N5, Life Decisions

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

I was eating. I had finally found a passable source of food. It was those crabs, but not just any crab roaming the underground hallways. These crabs were coming out of a small hole, a tiny rectangular gap at the bottom of the wall. They came out at irregular intervals and had a different color than the others, their shells were whitish and slightly transparent. They seemed to be newborns and were a lot softer than the gray ones.

‘I wonder if they are born to a tiny version of that dreadful nursery.’

The thought sent a shiver down my spine, I had been reborn again inside one of those disgusting sacks and had fled the place as soon as I was on my feet, I didn’t want to meet those black tentacles again.

Since then I had been wandering the corridors and forcing my mind to make a mental map of the place. I was finally beginning to find my way reliably. I felt that little by little I would be able to survive longer down here.

‘If only I wasn’t a rat.’

I had already come to terms with the fact that I would die again, I was far too weak and the hallways were full of dangers, what’s more, it was probably a necessary step to become human again.

Since I was reborn I had been thinking about the nursing sacks. Until now I had been revived a few times as a rat, and I was wondering if the other animals around were born in the same way.

‘It would be wonderful if there is one that gives birth to humans.’

That was wishful thinking, but in my mind, an idea had been flourishing. Maybe there were other nurturing rooms giving birth to different species, so there was a possibility that I could be revived as a different creature. The problem was that I didn’t know the conditions for my reincarnation. Perhaps it was dependent on which birthing room was nearby, or maybe there was something completely different that decided I would always be reborn as a rat.

Anyway, I had decided that it needed more research, I would go looking around for other birthing rooms, and if I found one rising a different animal I would try sticking around it, especially if it was a strong one. If I was lucky in my next life I wouldn’t be a rat anymore.

…

‘So this one has rats too.’

I had been looking around for more nurseries but I had only found rat ones, this was the third one I discovered. I didn’t dare to go inside the rooms, so I waited outside, waiting for a creature to come out of them, the process was quite tedious, but at least I had time to think and lick some nearby crabs while I waited.

Honestly, I wasn’t very surprised with my findings. There were only rats around here, so it was quite obvious the animals in the sacks would be all rats.

‘I will be screwed if all nurseries are the same.’

If I were unable to find a nursery that gave birth to a different animal I could be trapped in a rat body all my life.

‘All my lives, ugh.’

The more I thought about it the more worried I was… That’s why I had to believe that wasn't the case! Perhaps there were different animals inside the sacks. Maybe a nursery could give birth to more than one kind of creature, if that was the case I only needed to die a lot of times until I was eventually reborn as something else.

‘Actually, that’s only slightly better than being a rat forever.’

As my mind was occupied with depressing thoughts I saw the newborn rat roam away. I decided to stop licking a crab and went on to explore the other sewer-like tunnels in the hallway.

There were probably no more nurseries nearby, they seemed to be spread evenly and at quite some distance from each other. Even so, I kept scouting all the holes I came by, hoping to find something interesting.

‘Hopefully something tasty.’

Maybe I should change my search area, but I thought my work here wouldn’t be wasted. If I were to only find normal rat nurseries, that was alright. Knowing where they were might come useful later. I could even find some patterns for where they were located.

After spotting a couple more rat nurseries I finally found something that could be useful.

‘It’s quite spacious.’

It was a room like the others I had found, but there wasn’t a cluster of sacks inside it. I noticed that the back wall was broken and that there was fallen debris on the floor.

‘I bet there used to be a nursery here.’

This place could come in handy later. It had a small entrance and with some effort, I could use the debris to block it. If I ever found extra food or something useful I could store it here, the only problem was that I would have to kick out a couple of rats that were sleeping inside.

I forced my mind to remember the general location of the room. Luckily it was on the edge of the area I was more or less familiar with. I left the sleeping rodents alone and kept going down the hallway.

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‘Um, I guess I should search this area next.’

The passageways ahead were outside of my explored zone, those big buff rats appeared from here on and with some luck, I could find their birthing place. I hastened my pace, excited by the prospect of getting a decent body.

‘Well, just a little better.’

