The clock showed 7:00 PM when Albert finally looked up from his lab station. It had been one of those days that seemed to both drag and fly by at the same time. He rubbed his bleary eyes, gathered his things, and got ready to head home for the night.
His team at Celestial Frontier, the company he had worked for since graduating with his PhD from Harvard, had been working around the clock for the last several weeks on a project that would be the pinnacle of his somewhat new career if testing continued to provide positive results.
Albert and his team were on the brink of patenting a human-sized cryogenic capsule capable of supporting human life on board an intergalactic space vessel for several hundred years. As the lead biologist on the project, Albert was responsible for leveraging his scientific expertise to make the project a success.
The year is 2075, and the powerhouse countries of the world found themselves in a relentless pursuit of space-grade technology capable of transporting humankind to a nearby galaxy. With a cluster of space debris forecast to impact the planet within the next few years, the stakes of this technological race couldn't be higher. Impact would undoubtedly mean catastrophic destruction of the entire world, or, at the very least, the utter extinction of all life to include the citizenry of the countries who couldn't quite make it in the realm of intergalactic technological proliferation.
As soon as the capability was there, the countries at the forefront would begin evacuating their citizens by sending them in a cryogenic sleep pod inside a spacecraft headed for a neighboring celestial system. Astronomers were confident that the planet of choice would be capable of sustaining human life, but the journey would take several decades, making cryogenic sleep a requirement.
There was also the issue of available room on the craft that would depart the planet. The government and the company manufacturing the spacecraft assured the citizenry that there would be plenty of room, but Albert found this hard to believe. The more likely scenario, he thought, would be that people had to either buy their way into a spot or earn it by having some type of tangible skill that would be useful for a burgeoning colony on a new world.
Albert trudged out of the building, got into his car, and started the drive home. During the drive, his mind wandered to where it often did when he wasn't engrossed in his work -- his lack of a female romantic partner. If his suspicions were true and not everyone would be guaranteed a spot on the cataclysm-escape-pod, it sure would be nice to at least share his remaining days with someone. And hell, even if he did make it out, he would want to eventually find a partner with whom he could procreate.
His time in college (a whopping six years including undergrad, Master's, and PhD) unfortunately didn't yield any success in the dating department. Between his Coke-bottle glasses, freckles, and overall unimpressive figure, there simply wasn't much to be desired in the sex appeal department. And several years post-university, his lucked hadn't changed.
He absently thrummed the steering wheel as he continued to dwell on his loneliness and sexual frustration. A man has needs, and having never had those needs satisfied with a woman when he was nearing the age of 30, his overall relationship outlook seemed hopelessly bleak.
When he got home to his small one-bedroom apartment, he fixed a quick microwave dinner, plopped down on the couch, and did some light reading; on this particular night, his literature of choice was a piece dissecting the latest data regarding tectonic plate shifting from a renowned geological organization. After making it to the part of the article on the continent of Asia (in particular, the projected lifespan of the territory of India -- not that it would matter much considering the cluster of space material inbound for the planet), his eyes became heavy. So, he set his glasses on his nightstand, took a shower, and drifted off to sleep thinking about convergent, divergent, and transform plate boundaries.
Some time later, a loud noise pulled him up out of the darkness of the dream world. In his semi-conscious state, he couldn't tell what the noise was, but he felt eerily certain that he was no longer alone in his apartment. For a few seconds that felt like an eternity, he weighed the options of remaining still to continue listening versus searching the apartment. Quit being a pussy, he told himself. He put his thick glasses on, grabbed an old childhood baseball bat he kept in his closet, and crept toward the bedroom door that stood slightly ajar in his night shorts.
He tiptoed around the corner toward the front of the apartment, and as his eyes strained to see who might be lurking in the darkness ahead of him in the entryway area, an uneasy feeling came over him as he felt a presence behind him.
Before he could say anything or turn around to face what he feared might be the end of him, a hand entered his peripheral vision and smashed a rag against his face. The hand pressed him backward into a massive body as he started flailing, desperate for air. He dimly registered that the rag was soaked in chloroform as he stopped resisting and fell headlong into a sea of blackness.
After an unknown period of time, Albert awoke in a bright, steril-feeling room devoid of any objects except a sink in the corner and a cart with an array of beakers, test tubes, flasks, and other lab equipment. A large industrial freezer also sat in the far corner of the room.
