Where Am I?

"Dude, what happened just now? Did you not take your meds or something?" Trent asked, his voice tinged with concern. Michael had been acting strange all day, and the incident at the traffic light hadn't gone unnoticed. The two walked home, chatting idly to let go of the tension from earlier.

As Michael entered his home, he spotted a note on the coffee table. "Food in the fridge, be back Saturday," he read aloud. "Looks like I'll be alone for two days," he muttered. Today was Wednesday, and his brother-in-law Njabulo was also away on a company trip until next week Tuesday.

"Let's watch a sci-fi movie today, keep my mind off things," Michael decided, changing into more comfortable clothes and taking a long shower to relax his tense muscles. "Just what is happening today?" he wondered, stepping out of the shower. Glancing at the mirror, he was startled. His eyes—they were green. "When did this happen? No, how is this possible?" he thought, blinking rapidly until his eyes returned to their normal color. "Maybe I'm just sleepy," he told himself.

Settling down to watch a movie, Michael hoped to distract himself from the day's strange events. After the movie, he reluctantly went to bed, apprehensive about the nightmares that might await him. As he lay there, he heard what sounded like people chatting. "But wait, I turned off the TV, right?" he thought. Annoyed, he opened his eyes and was met with a sight that made his jaw drop.

"W... H... W... Nooooo!" He panicked, unable to comprehend what he was seeing. He stood in the middle of a bustling alien street, clad only in his underwear. Humanoid beings of all shapes and sizes surrounded him, speaking a language that was completely alien to him. There was no sky, only buildings as far as the eye could see. "What is going on?" he wondered, overwhelmed by the surreal scene. An alien bumped into him, saying something incomprehensible. Michael's mind raced with questions—how could he get home? Where could he go? The stress became too much, and he fell unconscious.

When he came to, he felt himself moving. Slowly opening his eyes, he saw that he was being carried by shady-looking hooded figures. "Uhhhh. What... Did I pass out?" he muttered, prompting the figures to panic and drop him. Michael found himself inside a strange glass capsule. The hooded figures argued outside, but their words were muffled. "Hey... What are you doing... Get me out of here!" he screamed as one of the figures' hoods fell, revealing a lizard-like face. The figure pressed some buttons, and suddenly, Michael was teleported away.

He reappeared in a strange building filled with holograms but fell from the ceiling, hitting his head hard and falling unconscious again. When he woke up, he found himself in what looked like an advanced surgery room with holograms and robots. "Krabadapuda... Lucky today we're having a festival," said an alien with two heads. Michael could understand it now. "Esteemed one, my apologies for tampering with your body. I installed a universal language chip in your head. That's why you're in this room. Your payment is appreciated. Such prehistoric materials should fetch a great price with antique collectors. Your remaining balance is...."

The alien doctor's words confused Michael, but he understood it was best to play along. He felt a chill and saw the alien doctor holding his underwear. Flustered but silent, he heard the doctor say it was valuable. "I'm losing track here," Michael muttered. He had money now, thanks to the doctor. "How much did you say I have left?" Michael asked.

"Right, it should be 15,000 rams now," the doctor said, handing Michael a card as if presenting it to someone of high esteem. "The thing. Ask about the thing," said the doctor's other head. Michael flinched, but kept his authoritative pose.

"Speak," he commanded, enjoying the newfound respect. "But first, I want some clothes."

The doctor's two heads looked at each other, surprised they hadn't considered this. "Yes, please wait a moment," they replied. The doctor called for an android to lead Michael to a fancy lounge area. "What a long name. Maybe it's how they do things here," Michael thought as he sat on a hovering sofa.

"If there's anything else, please ask," the android said, standing by the door. The mood was awkward; Michael sat there nearly naked while the android stood guard.

"Yep, this is hella uncomfortable," he thought. Soon, the alien doctor returned with clothes made of a material Michael had never seen. "Forgive my tastes, but these were picked according to your measurements," the doctor said.

"Damn, can you at least turn around while I dress?" Michael asked. The doctor didn't understand, but turned anyway. "This feels comfortable. It sure doesn't look like it, but it's nice," he said after dressing.

"We're glad you like them. As we wanted to request if you may," the doctor began. "Shoot... I'm listening," Michael said.

"We couldn't help but notice that the esteemed one carried very rare genetic data in this quadrant. With a fair price, we wanted to purchase said genetic information," the doctor explained.

"Is that so?" Michael replied, trying to remain calm. "How will you extract this data?"

"Whichever method you prefer," the doctor said, leaving Michael more confused. "Before that, how much are we talking?"

"We're thinking five, no, fifteen million rams," the doctor replied.

"Hmmm," Michael pondered, weighing his options.

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