Lorie Penfield and Perry Crager were out for a walk on the recreation trail by the river. Lorie and Perry had been dating for about two months. His wife had died some six months ago, He had grieved but had to move on, and at the age of fifty-two there was no time to waste. Lorie and Perry walked almost every evening here or some of the other nature trails in the area. The hour or more walks was good for them, they talked and were getting to know each other. Perry was all but legally blind so He didn't drive, and walking unpaved trails was a little rough, but He enjoyed the challenge. He had two custom made walking sticks, they were made of a clear acrylic, and they were the only two of their kind. He had wrapped leather thong on each for handle grips plus molecular steel compound at the base tip for weight and to hold the rubber feet. He had been offered two hundred dollars apiece for them. He refused, they were special to Him. They were something He had and others wanted, for once He felt good about that, plus He needed them to help Him walk and He liked them.
On this day Lorie and Perry had gotten a late start, now it was almost dark and they still had about an hour's walk to the car. The trail was empty except for them; they were walking at little faster than normal. Being out here after dark was never a good idea; the local gangs worked this trail quite often looking for dummies like them. They walked into a clearing where the trees opened up over the trail. They never heard a thing, Perry came to in a room, the lights were on and there was a black woman on another table restrained like He was. He didn't see Lorie anywhere. He yelled out, the woman said, "That won't do any good, I have already tried. They just seem to let you scream."
"Where are we?" Perry asks.
"I don't know all I have seen is this room and the attendants that brought you in. They didn't have much to say." She said.
"I am Perry Crager, who are you? And why are we here? I ask.
"First, I am Areka, call me Reka, my father is black and my mother is Mexican, my full name is Areka Rosa Tanner and I have no idea why we are here, or where we are?" Areka said,
As she finished, the door slid open and a woman walked in, "Good, your both awake, makes my job easier. You are here to serve our master's; they are a race of creatures that like games. Much like our mmrpg's only they use real beings to do the fighting, don't worry if you die they bring you back to life and upgrade your bodies. First, before you go into battle you are upgraded to warrior status. You are trained to use the modified bodies given to you." The attendant said.
"What if I don't want to fight?" Perry ask.
"You have no choice, the master's control you, and you do as they order." She said you both are scheduled for your upgrade within the next hour. The attendants will come to get you when they are ready. The chambers take about forty-eight hours to complete the conversion. You will enjoy the new you. Afterwards you will be put into semi-private room, probably the two of you; you will stay together forever as partners. You will be made part of a larger team, and that team will be part of yet a larger group. Once converted, you will have a skeleton made of a metal alloy called schact. The skeleton will perform all its functions just as normal. There will be an organic computer installed and attached to your brain this will give you super-intelligence and your muscles will receive cybernetic implants that will enhance them tenfold or more. Some of the converts develop special gifts from the upgrades, such as the ability to read minds or talk to animals. These are just a few that I know about." These are rare in most converts but they do happen.
The attendant left, Perry looked at Reka, "I like the sound of the conversion; I just don't like the slave part. I am going to fight with everything given to me and at every chance I get. These masters can't be that strong, if we fight back they can't stop all of us, can they?"
"You know as much as I do. I guess we will find out soon. I too like the sounds of the upgrades; I suffer from joint pain and arthritis." Reka said
"I have bi-polar disorder among other things; my quality of life has been getting worse all the time. I am almost blind as you can see by the thickness of these glasses. I stay in fair shape by walking everyday but I am not that strong." Perry said, "But I never give up, there is always a way through. I never, never retreat unless there is no way to win at that moment, I will back off and regroup, study the situation and attack again. These illnesses have taught me a thing or two about fighting the unbeatable."
"I know what you are saying about never giving up, I have survived two rounds with cancer. If you give up, you might as well just shoot yourself." Areka said.
"I agree, now my plan through short term is to take the conversion and try to turn it against them somehow, who knows maybe I will gain a gift that will make me powerful." Perry said.
Before she could answer two female attendants came into the room, "If you will make this easy and follow us, we will take you to the conversion labs. You two, along with thirty-eight others with spend the next forty-eight hours in the chambers undergoing major upgrades to your bodies. Even if you don't want it, you will find the improvements agreeable. The dark clothed attendant said.
We were lead out the door and to the right into the corridor that ran on this side of the ship for most of its length. There is a similar corridor on the other side of the ship with connecting corridors at junctions along the way. These corridors were the same on each deck except for the connectors between them. Those connectors were different depending on the layout of the deck. We come to a spiral stairwell that had a large landing on each deck, the stairwell lead up and down. The deck number and landing location was painted on the wall inside the landing, this one said, "D-Twenty-nine," the location number was, "L-fourteen." We went down the stairwell fifteen decks, also landing "L-fourteen." We turned left out of the landing, moving down the corridor to a junction numbered "J-Thirty-six. We turned right into the connecting corridor, going about half way from what I could tell. This was obviously a large ship. The attendants lead us into a room, there were others waiting there. I counted thirty-six besides us that mean two more were coming. I looked around the group, I saw no one I knew. Most of them looked scared or pissed off. They all just stood still waiting for what was about to happen. The door opened and two attendants ushered the last two people into the room. There were attendants standing along the walls all around the room. They seemed to be in a trance, they started speaking as one, each saying the same thing.
"This is my ship, I am the transporting Master. The ship has filled its quota for this trip, now you are among the last to be converted. Once this is done, you will be trained. Your training will last till we return to my world. The attendants can't help you get away. They were just like you at one time, you will train for battle, and all new recruits are trained for battle. You will learn several forms of hand to hand combat, the use of many weapons from a simple knife to the latest tech weapons. You will bow to me when I order it; if you don't bow you will die. I see all; hear all through each of you. I use your eyes and ears to know what is going on aboard my ship. My guards do my will, if I send them after you, there is no escape. Welcome to the newest battalion of the Realm of the Torpid, put them in the chambers."
The attendants started taking people through several archways in alcoves. They forced them into the open casket-like chambers; once they had you in position the gel substance in the chamber pulled you in and held you there. The gel didn't seem to bother with the attendants, once the chamber had you in, it closed by itself, to hold you for the next two days.
Two days later, the chamber opened, the lights were hard to take at first. As Perry adjusted to the lights, He heard others complaining about the lights. Perry looked to find Reka; she was sitting up in her chamber. The gel was gone from around her, He looked down and He too was free of the gel that had disappeared. Perry; felt good, like nothing He had ever felt, in fact Perry felt nothing no pain, no discomfort. He could feel my body move, every nerve is alive. Perry, from habit pushed His glasses up, but they weren't there. Perry could see perfectly, everything was so bright and clear. He could hear what people at the other end of the room were saying like they were standing next to him. Then Perry heard it, the voice inside my head.
"Welcome to my control, I have you now." It said.
Perry shut it off, he was used to shutting off the noise in his head, and Perry stood up and stepped out of the chamber. No one else had moved Perry looked to see the attendants start toward him.
"Why are you moving?" it ask through them.
"Because I want to, is that a problem?" Perry ask.
"Yes, you are to do as I say." It said.
"And if I don't, are you going to stop me?" Perry said.
