Seth scratched his head, clueless on how to move this monster of a wolf that gouged out a hole so big, a truck could easily pass through it.
He was hesitant on touching it again, but Seth knew that leaving the carcass here would inevitably invite more danger to him and Lily.
It's too heavy for me and I don't have any heavy equipment to move it.
He pondered for a while, his unpigmented eyebrows furrowed, and soon came to a standstill with his thoughts.
“I'll figure something out.”
A sigh escaped from his mouth, lamenting about the fact that even if his brain has extraordinary processing capabilities, he couldn't do much in this situation.
In order to maximize their survivability in this treacherous jungle, Seth needed something to defend their home against outside threats.
Judging by the level of danger the wolf imposed, it's only a matter of time before beasts, as ferocious or even more, would come this way.
But first things first, a basic survival strategy would always include the most basic necessities needed for survival.
Food, water, fire, shelter and clothes and a way to defend oneself.
He nodded in affirmation to his own thoughts.
“It's time to work!”
Seth pumped his fist into the air while shouting full of vigor.
____________________________________
A barrel shaped body metal that was twice as tall as an adult human was enclosed in a small room. Situated at the middlemost past of the facility, it was one of the Order's creation that led to its success.
Harnessing the elements, fusing them, and consequently produce clean and sustainable energy.
Hum….
..Hum..
….Hum
The so called nuclear fusion reactor that outclassed the use of nuclear fission.
And within that barrel shaped reactor, there was Seth humming in a repetitive tone. Holding a wrench in one hand and a flashlight on the other, he carefully examined the machine, without minding the oil and grease.
“Everything seems intact.”
He announced delightedly after seeing the interior of the reactor.
All wirings, tubings, and magnets were good as new. No damage was received from the EMP-like phenomenon that engulfed the whole facility.
“Yep! It's good to go.”
Seth rejoiced and began to crawl his way out of the reactor. Through a passage that was only enough to fit his body, he wiggled his way out, relieved that he needn't repairs for the power source.
As soon as he got out, he quickly approached a terminal that was positioned at about ten steps away from the reactor.
Initializing system…..
Loading….
Loading….
Loading….
Initializing preliminary cycle
Estimated time of completion: 2 hours 30 minutes 7 seconds
He accessed the terminal and initiated the startup of the reactor.
“Alright. Objective one complete.”
Satisfaction was radiating from his face as soon as he saw the machine responding to his every command.
It's startup needed quite a lot of time, but it was as expected since it needed to heat up plasma at around one hundred million degrees Celsius.
____________________________________
The white haired boy stood lazily, his back a little bit hunched, both hands placed on his hips. With only natural lighting that came from some of the windows, he could at least see what was in front of him. But then, he had a flashlight with him so tripping on something was out of the question.
Seth was again experiencing another set back to his objectives. But compared to the first one, it didn't need any kind of scientific intervention, nevertheless it was one of the most important factors for survival.
“There's no water!”
He shouted in dismay as he stood in front of the kitchen sink. With his clothes dirtied from working inside the reactor, Seth really wanted to take a bath. Nonetheless, the faucet installed on the sink didn't dispense any water no matter how many times he turned the knob.
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“The piping system must've been cut.”
Seth muttered dejectedly, but soon accepted the fact that it was the inevitable outcome.
The teleportation was so successful, it transported the whole facility, consequently cutting all of its connections. Even so, just thinking about it made his throat feel dry.
“Objective two will be put in hold.”
There was nothing he could do right now even if it's a crucial part survival. The best chance he could somehow get would be to find a body of water and use it as a source for clean, potable water.
“Next is food….”
Seth turned his back to the sink and proceeded to check through the contents of his refrigerator. It was a simple and practical refrigerator that one would easily find in modern homes.
“It'll probably last us for a week.“
Preserved pre-flavored meat that only requires trying, instant noodles, canned sardines, canned beans, and more unhealthy foods were packed inside the refrigerator. All of them were somewhat slightly chilled, which told Seth that the power inside the facility hadn't been cut off for a long time. One would probably be surprised that Seth hadn't gained a lot of weight from eating such food daily.
“Thank God there's water!”
He cheered delightedly as soon as his source of light illuminated a compartment inside the refrigerator that was full of bottles of drinking water.
Gulp….gulp….gulp
Without hesitation, he drank one bottle in one go. A cold sensation flowed into his throat and quenched his thirst. Not minding the fact that their supply of it was rather low.
“Guah! I can't believe water tastes so delicious.”
Satisfied with it, Seth began to chuckle to himself but immediately turned serious as he counted the number of remaining bottles.
“We're down to seven bottles, it may last us for two days at best.”
That was his rough estimate but there's more water if he counted the distilled water he uses for some of his biological experiments. It's potable alright but Seth could only think of it as their last resort.
He needed to find a stable source of water, food and a defense system that could ward off monsters as soon as possible. Exploring and quickly adapting to this place was his only chance for survival if they were to stay here for a long period of time.
Seth calmly recollected his thoughts and imagined the future that's in store for both him Lily.
____________________________________
He spent all of his time inspecting every nook and cranny of the facility, trying to find something useful that could help him with his predicaments. Seth couldn't do much without electricity and anything that could help them for the sake of survival was indispensable.
Fortunately, he did found something. And as soon as he collected all the things that he deemed useful, the whole facility lightened up.
..!!
Seth reflexively covered his eyes due to the lights suddenly turning on. And as soon as it adjusted to the brightness, his vision fell upon the things he had collected that were placed on the floor.
A weather balloon.
A weird looking camera.
