Dystopia

You’re disoriented, a little frightened, very confused.  Where are you? Just a
moment ago you were in your favorite spot, somehow conversing with a
humanoid and, then, soliciting help from a Professor who somehow just
happens to be nearby.  Now . . . you find yourself standing next to Leila—
who looks even more confused than you, even more frightened (is that
what frightened looks like for her kind? How can you tell?)—in a dark
environment that looks like something from the future and you can see
Leila pulling away, ever-so-slightly, from you and the Professor, keeping her
distance.  Your phone seems to translate what she’s thinking because you
don’t remember hearing her speak, “What’s going on?  I asked for help
understanding your kind.  I thought we would be hearing stories.  What’s
going on?”  You hear the Professor’s voice saying, “Don’t be alarmed.  I have
a special grant that allows me to transport students into a story.  It’s an
immersive environment.  Can’t reveal the mechanisms till we get approval.” 
You look at Leila.  She looks at you.  Something about her look reassures
you.  She seems fine with the situation now.  Hey, she somehow traveled
intact and unharmed to a foreign planet, so an “immersive environment” is
probably not such a big deal for her.  So, if she can roll with this stranger
than fiction, fictional environment, why not you?  Then you realize that the
Professor has been talking this whole time.  Does he ever actually stop
talking?  You hope you haven’t missed anything.  “What better way to learn
about the human than to begin with stories that voice fears about
humanity’s future?  What better way to learn about the human than to see
what some hope humanity does not become?  What better way to learn
about the various ways the human has been imagined than by looking at
what some fear will be humanity’s future?”  

And, as you’re wondering where you can get some coffee again, something
to help you boost your energy (do they have coffee on Leila’s world?), your
surroundings turn very dark, very . . . yeah, dystopian . . . where has
Professor Egan taken you this time, and what can this darkness that engulfs
your world possibly teach Leila about humans except that they should be
avoided? . .