regions I hadn't usually focused upon in this way.

After a moment, considering my position, I returned my eyes to her face, feeling as guilty as sin, and most likely had a flushed face to show it.

Celine stopped soon after, "Thankyou for that." She said, as I withdrew my hands from her feet.

I hadn't finished my exercises, and realised she could well help me do some sit ups. "Celine, could you please hold my feet for a while?" I asked, with a smile.

She returned the smile, "I would be honoured to." She said, picking her self up, and kneeling down to hold my feet. I rearranged myself, placing my feet though the cage, where she placed her hand over them, holding my feet firmly to the floor.

I didn't much think, as I concentrated on the sit-ups, counting off each time I saw Celine's face though the metal cage. I did double what I would usually did, satisfying my need for exercise. I pulled myself up finally, grabbing my knees for support as I thanked Celine.

"Your welcome." She replied, releasing my feet.

We sat there, not saying a word, just staring at each other between the bars. I was wondering why we were in this place. Why in these cages, what was this metal that looked like it was cast, but looked machined. How was it joined, with us still inside?

Why were we without clothes, without the jewellery that we decorate ourselves with, watches, earrings, and body piercing? What else had been removed? Tooth fillings, metal plates and artificial limbs?

Why I had been paired next to this woman, who I had no knowledge of before this place? Someone I could not have dreamed of in a thousand years, yet here we were, forced to spend our time next to each other under these circumstances? Why her, and why me? Why was there nobody else next to us? Why did I have to suffer her beauty which I could not touch unless I reached through these holes? Why was I falling for her?

Who had done all this? The Chinese? Or a Middle East country? Maybe it was a religious faction that no one had heard of.

Who would have a robot like the one we saw before? Who could even create a device that could hover in the sky, and knock people out by just looking at it?

Why was this even happening? People kidnapped, and taken publicly from towns and cites across Europe, maybe further. To what purpose?

I was awash with whys, where's and hows. Where is this, and how that, and why I was looking at Celine, and why she was staring back?

I considered for a moment, what she might be thinking. Why I was even thinking about what she was thinking disturbed me. My mind sometimes gets so confused, that I lose all self control, forgetting where I am, and what I was doing for several minutes, sometimes longer.

When I was younger, I'd been known to wander about in a daze, not even responding to my parents when they called my name. I had to see a doctor and a phycologist at my parent's request. The doctor of course, said there wasn't anything wrong with me. The phycologist seemed to understand more, but couldn't recommend anything to alleviate it.

It got better as I grew older, as I learned things, answering many of my own questions. But it was like it had started again. More questions than answers. More unknowns, that were closer than any mystery of the universe.

Chapter 9: Feelings

I am not sure how long I was dazed this time. Minutes, maybe hours. Nobody had the time, so there was no way to tell.

What I remember was Celine calling my name, and her hand touching me.

"Joseph? Joseph, are you ok?" She said, with her face against the metal bars, an arm outstretched into my cage and her hand under my chin, shaking my face. "Joseph, can you hear me."

I released one of my hands, holding my knees, and lightly took her hand. "I'm ok." I said, as she stopped moving my face.

She pulled back a bit, releasing my face so she could stare through the bars directly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know that would happen." I told her, "Sometimes I just zone out."

"You were silent for a long while. You had me worried." She said, grasping my hand. "When I spoke to you, you didn't respond. I had first thought that you were thinking, but then as you didn't move, I was beginning to think that maybe what we drank was poison."

I didn't begrudge her feeling, as it had occurred to me as we drank. "No, I don't think it was poison." I explained, "I apologise if I frightened you. I used to do the same thing when I was younger. It had gotten better, but this place, this condition must have brought it back."

Her hand was still in mine, gripping it. She didn't seem to want to let go. "It is a strange condition." She said.

I thought she was speaking about the place, but she continued, "What do you do when you sit like that, staring out as if I was not here?"

"Many things. I ask all the questions of why, who, where, how, and what." I told her.

"Do you..." She paused a moment, considering her words, "ever get an answer?"

I slowly shook my head, drooping my eyes to our clasped hands for a moment, "No. They always remain unanswered until I find them out for myself."

"What questions were you asking?" She asked, interested in knowing what I had been thinking.

"Many." I started, "But I was wondering who could possibly create this place, the robot, and the light in the sky."

"That is..." She made a small laugh, like a quick exhale. "A good question. The technology is so impressive; I would have no idea. What else did you consider?"

"I was considering our cages, and how they were made." I told her, leaning forward a bit, to grasp the cage between us. "The metal looks refined, yet it has been crossed in this pattern without any joins. All the way around, the floor, ceiling, and walls, are joined the same. No joins. No hinges. How were we put in here?"

She looked at the caging on her side, scratching at the metal with a finger nail. There was a frown on her face, as she looked down and then up where the floor and ceiling would have joined, but did not. Only the seeming continuation of metal.

"This is most perplexing." She agreed, "I had not considered this, thinking we had been locked in. It is the perfect mouse trap."

She was right. The idea of building a better mouse trap had been around for decades, if not centuries. This was the perfect trap, as the mouse could not get out, and didn't know how he got in.

"Was there much else you were questioning?" She said.

"Yes, there was something else." I said, "We have had our clothes removed, and your ear rings, and your bellybutton piercing. What else was taken from us? Did you have anything else pierced?"

She shook her head, "No, nothing."

"What about tooth caps?" I asked her. The word dentist doesn't really exist in German, so talking about fillings in teeth was a difficult subject.

"I don't know." She answered, "Don't you have any?"

"No, I've looked after my teeth." I replied. "And I don't' get to see a dentist very often."

Her eye's watched me, but I could see the movement in her mouth, probably probing about her mouth with her tongue. She stopped after a moment, "I can't tell. I have one on the right, but I can not tell if it is there. Could you please check?" She asked, opening her mouth wide.

I had to relinquish her hand, as I leaned forward, and hold onto the bars to keep me steady as I looked through one of the openings into her mouth.

Her tongue was a little active, but stayed out of the way, but her lip over shadowed her teeth. With one hand, I stuck though the next hole, and gently pulled her lip to the side.

I looked over all her teeth in the right of her jaw, but could not see any filling. "Is it the top or bottom?"

Her answer was a little gurgled, but clear enough. I searched along the bottom teeth with my eyes. Sure enough I found the molar where the filling was supposed to be.

I leaned in closer; my face against the bars to make sure it was completely gone, pulling on her lip.

She made an "uh" sound, as her hand found my back. I couldn't see any more, so surrendered my hold on her lip, keeping my face close to the bars. "It is gone. There is a gap where the filling was."

She still had her hand on my back, as she worked her mouth back to normal.

"Completely gone?" She said, rhetorically. "They have more than robbed us of our clothes, but invaded our bodies."

It was a little extreme, but true. Who would bother stealing a filling? A simple metal filling in a tooth.

"Extracting a filling is a difficult task to do without hurting the individual." She said, "But my face feels fine."

"Then they must have expert medical facilities to do that to everyone here." I said, "I wonder what else they must have done."

