The Most Average Person (2)

Waking up, she found herself in a human-sized container. It was a transparent one so she could see the things outside. If she was trapped in a container like this, she shouldn't be able to breathe. But she could, which was something super weird.

Hernia was in a panic after realizing that she was trapped. She barely had any space to move and pounded her fist against the walls of the container. After pounding for a while, she realized that it wouldn't work. No matter how much she pounded, the wall wouldn't break.

She started to calm herself down and look around. She didn't have a close look at her surroundings before because of her panic. It was then that she realized the horrible and creepy things surrounding her.

Just like her, there were other people in containers too. There seemed to be around ten thousand containers. In each container, there was a human just like her. She stared wide-eyed at the things she saw. In one container, there was a human that was as pretty as… she couldn't use any words to describe it. All she knew was that once you laid eyes on her, everything else would seem like trash. She didn't know why someone this pretty was caught in a container. It was a pity, though.

She continued looking around and saw all kinds of people stuck in containers. One looked so buff that you would believe it if he said that he could carry ten elephants! Another looked so dumb you could see the drool sliding down his mouth. But most of the other people looked normal, like her. She had no idea why anyone would want this many humans. It was creepy, though.

Are they going to dissect us? Hernia thought fearfully. She shook that thought out of her head and tried to calm her pounding heart. She sat down (luckily, there was enough space to sit down even if it was very cramped.)

There had been something on her mind. She just couldn't reach out towards it. She thought for a long time until she finally caught it. Why was she the only one awake?! When she looked at her surroundings before, no one had their eyes open. Everyone seemed like they were asleep. But here she was, awake!

There has to be a reason for me being awake, Hernia thought. She was about to shout, even though she didn't know the consequences of shouting, when she heard footsteps. This made her immediately stand up straight and pretend that she was asleep. It was a good choice because it seemed like they were inspecting the containers. She didn't open her eyes until she heard the footsteps walking farther and farther away.

Slowly as she opened her eyes, she met face to face with someone.

"AHHHHHHH!" Hernia screamed.

She jumped up in shock, hit her head, and winced in pain.

She was terribly scared. Even though a transparent wall was separating them, she thought that the person who was inspecting the containers was gone. She didn't know he/she was still here.

Yes, she couldn't tell who the person was. He/she was wrapped in a purple cloak from head to toe. The only thing you could see was the eyes.

As Hernia stared at the person in front of her with shock and fear, the person said something horrible.

"She's awake. Let's do this one next," the person said in a deep voice.

Hernia didn't know who he/she was talking to when three people, dressed in the same clothes, came out of nowhere. They easily pushed the container and maneuvered between the other containers. Hernia couldn't do anything about this and could only stare at them pushing the container she was in with fear. She didn't know what they wanted with her!

As they walked out the door of this massive room, she found herself in a doctor-like room. There was an examination table in the middle of the room, and she had the feeling they were going to dissect her. Why else would they bring her here?!

The container she was in suddenly stopped moving, and it disappeared into nowhere. She was now standing in a room with four creepy people surrounding her. Without saying a word, they dragged her and put her on the examination table.

"What's happening!? Why are you doing this to me?!" Hernia shouted while she struggled with the people dragging her.

Tears were starting to run down her eyes. She was going to die! But contrary to her expectations, the four people did stop. She didn't know why, but at least she wasn't placed on the examination table yet.

"Please calm down. What we're doing won't hurt you," one of the people said to her.

Hernia was sitting on the ground, tears still in her eyes. She didn't believe the words they said one bit.

"If you won't hurt me, tell me what you're going to do to me then," Hernia said back.

She couldn't fight with them and win, so she had to distract them and try to escape. She knew that with all their futuristic technology, there was a high chance of failing. But fighting is better than submitting and dying, Hernia thought.

She saw them stare at each other and finally, somehow, come to a consensus.

"I'll tell you the basics of what we're doing. You will know that it won't hurt you then," the person said calmly.

Hernia was surprised. Why are they answering my question? Could they really not want to harm me, she thought.

"What we're doing is something you humans would never be able to do with your technology. Maybe in ten thousand years, but not now," the person started saying.

Hernia felt that the way they said the sentence made them sound like they were not humans. Wait, they're probably not humans! She thought.

That means there is alien life out there! She got out of her thoughts and started listening to what the person was saying. She had to find the perfect time to escape.

"We're extracting the personalities of each extreme. You might not understand, but let me explain it to you. We're basically trying to find the opposite of everything. Someone who is the smartest and someone who is the dumbest. Someone who is the prettiest and someone who is the ugliest. Even little things like someone who can press a button the fastest and the slowest. When combining each extreme, they make the perfect middle.

For example, if you take the ugliest person and the prettiest person and combine them, it would create someone in the middle between pretty and ugly. When combining each extreme, they make the perfect middle, and when combining each perfect middle, they create the most average person in life!" the person said, almost shouting the last part.

It seemed like he/she… wait, got it wrong. It seemed like the alien really wanted to create a person like that, Hernia thought.

"So in all, our goal is to create the most average person in life. Your personality that we want is that you hate money. An extreme that we need. When we combine that personality with someone who loves money, it will create someone who has a normal desire for money. That's all we need to tell you. We won't tell you why we're doing this, though. It would be an absolute waste. After we extract that personality that we need, we'll erase your memory of what happened, and you'll live a normal life again, of course without your hatred of money," the alien continued on saying calmly.

Even if the alien said all of this, Hernia felt that she didn't want her personality extracted. They could find another person and not me, she thought.

She was about to try to escape when she felt the alien's eye piercing through her.

"Don't try to escape. All you need to do is obediently lie on that bed, and everything will be fine," the alien said with a calm voice. If you listen closely, you could hear a little bit of a threat in it, though.

After the alien said this, Hernia stopped thinking about escaping because it wouldn't work if they knew she would try to escape. Anyways, getting your personality extracted doesn't kill you.

She obediently lay on the bed, and before she could even say anything, she fainted.

. . . . . . . . .

Waking up, Hernia had a headache. She was lying on the bed in the nurse's room.

Where am I, and how did I get here? She thought. Her last memory was that she went to the handball court and….. Everything was blank. She couldn't remember anything else. She was about to search her memories again when she heard the person beside her, which she now noticed, speak.

"You're fine, Hernia! I was worried about you. After you got hit by a handball on the head, you just fainted. We had to take you to the nurse, and now you're finally awake," her friend with a happy face.

Hernia, who lost her memories of what happened, just accepted that she got hit by a ball and returned to living a regular life. She didn't have this hatred towards money now, though, which was something that she felt relieved for. Hating money meant that she couldn't live a very comfortable life. Now she finally could.

It was a month after this accident that a piece of news erupted everywhere. It was sightings of a mysterious person wrapped in a purple cloak holding an elephant-sized yellow stone. No one knew if the story was real or fake, but if it was real, everyone believed that the stone was gold.

Hernia, who read the piece of news, felt that she forgot something. She searched her brain, but couldn't find anything. She gave up and threw the news of the mysterious person out of her mind. All she knew was that she didn't believe that the stone was gold. It was way too bright for that.