The “uncanny valley” The sudden valley in human emotions when we feel unsettled when something looks too human, but still.. Not quite human enough. No one truly knows why this exists. There have been theories, of course. Such as claims stating it was an evolutionary trait we developed from having reason to fear something that looks human, but isn't. That seems to be the most popular theory, but I have the true answer. You see, The uncanny valley isn't just a valley, or a sudden drop shown on a graph of human emotions, it is a Literal place, and I experienced it first hand.

It all started last week. I had paid vacation time and decided I would treat myself and take a nice trip to the bahamas. I was in the line for the dreaded TSA bag search. Just in front of me was a woman whose entire build caused a deep panic inside of me. I could describe it no other than the uncanny valley. I had little understanding of it, I had only heard of it a few times online. But there was no mistaking it. Something was off about this woman. I Just could not quite place my finger on what. I became frustrated.

What is actually wrong about her? I couldn't answer my question because nothing was really wrong with her, but at the same time it was. Suddenly, the woman turned to look at me, disrupting my train of thought. It was almost as if she could sense me examining her. The way she turned seemed just slightly unnatural. She lifted her hand and began to wave at me. That seemed only slightly unnatural as well. Actually, every movement that she did seemed slightly unnatural. The deep panic that I was already experiencing heightened at the woman's sudden turn around and hand wave. I couldn't bring myself to wave back. Just as suddenly as she turned to look at me, she turned around.

She was done getting her back checked, and it was now my turn. I placed my large backpack down. It was the only thing I brought. One thing I hated was overpacking. I only packed the necessities and a few extras. Once my bag was done being checked, I walked to the waiting area of the airport and sat down. My flight was in 60 minutes. I let out a sigh and pulled my laptop out of my backpack. I wanted to do more research on the uncanny valley. I opened up my internet browser and began to type, but I paused, not completely sure what question in specific I wanted answered. I thought about it. I already had a basic understanding of it, so i didn't need to search what it was. My mind came to a conclusion, and I began to type the words out onto the screen.

“Can a real human give you the uncanny valley?”

I was about to hit search, when someone tapped my shoulder. I instantly turned around and my eyes met the same woman that I had been panicking about in the TSA line. She was saying something, but my mind was so boggled that I accidentally turned her out.

“I-im sorry can you repeat that?” I said, still treating her like I would any other human.

“Oh uh.. I was just wondering if you'd like to grab some coffee? I saw you in the TSA line and thought you were pretty cute.”

What the hell?

“Hey, uh- I do apologize, I have a wife.”

That was a lie. I am a desperate, single man. But not desperate enough to go on a date with whatever she was. I put my hand in my pocket just after saying that to hide my non-existent ring.

“Oh, don't apologize, I understand. But hey, what flight are you going on?”

“Uhh 3475, the one that leaves in-”

I paused to check how much time was left until my flight on my computer screen.”

“...50 minutes!” I replied to the woman.

“Oh, no way! I am on that flight too!”

I desperately wanted her to stop talking to me. Each second passing by of hearing her voice and looking at her face caused the panic to grow deeper and deeper.

“I have to use the bathroom!” I said suddenly.

I got up out of my chair and placed my laptop in my backpack. I put my backpack on my back and started towards the bathroom, completely ignoring the woman's goodbye to me. I went to the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. I felt slightly calmer looking at my completely human face. I turned on the sink and splashed some water on myself. Maybe I'm just being crazy, I thought while rubbing the water on my face. No, i'm not. Something is definitely wrong with her! Another thought conflicted.

I wiped my face off with a paper towel and walked out of the bathroom, to the waiting area, and chose a new seat to sit in that was a few rows down from my old one. I tried to relax, but I couldn't. I couldn't shake the deep unsettlement and panic that this woman caused me. After a while of sitting there in panic, it was time to board my flight. I made my way over and boarded the plane. I got first class seats, something I would usually never do, but this was a very stressful year for me at work, and I chose to sacrifice a lot of extra money, some of which I didn't really have, just for this to be an amazing, relaxing vacation for me. I sat down at my seat, it felt amazing and luxurious, and i began to relax. I closed my eyes and let out a deep, relieving sigh as i felt my muscles begin to untense. I heard footsteps coming towards me, and my muscles tensed up again when i saw the same woman from earlier walking towards me. Please don't have a seat next to me. Please don't have a seat next to me. I repeated in my head desperately. I became sick when she sat down next to me.

