! written by u/Arktuos on 2017-12-04

I'm a pilot for a very mysterious employer. On occasion, I am asked to fly cargo over an island, and a few helpers open the hatch and drop a crate or two out. Sometimes we take some small arms fire, but it's typically a mundane and normal job. I don't know the details of the conflict below, but I assume that I'm delivering supplies to the side that we want to win.

Today was different. Today, the plane was fitted with 100 seats, and I was asked to fly it, with the hatch open, over the same island. I was told to pick a "random straight line" over the area. I did as asked. As soon as I came within a few klicks, something insane happened. I began hearing screams and racial slurs coming from the (what I assumed were) empty seats. I left the plane on its heading and peeked through the cockpit door to the back of the plane.

What I found was puzzling and horrifying. The plane was filled to the brim with sets of nearly identical men and women, looking determined. A handful of them screamed obscenities and slurs at a volume that I could only describe as unnatural. I noticed one very muscular man in a mini-skirt. Someone commented on how lucky he was. I was puzzled.

What's more is that several of the clone-people were on fire. It was as if someone had poured accelerant of some sort all over their bodies and lit it. I idly wondered what the accelerant might be. The fire spilled out of the back of the plane in an unnatural column, engulfing the other passengers, and yet no one seemed to mind. The immolated individuals sat calmly, waiting.

Suddenly, people began pouring from the plane, jumping out at seemingly random intervals, sometimes in groups, sometimes alone. I returned to my controls and noticed that we were over the island now.

I landed my plane back at the hangar on the mainland several minutes later. I had so many questions, but we were loading up a crate for another pass over the island.

Today was different.