Wit stood up, wiping off as much of the sap off his body as he could before it hardened any further. His efforts didn't amount to much due to it being matted in all of his fur, which made up seventy-five percent of his body.
He felt super icky and wished that Rubix gave him more than just underwear to wear, not like those were helping much anyways.
Taking a deep humid breath, he began his arduous climb. Digging in with his claws gave him a firm grip on the large sap-sucking vines. The first few feet embedded him with a confidence boost he surely needed, all due to the ease in which he was able to pull himself up.
His body felt light and powerful, it sent jitters down his spine like electricity as he practically ran up the roots on all fours. His new heart kept a steady rhythm as he exerted more and more energy pumping his muscles in an impressive display of climbing.
He moved with no lag between thought and movement, it was a weirdly smooth motion that made him feel unmoored to the forces that used to bind him.
Spotting an amber-snail crawling its way up, had him slowing down and deciding he should be more careful this time; like the slow-moving creature. He looked down not fearing the boiling pool of sap due to his new organix, which allowed him to somehow adapt to the hot liquid.
At this point, he just didn’t want any more sap on his fur, or in between the chitinous links of his [exo] tail.
Focusing back on the climb, he found easy holds and cracks in between roots that allowed him to shimmy his way up without much difficulty. Where there weren’t holds, Wit utilized his claws to hook himself firmly into the greedy roots’ surface, giving him stability in the long climb. Plenty of amber-snails left oozing trails as they also made their journey to the far-off vents.
The higher he went, the less he could see through the rising vapors that wafted off the boiling pool. At first, he thought little of it, his stamina continued to be steady and his claws made it easy work to stay safe at this height. But the swirling mists eventually stole away all visibility leaving him searching for holds blind and making him feel a strange sense of vertigo.
His earlier confidence became unease, as the air began to spin around him, pushing him and pulling him with strong gusts. He screamed mid-reach for another hold as a cloud of thick vapors swept him, leaving him hanging off the wall with one hand deeply sunk into the roots. You’re almost there Wit, C’mon! He thought furiously as he swung himself back.
Wit knew he was getting close to the vents because the winds were becoming unbearable, he had to crawl his way up staying as close to the wall as possible. He noticed another glowing amber-snail inches from his face, tucked completely in its shell protected from the onslaught of vented air. A sudden urge filled him.
Scooting closer to the shell, Wit grabbed it with the intention of yanking it off the wall, but it was stuck firm. He tried again from another angle and this time with a weird tingle the snail plopped off. It oozed out of its shell waving its two eye stalks in his direction.
For some odd reason, Wit began to drool in anticipation like he was about to eat his favorite vanilla pudding. He gulped as he brought the moving alive snail closer to his mouth about to do the unthinkable.
“Ugh, I can't do it!” Wit swung his hand back in disgust, almost throwing the snail into the spinning vapors before stopping himself and placing it back on the wall. What was that all about? He asked himself but found no answer.
He was hungry no doubt but why did he instinctively try to eat the snail? Was it even edible? Even if it was, it's alive! I couldn’t just eat something that's still living right? Something told Wit that his logic was weak.
As he climbed higher trying to shake the uneasy thoughts, Wit admitted to himself that he was genuinely scared now. With no view for up or down, the smokey mists allowed his imagination to run wild. He started tensing up a lot and his arms were becoming weaker, they began to shake every time he shimmied his way up.
He needed to find a vent and fast. It's been minutes since his arms felt like limp noodles, and he feared he wouldn’t make it. Still, he pushed himself, he reached and surprisingly felt a ledge. With exhilaration, he scrambled his way up huffing and puffing as he laid down in relief.
“Another achievement unlocked, the arm noodles,” Wit said to himself, heart pumping with energy; refilling his limbs with tingles.
The vent he was in was currently inert, he knew it was only temporary though and he didn’t know how much longer until he was fighting against pressurized air. He picked himself up quickly, already feeling rejuvenated from his short rest, it was times like this that he questioned what he has become. But he knew he wouldn’t have made it this far without adapting as he has.
“Adapt, to make oneself suitable for new hostile conditions,” Wit whispered to himself as he made his way through the dim tunnel.
As he traveled he kept one hand on the wall ready to anchor himself the second he felt a gust. Luck seemed to be on his side as he made it a fair distance before he noticed the tell-tell signs of the oncoming vented air. Rather than fight the wind, he chose to copy the numerous amber-snails and stay completely still.
