"Ahhh... mmh?" I groaned as I slowly opened my eyes.
Wh-what the hell happened? I tried looking around but to no avail, my eyes were not adjusted to the light levels in the room. I had to blink several times so as to not get blinded.
Ouch. I tried to move my head, but in the instant I tried I felt a localized pain around the back of my head. Wanting to get my hand back there and check, I moved my hand. But-
Huh, what?
I couldn't move my hands, I was bound.
Ah, wait wait, thinking back, I took a blow to the head from someone. And now I'm bound. Shit! Don't tell me I'm in some kind of hostage situation?! My heartbeat sped up quickly at these first and subsequent thoughts.
Fuck fuck FUCK! I stressed out, my usually methodic and logical thoughts turned disordered and irrational.
Shit... i-if I think about it, I might, might even get tortured. After having this thought I began trembling and hyperventilating.
"PLEASE SOMEONE" I shouted, struggling in my restraints. But before I went out of control, the pain in the back of my head reminded me of the precarious situation I was in.
Nononono, what am I doing? I... I... I sat there for a couple of seconds letting me think the situation through, and also to let the pain in the back of my head settle down. My heartbeat quickly calmed down, making it easier to think more rationally.
I'm in a hostage situation in another world. Why would I even think about shouting when I've been kidnapped? That's just stupid. If my captors weren't in this room, I would be calling them here. And I need that time to examine my surroundings and find an escape route. I let out a sigh.
Okay. It'll be the end of me if I think about things like torture. I don't want my brain to get stressed too much. That's why, my main thought has to be to escape. Push things like torture and the likes out of my mind...
After taking a deep breath I decided what to do first, which was obvious.
First, I have to survey my surroundings. I scanned every single thing in this small room and tried to get the best insight of the building as a whole.
The first thing I noticed was the apparent lack of proper building materials utilized in this building, which I do not yet know the exterior of. But from my point of view, if I looked at the interior and tried to overlap that with the exterior it would look like a wooden hut from my world but with a very shabby construction. I could see faint traces of light shining through the wooden door, so I assume it doesn't connect to any other section.
Now that I look closer, there are a lot of sharp ends on the wood finish. And with my bindings being of flimsy rope I might have a chance of escaping or at least cutting the rope. And last but not least, my escape route. The windows seem to be the best choice even though they are barred, It's just with flimsy rotten wood though. I'll escape through the windows then, as long as the door isn't locked of course. I wonder why the door isn't rotten when all the other things in here seem to be dozens of years old?
The dull pain in the back of my head is mostly gone now, but I should still be a little bit careful. And I've mostly calmed down...
The most important thing I need now is information, not thinking about escaping... But! I have enough information to conclude that I should escape... What do I do then? These people could have killed me the moment I got knocked unconscious, but they didn't. Should I still try to escape and risk my life? Or should I risk my life by staying docile? Or is there another thing I can do? Ahhhh, I don't know! I scratched my head. At least, I tried.
After thinking it through I didn't entirely know what to do, but as humans, there is always this thought in the back of our head that says fight or flight. Right now I am conflicted, but in the end my thoughts will be swayed by emotion no matter how much I rationally think about it, even if just by a little bit.
My mind has already concluded which action to take. Thus, no further thoughts were necessary.
I tried to wiggle towards the sharp ends on the logs, but it was tougher than I imagined. Even with my 20 years younger body, it was still difficult.
Due to wiggling across the floor, my ears were close to the ground. And if I listened closer I could hear faint but rhythmic thumping in the direction of the door.
Someone's coming! Shit! I was in the middle of the room, but now I'm really close to the wall. They'll know I have moved! I quickly tried to get back to my original position as fast as possible. As long as it's close enough they wouldn't notice. I hoped.
The faint thumping was now very clear, the men gripped the handle of the door, and I laid flat on the ground looking as if I was asleep.
Thankfully, I managed to get back to my original position! Let's hope they have no plans on killing me... I nervously relaxed my muscles and closed my eyes.
