Witness

Disclaimer: The following is lengthy and experimental. But if you do read it, do let me know what you think.

"So, before the aliens actually get there, they send a telepathic message to everyone on earth that they're coming. That is, except for me.

"I don't really remember why they came. Even at the end, I wasn't sure if they were helping us or planning to use us. They weren't hauling us away to eat us, or anything. I think maybe the planet was going to be destroyed, so that's why they were coming to pick us up. Anyway, they told us they were coming, they came, and we all got onto their ship, which was massive. I remember being on this bio-deck with a full-sized waterfall.

"But you know, through the whole process, no one was as freaked out as they should have been. I was practically having a fit, because I really wanted to know why I didn't get the telepathic message. I tried talking to my family, but they blew me off. I then went to a good friend who I was certain would be as outraged by the situation as I was. But she told me to get lost."

"You mean no one freaked out about the existence of aliens?"

"Well, they thought it was weird, but no one was upset. Especially on the ship, I was the only one turning red in the face. The aliens had set up these mini press conference things throughout the ship to answer people's questions. But, they didn't look like aliens. I don't know if they were snatched humans, clones, or if the aliens could shape-shift, but they looked like humans so as not to scare us.

"I went to one of the conferences, and the others asked stupid, mundane questions, but I demanded to know why I was only one who didn't get the message. Of course, by now I realized that something was wrong with everyone else. They were way too calm, sedated even. And you know what the aliens finally said, after ignoring me the entire time?"

"Your brain was broken?"

"Haha, no. Don't you see it? By sending a message telepathically they had made telepathic connections. The aliens were sedating people, with their minds! The aliens said that they didn't do it to me because they needed me to be the same. They needed me completely independent. I had a special purpose. But they didn't tell me what it was. So there I am, reeling at this revelation, and everything just went black, as if I were alone in space."

"Bummer. Did you wake up after?"

"No, well, in a way. I woke up on a planet colonized by a corporation. I think they were there because of some natural resource, but I don't remember. And there was no government, only the company. Everyone there, from the baristas to the security, worked for the company.

"I was there to infiltrate. I was part of some organization that knew the company to be bad, and on my team were two of my brothers. One older, one younger.

"I was doing really well. The president, the top executive, really liked me, and promoted me to be his personal aid."

"Because of your assets?"

"Shut up. Right at this point I discover that the board of executives is planning on offing the president. Then they find out about me. At first we're at a stalemate: if I tell on them, the president finds out I'm a spy. If they arrest me, I tell the president they're planning to kill him. And he would believe me. I don't know why, but they didn't kill me. Maybe it would have led the president to go on the defensive.

"It came down to a sort of house arrest. They would parade me around the office so it looked like all was normal, but when the president was occupied with other things, they locked me in a room. I played along, because at this point they did threaten to kill me.

"In the room where I was locked, there was a vent. That was how my brothers rescued me. Here it gets fuzzy. I know the rescue went wrong. Did one of my brothers get captured? Did one die? I know we were still crawling in the vent when they discovered us. From then on, there was some sort of pursuit, and I know I got away. But it ended with this feeling of disappointment. Like I didn't have enough information to accomplish our ultimate mission. Or maybe it was because I knew I had been found out on a planet owned by the enemy. We were stranded."

"So did they chase you down?"

"No, but..."

"No, but?"

"No, but it changes. I'm no longer on the planet. I'm in a city, urban and near futuristic, but not so advanced as flying cars. I don't remember any greenery. Just so much cement and chrome.

"I'm on a street corner, minding my own business, when a woman attacks me. She tries to kill me. Fearing for my life, I defend myself and end up killing her. Did I mean to? I don't think I meant to kill her, just disable her. But the fact is, she died, and this was the turning point. From then on, I was hunted.