"Is this all you were thinking about?" she asked.

Her hand on my back was a reminder of what else I had been thinking. I decided to be open and truthful about it. Under the circumstances, lying to her would be too obvious, "I was also questioning why we were put together, in adjacent cells. Why you are so beautiful. And why I have no choice, but to put up with these feelings I have for you, only ever getting as close to you as we are right now."

"You have feelings towards me?" She asked,

"Yes." I said, as it was the only reply I could give her.

"It may be this place, and the enforced nature of our imprisonment." She said, "Giving you these feelings for me."

"That is probably true." I admitted, "And if we had met under different circumstances, I think I would still have these feelings."

"Are you sure?" She asked, "And it is not just my body?"

I could say that any man could appreciate a body like hers. Of what I had seen of her body, it would still hold its secrets. But it was more than her body. Her face. Her personality. Her concern for me when I had not yet awoken. I felt her fears of been lonely in this place, and wanting to shield her from them.

I wanted to care for her, and help her. It was more than I could think about right now, without zoning out again. "I want to care for you, keep you company in this place, and always be by your side in whatever condition. Your body could be burned horribly, and I would still want you."

Just the mere though of hurting her didn't sit well in my stomach. And I felt a touch of something in my eyes. I blinked, to try and remove the feeling.

I continued, "I don't know what I would do if someone came and took you away this moment to be replaced by someone else, and I never saw you again. Even if that robot came to shut me up, I would yell and scream to know where they had taken you."

I finished my piece, but I sat there breathing a little harder, my heart racing faster than usual, as I stared into Celine's eyes.

"I do fear for you." Celine said. "And I would not like been taken away from you. I do have feelings for you, but it is hard to say. To put into words."

It was the language problem again. My German was probably terrible, but at one stage I had done a course in it at school, learning the intricacies, but it did not cover everything. Coming to Germany, and some of the other counties had dropped me into the deep end of speaking the language, and the other bits of languages I had picked up along the way. To be one of the natives of the country, gave the person unexpected skill at knowing what to say.

Celine was not a German native. That she worked near the German border did not mean that she knew German just as well. She could well have grown up in another part of France.

"I cannot say exactly, they are mixed, and confusing for me." She said at length. "I would like us to be friend's. Close friends, for I do not know what will happen to us, but we will be together, I believe, for whatever we find in the future."

Chapter 10: Day and night

Her words sounded portentous at that moment. Before she could speak another word, the lights went out.

There were calls around us, cursive exclamations, but the person I focused upon was the one right next to me.

"Joseph!?" Celine called.

Her hand was still upon my back, but it seemed to scrabble about, marking sure I was still here.

"It's ok Celine, I'm still here." I said, trying to reassure her. I had my hand still part way though the bars from holding back her lip. I slipped it further though, hoping she hadn't moved much. First I found her shoulder, and she gasped under the sudden touch. "Shh, it's ok. It's only the lights." I said, running my hand up to her chin.

"I'm so sorry." Celine said, "It frightened me. I... I can't see a thing."

It was completely dark. In any normal building, there would be still light of some type, filtering in from outside, from street lights, star light, or any number of electrical devices that had little blinking indicators on them.

But inside here, it was pitch black and nothing more.

"There aren't any windows, so this room must be sealed." I said. "If we were underground, it would be this dark."

"Why would they turn the lights off?" Celine asked. It was a good question. "Do they want us to sleep?" She added.

"We haven't been awake long." I said. It had been, what? An hour, or two at the most?

"It is strange." Celine told me, "But I am beginning to feel tired."

Even in the dark, I could feel my eye's drooping.

"I feel it too." I said, "The nutrient must have been drugged."

"I don't like this." Celine said. I could hear the edge in her voice, as she asked, "Please hold me."

"I will." Agreeing. My hand only shifted around a bit, past her hair, and slightly around her neck. I was able to thread my other hand through the bars, but it went lower, wrapping around the edge of her back.

"Please don't go." I heard Celine say, from a distance away, even though I could feel her.

"I'll be right here." I promised her, hearing the tiredness in my own voice.

I held on to my consciousness for as long as I could, just trying to keep the sense of Celine under my hands. Without my knowing, I slipped off.

I awoke with a start, not knowing where I was, or why the light was so bright in my eyes. It was blinding red behind my eyelids, and I wished it would go away.

Someone must have heard my wish, because it dimmed down, to what I would expect the morning sunlight to be through an open window.

The pain of sleeping on something hard intruded into my consciousness, and I broke upon an eye.

Whatever it was, it hadn't been a dream.

The reflected light off the bars was enough to force my other eye open, giving me twice the chance to focus on something other than what was digging into my face.

What I found was Celine. She was still there, appearing a little groggy as she woke up.

"Morning friend." I said, getting her attention.

She said something in French, which I thought to be "Oh my god." She switched back to German for my sake. "I had thought this was just a dream."

"I did too." I said, "But I am happy we are dreaming it together."

"Yes." she agreed, "Thankyou for staying with me.

My left arm was still across her shoulder, which I gently withdrew. My right arm had slipped off as I slept; cutting off some of the circulation as it hung across the bars. I pulled this back also; working it around to make sure it was okay.

Celine pulled her hand back into her cage also.

I rubbed my eyes, lacking water to wash my face with, and ran a hand across my face, as I would normally when I got up in the morning, stopping dead, as I ran a hand back across my chin.

It seemed so incredible, that I couldn't believe it. "Celine." I called, moving to the bars between us again. "Have a look at my chin."

She came over, to have a look through the bars. "It looks fine." She said.

"But where is the stubble, of new hair growth?" I asked her.

She reached a hand though, touching my chin, running her fingers over my cheeks. "Was it like this, before? Yesterday?"

Yesterday. If it was yesterday. "I didn't check. It didn't occur to me."

It had about half a day's growth on it. Not much really, but that it hadn't grown since, since I'd been taken. It didn't make any sense, unless somehow my facial hair growth had been suspended.

Celine withdrew her hand, staring at my face a moment longer. "It will not grow." She said, "Not while we are here."

Whatever they were feeding us, or whatever that light in the sky did when it knocked me out, I wasn't going to grow a beard or moustache. It saved me the trouble of worrying about shaving at least. But I still had half a day's worth of stubble I reminded myself, running a hand across my chin.

When I usually get up, after dressing, I would usually find myself at the toilet.

Just like yesterday. I still had trouble calling it yesterday, as I had no reference of time to actually tell me that. But just as yesterday, I had no clothes. My backside felt sore from sitting down as I slept, that I had to stand up, stooping within my cell, to relieve the sore muscles.

And just like yesterday, I didn't feel any need to relieve myself, which to me, felt unusual.

I stepped backwards and forwards, all the space in the cell would allow, making sure my body felt like it was normal enough, and that it wasn't going to take a moment more to tell me my bladder needed emptying.

The feeling didn't come. Neither did I expect any breakfast.

What would happen today? I turned to Celine, to find her spread out across the floor of her cage, doing stretching exercises.

