Matt checked his ticket to see where he would be going on his impromptu vacation. The ticket read, “Mexico City, Mexico.” He mentally shrugged; Mexico City may not have been the most popular tourist destination in the world, but hey, he was getting a free trip there, so he might as well make the most of it.
I’ll spend a week or so there before heading home, Matt thought.
Of course, what Matt didn’t realize that the man whose ticket he now held had not booked a return flight.
The plane was not crowded when he got on, so he chose a window seat situated near the middle of the plane. Looking around, he thought it was a little odd that there didn’t appear to be any Mexicans on the flight. Indeed, most if not all of the passengers seemed relatively similar to Matt: young, apathetic, and sitting alone. Over time, a few more people trickled in, but there was never a huge influx of passengers like one would usually find on a flight like this. This was fine to Matt; it meant that he didn’t have to deal with screaming children and strangers next to him.
Finally, the plane took off. Matt looked out the window, watching as the busy airport grew smaller and smaller. He didn’t realize that this was the last he would ever see of his old life.
A flight attendant came up to him, pushing a cart filled to the brim with brown bottles. “Tequila, sir? It’s on the house.”
Matt had just turned 21 a few months prior, so he was still new to the world of alcohol. He greedily reached for a bottle, saying, “Don’t mind if I do.”
The flight attendant merely smiled unnervingly at him before moving down the aisle.
Matt put the bottle up to his lips and took a hearty swig. For some reason though, the tequila didn’t taste like much of anything. Not only that, but his vision was beginning to buckle and sway. Matt didn’t even get to think of a response to situation before he was out like a light.
Soon enough, every single passenger, including Matt, was unconscious in their seats. The “tequila” had done its job beautifully. The flight attendant smiled at a job well done before uncovering and pressing a glowing red button on the wall of the plane.
Needles emerged from previously-unseen hatches in the plane, until they surrounded Matt and the other passengers. Delicately, they pierced his skin, pumping his blood full of strange chemicals. And though Matt had no way of knowing, these chemicals were specifically designed to make his body more receptive to sudden changes. It put him in a constant state of flux, ready to change to match with whatever and whoever he may encounter in the foreign city. They would stew in his body, fermenting until the end of the flight, at which point the young American would be ripe for a new life.
All of this happened without Matt being aware of it. The next thing he knew, he was being awakened from his involuntary slumber by a stretch of turbulence as the plane touched down on the runway. Thank you for flying with us, said the plane’s intercom. We hope you enjoy your new life in beautiful Mexico City! The message was repeated in Spanish.
Matt thought that that was a strange way of phrasing that, but he figured it was a translation error or something. He wouldn’t let it distract him from the experiences he would have in Mexico City! As he exited the airport, he realized how daunting of a task this would be. The city was bright, and filled with people and sounds.