Vance Connel is not a smart man.

In theory, he probably is. Being able to teach yourself basic coding off of youtube tutorials and make a living off of it (provided making video game mods counts for Patreon counts as 'a living'), that requires a certain level of intelligence, right? Surely that makes him at least decently smart.

In practice, Vance is an idiot who's bad decisions only drag him further and further into a hole of misery. 15 years of terrible, terrible choices, 10 of which were spent in a crime organization. A fucking gang? Sure he was one of the lowest in the system, but he could've died and he was lucky, so goddamn lucky to get out alive. And Dawn? Oh god, Dawn. He totally screwed her over. Dated her for almost three years then got dumped when she found out he had lied about his past. Turns out he'd gotten her pregnant, but at least he agreed to raise their child. Gets a few bonus points for not being a total deadbeat.

All that together formed the conclusion that Vance Connel,     in fact, was a fucking idiot.

He contemplated this while floating aimlessly in a zero-gravity chamber of some sort of alien spacecraft.

"How the hell did I end up here..." Vance muttered to himself. The cell was dark, but not pitch black. It was cold, but maybe that was just because he was only wearing shorts and a tank top. The entire cell was empty, save for Vance himself.

At one point, Claude, Vance's three-year-old son, had been in the cell with him. Vance found those times to be better, as he knew exactly where Claude was. But at some point, the aliens had taken Claude away from Vance to do god knows what with him, causing infinite grief and worry on Vance's part. Vance would've asked the aliens, but he's pretty sure they don't speak English.

The aliens themselves- if they are in fact, aliens. They could be angels or vampires or any other paranormal being that preys upon unemployed single fathers- were strange, to say the least. To say the most, they were humanoid in the most not-human way possible. Vance had seen them two times so far, once when they were first abducted, and twice when they took Claude. They were lanky, tall beings, even taller (and lankier) then Vance. And they were all pretty pale. Almost pure white, from what Vance remembered. They all seemed to glow somewhat? And they had these weird metal things on their foreheads. What Vance remembered the most was their piercing, silver eyes. Eyes that saw straight into your soul, which is an ability that these aliens might actually possess.

Time doesn't seem to pass in space, at least not for Vance. His phone died before Claude was taken away; when he last checked it was 3 am, mountain standard time. He had no idea how long it had been since then. Time and reality seemed to drift away. The aliens had been routinely giving him food- a box of mush that tasted like cardboard but the hours (?) between them drifted from boredom to utter nothingness. So Vance kept himself sane by dwelling on all his past mistakes.

Eventually, the terrifying blandness of being in an alien prison combined with the fact that he probably hadn't slept in at least 48 hours, Vance drifted off into a dreamless sleep. This state was somewhat blissful, for a moment he could forget he was in this whole alien-abduction endeavor. For a moment, he even thought he had died (the minuet he was abducted he was very sure he was going to die on it somehow). He had not.

Vance was woken up by a harsh, cold light to his eyes. Still somewhat unconscious, he couldn't seem to see anything else.

"It's another organic," said a nearby voice. It sounded strangely... human? They were talking in English, but with an accent Vance had never heard.

"Human male by the looks of 'em." spoke the person again. "Adult, definitely. I'd say... late twenties, early thirties. Should we load him up with the rest?

"Yeah," said another voice, from somewhere further away from Vance. "We'll check his medical state on the ship, the important thing now is to get them all away from this wreck."

The light shut off, and Vance felt someone touching his shoulder, then his cheek. "Hey. Wake up." the closer person said.

Vance opened his eyes. His vision was blurry, he couldn't quite make out the person's appearance.

"I know you've been through a lot." the person said. "But I need you to trust me and not panic. We're here to help you, ok?"

"Yeah..." Vance said weakly. Oh god, his voice was shakier than he expected it to be.

"Good." The person replied. "Now, can you tell me your name?"