I usually started out doing exercises before breakfast, not just before going to sleep as I had done yesterday. It felt like a good routine to get into.

It was that, or sit and watch Celine slowly stretch. I didn't want to sit down, and Celine didn't need watching right now.

I looked up at the bars in the ceiling of my cage, half wondering. Grasping two bars, evenly spaced apart at shoulder length, I was able to draw myself up, in a chin-up that only half worked. It still did the job, as I stretched my arm muscles, trying to lift my body weight up, lifting my legs up at an angle.

I didn't do too many, finding it difficult enough with the bars digging into my hands.

No, I needed to work on my legs, since I couldn't walk about. I thought about possible ways of doing this, but they all included the use of weights. The only way I could was to do sit-ups.

Before I could do those, I started into my push-ups, limiting myself to the 40 I had promised myself.

Finishing this as I picked myself up from the floor, I looked to Celine, hoping to ask her to hold my feet.

I was little bewildered, shaking my head to make sure I was seeing correctly. Which I was. She was face down on the floor, with both her legs up over behind her. Both her hands were holding her feet, just a little above her head.

I remember seeing gymnasts that could actually get their feet all the way to the floor, but this still impressed me.

She slowly flattened herself out, keeping her knees bent, as the wall of her cage was in the way, before pulling a leg forward, and kneeling up.

"How do you do that?" I asked her.

She turned about, settling herself down cross legged on the floor, as she ran a finger though a lock of her hair, shifting it from her face. "When I was little girl, a circus came to our town." Celine told me, "I must have been seven, maybe eight. This was one of the modern circuses, because it had no animals, only human performers. They put on this show, doing many strange feats. What caught my attention was this woman, who could fold herself up, as small as a child, and wore these clothes so she could wander about the audience, pretending she was a small girl. Somehow I took to her, thinking she was another girl, until she revealed herself. I was impressed that a woman like her could pretend to be a small girl like me, and asked her about it. So she told me, that you had to be thin and flexible. Every day, you had to exercise, stretching the muscles, so they didn't tighten and flexing limbs. So every day since then, I did exercises, keeping them in shape and flexible. I'm not as good as she was, because I never had the training she got."

"You are still quite good." I said, praising her. "Better then a lot of other people. Myself included."

"I was thinking of giving it up, as it is not doing anything for me any more." Celine said, only half stretching an arm across her chest. "It does not even help me at work."

"Don't." I said, a little too eagerly. "Please don't. If you do, you will end up sitting there and do nothing."

"If it pleases you." Celine said, stretching the other arm half hearted.

"It means something to me, because it means something to you." I explained.

She seemed to accept this.

"Could you, maybe hold my feet for some sit-ups?" I asked.

She seemed finished with her stretching at any rate, and moved forward on to her knees, nodding silently.

I arranged myself, letting her hold my feet down as I proceeded. Working hard and fast, I did my push ups, finally stopping when my breath was wheezing.

I felt sweaty, as I propped myself up with my arms behind me. "That is enough, thank you." I told her.

Chapter 11: Who we are

"Do you always do it like that?" She asked, lifting her hands.

"No." I replied, after catching my breath, "But under the conditions, there isn't any other way to get my circulation going, and keep my muscles from degenerating."

"Could you spot me then, please?" She asked.

Even if she had not said please, I would still have agreed. She needed me, as much as I needed her to survive in this place. Humans could not simply exist, they needed companionship and something to occupy the mind or else we'd slowly go crazy.

I shifted about onto my knees, to take her feet. As she proceeded to do sit-ups. I started counting this time, as a sort of comparison to myself, something to do with my mind.

At about the 36th time, as she dropped back she paused on the floor. Unsure what was wrong I asked her, "Are you okay?"

She drew herself up, grasping her knees. "We are going to get another shower."

I looked up at the ceiling; unsure what it meant this time. Facing her again I asked, "You are finished then?"

"Yes, thank you." She said, as I withdrew my hands.

Getting up from the floor, the flow burst out, raining all over. I took notice now, looking outside of my cell as I got drenched. The walkways between the cages stayed dry, as no rain dropped upon there. It splashed a bit, spraying out, but otherwise it was directed upon the cages.

Turning back to the centre of my cage, I sampled the flow of nutrient, but it tasted just as strange as what we had yesterday. Celine had already started drinking it down, using a more civilised method of catching in her hands, and letting it drain into her mouth.

Whether this was drugged or not, did not matter. The human body had to take in food to sustain itself. I readily took it in my mouth, cupping my hand around my chin, to catch more of it. Finally when I felt satisfied, drew my head away.

The shower of fluid reminded me to check if it really did clean. I had been sweaty after my sit-ups, so I slapped the fluid about my body, rubbing it across my skin, under my arms, and every where else I would normally wash.

If anything, it helped to wash off the sweat, as it ran across my body. It felt invigorating, that I stepped up, forgetting about the cage for a moment, and hit my head on the bars.

It was painful, as I slipped to the floor rubbing my head. I couldn't feel any damage to the skin, so no permanent injury was done, but I promised myself to be more careful.

Waiting out the rain of nutrient, I sat in my usual location, next to Celine's cell. She hadn't returned yet, as she was following my idea of washing in the rain. Already she must have washed her upper body, and was vigorously scrubbing down her legs with her hands.

She'd gone down the side of one leg, spreading her hands to encompass half the leg, then half rotate her leg, to run both hands down the inside.

She was thorough, in cleaning the other legs as well, and finishing off with her feet, between all her toes.

Turning about she saw me sitting there, and moved over to join me. "It is not as good as soap and water, but it will have to do." She said.

"How is your hair?" I asked, seeing it was still messed up.

"I cannot fix it, and I have nothing to brush it with. My fingers can only do so much." She said, sweeping her hair back with a hand.

The constant pelter of the nutrient ran down our bodies, as we sat there, waiting out the end.

"What do you do for work?" I asked Celine to pass the time, "If you don't mind me asking."

"It is fine." Celine said, "I work as an assistant in an estate brokerage. Processing all our records within the computers, keeping track of information on estates, and keeping the office running efficiently."

"More than a secretary then." I said.

"Much more. I usually run the office, looking after prospective buyers, by showing them our records of estates, and looking after details of estates that have been sold, and everything in between." Celine explained, "I was planning on applying for my brokerage license soon, so I could look after clients directly. I was been held back, because this would have entitled me to a salary increase."

"Is that legal?" I asked, wondering if they could get away with that sort of thing.

"Under most conditions, yes, but the brokerage had already cited its profit margins, and could not have me put up for the additional salary, and for a new assistant."

It sounded absurd, not been able to advance within a company.

"I was willing to find a placement with another brokerage, except they tend to limit themselves in size in Strasbourg, making it hard to start out."

The spray of nutrient came to a stop, giving us pause in our conversation as we looked around.

Nothing had changed; the cages were as they had all been yesterday. An undertone of conversation between people could be heard, but never a loud word. We all took our imprisonment seriously, until we knew more about it.

"Joseph, why do you travel about?" Celine asked, "Do you not like staying in one place?"

