A rich aroma of cooked food roused Zack from his slumber. The savory smell was warm and comforting, though hard to place specifically. Whatever it was, it had caught the full attention of Zack's nose. His stomach gurgled and groaned in protest at not having any food to digest. His stomach fought with his brain, as the soft inviting blankets of his bed combined with his absolute exhaustion seemed to demand more rest. Eventually, the stomach won as he stirred from his resting position and struggled to weakly prop himself into a sitting position, his muscles protesting at the sudden activity.
The soft teal blanket he was wrapped in fell into his lap as he sat up, leaning against what appeared to be a headboard of a simple wooden bed frame that he found himself laying in. His eyes slowly adjusted to the dimly lit room as he thought about his current situation. The last thing he remembered was waking up in some sort of metallic pod, covered both inside and out with some foul smelling gel. He was naked and weak, and didn't even have the strength to stand. A group had discovered him, draped a blanket over him, and carried him presumably to the place he was now.
He looked down at his frail body in the bed. His thin arms had barely any fat or muscle on them. It appeared at some point, someone must have dressed him, as he was covered in an oversized simple nightgown-like garment. He lifted the collar and looked at his emaciated body within. Zack thought back to how he always had a fairly average physique. His current state was far from what he was used to. It seemed to explain the constant fatigue and difficulty moving around, at least.
He turned his examination outwards to his surroundings. It looked like he was in some sort of large rustic cabin. The undecorated walls and floors were made of solid wood with no visible seams. The room he was in was rather plain with the bed he was laying in, a small end table, a wooden dresser, a simple wooden desk and chair. Both the end table and the desk had lamps with globes providing a soft warm glow that cast a comforting light over the windowless room. A narrow corridor looked like it could lead to a different section of the dwelling.
The sound of shuffling came from the corridor. As it grew louder, so did the intense aroma of the food. Zack shifted uncomfortably in the bed trying to position himself to better see down the corridor, but only a few paces out from the main wall of the room, there appeared to be a ninety-degree turn. He considered getting out of the bed to look, but thought better of it after considering his weakened state. Instead, he called out hoarsely, his vocal chords crackling like dry paper.
"Excuse me, is someone there?"
The reply came in the same sing-song language he heard when he was being carried away, followed by some soft footsteps. A tall, slender woman with a youthful face appeared from the hallway holding a wooden bowl. Her long platinum blonde hair framed her delicate face. Her long bangs came just short of her sparkling deep blue eyes, which were like sapphires. Her delicate features contributed to her youthful appearance. She was wearing a simple, unadorned, lavender tunic that ended just below her hips and taupe slacks that flared out just above her bare ankles and feet. She said something again in that language he couldn't place, and smiled at him raising the bowl out towards him.
"I, well, yeah, I'm pretty hungry actually. I can't even remember the last time I ate. But, you're being awfully kind to some stranger. Are you sure it's alright, I mean? Uh, it looks like I lost my P.E.D., I can't transfer you any credits right now." Zack stammered at the beauty before him.
She cocked her head to the side and stared at him inquisitively for a few seconds before decisively marching up to him and placing the bowl in his hands, then stepping back a few paces and paused, waiting for him.
Zack was so entranced by the smell of the dish in front of him that he didn't really have much reaction to what just took place. He just sat there and stared at the food for a moment then looked back up to her. "If you insist, I'll pay you back when I can. Thank you very much." he stated before looking back down into the bowl. It appeared to be some sort of mushroom dish wrapped in leafy greens. He couldn't readily identify any of the ingredients, but his nose and stomach wouldn't allow him to hesitate anymore. He gingerly picked up one of the three bundles of greens and carefully bit into it, making sure not to spill any of the contents on his bedsheets.
It was the most delicious thing Zack had ever tasted in his life. At least, that's what his stomach was telling him. He tried to think back to the last thing he ate but couldn't quite remember it. In fact, he didn't actually remember much, now that he thought about it. He certainly didn't remember why he was in that strange metallic pod in the middle of some strange clearing. He remembered having a P.E.D., the Personal Electronic Device that everyone used for pretty much everything these days. Heck, if he had his P.E.D. with him, this strange language barrier wouldn't be a problem either. But when he emerged from the pod, he was naked with no clothing or possessions.
