Chapter 14: Spirit Shell #Updated was 19#

I watch the ore beasts trample some of the buildings below into the dust. Stampeding still. Then make my way to the wall. It is about 50 feet tall, but with my heightened physical strength, I manage to scramble up onto the lip of the shaft.

Bones tells me they are definitely, mine shafts. He also tells me that they use machines to do all the mining. No slave miners. So no possibility of finding Sam there. This is a bit of a blow. On the other hand I really need to get some clothes before I do meet her. Otherwise, she really won’t let me live it down. Bones informs me that their freight ships are kept within the mine shaft themselves. Not in case of this eventuality but more so for the ease of extracting the ore.

Thinking about it I’m not in to great shape. No med chest to heal me, or even patch me up. No supply of food or water. And not even any clothes. This new body gives me some increased physical stats and toughness but it’s still a wee bit chilly up here.

It is at this point that I think to look at my STATS.

Name: Adam Jacobs

Level: 13

Tier-R

Human 68%

HP

37

MP

0

SP

11622

STR

10

INT

9

SPR

74

DEF

3

MEN

122470

PRISM

122470

AGI

5

MAGI

0

SAGE

115

DEX

4

HEX

0

ESS

57

Abilities: 4 Quests: 2 Titles: 2

“Bones? Care to explain my stats?” I say bewildered at the sudden jump.

“Impressive, isn’t it. The partial fruits of my experiment. But I think it’s going to take some time for me to work out what exactly we can do with this, potential. Actually that’s a bit of an understatement. Remember my experiments with power sources on the ship. Of course you do. Well we have a similar situation here. Lots of juice but no container. And without my state of the art med facilities. You being dead isn’t something I can risk anymore.” Bones said trailing off deep in thought.

“Well I guess being stuck on a seemingly deserted planet gives us time for that. If we don’t die any time soon.” I say trying to be helpful.

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“You’ve given me an idea. I’ll be back in while. Do you think you can make it into the mineshaft without getting killed?” Bones says, his bedside manner not quite levelled up yet.

“Um. Ok”, I say thinking, time for a plan or at least survival.

I make my way down avoiding dropping to my death. Is a bit ominous. It is very, very, deep understandably but as it’s not accessed by humans. I find it hard to work out exactly how to get down into it without falling headfirst into oblivion. I notice a kind of track at regular intervals around the circumference of the shaft and not seeing any traffic of the droid variety.

I make my way perilously down. The track makes a kind of ladder for me. Kind of, in that some of the rungs are too far apart and I have to just drop and catch onto the next one. They cut into my hands and having nothing to wrap them with, start to bleed. This makes it harder going still as they start to cramp. Fortunately, I get to a section where I can move to the side and finally get off. My hands sting like shit and are sliced up pretty bad. Why exactly did I need to come down here?

The actual reason Adam was down a mine shaft was that the AI crew thought it for the best, right now. They had been scared when Adam almost fell after being hit by what was left of the blast wave. The wave would not have killed him but the half a kilometre drop would. As they no longer had a way of instantly healing him. They needed to think of something quick.

I’m in a massive tunnel entrance with many tracks leading off further inside. Emergency lighting, is positioned every ten or so metal support beams, so at least I can see. I think to myself that maybe some humans come down here otherwise why would they need lighting?

“Are I see you’ve made it. Well done. I have some good news and some bad news. Which would you like first?” Bones says for dramatic effect.

“I guess get the bad news over with”, I say as I slump down cradling my hands under my armpits.

“Ok. Bad news is I still haven’t figured out how to do anything much for you. Good news is, I’m having a great time in here. I’ve manage to connect up with my AI buds in here and figure out how to do some cool stuff. Time seems to be very different in here. Unless that is it’s taken you well over half a day to climb down here. I mean I wouldn’t leave you for half a day, don’t get me wrong. I checked up on you every hour or so. But you were just climbing and your stats seemed fine. Did it take you half a day?” Bones queries.

