Invasion

Yep.  I'm a little late getting this linked up.  But, I was gone all weekend and am doing a final project for one of my classes.  So, I think I deserve a smidgen of slack.  Here's my response to this week's Don't Panic Picture Prompt.

“Do you really want to see what this is all about?”

“Yes.”

He led her down a narrow hallway.  Fluorescent lights flickered every ten feet, leaving patches of darkness that hinted at their inkiness.  She felt like water should be dripping down the walls and mildew accenting the air.  Instead it was an astringent that assaulted her nose.

He stopped at a smooth steel door.  He punched in a complicated code on the keypad to the right.  With a hiss straight out of a horror movie, the door swung open.  She blinked at the two feet of steel moving silent and smooth.  She followed him in unsure what was worse – the hall or what the room might contain beyond that door.

Inside, there were tall clear cylinders as far as she could see.  Drawn to them by a twisting in her gut, she approached the nearest one.  A light flicked on inside the tube when she stopped in front of it.  Inside were undulating globular masses drifting up and down.

“This is what’s destroying the surface?” her hand drifted toward the Plexiglas of its own volition.

“Yes.  These things are what control the Mechas.  The ones you’re looking at are young.  They aren’t as dangerous.  The older ones are in back.”

“Where did they come from?”

“Dr. Brasman thinks they’ve been here for years, living amongst the jellyfish in the ocean.”

When her hand touched the Plexiglas, something shifted.  Bright colors flashed across her vision and a loud rushing wind clouded her hearing.  When it all cleared, she was surprised to find herself lying on the floor, his panicked face staring down at her.

“Are you all right?  What happened?”

“I’m fine.  I just got dizzy, I guess.”

“It’s time to get you out of here.  You need to rest.”

She followed him to the door.  She felt fine.  But something was different.