The Exit Doors of Paradise: A Science Fiction Story

When David Deloren was abducted by extraterrestrials, he thought it would be the start of a terrifying experience. He never expected that he would have more fun than he had ever experienced.

David saw the glowing disk-shaped UFO while hiking in the wilderness. He came up directly underneath the UFO, to get a good look. Then he saw some beam coming from the UFO toward him. He was astonished to find himself being levitated into the air. He was lifted up into the UFO, and then saw some strange creature inject him with something. He quickly fell into unconsciousness.

David awoke to find himself on a comfortable bed. He was in a room that looked like an expensive hotel room. Exiting the room, he walked around before finding a room filled with other humans, most of whom seemed happy and cheerful.

“Where am I?” asked David. “I think I was abducted by a UFO.”

“Oh, another new abductee?” said a young woman with a big smile. “Well, don't worry about a thing. You'll be plenty happy here. Let me fetch Mr. Hawkins to give you a briefing.”

After a short delay, Mr. Hawkins came into the room to give David an introduction to his new surroundings.

“Welcome, to what we call the Place of Pleasure,” said Mr. Hawkins. “In this wonderful location, all of your pleasure needs will be abundantly fulfilled.”

“Where is this place?” said David. “Why was I brought here.”

“I can't tell you that,” said Mr. Hawkins. “But I can tell you that you will be able to live here for as long as you wish. Nothing will be asked of you. Just enjoy yourself.”

David began to explore around, and soon found out about the abundant opportunities for pleasure at his strange location. The location resembled a big resort and amusement park. There were swimming pools all over the place, all filled with warm, clear water. The swimming pools all had long fun slides. There were many cafes and restaurants, all offering free food. The food was better than any he had ever tasted. In each cafe was a singer and musician who sang songs that seemed to David more beautiful than any he had heard before.

David soon learned that his strange location was some kind of sexual paradise. Every day he would be approached multiple times by amorous young ladies eager for sensual enjoyment. Most of them had faces like movie stars or supermodels. Before long he learned that 80 percent of the local people were robots. But in the bedroom, he could not distinguish between the robots and the real humans. The real humans were all abductees like himself. All of the abductees had been treated with injections that removed any danger of disease or unwanted pregnancies. There was also something in the drinking water that greatly intensified all sexual experiences.

David also learned that at this strange location, he could drink alcohol to his heart's content, without ever getting drunk or without his mood being negatively affected. The only effect was that the alcohol made him merrier and more likely to laugh. David also found he could use recreational drugs to his heart's content, enjoying the highs of cocaine and heroin, without any of the danger or drawbacks he would have experienced using such drugs on Earth. The drugs were offered for free in the cafes, and listed on the menu signs. When David once asked whether there were any legal penalties for using the drugs, the people in the cafe simply laughed very hard. He assumed from then on that in this place no one went to jail for using drugs.

David was in a wonderland of pleasure, enclosed by a huge high dome with the color of a blue sky. He sometimes asked himself: could it be that this whole location was part of some extraterrestrial spaceship?

There was only one way out of the location. There were two tall doors that were clearly marked as an exit. A strange hooded figure always stood near those doors.

One day David walked towards the figure and asked about the exit doors. He could hardly see the face underneath the hood, but it looked non-human.

“Can I see what's outside the doors?” asked David.

“Yes,” said the hooded figure. “But if you use these doors, your exit will be permanent, and you can never come back to this place of perfect pleasure.”

“What lies beyond these doors?” asked David.

“Knowledge,” said the figure. “Vast and deep knowledge. If you go beyond these doors, you will learn all about why you were brought here, all about the extraterrestrials who abducted you, and all about many other deep truths of time, space and cosmic history.”

“So what's it like past those doors?” asked David.

“Maybe life is hard past those doors, or maybe it is easy,” said the hooded figure. “I can't say. But it won't be half as much fun as this place of perfect pleasure you are leaving behind.”

“Then to hell with it,” said David. He went back to his bodily pleasures. But after ten more days of sex better than any he had known on Earth, and food better than any he had known on Earth, and more blissful drink and drug experiences, he began to keep thinking again and again about the exit doors. He kept thinking about what kind of deep cosmic knowledge he might find by going out the doors.

After another week passed, David returned to the exit doors, and found the same strange hooded figure in front of them.

“You said there was great knowledge to be found by going past those doors?” asked David.

“Yes, vast and deep knowledge, knowledge of great cosmic truths,” said the hooded figure. “But if you pass through those doors, you must leave behind forever this place of perfect pleasure. And I give no guarantee about how easy or hard it will be when you pass through those doors.”

“Let me through,” said David. “My body wants to stay here forever, but my mind and soul want me to go through those doors.”

“Very well,” said the figure. “You will learn many great truths.” He unlocked the doors, and opened them.

“For starters, how about telling me why I was brought here,” said David.

“This whole place is merely an experiment,” said the figure. “It was built for only one purpose – to find out what percentage of you humans will ask to pass through these doors. If that fraction is high enough, then my primeval race will have found out the human race is worthy of entering into fellowship with we who have roamed the galaxy for a hundred million years.”