This provided me with a good opportunity to explain myself to Celine, which I used to my advantage to tell her more about me personally.

"I like travelling about, because I like to see knew things, to find out what's in the world. I'm curious about everything."

"Could you not find out this with computers?" She asked.

"Computers can only tell me so much. I've got this insatiable curiosity to know more about everything, to feel what it's like to be there, and experience it. When I was a kid, I regularly took apart my toys at least once; to find out how it worked. If I took it apart twice, it was usually because I didn't get it back together right the first time."

Celine laughed at this, "What did your parents do?"

"My father gave me a set of screwdrivers, and my mother gave me a paper bound encyclopedia. According to them, I was found sleeping with the encyclopedia the first night."

I closed my eyes, remembering the faces of my parents. It'd been a couple of years since seeing them last. I'd called them several times, telling them I was all right, and sent them postcards from every country I entered.

They'd probably be expecting one soon from me, after re-entering Germany. How was I to know I'd be detained?

"How long have you been travelling then?" Celine asked.

"Almost two years. Since I turned twenty one."

"I had thought you older. So you are 22?"

"Yes. I should be 23 in a month." I replied. Unsure about the date I added, "Or less now."

"22 is also my age, although my birthday was last month." Celine admitted.

"Happy belated birthday." I said.

"Thank you." She said. "How can you afford to travel at your age?"

"It isn't difficult, if you do it right." I explained. "Back packing helps, and knowing the best way to travel cheaply is very useful."

I started to explain to her, how I had travelled though the countries I had visited, when a familiar noise intruded.

It was the clanging and hissing of the walking robot. I stopped to gaze at the moving monstrosity, which seemed to moving directly up the central space.

I watched with great interest, as it came right past my cage. If I had seated myself on the opposite side of my cage, I would surely have been able to touch it had it continued past.

With sudden dread, it pivoted left, turning up the space beside my cage, and came to a dead halt.

I heard Celine call, as I kept my eyes on the robot, "Joseph? What is it doing?"

"I have no idea." I replied, feeling afraid myself.

The robot turned on its two feet, to face my cage. It stood there silently. I would have called it a mutual starting contest, except I could not see any normal means of visual perception upon it. Nothing even resembling lenses or eyes.

Something else caught my attention now, that surprised me even more than the actions of the robot, that actually had me excited, rather than afraid.

The metal cage in the roof and between the robot and I started to melt. Or more accurately, it seemed to flow. Like pools of mercury, the bars liquefied, and ran away.

"The bars!" Celine said, as she also saw it.

The process stopped, once the two walls of my prison were gone, having disappeared literally into the air. There was nothing now, between the robot and me, except a few feet of space.

One of its strangely jointed arms swung forward, and a recognisable hand spread its six fingers. Five of the fingers folded back up, leaving one finger which curled up, then straightened. It repeated this twice, until I recognised the gesture.

Chapter 12: Darkness

"You want me to stand up?" I asked it.

The globe on top, which I took to be the head, rocked back and forth in another human gesture, for yes.

I put both hands behind me, slowly pushing myself up, as I heard Celine, "Joseph, what are you doing?"

"At the moment." I said, straightening myself on my two feet, "I'm following the order's of this robot."

Now the finger straightened out, and its arm shifted, directing the finger first at me, and then off to the side, and back again.

I didn't know what it wanted, so I turned about, getting a brief look at many cages with upturned faces staring at me, before I saw what it was indicating to. A doorway was evident in the wall at the end of the room.

I turned back to the robot, confronting it; "You want me to go through there?"

Another nod of its head.

"Joseph?" Celine's voice again. She was frightened. If not for the driving curiosity to know more, I'm sure I would have been terrified.

But it wasn't just me now. It was also Celine. "Don't leave me here alone." She said.

I turned away from the robot, squatting down to face Celine, "I won't." I said, putting my hand to hers as she reached out. "I'll refuse to leave you."

I turned my head back to the robot. "You hear me? I won't leave her!"

The robot gestured again, point to me, then up to the doorway behind me.

I again repeated myself "I won't leave her."

I fully expected the robot to repeat itself. Instead it slowly lowered it arms, and stood still. I looked about my cage, expecting the bars to magically reappear around me, except the sound of the robot moving drew me back.

It turned right, and moved up to Celine's cage, turning again to face her now.

The bars on Celine's cages started to disappear. This time, I got a better sense of how the bars left as I watched it happen. To all appearances, it looked as it the bars melted, and were drawn in upon themselves, like a straw sucking itself in.

The robot did not reproduce its first gesture when the bars had completely disappeared. Instead it raised its arm, pointing at me, then to the doorway, and then to Celine, and again to the doorway.

It seemed that it still wanted me. Even if Celine had to go with me.

"You still want me to go through?" I asked the robot.

It nodded as it repeated the gesture again.

"And if I don't?" I asked, pushing the point to see how far it was willing to go.

The response was immediate, as it's other arm spring up, and a tube popped out of its arm, pointed directly at me.

"I think we have to do what it say's." I told Celine, turning back to her.

Her face looked ashen, as she drew away from the robot. She was frightened. And I was sure my voice was quivering. "Celine?" I called to her, but the rest of the question was unnecessary, as she answered a quiet "Yes."

Disengaging our hands, we slowly stood up. I took a step forward, towards the missing cage wall. The robot lowered its arm, seeing my movement, but Celine didn't move until it had backed off a step further down the row.

With much less hesitation, Celine now came forward, meeting me in the row.

It was a joy to be free of the confines of the cage, but as much a joy to have Celine free next to me.

We readily grabbed hands, holding each other for a moment, looking into each other's faces. She had a smile there, somewhat hidden by the signs of fear.

The clump of the robot's foot brought us back, and I half led Celine around the corner of my cage into the main row. The robot advanced behind us, forcing us to continue forward at its slow pace.

I retained Celine's left hand in my own, making sure she was there as we stepped past cages with people, towards the dark doorway. Their voices called out to us, asking us where we were going, what was happening, and demanding that they be let out also.

I could not reply to their requests, not knowing the answers, or unable to help them at all.

The doorway yawned before us now, a depth-less black beyond the entrance, signifying I knew not.

Celine and I paused at the threshold, looking into the darkness. We both turned to see the robot taking its last step up behind us; still determined to have us enter through. It now raised its other hand, now threatening us both with the weapon.

I did not know what I was getting Celine in to, by demanding her to come with me, but now it was too late. Together we cautiously stepped into the black room, taking another step, and another from the robot, until it lowered its arm.

If anything, I hoped it was satisfied. Looking back at the robot, the doorway seemed to melt, closing up like a circular portal sealing us off from the robot, and the other room.

"Where are we?" Celine asked.

The room, for all I could describe it as, was black, and dark. Where the doorway had been, it had closed off, becoming one with the dark edge of the room, for I could not make out the walls. The floor, which I could feel under my feet, bore the same look, of a blackness that could not be perceived at any distance.

It was as if we were in space, but no sparks of light drifted around us, but an obvious luminance existed, as I could still see Celine.

