There was one silver lining, there were no bumps in the road on the way to the Corridor. We were flying. I could see the flat lands to the right and left below and the tops of the mountains were now eye level. In my stupor I remember enjoying the scenery for a brief moment. Running the logistics in my mind I gathered that I was either dead or in a coma because I had no recollection or memory of the events that led to this moment. Little did I know I had accidentally teleported through a wormhole on my expeditious road trip. The aircraft I was being transported in was no bigger than a car, there were no copter blades, no wings, only a silent thrust I could hear from an engine of some sort behind me. How could this be possible I thought. Am I in the future? That doesn’t make any sense. Being transported to the future just wouldn’t have made sense considering some of Einstein’s relativity principles, it wouldn’t be possible without obtaining light speed and that probably would make me disintegrate…unless. No, I thought…I’m probably dead. Although this was the best possible deduction of the situation at hand, it still did not make any sense, I looked back into my life and wondered what got me wound up here. Looking out the etched out window of the aircraft I could see we were moving pretty fast. Interesting this fast and not much sound, advanced technology. Could this be the future?
A massive tower could be seen in the distance attached to a compound like structure surrounded by desert. The walls were thick and looked impenetrable, like a mix of advanced technology and a slight addition of Baroque. Won’t be able to break through I thought. The seed of a strategy started to form within my mind, technology must be advanced here. I would have to figure out how this place was controlled and monitored…A sense of doom was burrowing within me. I was able to stifle it…focus. In the front of the aircraft, I looked…no drivers. This small aircraft was some sort of super speed hovercraft and autopiloted. I was its package…but for what purpose and for who? “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”…the saying kept pulsating in my mind. Shut up I thought…that’s obvious. Focus.
We got to the compound swiftly and landed on some kind of parapet at the very top of the tower. This tower was monstrous and seemed to span atleast 100 stories into the sky. The architecture was immense and I figured they used it as a way to intimidate any prisoner on arrival. The psychology worked. I tried to ignore it, but I was terrified. A compound in the middle of the desert? This was obviously some maximum security prison or military base of some sort. If it was a prison, I could see the motive, separate the criminals from society efficiently, and even if anyone were to escape, it wouldn’t matter because they’d never make it that far. That is not good news I thought. No reason to escape… But maybe I could use one of these hovercrafts, control it, and get out of here. Artificial Intelligence. The future is here.
At the top of the compound, a large structure in the very middle could be seen, and a hatch slowly opened leading to a dark corridor. There was no one around and nowhere to go. 100 stories high, flat walls on the sides. Whoever made this place, used architecture to their benefit, and left no options. I walked towards the corridor, heart beating, and cautious. This is the future I thought, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”
To be continued…
Featured Image Credit: Kris Turvey https://www.artstation.com/
