On the other side of the door, it turned out, was a series of tables, each attended to by a strange figure with a mechanical head and two robotic arms. One had what looked like a buzz cutter, the other had a small rectangle At each table there were humans, male and female alike.
Each prisoner's head was being shaved. One prisoner was finished. The figure attending him raised the arm with the rectangle, and pushed it into his neck. The man screamed before he was forced to stand up.
"TAKE OFF YOUR CLOTHES!" I heard a guard yell.
This seemed especially shocking. All I was wearing was the bathrobe.
"TAKE THEM OFF"
I reluctantly untied the robe and let it fall to the ground.
"SIT DOWN" a guard yelled, motioning towards an empty seat. I approached and sat down. I quickly heard the noise of the buzz cutter and watched helplessly as my hair fell in front of me, all over the table, in a pile that only grew larger until I could feel the cutter against my skin. Then I felt a searing pain against the back of my neck. I cried out, I couldn't help it. I was forced up and moved into the next room.
Next thing I knew I was in a long tunnel and another line. I noticed one thing on the prisoner in front of me that finally answered one of my questions.
The searing pain I felt, it was a number. Each prisoner had been given a number. I later found out mine was 24601. They were taking away our dignity, and now reducing us to mere numbers. It seemed they were determined to crush our very identities.
The door at the end of the hall opened, and we were instructed to move in. It was a large empty chamber, the ceiling of which contained a bunch of nozzles. We stood in shock, not sure what would happen.
Then, suddenly, a rapid barrage of freezing cold water poured onto us. When it finished, a small hatch opened, and on it was a set of folded clothes. They were blue, and worn.
"PUT THIS ON!" A voice said over the intercom. I reluctantly picked one up, and started to change. It was a blue jump suit, about a size too big for me. The other prisoners weren't having much luck either. One of them found their clothes to be too small. Another unfortunately realized that the Combine hadn't even counted how many clothes were needed, and was only able to get a pair of pants.
The metal door opened, and a guard on the other side told us to move. We were shuffled onto a narrow platform next to a railroad. The platform itself seemed like it was designed for a much smaller group of people than the Combine had assembled.
We all stood there, dressed in our poorly fitted blue clothes, and waited. Finally, a train arrived, carrying a long line of passenger coaches behind it. It stopped at the platform. A voice came in over a loudspeaker.
"All citizens, please board the train."
We did as instructed, not sure what else to do. As I stepped on, the door shut behind me, and the train began to move.