He flattened himself in between a gap of two large roots, digging his thorn like claws in deep, keeping himself from moving an inch. His head was still poking out a bit, so he kept his eyes peeled for any flying sap slugs. The wind kept picking up until it was roaring in his ears and vibrating everything around him.
Once the slugs began tumbling their way toward him, Wit smashed them aside with his chitinous tail. It was kinda fun, watching the glowing pinpricks of light zoom their way past him. Feeling the slap of a slug hit his thick appendage was mildly cathartic, but still, he kept his focus razor-sharp.
At least twenty minutes went by before the winds began to die down. He shimmied his way out of the small gap, shaking his arms out to get the blood flowing again. Starting his trek once more, he eventually got to a point where there was a sharp rise that shot straight up.
Wit figured his climbing days weren’t over just yet, but this could be dangerous if he gets blasted by the vents. Should he wait and let another cycle pass or should he try his luck? It hasn’t been that long since the previous cycle. Wit thought with impatience.
Not wasting any time, Wit threw himself on the wall and ran his way up. He didn't bother to go slow and steady this time, knowing that time was limited. As he climbed with speed he made decent progress but all of a sudden a new smell entered his keen nose.
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He sniffed the air repeatedly, it was a smell he’s never smelled before and it put him on edge. If his fur wasn’t so matted with tree sap it would probably be standing up posed for danger. The further he went the stronger the smell became, it made him unconsciously slow down; his eyes roving around looking for any sign of movement in the dimly lit tunnel.
Eventually, the path leading up split into two root-encased tunnels. The one on the left had that same heady smell of danger that his instincts told him he wanted nothing to do with. While the one on the right had more amber-snails leaving oozing trails that lit up the way. It seemed like a no-brainer to Wit, follow the snails.
Still, his curiosity wondered what was on the other side of the dark smelly tunnel.What if it leads me out of Babel, outside is bound to be more dangerous than what I’ve experienced so far. Maybe it's the smell of a lurking predator? Wit thought.
Knowing time was of the essence, he decided to play it safe this time. Following the snail trails, he went deeper into the completely transformed Babel with the new moniker of [Yggdrasil]. He had to find cover two more times as the organism vented itself. He wondered what the purpose of the frequent push of air through the tree was, is the tree breathing somehow?
After what had to be an hour of tunnel crawling, Wit noticed that some of the snail trails would disappear into the roots and a loamy scent was beginning to mingle with the familiar sweet-smelling syrup. Finding a decent gap between two roots, he pried them apart to investigate.
Pushing his way through revealed more of that same rich earthy smell. Wit forced his way in deeper, roots hung around him as he shimmied through the tight squeeze of curtains made of fibrous vegetation. He pushed and shoved his way through until his body plopped out of the other side.
“Ouch!” The young Omni exclaimed as he fell a few feet from his self-made exit out of the root entanglement. He landed painfully on his side in a puff of spores that made him sneeze uncontrollably while his body was laden with dirt and debris clinging to his sticky form.
After his sneezing episode, Wit picked himself up and stretched, already feeling the bruise on his side soothe over.
Looking at his dirty mangled fur had Wit flicking his ears in frustration but he ignored it for now, to take in his surroundings. And what he saw left him absolutely gobsmacked, it was like he stumbled into a fairy tale garden from what he could see. To Wit who’s been raised in such a sterile environment, this was as close to the outside he's ever felt.
The floor was loose dirt and rocks mixed with huge chunks of concrete and metal littered throughout the area. They were covered in sparse mats of green fuzzy vegetation and small white mushrooms that grew out of the gooey sap trails that were left behind by the amber-snails. Accompanied by drifting spores floating in the air that created an organic atmosphere that almost made Wit want to take a deep breath, but remembering the sneeze attack he just went through made him think otherwise.
Roots were seen sporadically emerging from the ground and creating arches big and small that blocked Wit's view from seeing further into the dimly bio-lit floor. It was fascinating how most life in [Yggdrasil] seemed to glow. All that nuclear power, Wit surmised as he noticed multiple small insects fly past him with blinking green lights.
Without much thought he snatched one out of the air, holding the wiggling insect between two claws. Bringing it close to his face, he ogled the blinking creature with a twinkle in his eye. It had a red and black shell over its main body with long antennae twitching back and forth in what Wit guessed was agitation.