"At this time, I didn't know who was hunting me. For all I knew, it was the government. Maybe they thought I had killed wrongly. But there was a witness, a woman close to my age. I feel like she was slightly older, but after she decided to defend me, literally, I felt like I was the one responsible for her, as if she had been placed in my care."

"Wait, what's the deal with this girl?"

"She saw the woman attack me. She saw me defend myself. She saw that others came after me trying to kill me, and she decided to fight with me. She had a copper pole in her hands that she had picked up from the street. I don't know what my weapon was. Maybe I didn't have one.

"Anyway, they came in pairs, always in pairs. It was like there was a bounty on my head, but I had no idea why. I was so scared. I kept running. I kept feeling remorseful that the young woman had been dragged into this, even though she came of her own accord.

"I took a lot of train/mono-rail type things around the city. I want to say the city was enclosed somehow, because I never tried to leave. I think it's because it wasn't an option. Anywhere I went, there would be a death team pursuing me, sometimes with katanas, if you believe it. I was so scared. I was so paranoid. As the death toll rose, they came after me more fiercely. It was around this time that I began to notice that the people coming after me had something in common. Something was wrong. An evil, I don't know how to explain it. These weren't just people avenging fallen brethren, they wanted me dead for a specific reason.

"Finally, after I killed fourteen, I think, I found myself on a window ledge. That's how desperate I was for a moment of peace. My companion was close by, but not on the same ledge as me. Then...would you believe this? I saw a friend.  My friend held out his hand and said to come in with him.

"I repeated I wouldn't. I was on the verge of tears. I didn't know who to trust. He was patient with his invitation, but I knew he was working for other people. I could see them crowded inside. I figured it was the authorities, and even though I didn't have any proof that the authorities were bad, I was too distraught to trust them. I demanded that my friend get to me in writing that they wouldn't kill me. I wanted that promise. I just wanted to be able to breathe without someone trying to end my life. I remember looking at my companion, but maybe I just saw her in my mind's eye. I didn't want anything to happen to her either.

"I didn't get it in writing, I think they figured I was being hysterical, and I finally just gave up. I was tired of running. Tired of fighting. If I had to keep killing for every minute that I lived, then I was going to give up and hope to find peace. I took my friend's hand and went inside.

"There, people in business dress shirts rushed around us, talking on phones and to each other. They put blankets around us, like they had just rescued us from a disaster. Toward this last part-- I just want to make clear how emotionally wrecked I was, but I hadn't yet started crying. But then, they rubbed alcohol on our necks, and the tears cascaded. Something about that alcohol...of course I knew it was for a needle--"

"Wait, what's that?"

"What, a needle?"

"No, there, you rubbed your neck. Let me see."

"What is it?"

"Nothing. Continue on."

"Oh yeah, I guess I feel something. Maybe that's why the dream chose that spot on my neck.

"Well, somehow I had known the needles weren't for killing us. It was to put us to sleep. I think the tears came because whatever happened, I was at their mercy. I was no longer in control. Well, I don't think I ever was. Maybe, because I was so traumatized, and evidently really good at killing, they didn't want me lashing out. Although my companion... I never really knew how she was feeling, just that she wanted to protect me because she thought it was right--wha?"

"You looked like you needed a hug."

"But you never hug people."

"Listen, but keep smiling. You are special. You have a purpose. And it's not over. It hasn't even started. Listening carefully?"

"This isn't funny. I'm having a hard time smiling convincingly."

"Gosh! How are you so dense? Listen to me, remember every word. Don't relinquish your free will. You have a specific mission. And they will come after you. They will not stop until it's over.

"It's still not funny."

"But they will start now, you know why? You have your witness."

"Um, you?"

"You have a witness. It's going to start. I'm going to let go, but I'm not going with you. But know, remember, that I'll always be out there. You'll understand later, why we have to be apart. But I'll still be your witness."

"Dude, knock it off! You're taking this too far. I didn't have to share this, you know."

"Just run fast. And...I'm sorry if this bruises."

"Wha-?!

...

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