Guest of the UFO

Chapter 3

The tunnel seems to rise and rise. We accelerate, still with the incredibly fast speed, until we come to a leveled ground. The car stops at what appears to be a door. It is a large, black metal brick like the inside of a dome. It opens up, like an agape mouth and the car passes through and screeches to a halt. But we are not at normal ground level yet. Everyone in the car steps out, and the floor begins to rise like a podium. I am blinded by the brightness that hits us. It is early afternoon and the light has begun to get fiercer. In 2070, a sort of filter had been invented for the sun's rays. It was a boundary wrapped around the stratosphere that prevented large amounts of UV rays from getting to the earth. It worked because the cancer rates all over the world drastically reduced. Less people died or came down with skin diseases. However, the light here seems a little too harsh. I wonder if it is because my eyes were already accustomed to the darkness of the underground. Perhaps what is being used here is an artificial sun. A lot of institutions have it. Not only does it provide light, it is modified to include so many benefits like anti aging properties. Some of the suns are used for healing. Mother's gym where yoga and meditation is practiced uses one of those healing suns. It works like old heaters. Firstly, the place is sealed up by a bubble like wrap. You cannot see it, or touch it, but it is there, and it is what prevents the artificial sun from spilling out into areas where it is not needed. There is a law that governs its use to prevent it from touching people in an unsolicited manner, no matter how much benefit it bestows. Afterwards, a central, glowing orb is placed in the highest point of the bubble, imitating the direction of the sun. It is so effectively done that people do not notice except you tell them, but one differentiating factor is the fact that it does not leave shadows, and it never goes off except it is handled by an operator. In some places, the operator gets to induce evening and night, simply with the help of a control button. By this time, a little shadow should be out now, but there is none. I conclude that it is artificial.

The centre has a number of high rise buildings all connected to each other by bridges. But the bridges are not mere, solid bridges. They are transparent and they are adjustable. They criss cross across the bodies of the buildings, and they write, flare, and transform their bodies in a variety of ways. I had never seen anything like it. I stood, transfixed, holding my hands across my head to shield my eyes from the harsh sun. I witnessed how one of the bridges changed. A girl clad in black jumper tried to make her way from one building to the next, but she looked incredibly dissatisfied with the staircase on the bridges. She pressed a button and the bridge got converted into a slide immediately. And she went through, swooshing and releasing her body to be moved forward by the smoothness of the glass. She looked like a kid, carefree, her dark hair glistening having stolen some of the light from the sun. She held out her arms like a bird, and giggled. I was awed. I made a mental note to never do something like that. She looked free and happy, but I could not let myself go that far, as much as I wanted to. It frightened me.

"Class of 2140, it is a pleasure to meet you."

A speaker that seemed planted in the ground gave us a welcome. I looked around and found that the ten of us selected for the program were complete. There was a girl dressed in African prints, a Japanese boy with bangs, A French girl, a boy from Russia, and another boy who looked middle eastern. I was too overwhelmed to take note of all the faces. My head was spinning and I had to blink several times. I had never been around so many people before. The Japanese boy waved at me. Apparently, they had taken different trains from around the world, and the car sent by UNCF picked them up, just as Austin and I had been picked up. Eventually, we all converged at this point where the sun held us down in its stiff glare. I waved back at the boy, determined not to let any awkwardness get in my way here. My experience at the train station had already taught me a valuable lesson on human interaction. The boy flashed me a smile. Austin stood close to me. Beside him, the Russian girl was on her own, making no attempts to socialize like the rest of us had already begun to. Her hair was put up in a stringent bun. She wore a black body suit that clung to her skin and showed off her curves and edges. There was a stoic expression on her face, and I made no attempt to wave at her. Austin did however, and he was greeted with a withering stare. Xavier noticed my heart rate was going up, and she began playing some alpha waves to calm me down. This worked for a moment.