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[JE-TECH HYDRA VER 3.4 22.103
[BEGIN BOOT SEQUENCE]
[CODEX DIAGNOSTICS…ACTIVE]
[SYSTEMS SECURITY…ACTIVE]
[INFORMATION…LOADED]
[CODEX ACTIVE]
[USER: UNKNOWN]
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My story began the same way that all great tales begin: waking up with no memory of who I was, flashing red lights alerting me to an emergency, and plummeting towards an unknown planet.
I was seated on a hard, cold chair with a rubber restraining arm that snaked out in front of me, keeping me safely secured in the chair through all the turbulence that rocked the capsule. At least, I figured it was a capsule. It took a while, but I was eventually able to get my bearings and look around to try and understand the shitshow I found myself in.
I was in a room with curved and metallic walls, blinking lights, and a small window in front of me that framed an endless expanse of stars.
The disorientation of the entire situation was overwhelming. When I tried grasping at memories, at any fragment of my identity, I found that my mind was a blank slate. Have you ever woken with a start, fumbling with questions of who you were and how you got there?
That was me.
Panic started settling in and I could feel my heartbeat in my eyes. It pumped with the same rhythm as the alarm that sounded through the small capsule that I found myself stuck in. Before I could fully process everything and figure out how screwed I was, the capsule lurched violently and I was thrown back against my seat, my heart pounding in my chest.
Gravity pulled at me, narrowing my vision to a small cone that extended only so far in front of me. I could still barely see through the window that showed a planet looming ahead and noticed that it was growing larger and more detailed by the second.
Okay. I’m falling.
No. I was plummeting through the atmosphere of an unknown world. The realization of that fact was a cold shock to my system. My breath came in ragged gasps as I stared out at the planet below, its vast landscape rushing up to meet me. The atmosphere outside the capsule morphed from the blackness of space to a fiery inferno of friction as we tore through the upper layers of the atmosphere. The heat shield – how did I know what a heat shield was and not my own name? – must have been doing its job because the capsule didn’t burst into flames. It did get uncomfortably hot as we fell through the atmosphere, but I put the fact that I wasn’t currently boiling alive in the win column. In the lose column was the fact that the noise in the capsule was a deafening roar that slowly drowned out all the thoughts racing through my brain.
With a bone-jarring impact, the capsule hit the ground. I was thrown forward, my momentum stopped by the rubber restraints of the chair digging into my torso and shoving me back. For a brief moment, everything was still. The roaring had stopped, only to be replaced by an eerie silence.
My left ear was pained from where I had smacked my head against the restraints holding me down. My chest was bruised from where the rubber bar had stopped me from spilling out of the chair. I pawed at the restraints keeping me prisoner and finally managed to unlock them. I fell from the chair, got unsteadily to my feet, and then stumbled over to a small door in the capsule wall.
I pushed it open, and the door swung outwards, throwing me off balance. I ended up tumbling from the capsule, landing on soft, moss-covered ground. My body ached at having been restrained in a chair and falling through the air, so I figured it would be a good time to simply lay there for a moment and stare up at the unfamiliar sky.
The air was thick with the scent of strange plants and a host of unfamiliar sounds that surrounded me – chirps, rustles, and distant calls of animals. The planet’s alien sky was a faint shade of purple that didn’t look completely incongruous with what I expected. What did I expect? Had I ever seen a sky before? Two moons hung low on the horizon, visible despite the fact there was still daylight out. Shifting my head around I could see towering trees with iridescent leaves and flowers that faintly glowed in the dim light.
Disoriented and confused, I struggled to my feet, feeling the soft moss give way under my bare toes. My legs were shaky, and I could still feel the residual effects of whatever journey I had just been on. I took a deep breath, hoping to steady myself, and looked over at the capsule I had fallen out of.
It was a mangled wreck. Smoke curled up from the charred remains, and I eyed the extent of damage from the crash. If I didn’t know any better, it might have seemed like my survival was a small miracle. But looking closer at the capsule I noticed it had been built in layers. The outer layer had crumpled easily to ensure the inner layer – my haven for the ride down – managed to reach the planet safely.
I glanced down at myself, noticing for the first time the thin cotton shorts I was wearing. They were pale blue, flimsy, and felt out of place on this strange alien planet – almost like something you’d wear in a hospital. How did I know what a hospital was? How did I know they gave you cheap gowns and clothes?
