You're traveling to another dimension. A dimension of not only sight and sound, but of mind. Journey into a wondrous land of imagination. Next stop: The Twilight Zone!
Sometimes, an incident is not merely a temporary slip of fate. It can linger with its victim for a time. How long that time can be, no one can say. But in that time a man is susceptible to the incredible unknown. Such is the case of this poor man–– Luther Dingle. Former vacuum salesman, former strongest man in the world, former smartest man in the world, and just about everything humanly imaginable. It has only been a matter of days since his first taste of strange happenings, yet he already has the attention of the world on him, even caught the attention of an organization of scientists. An organization of scientists that have apprehended Mr. Dingle during the night to find out what causes this man's strange impermanent abilities. The eyes of the world not only watches Mr. Dingle, however, but also the eyes of the universe–– here in the Twilight Zone.
"Urgh…" Mr. Dingle groaned, a permeating white light growing wider as he forced his eyes open. The numbness of his unconscious began to seep away, his fingertips becoming aware of a cold metal underneath. Then a throbbing ache in his head made itself present, helping Mr. Dingle open his eyes further. He winced at the pain and at the light, then realized how completely weak he felt, as though his energy had been completely sucked out of him. He tried to stretch out, but then realized that he couldn't fully move–– metal restraints had been placed on his wrists and ankles.
Then it dawned on him. This was not his house. The room he was in was blank, with only a mirror near the top of the fifteen foot tall ceiling and this table he seemed to be spread on now.
Am I… dreaming? he thought, seeing that he was only in his blue striped pajamas.But the aches in his body and the persistent throbbing in his head told him otherwise. A wave of panic swept over him as he became cognizant of this reality.
"H-hello!? Is anybody there? Would someone please tell me where I am!?"
"Ah, Mr. Dingle, you are awake" a voice called out calmly.
"W-who, who said that? Where are you?" Dingle called out. The voice didn't seem to belong to anything and it made him panic a bit more.
"Where we are isn't of any concern to you, neither who we are is of any importance. But simply put, we are people who desire to strengthen the human race by way of the scientific method" the voice said.
Dingle kept looking through the room to search for someone, something that could be producing this voice, his eyes darting from one portion of blank space to the next... The mirror! That was not just a mirror, but a way for whoever was on the other side to scrutinize the subject. But why the secrecy, and how did he end up in such a predicament?
"W-why… am I here" he asked the voice reluctantly, afraid of the answer he would get. He knew why, but… why?
"Why?" the voice laughed at the ridiculousness of such a question. "You act as if you were a child, Mr. Dingle. Asking why… what a preposterous question... But if you must be told, you possess great powers and have been under observation for the last several days since this first extraordinary happening. When the newspapers came out that an ordinary vacuum-cleaner salesman had gained the strength of three hundred men, we thought that this was too good to be true, news you would only see in tabloids. But after hearing that you had lost this power and replaced it with super-intelligence, we knew this was worth looking into to. And we were right–– you possess the uncanny capability to gain numerous powers. Of course, they are only temporary and only occur one at a time, but that is what we want to adjust when we extract whatever causes this for the good of mankind".
"Extract!?" Dingle asked in disbelief. Extract would mean large needles, strange people looming over you with instruments of every kind. "B-but, that certainly would end my life. I-I'd die! Oh…," he groaned with fear, "…how did I even end up here!?"
"A simple abduction Mr. Dingle. Only temporary if you remain intact after the procedure".
"Intact!? You make it sound as though I could be in pieces! A-and you kidnapped me!? That must explain my gnawing headache. You whacked me on the back of the head!"
"Mr. Dingle" the voice said defiantly, "we are not barbarians! We used a tranquilizer serum to subdue you".
"How did you even break into my––"
"Enough questions!" the voice interrupted harshly, a slight rasp to his tone. "Mr. Dingle, you must realize the good you are doing for humanity! Think of the lives you will improve simply by giving us what should belong to everyone. One ordinary man's life in exchange for making millions of other lives extraordinary".
Mr. Dingle froze, no longer trying to writher out of the restraints digging into his wrists and ankles, but digesting what this man had just said. "Y-you're crazy! No… n-no, I won't do it! Let- me out of this madness!" Mr. Dingle demanded, his heart pounding along with the thundering headache, sweat sliding down his aged skin as he tried to break free of the restraints, but it was in vain. He did not have any amazing power of strength, nor did he even have his usual amount of strength (which really, was not much to begin with). He was exhausted, and he felt this fate to be imminent.
"Come now Mr. Dingle, stop your squirming. The procedure needs to start immediately. Activate your power and we will begin. We need to find the aura on our monitors to gain optimum extraction time".
"Activate my…" Mr. Dingle repeated. "You think I can turn it on whenever I well please!? This thing just happens to me, I can't just will it to occur!"
"Cease your lies Mr. Dingle. We know you can. Just do it and it will be over with, or we will be forced to utilize extreme measure to make you do it".
"But I can't! Don't you understand?!" Mr. Dingle cried out, exasperated.
"Very well. We will get it one way or another". The wall on the farthest side of the room seemed to split apart, and an eerie blue glow emitted from it. Six white hazmat suits rushed in, each of them about seven feet tall with a scepter in their hand about that height, glittering with a yellow haze and blue volts of electricity on the top.
"N-NO! Please! DON'T DO this!" Mr. Dingle pleaded, but those creatures ignored his cries as they prepared their tactics of persuasion.