"I don't know." I answered her, "But I hope it is better than the cages."

The room, apart from been a black, it felt warmer, from a lack of air circulation. The feeling seemed to increase as we stood there. I thought I sensed something, and turned my head to look.

"What is it?" Celine asked, feeling the disturbance also.

All I could see was the reaching blackness, forever extending away. "Blackness, and more blackness."

The place had its own feeling now, of tightening spaces. What you would feel if two walls were closing in upon you. But only the ever present dark reached my eyes.

I turned back to Celine, to find her staring off into the darkness. "It's like the walls are closing on us." She said.

"I can feel it too." I said.

She looked back at me; "The air feels thick." She said now.

The room felt clammy, hot even, as if there was no ventilation in the ever reaching dark.

The two feelings seemed to collide, now giving us a sense of depth, as if we could now see the walls.

"It's closing in on us!" Celine said.

It was like impending doom, as the room closed in upon us from all directions at once. The space seemed to shrink in an ever increasing rate, encroaching upon us physically.

"Hold me Joseph." Celine said.

It was unexpected. It looked at her for moment, then back at the walls. I would have no choice now, as I willingly opened my arms around her, taking her close to me.

Our hearts seemed to pound together in a clamour, watching the walls close in upon us.

Slowly now, all I could see was the wall just beyond our bodies.

"It's close now." I whispered, hearing my voice loud in the enclosing space.

"I can see it." Celine returned, her face, almost next to mine.

There was a subtle pressure now, on my back, like a truck trying to force its way through slowly.

There was an increase in pressure between our two bodies. I could feel Celine bodily pressed against mine, with her legs entangled with mine. It was uncomfortable, until somehow the wall pushed past the physical barrier of my body, as it enveloped my back.

Celine gasped her voice harsh in my ears. "I can't feel my back." She said.

The pressure had lessened, but I could see the dark wall literally pass up Celine's back, taking her inside. I couldn't feel my back now either, or my legs.

It closed in upon us, taking us slowly.

"My arms!" Celine called, as it drew them in also.

All I could feel now, was the soft pressure of Celine's breasts on my chest, and even that faded, leaving me feel like a bodiless corse.

"Celine?" I called, unsure if she was still there.

"Joseph!" She called back, her voice still beside me, although I couldn't see her.

"I'm here." I said, "I'm here." And then the darkness enveloped me.

Chapter 13: Memories

I could feel, and hear nothing. Like I was asleep... or dead. Had I only imagined the walls passing through our bodies, as my body had been pulverised to a smear along with Celine's?

There was nothing, yet I could still think. Two plus two equals four. The square root of 36 is six. The capital of Australia is Canberra. The first man on the moon was Neil Armstrong.

I could still think, and real off facts, if only in my mind. Why I could not feel my body, or anything else, was a mystery. Like that mystery when I was a kid. Without the influences of my body, it was like I could remember it clearly, as if it had happened only minutes ago.

It was my first year in boarding school, and I was eleven. It was like; I was walking down the corridors again, seeing all the faces of other boys both taller and older than myself.

An announcement came over the PA system, calling all the boys from my dormitory back. My small legs didn't carry me fast enough as I turned about, and rushed back, trying not to run.

When I entered, I was called across my by bed, to stand in front of it, until the remaining boys arrived.

The prefect was there; standing watch as two older boys from the higher classes directed us to stand quiet.

We got the lecture of a life time, as someone, from our dormitory had spread human excrement all over the bathroom floor. I could remember the exact inflections in his voice, as he almost yelled at us, "This is the most disgusting thing I have ever witnessed in all my time. The boy or boys involved in this will own up. Because you will all remain standing here for the next two hours until someone does. You will all miss out on you next class. If no one has owned up by then, then all of you will be severely punished, so I suggest some one owns up soon, for all your sakes."

I felt myself swallow convulsively, feeling his steely gaze sweep over me, and the tone of his voice spelling doom for all who got punished.

The two older boys left with the prefect, leaving us all alone. No one spoke, but everyone looked about at each other, seeking the perpetrator of the crime.

No one owned up, but some of the more troublesome boys started saying it was one particular kid, one of the more quiet kids, who seemed to do well in classes.

Nobody was particularly kind to him, starting up this chant until he burst out crying. It was the meanest and cruelest thing I had ever witnessed since starting school. Nobody left the dormitory for those two hours and I missed my class in algebra.

It was no big deal in the scheme of things, but eventually the kid who had done it was found. It wasn't the kid who everyone had picked on, but rather a snotty stuck up brat.

It was still a wonder to me that he wasn't expelled for that incident. The mention of it later always sent him running.

It was one of those rare times, that I wish I knew everything beforehand, so I could have told the Prefect, and that poor kid hadn't been teased so callously.

At the end of that memory, the scene faded away into blackness again.

"What was that?" a voice came to me, as if I heard it in my mind.

I didn't hear it, more that I sensed it. "Who are you?" I tried to call, not feeling a mouth to speak with, but rather directed the thought.

"Joseph?" the voice called back. "Is that you?"

It was Celine. Through that memory, I had almost forgotten where I was. "Celine, where are you?"

"I don't know, one moment I was in this dormitory with all these boys, and then it was dark again." She explained, with her direction-less voice.

"That was one of my memories." I told her. "It just, seemed to come alive."

"Then how could I see it?" She asked.

"I don't know why, maybe because we're in here together. I was thinking about a mystery I think, and the memory just came back to me. Exactly as it happened, what I saw, what I heard. Only not my thoughts."

"Is that why I couldn't move?" She asked, "Because it was a memory?"

"What did you see?" I asked her.

"I was, I was walking between all these tall boys, when I heard an announcement. Without my control, I suddenly turned about, half running down the corridor, and around some corners, before I entered this dormitory with lots of beds. I wanted to leave there because it was filled with only boys, but I couldn't control it, and then this man started speaking." Celine said, "The strange thing is, he spoke English, but I could understand him."

"It must be something about us been in here together, joining our consciences." I said, trying to explain it to myself and to her, "So you understand it because I understand it."

"This is so strange. But where are we now?" She asked.

"In the dark again, it seems. Unless I try to evoke another memory."

"Please do. I don't like it here."

"Okay." I said, and tried to come up with something.

I hardly thought of anything, when the darkness gave way to light. I found myself sitting in a moving train, the lights bright inside, as darkness rushed by outside.

I was staring out the window, seeing lights flick by, when I felt the seat move beside me. My eyes seem to shift, as I caught sight of the reflection of a woman with a man behind her.

This was positively strange, as I had no recollection of this memory. The view was brief, as my head swung about, to see just the man.

I realised what I saw then. The woman in the reflection, who I barely recognised with all the clothing and longer hair, was Celine. Then the other part came to me; I was in one of Celine's memories.

"Hello there, what are you doing riding all by yourself?" The man asked in French, but I understood every word.

"I'm, I'm going home." I heard Celine's voice come out of my throat.

"Home is such a long way then?" He asked. I could feel the seat shift, as he moved closer. Something fell on my leg, and I looked down, and saw his hand resting on the skin of my bare knee.

