End of Volume 1. Unsure when I will continue this story. Hope you all enjoyed, if anyone is reading that is...
"Everyone, get ready to start." Ven's voice traveled through the speakers, reaching every single place in the facility.Slowly she started the countdown, during which most nervously swallowed. Everyone had the same thought going through their minds as the words slowly counted down: 'Moment of truth.'Everything started well, things going as they predicted they would. But slowly, as the reactor reached higher and higher temperatures, it became clear that things would not continue as predicted."This is too fast, stop everything now!" Ven shouted once she saw that they were already at 1% of the total predicted energy levels.This might not sound like much, however, it was supposed to take ten minutes; only one had passed.Everyone scrambled as Ven's shout reached them over the speaker. But... They failed.By the time the team responsible for manually deactivating it arrived, after the automatic system had failed them, the reactor was already a
"Yawen! Yawen! Have you seen Yawen?" Edvard shouted and asked as he ran past panicking colleagues. After helping Ghakarhi and Maxwell out of the reactor room, he had quickly done his best to stabilize them and then rushed to find his wife.A total shutdown meant they could no longer contact the outside world, the force fields completely cut them off from the rest of the world. Which meant it was too late to contact their families. Edvard now only wished to spend his last moments with his wife.In this rush and panic, time froze… Yet it did not freeze.Everyone could still feel, see, and reason. But they could not move. Things which had been falling were now stationary, people who were bleeding now seemed to stop. The sound of the alarm was no more and so too the flashing of the lights.'What the hell?' Edvard asked as he tried looking around, finding that he could not move his sight. He was completely stuck, but aware. He could not even move his ey
Gasping for air, Ven struggled to flip herself from her current position; face down in the dirt. It took her a few tries as her body struggled to follow her commands.Back against the dirt, face staring at the canopy of leaves, she spat a few times to get rid of what she had eaten in her struggle.Taking a deep breath, she felt the dirt mix with her saliva slipping into her throat, causing her to cough from the irritants. After a few more bouts of spitting, she finally managed to breathe comfortably.'Gods… How long has it been?' She asked herself as she stayed on her back and enjoyed the rays of sunlight flickering through the leaves. This simple scene a rare one on Earth.She had no idea how long she had been in that frozen state. Where she had seen her friends and colleagues dissipate and die. It had felt like years, but surely that can't be right.It took some time for her to come back from these thoughts, tears flowing down her cheeks a
'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 hopef
Gasping for air, Edvard struggled to get up. Much like Ven, he ate a few mouthfuls of dirt before managing to turn around. Also like Ven, he was in a forest and fatigued to the bone. This forest was less dense, with sparse undergrowth and no vines. Making visibility far clearer.His first actions and thoughts were similar to Ven's, only his desire to go back was far stronger. He knew the first thing he needed was a source of water, yet he could not keep his thoughts focused on that.Unlike Ven, his search was interrupted much sooner too. He saw a monster, an orc, come through the treelines in a panicked sprint. Edvard froze upon seeing the fantasy-like creature.The orc looked exactly like the fantasy representation of orcs. Large bulging muscles, tusk-like teeth, and dark green mud-colored skin. It looked vicious and like it could kill him with ease.Edvard did not freeze for long, realizing that the orc was running towards him, he looked for a place to
"What the fuck? Where the hell am I?" Edvard asked as he finished emptying his stomach. No longer caring for being silent after the horror he just witnessed.Looking up he couldn't help but feel like some divine being was torturing him. First the endless timelessness and now a monster-invested forest.'Is this some kind of sick joke? Was atomizing the mercy?' He wondered, certain that he would soon end up like the orc. It certainly had a much better chance than him at putting up a fight yet, it had died so easily.While the orc had not had any weapons, it was well over 2 meters with muscles that would send most athletes crying about the unfairness of life.Adding onto that, the orc was a native of this world. Of this forest. Edvard had no idea where to even find food or water, and he dared not try and find them.Moving back to his hiding spot, Edvard took out all the items he had on him. His last bit of hope vanishing as he found everything no long
'It is the world we live on. Let me clarify. We are not communicating through a language, nor through words. We are talking through concepts, as such, I can understand you and you me. You do not have to worry about how you say things, I will understand.''Wha-… How is that even possible?' Edvard asked in exasperation, this contradicted all he knew of telepathy.'It is a skill some of our kind may gain through the test of time. Not many, and only I in this group.' As he said this the elf, or Vespes, pointed to those around him.Having calmed down greatly, Edvard's mind could actually take in the details his eyes presented him. All of the elves looked handsome like they had carefully picked genes. Edvard also noticed that there were no females in this group.They were all dressed similarly; beautiful silk with strange patterns hidden behind their unique leather armor. No stitches nor anything showing that it was crafted visible, almost like the cloth
'What will you use my knowledge for?' Edvard asked, wondering how many of his thoughts had already been read. It was impossible for him to know when his thoughts were private and when they were open to Ilvisar, unless the vespes commented on them.'I will try to understand them… While I will be getting your memories, I will only be able to get those you yourself remember. The most recent will be the strongest and easiest to read. The most precious, second easiest. Third, the abstract and conscious knowledge which you know of, but do not focus on.''I will try and find a way to use your knowledge for the greater good of the Vespes. I'll be honest, I will not do anything for the humans of Ethos. Only for my empire and citizens.''Does that mean I will be a traitor?' Edvard wondered, having no clue about the social structure of this world. He did not know how bad this rivalry was, if sharing his knowledge would get him killed soon after.'How can I be