A rowdy noise of two people talking could be heard behind the door as they moved the handle. A sharp sound reverberated throughout the room as the men opened the door roughly, breaking its hinges off in the process. The man was still holding the door, even though it was entirely broken off.
!!! I flinched at the loud, sudden sound.
What happened?! I almost opened my eyes to check, almost. But I was nearly 100% certain it was the door he broke.
"¤#%# /((%¤&#!! %¤%& %#¤&¤# /(%#(%#%." The man standing behind the one who broke the door spoke in a language I didn't understand.
What is this language? No, more importantly, how did he break the door? Is what I assume he did. Well, I did inspect the door and it looked quite weak, so it's not surprising. I rationalized, but in truth I was scared. Scared of these men, scared of that bear I ran away from, and scared that this wasn't earth. But still, that faint hope that this is earth is still lingering in my mind, and that I will find actual people and not barbarians that knock people unconscious.
"/¤#% ¤#&¤/(¤#" The other man said in an apologetic tone. He carefully put the door down against the wall.
The two men looked at me while I sat there, nervous, I was almost wanting to get up and run away. But, all they did in the end, was to check on the state of my restraints. They also took a closer look at my face, the reason I know that is because I could feel their breath touch my face. Thankfully I managed to pretend to be unconscious and they left.
"Haaaa." I breathed out when they left.
Holy shit! I was about to flinch when they came close to me like that! I'm not sure what would happen to me if I woke up, but I sure as hell don't want to find out! But thankfully, I managed to stay ghastly still. I looked at the broken door that was resting on the wall.
This might be a good chance to escape now that I have an escape route. I could also escape through the windows. Well, I would need to scout first, depends on which direction this building is facing. Okay! back to cutting the rope when I have the chance now! I crawled back towards the wall with reinvigorated motivation. Wanting to escape this place now that I've seen how barbaric they are.
I almost used less than half the time I previously used to get to the wall, probably because of my fear.
Okay, now how do I cut this rope? Let's do my feet first since I can wiggle it, there's little wiggle room for my arms after all.
I focused all of my strength into my legs and pushed back and forth quickly, akin to the movement of sawing some wood. It was tiresome but it seemed to do the work.
I can feel it loosening! Okay, a little more!
After another half a minute of sawing, I finally got out of my leg restraints. I got up from my worm-like wiggling position and began sawing away at my arm restraints, careful not to do it too hard. It would probably be painful to stab myself with a big chip of wood after all.
Ah, it's good to have arms and legs that I can move around.
I finally got out of all my restraints and now my next step was to escape.
I carefully walked over to the now open space where the door was supposed to be and peeked out. I looked out to the left side and saw lots of huts along a stone-paved road, with lanterns raised on sturdy looking poles. There were several people walking down the paved road in the opposite direction of where I was located.
Thank god they aren't walking towards me. But why are there so many people walking the same way, almost in unification? Wait, I don't have time to ponder that. What about the other way? I turned my head to the right side and was wonderfully surprised.
There were only three huts in this direction compared to the dozens the other way.
It seems like this is a small village, good. I let out a nervous sigh and prepared to move out in broad daylight, where there might be people coming out of their houses at any time.
I took my first step outside. I was barely able to cooperate with my legs, they were shaking like mad and refusing to move.
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Shit. I'm scared. I trembled while looking down at my legs that wouldn't move.
No! I can't stay here. I've already broken out of my restraints, I have to escape! I forced my legs to move. I ran, even though that might not be the wisest thing to do in this situation.
I quickly went around the corner of the house and went into the shadows between the two huts. Thankfully, the forest was not far away from this hut I was kidnapped into. I stopped and my body slammed into the wooden hut, I was breathing heavily, clearly nervous and dreading the situation I was put into.
Do I make a run for the forest? What is my plan? Even if I do escape this place, they'll be sure to check the hut once in a while and they may hunt me down.
