Pain. There was nothing but pain.

  (EVOLUTION COMPLETE.)

  Something was licking his fingers. Everything burned. Rolling his head to the side, he opened his eyes to slits, and saw a small, six-legged lizard standing near his hand. It licked its lips, then, still watching his face, leaned down to bite his finger. The sun glinted off the silver and green stripes that covered its body as its tiny needle teeth drew closer to his flesh.

  “No,” he wheezed sharply.

  It jumped a foot into the air, and scampered off.

  Groaning softly, he rolled to his side, and tried to sit up. His left shoulder ached and his insides felt like they were filled with molten lead. A noise to his right, snapped him wide awake. It was the crunch of bones breaking. Turning his head, he saw a large four-legged dinosaur. Surely that’s what it was. It had the elephant skin, the thick muscular legs, and the giant head filled with teeth. Sure, it was a bright purple with neon green stripes, but it just wanted to be fashionable.

  Sliding slowly towards the opening behind him, where the snake had come from, he tried not to draw its attention. He watched it pick up the snake by the tail, and turn to leave. Swallowing, he heard a rustle behind him, from inside the hallow. A trio of smaller snakes slithered out, gazing at him curiously, and he froze.

  Had the evolution with the snake material given him immunity to poison? He couldn’t remember, it was all a haze. Back home, the baby snakes could kill a lot faster because they couldn’t control how much venom they delivered in a bite. These things were bone white, and would have been terrifying without the prior experience with their parent.

  After several minutes passed, and he still didn’t move, they slithered off, leaving the burrow to him. Breathing hard, Dustin began to climb into the cavity between the fallen trees. Every movement hurt, and he wasn’t sure why. Had something burrowed into him while he was out?

  The back of the space was filled with leaf litter, so after resting a few minutes, he began scooping it out, and cleaning up the space. If it started raining, it would flood, so he had to figure out a way to waterproof it, and it would need a door. Hitting the soft dirt, he added a floor to his list. There would be plenty of time for all of that in the next year. The piled debris blocked any thing that tried to look in, from seeing him. For the first time he felt safe.

  His eyes began to droop. Sleep would be good.

  -Dreaming:

  -“I’m so glad that bitch is gone! She was great in bed, but other than her ass, she didn’t have much going for her.” He was talking to another guy on his phone. His girl was gone, having just broken up with him because she didn’t want to have kids. She hadn’t been the first.

  -“She can rot in hell. I’ll find some other chick to have kids with.”

  -The guy on the phone didn’t understand why he wanted kids. There were so many broads out there to bang, why settle down?

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  -“You know me, man, I’ve always wanted kids. I’m not going to be one of those baby daddy men. I want me a woman and a house full of kids.”

  -He turned, suddenly in the living room by the fire, his phone gone. That bitch was back, screaming at him about what a loser he was. A paper appeared in his hand, that showed the confirmation of the abortion she had just gone and done. His hand started shaking.

  “No.” He didn’t want to relive it. But the dream went on.

  -“You are such a dick! No one’s going to settle down for you! You can’t even keep a job!” Her words stung, because it was true. He couldn’t keep a job. They all sucked. The things they all wanted him to do, he didn’t want to do.

  -“I’m going to relish the fact that I just killed your baby! The one thing you’ve ever wanted, other than a piece of ass, was a kid, and you aren’t getting it from me!”

  -“You!” He crumpled the paper, tearing it in his rage and grief. How could she?

  “No!” Still the dream went on.

  -She swung at him, landing a hit on his chin. Almost cracked it. Not getting enough vitamins.

  -He swung back, just to return the favor. But he was stronger. She fell back. It was just a black eye. He didn’t mean for her to die. He never wanted a fireplace anyway!

  Dustin jerked awake, sitting up and hitting his head against the wood log above him with a dull thud. Laying back down, he curled into a ball, and held his head, waiting for the pain to recede. At least he wasn’t bleeding. Why did that god-awful dream keep coming back?

  He had his sneaky suspicions that they had implanted some kind of mental thing while he was in that temporary prison, to make him remember what had happened. Maybe they hoped that if he didn’t die, he would go crazy.

  As the ache faded, he was reminded of the pain he had felt before. It had faded, but was still there. The venom must have caused a lot of internal damage before he went through the evolution. Tapping on the PED, he tried to figure out what abilities he had gotten from the last evolution. It wouldn’t tell him. Gritting his teeth, he grabbed the things that he had taken off the dead hunter.

  The first thing he had grabbed, was a belt full of pockets. The things in the pockets wouldn’t work for him anymore. They were various medicines, pills and herbs, for the Josagn, but his biology had changed so much with all of the alien material, he couldn’t guarantee what would happen if he took any of it. The pouches themselves, though, would come in handy.

  The next thing he had grabbed, was a bag. It would be just as handy as the pouches. Opening it, he was excited to see a variety of food stuff. Pulling a few things out, he immediately began eating it. After the first bite of bread, he stopped. It tasted wrong. Spitting it out, he looked at it in wonder. He had become a carnivore. Looking over the rest of the food, he found with disgust that none of it had any meat. The only thing with protein was a package of beans.

  “Fucking birds,” he muttered, shoving the food back into the bag. Maybe he could use it for bait in a trap.

  The knife he had grabbed, was still plenty sharp, and as he turned it to look at it closer, he saw the makers mark on the handle. If Shapirole made it, then it would take a lot to break it. They always incorporated the best materials into their items. He would know, his father had a knife made by them.

  The last thing he had grabbed, was a bracer, much like his PED. He was hoping that it would help him understand his own, since the company stamp was the same. It didn’t look damaged. Turning it over, he saw, to his amazement, it fit over the top of his own PED. What was a Josagn hunter doing with a PED?

  Fitting it over his, he snapped it into place and turned it on.

  (ACTIVATION SEQUENCE INITIATED. NEW HOST DETECTED. PERSONAL EVOLUTION DEVICE DETECTED. SYNCING TO EVOLUTIONARY DEVICE WILL TAKE 32 MINUTES. ALL PRIOR SAVED DATA WILL BE LOST ON BOTH DEVICES. CONTINUE?)

  Licking his lips, Dustin realized this wasn’t a PED. He didn’t know what it was. Would getting this affect his sentence on this hell planet? He wouldn’t be able to find out what traits he had acquired, if he did this, but it seemed to be some kind of upgrade.

  He had to survive. This thing might give him an advantage, and he couldn’t miss out on that.

  “Continue,” he thought.