Free Alien Deception by Tony Ruggiero

enough already," he said, chuckling nervously. But instead of the joke ending as he'd hoped, the nightmare continued.
    The object continued its unwavering trip and the closer it came, the more he had a sinking feeling that he was not going to have any choice of whether or not he wanted to wear this thing. Then again, he thought, he was able to move his head; perhaps he could confuse it or something. But the momentary hope waned as he knew he could only move his head for so long. He wondered where the other headset had gone. Could there be someone else here? Were they going to go through the same thing?
    The device now hovered precariously over his head. He craned his neck backward as he tried to discern the features of the object more closely.
    "Ouch!" he yelled, as he felt a mild pin prick in the back of his arm. The robot backed away as if it feared some form of retaliation, even though the extent of Greg's capacity for movement was raising his head.
    "You little son of a…" he winced as a burning sensation from the injection erupted. "Great. At least with real nurses you have a warning about this kind of thing, and they have better legs." Almost immediately, he felt his eyelids become heavy. Whatever was in that needle worked quickly.
    "Must have…been…some…kind…of…drug," he slowly gasped as his eyes tried to close while he fought to remain conscious. The device landed softly on his head, making a snug custom fit. He felt a curious feeling on his head followed by a sudden warmth, and then he fell fast asleep.
     
    * * * *
     
    Greg never felt the small incisions that allowed the sensory input device to stimulate his brain directly. As the device began to stimulate parts of his brain, a chain reaction occurred in a region of the human cerebrum that was not part of the planned stimulus. This section of the brain was not used by most humans and was little understood by modern medicine. It was as if a door had been opened, a door into a new frontier waiting to be explored.
    He could smell perfume and recognized it immediately, which caused a small smile to appear on his sleeping face, as he saw the woman again.
     
    * * * *
     
    In another chamber, Sarah's eyes fluttered as they opened to the brightness of the white room.
    "The UCDW? What is that? I don't remember doing any work for them. Uhm…no, can't say that I…wait a minute! Where am I?" She glanced around the sterile room.
    All at once, her brain showed her images of the wrinkle remover and then the sudden jolt that had raced through her entire body. She remembered her body jerking about, almost like she was dancing a weird dance, as the current forced its way through her. Her brain began to analyze the situation.
    "First, I have to figure out where I am now," she said.
    She lifted her head up from the pillow and carefully surveyed the plain room, trying to find something that would give her a clue as to her whereabouts. All she saw were plain white walls.
    "Hospital, I must be in a hospital," her analytical brain informed her, and then she said, "Thank God, I'm alive, at least. I didn't die."
    As the initial realization passed, she saw that she was wearing something that didn't belong to her. It must be a hospital garment of some sort, but, if so, they sure had changed from those exposing gowns with the simple ties at the back.
    She was wearing a one-piece blue jump suit but didn't recognize the type of fabric, silk maybe, but the thought vanished quickly when she attempted to touch the material. Sudden panic rose in her throat when she realized she couldn't move. It was as if invisible fingers were holding her body hostage.
    "Why am I restrained?" she said. Then louder, "Excuse me, I want to speak to someone. Doctor? Nurse? Can someone please help me?"
    She struggled harder to move, but to no avail. Her brain told her it was futile, so she stopped and just laid still. Time to analyze. Unwanted tears began to emerge, but she knew this was neither the time nor