“Oh, hey! We meet again!” she said to me in the same, familiar slightly unnatural tone, just after turning to look at my face.

“Hi.” I said quickly.

I pulled out my headphones and laptop from my backpack.

Maybe if I just focus on this the whole time and don't look at her, I'll be fine.

All I had to do was focus on nothing else but my laptop for the next estimated 5 hours and 5 minutes, and I would be fine.

“So, do you live in the bahamas?” she asked me.

I ignored her. Why is she talking to me? Isn't it obvious I have my headphones on and am doing something on my computer? I opened up youtube and watched some videos from my favorite youtubers. But I simply couldn't focus or enjoy the videos. Just having the woman's presence next made the panic continuously enlarge. 30 minutes had passed, and I noticed the woman had not moved at all when I glanced over at her.

She had simply been sitting there, staring at the back of the seat in front of her. That fact only made me more unsettled. She suddenly pulled out her phone and began to play a game. It was almost as if she noticed me glancing at her, and as if she knew exactly what I was thinking. My chest began to feel tight, and I started having trouble breathing. I tried hard to calm down, the last thing i wanted to do was cause a scene on this plane. The woman unfortunately noticed me struggling.

She touched my shoulder.

“What's wrong?”

The panic in me reached its breaking point. I jumped out of my seat and stood in the aisle while breathing heavily. I fell down to the floor as it became harder and harder for me to get air into my lungs. A flight attendant rushed over to me with a brown paper bag. I breathed in and out and felt my breathing get better, but the panic did not subside at all.

“PLEASE MOVE MY SEAT!” I yelled at the flight attendant.

“Sir please calm down.” the attendant replied.

I suddenly realized how insane I was being, a flip switched, and I calmed down, but nowhere near entirely.

“I-im sorry.. Can I just please have my seat moved?`` I asked the flight attendant, very embarrassed of the scene that I didn't want to create, but created anyway.

“Yes sir, please grab your things and follow me.”

I dreaded having to look at her again to get my things. It was the last thing I wanted to do.

“Can you please get it for me?”

“Sir, i do not think i can carry all of your-”

“I only have a backpack. Please.” I said, cutting her off. I knew it was impolite to ask her to carry my backpack, but I couldn't even imagine having to look at her again.

The flight attendant let out a sigh and grabbed my backpack.

She began to walk down the aisle, I followed behind her. She stopped at 2 empty seats and gestured to me to take a seat. I sat down and apologized to the flight attendant for the scene I caused. She just looked at me and then walked away, causing me to feel even more ashamed and embarrassed. I let out a sigh and attempted to relax but failed in doing so when a disturbing familiar voice blared from the speaker throughout the plane.

“Attention all passengers. We have re-routed this flight to a new destination. We will be arriving in the Uncanny Valley within 10 minutes or so.”

My stomach sank to the floor. Am i imagining this? I looked around and saw confusion on peoples faces. That confirmed I wasn't imagining this. Pure anxiety and fear began to surge within me. What is she talking about? Is this an extreme prank due to her seeing my google searches about the uncanny valley earlier? I hadn't looked out the window once during the flight, I scooted over to the empty seat next to me and rolled up the curtain. I was hit with a wave of nausea and panic when i saw what was below us. We were around 1,000 feet above an isolated almost green field of grass.

My stomach impossibly sank deeper than the floor when I saw a sharp, sudden valley in the field, around 500 feet wide. The plane began to descend rapidly into the valley. The plane began to shake, I couldn't move. I was paralyzed in pure fear. After a few seconds i built up the courage to look around me, everyone else was also scared and confused, that comforted me a little bit. I looked out the window once more, and *BOOM* The plane crashed into the ground of the valley. Upon impact I Slammed my head on the ceiling of the plane and fell back down in my seat, this caused me to go unconscious. When I awoke, Night had fallen. I groaned and rubbed my head. I felt something wet and painful. I looked at my hand and saw blood. My entire body began to ache in pain from the crash

