Earth 2606 AD

Amaryah drew in a shaky breath and almost gagged on the acrid smell. Looking back, she realized she stood on a mountain, on top of which the surface of the dome sat like a perfectly poised egg. Fear clanged through her and she pulled the collar of her sweater over her nose and mouth, knowing it would do nothing for any radiation present but glad for the little comfort it gave. As far as she could see there were barren mountainous ranges, jagged protrusions from the earth that looked brutal and ready to hurt any unsuspecting prey. She was that prey. Her limbs shook, not only with fear but with an odd exhilaration.

She was not going back.

She was sick and probably dying anyway, so why not see if there was any truth to the conspiracy theories she'd scoffed at so often. A cackling laugh escaped her, she bent and clutched her knees; the laugh died with a rattling cough that almost caused her to keel over. She picked her way carefully but steadily among the jagged pathways that had been worn into the mountains by the winds and time. The air was cool and caressed her face with a siren's call, she would have doubted the violent history that had been taught to them inside the dome, if her mother hadn't shown her pictures of her ancestors involved in the fighting. The earth seemed hostile and deserted but so calm and finally at peace without the presence of humanity scattered throughout it. She'd been walking for around a half an hour when a gusting wind almost blew her off the precarious track she'd been trying to climb. Looking behind her she saw a behemoth, brown cloud approaching from below. So maybe the dust and possible radioactive storms were not made up, she thought blandly. She had to get into a cave soon or risk being cut to pieces by the razor-sharp winds and sand from the plains beyond the mountains.

Bright blue lights flashed in her peripheral vision causing her to stumble in her frantic scramble, her eyes were drawn to a cave that was directly above her, she wouldn't have noticed it otherwise.

She pulled her backpack tighter, grabbed onto the grooves in the rock face and pulled herself up grunting from the pain it caused her, but she continued to climb not wanting to die a painful death in that oncoming storm. Her muscles strained and she grimaced, still she pulled herself up, loosened pebbles fell from the mountain side with her efforts. Finally, she cleared the entrance to the den and collapsed. There were no signs of the lights that had drawn her eyes earlier. Maybe it had been a reflection on a shiny object left over from the time before.

Amaryah moved as deep as she could into the narrow cave, folding herself into the pathway until she was sure she'd be safe enough. Stretching her sweater collar over her head she huddled in on herself and wished she'd known the prayers of generations past, to help her feel even a little better.

Her mother had not bothered to teach her, stating that, "If God cared we wouldn't be in the dome in the first place." She'd then refused to speak on the subject again.

Curled in on herself and completely drained by the day's events, Amaryah fell asleep to the haunting howls of the vicious winds outside, unaware as the lights flashed again from within the cave.

Fourth Quadrant, Andromeda Galaxy

Amaryah was cold. Goosebumps blossomed along her arms and legs. She groaned and tried to curl in on herself finding her body was heavy and unwilling to cooperate. Her eyes fluttered open and stared at a matte black, concave ceiling.

She blinked, 'What the hell?'

Trying to push up from the cave ground, she instead felt a warm, humming squishy material beneath her. Amaryah sat up sharply and with a passing thought noted that her stomach did not protest at the movement. Looking around, she took note of the four black walls that encased her in a bare, cuboid room with a central vent that was the cause of the shivers wracking her body. Well, that and the flimsy paper bag she was dressed in. Had she been caught by the cleanser?

STUPID, STUPID, STUPID.

She'd thought she'd been so safe in that little cave, even fell asleep! Now she was as good as dead! She rubbed her arms trying to build some warmth. She was sitting on a gurney shaped bed attached to a circular machine that she was willing to bet was some type of scanner, as it looked like it was made to slowly travel down the gurney's length. The floor was aglow with a calming cyan light. A beep sounded to her left and a door materialized and slid open, Amaryah gaped, as a creature approached her.

The creature was tall and slender and had light pink skin, with a face that still had Amaryah gaping. Its eyes were large, almond shaped and a shiny black. There was no pupil or iris, just some large black eyes. Her breathing quickened, there was no nose on its face just two small slits that opened and closed with its breath and a lipless mouth that was pressed firmly closed. Around its eyes were small dark freckles or moles, she was not sure, that formed a large star like pattern that connected over where the creature's nose bridge should have been. There were protrusions on each side of its face like short straight horns, one from its chin, cheek, and forehead, they all were covered with bright pink feathered growths that shifted under her intense examination.

