The boy slowly backed off from the pod, keeping his eyes peeled.

'Does this mean... something has been intentionally killing people this whole time...?' the survivor nervously looked around, keeping his ears perked, but could only hear Duke's struggle to stand.

'I-I should get out of here...!' the boy quickly strode towards his destination, stealing a peek behind him every so often.

'What am I supposed to make out of that?' he thought as he walked.

'Is someone, or something, really killing people? Doesn't seem too far fetched... But why? And who? Or what?' a light breeze blew past him, filling him with goosebumps.

'... I don't know for certain, but I can think up of a bunch of things, like other humans, aliens, or maybe mutated monsters? Could some of them have become intelligent? All I can rule out is the eimav, I mean, I would've been dead as soon as I got out of that pod.'

'Well all I do know is that in all those cases I'm likely to get attacked. How would I defend myself?' the survivor mentally trudged through his items.

'All I really have are a few knifes... Throwing Duke might work too...' the boy sighed.

'I'm so screwed...'

***

'Whew! I am TIRED!' the survivor stood to catch his breath, leaning on one of the shiny trees.

'Guess this thing is further away than I thought, and I'm so out of shape.' he looked over to the trunk he was leaning on.

'Guess this is a good time to see what these things really are.'

The boy looked from silver tree to silver tree.

'They all look pretty much the same, same frame, about the same size, with small differences in like their branches and bark.' he rubbed his hand against a tree's trunk.

'Feels... really metallic. Are they actually made out of it?' he sniffed his hand.

'Oh yea, definitely, has that smell, and it's pretty reflective, I can nearly see myself.' he wiped his hand off his clothes.

'If that's the case... I might be able to use their branches! As a weapon! Or maybe just to make stuff out of them.' he searched the lumpy plant filled ground.

'Now that I look closely, there aren't any sticks on the ground.' he looked further along.

'Nope, not a single piece. Actually, there aren't even any pebbles? Or rocks?' he crouched down.

'... Seriously, there's nothing. It's all so... clean... There aren't even any bugs around.' he stood up.

'Well this place just became even more uncanny...'

'Do these things have any fruits? Maybe they'd be edible.' the boy scoured around the local tree tops, squinting his eyes.

'Nope, just leafs. I don't see anything like a bud either. Maybe they aren't in season? Whatever, I want a cool branch to carry around! A staff!'

The survivor reached for a low hanging thin branch and pulled on it. 'Umm... What?' the shiny branch did not budge.

'Tough cookie, eh?' he grabbed on with his other hand and yanked harder.

'Seriously?!' the branch did not bend or make a sound.

The boy flailed about, hauling and dragging at different branches on many trees, but none of them gave any hint of coming off.

'?! Darn it! Come offff~!' he hung from a branch, kicking randomly in the air as the branch remained static.

'Aargh! How strong is this thing?!' he looked over to Duke.

"Hey Duke, grab onto this!" he gestured up with his chin.

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[Very well, after all, you are nothing without my strength.] Duke sprang into action, taking a hold of the tree with its arm.

"Shake it!" both the boy and Duke wiggled like worms hanging on the silver tree's branch. Alas, nothing happened, not even a creak.

"UGHHH!" the boy let go, Duke following suit.

'Fine then, okay, how about just a single leaf?' he reached up and plucked at a silky dark green leaf.

'Not again! It's not moving!' the survivor tugged with both hands and, to his surprise, it worked. He stumbled back, leaf in hand.

"Haha, take that!" the boy pointed at the tree.

'Hm?' he felt the palm holding the leaf grow warm, far too warm.

Instinctively he threw the leaf, after which it burst into flames. Before it could reach the floor, a dim fire consumed it and turned it into nothing more than ash.

"EEE!" the boy yelped, backing off.

He then turned towards a high pitched sound emanating from the tree that sounded like a balloon getting deflated. The sound intensified, transforming into the tone of a jet of fire as a stream of pale yellow inferno spewed out from where the leaf had been taken.

"Whaa!" the survivor cried, tripping back and falling to the ground with a squish.

The jet of fire shrank, grew dim and eventually faded out.

'What was that?!' he got up and dusted himself, his face a mixture of fascination and fear.

[It appears the tree has bested you instead, incompetent creator.] Duke and the drone had both retreated upon seeing the jet.

