(Unusual Is Normal)
People sleep, hoping for a new day. In the wastelands, inhabitants might have understood it the other way. No one would love to face the generous wrath of the sun, awakening the blood thirsty creatures from their slumber. Perhaps, there is hope in every graceful morning within the walls of Mu. But here, out of the great walls, even though the raid for scavenging strikes in rates, and despite the competition, surely it is safer at night. But what do you do when resources become limited to sustain the massive population of lambdas?
XN, handicapped of the left arm, understood the dilemma of a life as a lambda in the wastelands and of all possibilities, decided to go against this conventional method of nocturnal survival.
[Alarm beeps]
"It's already 5 ? The sun surely got hasty today"
XN said to himself in a calm yet sarcastic tone, as he rose from his old and delicate-to-sight bed, while reaching for the digital clock on the rusted desk that served as a nightstand.
XN lived in an old squared container, which he furnished with junk he thought useful, especially as raw materials in processing. Through the fabricated window revealing the south, he could see the arid land, cursed with the unfiltered heat of the sun, with distant dust moving beyond horizons.
"Huh, I guess the scavengers must have fallen back. I hope they left some valuables for me, haha"
he maintained the sarcastic mood..
"The sun is sure early, though."
The heat radiated from the sun made some lambdas somewhat 'vampires', for it was too harsh for a being without the appropriate gene for such accommodations.
XN was one of these 'vampires,' and like most, he would need protection if he intended exploring under such conditions. Fortunately, most scavengers learned "forging" to process artifacts or equipment that would enhance their survival. An Anti-radiation cloak (ARC) was the most common equipment used by 'vampires' to survive the merciless radiations.
XN stared at his ARC, all used up with its lights fainting, indicating its expiration.
"Hmm, my ARC seems to wear out.. and I'm out of resources. I guess it's time to go 'shopping'
He said to himself with his ever faithful sarcastic tone, while he wore his ARC on. Then, he laid his right hand on the rusted bar on his door, which groaned inwards as he pulled on with the intent of walking out. For a minute, he stared at the environment, scouting once more the perimeter before locking his door through a complex security system of three different locks: two outside and one on the inside, each depending on another to unlock. Scavengers didn't hunt only abandoned scrap. Robbery among lambdas was a common activity, as wll.
"Perhaps I should avoid exploring south, today. Hmm, West, as well. The air feels too moist that way. If someone had lost his life there. Not sure I'd like be the next victim.. again." His thoughts, loud, accompanied by a breath of exhaustion from ever being a victim in the past; progressively hushing his last words.
"In the best scenario, a group of scavengers must be thirsty for resources as well, it'd be best to avoid them."
There were various types of creatures sharing the ecosystem with lambdas. Moving dust simply indicated a moving being or a tempest. In any case a lambda would best survive by avoiding danger.
"That leaves me with north and east.. a creature may track the traces of the humidity from the west and walk its way from the East."
With his calculating demeanor scanning the environment, XN knew he had only one choice left-
"Hmm It's North, I guess."
The wastelands are no playground for the naives. Survival is not a privilege, but a must-have skill. Knowledge about the dynamics of the environment, sometimes gives you the feeling of 'foresight.' However, this is different from instincts, as the former is completely conscious and roots from analysis; while the latter is an unconscious activity bound to practice, habits and reflex.
XN had it in him, to be right about his guesses, thanks to "foresight." But was it a skill he gained by courting this imposing environment? Did he even have the skill, or was it coincidence? It wouldn't really matter anyways- a lambda remains a lambda.
As he ventured North with peak alertness, the sand dunes revealed an arid land, deformed by gargantuan, hoary ships, rusted from the era of the "Old World." A time marked by war, famine and death. History has it that all began with a radioactive hazard, a breakout whose explosion caused the decline of the Old World.
However, One of the ships seemed healthier than the others, with its fading lights calling XN's attention.
"Woah.. this is rather unusual. A trasher in the wastelands..?"
The New World tossed her scraps with the aid of Trashers- Ships hovering over the Wastelands with the only aim of discarding the scraps from the New World. But something about this ship felt different. Its unusual size, measuring two times a trasher's; it's fading red and violet lights, with a construction that seemed futuristically exotic to their current era. The revelation of such a spectacle raised a bar in XN's curiosity.
"This is strange. Never had the wastelands witnessed such an architecture.. at least never had I."
As he contemplated the Ship with his sight and his hand softly exploring its composition..
"The door seems to be broken. If there's any chance, I may have access."
From the blades of the ship, a metal was pending. He pulled it off and inserted it between the door and the ship, through the aperture. He then softly spoke before pressing on..
"Let's see.. "
With little effort, the door stumbled with a large groan and thud, accompanied by a huge puff of smoke mixed with rust.
[Cough]
" Well, that was.. easy. Hope nobody passed by before me.. besides the owners, I mean."
With each step, playing an echo, reverberating through the spacious corridors, XN followed the path guided by the functional lights that spookily decorated the ceilings. It was too dark, and the ship was a gargantua, to venture with his current equipment. The lights led a long way through the damaged and rusty walls and floors; large windows with shadowy structures and silhouettes in their rooms; and at the end, an immense door, brought to ruin with the fall of the ship.
"I wonder what could rest behind that door."
Contemplating with awe, the might and architecture of the large door that stood ahead of him. As he searched through the door with all his senses, hoping to find a lever, a button or at least, a clue to open the door, his curiosity was fed by the complex morphology of the mighty door. Slowly, his greed began to grow, the more he imagined the secrets stored behind it.
