Chapter 5
Chapter 5
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Translator: Mod7
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: Chapter 2 - Nocturnal
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“Debris from the ship is falling. You must move from your current location.”
“Decreased physical function due to excessive stress detected. Please allow me to carry you.”
“Searching for survivors is futile.”
“Negative. Dr. Juho’s survival takes relative precedence.”
“I reiterate, searching for survivors is futile. We must focus on increasing Dr. Juho’s chances of survival.”
***
A throbbing pain pulsed even before my eyes opened. A cellular survival instinct screamed at me to get up, to live.
Dawn. The first dawn in this unfamiliar cave was damper and colder than I expected.
I scraped my fingers against the ground. The gritty feel of the dirt mocked me, confirming this wasn't a dream.
“Doctor.”
We had survived. A state-of-the-art AI and a man ill-suited for a hunter-gatherer lifestyle.
“I have located one week’s worth of rations from the ship’s wreckage. I recommend remaining here for the time being.”
Amy, as always, was remarkably composed. Watching her, I reminded myself to pull myself together.
The shock of losing my friend,
Or the ship's demise,
These weren't things I could dwell on now. I had to push aside the grief and focus on survival.
“…Alright, I understand.”
The explosion had been massive. Any wildlife in the vicinity must have fled the unexpected disaster. I wasn't sure about those monsters, though…
In any case, I planned to stay here for a while. Alone on an alien planet, I had to be cautious, even about the smallest details.
“Let’s look for food when the sun rises. One week isn’t enough. We need at least a month’s worth.”
This planet must have edible plants or animals. But they could be poisonous, or cause unforeseen side effects on an off-worlder’s body.
So, for at least a month, I would have to approach everything with a learner's mindset, carefully testing and observing.
“Yes.”
Amy didn’t argue. She simply blinked her beautiful eyes and obeyed.
Her calculations likely mirrored my own conclusions.
We walked across the sunlit planet. Warm UV rays scattered around us.
“Preserved food container.”
“Good. Quite a few.”
Amy detected the ship’s wreckage and we went to scavenge for anything useful.
“Can you carry all of this?”
“I will have to make two trips.”
“Alright.”
Two strangers wandering an alien planet…
We didn't seem welcome. Birds and animals, slowly returning to the area, fled as they sensed our presence.
Reyes had boasted that all the creatures seemed friendly to humans,
But they appeared incredibly skittish after the explosion.
“…Amy, where did the main body of the ship crash?”
“It crashed on the coast, 135km from our current location.”
“In the sea?”
“Yes.”
I kept the conversation going, partly to stave off the loneliness, partly to plan our next move.
“Do you think there are any survivors?”
“The emergency landing system was activated. The possibility of survival is significant.”
“That’s good.”
If anyone survived, we might meet them someday. But what worried me was…
“…What were those monsters?”
“Insufficient data.”
“Right, of course.”
The creatures that had killed Dan and the rescue team.
Screech-
Strange cries echoed through the night.
A chilling sound I hadn't heard before.
We lay awake, listening to the unsettling noise.
“Offspring.”
Amy continued to provide information.
“The offspring that emerged from Dan is roaming nearby.”
Most of it was unpleasant to hear. Hearing Dan’s name brought back the look of terror in his eyes.
Screech-
“The sound is close. It appears to have located us.”
Amy prepared for combat. Her wrist bent at a right angle, and a vibrating blade emerged from her skin.
I was tempted to let her avenge Dan, but…
“Wait, hold on!”
I was startled by the small creature at the cave entrance.
“Screech!”
Unlike the repulsive monsters I had imagined,
The creature that approached us looked like a little girl, about eight years old.
“What the…?”
I stared at its incomprehensible form in shock. It tilted its head, studying my face.
The blood around its mouth suggested it had devoured its father’s body to grow,
“Keet?”
Yet, strangely, it didn’t bare its claws or teeth at Amy and me.
It had a strange black tail extending from its pelvic bone, the tip sharpened to a point. It probably used it for hunting.
“Amy, hold on.”
“Approaching it is dangerous.”
“I know. I just want to observe…”
Where human fingers should have been, it had black, claw-like appendages. The same black as its tail, they resembled the legs of an insect.
Yes, an insect…
It resembled the chitinous exoskeleton of an insect. The claws and tail were menacing.
“Kyaaoo-”
But the small creature lowered its tail and slowly crawled towards us. I backed away, and Amy stepped forward, ready to fight.
“Kyaok-”
Instead, it wagged its tail against the ground and rolled onto its back, exposing its belly.
Amy froze, and so did I.
We observed the creature’s posture, then exchanged glances.
“Do you wish to assess its edibility?”
“No! Of course not…!”
It was puzzling. Did its physical structure change drastically as it matured?
This creature in front of me looked nothing like the spider-like monsters. It was understandable that an outsider wouldn't grasp its biology, but…
“…”
It truly looked different.
“Why is it being so friendly towards us?”
“It appears to recognize you as a parental figure. You were present at its birth.”
“It parasitized Dan, devoured him, and now it's looking for another parent nearby?”
Strange. But despite its rapid growth, it was remarkably thin. Perhaps showing its belly wasn’t a sign of submission, but of hunger.
Looking closer, I noticed a few of its claws seemed underdeveloped. Smaller and weaker than the others, they suggested malnutrition.
“…It looks premature. The parasitic period must have been insufficient.”
I found myself stroking the small creature. It was something between human and monster, difficult to define.
“The impact from your strike to Dan’s abdomen may have caused a premature birth.”
“Perhaps.”
Its fangs were sharp. But its hair was soft, like a human’s, and its skin felt tougher than a human’s, almost like Amy’s synthetic flesh.
When I petted its head, it wagged its tail and whimpered.
“Should we take it with us?”
“There is no need to reject a friendly entity. It also possesses potential utility.”
“…Absolutely no edibility tests.”
I wasn’t sure about taking this creature with us, the same one that had caused Dan such a painful death.
But perhaps,
This creature had saved my life.
Staying on the ship might have been more dangerous.
“It might turn hostile once it matures. You’ll have to kill it then.”
“Yes.”
So, I shared some food.
I opened a ration kit and offered it a biscuit. It devoured it, wagging its tail.
That tail, sharp enough to tear my skin to shreds,
Wagging like a puppy’s, eased my apprehension.
“…I really don’t understand.”
Amy and I watched the creature eat, lost in thought.
“Do you think the adults we saw were like worker ants? Maybe there’s a separate reproductive caste, and they either produce workers or reproductives… and choose between the two…”
“Possible.”
“So this one is a queen ant?”
There were so many questions.
“The workers hunt at night, and the queen increases their numbers through reproduction…”
“Yes.”
A chilling thought suddenly struck me.
“…Wait a minute.”
They hid during the day and moved at night?
“Nocturnal? Those monsters are nocturnal, right?”
“Highly probable.”
Creatures usually evolved to be nocturnal either
To gain a hunting advantage,
Or to avoid daytime predators.
But the creatures we saw didn’t seem particularly well-suited for nighttime activity. With their size, they would be better off hunting medium-sized animals during the day. We had seen several fairly large animals during the day.
And to maintain their numbers, they would need to hunt a significant amount…
If the benefits of hunting at night weren't that great…
It meant they were avoiding something, forced to be active at night…
“…So what’s out there during the day?”