Leniency

I rouse with a start, gripped all at once by panic, fear, and confusion. When did I fall asleep? I look around, but a thick, impenetrable fog surrounds me. Where am I? How did I get here? What's happening? Who…who am I?

"Awake now, my pet?"

My body tenses the instant the sinuous voice enters my ears. I whip my head around in search of its owner, but I can see nothing in the fog. Terrified, I draw my knees to my chest and wrap my arms around them in a feeble attempt to make myself smaller, less noticeable. I want to slip away. I want to disappear.

"You cannot hide from me pet. Not in this space. There is nowhere you can go that I will not find you."

I know this to be true, and that knowledge fills me with despair.

"What is it you want from me?"

"Right now all I require is your ear. I thought I might tell you a story."

"A story?"

"Yes, there is much you need to know, much you have yet to understand. Your mind is plagued by questions, and I hold all of the answers. Are you ready to learn the truth?"

The truth. I don't even know what that is anymore. Am I to place my trust in this stranger? This disembodied voice that instills nothing but fear and doubt and shame? Do I even have a choice? A low, shallow sigh escapes my lips as I lower my aching head to my knees.

"That's it pet. Lay your head down and listen to my tale."

A light touch brushes over my hair, and I cower, certain that pain will follow…but it doesn't. The touch comes again, gentler than before, and smooths the sweat-slicked hair from my brow. The sensation is almost like fingers, soothing and hypnotic…

"I am not originally from your planet. I will not bore you with the details of my origins; all you need know is that I came to Earth long ago, travelling a great distance to get here, because I could sense your planet's vast potential. I was not the only one. Other parties had taken an interest in the blue planet too, but they did not wish to see it thrive as I did. Instead they conspired to keep it isolated, curtail its growth, and stymie its progress. Why? Because they feared it.

"They knew how powerful Earth might one day become, and possessing great power of their own, they saw not a prospective ally, but a potential rival. This has always been the way of the world; those with power never wish to share it. After all, keeping those around you small and dependent is the best way to maintain dominion over them.

"Unable to stay silent in the face of such injustice, I set out to rally the people of Earth. Ignorant of their own plight, they were understandably outraged to learn of their oppression, but armed with knowledge and united in a common goal, they rose up to demand their due. In awe of their courage and determination, I truly thought nothing could stop them…but I was wrong."

Lulled into a state of blissful repose by the phantom fingers in my hair, it takes me a while to realize that the story has stopped. Curious to know its ending, I blink to clear my bleary eyes and look up into the fog in search of my mysterious narrator.

"What happened?"

The fingers seize my hair and jerk my head back in one savage pull, aligning my gaze with a pair of glowing red eyes.

"You happened."

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