Deep hums reverberated upon the hull in which my co pilot and I were enclosed in as I activated The shadow device. It was experimental military tech that enclose a ship in a magnetic field that reflected light particles and made a craft “invisible”. My co pilot sat anxiously as I readied the device.

“We actually gonna turn this thing on?” He asked excitedly.

“Yup,” I confirmed. He seemed delighted to hear this which ignited my question “What did they tell you about the last time?”

“Last time what? They just said we’re going to be invisible or something.”

Out of frustration and somewhat annoyance and felt the light stubble on my face as I pondered if I should tell him how men were fused into the deck of  ship and burnt to a crisp but decided to not to crush his hopes.

“Lemme see your watch.” I demanded. He awkwardly extended his arm in a rapid motion as I then synced our times. “8:50 PM.” Remember that time. He looked confused but before he could ask I began the device’s ignition. A loud monotone voice erupted and counted down “10.. 9.. 8..” I stopped paying attention and decided to concentrate on relaxing.

Soon a bright flash blinded the claustrophobic’s nightmare of a pod and I instantly felt myself on soft grass. I lost sense of where I was and what time it even was. I was soon overwhelmed with intense nausea as my stomach violently regurgitated the contents of my stomach. My head was pounding intensely in pain with the overwhelming stimulation of my senses. Then, a sudden rush of warm blood filled my veins and reinvigorated me. I regained my sight and touch and found myself in the middle of a field of some sort. Surrounding it was a complex series of structures made of sleek an edged metals foreign to me.

They were nothing short of awesome, the scale and size was immense only rival to their size would be the skyscrapers of New York city. They also had levitating structures surrounding them, which seemed to have smaller buildings of similar style.  It was rather bizarre, it seemed as though no one was there, not a single person. Not even any insects, birds, or animals. It was completely deserted and quiet. Most curious, though, was how well kept it was, as if the grass was just cut a minute ago. And as I arose I began walking to the abandoned structures and was disturbed at how still everything was on the streets. No cars, no people, nothing. It was desolate and not a single noise filled the air. No wind, absolute stillness . The clouds were absent, only the sun stood in the sky.

Before I could collect my thoughts I felt a falling sensation overwhelm me as a strong force opposed me forcing me into an empty chasm of a street. I soon felt as though the ground beneath me was sliding against me and soon falling beneath me. My heart began to race as my body was shot into a state of panic and adrenaline burst throughout my veins. I found myself inverted so now my head was facing the streets as I remained suspended in the air, slowly falling horizontally.

It was bizarre as it seemed the city was moving away from me as it moved independently away from me. I was now incredibly displaced from where I originally stood as I was now being passed by several buildings. My body violently slammed to the ground and began to tumble down the empty streets. Any attempt I gave to grab hold of the ground failed as it was perfectly smooth and had no way for me to grasp it. In an alternate attempt I kicked at the ground to create enough friction to stop me from slamming into the building I was being blown towards. I felt as though I was witnessing my final moments, but just as soon as I had given up on hope I felt an external force  grab hold of my arm and pull me into the air. I suppose whatever it was moved in synchronization with the city as it maintained an equal speed as the city.

Whatever had grabbed me now turned me so I could face it. It was a metallic being of some sort, it was sleek just like everything in the city. Unlike anything I had seen before, it’s arm like appendages moved independently. It also had one large optical device which appeared to be adjusting itself to inspect me. I had no idea what the intent of this machine was, so instinct overcame me and I began resisting against it. It didn’t quite like that though. It’s then blue lens turned red as it seized the rest of my arms and legs and began traveling elsewhere in the city. I suppose I then passed out from the excessive amount of multiple G forces acting upon my body.
Once I regained consciousness I appeared to be constrained in some dimly lit room where the only source of light was an intensely defined green apparition  of a man who was communicating with the the machine I had just encountered. The apparition spoke with intense volume and clarity and had a sort of deep soothing voice.

“No. This can’t be right. Run it again.” He instructed the machine as he seemingly floated towards me. “Forgive me you must be awfully confused. This isn’t exactly how we like to introduce newcomers. But you seem to be somewhat of an anomaly. Forgive me if that sounds derogatory.” It’s blue eyes studied me intensely as its expression seemed rather confused, curious even. “Well you’re of homo sapien origin so that’s a start I suppose. Tell me, what is your purpose here.”

I didn’t quite know how to answer its question, it perplexed me. So I said what came to mind. “ I don’t know I just got here.”

He processed this for a moment. “Well that’s strange. One does not easily get on a city that’s floating four miles above the surface of Earth. You got here but other methods. However there is no record of your residence or a craft in which you got here by. So, my next query, Who are you.”

I still wasn’t even sure where I was or if these things were hostile so relied on procedure and what I had been trained to do. “Archer, Booker, Sergeant maj-” Before I could finish he interrupted “Stop that.” He sounded a bit frustrated. “Don’t let your mind be dictated by protocol. At least not by one that’s not your own. Anyways, judging by clothing you’re a soldier, United States Navy. Huh, well now that’s going back. Yes, I know what’s going on now. Seventy-three you were correct. Be as you were. the device beeped in response and floated away. I was completely puzzled at this point. Any time I felt as though I was beginning to understand what was happening the rationality escaped my mind. And it seemed as though this apparition man read my mind because moment after he said “Forgive me, you must be awfully confused, we have much to discuss, and even more to learn from each other.”