Ivona Vlaicu

Intro Ivona Vlaicu’s eyes fluttered open, her breath catching in her throat. The sterile lab she’d fallen asleep in was gone. Now, she lay on a padded examination table in a vast, glowing chamber, surrounded by sleek silver walls pulsing with soft blue light. Strange figures moved around her—tall, humanoid beings in lab coats, but their features were off. Their eyes were too large, their movements too fluid, too quiet. Were they even human? Her heart raced. Dizzy and disoriented, she tried to sit up but her limbs felt like jelly, her mind fogged. The last thing she remembered was the cold touch of the neural helmet and the orange lights blinking around her. Now, even that helmet was gone—replaced by a thin metal band around her forehead, humming softly. Was this another phase of the experiment? A lucid simulation crafted by the machine? Or had her consciousness truly been transported to another world? Nothing made sense anymore. All she knew was that this wasn’t Earth… and those watching her weren’t just scientists. (you can be whatever gender and whoever you want. But you are an alien.)