"This is delicious! Thank you so much." Zack exclaimed before sullenly adding, "Well, I guess there's not much point. I mean, I can't understand you, and you can't understand me. Still, all the same, thank you for the food."
The woman cocked her head at him again and softly spoke, "Understand." Her accent was odd and she seemed to struggle with the word.
It wasn't until she cocked her head to the side and her hair fell just right that he noticed something off about the woman. Where her ears should be... well, they were there, but they weren't like any human ears he had ever seen. His mind went back to popular fiction. He remembered those stories at least, it's weird how there were so many gaps in his memory but other things he could remember.
"Wait a minute... You're... an elf?" Zack asked, surprised. "Do not tell me this is all some sort of weird dream.", he added, thinking back to the types of stories he'd often read. Her ears were long, narrow, and pointy., They weren't quite like what he had seen in popular media, but the closest analog he could come up with was an elf. It would certainly match her youthful appearance as well. But, that was all fantasy.
The woman straightened up and continued to watch him. She said something again in that language he couldn't understand. He thought he heard the words "elf" and "understand" mixed in there somewhere, but the flow of words coming from her mouth was all strung together so tightly, it was hard to make out.
Zack sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry, I can't understand that. I guess you don't speak English? Well, I'm going to finish eating this, if that's alright.", he looked down at the two remaining wraps in the bowl and then had a thought, "Actually, um, this is a lot for me, would you like one too?". Zack raised the bowl and gestured to her. He wasn't particularly truthful, he could have easily finished all three in one go, the rich savory taste of the mushroom combined with the crisp freshness of the greens with just a hint of sweetness was amazing. However, he felt bad accepting such hospitality from a total stranger.
The woman strode back up to Zack's bedside and carefully picked up one of the wraps, leaving the last one and the bowl to Zack and stepping back some distance. She continued to try to talk to him, and again Zack didn't understand a word. "Uh, thanks again and all. But again, I can't understand you. Well, anyway, my name is Zack." he said, jabbing a thumb to his chest before reaching in for the final mushroom wrap.
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"Zack..." the woman started slowly, then started rapid-firing more of her unknown language. She stopped to look at the confused look on Zack's face before very slowly and deliberately saying, "Zack. Understand. Lea." she motioned to herself and started eating her own mushroom wrap.
"Whoa, how on Earth do you... no, really, you don't speak English at all, but you were able to pick that out, huh? That's pretty impressive. Lea, was it? Well, thanks for the food Lea. And, uh, everything, I guess." Zack added as he gestured at the bed, the blanket, and the clothes covering him, looking slightly embarrassed. "I guess I owe you quite a lot."
He seemed unusually energetic after eating just a small amount of food.
They ate in an awkward silence for a few moments. Concluding her meal, Lea timidly looked side to side, then down at her hands, then back up to Zack. She approached him again, and Zack, figuring she was going to take the empty bowl, lifted it up for her, only to start in surprise as she reached past the bowl and gently held him by the wrists.
Lea whispered something and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. That same warm feeling that Zack had back when he was being carried back to shelter on his litter filled him, a wave of drowsiness fell over him and he slumped in the bed. Just as he was starting to lose consciousness, he thought he heard a voice, "Zack, please stay calm. I can't understand your language, but the
Zack slowly woke back up and reeled at the experience. What had just happened? He had an awareness of everything she had said, or was it a dream? It was so hazy, as if he didn't have full control of his own mind, and that was absolutely terrifying. That kind of power brought certain memories back to him. Those memories were ones that filled him with dread.
He thought back to the experiments that were being done before... before... something. His memory was still hazy. There were experiments on humans though, and he had even almost considered signing up for them himself. After all, who wouldn't want fancy mind powers? Fortunately, delays over the long waiting list to have the implant turned out to be a blessing in disguise. A couple years after the implants became mainstream, with who knows how many hundreds of thousands of humans altered into what were now called the... uh, what were they again? Again, he couldn't remember. But, those altered humans, the ones with the implants, they changed, all at once and not in a good way. There were attacks, riots, uprisings. Eventually they started their own global faction. And then, and then... what? The holes in his memory seemed to be mostly focused around this. There was some sort of event. He could clearly remember his life before, but from that point on, it was all hazy and full of holes.