“It feels like less than an hour has gone passed. But having no watch I can’t really be sure.” I reply enjoying the respite from all that climbing. I did feel like it was going on forever but half a day, nope.

“Ok. Let’s do a quick test. Count 60 seconds for me please.” Bones says.

I count to 60 in my head. Then wonder if I should have said it out loud as there is no immediate response from Bones.

“Ok. That’s interesting. Twenty minutes passed in here. Can we try that again?” Bones says far too excitedly.

This continues for a fair while until Bones can’t evidently think of anything else to try and I’m ready to get up and about.

“Final results. With all our cores linked in here we can produce an effective time dilation effect of 500. Not sure what that means right now. But it’s got to be useful down the line, right. Keep up the old morale, and all that.” Bones says tentatively.

I park my questions and make my way down the tunnel. I’m glad the time dilation isn’t 500 permanently. I can imagine how much he would bug me all the time. The tracks seem to go on forever. Feeling like I have Déjà vu of my first time on ship, traipsing down the endless corridors.

I don’t feel thirsty or hungry. In fact I feel surprisingly, comfortable? I notice that my skin is no longer feels like its burning. My heat resistance passive is only 1%. So don’t think it’s that. Has my Acclimatization Ability finally started working? Or maybe it’s my Absorb skill helping? I have absolutely no idea. I think about lots of things. What Sam may be up to?

“Firstly, your Absorb ability is only level 5, so you can’t really expect much can you? Must be Acclimatization. Secondly, no point thinking about…things. Best distract yourself. Why don’t we go exploring. A little?” Says Bones, helpfully.

He’s right so I shut those thoughts down and start planning. I have little to plan as I have little in the way of resources. In fact, I wonder how clever it was to come into this stupid pit. If I’d made my way back I might have better luck trying to find another forest. Alien or not a forest has got to have trees. And trees means wood. And wood means shelter. Unless there all burnt down of course..

My mind wanders aimlessly until it gets back on track and I start to think about what Bones said. And then think of using the resource I do have. Bones.

“So Bones. What can you do at the moment? I mean outside the spirit shell.” I query.

“Oh, hello. I can do all the stuff I could do before. And more. I can now sense every part of your being. Before it was just your mind, I had access to.

Now I can sense everything in great detail. Your physical body, your thousands of mental channels and the connections with your spirit shell. I have got a whole ton of spirit energy but trying to channel it would completely burn out your channels. So I can’t actually effect anything without risking killing you. Which would have been fine before, but now.” Bones trails off.

“Bones, you can’t effect my actual senses but can you feed me enhanced sensory information. Like pin point sounds I wouldn’t otherwise notice? I don’t know I’m just racking my brain to think of how you might be able to improve my situation.” I ramble.

“I could maybe pick out sounds you wouldn’t notice.” Bones replies.

We both lapse into silence as neither has any answers right now, it seems.

“Ok. That was actually a good idea. I can hear the sound of something possibly water seeping down from above.” Bones says.

I follow Bone’s directions until with a, splut! My footfalls find water. Water! or at least the chance of it. I swipe some of the liquid onto my, no longer, calloused fingers. My cuts are all healed, it seems.

“You do know that could be anything. Excrement. Ore beast saliva. Don’t touch it!” Bones says frantically.

“Hey, Bones I seem to have accelerated healing, well fast HP regen at the very least.” I say kind of dazed.

“Ah, that’s good to hear. Good to hear.” says Bones, clearly deep in thought. Bones is panicking.

“I idly tramp around trying to find the source of the water. Where has my sense of urgency gone to? I don’t really feel angst about anything. Maybe it’s because things seem out of my control? No that’s not it. The system is messing with my head. Acclimatization?

I still don’t fancy trying to go back up top. My efforts are not in vain but I see I have a competitor. A small ore beast is finding sustenance. I find a large rock and brain it, killing it instantly. It had found a tiny pool where water was gathering at the side of the tunnel. I sit down near the puddle. Lay my head against the rock which is pleasantly warm down here. I lay back to catch forty winks.