6 Arrival

They fell on a portal, the swirl of colors on the portal made them dizzy, it was overwhelming. Myriads of stars appeared after they passed the portal, they were floating in space for a while, and then the stars rushed to them. They closed their eyes because the illuminating light blinded them. They were all confused, where are we right now? Where are we heading to? When will this end? Questions keep flowing on their mind. Some of them began to think that they headed to the afterlife, a one way trip to the unknown realm. Even though religions tried to portray the afterlife, none could compare to the situation that they had for now.

"You are the ruler of dream and hope."

Ansel began thinking that if he made a certain wish; something that he wished for would be granted. It was like a cheat code for life, being a ruler of dream and hope would make the person greater than the genie that could only grant three wishes with several conditions. Ansel wondered what parameters that limit his power.

There was darkness, and then there were lights, the lights were similar to the ones in machines. A faint hum of diesel filled the room. A stench of oil and damp air made someone suffocate when entering the place.

Suddenly, light below them dimmed, it lit one by one, showing a path in front of them. The floor glows a friendly yellowish hue. Ansel stood up; his friends were laid down on the floor, either unconscious or sleeping.

Ansel tiptoed on the empty space between his friends. He wanted to explore the surroundings. When he stepped on the nearest path, lasers aimed at him. Ansel raised his hands above, he kneeled, he did that on by reflect.

"We meet again." A silhouette of a tall woman appeared from the furthest path, she wore a dress that slightly similar in his dream. Thabit walked elegantly, approaching Ansel and his friends. "And no doubt, it was you after all I've been searching in many dimensions, ruler of wishes."

"What do you want from me? Why do you have to take my friends too? If it's our business alone, then just take me!"

Several robots showed themselves from their hideout, clicking sound when their feet stepped. The robots were slim, like toothpicks crafted into a humanoid; their head was covered by a visor, from the visor there were the machines inside. Their pitch black body made them easier to camouflage in the darkness. One robot held Ansel down to his knees, another one pressed the rifle nozzle on Ansel's chest, restrained him from doing any harmful action.

"I need them too; they are other god apostles, even though they never saw one of us, except Maven. I think that they are capable to help our duty."

"To bring an apocalypse to my world?" Ansel gritted on his teeth. His head was hot, if it's in a cartoon, his head already has steam.

Thabit solemnly smiled, "Chronos told you that? Do you ever, ever fell on his tricks? How dare he lie about the codex of primal god? He screwed the timeline."

"No! He helped me to mend my past!"

"But at the same time, you have accumulated the bad luck for the future; someday you have to face a harder rejection from the last time. He didn't really understand the concept of fate, and his action mocked me."

Ansel screamed, "I want to go home! I want to continue my life! I can't be stuck in here forever for your hideous duty."

"It's not a hideous duty! You all will help us to mend some things that we couldn't mend alone."

"NO! I want to go! Now! Release me!"

"Oh, my troublesome apostle, I do have a love-hate relationship with you. Now sleep," Thabit threw a needle straight to Ansel's forehead.

He felt an excoriating pain in his head, he couldn't think clearly, his dizziness made him frustrated, it was the most painful headache he ever had in his life. Ansel pry his eyes open, sparks of blue and green grains filled his vision, his ears stuffed, and he fainted again. A few minutes later, he felt his body being moved by an unknown force. He heard murmurs; the language that they speak was alien to him. Ansel tried to open his eyes, but his eyelid seemed to be forced closed by a force, the force was not harsh, it was calm and strong.

"…language comprehensions complete," A soft voice, robot-like, spoke near his ears.

"…careful, he is a hero—"

The last word was unheard; Ansel guessed it was a name of a person. He wished to see right now, he tried to pry again. Not a good idea, the force was still there. Ansel took a deep breath. He let out one vent.

I wish I were home.

He regretted the choice that he has to avoid his family for more than two years, and now he was in a place that no one would be able to save him. Humanity could only reach Mars, for now, to reach a place in another dimension; it would take several generations to compile the knowledge and practiced to travel through dimensions. It was a hopeless situation.

I wish I could survive here, whatever it takes.

His eyelid sensed a strong light from above, Ansel pried his eyes open, a lamp, unfamiliar ceiling. Alcohol and antiseptics tickled his nose. His body now could feel completely, he lay on a soft bed, a thin sheet covered to his upper torso. No IV, no heartbeat pace checker. Curtain divided each section; the curtain blew by wind, on his right side, Brian was sleeping peacefully. His head has a bandage circled on his forehead.

Ansel rose from the bed. Feeling happier because everything that just happened was only a dream, he thought. His dirty red parka jacket, plain black t-shirt and his blue jeans were replaced with green medical dress. He stepped on a cold floor bare footed, the floor was crystalline white, as cold as ice. Walked towards the curtain slowly, and then Ansel flipped the curtain, hoping the doctor or the nurse happily see him awake from a coma. But his happy thoughts were broken completely when he opened the curtain in front of him. A sight of unfamiliar hospital, they were trapped in a big glass box.

Ansel shook Brian, "wake up."

Brian stayed still, he lulled to his dreams, sheepishly said to Ansel, "yeah, yeah, get away, I want to sleep."

Ansel ran to the left of his bed, Lintang was sleeping, but his eye movement seemed uneasy. Anxiety could be seen in his face. Lintang rolled away from Ansel, he swatted Ansel's hand in reflect. Ansel stepped back, "If you could hear me, wake up."

Lintang grunted, he piled his pillow to cover his ear. There was no one else on the glass box room. Ansel couldn't see outside the glass, it was blurry, he knew that they were a subject for an experiment. Ansel cupped his hands on the glass; he put his head between his hands, trying to see outside, still none. The glass transparency was so low that Ansel thought it was a mirror at first. This kind of glass was better than any interrogation room that he saw in movies.

Tapping sound came from afar, someone was coming and that person wore high heels. Thabit. Ansel take steps back, he waited in anticipation. The glass box has an invisible door on the right corner, Thabit pushed it lightly, and she entered the room with several people behind her, nurses, doctors, also robots. She has a menacing aura that made the whole room felt frightening as in thriller movies.

Ansel didn't know what to do; he pretended to sleep away. He heard the curtains flipped, a cold rubbery hand held him, and followed by a sharp pain on his arm. After the injection, Ansel's head felt heavy. He lulled to sleep by the medicine.

..

Wake up. You're safe now.

Deep male voice, somewhere in his forties, awakened Ansel from his slumber. Ansel opened his eyes, looking for the man, the man was not there. There was only furniture that was shiny, something that was straight from science fiction movies that he has seen. He lay on a bed with several circuits below, the mattress warmed Ansel.

A big hexagonal window in front of him showed the sky of the mysterious planet. It was a cold morning, the white thin clouds wafted on a violet sky. The sun, or star in this case, arisen from the right side. Ansel marked it the east.

On the east side, on the corner of the room, Ansel noticed a small door, probably a bathroom. He rose up from the bed, a full body mirror on his right showed his appearance. Several widgets floated on the corner of the mirror. The mirror was like a big smartphone.

His clothes were changed again into a white robe, with several circuits like ornaments on the chest, the lines were the opening, and the round ones were the buttons. Ansel felt a skin tight inner. He opened the robe. A white and grey plug-suit inner covered his neck to toe. It felt like a second skin, Ansel rubbed his body, searching for the opening. On the back, there was a button to let air into the plug-suit, and then it opened itself from the back.

He was naked, and the door was knocked.

"Come in."

"NO don't come in!"