"It must be quite the treasure, to be kept by such a mighty door,"
his right hand accidentally hovered a palm detector- one which opens upon contact with physical heat from the palm of an authorized personnel. A blue light then blipped in response to XN's palm, and the ruined, mighty door opened sideways with a thick groan that occupied the silence of the gargantua, echoing throughout the distant ends of the ship. XN stood in confusion to this revelation, blinded by the blue, red and white lights escaping from the chamber behind the door. He breathed out, with his voice contained within the throat
"Woah! Wha.. what's happening?"
As these lights faded into his eyes, he could see a massive and well equipped research lab, whose grandeur was brought to ruin with the gargantua, over the years. A few skeletons laying along the entrance and some lab desks, seemed to be scientists..
"The sight is quite pleasant than the scent. They seemed to be running.. perhaps they got stuck here."
He gently analyzed the skeleton dressed in white lab coats. In the process, he sent his hand to pick one's badge. He read his name with a calm and analysing demeanor, almost sarcastic in his comment..
"Eres, huh? What could've scared you so bad that you'd want to leave this paradise."
From the first floor, where the mighty door opened to, there was a smooth way leading down to the second floor. At its center, was a tall screw-like, glass pillar leaving from the bottom to the ceiling, with flashing lights that pulsated weakly, reflecting the low battery of the ship. The floor was made of steel, like almost every wall in that lab and in that ruin, XN raised his head over the horizons of the balusters, scanning the environment for 'treasures.'
"Hmm.. I can't seem to find anything familiar.."
Calm in his words, though disappointed in his sight from the first floor, he walked down the smooth way towards the second floor, scavenging through every valuable space..
"Everything here seems like.. one of a kind.."
Yet, in the mess and chaotic air that occupied the hall, there laid a pile, below which he could identify a finger- not of bones, not of flesh. He couldn't tell yet, so he got closer.
With every step he made, a louder one seemed to repeat. As he got halfway to the pile, the steps intensified in sound, echoing though the hall. The noise was enough to shake the walls, and XN's focus.
"Now, I don't think this ship was programmed to emulate jokes. Something's off!"
Shared between nervousness and composure, he kept his body still while his head pivoted around for a clue to the intensifying sound. The sound pursued in intensity, when he raised his right hand to his right ear, auscultating the sound he seemed to perceive from the entrance, on the higher floor- the mighty door in ruin.
"Something's coming from the entrance.. I should've found a way to control that damn door first!"
With each sound louder than the previous, sweats from controlled anxiety draining from XN's face, the air could only get tenser as a silhouette slowly revealed itself on the walls of the corridor before the entrance- before the mighty door in ruin. A thick cloud of grey smoke, turning the skeletons into dark char, showed forth.
"This is bad news.. I should've known better that this ship wasn't void of life."
Gradually realizing the magnitude of the situation, his concerns grew even more..
"What's worse, I should've guessed the noise from the door would call for whatsoever's attention !"
Trying to keep his calm, XN couldn't help but hold his thoughts to himself. As the tension stretched, the silhouette revealed a giant humanoid creature, with a long protruding occiput and forehead. On its temporal lobes were valves and spiracles in series, from which the grey vapor seemed to escape. The neck dried down to its rigid clavicle that glowed as silver. Its chest, almost dried off, that it traced a ribcage of 16 pairs of ribs. The last four pairs widening out like a sonic dish. Within the Cavities of the ribs, a red light pulsated at the center, in the pitch darkness.
Its arms were a selection of robust muscle fibres, whose distinctiveness could be identified by mere sight. Each muscle bulged out in rhythm with the pulsating red lights. Occasionally, some fibres detached from the clavicle of this creature. Its abdomen was void of any fleshy or bony structure. Just a direct attachment to a hip with fleshy thorns dried on the humanoid pelvis. Its thighs and calves were as its arms. And its hands and legs, a synergy of rigid silver bones and muscle fibres, each relaxation releasing its heat as vapor.
[Groan]
"Oh man.. this is bad.. real bad!"
The revelation of this horrific visual feast left XN frozen in awe. With the heavy silence established by the fear, a pounding sound could be heard from XN's racing heart. The aura in the air was suffocating, provoking urgency in his anxiety, as he thought to himself..
"What.. what I'm I facing? How can I get out of here? Do I even stand a chance against it?"
With each soliloquy intensifying the anxiety. Gradually, he realizes the desperate situation.
[Breathes out]
"Alright, pull yourself together!"
Supporting his forehead with the sweaty right hand, he attempts to stomach the despair, and with a disturbed grin, he breathed out..
"My foresight failed because I was caught by the surprise of this gargantua. But now it's right here..."
XN tried to maintain his aplomb as analyses rushed through his mind. His survival might depend on the outcome of these calculations, he would say to himself..
"What do I know about it, besides its oppressingly corrosive aura.. and its absurd size?"
"All these researchers are dead, and I doubt this ship was void of trained soldiers to guard them."
For a brief moment, XN was alone in his mind..
"They must've been killed as well.. or could they have made it out? With each word echoing in his headspace, a subtle breath escaped as he hushed out
"things are bad!"
As the chaos turned to make sense, he began to explore deeper. Each thought seemed to bring him closer to a way out..
"Well.. I say these but.. I can't really confirm it's the only of its kind in this ship. That sucks!"
XN succeeded in taunting his emotions, but not the situation. But that may be the steppingstone to emancipation. With his senses reset, his determination to survive would be a decisive factor. Knowing there's no turning back, he cleared out his doubts and let his calm voice echo in his headspace..
"In the meantime, it's a one versus one. Let's do it!"
/// If you enjoyed this chapter, add to your library and leave a comment — your support helps this story grow! ///