"Ugh… I can't get used to this shitty lifepod. It's so cramped in here. Is this piece of junk supposed to hold ten people?" Lexus groaned, cracking his neck as dawn arrived.
Others did not argue, as they felt the same. Even Lazarus, who lived in an orphanage, at least got bunk beds. Here, in the lifepod, all they got was a plastic seat.
"If you want to sleep outside, go ahead. I recall one of those scarabs does travel to the sea. They did not just appear in lakes, you know," Xiaolang said.
"We should build a house. I am tired of living like this! My body stinks! Couldn't we build a bath?" Lexus said.
"We decided to test out fruits today, right? Our food will only last us three more days. We already planned it yesterday," Laurel sighed. "Besides, even if we build a house, do you think it would protect us from monsters?"
"But…"
"We will think about housing tonight. I agree that our arrangement has grown more stressful. But we couldn't just move. What if monsters attacked? Ugh…" Laurel said while nursing her head. The fatigue had finally caught up with her. She had been pushed beyond her limit both physically and mentally.
"Build a house strong enough to repel them, of course!" Lexus said.
"Lexus, high-quality steel and building materials don't just pop out from a crafting bench. This is not a game. Even if we somehow made a stone axe, the best we could do would be to make a wooden shack," Shingo said.
"Will that be strong enough?" Bob asked.
"Against scarabs? Possibly." Shingo shrugged.
"That's why we need to scout. If there were only scarabs there, we could build a house near the clean river. Ugh!" Laurel felt nauseous and dropped herself onto her seat.
"Laurel! Are you okay? No, you are burning up."
"I have felt dizzy since this morning," Laurel groaned as she nursed her head.
"No way. You got sick? There is no doctor here!" Anna said, horrified.
"Relax! We have a medkit here. With Mistral's instruction, it is as good as a doctor," Shingo said. He had been using an AMS kit a lot since he had asthma, and it had saved his life numerous times. With Mistral deciphering the data the kit provides, it was as good as general doctors. Only patients with chronic or genetic illnesses couldn't be cured with an AMS kit.
Lazarus nodded and went toward the storeroom, picking up the Automated Medical Scanner Kit, or AMS kit for short. Moments later, she brought out the red box. Her steps were filled with worry as she laid the small red suitcase beside Laurel and opened it. Inside was another red box with screens and a wristband with cables connected to it, along with a scanner and a mask.
[An automated medical scanner kit was not a replacement for doctors. It only provides first aid to patients with minor illnesses such as lacerations and allergies.]
"Nah. I am fine. It was just a small headache," Laurel said.
"It might be fine if we were inside a colony, but we are on an alien planet. We don't know what kind of disease or virus is around here. We should do a thorough check," Shingo said as he wrapped the wristband on Laurel's hand.
[Please lay the patient on a bed and use the MRI imaging scanner on the patient. The scanner should be placed 40 to 50 cm above the patient to guarantee accuracy and coverage.]
Shingo took out the scanner and turned it on while Lazarus helped Laurel lie flat on the ground. The scanner looked like a flashlight with a rectangular mount. It then emitted a white rectangular light, and Shingo shone the light onto Laurel. The white light moved from Laurel's head to her toes.
[Next, put a mask on the patient. This will measure her breathing residue. Ask the patient to take a few deep breaths and make sure the patient does not do any strenuous activity while doing so.]
Shingo put the mask on her face. Laurel took a few deep breaths inside the mask, feeling embarrassed. She was supposed to be the leader; how could she be the first one to fall ill? What if there was a dangerous disease going around? That meant they would all die here.
[Scanning. Body temperature above normal. Blood test normal. No virus or bacteria detected in the blood or breathing. Hypothesis: the patient suffered mild stress. Rest recommended.]
"See? It is just stress," Laurel sighed, knowing nothing was amiss.
"It was just stress, huh? I thought it was some kind of dangerous virus. You are too tense, Laurel. You've got to calm down a little and stop getting angry all the time," Lexus shrugged.
"All of it was because of you! If you didn't act spoiled, I would not need to be so angry! Ugh…" Laurel snapped before lying down weakly as vertigo and nausea filled her. Even inside the colony, 90% of Laurel's stress was from Lexus' antics, and it kept getting worse on this alien planet.
"Please rest, Laurel. I agree that we need to take it easy. If we keep pushing ourselves like this, we will all fall ill one by one," Shingo said. "Let's stop after doing our water duty for today. That alone left me wiped out yesterday."
"But what about food? We also need to explore the island," Laurel muttered.
"Exploring the island could wait. As for food, we can test the ones near the lake. It won't take much effort since we will be boiling water nearby as well," Xiaolang said.
"Okay. Good luck, everyone."
"Lazarus, you should stay and watch over Laurel as well. You were with her climbing that mountain yesterday, right? You must be tired as well. We will handle the rest."
"Eh? But water duty is tough. I want to help," Lazarus said, feeling guilty.
