"Thomas Kane sends his regards, there can be only one," said a voice. There was a horrific sound and I felt pressure launching me in the air. I screamed in pain as I felt something stripped from me.
EIS called, "Wilbur. Wilbur." He was answered with blackness.
Oh God, I was alone in the middle of the sea again, there was no land or ship in sight. I was alone and I was in pain. I was bleeding. I was coughing up blood. I felt as though I had been cut by a thousand swords and ran ten marathons through it. Were those fins in the water? This was not a time for sharks.
In the lower right-hand corner of my vision, there was a blinking light. Which world was I in? There should be no notification system in the real world, but since I had no body in the real world I needed to care for this one. I needed to find where I was bleeding from, fast. Still, that blinking light was annoying.
The fins started moving closer and I saw a shark coming towards me with its mouth open. I balled my fist and hit it for as hard as I could. This was deja vu. This time I didn't crush its skull. I punched it again and again as others swam in towards me. I knew I was going to die.
One bit down on my arm as I punched another. It should have bit my arm off, but I healed continuously. What was going on?
"Fish-Man, make your way here," a familiar voice shouted as the attacking shark died and began to sink. I pulled my arm free and swam towards the voice. It was Ocandu and Clyde and Surita were there. A domed platform rose out of the sea and supported them. It was clear and I could see ten others that were unconscious.
I swam to them with everything I had. I climbed aboard the platform and made my way to the center. Far from the sharks, my body glowed with a green light, and I felt better.
"Thank God for nanites," I said as I looked down at the structure beneath me. There appeared stairs and we walked down them.
"There was a suicide bomber on the ship. Possibly more than one as the ship was taken out very fast. It sank. While it was sinking, we made it into power armor. We pooled the nanites from the armor and made this when we got here. It was horrible," said Surita.
"There's more," EIS said, "There is no EIS system on Earth."
"What do you mean there is no EIS system on Earth, build a probe and send a message through to Earth and ..." I began.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
"This is Earth Wilbur," said EIS.
"What?" I asked, uncertain of what to think. There had been billions of EIS copies on earth, all of them couldn't be gone. What could Kane have done? Were the people Ok? I felt something moving in my chest as my breaths became ragged.
"What do you mean this is Earth? There should be satellites covering every square inch of this planet. What's going on? I got a blinking light in the lower corner of my view, this can't be Earth." I said. My breathing became even more ragged. Why was I feeling this way? All I knew was that this can't be my Earth.
"This is Earth Wilbur, we are on the Atlantic Ocean and we will be porting in Long Island's Penninsula tip as soon as possible. Rockaway Beach is coming soon," said EIS
I walked to the edge of the platform that was pushing through the water. I was in the dome, and safe as I saw a few fish here and there. The blinking light was still on. I focused on it and it filled my view.
System Damage ... Subject Severely Damaged ... Dimensional Energy Taken ... Sacrifices Taken ... Levels ... Ship ...
Wilbur Trent
Human Level 1
Strength 3 | Level 1 Super Strength
Agility 3 | Level 1 Super Agility
Health 3 | Level 1 Super Health
Intelligence 7 | Level 2 Super Intelligence
Wisdom 5 | Level 1 Super Wisdom
Willpower 7 | Level 1 Super Willpower
Charisma 3 | Level 1 Super Charisma
Luck 8 | Level 1 Super Luck
Super Power: Probability Manipulation Level 1
Super Power: Power Creation Level 1
All upper levels and experience were exchanged for dimensional energy for the partial re-creation of all living organisms. 10 Individuals reduced to level 0. 3 Individuals reduced to level 1 Comatose 7 hours. Earth Origin instantiated.
"Ocandu are you moving this platform or is EIS doing it?" I asked, trying to make sense of the message.
"I am," said Ocandu.
"I am holding the platform in its shape," said EIS.
"Why did it have to be water the second time?" I asked. It then started to rain, and the wind picked up. We remained safe inside the domed platform.
"Because the ship was here with both dimensional transportation engines before they blew up," said EIS.
Surita said, "you were fast EIS, you saved all of us."
"The consciousness in the Dimensional Transport Engine exists outside of spacetime so it had all the time it needed to save us," said EIS.
I lay down and slept.
"We are here," said EIS.
"I don't detect living creatures here. I am extracting raw materials from the earth and I am creating swarms of factory nanobots so we can build things. It will take a few days to let the exponential building processes build up. You are on foot so explore the area as best you can and find out what happened here."
I looked around. This was Rockaway Beach but it was not as I had seen it. The man who raised me brought me here several times and I enjoyed it when we came here. I took in the sights. The beautiful peninsula was in ruins as house after house, block after block was pulverized. There was not one house that stood standing. There were no people, no bodies, no blood, nothing that ever suggested the many thousands that made their life here. It took me several hours but I walked the length of Rockaway Beach, looking for people who could tell me what was going on. There was no one here.