They didn't give him time.
Hands pulled him up.
Voices told him where to go.
Someone took his helmet.
The air inside the facility was too clean.
White lights.
White walls.
White floors stained with footprints and oil.
Michael sat in a chair.
A screen turned on in front of him.
Name: Michael Voss
Status: Active
Condition: Stable
Stable.
His hands were still shaking.
A woman stood behind the glass.
She didn't look at him.
She looked at the screen.
"State your unit designation."
Michael swallowed.
He almost said Sophia's name.
Instead he said the number.
The screen beeped.
"Time of engagement?"
"Visual confirmation of hostiles?"
"Estimated losses?"
Questions came fast.
Too fast.
Every answer felt wrong.
They weren't numbers.
They were people.
The machine recorded everything.
It always did.
Michael stared at his reflection in the glass.
He looked alive.
He didn't feel like it.
"Michael stay still"
It was the nurse Charlotte
"It will only sting a little bit"
The needle slid in.
Michael bit the inside of his cheek.
He tasted iron.
He didn't move.
He didn't want to give them another reason to mark something down.
"Vitals stable," someone said.
The pain didn't matter.
It wasn't on the screen.
Blood filled the tube.
Dark.
Too dark.
"Almost done."
It wasnt.
A screen lit up.
Name: MICHAEL VOSS
Status: ACTIVE
Condition: ACCEPTABLE
He stared at the word.
Acceptable.
His arm still burned.
His fingers were numb.
"Sign here."
The nurse didn't look at him.
Michael hesitated.
The pen felt heavier than it should.
He signed.
The screen turned green.
The nurse paused.
She looked at the tube again.
Then at him.
"...That's odd."
Michael's heart skipped.
"What?"
She didn't answer.
The tube was sealed.
Labeled.
Set aside.
"Wait here."
Michael was all alone again
The nurse locked the door.
The lock clicked.
Loud.
Too loud.
Michael stood there.
Still holding the pen.
He walked to the door.
Tried the handle.
Nothing.
He pressed his forehead against the glass.
Cold.
On the other side, people moved.
Talking.
Laughing.
No one looked at him.
Michael sighed and went through his hair
"I wish this was just a bad nightmare"
A screen on the wall turned on by itself.
Scanning...
His name appeared again.
MICHAEL VOSS
CLEARANCE: PENDING
Pending.
His stomach twisted.
"What does that mean?" he whispered.
The room didn't answer.
His arm started shaking.
Not fear.
Not pain.
Something deeper.
His heartbeat felt wrong.
Too slow.
Then too fast.
He counted his breaths.
One.
Two.
Three.
It didn't help.
The tube was still there.
Still dark.
Still wrong.
He couldn't stop staring at it.
He remembered the machine.
The way it moved when it shouldn't have.
The way it felt like it was listening.
The lights dimmed.
Then shut off.
Michael was alone in the dark.