"Oh, god! I remember this!" I heard Celine's thoughts now, separate from the memory.

The view turned back to the man, "Please leave me, I'm just going home." Her voice was light, with the familiar sound of fear I had heard from Celine already.

"Oh, I don't want to remember this." I heard Celine's thoughts again.

"Home will be waiting for you, just as soon as I'm finished." The man said. I could feel the hand slide up my leg, under the skirt.

With a hand, I battered at his, trying to stop him, and tried to push him away with the other. He seemed to pull at me, with greater strength with his other hand wrapping around me, trapping one of my arms, and grabbing the other.

"Please don't." I heard myself wail in desperation. I looked about the train, seeking anyone else, but the carriage was empty expect for the two of us.

The hand slid up further than what I wanted, as I could feel it shifting under the stretch of elastic around my leg.

"I will please. Please myself." The man said.

I was frantic now, with both arms trapped, I felt that I couldn't stop him. To stop from been raped.

It was only then, that the view changed as I looked at my left leg, then back at the man face. Then in an instant, my leg came up, avoiding the seats in front, straighten my leg as I swang it into his face.

He seemed to recoil from the blow, falling back off his seat, letting go as he fell.

Then quickly, I picked up my bag, jumping past him as he tried to grab at my legs. My chances looked slim now, as I ran from him, towards the other end of the carriage.

I looked back, seeing him running to catch up, then turned back, reaching for a handle on the door joining the carriages, willing to risk moving between them to get away.

I barely had the door open, as the cold night air rushed in, when I felt both his hands grab around me. I felt trapped again, just when I thought I would get away.

He held me close enough, that I could feel his breath on my hair, so close I couldn't use my legs now as I felt them swing about above the floor.

"Lively one aren't you?" He said, his voice in my ear.

I struggled in his grasp, but he held me, as he carried me back to the centre of the carriage. Turning towards a seat, he pushed me down face first, holding me down with his weight. I felt the fear myself, as his hand pulled up my skirt and groped between my legs. It wasn't something I liked one bit.

A scream was let loose, and I realised it was me. Or rather, it was Celine. The hand came away from my legs now, as it wrapped around my mouth.

"Don't make a noise, or I'll have to hurt you." The man said, "You don't want me to hurt you do you?"

I was sharking with the fear, but there was a barely perceptible nod. The hand seemed to come away slowly from my mouth, when I moved forward, biting hard on the hand, that I felt a wetness spread across my chin.

There was a loud yell from the man, and swearing. His other hand had let me go, as some of the pressure came off me, and I felt him hit me across the back.

It was a heavy blow, stunning me. Another one stuck me on the lower back now, hurting painfully.

I expected another one to fall any moment, as I lay there in pain, when other sound came to me. A scuffling and thumping, as more swearing was issued forth.

It felt like the end of the world, until I heard another voice near by. "You're ok now. You'll be just fine. Just be still."

I felt the dress dropped back across my legs, as something smeared my vision. I realised I was crying.

Then slowly the image faded and the pain fled. Returning me to the darkness.

"Oh god, I wanted to forget that." I heard Celine's thoughts. "I so wanted to forget that."

"It's ok Celine." I said, trying in my reduced state, to comfort her, "It's gone now. It's just a memory, it can't hurt you any more."

Those words sounded somehow fake even to myself, remembering then pain that man had dealt.

"It's only a memory. It can only hurt you if you keep thinking about it. Just put it out of your mind." I said, "Let it go, and set it free. Let the darkness swallow it up."

"Let the darkness swallow it up." She repeated. "Oh I can't. I can't forget."

"You were rescued." I said, picking up the last portion of the memory, "Someone came and stopped him permanently. He can't hurt you any more. Not ever. Just let it go."

"I'm trying." Celine said.

"That's all you have to do, is try. I'll be here." I told her.

Chapter 14: Nightmare of reality

We floated about in the darkness for a longer time, as I pulled up some memories of my own, trying to cheer her up and help her to forget.

Each memory seemed to have a dark side, always pointing out some bad aspect of my life, even when I brought up memories of my eighteenth birthday. It was the last year of high school, and exams weren't too far away, so everyone used it as a celebration of some type at boarding school.

We had fun; drinking beer someone had smuggled in, even some scotch and vodka poured into cans of cola.

What really surprised me during these celebrations, wasn't the phone call from my parents to congratulate me, but my girlfriend. We'd been seeing each other for a few months, when I could get time.

She knew about my birthday, but somehow, someone had helped her get inside, and into the dormitory.

A kid told me there was a message left on my bed for me, and I accepted his word for it, as strange things were happening today, and a message wasn't liable to get lost if it was left on my bed.

Inside, I wove around the bunks that made up the beds of dorm, not finding a message, but someone in my bed.

I expected a prank, like a blow up doll, or some boy dressed up in drag, but when I ripped the sheets up, I was definitely surprised.

It was my girlfriend, stripped down to her underclothes. I wasn't sure what I felt. Surprise. Elation. Happiness for seeing her. Bewilderment. Stunned too, because I just stood there staring at her in my bed.

I was half inebriated from the drinking; feeling like the vodka had burned out my insides.

Without so much as a word from me, she grabbed my hand, dragging me into my bed, on top of her. The sheets were a little light and skimpy as it was almost Summer, but they covered us, as she played around with my shorts.

I wasn't much of participant, not knowing what I was doing as I felt about her body, feeling her breasts under the white bra she had on, but helped in the actual act of penetrating her.

It had been my first time, and possibly hers too, but I never asked her, never having the chance to later, because the movements suddenly brought my stomach heaving up, and spewing the content all over the bed and her.

It was one of those things, wishing it had maybe happened, but differently. Wanting to erase the bad aspect, to keep the good.

I only ever heard form her once after, she pulled herself from my bed, stinking from the mix of my vomit. When she said she no longer wanted to see me, right before the exams.

It was a depressing time, because I remember having trouble. I had been fortunate enough to have studied well before my birthday, that I knew most of what I needed to know.

Then the darkness filled me again, reminding me once more where we were. Or where we weren't.

"What happened to that girl?" I head Celine ask.

"I'm not sure." I replied, "I heard from some friends later, that she found someone else, but I always count her as my first, even if we only got as far as penetration. Not much more than that."

"These memories, why are we been shown them?" She asked.

"Maybe we aren't been shown them, maybe someone else is pulling them from our minds." I said.

"That is more intrusive than rape!" Celine said.

She was right. Why would anyone want to rummage though our memories, things we hold personal, and dear. Those also that we don't want people to know about, and never want to remember.

To forget was the key. I tried to clear my mind, blanking out stray thoughts.

I had to get Celine to do the same. "Celine, you'll have to blank your mind, so we don't create any more images. We can't have our minds been read like a photo album of memories."

"Oh dear." Celine said, and a new image formed around me.

I found myself looking at a photo album, pictures of people. A hand reached over, flicking a page over.

"That was him a few weeks ago." A voice said, as a finger pointed out a picture of a man sitting on back of a horse.