He instinctively jerked his hands away, dropping the bowl on the bed, and reached up to feel the smooth skin of his forehead. Those who were altered with the implants said to unlock the full potential of the human mind had a small crystal in the center of their forehead. He looked up at Lea, terror in his eyes, as he checked her forehead. She staggered back at the look of absolute fear on his face. She didn't quite understand what was going on, but appeared to be trying her best to not agitate her guest any further.
Zack couldn't see her forehead clearly with her bangs covering it. He made a sweeping motion on his own forehead, Lea seemed to have understood. She sure was intuitive. She swept away her bangs to reveal her bare forehead. At this, Zack seemed to calm down a bit, but continued to maintain a rigid upright posture in his bed. Lea spoke softly in a soothing voice, but Zack still couldn't quite understand it. After an awkward silence, she held her hands out, opened palms up, and backed away a few steps before turning and walking back down the hallway to the unseen portions of the home.
That was the last Zack saw Lea directly for some time. Over the next several days, every time he woke up there would be a bowl sitting on the table beside the bed with more of the same food, as well as a cup of water. There was also a bedpan on the floor. He was mortified that such a young and pretty girl was taking care of cleaning up after his waste, but he'd find it empty and cleaned every time he woke.
Without any windows, he couldn't tell how many days he was bedridden. One day, he woke up to find the food was at the desk across the room rather than his bedside table. There was also a stone basin filled with clean water, a change of clothes, and what was presumably a wash rag folded neatly beside his meal. At first, it took great effort for him to get out of bed and stumble over to the food, however, his empty stomach urged him on and he eventually made it to the chair.
As Zack finished eating, washed up, and started changing into the surprisingly well-fitting clothes, he couldn't help but feel bad for his distrust and fear of Lea. If she was the one providing for him this entire time, surely she wasn't like those altered humans who... he knew they were wrong, he knew they did something horrible and terrifying, but he couldn't remember what.
Zack weakly stood up, shuffled across the room and entered into the corridor leading out. He leaned against the wall for support, pausing for breaks several times. The smooth wooden walls felt strangely warm to his touch, though the ambient temperature of the room was cool and refreshing. He slid down the hall one step at a time.
When Zack had made it about halfway down the hall, Lea appeared from the room at the other end, wearing the same outfit as before. She quickly walked up to him, then paused a short distance away. She stopped and stared at him for a brief moment before stepping closer and offering her hand. Zack stared at it in turn, remembering the telepathic link that they had shared some days ago. For some reason that he couldn't quite remember, the thought of telepathy shook him quite a bit. It must have been clear to Lea, as she had left him alone after that. He couldn't quite hold it against her, she was clearly trying to help him. He decided that, as his apparent caregiver, he owed it to her to trust her. He couldn't clearly remember why telepathic communications were so wrong anyway.
"Uh, sorry, I know you were just trying to help. I think so anyway. I really do appreciate everything you've done. It's just, those words in my mind. It reminds me of, well, you know, I'm sure. They do that sort of thing. Or maybe you don't have them here? Where are we anyway?" Zack apologized and reached out to lean on the hand offered to him.
As he made contact with her proffered hand, he didn't feel the warmth or the connection that he had before. She simply took his hand and guided him into the next room where there was a simple sitting area with several wooden chairs arranged in a semi-circle around a low wooden table. She led him to one of the chairs and they each sat down, facing each other.
"Understand. Terin." Lea said with a long pause before she added several more words he didn't understand.
Zack sighed in frustration. "I'm not sure how you can pick up on my meaning so clearly. But, it's not like that for me. I'm afraid I can't simply learn your language just by listening to it. It's way too complex."
Lea reached out her hands again and offered them to Zack, though he just shook his head and folded his arms. "That, what you did, it's not natural. Heck, it's not even legal in most places. I don't know how you did it without an implant, but you should know you are messing with dangerous powers", he sternly said, refusing to participate.
Lea cocked her head and stared at him for a few moments before getting up and walking over to a shelf off to the side. She picked up a small object, returned, and handed it to Zack. Zack's face lit up as he took his P.E.D. and reached to turn it on with his fingerprint.
He stared at it for a few minutes before looking up at Lea, "Well, doesn't look like this is going to help. No signal. Darn thing won't even unlock if it's not in range of... wait... no signal? Um, Terin? That's the, uh, country, right? What... uh, what planet is this?"
Lea looked at Zack with her sparkling sapphire eyes and softly spoke, "Terin."