. I tried to take a deep breath, but my ribs had been broken. The deep breath was half finished and hurt like hell. I took short, shallow breaths and managed to stand up. A wave of nausea and lightheadedness hit me due to the injuries and the fact I had not eaten since that morning and was already starving by the time I got on the plane. I took a step to the window and looked outside. Panic enveloped every ounce of me when I saw what was outside. It was.. A town. Well, almost a town. Each house was just slightly abnormal. Some were tilted to the side, some had oddly shaped windows. But that wasn't the worst part, the town was full, and I mean full of people that gave the same uncanny valley response as the woman from earlier. The way they walked was disturbing and unsettling. I began to feel detached from reality as the panic continued to grow. I then became numb. Nothing felt real. I felt like I was in a dream. That thought comforted me only a little bit

. I looked forward to waking up from the supposed dream. But that hope didn't last for long. I knew this wasn't a dream, it was somehow reality. A sick and twisted reality that I was facing right then and there, and I couldn't just stand there. I began to walk out into the isle, and i made it to the emergency exit. I took as deep a breath as i could without feeling pain just before pulling open the door. I walked out into the town and started towards the nearest road i could see. I would get answers.

Every step I took closer to the road, the more the anxiety heightened. I didn't even know how it was possible for the anxiety to heighten anymore at this point, it felt like it had gone above the universe itself. Suddenly, the uncannies stopped. They began to surround me and then circle me. My anxiety was so high I felt a severe impending sense of doom.

They all charged at me. They rubbed their hands all over me and then picked me up. They tossed me up in the air and caught me when I was about to fall to the ground, all while walking somewhere. They were taking me somewhere, and i didnt even want to think about where. I had no idea what horrors these things were truly capable of. After minutes of walking, they brought me into a dungeon. They began to chant something incomprehensible to me. They placed my body into the center of some bizarre type of pentagram.

I tried to move but was instantly stopped when ropes appeared and tightened over my legs and arms. I began to scream, but they didn't cover my mouth. They only began to chant louder as if my screaming was making it more enjoyable to them. I watched one of them grab a large bucket, another one put a rag on my face. They began to pour a bucket of blood over the rag. They were waterboarding me with blood. I began to gag. I couldn't breathe. I tried desperately to breathe in and out but I was getting no air and my ribs only began to hurt worse. My chest began to feel incredibly tight, the pressure built up until it was the worst physical pain I had ever experienced. Eventually, everything turned to black. I felt nothing. I felt some sort of peace, when suddenly I was brought back and sat up.

I began to choke and gasp for air as I sat up. I had died of a heart attack and one of them had resuscitated me. I thought there torture was finally over, but i was wrong. They brought out a sharp knife and began to slice into my organs. The pain I felt was incredible, I wanted to scream but I couldn't. How much can one human body take? Was the only comprehensible thought I could muster out at the time. One of them ripped out my liver, it sent shock to my body and I froze. Everything faded to black again and the last thing I saw was them feasting on my liver. I awoke some time later and felt physically fine, but mentally the worst I'd ever been. The dungeon was empty. I looked at my body and noticed nothing was wrong with it anymore, except for the injuries from the plane. I shakily got up and noticed the door was wide open. I ran for the door and started outside.

I had made it to the road. I began to walk with the “People ''. I pushed my panic away the best I could, but it was becoming almost unbearable. I looked straight ahead and continued to walk at a fast pace. I didn't know where I was going, but I had to go somewhere. I had to escape from wherever this is. I noticed someone that stuck out from the others. This person.. Seemed normal. They did not induce any panic in me. I could tell by the look on his face that he was traumatized. His eyes were cold and it looked like he wanted out desperately.

“Hey!” i yelled to the man. He looked at me and looked like he was about to continue walking, but after double checking me it looked as if he realized I wasn't one of them.

He stopped.

“Hi.” the man replied, sounding extremely cautious.

“You aren't one of them, are you?” I asked.

“No, I am not. It's obvious that you aren't either.” the man replied cautiously, but not as cautious as the first time.

“How did you get here?” I asked the man.

“I-” the man stopped and looked around.

“Follow me, I need to bring us somewhere at least slightly safe. Not out in the open like this.”

“Oh, Uh alright.”