After briefly surveying the room, he realized that he was bound to a plush chair with thick leather restraints on his wrists and ankles...and he was naked. He noticed that he had several electrodes stuck to various parts of his body, the wires running to a large computer display a few feet away. A small IV was also taped to the back of his hand. There were monitors on his chest, back, wrists, temples, and...under his balls -- that's what it felt like, at least. He then realized that his mouth was also bound with a thick gag wrapped around his head.
Where the hell am I? he thought as he struggled to remember what had happened. One second he was in his apartment, and the next, he was here. There was no clock in the room, so he had no way to tell how long he had been there. He racked his brain for any indication of who might want to abduct him; he lived a low-key life, and he didn't owe anyone money.
He tried to free himself from his bonds, but when he tried, he realized he had no feeling in his arms and legs and couldn't move them. Intense panic came over him as he realized that he was somewhat paralyzed. The machine next to him beeped and booped.
A projector hanging from the ceiling that he hadn't noticed whirred to life, and a video feed appeared on the far wall. In the picture stood a lone woman wearing a jet-black leather mask and lab coat. Her only visible features were deep, dark eyes, long brown hair, and bright red lips.
After a few seconds, she began to speak. "Hello, Albert. You are no doubt wondering where you are and why you are here. Although you will have no recollection of this once our work is done, I feel it is only appropriate that I answer these questions before we...begin. I also do apologize for the restraints. They are simply a necessary part of our process, as the increased cortisol levels they help elicit result in a more robust...specimen. Our staff has also been inadvertently injured before, so we're trying to prevent that.
"We have a rigorous selection process for our donors. Our organization has been following you for quite some time now to ensure that your intellectual prowess is indeed as significant as we hoped. Your high school and collegiate academic records were flawless, and your academic contributions in the aerospace and biology journals have been great. We are now confident that you possess genetics that are at the top percentile of the human race from an intellect standpoint.
"As you are well aware, our planet and all its inhabitants are in mortal danger. As we look to the stars and beyond for the next hope for our race, we must also consider...a fresh start of sorts. This is where our organization comes in. We feel it is our duty to ensure the future of our species is as intellectually bright as possible. As we venture to an entirely new planet, the only way to ensure our survival is to maximize the prowess of the gene pool."
Oh God, what are they going to do to me? Bleed me dry? Cut open my brain to study it? he thought as he fought through the grogginess and tried to process what he was hearing.
"Simply put, our mission is to selectively breed the future of the human species -- at least within our own country -- for traits that are critical to continued prosperity. We are not necessarily interested in brawn but rather brains; a genetic predisposition toward supreme intelligence better secures the future of the human species.
"Albert, you are intelligent beyond all measure. This is why we have selected you to be one of the donors for the genetic development of our lineage as a species. When the time comes to abandon this planet and embrace our destiny on another, selective breeding to ensure the brightest minds are at the forefront will be pivotal in our survival.
"Over the next several hours, you will be subject to an array of...stimulation geared toward extracting the optimal specimen needed to facilitate our efforts in this project. Some of the process will be quite enjoyable, but some might not be. But don't worry -- we are not going to hurt you. Please know that your country thanks you for your contribution."
And with that, the feed cut, and the projector shut off. Almost immediately, a door behind him slowly opened and closed. He heard footfalls that sounded like someone on high heels approaching. As they got louder, a pleasant perfume scent wafted toward him. A woman walked to his right and past him and turned to face him. This woman also wore a similar leather mask that obscured her features along with a white lab coat, and, he suspected...not much else. The top of her coat was unbuttoned, revealing her cleavage.
She spoke with a soft and calming yet robotic voice. "Hello Albert. Unfortunately I am not at liberty to disclose my name given the secrecy and...nature of this project, but I will be your Extractor tonight. I know you are unable to speak through your restraints, but you can rest assured that you will be taken care of."
She then reached above her head with both hands to tie her long hair into a ponytail. As she did so, the upper portion of her lab coat spread just slightly, revealing a beautiful, perky pair of tits. He could just slightly make out her nipples as she worked her hair into place.
Holy fuck! Albert thought -- he had never seen a pair of breasts in the flesh. In that brief moment, he felt a surge of power shoot toward his penis, realizing that was his one body part that still had feeling. He glanced down and saw his tip starting becoming slowly engorged.
How embarrassing, he thought. Here he was, completely naked, with a random woman standing before him and gazing at his exposed member.