Amaryah struggled to take a deep breath, this thing was not human, and it was definitely not a robot, she could see throbbing veins in its skin. It wore fitted pants and boots too.

"Can someone please tell me what's happening?" She whispered shakily, trying to hold on to her sanity.

The creature cocked its head, she had no idea if it was male or female, its body showed no signs of it being either. "Please be calm, we can detect the rise in your heartbeat and breathing, it is not safe," it raised its arms in what she realized was meant to be a placating gesture. It's too long fingers just freaked her out more.

A strangled gasp escaped her,"w-wha-"

It stepped closer, "You are on our spaceship, we detected your brain signals at our research site."

"Spaceship? Not in the government research center?" She asked still rubbing at her arms, the cold air immediately died when the creature's eyes followed her movements.

"No, you are in the fourth quadrant," he was close to her gurney now, pressing glowing symbols that seemed to move under his fingers, "would you like to eat something?"

Her stomach reminded her that she hadn't eaten in a long time by emitting a grumble. She looked at her visitor pointedly and nodded.

Across the room she realized one of the black solid walls had become translucent and that there was a group of five other similar creatures looking on, she shuddered at the unblinking eyes. A sleek table grew from the floor, like water that took a sudden form - as it solidified various dishes filled with meats and berries appeared on its surface. The smell wafted over to her and though she was unsure of what it was her stomach growled again, loudly. Gingerly pushing herself off the table and giving the creature a wide berth, she sat on the newly formed chair that had been positioned at the head of the table.

"Is it safe to eat?" She asked because she knew she should, but her traitorous fingers were already reaching towards that deep red berries that closely resembled what her mother used to feed her when she was younger.

"You have been inoculated against all known organisms and cured of your poisoning, so you may eat anything that has been presented to you."

The thing sat two seats down from her and looked on intently as she shoved handfuls into her mouth while placing them on the transparent bowl that had formed before her.

"I waff poifonedf?" She said around a mouthful of berries, carefully arranging two pieces of meat onto the bowl. The fimbriae feathering the growths from the creature's head danced.

"You had alarming rates of chemical poisoning, it was a wonder that you hadn't died already," he placed his freaky hands on the table, palms down, "weren't you experiencing pain or any discomfort of some sort?"

She nodded, too busy with her meal to respond. So, her suspicions had been true, contact with the robotics had caused her to be poisoned, fucking government.

She shook her head again. Sure, she was taking this weird shit gracefully, but, hey she was hungry, and they had good food. The pink things weren't so bad once you got used to the freaky appearance.

"What are you?" She was finishing her last berry and licking her fingers.

The creature looked perplexed, little lines formed along its sloped forehead, "I am a Nvit, you may call me Yavik; you could not pronounce my full name with your ill-formed lips."

Amaryah sucked her lips into her mouth and rolled her eyes, she was the malformed one? Yavik was rude, she tried out the name, "Yavik?" But failed to produce the clicking sound that it did at the end.

Yavik's fimbriae fluttered wildly, and she thought it might react when strong emotion was felt.

She looked back toward the other observing Nvits at the glass side of the room, eyebrows flicking up, "Why'd you bring me here? Are you going to run tests on me?"

"We've already ran our tests; your brain activity triggered our system on e-yarth... they were unusual." It peered closely at her, she glanced up and back to the Nvits who were now excitedly chattering among themselves.

She hoped they didn't plan to cut her into pieces or use her for any demented purposes. The old movies they'd shown at the dome center about aliens had not exactly painted them in a pleasant light. She suddenly felt very uneasy.

"We are taking you to the Elders, they will decide what we must do with you."

"The Elders?" she stood slowly, "why?"

Yavik followed, dwarfing her with his height, "Your race, is not supposed to exhibit the brain waves we've detected and so you must be presented." His head bowed as he reverently muttered, "As it will be."

Fear spread through her. Who were the elders? Some killer alien species? Her heartbeat sped up as she realized the precarious situation she was in, no help or weapons, the table and chairs had melted back into the ground which was now as smooth as before. "I-I don't understand, what's wrong with my brain?"

Yavik looked down at her, seemingly at a loss for words, and then he said slowly, "You have a gift that has not been given of the supreme and so you must be judged, I have no choice."