I calmed down and looked around. There was not much behind the hut, it was actually mostly empty. There was just one suspicious building in the distance. The forest was to the left and I was behind the huts, so all I had to do was crawl down below the windows. I could also run, but that would be stupid as the villagers in the huts could just take a quick peek outside and see me. It would be advisable to just crawl.
My plan is, for now, to just get the hell out of here. Stop thinking and just run! I didn't exactly run, but I went down on all fours and began crawling.
I clung as close to the wall as possible in order to hide in the shades that the sun cast on the huts. Whenever I passed a hut, I dread the moment a face might pop out of the window. However, this feeling was baseless since I could hear no noise nor footsteps from within the huts. I would expect if there were people talking inside there the noise would seep through the flimsy window.
Are all the villagers gathered somewhere? For what reason? Does it have to do with me? If so, I might be in danger as they will probably check the hut soon. In the first place, I don't even know at which frequency they check the hut. I don't even know if they want to hurt me. Hmm, if I think about it logically. All the people were going to the same location, almost as if they were gathering to watch something. Something like a public execution? No, there's no way. They cant be that barbaric. I swallowed my saliva while a droplet of sweat ran down my forehead.
I stood up tall, finally close enough to touch the first few trees that marked the beginning of the forest. I looked back on the village that terrorized me, that made me feel like shit. I was glad to finally be able to escape. And so I ran, afraid that they might organize a hunting party for me or something.
I've been running for around 10 minutes and I would say I'm quite far from that barbaric village.
Maybe I should take a break here. I sat down beside a tree.
After resting for a bit, I noticed how tired and thirsty I was. I didn't notice before because of the situation I was in. But I haven't eaten nor drank anything in more than around 10 hours. And I've most definitely consumed a lot of water and energy.
I need food and water. But I've never survived in the wilderness before. What do I eat? Maybe I can find some berries or something else. I looked around with tired eyes.
I think I shook off those people, so let's scour the place for food. I really feel like I'm gonna die if I don't eat something now.
I saw multiple bushes with some kind of berry when I ran just now. So it shouldn't be that difficult to find more.
Ah! I see some berries in the distance! I walked over to the bush that had multiple berries on it, all clumped together, not farther than 4 cm away from each other.
I inspected the stalk that the berry was resting on. The stalk was smooth, no thorns nor spines. I brushed my fingers against the leaves on the bush, it felt rough to the touch. Finally, I plucked one berry off the bush. The berry was black and had several drupes that stuck to eachother to form a berry, almost like a blackberry.
Uhm, is this a blackberry? I've plucked blackberries before, but only once. I think this is the right description for a blackberry, the stalk seems to match. Hmm, let's taste it. I put the blackberry in my mouth and chewed. It tasted sweet, and when I got through to the middle it was kind of sour...
I looked ahead and saw some men trek through vegetation.
In my surprise I swallowed the berry accidentally, not having it in my mouth long enough to check for reactions. Thankfully I managed to keep quiet, and hide behind the thick vegetation. Plus, they were some distance away, around 100 meters.
Are those the people from that village? Please don't say it is. That would mean they actually are hunting me. But those men didn't seem to be in a hurry, so maybe not? I peeked out from my hiding spot and didn't see them anywhere.
And I accidentally swallowed the blackberry. Well, It should be fine. It was exactly identical to a blackberry so it shouldn't be poisonous?As I was about to stand up however, I felt a vibration on my left hand, around my wrist.
Hm? I rolled up the sleeves of my now dirty long sleeve shirt. Hiding under the sleeves, my bracelet was vibrating for some reason.
I almost forgot about my bracelet because of the situation. The bracelet could show me the food and water status, right? That would be quite helpful for me right now. Why is it vibrating though?
I pushed my finger against the reader and got up the menu.
Status Stats Body condition Name: Kevin Strength: 1.20 Health: Poison ingested Race: Human Constitution: 1.03 Toxins: Poison detected Age: 20 Dexterity: 1.07 Food and water: Mild dehydration, peckish Settings Library Notes
Poison! I looked at the screen, surprised that the blackberry was poisonous. It might fit the description of a blackberry on earth but I have to remember that this is a different planet.
