In 500... (or less)

The Guessing Game

The first thing Bill felt when he regained consciousness was the cool metal table he was laying on.

"What happened?" he thought to himself. The last thing he remembered was whizzing down the highway, Nevada Route 34 to be exact, in the middle of the night. 

The light in the room was overpowering and blaring white, and seemed to be coming from everywhere. 

"Am I in the hospital?" His mind was racing. Surely not, there were no hospitals within a hundred miles. Unless he'd been out for days, Bill reasoned.

He sensed a presence nearby as he became more aware of his surroundings, but the person was taking no interest in Bill.

"Hello?" he said "Where am I?"

"He's awake." Bill wasn't sure why the person was whispering or who the person was talking to.

"I want out of here," Bill implored. "Where ever here is."

The figure ignored him.

"I want out!" He tried to sit up. Bill hadn't felt the restraints until then.

"Not possible," the figure curtly replied.

"Why not? I feel fine." Bill was a little groggy, but felt fine otherwise.

"You simply cannot leave." The figure seemed annoyed or distracted. "I told them to make the dose bigger based on your body weight."

"I need to go."

"You're supposed to be under the whole time. Now it's too late to get another. I can't give you another dose, either. It might kill you."

Bill tried to twist to get a view of the figure, but only got a sense of a silhouette. The figure was tall and lanky and sounded like an old person. He wasn't sure whether it was a man or woman. And he certainly was confused about what the figure was talking about.

"The whole time? I don't understand."

"Of course you don't. You're not supposed to understand. You're not supposed to be awake. You're just supposed to lie there. That's how the show goes."

"Show?" Bill was now completely befuddled. "Like a TV show?"

"Something like that. We need you. Can't do it without you." Bill could hear the figure walk away quickly after the last statement. He tried to make sense of it all. 

Whatever they gave him, it was powerful stuff. He had only just now realized he was laying face down, which might explain why it was so hard to figure out the room he was in.

There were voices coming from outside the room, he couldn't hear the whole conversation.

"Awake?" said the one. "The show's live, we gotta run with it."

"Ok," the other said before hurrying off.

In front of him, the walls began to part. He was on a stage, in front of odd-looking creatures.

"That's right!" boomed an announcer off stage. "It's time for another edition of..." He paused to give the audience a chance to respond.

"Guess What the Alien Ate Last Night!" the crowd screamed in delight.

"Let's meet our first contestant..."

Bill could hear the probe being wheeled in behind him. He wondered if he could just tell them what he ate last night.