• Illumination


    I woke for the first time in a small, square world. I could speak clear English, and I could do simple math. I was born full sized,about five foot five inches, and dressed in plain, white cotton clothes. I had straight, dark brown hair that reached to the bottom of my shoulder blades.

    Who was I?

    And so I sat in that steel box for too long. It was roughly 10 feet in every direction. It was barren; No bed, windows, even a door. The only fixture was a light bulb in the ceiling.

    That made a second question: Where was I?

    I didn't care. My head was empty. I had no memories. No depression, nor joy. Just vacancy.

    I didn't know how long I remained there. But after a extensive while, the wall opposite me began to shake. An arch-shaped section of steel was stretching, separating, and

    twisting. After this minutes of this insanity, the writhing tendrils of steel retracted into the rest of the wall to reveal a teen-aged boy with shiny blond hair. I didn't realize I had spoken my thoughts aloud. He did.

    "You're greasy."

    I watched with dim eyes as he moved toward me and disappeared. A second later, I was pinned to the steel by my throat a couple inches above the ground. The boy stuck his nose a hair's breadth from mine.

    "Shouldn't you be begging for mercy?" he said in a whisper. "Make me understand you shouldn't be killed because you aren't weak." He spat the last word like it was a disease.

    I contemplated him. If he said to, then why not? I pulled my fist up, and pushed it towards him...

    ...And he flew into the steel wall to the left.

    I slid to the floor with what little shock my absent personality had. But he wasn't to be taken down easily. He rose to his feet. Nothing but his ego was even faintly injured, but the wall behind him held a comical impression of his body. His nostrils flared and his eyes went wild as he prepared to launch himself at me, but he stopped.

    Instead, he closed his eyes, placed his hand against the wall. The steel against my back was against turned soft, wrapped around me and pulled me into the wall as it retracted.

    He walked towards me and pulled out a tiny syringe with a sharp-looking needle. It was full of a flourescent green liquid. It slid into my neck, and the wall rejected me. The boy put his knee on my back and peered at my neck.

    There appeared the word MINNION in Gothic letters, like a tattoo.

    "Disappointing," he murmured. "Nickie has to be wrong sometimes."

    But as he spoke, the word began flickered, and the word MINNION faded into MINN. The font twisted and became curly and cursive. The teenager's eyes narrowed as he muttered, "But that isn't a title."

    He stood up and dusted himself off (though the room was spotless), hiding his interest. "Nicole was right... I'll be back tomorrow and we'll analyze how useful you'll be."

    He crossed the room, put his hand on the wall and passed through the steel like it was liquid, not bothering with the fancy show he had on his way in. Realizing that all my strength had gone, I fell asleep on the cold, hard cell floor...

    ---


    I woke, and the rest of the shock set in. I was in a prison. I had been attacked by someone with superhuman powers. I had no idea where I was. This was a little much for being alive (conscious?) for... A day? I had no idea how long I'd been here.

    I put my head between my knees and let chaos control me. I had to get out of there. I would die of hunger and thirst, if I didn't die from lack of air first. I could see no ventilation in this prison, and the metal walls would trap the air out. I stood up, and stumbling like a drunk, I threw myself at the wall. I could feel the air thinning, my stomach aching, my throat like sandpaper as I shrieked and hit the steel with my fists. As my screams eventually died into quiet sobs, a nasty voice reminded me that I didn't even know if there was a world beyond this. Was this all merely a hallucination?

    I began to scream, banged on the wall, and let terror rule me. I saw spots in front of my eyes. I put my hand on the wall to stabilize myself, reminding me of what the boy had done before. I willed the nonexistent door to appear for me.

    My mind sank into a calm. All I could think of was steel. I could almost imagine those tiny atoms of iron and carbon completely motionless. I thought of them floating apart, going into the rest of the wall, opening the way for me. When came back to myself, the way was open.

    I was clueless about how I had done this, but I had to get out of here before I was caught and the boy decided to to kill me.

    I ducked out the small opening and into a hallway. The corridor was steel was ten feet high and wide. It stretched in both directions. The way to the right trailed off into darkness, this section only lit from what light came from my cell. The way to the left had a bright opening a couple hundred feet away. I made a run for the light. Maybe I could find someone to explain things.

    So I ran quickly, but at a strangely easy pace that was easy as walking, towards the optimistic light... And straight into a pane of glass.

    I bounced back a foot, the pain surprisingly weak. I placed my palms flat on the glass and concentrated like before.

    As the world zoomed in on a molecular level, I saw that the centimeter-thick glass was formed from the atoms of glass being packed together. This was obviously built to keep in the those here. I tried to move the atoms with my mind, but couldn't move that many so fast. It would take more time than I had. I came back to reality, flying into a rage. I stood and began to kick and punch and throw myself at the glass in my fury. I hit it with all my strength. I would go out with a struggle.

    As I struck the glass, something yellow flashed. A small crack appeared in the glass.

    I continued with my flailing attacks. Something glinted gold, and the crack spread further and further until the entire pane fell to the ground in little pieces.

    With the first obstacles out of my way, I continued towards the light at the end of the tunnel. I ran towards improbability, towards a doubtful future, towards hard work and confusion.

    Towards illumination.