I replied while starting to follow him as he continued to walk in the direction he was originally walking in. I continued to see the horrific faces of panic as I walked. I still sort of felt as if I was in another reality, or in a dream. But everything pointed to this being real. I was your run of the mill mentally sane 28 year old who just wanted a nice vacation away from all his stress. We had finally made it to our destination, it was one of the houses. Weird, I thought.

“Stay here”

He went around the back of the house and came back with a shovel. He walked in front of the house and examined the small lawn of dirt in front of him. He finally was done and began to shovel up dirt in a random patch, and it revealed a bunker door.

“You can never be too cautious here, come on, get in!” he said in a hurry while already opening the door and gesturing to me to follow him. I followed behind him down the bunkers stairs, he flipped a lightswitch at the bottom and the room became illuminated with a pale, yellow light. The first thing I noticed was a small desk in the corner with trash that had blood stains on it. When I looked around more, I noticed everything had bloodstains on it.

“H-hey what will all the stains be?”

He seemed to almost give an answer, but then he suddenly shivered from what looked like fear.

I looked behind me and saw a makeshift shower made out of a bucket with tiny holes poked through it. I looked at the ground and saw a hole in the ground, presumably a drain, and next to that was an old rusty bar of soap.

“This is the uncanny valley.” he told me very suddenly, disrupting my observance of his makeshift shower.

“I-im sorry?” I replied. I knew what he said, and what he said had made sense considering everything, but I wanted him to explain more.

“This place, where we are right now. This is the uncanny valley.”

“It is a real place?” was all I could think of as a reply.

“Why do you think humans have the uncanny valley response?” he answered with a smirk.

“Hmm.” was the only thing I could think of as a response at the time.

“ I've been here 4 million years!” he replied and then started laughing.

I stared at him as he just continued to stand there laughing.

Is he joking? I honestly can't tell what's real anymore.

“But.. human kind is only like 6 million years old.” I started in an attempt to stop his maniacal laughter.

“This place has been here before human kind. . And once you fall in here, you stop aging. Youre stuck here forever, having to deal with their various forms of torture.”

“Torture.” I repeated in a numb tone.

“Yes, its clear they already unfortunately tortured you.. And for that I'm so sorry. But none of the damage is permanent. Look at your body right now, it's already healed! They want you to be healthy before the torture, it gives them more satisfaction when they turn a perfectly healthy human into a tortured pulp.”

“Yeah, I noticed that.” I replied in a cold tone.

“Well, why do they hate humans so much?”

“ You see, when humankind came around, these people, or, I guess we should just call them the ‘uncannies’ for the time being, well the uncannies didnt like them. Viewed them as a threat. So they went to war. They tried to turn the humans into them, they succeeded by turning a few thousand humans into uncannies. All history of said war has been destroyed by the uncannies, they like to remain unknown. They don't like people to know why the uncanny valley response exists. So now they like to go out into society once in a while and kidnap a human and torture them. That's what they do instead of war, because they know they would lose just based on the population difference between the uncannies and the humans. Few thousand uncannies versus 8 billion humans? Who do ya think will win?” he said and a smile formed on his face that turned into a chuckle.”

“I HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE!” I yelled at the man, instantly causing his smile to subside.

“Look.. I'm trying to tell you.. There's no.. well, there's no easy way out of here.``

My eyes lit up at the way he phrased that.

“So there is a way? It's just not easy?”

“Well, the only way out of here is for an uncanny to give their written permission for you to leave. That has only happened a few times in history. The last time was around 400 years ago.”

I sighed in defeat at his answer. I could never imagine an uncanny giving me permission to leave.

“Well what are the circumstances when they do give a human written permission?” I asked.

“Well, the only scenario I've seen is when a human who was kidnapped long ago lets the uncannies turn them into an uncanny to give written permission to a newly kidnapped human.”

A sense of hope and guilt both washed over me. He can technically set me free then.. But how selfish would it be to ask him to turn into one just so I can escape? And would he even consider it?

My mind was battling itself. I was unsure whether or not to just ask the dreaded question. Before I even asked anything, the man let out a sigh.

“I will give you permission.” the man said..

“B-but you're not one-”

“I will become one.” he said, cutting me off.