I stared at the screen, unsure of what to do. I clicked the toxins tab, hoping it might open to a new screen or something.
Toxins: Solanocapsine detected. Neutralize? Yes/No
Oh! Please remove the poison, I can feel my stomach churning right now. I clicked the yes button as fast as I could before I threw up.
My stomach was still churning but I could at least resist throwing up.
If I throw up now I'll waste all of that food... All of that food? Wait, I wasn't hungry when I woke up here. Does that mean I reincarnated into someone else's body? Why did I assume in the first place that my age was reversed and that I was in the same skin? No but, if I took over someone else's body, why would I have the bracelet on me and the nanobots in me? Maybe it isn't reincarnation after all. I pondered. But now wasn't the time for such useless thoughts.
I'll keep that in mind. But for now I have to continue onwards, and I have to remember that those berries are poisonous. But, it's weird that I had to be the one to press the yes button when it asked me to neutralize the poison. Shouldn't there be like an automatic response without me having to do anything? I remember that there was a settings tab in the menu though, maybe it's in there? I looked at the hologram that was still floating above my bracelet.
Status Stats Body condition Name: Kevin Strength: 1.20 Health: Queasy Race: Human Constitution: 1.03 Toxins: Poison successfully neutralized Age: 20 Dexterity: 1.07 Food and water: Mild dehydration, peckish Settings Library Notes
There it is, the settings tab. I clicked on it.
Neutralize poison automatically False Allow nanobots to go through blood-brain barrier False Allow nanobots access to brain and modify it to your command False View stats in percentage False
Neutralize poison automatically. Put that on true, why is the factory default false?
I glanced over the other options. Allow nanobots in your brain was a setting, I read about that the first day I got the nanobots.
When I glanced over those two settings, I had a thought. Most likely, everyone on this planet speaks a different language. But I want to speak to other humans, supposing I find decent people. Could the nanobots then help me with deciphering their language somehow, if I allow it into my brain?
I went back to the menu and clicked on the notes tab. Hoping my father left behind some notes on the letting the nanobots in my mind thing.
Notes Entry 1 - Nanobots Entry 2 - Bracelet Entry 3 - Research Entry 4 - Blood-brain barrier 1 --->
There it is! It's just called blood-brain barrier. And there's also more interesting notes here, but let's not go through that right now when I don't have much time. I'll look through entry nr.4 since I'm safe for now though, and I'm almost 99% certain that those men from before weren't looking for me. Besides, the language part is more essential right now. I clicked on the tab eager to know what the risks or benefits are.
Blood-brain barrier
The blood-brain barrier is a highly selective semipermeable border of endothelial cells that prevents solutes in the circulating blood from non-selectively crossing into the extracellular fluid of the central nervous system where neurons reside.
While there aren't many risks to this with my nanobots, you...
I read quite a lot about the nanobots ability to go beyond the blood-brain barrier into where the neurons are. It's surprising how much stuff the nanobots could do for you. The bracelet had an amazing processing ability, almost like a supercomputer, and the nanobots themselves were equipped with amazing technology that made it able to interact with neurons. With these two things combined it could do stuff like boosting your processing speed so that you could, for example, react faster if a ball was thrown your way.
My father wrote that it's safe. But, I'm not quite sold about letting nanobots into my mind. Well, I have no choice. If it helps me with understanding these people's language then it's worth it. Time to go back to the settings menu.
Neutralize poison automatically True Allow nanobots to go through blood-brain barrier False Allow nanobots access to brain and modify it to your command False View stats in percentage False
I switched the 2nd and 3rd settings to true. It took 5 seconds until I felt something. I had a headache, the nanobots were probably entering now. And after a minute I no longer had any headache nor could I feel anything strange, so I assumed it worked.
Nanobots can now interact with your mind. Give us any command.