I felt myself sniffing. Or rather, Celine sniffing, because I knew this was one of her memories.

There were other photos on the pages, of this man and a woman with him. My eyes seemed to glance at each and every picture, taking in all the details.

"I wish I had been here." I heard Celine's voice say.

"I know darling." The other voice said, "You were away at school, but it happened very quick."

"This was when my father died." I heard Celine's thoughts say, "I was away at a academy for two years to learn sales and marketing, when my mother called, to say that father had died. He'd been ill for a few years, a problem with his heart that couldn't be fixed by surgery."

"I'm sorry." I told Celine.

"It's fine. This is how I like to remember him." She said. I wasn't sure whether it was her, or her memory saying that.

Her face turn up now, to look at the source of the voice. It was the woman from the pictures. Celine's mother. We embraced each other, holding each other for what seemed like a long time.

"Your father would have understood you not been able to make it to the funeral." She said.

"Thanks Mother." Celine replied.

The darkness seemed to wrap itself back around me, and I could hear Celine call out, "Don't leave Mother!"

It was wrenching at my soul. I did not want to be in this darkness any more. This pseudo void that dragged up memories best left buried.

I felt angry, and imagined myself wrestling with the darkness, as if I was tearing down drapes from a poorly furnished room, climbing and tearing, pulling and ripping.

Until suddenly, I felt myself falling over. The floor came hard, as I felt myself bounce for a moment settling, with my limbs feeling like they were all over the place.

Everything still seemed dark, until I realised my eyes were closed, and lifted them open, finding the best sight I could wish for.

Celine was next to me, her form lying prone next to mine, with our arms and legs still around each other.

"We're out." She breathed.

"Finally." I said, relieved.

I felt drained, emotionally and mentally, as I rested my head against the dark floor, just looking at Celine's face.

"Your hair is much shorter now." I said.

"Yes, I used to have it longer, before... before that man."

I remembered the memory, feeling the intrusion of that man, even having my own fears of been trapped, and feeling the pain.

"I remember." I told her, feeling the emotions well up inside me, "You don't need to say it."

"You saw all that?" She asked, astounded.

"And I felt him on my body, and the pain." I said, trying not to show the pain that I could not stop recalling myself.

"Oh Joseph!" she said; her arms tighter around me then I could believe.

I wanted to close my eyes, but the darkness remained, and I feared it's lingering effects.

If we could have just remained there, isolated yet together, I would have been pleased, yet a light seemed to intrude upon us, and the sound of many voices.

I turned my head, with Celine's to see an open doorway just next to us, leading back out into the room of cages.

I did not feel ready to leave, but the robot was there, waiting with it weapon extended, and the other hand, curled up, indicating that we should follow.

Picking ourselves up form the floor, untangling limbs, I was reminded once again about out lack of clothes. Revisiting all those memories, I had almost thought this place a distant nightmare. Something that didn't exist.

Chapter 15: Confinement

Carefully, I helped Celine through the doorway and past the robot as it directed us ahead of it.

The cages around us seemed emptier now, with many of them open, and the people missing from them. Whether it was my imagination, or a problem with my memory, I couldn't dwell upon it, as the robot followed, urging us forward, to where our cages were.

I wanted to luxuriate in the freedom, before we were incarcerated again, but the walk was ever so short, and the arms of the robot were precise pointing out the two empty cages.

Celine still held onto me, as we finally standing in front of my cage. I didn't want to leave her, and be separated by this margin of metal. I didn't want to be trapped again either.

To be pushed about, like the man from Celine's memories. The robot menaced us again with its weapon, not directly threatening us, but I had no doubt it would use it if necessary.

"Please get in Celine." I asked her, keeping my eyes on the robot.

"Be careful Joseph." She said, her hand slipping from mine as she moved towards her cage. She didn't step quite into it, not wanting to be confined.

I moved slowly, backing into my cage, but the robot must have been impatient, as it swivelled its weapon towards me.

"No!" Celine called, seeing its intended threat towards me and taking a step forward to my dismay.

Its weapon swung back now, at her. I threw caution aside, fearing for her now rather than myself, and jumping between her and the robot.

The blast caught me in the abdomen. All I could feel was intense pain all over my body. I didn't get thrown halfway across the room as I would have expected, but somehow landed on the floor, as I could see a cage closing over me.

The pain was an intense burning across my whole body, surrounding me like a living flame. I wanted to curl up, and block everything. Just die if need be to stop the pain. It just wouldn't stop, as I lay there shaking. I felt something else through the pain, something around me. I looked down; seeing two sets of arms and legs, and realised it was Celine. I maintained the thought that somehow she'd gotten me into my cell.

It was a long while as the pain slowly ebbed, my skin regaining its feeling first. I had an idea of what Mikhail must have felt now, and admired his strength in been able to talk so soon after been hit by that thing.

Slowly, ever slow slowly, over much time, I felt barely able enough to speak. "How did you get me into my cage?"

"Shh, we're not in your cage." Celine said, "You fell into my cage, but it started closing up before I could do anything."

"It trapped us together?" I asked dismayed. The cage was small for one person, but two was going to be a squeeze in my thoughts.

"Be still, you fool. You wonderful fool for saving me." She said.

I took her advice, not feeling well enough to do much more. Not moving, not making a sound. Just sitting there, with Celine's arms around me.

I heard the robot passing several times as I lay there, and once I turned my head, regretting the pain it caused as I watched as it passed us, directing a man along further down. He turned to look at us, but moved on before he could say a word.

Sometimes I thought I heard Celine whispering softly, or even singing, but it was so quiet, that I wasn't sure. She could have been humming to herself, to pass the time. I didn't interrupt her, not wanting her to stop.

It seemed like eternity, before I was sure all the pain was gone. It still tingled in places, but that could have been from sitting there on the floor for such a long while. I wasn't sure if I should try to move, but another answer came.

"Joseph, are you okay to move?" Celine said.

"Um, I think so." I said, "You want me to get up?"

"I've got to pee." She said.

"Ok." I said, knowing I had better move. I started to shift across, feeling the twinges across the whole of my body sparking along my nerves and bringing me to a halt, and rolling across onto my side.

"Joseph, you aren't okay!" Celine said. I felt her hands pulling my shoulders, up to a sitting position.

"Oh, uh." I heard, and then the rush of fluid striking the sponge floor. I still felt both her hands on my shoulders, so I knew how close she was. I couldn't barely move anyhow without setting off a new pain, so waited patiently.

At any other time, I may have been curious enough to turn and look, but the pain was enough of a deterrent even to not move a hand.

Only when Celine had finished, did I feel her hands move, "You are going to have to lie still now." She told me, as she dragged me back into the corner, wrapping her arms around me.

I could just feed her breasts on my shoulders, with her head just above mine. Turning my eyes up, I could make out Celine's upside down face.

"You are comfortable?" She asked, feeling her thighs next to my buttocks.

"I think so." I said.

"Good, do not move, and you will get better." She said, almost mothering me.

