BASE SPACE ACE 427,024 AD, DECEMBER 10, 2024
LIFE, NON-LIFE, SPACE, AND NON-SPACE 3
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3
Tall buildings in the Garden of Eden. I was walking there after I visited the android brothel, planning to meet the other Arthur Marx or fake myself into taking his pilot job.
(I could have opened with what happened in the android brothel, but believe me, it wasn’t that exciting.)
So there I was without a job or prospects, grasping at the first job opportunity that realistically would end in a quick disaster. Been there, done that.
(Actually, I skipped the many hours I spent in public transportation after visiting the brothel. I'm just saying this in case you’re wondering.)
Two suits confronted me. I am myself of average size body-wise. Some of my body parts are bigger than average, others smaller. Obviously, my idea of average might be different from yours, but these two guys were twice as large as me in all the ways that were observable. But their suits were average-sized which you had to be there to believe.
Everyone else in the vicinity believed it and looked the other way. People are cowards.
“Come with us,” the giant on the left said.
(It could have been the right. I don’t recall that clearly.)
I said nothing but stopped walking because I couldn’t continue. The two were probably bad at running. On my home planet during the Procedure, I managed once to be not last in a marathon of sorts with a random group of my peers, so I was preparing to run.
Giant number two produced some sort of a gun.
(If I was a real action hero, I could tell you what it was. I merely recognized the object as a gun. I bet the other Arthur Marx would know.)
I held my hands up as I saw countless good guys do in the holographic movies and series.
“No need for that,” I squeaked.
(I tend to squeak when I don’t know what to do.)
“Come with us,” the first giant repeated.
At this point, I started thinking about sandwiches. I don’t know why. It’s not something that I do often.
The second giant shot me in the left foot. It’s impossible for me to describe how painful that was. If you have ever been shot in the foot, I sympathize. To say that it really hurt is not saying enough. Try to imagine something painful you have experienced and multiply it by a thousand.
I was screaming of course but no bystander even looked my way. It became awfully quiet in a hurry around me.
Giant One picked me up and carried me as if I was a doll. I would have laughed if I wasn’t dealing with the pain.
The giant must have punched me because I lost consciousness. Things got more interesting after that.
(Roll credits. I wanted to end with a love scene, however, the giants were not like that.)