“No, I could never let you do that!” I replied to the man.

“Honestly, I've been thinking of doing it for some time now. The boredom here is becoming unbearable. You see, I've been here for 4 million years! and at this point I would rather be mindless, or almost mindless like one of them. You see, they still have some self awareness and consciousness. The humans that turn are more self aware then the natural ones, so I'm certain I will still remember to give you permission.”

“Well.. I really can't thank you enough. What is the turning process like?” I asked curiously.

“It's quite simple, actually. The next time they try to capture for me torture, i will just yell “Turn me.” and then.. Well.. I don't actually know what happens. All of the turned said their memory of the moments just before to the moments after was completely erased.

“When will they come next?” I asked.

“Ah, well.. Around 2 hours. They like to follow a routine to their torturing.” the man said calmly. He seemed to look forward to being turned. It was only reasonable after 4 million years of daily torture.

“Okay, what should we do until then?” I asked.

“You can make yourself at home.. If that's even possible for you to do.” he gestured towards the blood stained bed in the corner.

“Okay..” I said slightly reluctantly. I sat down on the bed and relaxed a little. The most I had relaxed since the plane crash.

Suddenly I woke up. I hadn't even realized I fell asleep.

I saw the man standing in the middle of the room.

“Uh hey.” I said while rubbing my eyes.

“Hey..” the man replied in a numb tone. “They should be here any second now..” he added.

“Are.. you alright?” I asked.

“Yes. just a tiny bit scared, ya’know?”

“Well, yeah. That's understandable. And I thank you again for doing this for me.”

Suddenly the bunker door was kicked open.

“Hide under the blanket and close your eyes! They're here!” the man instructed me.

I quickly got under the blanket and closed my eyes.

“TURN ME!” the man yelled. I felt the switch in the uncannies plan as he said that. I heard footsteps slowly walk toward him. I began to hear a demonic sound that became louder and louder, and suddenly *POP*. I heard the uncannies walk up the stairs and close the bunker door.

“You can come out now.” I heard the man's voice say, but this time it sent a tingle of panic down my spine as it sounded slightly unnatural.

“I would advise you not to look at me. I don't want you to panic.” the man said.

I got out of the bed and stared at the floor, following his advice of not to look at him.

“I will get the paper and pen, hold on one second.” The man's voice who once brought me a sense of safety felt untrustful. I heard him writing something down on a piece of paper. He stopped writing and began to walk over to me. A piece of paper with something written on it came into view.

“I, Sapien Austra, Grant this man complete safety and complete permission to leave the uncanny valley.”

“Thank you,,” I replied.

“Now go! Go to the plane and show the person guarding the plane your paper!”

I didn't reply, I just started up the steps and walked out of the bunker door. I saw the plane in the distance and walked towards it. Panic came over me as I walked the streets with the uncannies, but I was used to the panic at this point. I made it to the plane and saw an uncanny guarding it. I silently showed him my paper and he let me into the damaged plane. I walked in and the smell of dead bodies from the crash repulsed me. I walked to my seat where my backpack was, and sat down. I began to hear footsteps walk towards me. The woman from the TSA line's face came into view. “Good job on escaping.” she said just before continuing to walk past my seat. Suddenly, the plane's damage was repaired, and all of the bodies were gone. Am I alone on the plane now? The intercom dinged and a normal pilot's voice spoke throughout the plane.

“You will be arriving in the Bahamas in approximately 3 hours and 7 minutes.” The way the pilot said “You” confirmed I was the only one on the plane. What happened to everyone else?

I decided to be grateful that I had escaped such a cruel and evil valley. I went on my laptop and watched youtube videos for the rest of the plane ride. It was hard, but easier to watch them now that I was pretty certain I was safe. The intercom dinged again. “We are now touching down in the bahamas!” I noticed I hadn't looked out the window the whole flight. I reached over and rolled up the curtain. I was so incredibly relieved to see the beautiful Bahamas beneath me. Everything seemed real and natural.

I got out of the plane quickly, when I looked behind me just seconds after, the plane had completely vanished. I went into the airport and sat down at a cafe. I pulled out my laptop and now just finished writing this story. I really hope the barista here is just ugly and nothing else…