I sat there, hearing her humming again, audible now, though I couldn't make out the tune. Until I felt the urge. "I need to urinate." I said, taking the first feeling that I got as a sign that is was the real thing.

"Can you move?" She asked.

I lifted one carefully, until I felt the twinge across my shoulder. "Uh."

"No, you can't." She said, seeing the effort wouldn't get me far. I felt her push out form the wall, half sliding me across the floor, but my out stretched legs stopped us form going any further.

"It's about to come." I said, feeling the sudden building pressure that I couldn't stop. I moved my other arm down, hoping to avoid splashing everywhere. The twinge caught me, in the elbow this time, shooting pain down to my hand, destroying all feeling there as I tried move my hand.

Then her hands came in, grasping my penis, somewhat inadequately, but directing it towards the sponge square between my legs.

"Pull the skin back." I told her.

She fumbled, but I couldn't much argue with pain in both arms now, as she pulled back my foreskin just as the flow shot out.

"It's like a hose." She said, holding it. I felt strange, weird, with someone else holding my dick to take a pee. Even a man holding it would have been really strange. It just wasn't usual for another person to hold a man's penis while he urinated. Unnatural was the word. But so was this entire situation, I kept telling myself.

As Celine maintained her hold, I tried moving my arms again, but the pain blocked me, not been able to help, or even draw them back.

I closed my eyes; half believing I was doing it myself, until the flow came to a halt. I pushed on my pelvic muscles, which fortunately didn't draw any pain, and made sure the bladder wouldn't submit any more. This was stupid I thought to myself, but I had to ask, "Can you squeeze it out?"

Her fingers worked along its shrunken length, like a toothpaste tube, emptying it. She was rough, but I couldn't blame her for it. Girls just didn't have to put up with the stress of trying to maintain a penis.

"I think its empty." She said, holding it delicately out in one hand.

"Then that's it." I said, "Can you get my arms down?"

She released her hold, and took my arms, so I could release my muscles, so finally they could rest.

"How are you doing?" I asked her.

"Better. But it seems you are going to be immobile for a while." Celine said, cradling my back.

She was right. I sat there, testing an arm every now and then, only getting more pain from it. I heard Celine humming again, and quite accidentally I found myself humming it too. I had no idea what it was, but Celine didn't seem to mind as I hummed along.

I didn't feel the spit of it starting this time, but the sudden downpour was enough to tell us both that it was feeding time.

"Is this lunch or dinner?" I asked, as the nutrient rained over us.

"Does it matter?" Celine asked. "How are you to move?"

I was feeling better, feeling some twinges now and then, painful it was, but it was dissipating into a minor discomfort. "I think I can make it." I said, shifting myself across to the fall of fluid.

Celine had me go first, leaning back, having it spill across my face before getting into my mouth.

Once finished, I pulled myself to the side, enough to not drown under the flow. Celine's form, half leaned over me, taking her share of the nutrient.

I just lay there for the moment, my eyes half lidded from the spray, listening to the gurgle of the fluid striking the floor before it was absorbed.

"Are you finished downing?" I heard Celine's voice said, as the spray stopped on my face.

I pushed open an eye, and found her face upside down, as she leaned over me. "For the moment." I replied.

Her hands grasped under my shoulders, and lifted me back up to a sitting position.

"You will have to sit in the corner for a while." She said, helping me turn about, and settling me back against the cage.

The rain of fluid continued for longer than I imagined or maybe it was my time sense, skewed under my tortured condition.

Either way, all I could do was sit there, until I felt better or something else happened.

Nothing happened at all. We sat there until the rain of fluid stopped.

"You do not mind if I do callisthenics, Joseph?" Celine asked.

"No at all. It's your cage." I replied, hoping I wasn't taking up too much space.

Not much at all actually, as she propped herself in the opposite corner, and then spread her legs. I drew in a deep breath. Of all the places I had to be stuck in. Some would say I was lucky. Some would say I was doomed.

I would say I was in pain, but my eyes saw much. More than I ever saw of my ex-girlfriend back during my 18 birthday.

Celine's skin was clean, from the nutrient, but not glistening wet. Just a perfect swath of bare skin up one leg and down the other, with only the light hair of her pubis and her slightly open vagina showing her clitoris.

I gave out a soft sigh, as the view was broken when she leaned over, stretching her arms out to her toes on one foot.

Seeing the curve of her back for the first time let me believe she had a body that was worth all the attention she gave it.

I wanted to exercise, but had to sit though all of Celine's stretching, watching her tense her torso a she stretched her arms around her back and brought up her legs.

Every now and then, I would shift a muscle, and feel the light pain brought forth, but it was decreasing each time. Not too long, and I wouldn't feel much besides light aches. I didn't want to be a burden on Celine.

Celine finished off, sitting in front of me with her knees up. "How are your arms?" Celine asked, "Could they hold my feet?"

"Let me try." I said. My legs were out to one side next to the cell wall; to put my hands down I stretched out my arms, and placed them down on the floor, with only a slight twinge.

It was good enough for her as I held down her feet, while she started into some sit-ups.

My hands covered her feet more effectively, and I was more aware now of her skin, and her warmth.

It was something that had bugged me, since we had been here. Whilst unclothed, we'd remained warm and conformable. There was no airflow anywhere, that I could feel, yet the air remained clean and warm for us.

The human body could chill itself easily, if it wasn't properly covered, or warm.

It was an insatiable thing, to need to know who could have set this up, and who was responsible.

I returned my attention to Celine, as she finished, drawing her feet from my hands. "You are feeling better?" She asked.

"Much thankyou." I said, "Almost complete."

Celine turned about and sitting next to me. The metal of the cage did not separate us this time, but she shifted close enough for her arm to rest beside mine. "We shall be stuck together it seems." she said.

"As long as we can be conformable in each other's company." I said.

"That would be satisfactory," she said, and I heard her yawn.

Turning I found her eyes half closed. "Your affection is most appreciated," she was saying and laying a hand across my chest.

Her head dropped onto my shoulder, as she slumped against me. She fell asleep right there. I wasn't too sure, if this was right, until the lights cut out. Obviously it was night time again but I hadn't fallen asleep.

It gave credit to the theory, that the nutrient was drugged. I hadn't yet succumbed, possibly because I hadn't exercised my body, causing it to work it way through my blood as quickly.

I shifted now, as I tried to move Celine's prone form from my own, to make her more comfortable, but I felt myself growing tired, as I pushed my body though its aches, to lie Celine down diagonally across the floor.

I had her down, but the drug had pushed its way through my own system with my efforts, and I collapsed wherever I was.

Chapter 16: A tight squeeze

A movement woke me up, but it wasn't bright as it has been yesterday. I could remember where I was this time, before opening my eyes.

"Wake up sleepy." I heard Celine's voice and a hand on my chest.

"I'm awake." I said, opening my eyes. I was on my back, with her sitting over to me.

"You must be better this morning, since the way I found you when I woke up."

"What way was that?" I asked he.

"With your face stuck in my breasts." She replied, smiling.

I was shocked, as I couldn't remember what had happened right after getting Celine off the