I find myself sat in a dingy cafe at 4AM in the morning, eating a club sandwich (which was very nice, thank you) whilst a dirty, ugly waitress watches me from behind the counter. She keeps watching until I finish. In disgust, I throw down my napkin and exit out the front door, only to find my friend Cam waiting for me outside. We take a quick walk around a building site (not my usual cup of tea) until the sun comes up.
I leave Cam and enter the building next to the cafe, what appeared to be a hotel. After giving my name to the lady standing at the counter, she visibly looks surprised and tells me to sit down on a sofa in the corner. As I take my place, I realise someone is sat next to me. It's Charisma Carpenter and she is pleased to see me. We start talking about this and that, before the lady comes back and ushers me into a very large, circular room.
Standing in the room is a fat, dark-haired man, sporting a goatee, in a white lab coat. In the middle of the room is a huge circular pool, above which a holographic display is being projected (of course, all holographic projections must be green and white or they just loose that whole cutting-edge science geek appearance).
"I have something to tell you, Chris" begins the man, in a large booming voice. "You're infected with an alien parasite which is eating your body away." I remain strangely stoic (I think I would care more about this turn of events in real life). "You must get in the pool at once." I ease myself into the pool, and sit on a Jacuzzi-style ledge on the side. The projector displays what the scientist is about to do. "Don't worry, there are only two courses of treatment, and one always works. Here is number one." The projection starts to spin round and round, and starts displaying planets and such. I remain quizzical as to how this could possibly help. The projection stops spinning again. "Hmm, that didn't work," he says. I think to myself: 'I could have told you that.' "One moment please." The man leaves out the door I came in.
He returns with Charisma who rushes in, hands outstretched towards me "Chris! I just heard!" Her eyes are welling up. I can tell, as a feeling washes over my body, that she is in love with me. The scientist motions for her to enter the pool as well.
"Right, I'll fire it up again." The projection again starts whirling around, planets zooming around distant stars. Faster and faster it spins up, until eventually a large, white pulsating centre appears. "One of you will now need to enter the anomaly. Then Chris will be cured. However, no-one has actually gone in before. I'm not really sure what will happen." The scientist nonchalantly shrugs, as callous scientists do. I remain fixated on the white ball, not scared, but simply thinking 'There is no way you're making me go in that.'
Charisma slowly turns to face me, and gently places a kiss on my cheek. "I will do it," she breathlessly starts, "for you." I turn to look at her. She is obviously scared. Just as I reach out to stop her, she jumps into the white abyss.
I wake up.