Plates For Hands

"James, please step up to the desk." James made his way through the crowd and got up to the desk where two scientist looking men sat in white lab coats. They glared at him through their big square, black glasses. He was in a white room with no doors.

"What is this place?" James asked frantically. He didn't remember how he'd gotten here.

"This is the Consequences of Dilemmas or C.O.D if you like." one of the men answered. "What do you mean? James asked. His eyes were wild and he looked at the crowd of people surrounding him. "And why aren't they moving?" he added. "They haven't been awaken by their slumber. We're doing some reconstruction in the waiting rooms, so for now we have to put everybody in one room until the carpenters get their shit together." one of the men explained. "Language." the other cautioned. "Sorry, until the carpenters finish their work." he redefined. "And we can't have people freaking out during The Process." the other man explained.

"What process?" James asked. "Enough." the other one said and cleared his throat. He took out a paper from a drawer and continued in a very official voice: "Can you confirm that you are in fact James Theodor Johnson?" "I am. Please, tell me how I got here. You're freaking me out." The other scientist shushed James and gave him a grave look. "James, can you confirm that you during a fraternity party on Albany Street 1142 in 2009 chose Plates for Hands over Wheels for Feet?" the scientist continued. "Ehm, I honestly can't remember." James said and scratched his head. "You were playing this game with Sarah Wilson and she laughed at your jokes all night." "Oh yeah! Yes, I chose plates for hands that night." James giggled at the memory of the good night. "Great." the scientist said and ticked a box on the paper. The other scientist took the paper and continued. "James, can you confirm that you during BBQ night with your family just before your dad painted the porch blue and it made your mum furious in the year of 2011 chose to be Deaf rather than Blind?" "Yeah, yeah I've always chosen this. Hold on, is this some kind of freaky survey?" James asked while the scientist ticked another box. "Sure." the other scientist answered with a smirk on his face. The other scientist continued. Had James chosen Gummy Bears for Teeth over Testicles for Earlopes? Yes, he had. Had James chosen Smelly Feet over Bad Breath? Yes, he had.

"Thank you for your cooperation, James. Now, hold on for a minute, James. This might hurt." the scientist said and leaned back in his seat. "What do you, ARGH! WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING?! WHAT IS HAPPENING!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME!?" An indescribable pain emerged in James' hands. It was burning and stinging sensation while at the same time it felt as if his fingers were being cut open. "James, you chose this." one of the scientists said calmly. James fell to his knees and continued screaming in pain as he saw his hands slowly turn into white dinner plates. Tears were streaming down his face and he looked up at the scientists who were leaning over the desk to watch The Process. "Why... why would you do this?" James asked petrified as the pain subsided. "We're not done." one of the scientists said calmly. "What do you mean we're not done?!" James screamed at them. "WHY IS THI-" James stopped. Everything had gone completely silent. He saw the scientist talk to each other and smile. He couldn't just couldn't hear them. He'd lost his hearing. Just as he'd chosen. He was about to attack when a his teeth suddenly started falling out. First one by one and then all at once and he had to spit them out. He felt an excruciating stinging pain in his gums as gummy bears started growing out of them and he once again fell to the ground. As he lay there crying a gut-wrenching smell came up from his feet. The smell was so strong it made him puke right there and then. When he had nothing more left in him, he laid down on his back, tears streaming down his face. Two men dressed in mint green lab coats picked him up on a stretcher and started carrying him out of the room as a door emerged behind the scientists at the desk. James closed his eyes and let the hopelessness and despair roll over him and gave into a deep, deep darkness.