Chapter 5C: Credits

Why do humans always strive to explore the unknown? Is it because once something is known, it is no longer something to be afraid of? Which brings us to this point, is knowledge indeed power?

Questions that are asked yet remained vague unanswered.

“I’m far too busy to hold your hand through it all, so if you want to join the ARK program, read this book,” Dr. Ptah said as he hands out a small book to everyone.

The cover reads ‘The Cipolla Survival Guide.’

“What’s this?” Someone asked. But before they got an answer, Dr. Ptah already left. His six arms were busy typing up something on his holographic, no longer paying any attention to the teens.

“This…,” The teens were half shocked at such negligence.

Alex flipped open the book and read the abstract.

“My story is a short one. I wish I had the time to tell it, but as oxygen levels drop inside this metal undersea deathtrap, I fear my time is coming to an end. Know that this book is written by the great explorer/survivalist Lou Cipolla. I shall pass on as much of my knowledge as I can before my timely demise.”

Alex closed the book. Although unusual, it currently wasn’t the best place to get lost in a good read.

The other teens looked uninterested at the book, then started to converse with each other. No one approached Alex as she was immediately an outcast. Noticing the situation, Alex walked away from the group toward her friends.

It would seem the other three groups were still engaged in an extensive Q&A session with their professors.

Realizing there was nothing else she could do, she walked back to the elevator and went up to her room.

Sitting on the comfortable couch, she opened up the book again and began to read.

“Chapter 1: The Basic Humans Needs.”

“Humans need several basic things to survive. Food, Water, Oxygen, and shelter from the environments. These few things are the most important when concerning survival. Ironic that I am currently going to die from oxygen deprivation, but irony aside, remember those things.”

Alex smiled at the witty writing of a man in peril. At least the author kept his sense of humor even in death’s embrace.

“A person can survive a month without food, a day without water, and ten minutes without oxygen. Those are just averages; some may survive longer, some fewer. But overall, people have limitations. Don’t trust those crazed Buddhist monks who make people think they can survive off dew and air alone. Those insane bastards are pretty much half walking mummies full of nothing but soy and tofu.”

Alex stopped for a moment. Food was something she associated with nutrient bars. She hasn't really had anything else other than that her entire life. All of the people on the ships lived off of them. This book surely must be ancient if it speaks of foodstuffs.

“The money in your pocket isn’t edible. Use it for fuel if it’s ignitable. Finding edible food may be difficult, ignore it for now if there are no nearby visible food source. The first thing you must do is find water. Listen around for the sound of running water. If you can find running water, you are good to go.”

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Alex now realized, although the book has chapters, the information was not organized. It really did seem like the man was trying to cram everything he knew before his end.

“Always find flowing water. Stagnant water has a higher chance of housing harmful pathogens. You do not want to have irritable bowels in a survival situation. If you can get a container and a fire pit going, boil the water. First, find a smooth rock, heat it up in the fire, and then drop it into the container of water. This is a fast way of boiling the water to kill off germs.”

Alex kept on reading for a very long time. By the time she finally put down the small book, the sky was pitch black, and the city was glowing bright neon. Her stomach protested at the lack of sustenance. She looked over and saw the AI already placed a nutrient bar and a glass of water on the end table on the side of the couch. She nibbled at the bar as she read the final lines of the book.

“Air close to zero. This will be my final words before my mind become too blurry to continue writing. If anyone were to find my notes, please, help me publish them. Let humanity continue to survive in the cruel unknown. Good luck and Godspeed, fellow humankind.”

The book ends with a summary of what happened next.

The great explorer died on that submarine. After a week of search, the rescue crew found the sunken vessel and retrieved his corpse, still clutched to his notebook. The notebook was placed carefully in a sealed bag with his will. The book was published a month later to very little acclaim. Soon the book was forgotten and joined the countless others in the library of humanity. Only once humans started to explore the unknown was it needed again.

Alex took a deep breath after absorbing all that knowledge. Thankfully, her memory was pretty good. She would be able to memorize many vital points after a few more reads.

A knock at the door woke her up from her daze. It was Nell and the others.

“Hey Alex! How did your meeting go?” She asked excitedly.

“The professor was very…interesting,” Alex sighed. “He told us our task, gave us a book then just left.”

The other three was shocked. It seemed this kind of negligence wasn’t typical.

“My professor was interesting too!” Nell said. “The guy was HUGE! Like a moving mountain of muscle! But ironically, he specialized in Human Resources.”

“HR? That’s…”

“I know right? You would have thought the guy was in the military, but he only looks like he can rip security droids up with his bare hands. In person, he is a very outgoing social butterfly!”

“Can’t judge a book by its cover,” Kurt shivered.

“What about your professor?” Alex asked Kurt.

“She’s…a monster,” Kurt turned pale at the thought. “A complete cold, heartless monster. The torture of a boot camp she has set up for us military people looked like it was the seven levels of hell itself.”

The other three patted Kurt’s back in encouragement with pity in their eyes.

“What about yours?” Alex asked Ruri.

“W-we got along well,” Ruri said shyly.

The others sighed. Ruri’s professor was the newly recruited professor. She was just as shy as Ruri.

“She is a pro at logistics,” Ruri said with a glimmer in his eye. It would seem he looked up to her.

“Anyways, we should go out and enjoy the evening!” Nell suddenly wanted to drag everyone outside.

“But what about the ARK program registration?” Alex asked.

“Didn’t your professor tell you? It takes an entire week to go through that,” Kurt said.

“An entire week?” Alex questioned.

“Yea, it’s supposed to be a test before we enter the test. Funny if you think about it.”

“It’s sort of like a pre-test…” Ruri sighed. “My professor said it isn’t a written test but a practical one. I’m no good at practical tests…”

“Are we allowed to help?” Alex asked.

“No, my professor said it’s a solo test,” Nell answered. “He didn’t give much detail on the test, but he did say prepare to be tortured.”

“Oh did you hear? Once you pass the registration, you get access to the ARK program network. Where they show news, weather, and sports from the ARK worlds.”

“Yea, I heard they have some amazing entertainments. Something that seemed like fantasy!” Nell said then sighed, “If it didn’t take so long for the registration, we would have done it tonight.”

Alex suddenly remembered about her purpose for wanting to join the ARK program.

“Credits,” She said.

“Yeah, credits…We are extremely poor huh?” Nell sighed as she remembered the prices they saw while shopping yesterday.

“Let’s go; I heard there’s a movie theatre down south a few blocks. We can enjoy the evening view as we walk.”

The teens enjoyed their youth while they can. Because soon, hell shall descend upon their unsuspecting lives.