Aching pain in my wrists pulls me out of unconsciousness. The hope of the last day is all a dream is shattered. The room details explode in my mind. My body is being strung up in some sort of metal vertical circle. It’s on some sort of conveyor belt. Closed doors are on either end of it. Oh and a ridiculously complicated machine above me.

This is just wonderful. I think I preferred the darkness over the painful detailed awareness. It won’t shut off. A constant bombardment of information. Almost too much for me to handle.

The machine above me starts to move. With it is that sound of a microwave again. Growing more and more intense. Then a wave of something hits me like before. Something in me reacts to it this time. It flows over me and through me, but it doesn’t affect me as it did before.

The sound winds down, ending in a hard metallic clang. After a short time, it starts up again, louder and more intense than the previous times. It just doesn’t affect me at all. I feel like it should be affecting me. Didn’t it knock me out before?

When it finishes I wait in darkness. Eventually the conveyor moves and the doors open. My new ability to sense the details of my surroundings shows me some stuff. Behind me are people in the same situation. Strung up in some sort of circle device. Ahead of me, several conveyors merge. Releasing people onto a smaller conveyor.

Excitement builds in me at the prospect of being set free. My wrists hurt. I’m jittery as I approach the area of release. The conveyor stops but I’m not let go. Instead, I’m pulled upward into a different room.

As soon as it stops liquid moves down my arms and covers my body. Straining against it seems pointless. The liquid further incapacitates me. When my entire body but my face is covered, the bounds connecting me to the circle disconnect. Causing me to fall onto some kind of table. The liquids slither off me, leaving tight metal restraints. I am completely immobilized.

Panic is a distant memory. Almost pleasant in its way. If I was panicking then all this would be new and scary. Moving along through near pitch-black corridors. Randomly being scanned. Horrific noises from machines and hopefully not my fellow humans. The screams are fruitless. My own dry and sore throat tells me that.

It occurs to me that there hasn’t been any change for a while. No movement or noises. Not even a random light. I have a feeling that I’ve reached a more permanent location. What I assume to be hours pass, maybe even days before that is confirmed.

“What is your name?” a voice calls out. The sound feels abnormally loud due to my sensory deprivation. I ponder the question for a moment. It could be my abductor. In which case any pleas or questions might go on deaf ears. However, it could be a fellow captive. Again anything but my name would be pointless.

“Dimitri,” I say.

“Excellent excellent. It is nice to meet you Dimitri.” the voice says. This timeless intensely. “For all intents and purposes, you can call me Doctor Keith. I will be performing your thorough examination and experimentation. First, the lights will go on. You have been in nearly complete darkness for two days. Your senses are better than what you are used to, so prepare yourself.”

My eyes shut hard right as the lights came on. An intense red glow shined through my eyelids. I opened one eye and got bombarded with intense blinding light. Slowly I peak with one eye and then the other to try to adjust. Eventually, I can withstand the intense brightness. Oddly enough it even dims a bit.

“Thank you for lowering the light levels,” I say in appreciation.

“I did no such thing.” the voice sounds almost offended. “That is most likely a latent ability brought on by your new powers and trauma.”

“Is your name really Keith? It doesn’t seem likely.”

“No. I am currently talking to you through a translator. It approximates takes my words and as the name suggests translates them to your native language. When it comes to proper nouns, the software assigns a predictable counterpart in the other language. It will also attempt this with idioms. Both of those have varying degrees of success. On occasion, mistakes are made. However, there has been little advancement in this technology in the last four thousand years. Yours will be ready momentarily”

“Oh thank you. That was very informative.” I say honestly. Did he say implant?

“They appear to have isolated you before implantation. I am about to come inside the room. Prepare yourself.”

I can’t see the wall with my eyes, but my new ability still reveals the world around me. A tall skinny creature enters the room. Longnose that points down that reminds me of a beak, four-finger hands that almost reach its knees, horns on its head, and wings! The wings were draped on his back like a cape. So my encounter with that techno-angle was real.

The creature walks over to me and starts looking me over. Working from my feet upward. Appearing to use some sort of tablet to scan and take notes. Here and there making sounds, but nothing recognizable as a word. My heart sank when I saw its face with my eyes. Leathery skin with hints of blue, eyes misshapen, and the irises a cross between a cat and a goat. The features are so close to humans, but clearly not human.

After it seems to have finished a visual examination it starts typing stuff into the tablet. The table opens up near my ears. Tendrils come out and they dig into my ears. Sharp pain erupts as something digs into my flesh. Followed by a calming heat.

“That was the universal translator devices. They are implanted in line with your auditory nerves. It will not enhance your hearing. Only translate the sounds you hear. For the time being, you have our language and all the common languages of your planets installed. If the need arises you will have others installed. We have also promoted healing in the area. That is why the device is already functioning.” It explains.