I soon checked all the sewer tunnels in the corridor and proceeded to the next one. Not long after I encountered another nursery that didn’t look any different from the previous ones. It had the same furry sacks, of the same size and in the same quantities. I found a crab to lick and waited for a creature to appear.

‘I hope something comes out soon.’

I didn’t know how much time it took for the big rats to be born, but looking at their numbers and their size it was probably they were born at a much slower pace than the normal ones. I didn’t want to keep watch for days in this dangerous hallway and chose to hide in a nearby tunnel.

‘I may doze out here.’

I had tasted a dozen crabs or so inside my shelter when a normal rat came out of the room. I was a bit disappointed and decide to move on, chances were no big rats were born here.

I scouted a few more nurseries after that, but all of them were the same, there was no trace of one that raised big rats and I was already quite deep in unknown territory, at least I had slept a bit in the meantime and I wasn’t especially hungry.

After walking some more I reached a big chamber. In front of me, the path split into several hallways. I took a look at the chalk signs on the wall. I had learned some new ones since last time, like the one for a dead end, and I somehow understood some others meant distances.

Now I needed to choose what to do. ‘Hmm, should I go back for now or should I try my luck?’

I didn’t want to die due to a hasty decision. I might have to end my life if I wanted to get a better body, but I would choose the time and place. I couldn’t risk it when the conditions for my rebirth were unclear. My lives could be numbered, I maybe needed to be close to a nursery or there could be an interval after my previous death when I wouldn’t revive.

‘If there is an interval it’s quite short.’ I thought depressed about my previous experiences.

I checked the different symbols, one of the hallways led to a place with lizards while another one would take me to an area with dogs.

‘Or are they wolves?’

It didn’t matter, I had to pick one of them and try to locate their birthing place, the other option was to go back and keep wasting time as a hungry rat. I had already seen the lizards, I considered them a step above normal rats when it came to strength, as for the dogs, I had no idea.

‘I prefer the dogs... or wolves.’

I found the dogs more appealing, they were probably faster and more nimble than the lizards, also, if I ended up discovering a way out of the underground hallways I would fit better with the surface environment. I might even be tolerated by the humans if I looked like a mutt!

‘Also, lizards look dumber than rats.’

With a decision made, I cautiously headed in the direction the signs pointed. These underground hallways were monotonous, I didn’t find any difference from all the others I had explored before. The same gloomy atmosphere, the same stone walls with sewer-like tunnels and moss growing high in the damp rocks. After walking for so long all of them started to look the same to me.

I had already adapted a little to this place, and with the discovery that I could come back to life my fear had loosened a bit, even then I was nervous, the perspective of dying was never pleasant.

‘Specially if it means being eaten alive.’

If a beast killed me before I spotted their nurturing room I might have to start from the beginning.

‘Or hopefully, I will revive as a dog.’

Truthfully I didn’t know what would happen, I had no guarantee that I wouldn’t die for real, but this was the best method I could think about.

A few hallways later I saw a new creature, it looked like a slender, dark brown dog with short fur with a long thin tail, which resembled more that of a cat than a dog.

‘That thing is more than twice my height.’ I noted worriedly.

Not only that, it indeed looked fast and nimble. Thankfully I was peeking from a corner, so it hadn’t noticed me yet. Now the problem was that I had no way around it, and I didn’t know if it would attack me on sight, for once I wished there was a rat nearby.

‘This thing… is quite scary.’

I decided I wasn’t prepared to die yet and started to retreat. I was already musing about alternative paths when the beast turned the corner, sniffing.

‘Shit! It smelled me.’

I reacted quickly and started to flee at full speed, this was my specialty now.

I had run a few meters when the dog started to pursue me. I could tell the beast was faster than me, but I had the small hope I could reach one of the small sewer-like tunnels before it was too late.

‘C’mon!’

I was doing my best, but despite its late start, the dog caught up to me in no time. I had no time to reach a tunnel. I already knew what was coming next.

“Groarr!”

With a powerful bite, the beast grabbed me by the neck. Its momentum dragged me across the floor, scratching my belly. Finally, I got pinned down near the wall, unable to breathe. I tried to struggle as the pain in my throat and my lungs increased but the dog didn’t budge at all. I couldn’t think clearly anymore, but I understood this was the end.