I had no clue where I was other than on some strange alien planet. I had no clue who I was other than some dude who had plummeted from the sky and was now standing in the middle of a forest, half-naked. Questions surrounding my identity buzzed in my head like an insistent insect, refusing to be swatted away.
I tried grasping at any memories, but there weren’t any; no name, no history, just a void where my past should be. The only thing I knew was that I had woken up a few minutes ago, fell from space in a small metal capsule, and was now standing on an unknown world in nothing but a pair of flimsy cotton shorts.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
I stepped back into the capsule and looked around, hoping to find some clues that might tell me who I was, or at the very least find a survival kit that could help me on this strange planet. There was nothing in the capsule but the chair I had been strapped into and a strange footlocker bolted to the wall. I pried it open to peek inside but found it strangely empty.
Nothing. Nothing I could use to help me survive.
How was I meant to get out of here? Where even was here? Where did I come from and where do I go? Strange planet, strange animals, strange sky, no idea what I was meant to do or how I’d live beyond the next couple of hours.
Questions of survival gnawed at me as I stepped back outside the capsule and took in my surroundings. I didn’t have any experience to draw on. I had no survival skills that I could remember. The enormity of the situation started pressing down on me, making it hard to breathe.
At thoughts of survival, a sharp pain exploded in my head, dropping me to my knees. I clutched at my temples, gasping as black lines skittered across my vision. The pain intensified and it was all I could do to stay conscious through the entire ordeal. I jammed my fingernails in my palms to try and draw my attention away from the pain rushing through my head. It felt like my body was breaking. A searing agony screamed through my skull and made it feel like it was about to be split open. Then, just as abruptly as it began, the pain faded, leaving me panting and trembling in the soft moss.
[CODEX ACTIVATED]
[SURVIVAL INFORMATION DOWNLOADED]
What the hell?
I managed to roll to my back on the moss next to the capsule and just lay there, trying to catch my breath and gather my wits. In the aftermath of the headache, I felt…different. Information flooded into my brain, overwhelming me with its volume and clarity. It was as if an entire encyclopedia had been downloaded directly into my brain, and the entire process had left me sweating and in pain.
Survive.
A small voice in the back of my mind told me I needed to survive. And for that, I required three things: water, food, and shelter.
I twisted my head, searching for any high ground near me that I could climb so I could find fluvial depressions. Once I found that, I’d follow it downhill and hopefully find a source of fresh water. Maybe it would lead to a small stream or something.
The moment that thought entered my mind I forced myself to step back, stunned at the information I was drawing on. How did I know what a fluvial depression was? Why did I know that it was a scar in the terrain caused by erosion from a river? Where was all this information coming from?
With a prodigious effort I shook those questions out of my mind and pushed myself up off the mossy ground. I needed to get going. I needed to find water, and I wasn’t going to find it by sitting at the capsule. A small incessant voice pushed me to go in the direction I began to think of as north, and I cautiously started walking away from the capsule.
My first few steps were tentative as I navigated the odd, uneven terrain. The moss cushioned my feet, but sharp rocks and twigs occasionally jabbed at me, causing sharp pangs of discomfort. The thought of finding a stream drove me forward; the promise of fresh water was way too critical for my survival to just ignore, and the longer I walked, the more I wanted to find a stream simply so I could dunk myself in the water. A nice cooling bath would do wonders to calm me down.
As I walked further away from the capsule that had carried me to this alien world, my mind was still reeling from the flood of information that had accompanied the headache. I tried letting my attention wander to the landscape around me since it was both mesmerizing and unfamiliar. Towering trees draped in twisting vines and leaves of every conceivable color dotted the horizon. Strange flowers, glowing with iridescent hues, scattered about the ground, casting a soft luminescence in the dim light.
After half a day of traveling, my hunger began to gnaw at me, making the need for food almost as urgent as my quest for water. I kept an eye out for any bushes or trees or animals as I pushed my way forward.
Eventually, I stumbled into a small clearing that was dominated by a bush with vibrant purple leaves and clusters of bright blue berries glistening against the leaves’ colorful backdrop. Relief surged through me as I realized I wasn’t going to starve to death.
I walked over to the bush and reached out with a hand to pluck a few of the berries, but then I hesitated.