Tears well up in my eyes. The possibility that this is a nightmare diminishes with every new painful event. Now looking into clearly inhuman eyes. There is no doubt that this is my new reality.

“Are you aware of any genetic abnormalities or significant trauma? Perhaps you have some odd significant ancestor? I am currently having the computers examine your D.N.A. profile and compare it to Earth records. If you have anything to add it could narrow things down.”

“No,” I answer him. Now that I consider the translator capabilities. There is a fair chance I’ll deeply offend him with improper pronouns, but as he said it's a normal thing for the translator to make mistakes like that. Wouldn’t anyone assume a person with the name of Keith is a male?

“That's a shame,” Keith responds.

“How do you have wings? I don’t mean to offend you. It's just that on Earth no large complex creature has six limbs like that. Are you an Angel of legend or some sort of extraterrestrial?” I ask trying to be as careful with my words as possible. Keith cocks his head in a very human manner. Then proceeds to stand up straighter.

“It is rare to have wings. We have worked hard to keep them throughout the millennium.” Keith explains. “My responsibility here is to make a full assessment of your capabilities. Our procedure has resulted in you having a sort of immunity to our sensors. So much of the information will have to come from my observations. To that end, I have been permitted to explain what is going on. Normally this is only done after confirming you are worthy of ascending.” Keith says.

He pushes a button on his tablet. The table transforms into a chair and the binding around my forehead slides away. With that I try to crack my neck, but no matter how I stretch nothing happens. Looked around at his white barren room. There aren’t any noises or sensations of being in motion.

“Where are we? When are we?” I ask him.

“It has been approximately sixty-four Earth hours since you were captured. Fourteen Earth hours ago we left orbit. I am not aware of our current destination. That information is not relevant to my current task. I do know we are heading counter the rotation of the Galactic Spiral.” Says Keith.

“That is extremely helpful thank you. Now, may I please know what the plans for me are?” I beg. Another button push on the tablet. The room dims and a display starts on the wall. Yay a PowerPoint presentation. I glare at him for a moment.

“We first encountered planet Earth several thousand years ago. The varying biomes gave birth to a large number of vicious predators. Our studies of other planets and species indicated that sentient life that evolves in such conditions would be formidable.” Keith says while showing me images of Earth long ago. “The problem was that there were not many of them. So we marked the planet for observation and left”

“As per our standard operating procedures. When the population reached a certain threshold we came back. Then we ingrained ourselves into a particularly vicious yet subordinate culture. Thereby creating religious zealots that would spread and propagate. Does this sound familiar to you?”

“Yes, several religions trace back to a singular source that was more or less peaceful at one point. Historians and conspiracy theorists have speculated why it one day shifted into a more violent one. Many claimed aliens.” I said to him. The screen continued to flash images of the planet throughout time. It was kind of amazing. Human history. Some people would give fortunes for just one of these images.

“It is incredibly effective. We have practiced this on hundreds of worlds for longer than your recorded history.” He continues.

“To what end?” I say interrupting him.

“Your species will need to expand if it wants to survive. It does not have the technology for stellar or interstellar travel. For the next several hundred years your species will serve the Seraphim.” He says and his tablet beeps. “It appears as though my colleagues have developed special implants for you. They will be installed right now. Prepare yourself.”

The chair changed back to a table. The ceiling opens up and mechanical tendrils come out. My bindings melt away. I wait for something to happen. Keith stands perfectly still.

“Serve you how?” I ask as I stand up to face the being. He is indeed over a foot taller than me and makes no sign of concern for my freedom.

“However we wish. Personal servants, entertainment, fighters… the list goes on. This ship is going to train warriors. A target for the first battle will be selected soon. The strong will survive and become part of an elite fighting force.” He says.

The tendrils grab hold of my wrist and ankles. Huh, I am still naked. Something is pressed against my back. I can feel the machine unfolding and wrapping around my shoulders. It covers the center of my chest. More pieces are pressed against me. Reminding me of Ironman putting on his suit. Only it is incomplete. Shins and wrists are completely covered. Small parts connect those to the spinal piece. Thin circles are in those areas as well. A final piece presses against my forehead. Again it connects to my spine.

“It may be excessive. Prepare yourself.” Keith says.

Sharp pains come at the points where the pieces come into contact with my skin. Hundreds if not thousands of small tendrils dig into my body. Working their way into every nook and cranny my body has to offer. The pain is mind-bending. I scream out. It is unlike any sound I have ever made. For a moment Keith seems taken aback. Almost as if he is scared. Finally, the implants have stopped digging into me. I lay there in the fetal position.

Congratulations on your conscription.” He says.