Quantum Rip: Welcome to Ethos

After (Part 2 - Ven)

'Then again…' Ven doubted for a moment. Her entire belief in science had been rocked due to the accident, a pulsar being able to support life made her doubt herself even more.

She had been brought here because what they knew was wrong. The way they believed everything worked… Was wrong.

'No, believe. That is all I can do… And hope…' Her thoughts returned to her children as she cleared her mind of doubts. Pushing through the pain and tiredness in hopes to find a water source.

She knew that doubts would do her no good, that it would be even worse than worrying about her children. So, she allowed the latter to keep her mind occupied as she followed the moss on the trees.

Recalling what she had read, long ago, she tried her best to not follow the false moss.

Ignoring all that grew near the ground, she looked for moss higher up. Choosing her waist as the cutoff height. While this would do little for direction, it should hopefully lead her to water. Or a place where she might be able to gather it through some tricks.

As she walked she let the ferns flow against her, instead of constantly trying to part them. This enabled her hands to be free, however, it also meant she could no longer see the ground.

Trusting in her boots and clothes, she started taking out all the items she had on her. Like her watch, all the other things she had on her were also not working. As she took the things out, she found something strange when looking at a pen.

Unlike all the other things, a pen was still a pen. It still worked similarly to all the other pens in history. The design and mechanisms had been changed, but there was still ink stored in a container.

And this container was leaking. Not much, in fact the ink was not even dripping down. However, the dark spot informed her that there was a hole. That the surface of the container was damaged.

Using nearby ferns to scrub it clean, removing the ink that had filled the hole and a small area around it. She found a pin-sized hole. Now green, but also much clearer to see.

'No wonder everything isn't working. Any damage to the inside would completely destroy them, and seeing as the container was inside the pen, I would say my watch is beyond repair.'

She sighed realizing this. The watch would have been a lifesaver if it still worked. It could inform her of her condition, track the areas she had been in, and even find the others if they were on the planet.

Like phones (from the 21st), the watches could call and message others. However, unlike phones, it was not reliant on a signal. If someone was in your contact list, and you in theirs, then the watches could be connected directly.

Phones had slowly been abandoned with the increase in technology. Now only tablets and watches remained. The former for if you wanted to use applications or play games, the latter for all the other things phones used to do.

Unlike phones, the watches would not connect through a network. Instead, they would use a network to find each other and then create a stable direct connection.

Generally, when exploring new planets and moons this method of direct connection did not work well. With no network to piggyback on to find the other, the watch has to use far more energy to find another. Hence a different system was created.

This method was generally only used on the first few days when they had no knowledge of the area other than their scans and observations from space.

The method was that each watch would generate a constant signal. Covering a few kilometers. Allowing everyone to know when they were closing in on someone else, and share their findings or discuss the next move.

Sighing at the lost opportunities, Ven continued her trek. Stopping and ducking down into the cover of the local ferns as she heard a scream pierce the silence of the forest.

It was clearly not an animal's screams, making her shiver. While she had no idea what the shouted words meant, the pain in the voice was clear.

As she stayed still, covered by the ferns, Ven listened. The screams slowly turned softer, causing her to shiver even more. She knew the smartest thing would be to stay still. However, she needed to find out what was going on.

Not knowing what was being screamed made it hard for her to figure out what was going. However, she felt confident it was not anything good. Her imagination ran wild as she inched closer to the screams.

She made sure to stay low. As she moved she found that the area ahead cleared up, with a path appearing before her. The sights on the path made her nearly lose her breakfast.

'Oh gods… NO!' Ven wanted to shout, she wanted to help. Instead, she froze in place as she looked on at the massacre.

At a woman and her friends being brutally pulled from a tipped carriage. The soldiers of the carriage were all dead or dying. Littering the surroundings as those still drawing breath crawled with daggers in their hands. Hoping to kill one more bastard.

Ven failed to bring herself to move, frozen in fear as she watched the women's clothes be torn apart and their bodies ravaged. She felt intense hatred build up in her, but it was overshadowed by fear which kept her well hidden in the ferns.

She stayed in that dense vegetation, close to the ground, listening to the screams of pain and anger. Unable to move, digging her head into the ground to stop herself from watching any longer.

After an unknown amount of time the screams grew softer and softer… Until finally they ended with the death of the girls. Then came footsteps which passed by Ven who stayed frozen in place. Shivers ran up her spine as she feared being discovered.

She did not move for an hour after the bandits had left. Only then did she shakenly stand up from her position and run towards the carriage. Hoping to find someone still breathing.

She quickly regretted doing so as she failed in keeping her composure. Falling to her knees she vomited as she looked at the expressions of despair frozen in the women's faces,

'Fuck! I need to get out of here.' Ven thought as soon as she lost the last contents of her stomach.

Not delaying for a second, she started running back into the forest. Not caring for direction, she only ensured her back was towards the direction the bandits had left in.

She kept running until she could not go on anymore. Falling down in exhaustion, she pummeled the ground in frustration.

"Fuck! Fuck whoever brought me here!" She shouted in desperation, as all her hopes were shattered and her apprehensions confirmed. This world one of barbarism, her last bit of hope dashed.

All that was left was cold despair.

A wish to go back. A wish that this was but a dream.