What if these berries were poisonous? How could I be sure they were safe to eat? The thought of writhing in agony and curling up into a fetal position from eating toxic berries flashed through my mind.
A sharp, searing pain exploded in my head once more, making me stagger back as dark lines and symbols streaked across my vision. The pain was intense but shorter-lived compared to the previous episode that had dropped me to my knees near the capsule.
[AZUREBERRY BUSH]
The Azureberry Bush is a resilient, small plant found in diverse environments, from dense forests to open meadows. Standing about three feet tall, its branches are adorned with glossy, vibrant purple leaves. Its most distinguishing feature are the clusters of bright blue berries which sparkle like tiny sapphires in the sunlight. The berries are not only delicious, but they are also highly nutritious, making them a valuable resource for travelers and adventurers.
Information flooded into my mind, making my head feel stuffy and heavy. When the sensation passed, I cautiously plucked a few berries and tasted them. Whatever the codex was, and however it was giving me this information, it claimed the berries were safe to eat. I decided to trust the information and bit into the berries, finding them tart but unmistakably edible. I spent the next fifteen minutes grabbing as many berries as I could and shoveling them into my mouth since I didn’t have a container to carry them.
After devouring the berries, I resumed my trek through the countryside, eager to speed up my search for water. It was a need that buzzed incessantly in my mind, pushing me to quicken my pace and try to find a stream or river or something.
As I sped up, a small voice in the back of my mind started screaming at me, trying to warn me to slow down. I pushed it aside and started to break into a job, but as soon as I raced ahead the annoying voice got louder and more persistent. It was almost…instinctual in nature. It whispered in my mind, letting me know that I needed to take it slow in this unfamiliar terrain.
I hesitated and slowed my walk to a crawl and the voice dimmed. Why can’t I rush? Why can’t I race forward in search of water? Where’s the danger here? What am I missing?
I came to a stop and started scanning the terrain around me. There weren’t any signs of large creatures that were stalking me. There weren’t any animal tracks or anything telling me that large predators were in the area. I looked up to the sky and couldn’t find any birds that might swoop down on me. I kept glancing around and, eventually, my eyes landed on a small mound of dirt that I’d earlier dismissed as a minor irregularity in the terrain.
Something about the dirt mound was unsettling now. I crouched down and focused my attention on the pile of dirt, trying to understand why the voice in the back of my head was throwing off warnings about it. It was a few dozen feet ahead of me, and as I leaned forward to get a closer look, black lines streaked across my vision and my mind was flooded with information. There wasn’t any stabbing pain that forced me to my knees this time, just a bunch of words that overlayed my vision.
[MYRMIDON NEST]
A dangerous species of ant-like insects native to this world, Myrmidons are known for their aggressive behavior and gruesome feeding habits. These subterranean predators burrow into the skin of their victims to feed on their bones. Myrmidons vary in size from as small as a thumbnail to as large as a human child’s fist. Highly territorial, they will attack any intruder that comes close to their nest, sensing vibrations and movements from a distance, making them especially perilous to unsuspecting travelers.
The information sent a chill down my spine, and I realized how narrowly I had avoided stepping into a deadly trap. The mound, which I had initially overlooked, was a nest that teemed with dangerous creatures. It was only the instinctive warning from the voice in the back of my mind that had alerted me to the danger.
I carefully backed away from the mound and scanned the rest of the terrain, trying to spot any more of the myrmidon nests. When I couldn’t see any from where I stood, I resumed my journey, this time at a slower and more deliberate pace.
Each step I took was measured, my eyes contantly bouncing along the terrain, scanning for threats or signs of danger. The voice in the back of my head remained silent as I moved.
Questions started swirling in my head about the codex. What was it? How did I suddenly possess knowledge without having any memories about how I acquired it? What was the voice in the back of my mind? It seemed to have my best interests at heart, but I didn’t like trusting something I couldn’t see.
Despite running through the questions in my mind for hours, only one certainty emerged: I needed to find water, and I needed to find it soon.
The human body can survive for three days without water, but that rule of thumb depended on several factors. How much are you sweating? What environmental conditions are you enduring? A humid climate – exactly like the one I found myself in – would cause a person to sweat and lose more water.
Which begged the question: how long did I have to find something to drink?