Working title: Assaulted by the light

I'm creating this solely as a discovery story. I have no plan for it, no idea who the characters in it are or what they are trying to accomplish. I just thought I'd write out some things and see where they grew.

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There was a click and abruptly the light assaulted him. The aggressive advance quickly overcame the meager defenses provided by his closed eyelids. Dazed, he opened his eyes. The light was so bright all he could see through his squinted eyes was light. A wave of disorienting dizziness rolled over him and he couldn't tell if he was spinning. He squeezed his eyes shut, but it barely helped. His head rolled and vomit exploded from his mouth. The lights went out

Sore and aching, exhausted the man tried to raise his hand to his mouth but he couldn’t move it. He didn’t think it wasn’t tied or restrained, he just could no longer make his limbs respond to his commands. He opened his eyes again, after blinking out the spots in his vision his eyes adjusted to the dim light that filled the room.

He looked down at his arms. They sat limply in lap. He couldn’t move either one, not even twitch a finger. This scared him more than the thought of being tied up. His mind panicked, his eyes darting across the room, taking in everything, but seeing nothing. He began panting hoarsely and the nausea and dizziness returned. He threw up again and everything went dark.

After some time he came to. He couldn’t tell if it had been seconds or hours. His face felt crusty and his throat burned with an acidic rawness.

The same dim light filled the room. He looked around, trying to figure out where he was but in this light he couldn’t make out details from more than a few feet away. He saw what looked like canisters and tubes lining the wall to his right, maybe 6 meters away his mind automatically estimated. Steam rose to his left, obscuring even more detail. It looked as if the room he was in extended out to his left, large rectangular shapes drifted in and out of hazy view as the steam rose, perhaps shipping containers, or large crates, he thought to himself.

Directly in front of him, slightly overhead, was large square with a small orange glowing circle at the center. He could still feel heat radiating from it. He knew it must be the light that had ruined his day earlier by awakening him to this nightmare. Further down there appeared to be a door shrouded in darkness. He had no idea if it were open or closed.

Sensing no immediate threat he turned to inspect himself. Through trial and error he learned that he could move his head and neck, but beyond that had no control over his body. It occurred to him however that although he couldn’t control his body, he still had feeling. He could feel the cool wetness in his lap and chest where his vomit and worse had pooled. With his hands he could feel the coarse material of what looked like a service technician’s coverall uniform.

His head pounded and even the dim light caused sensitivity. His body felt battered but he couldn’t see or feel any significant damage to his body. He just couldn’t move.

A clicking on the floor caught his attention and he looked up. Walking towards him, looking almost like a gray specter was a man. Each step echoed in the chamber as he came nearer, his features slowly resolved themselves in the dim light. Just as his face was about to come clear he raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

The light powered on again with an audible hum of electricity. Bright light flooded out overtaking the man on chair. He closed his eyes and twisted his head to shield himself from the light. He was better able to withstand the light this time, squeezing his eyes shut and his head twisted down and away.

“Who are you, what do you want with me?” he asked through clenched jaw.

“Funny, I could ask the same of you,”  the smooth and measured reply.