A futuristic looking goggles.
And an exoskeleton.
It was a great haul that made Seth beam a triumphant smile and gave him an urge to do a victory pose.
The first that caught his eyes was the exoskeleton prototype. It was the base for the mass produced supportive exoskeleton that boosts the physique of its wearer. Exclusively issued to government agencies, quite similar to the plasma gun.
But it's still a prototype.
His father sent it to him for modification as a means of training Seth with synthetic tissue modification.
Surprisingly, he failed at it. Instead of increasing both strength and dexterity, Seth had increased its strength to a monstrous level in expense of dexterity, making it a failure. And it still needed a wire for constant supply of electricity. Even so, it had its uses for moving heavy things.
Moving that thing will be a piece of cake~
The next item was the goggles. Three lenses with varying sizes were installed unevenly on the goggles. Allowing night, infrared, thermal vision respectively. It wasn't a prototype this time since he occasionally uses it for spotting stray animals during the night.
It looks cool but still a bit too bulky.
Next was the 3D mapping device that looks like a ball made up of hundreds of lenses. About the size of a basketball, it was a standard equipment for the meteorological division. It could map at least a few kilometers of land and accurately replicate the terrain in a computer generated 3D model.
It's been awhile since I've use one of these.
The meteorological division didn't have Seth as it's only member. It's members were scattered evenly within the island and usually work alone.
And last but not the least was the weather balloon. As anticlimactic as it was, the balloon didn't possess anything advance. It was a normal and simple balloon used in carrying weather instruments up into the air.
“I could pick more but these will do for now.”
He announced satisfyingly while thinking of the things he could do with them.
But is this really the right choice?
Even though everything was still going as planned, Seth felt conflicted. He could probably work something out with the teleportation machine but it had its own risks. As it didn't properly transport them to the coordinates he painstakingly inputted, using it right now was a gamble. There was a high possibility that it could take them to a more dangerous place so he dismissed that idea.
“The only clue we have now is that mysterious medallion.”
His feet subconsciously brought him in front of the teleportation machine while he was busy recollecting his thoughts.
“Something so small could do something unimaginable.”
Seth fished out the medallion that was instead inside the machine and began to examine its appearance.
It was filled with mysterious marking that were indecipherable to Seth. Uncovering it's mysterious would undoubtedly help him with going back home. Setting those things aside, something kept on bugging him as soon as he held the medallion on his left hand.
I'm not getting electrocuted or anything…
His brows were furrowed in confusion as the medallion that was supposed to contain unimaginable amount of energy didn't harm his hand in any way.
Instead, something he couldn't believe happened before his eyes.
What the hell?
The medallion sunk into his hands, as if it dissolved right through it. It startled Seth to an extent that his mouth went agape in bewilderment.
It didn't trigger any pain at all, which made him even more confused.
“There goes our only ticket in getting back home.”
He laughed at the midst of the confusion and soon found something peculiar with his left hand.
“Do I get some sort of power now?”
The markings that was carved into the medallion was now marked at the back of his hand. It certainly was befitting of a scene where the protagonist of a story that would get powers from an ancient artifact. However, for the realist Seth, he had difficulties in accepting that theory.
“Alright, let's test it out.”
As to prove this theory, he readied himself and took a lifting pose in front of the machine.
“Heave-ho!”
Shouting that as a cue, he exerted his full strength, and tried on lifting the machine that weighed at least half a ton. He gnashed his teeth as fatigue began seep into his muscles that were contracted to its limits. But to no avail, it didn't even budge in the slightest.
“No good huh.”
He sighed dejectedly while retracting his arms that ached from over exertion.
“How about magic?”
Seth enthusiastically held his left arm in front of him and imagined a fireball forming at the surface of his marked hand.
“I can feel it! I can feel it! Uooh!”
He shouted as if fire would really come out from his palm. Nonetheless, he was clearly playing around as usual, seeing that nothing had happened at all.
Who am I kidding here?
Something fishy as having superhuman strength and magic was a thing of fairy tales. And Seth who expected something out of that bizarre medallion could only ridicule himself.
The giant wolf must've been a product of superior evolution so it all made sense.
“This place is like a parallel world where evolution of all living things took a different path, hence their gigantic sizes makes sense.”
That was his conclusion based on scientific facts, dismissing the truth that this world was in fact filled with mysteries that was beyond science that encompasses only natural phenomenon.
“Okay! Let's get back to work.”
As he regained his senses from his so called delusions, Seth began to install the exoskeleton on his body.
Bundles of synthetic tissues that were connected by a frame that was made of a lightweight but super durable metal. The general outline of the device was that of a spine with two arms and legs. A neural translation device sat on top of Seth's head, allowing him to control the exoskeleton as if it was his own. And the power cable that was attached at the bottom of the spine.
“Everything seems to fit perfectly.”
Since the exoskeleton was already adjusted to his body frame, Seth's appearance wasn't too bad. If he was to look in front of a mirror while wearing clothes, a slightly buffed up him would be seen.
“Alright! Let's move that thing out of here.”
He puffed out his chest as he felt stronger than before. And began on marching towards the door while the cable, that was supposed to supply the exoskeleton power, followed behind.
____________________________________
A cold and chilling aura filled the room that was made up of stone. Damp and dark, moss covered the ceiling and most of the walls. The only place where light could enter was through tiny crevices on the ceiling that formed throughout the centuries of weathering it had endured.
And within that room there was something or someone that had awaken from its long slumber.
“You're back at last~.”
A sweet voice echoed within the room that was filled with nothingness.