It turned toward the opening doorway just as sheer panic slammed into Amaryah and she lunged for it, shoving pass Yavik causing it to stumble and emit a high-pitched squeal. Through the doorway she was blinded by the bright lights that lined a pristine white pathway with a large glass window that covered the entire right wall. There was darkness outside, a vast darkness that was punctuated by swirling clouds of colors she'd never seen before... stars, she realized, or galaxies, things she'd only been told about by the government broadcasts. She stared hypnotized, until a sharp sting at the base of her neck caused everything to fade to darkness.

Amaryah groaned as she woke up for the second time in the damn dark cube room. Her head was pounding, and she tried to reach up to rub at her temples only to find that her arms had been restrained. She writhed on her gurney and sure enough her whole body was tied down, she lay down with an exasperated sigh. 'Good going Mya', a voice that sounded a lot like her mother whispered inside her head, now she'd have no way of trying to escape or learning about the ship that she was on. Of that fact she was sure, she'd seen the stars and felt the hum of the ship when she'd tried-lamely- to escape. What could she do now but wait to see what would happen, a couple hours or days ago she'd been willing to die to explore some radiation filled world full of mountains, it'd probably be a lot more fun to die exploring space? Amaryah closed her eyes tightly, she was on an alien spaceship, in space, going to who knows where.

A differently positioned door slid open across the room, illuminating it with a ghostly light. "We are now at The Elder Sanctuary, please make use of the refreshers in room BC one," an automated voice said into the room.

Her ties retracted and Amaryah got up and rubbed her wrists," Gee, thanks for that pinkies."

Padding across the room she massaged her sore back. The room she entered was bigger than her previous prison, it had the same matte black walls with a large central nozzle that hung from the ceiling and an ominous looking silver bowl she assumed was meant to be a toilet of sorts. As she stepped in, the nozzle hummed on and a gentle spray of mist enveloped her, smelling of spices that she couldn't place. To her horror the paper bag outfit began to dissolve, and she clutched at the soggy pieces that were left. Holding them up to her small breasts, she cursed herself for not leaving it outside, there was no way she was walking around naked. No matter what the aliens did. The mist became a cooling breeze that dried her skin quickly. She peered into the tall reflective surface along the wall, her hair was so wild and frizzy she could barely see her face. She cried out and jumped back when the wall to her left rippled and drawers and shelves were pushed out. Gingerly opening them one by one she saw some filled with oils, creams, and clothing.

Okay maybe the pinkies weren't so bad, despite carrying her to her punishment or judgement and all that. She picked up an oil and sniffed carefully, it smelled of fruits, well - that's what her mind registered it as, a tangy, but fruity scent. She poured it into her hand, ran it through her hair and rubbed it into her skin. Using her fingers to untangle her hair quickly while it was still a bit damp, she quickly plaited it into two cornrows that ran down each side of her head. There was no underwear in any of the drawers and her bag was probably still in the cave on earth. Sighing she pulled on stretchy moss green pants that fit her snugly as she pulled up the zip in the front and found a matching fuzzy sweater like top that was buried at the bottom of the drawer. It felt so soft, she imagined it was what clouds felt like. In the bottom drawer were shoes the likes of which she'd never seen before. Scratching her head, she stuffed her foot into a black, low cut enclosed shoe, it had thread like ribbons running through the front in diamond like patterns, when the shoe was on her feet the ribbons tightened so that it fit her perfectly. She walked back into her prison room one and looked around.

"Uh, I'm ready for my judgment guys!!" She shouted throwing her arms into the air. The failed escape door at the center of the left wall slid open and Yavik peered inside, "Promise not to physically harm me?"

Amaryah crossed her arms, she walked toward him, and he backed away, "No."

Yavik hastily said, "Please be nice and follow me." His fimbriae twitched, she guessed he was nervous.

"You be nice, and I'll be nice." She smiled evilly just to see his reaction, his already too big eyes widened, and his pink fimbriae danced wildly.

He led her down the white pathway and said, "We are not a violent race and are unsure of how to meet with your unhidden hostility." He twined his long fingers together. Now that she'd had a chance to come to terms with what was happening, Amaryah found that he was adorable really.

Amaryah huffed," I'm not going to do anything pinky...I'll be good... Promise." She put her hand over her heart and let it slide away as she noted his confused expression. Right. They had no idea what that meant, Yavik did seem to relax though. She was led into a small docking bay area; it was completely deserted. They were both loaded into an already waiting vessel, with Amaryah being strapped into her seat that was facing a wide window, her breath caught.