"What the heck was wrong with that guy!?" I backtrack, trying to find my way toward my camp. Athena stays close behind, randomly stopping to clean her hooked talons. I pick up things as I go, crafting a new spear. I don't have a bone, I settle for a large piece of flint. The image of the usual spear in my head glitches, I find it odd, but I shove it off. I was expecting a much happier reunion once I found another survivor, but that interaction was mostly questions, and it felt awkward.
It slowly morphs into mid day, I finally get back to camp. It looks like it's been messed with, some of the meat i was cooking was dragged off their flat rock, pieces bitten off. A small group of tiny creatures surround the pieces, their tiny head and long necks dipping up and down.
One of them gets a dropping glance on me, it comes running over. I twitch in annoyance, swinging my spear. It strikes the small creature in the side, knocking it over. "Get out of here." It gets back to its feet, it's comrades turning their heads. It pounces, thinking its a threat. I whistle, Athena snaps it out of the air. The others turn tail and run, chirping alarm signals. But they will return, they always do. I roll up my sleeping bag, kicking my campfire. Embers spill, dying out. The meat is no good, the ladle headed beast corpses have been picked clean.
Slinging my makeshift pack over my back, taking my bearings. "So, where to." Athena isn't listening, she hisses. I spin around, my spear aimed. A familiar horned beast slows to a halt, disturbed our threat display. The other survivor speaks out, not wasting time. "Listen, I'm sorry for before." I slightly tilt my head, but I keep my spear pointed. "Why the change of heart." The survivor looks to the side, thinking. "We need your help." I point my spear toward the sky. "My help, you barely know me." Athena sniffs at the horned creature, it grunts in response. I continue. "What help would I possibly provide, you thought I was an enemy." Another moment of silence, the survivor jumps off his beast. "If you are telling the truth about your time on this Island, then you have information that we need." He hefts up his pike, tapping a familiar implant on his wrist.
I watch with confusion. His implant glows, blue light flooding out. He throws his pike, it disappears inches from his hand, becoming nothing midair. My surprise quickly changes to suspicion, my spear aims back at the survivor. He jumps back, holding up his hands. "Whoa, what did I do?" I take a step forward, waving my hand around in the air. "What did you just do, where did your spear go?" The survivor is slow to words, he looks uncomfortable. "I put, it, away?" His eyes travel to over my shoulder, spotting my pack. His eyes widen, connecting pieces together. "Do me a favor, poke your implant." I don't move. "I poke it all the time, nothing happens." "Well, only use your ring finger." "My what?" He points on his hand, gesturing to his second longest finger, one away from the middle. I look down at my hand, puzzling over it. It looks different from his hand, the middle and the "ring" one are the same length.
But I try with the ring finger, blue light glows out of the implant. I rear my head, surprised. Everywhere I look changes, glowing lines etch jagged lines up and down my vision, it assorts itself, showing things I never knew. Words flashing, passing by. Sample #776478953, Female. Vernacular ID: Laura. Species: Homo Sapiens, Epoch Seventy Four. Attributes: Intelligence, Dexterity, Adaptability.
Survival Quotient: To Be Determined...
The part throws me off, but the ID is news as well. "My name is Laura?" The survivor watches with awe. "I can't believe you never knew that." "Yeah, well I didn't spend my time poking things with different fingers." The survivor clears his throat. "Name's Triton." I nod my head, pointing at my raptor. "This is Athena." I change the subject, not really caring about names. Never needed one anyway. "So what am I looking at, what's with the squares." Triton taps his implant again, looking over something I can't see. "Ok, to the top left, it should show a projection of your implant." My eyes follow, finding one of the squares filled. A diamond shape, glowing orange. Similar text displays when I look at it, giving me info. In the square next to it, an image of a map and compass. "Hey, uh, how do I access these?" Triton reaches out, clenching his fist. A flash of blue light, his pike materializing in his hand. "Just grab it." I hold out my hand, aiming at the map. I clench my hand, immediately feeling something. It materializes, a blank booklet and a small compass. I look over the new objects, almost at a loss for words. "Wow." I look at my spear, before looking at an open square. I toss my spear forward, watching as it dissipates away. "This is convenient." "Keep an eye on your weight, you can't hold everything you want. One last thing catches my eye, up to the right, something flashing. I select it, more line etch.
My own face stares back at me, it throws me off. "Gah!" Triton takes a step forward in concern. "What is it?" I squint my eyes. "Is that what I really look like?" Triton makes a guess. "Oh hey, look above yourself, what number is there?" My eyes travel, finding the number 2. "Uh, Lvl two." It's Triton's turn to squint. "How are you still alive, and how did you make those clothes and spear?" I glance at him. "Some blueprints I found." He clutches his face, realizing something. "A level 2 survivor, killing a level 168 Allosaurus." His eyes look over me. "Just who are you." "I didn't do much, Athena did all of the work." What is an Allosaurus, does he mean the crested creatures? Triton changes his aim. "Well, there should be a flashing symbol, select it." I find it. "Level up?" I look over to Triton for an answer. "It's like natural selection, changes you to increase your survival chance." "Cool, that made no sense." "Well, how many levels do you have?" I look over the number. "It says 54." Triton gags. "Excuse me!?"
I jump, feeling the ground drop away quickly. I feel so light, moving so quickly. "Oh this amazing!" I go for a dead sprint, everything passes by so quickly, my Lvl is now at a nice 56, there is a massive difference. Triton rides on his trike, who's name is also Triton, which isn't confusing. Athena fights to keep up with me, I'm actually slightly outrunning her. Triton calls out, riding behind. "Did you only upgrade you movement?" "No." I call back. "I think it was weight, speed, health, and melee." Wait, does that mean." I tap my implant midair, accessing my spear. My eyes dart around the jungle, looking for a target.
A familiar enemy, a Dilo moving through the bushes. Lets see you spot on me now, you ugly menace. I land down from above like an eagle, taking the Dilo by surprise. It cackles, it's frills opening up. I trust my spear, finding my arms to be faster, with more force behind them. The spear tip stabs the Dilo in the neck, almost piercing straight to the other side. It wails, dropping. I twirl my hatchet out of my inventory, much nicer than hanging it on my waist. With swift strokes, I peel its skin off. I toss it in my inventory, watching as it cures itself in its square. No more slowly frying by the fire, just let it happen instantly. Athena stutters to a halt, her breath is becoming quickened for once. I pick up the skinned Dilo, tossing it to her. She sniffs it, before looking up at me. "What's wrong with it?" Athena nuzzles it, rolling corpse back to me. I don't think much of it, hacking away. I aim my implant at Athena, her own inventory etching into existence in my vision. Tossing the meat in, reading over her level. 328, much better.
Triton calls out again, his trike moving slowly through the dense jungle. "We're almost back at my camp, I advise not running in unannounced." I run up to the top of a boulder, Athena watches me from below. "Well what can they do, you said I'm the highest level on the Island." "Yes, and by a big margin, but even crazy super lady will struggle against a bunch of survivors on edge." I feel incredibly cheerful, all the hardships of the past four months feel nonexistent. I almost completely forgot that Triton was ambushed last night, so he probably won't be as enthusiastic. My nose picks up on the smell of smoke. The jungle slowly changing, from dense trees to open grassland. With one final leap, I'm out. Light floods in, heat gives me a warm hug.
Someone shouts, followed by another. Survivors hold out their weapons, the smell of death in the air. I stop, waiting. "Who are you!" "Where did you come from!?" I raise my voice, arrows and spears and blades pointed at me. "My name is Laura, and I'm here to help!"