When I woke up, the other Digits were already packing up food and the batteries. Zeta came over when she noticed I had woken up. She placed two rations before me and before I had time to thank her they had already disappeared down my gullet. I feared my savage display had put her off, but she just had a kind smile on her. She walked away to continue counting and sorting the food a top the table.

Koma saw sitting on one of the swivel chairs looking my way.

You sure have reliable friends.

I know. I paused, gathering my thoughts. Are you sure you can lead us to the survivors?

The Calforn didn’t reply, but nodded from his spot across the room. I wasn’t sure if that was so I couldn't sense his surface thoughts or to emphasize the point for me. I chose to believe the latter and hopped to my feet.

The others had managed to gather three more metal chairs. While they finished loading the food into Marvin and one of our crates, I got to bending the chairs into shields. Once those were done, I handed them out and asked out other mutant if he would like the last one. Koma refused to take the shield, insisting he was faster without bulky armor. I didn’t argue much. Hanging the shield and my wrench on the used battery belt was a bit awkward, but after some finagling it held on to my armor plates.

I trip through the city was mostly uneventful. The entire city was composed of the tiered buildings we had seen near the exit. As we got closer to the forest however, we noticed the vegetation overgrowth as it worked its way into the city. Long before we reached the actual boundary of the forest, massive root systems and grass covered the once-concrete streets. Beta and Gamma were ecstatic to see grass and greenery in such abundance. Gamma less so since she worked at a growing farm, but here was rand her hand over the grass, retracting her helmet to smell the earthy scent.

The others were more tame in their contemplation. The time we had all spent in the dirty and smog infested cities of Earth, or in the unkempt colonies of the moon, led us to enjoy the environment differently. It lightened the trip to see the energy and still existing innocence of the two youths.

The brief respite from our situation was broken when we reached the edge of the forest, denoted by large concrete walls that reached almost thirty feet. It was almost a two hour walk from B1 and our senses were a bit lulled from being alert the entire time. It was at that moment that Koma, in a separate voice than his usual one, shouted “Mutants!”

A duo of long limbed mutants and a single multiarm mutant leapt from the walls separating the city and the forest. I reached for my wrench on my back, and stopped short of telling the Digits to retreat.They were ready to fight. Delta engaged the long armed closest to the group, using his shield to keep it at bay while Gamma went around and clubbed its arms with one of the metal poles from the chairs. Epsilon was chucking rocks at the other long armed while Beta swatted the mutant’s attacks with his shield and wooden club.

I was flabbergasted. I had not even directed the group, but they were cooperating and attacking without a shred of hesitation. Zeta had joined Koma as he darted back and forth ripping limbs from the multiarmed mutant. This smaller mutant was affected much more by the reduction in limbs and began to hobble on the ground, getting a series of stabs from Zeta while Koma helped the others deal with their own mutants.

I set down my wrench as I watched the display before me. I had been forcing myself to defend the Digits so much I had failed to see their growth. When Gamma finished off the long limbed creature with a stab to the back of the neck I felt a mixture of guilt, sadness and pride. There was no reason children should be fighting for their lives, and here were Gamma and Beta already becoming proficient at ending them.

Pushing past my dark thoughts, I joined the others. They were cheering and I congratulated everyone, pointing out that I hadn’t even needed to lift a finger. The group quietly moved the bodies off to the side by the wall, hoping to retrieve them on the return trip.

Once the bodies were dealt with, we all paused at the true edge of the forest. The closer we’d gotten to it, the more I realized it was actually a mixture of forest and jungle. There were massive oak trees, much bigger than any of the ones in the required public parks of New Dust, intermingled amongst tall palms. There was shrubbery that ran out from the forest into the city and ferns that covered the remaining space on the forest floor. Hanging from the oaks and the occasional sycamore tree that towered above us were dense vines. From our spot, the massive redwood trees from our planet’s past stood in the distance.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

The air was warm, filled with the scent of loam and pine. It was warm enough to conserve energy so I indicated for everyone to deactivate their heating systems. I was confused by the stark difference in temperature between the city and the forest even though both were inside the underground cave, but I passed it off as some Calforn nonsense.

We made our way in carefully. A bed of dead leaves and palm fronds spread across the ground, muffling each step we made as we moved deeper into the greenery. The further in we went, the warmer it got and a light mist hung in the air. Koma was at the head of the group, using his clawed arms to blaze a path for the others while I took up the rear.