“Dex, what is this thing?” Wit knew it was a bug, but he wondered if there was more to it than meets the eye.
“If you put the organism into the scanner, I would be more than happy to provide you with a detailed summary,” Poindexter replied in his usual analog diction.
Dropping the insect helplessly into the scanner compartment, Wit then got to business knowing Poindexter would take some time to get a complete scan.
“Open up the map Poindexter,” Wit whispered, suddenly noticing that the concrete and root arches were a perfect cover for hidden things bigger than the blinking bugs.
The pixels drifted up creating a three-dimensional layout of the path he's taken so far. It showed that he was a lot higher of course and that he went in the complete opposite direction of his Rebirth nest. Which played out perfectly because he essentially went from one end of the tower to the other, giving the map more circumference to work with.
He was currently going through a center chamber, which should be the first floor of Babel. Looking back, that passage that had a weird odor that put him on edge most likely did go outside. It looked like it went further out than the circumference of the tower, meaning it most likely led to the inner garden of the cradle.
His Ecosystem insight did shoot up to 5% which didn't really mean much to him.
“Ugh, I could’ve been out of here by now. I'm wasting time being cautious and playing it safe.” Wit huffed, feeling his nerves begin to get the best of him as he faced the challenge of the renovated first floor.
“If I may Wit, your lifespan has increased to a decently high number. There is no true rush in your current journey, no one is expecting you, and you have no pressing obligations.
Why not take the time to explore and rediscover [Yggdrasil]? With the added benefit of taking shelter and assimilating to the changes in your body; there may also be more data to obtain regarding phenomenon quintessence.” Poindexter's robotic voice helpfully droned out some much-needed advice.
At first, Wit wanted to protest but something in his experience stopped him, maybe the near-death experience in the sap pit humbled him a bit, closing his mouth; he gave it some deeper thought. Maybe Poindexter had a point, this could be the best shelter for miles around and it doesn’t seem like anyone else has been here since the fall, especially if it's sitting around unclaimed.
There was still a lot to learn and maybe some of the things he finds here can be valuable to whatever outsiders that live in the wider world.
The problem is, he was getting hungry and thirsty. He needed sunlight or a source of food to keep him going and there wasn’t any of that nearby from what he could tell; unless he wanted to eat the snails. That thought sent shivers down his spine just thinking about it, yuck. He also was beginning to feel a little lonely and wished he had some company besides Poindexter.
Weighing the pros and cons between staying and going had Wit feeling oddly indecisive for once. He had to admit his curiosity about the tower's transformation would probably always be with him and he would want to be better prepared when meeting others. The last thing he wanted was to be perceived as an idiot bumbling around in his underwear in need of help.
“Huh, were you a Guide in your past iteration Poindexter? You know quite a lot.” Wit asked, feeling a sense of nostalgia towards the automatons that raised him.
“Not that I'm aware of. I do have a large knowledge base memory frame, but I have no true access until it seems relevant or you bring up a question regarding it. I am here to assist in all ways, but it is you who guides the way, Wit.” Poindexter replied in his same monotonous fashion.
Something clicked in Wits’ head after Poindexter finished talking. Before he spoke he paced around getting his thoughts in order, to the point where he climbed one of the pieces of concrete deep in thought —he stood at the top.
“It is as you say, Poindexter, It is I ‘Witan’ who will guide us in a new direction, that's always been my goal. I've been thinking about all this wrong recently. I may be young and naive to the world now, but with you the Omnitrix, and me with my smarts and quick wits there isn’t anything I can't do.
I need to change my approach if I want my long-term plans for project ‘Pioneer’ to come to fruition. Preparation is key, and I bet if I used my surroundings more innovatively and searched harder I would have everything I would need to seem competent to any eventual meetings with the locals.” It was like a light bulb went off in Wit’s head, even the room seemed brighter.
‘Odd’ He thought with a curious turn of his head, the room was actually brighter. Twisting around wondering what could have caused it, left him face to face with an insectoid creature the size of a large dog. Its layered abdomen glowed an ominous greenish-yellow that faded out to black, leaving him in the dark with the creepy crawler.
Wit screamed, scrambling back in a mad shuffle to escape only to fall off the concrete pillar. Making a loud thudding noise and crunching something underneath him. All of a sudden, dozens of green-yellow lights throughout the cavern flickered to life. Wit lay there wide-eyed scared out of his wits.