"I thought you'd be funny, not annoying." he took a closer look at the source of the flame.

[An extension of your incompetence.]

"Oh, screw you!" he glanced at the machine before focusing back.

[Error: permission denied. You lack the experience and skill necessary to service me.] Duke instantly replied.

"I-" the boy was left slightly agape, but didn't pay further attention to Duke. 'Can't win against that thing...'

'How did that even happen?! How didn't the tree get set on fire?? How did it start a fire?' he watched the tree from a distance.

'Is that like, a self-defense mechanism? Doesn't seem to have hurt it... I can't notice any burn marks...'

'Aargh I really wanna know how it works! But I shouldn't poke around, it is, well uh, surprisingly dangerous for a tree...' he looked around.

'But, sheesh! What is up with the plants in this place?! One of them can skittle away, while the other can burn you alive. Well, I guess it's pretty exciting, lots of mysteries to solve!'

'Let's not play with fire and get a move on.'

*Squish* *Step* *Slurp* *Squish* *Step* *Growl*

The boy flung his head towards the approaching sounds, twisting his neutral expression to that of horror at the sight.

He saw three wolf like animals half his height scurrying in the distance. They sniffed around with their long snouts as the antennae growing from their ears twitched and turned. Their sharp eyes carefully scrutinized the forest as they scuttled about with their six long thin legs. Deep orange chitin covered their elongated furless bodies like plate armor.

One of the creatures spotted the boy, causing its long tail to stiffen upright and vibrate. The other two took notice and locked on the survivor, menacingly outstretching their blunt mandibles covering their maws like gags. Deep grunts and growls echoed from their broad maws filled with innumerable white slender spikes.

The three animals cautiously creeped towards the boy, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

'NOPE, NOPE AND NOPE! SO MANY NOPES!' the boy grabbed Duke.

"Duke; retract!" he blurted out, carrying the machine in his hand.

While Duke folded back into an oversized suitcase, the survivor turned tail and sprang as fast as he could.

The abominations sensed the survivor's fear and dashed towards him.

"AHHHHHH!!!" the boy cried out as the monsters and drone tailed behind him.

He turned around to steal a glance "EEEEEEEE!!!" the creatures were catching up and preparing to leap and bite down. Their aggressive growls made the boy's hairs stand on edge.

One of the monsters took a chomp at the survivor, but narrowly missed.

"EEK!!" the boy's eyes watered.

'THE BODY MOD! USE IT!' he focused, taking as big of a breath as he could. Soon his skin flared as the thump of his heart threatened to break his ribs. Each of his steps became a violent stomp powerful enough to throw him far into the air. His vision blurred as his pupils dilated to the width of a needle.

"HOOOO!" he turned again, now seeing how the monsters were being left behind in the squeaking of the bumpy moss.

'Good!' he looked back to the path in front of him and his heart sank.

The ground beyond cutoff into a wide cliff as far as the eye could see, giving way to a dense dark green canopy kilometers below.

The survivor immediately shrieked to a halt. He dug his heels into the lumps lining the ground and drifted across their surface.

He stopped just at the cliff's edge with a trail of uprooted running plants lined behind him.

"I'm so done..." he saw the monsters reappear.

He threw duke on the ground. "Duke; deploy!" he said as he desperately rummaged inside his backpack.

He pulled out a large cooking knife and threw it at Duke. "Catch!" he yelled out and took out another similar blade.

[Error: I cannot wield this tool.] Duke caught and awkwardly held the knife with its three fingered disk just as it finished unpacking.

"Whatever just do your best-" a pulse of vertigo disoriented the boy. His skin and pupils returned to normal and his pulse nearly stopped as he took pained gasps for air.

'Ugh, it ran out...' the boy's muscles were tense with exhaustion.

[Very well then. Mortal flesh bags that dare oppose my pitiful creator, tremble.] the robot dog stiffly drew the large kitchen knife with its long hand far in front of it.

The survivor collected himself and took a stance. He tightly held the knife with sweaty palms.

He peeped behind and saw the drone flying above the cliff. 'I'm about to become found footage...'

*Gurugh Gurugh Gurugh*

The monsters caught up with the boy. Two of them flanked the survivor and Duke from the side, while the third bared its sharp fangs right in front of them, showing its intent to rip them apart.