A tear fell from Brian's eye as he saw the light come on. Everything went quiet for a moment before the herd of humans started wailing out in fear. They knew what was coming. Brian watched helplessly as they were rounded up and pushed out of their cages and into lines.

"You can't do this to us! It's wrong!" Brian screamed from his cage. It wasn't yet his time, but he knew what the light meant for the others. He tried to look the alien species in the eye. He still didn't know who they were, where they came from, what they were called. All he knew was one day, they had enslaved humanity. One day they had put them in cages where they could barely move. And that one day they would make the walk... one day the light would be for them.

"Why are you doing this?" Brian screamed again. The anger pulsating from his voice, so coarse from his shouts and his demands and his cries. From his tears. There was a glance from one of the aliens and almost a smirk back. They hit the cage a few times to shut him up. So Brian screamed again.

Zzzzzaaaaapp

It wasn't the first time Brian had been prodded, like cattle. Brian had even worked on a farm before, but that was a long time ago. Brian convulsed and when he finally went limp and quiet, the aliens stopped poking him. It wasn't clear what language the aliens spoke. It wasn't clear how much they knew of humanity. It seemed to Brian, though, that they could communicate telepathically. They didn't look so different, but it was certain they were smarter, faster, stronger than humans. They spoke in several languages, and sometimes none at all. They coordinated almost like a hive, with a singular goal, but also at times with such incredible individuality.

It had all happened so suddenly.

Brian didn't remember much before the cages. The sight, the smell, the horrors of seeing the aliens enslave humanity had wiped out most of what came before. The smell of the metal, of the excrement, of the blood and shit that filled the air. And every so often the screams of another batch of humans filled it too. They were prodded and coaxed and forced through the door. They all had to make the walk in the end.

As far as the eye could see, everything now was cages. Human after human curled up, cramped, stuffed into the cages. The bars were close enough together that you couldn't get out. Others had tried, and dislocated their arms or their legs trying to squeeze their bodies through. It seems the cages were specifically designed for their size and shape. Screaming in agony on the floor, everyone else had to watch as the aliens came through to inspect. And that only meant one thing for the person who had tried to escape... the hammers were brought down on their heads until their lifeless bodies were dragged out.

The bars were also far enough apart that you could see everything around you. You could see everyone around you. Their pain was so close it almost felt like your pain. And at the end of the rows and rows of cages stacked upon each other were the doors. No-one was told what happened beyond them, but everyone knew. They heard the screams, the shouts, and worst of all eventually they heard the silence. It was deafening.

One time Brian saw a glimpse through the doors. He had seen bodies, so many bodies, limp and lifeless, thrown into giant dumpsters. Further down he saw metal contraptions that shredded more and more of the people. But it made no sense. Why would they do this?

"Why are you doing this to us? Why won't you stop this?" Brian pleaded. "What can we do?" But again the aliens didn't say anything and Brian once again collapsed, exhausted, to sleep for the night.

That evening a familiar stench of flesh filled the air. Brian's batch were herded into the empty cages left by the previous group. They could still smell the previous occupants in those cages, they could still hear them in their thoughts. And their dreams were filled with the faces of those who came before them.

...

The next day Brian woke up to a bright light. It was warm on his face, almost comforting. He suddenly remembered things that had happened before the cages. He remembered being with his family, his parents, running around and playing somewhere. He couldn't quite make out where it was, but he felt happy. He felt safe. The warm light reminded him of home. And then his stomach dropped to the worst feeling he had ever felt in his life.

His eyes slowly opened and the truth smacked him in the face and he froze in terror. The light was shining on him. It was shining on him and his batch.

Some others in the nearby cages began to scream. Some of them shouted in terror. Others tried to plead with the aliens, but they never responded. While others seemed to accept their fate. Each individual was quickly prodded out of their cage onto a conveyor belt of sorts. It was elaborate, a maze of wires and belts, but it all led through the same doors at the end of the hall. They were so cramped Brian was pushed up against other bodies, other humans he had to remind himself, on all sides. They were humans after all, Brian thought. They were brought to their lowest form, their base instincts. ""Is this what they wanted?" Brian thought. "To show us who we are at our base?" Brian had asked himself so often what the aliens could want. But it never seemed to make a difference. And the cold, harsh reality began to settle in.

Brian felt nauseous. He trudged silently along with the rest as the belt sped up their walk, hastening their march to the inevitable.

Zzzzaaaaapppp

A sharp pain filled Brian's body from the side, an alien had prodded him and was shouting at him to hurry up. What exactly was said he didn't know but it was clear what was meant. "Hurry up to your doom, hurry up to your death". They had no compassion, these aliens. They had no empathy. They treated us like animals just because we aren't at their level. "Don't they know we're alive?" Brian thought. "Don't they know we can feel, we can think, we can experience this?". Those thoughts had swirled through his head for what felt like years, but was in reality just weeks.

Brian watched as the line along the belt started to become less and less crowded and more and more orderly. He stood in horror as giant hooks claimed each person on the belt. They dug into the back and neck and hoisted each person off the ground. They swung round to a line where in the distance, yes, not so far in the distance Brian saw what was happening. It felt like a lifetime but it also went by so fast and Brian rounded the corner to see it all in front of him.

The hooks dug into his flesh, driving further and further into his shoulder blades. Brain winced from the pain, but gave up struggling because it hurt more every time he did. Instead, he saw in front of him lines and lines of people hung on the hooks, turned upside down and in the distance, in the far distance, the aliens were stood in front of them.... slitting their throats.

Everything flashed through Brian in that moment again as the panic set in. "This can't be happening! This is a dream!" He thought. The anger, the rage, the pleading raced through his system as his eyes darted around the room for an answer. "Don't do this" he squealed out, too meek for anyone to actually hear.

Brian was carried along the belt. Frozen in fear... terrorised, until finally the chain stopped, abruptly. The pain shocked him back to his senses and Brian was face to face, if you could call it that, with one of them. Brian stared him, her, it in the eye. One large eye that seemed to take in everything around it. "You really are doing this, aren't you? At least tell me why..."

Finally the alien spoke.

"For all your life you did this to others. For all your life you paid for others to herd up those you considered inferior and round them up in cages. This is the life you paid for... and for what exactly?" The alien reached out a hand, if you could call it that, and pointed to a sign. "Processing" it read.

In shock, Brian could only stare forward remembering what had happened to all those before him, knowing what was about to happen to him, and now sure that these aliens understood what they were doing. The alien's hand, if it was a hand, picked up the knife. He was calm, almost seemed to be enjoying himself as he looked at Brian in the eye.

"You still don't understand that what you do, what you believe, who you are applies to more than just humans. This is why we treat you as you treated others. Those others who you called your inferiors. So we do the same. Just as they were dinner for you, you will be our dinner for today".

It finally sank in for Brian. The cages, the hooks, the door, even the light. "But they were just animals!" Brian screamed. Though in truth it only came out like a whimper. "They weren't like us. They weren't as smart, they weren't as alive, they weren't as sentient as us", Brian said.

But he was met with silence. Brian looked around him at the line, slowed down now for him. He knew what was next and it felt like an age before it happened, though in reality it was only a few seconds.

A searing pain ran through his neck and his head and Brian knew in that moment the knife had done it's work. All he could do was helplessly accept his fate. His body thrashed around, completely out of control. It no longer felt like his body as he watched blood pour out from the gaping wound in his throat and drip onto the cold, hard, steel floor with the rest of the blood. "This is it..." he thought as he felt sleepier and sleepier and everything faded to black...

"Exactly" the alien said. "Exactly".