"It's fine. We've got five people today instead of three. We've got this. Please look over the emergency beacon," Shingo said.
"Huh? It's not fair that these two get to slack off!"
"Like you're one to talk! Everyone got a turn. You already watched the beacon yesterday!"
"Um… Xiaolang, are you okay? You were with Laurel and Lazarus yesterday, right?"
"I am fine. I will tell you if I am not," Xiaolang said while carrying his spear. "Let's go."
"Alright. I will leave it to you, Xiaolang. Ugh…" Laurel groaned as she nursed her head. Her body felt weak; she didn't even want to argue with Lexus.
After having their breakfast, the group waved to Lazarus. They went back toward the alien forest. Now that it was morning, the trees no longer glowed alien purple. The purple amoebas, finished with their night feast, raced to the sea, hiding.
"I wonder what kind of animals are here? So far, we have only found four animals here," Anna muttered.
"We don't need animals around!" Lexus shrugged.
"That's not true. At least the cloud striders were nice. They don't disturb us. They are cute," Anna argued.
"It's because they couldn't hurt us. We are bigger than them," Xiaolang said. "That bigger cloud strider was scarier."
"Oh. What should we call the one in the mountain? Should we call it Winged T-Rex?" Lexus asked. "They have similar forearms."
"I heard T. rex was supposed to have feathers, so it might not be too far off the mark," Bob nodded.
"T. rex was supposed to be over 10 meters tall. Calling that bird T-Rex is underwhelming, don't you think?" Shingo pouted, his image of the gallant and scary T. rex ruined. That bird was certainly scary, but T. rex was supposed to be way scarier than it.
"Mini T-Rex is too cute for that kind of bird. It didn't have unique traits like the flipping boar either. I wonder if we should call it Cloud Reaper. They eat cloud striders, right?" Anna pondered as they walked through the forest. She inspected the pictures and videos Xiaolang had given them.
"Oh! That's a good idea. Better than T-Rex!" Shingo approved. "It would be cool if we could ride it."
"Oh! I like the idea of that!" Lexus smirked, imagining himself riding one.
"How are you going to tame them? With some vines you found somewhere as reins?" Xiaolang snorted. He had seen the Cloud Reapers up close, and he didn't feel like they were going to listen to a bunch of kids treating them as ponies.
The forest trail had opened up more. This time, the walk had been a lot easier. They no longer felt out of breath; their bodies felt lighter with each passing day they spent on this island.
The clearing by the lake gave them a breath of fresh air. It felt refreshing, as if they were freed from the confines of the green canopy that loomed over their heads a few minutes ago. Bob laid down the wok and pans he carried beside the river. He then got to work, with Shingo carrying the ember and Xiaolang carrying tinder; the campfire lit immediately.
"Anna, look at the surroundings. Remember those scarabs from the lake could come here at any moment," Xiaolang said.
"Okay." Anna nodded.
"Don't worry too much. Scarabs are the only ones here. If one showed up, I could beat it with this spear. You beat them with a knife, right? They are not a big deal," Lexus puffed his chest.
Xiaolang wanted to retort at Lexus' arrogance but decided to ignore him. There was no need to entertain the spoiled brat. Xiaolang looked over the lake. Several berries hung from the shrubs, fruits hanging from trees, ready to be picked. But he was not alone in thinking that. Flipping boars had a monopoly on those shrubs, and they were also close to the lake where scarabs lay prone. Even if they could get away from the scarabs, Xiaolang doubted the boars would let them take the berries.
So, the other choice was the fruit hanging on trees. With Bob's help, Xiaolang believed he could climb them. It looked safer, but was it? Were there really no animals here eating those fruits?
Xiaolang contemplated while Bob and Shingo were busy boiling water. There were a few low-hanging fruits that the cloud striders had pecked into. Apparently, these cloud striders were omnivores. They used their forelimbs to pick fruits and ate them like squirrels or hamsters.
Xiaolang went to the same tree, intending to grab one fruit farther away from the cloud strider to test it with the water spectrometer. Then—
rustle
There wasn't even a sound. Only the branch rustled. If Xiaolang hadn't observed the cloud strider closely, he would have missed it. The branch was alive. It snapped at the cloud strider, constricting it. The poor bird didn't know what had hit it before it lost its life. Xiaolang saw blood seeping out from its corpse, never dripping as the branch seemed to absorb it.
A terror like he had never felt before surged within him. His hands trembled, clenching his spear tighter. One wrong move and they might be next. Xiaolang thought he was more ready than the rest of the kids, but he was wrong. This forest—this alien island—could reap their lives at any moment.
Then a loud howl echoed through the lake. Xiaolang dashed back to the group, holding his spear tightly.
The danger was not over.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Papa loved his company more than me! I am probably not his child! If he loves me, why did he always miss my birthday? I bet he wouldn't even care if I got lost on some random planet or spaceship! ~Lexus