After almost thirty minutes of complete silence, forest sounds began to envelop us. There was the chirping of some kind of bird and the hooting of some kind of primate. This had the Digits tense, but thanks to my ability to sense mutants I knew we were safe. I was not ready to reveal that whole telepathy thing to the others, since it would require the Calforn explanation. I would follow Koma’s lead on that until I felt otherwise.

Sometime after hearing the forest come alive, strange plants began to crop up around us. There were odd blue mushrooms and white bulbous ferns growing from the trees. I moved closer to examine one of these when we stopped for a ration break. The thing was definitely not from Earth like all the other vegetation the group had seen.

That is correct. These were brought here by my predecessors.

I turned to see Koma perched on a nearby branch. He was looking at the alien vegetation longingly. I was sure that it was one of the Calforn speaking, not the once-human.

You are not wrong. Basten has no knowledge of these. While we don’t have access to the hive mind, the few thoughts that remain gives us insight.

There was no easy way to speak to the alien being. While I was not surprised to see alien life, even before seeing the reptilian sheep on the surface, the complexity of the Calforn city only raised more questions.

Absentmindedly examining one of the white bulbous ferns I felt a tingling on my left ear. I jerked my head back just in time to dodge a leaping strike from some kind of snake. The creature had one massive fang and looked almost like a corkscrew. The green and brown coloration had kept it hidden from view amongst the branches. The creature literally coiled and then shot forward, massive fang protruding. I swatted it with my armored hand and then stomped on its head, aided by my enhanced speed. The others heard the commotion and surrounded the now dead reptile.

“Seems we are deep enough into the forest. We should see more creatures like this, and some from your native earth,” explained Koma.

I was concerned about the possibility of more coiling snakes and lord knows what else, but I focused on keeping the group moving. The relaxed atmosphere that had persisted after our encounter with the mutants wavered.

The city and it's tall buildings were now completely hidden from view. The density of the vines, as well as the coloration of some, had changed drastically. The things were as thick as my arms and dropped down from the canopy. I kept my eye on all of the alien flora in case there were more creatures lurking on our passage through their territory. It was odd to see regular lizards and frogs among the stranger wildlife we had seen on Dun Lund, but I was happy to see something not intent on killing our group.

Koma ordered us to pause several times, listening into the forest around us, then changed direction slightly. Almost imperceptibly, the amount of moss on the surrounding trees began to increase. A few minutes after the fifth change in direction, we all heard the sound of rushing water. Our steps light, we moved forward faster. The trees thinned and we ran into a stream about four feet wide and two deep. It took some effort to stop the Digits from jumping into the water, but Koma, Delta and I approached the water cautiously.

The water was clear, but considering the amount of plants and animals in the vicinity I was not sure it was safe. Almost as if reading my thoughts, Marvin approached from the middle of the group and inserted its syringes into the flowing water. The mech whirling picked up and then it sunk the syringes back in the water.

“Water source acceptable. Potable.” Announced the ATC.

The whole group jumped in the lukewarm water of the stream and deactivated their suits, letting it wash the grime and sweat away. There were cheers of joy coming from the others, but I remain vigilant even as I scrubbed the grime and blood of the mutants we had killed. I was downstream of the others, trying to keep the black tinged water that was running off me from covering the Digits.

Koma didn't get in the water, instead he sat on a nearby branch remaining vigilant like me. While I knew that the man-alien had not been completely honest with me, he was incorporating well into the group. Beta and Gamma joked with him, talking while laying on their backs. The older members of the group just sat down, relaxing at the bank of the stream.

While contemplating Koma, I realized I had been distancing myself from the others. Approaching the others, I checked on their overall morale. As expected, the bath everyone was taking, in warm water no less, had skyrocket their moods. The laughter that had been dulled with Eta’s death was back in full force. I was glad that we were moving forward. Even though it had only been a week, our stay on Dun Lund felt like a lifetime. It certainly did for me, what with the mutations and sudden ability to communicate and sense Calforn telepathically.

Usually we kept our breaks to less than thirty minutes, but I let everyone unwind. They deserved it, and with their excellent coordination in the last fight it seemed only fair. While everyone mingled, I hopped up onto Koma’s branch.