Encounters Out There

Inside a building the size of a giant aircraft hangar ...

Hundreds of men and women wore fully enclosed haptic feedback suits, with face masks attached to ventilators and feeding tubes inserted into their stomachs. They free-floated in the air, held up by tension cables, for complete mobility. Frequently, either of them would tremble, convulse, or utter a muffled scream or cry.

"Is all this suffering necessary, Jared?" Asked Alicia Jennings, a senior psychologist for prison A532F.

"I'm afraid so, ma'am, for their own sake. They cannot become desensitized. One dies only once in real life. Every respawn must be exponentially more excruciating than the previous one, so they'll try to avoid dying. They must train this way non-stop for a year for a seamless transition."

Alicia looked over a holographic map with numerous defense towers, guarding every possible section, and watched as the prisoners operated them and spawned along pathways. "Jared, this looks a lot like a VR game my younger brother used to play."

"Yes, ma'am, from our perspective, it's modeled after a tower defense game. But, please be assured what they're experiencing is an exact replica of a soon to be restored space colony with newly built fortifications and defense towers."

"If we could only make peace ..." Alicia sighed. "Oh, and Jared, please call me Alicia."

"We've tried communicating with them, and that failed... ma'am, I mean Alicia. We can't keep sending envoys that'll get slaughtered. This is the best way ..."

"Perhaps we're just not communicating with them correctly." Alicia folded her arms.

"Pardon my extreme bias, Alicia—You're thinking naively. The Tinganans are ruthless, relentless, hideous monsters. With their teleportation technology, they can pop up anywhere. They've enjoyed killing our people for much too long. They'll never stop."

"So much passion, Jared. Are you okay? Don't forget, they probably see us as the invaders. In some respect, they might be right. We don't know if they’ve already claimed the territory."

"I know all that." Jared frowned. "I was born there ..."

"Oh, Jared, I'm sorry. I didn't realize ..."

"It's alright. After the Great Massacre, I've learned to accept that my parents are dead now, but my sisters ... well, I saw those monsters abduct them."

"Do you believe they're still alive, Jared?"

"I think so, or at least I hope so. Only one person ever escaped. She said the monsters will capture certain males or females for exhibits in their zoos, or collect them as trophies for their perverse pleasures."

"Oh my." Alicia gasped.

"Yes, this is why I designed this project." Jared pointed all over. "The Space Force hired me for my engineering expertise and, well, as you now know, my personal experience."

"But what about all these prisoners, Jared? Are you okay with administering to them this extreme form of conditioning?"

"Oh, yes, of course. What we're doing is totally ethical. The inmates volunteered for this instead of serving life imprisonment or facing death. Each one's training for a critical role. They'll get pardoned within the next decade—a chance for a new life."

"You know, this war could go on forever." Alicia shook her head. "We may never defeat the Tinganans. We don't even know where they come from ..."

"You're exactly right about that, Alicia ... But I'm not really concerned."

"Oh, why is that?" She raised an eyebrow.

"It's in our human nature." Jared shrugged. "There will always be more crime."