Jack didn’t remember if he had ever been this full in his life. He had been eating tentacles raw for 2 hours now, and the assistant was correct—they were delicious. Back on Earth, for every birthday, he would demand that he and his parents go to a sushi restaurant since he loved the taste of raw fish in soy sauce. He had always been a connoisseur when it came to sushi and sashimi, but these tentacles brought the flavor to the next level. Because Jack was grossed out by the tentacles that had other body parts attached, he only ate from the few tentacles that were, as God had intended, simple ones with suction cups. That was all he could handle for now.
He still had not figured out what his ability was, but if he focused the Sym energy into his arms and legs, they would become ridiculously strong. He could crush the metal-like tentacles with his bare hands and stomp them into smithereens with his feet.
“Maybe I am superman-like strong?” he thought to himself. He remembered what the assistant had said about the tens of thousands of different abilities that had been recorded by the Rasp. “There has to be more to it than strength,” Jack concluded. “How can some teleport or create explosions?” he wondered. But he postponed this puzzle since he now needed to find secure shelter. Whatever injured the creature might come back for it.
While Jack was not prude by any stretch of the imagination, he was quite annoyed that he was still naked. He needed to find something to wear, even if it was just covering his butt and crotch so he could sit more comfortably. He inspected the creature again to see if there was anything textile-like he could use. With his strength, he rolled the creature on its side. It was about 2 metres tall and must have weighed a lot, but Jack had lost all sense of dimensions with his increased strength. For him, it felt like it would weigh 50 kg tops once he used all his Sym energy. The bottom of the creature indeed had some skin parts that were softer and seemed more leather-like. This was likewise the spot where it had been injured originally. There was a round hole in its underside where the blood had flowed out.
“I guess scary creatures have weak spots too,” he mumbled. He grabbed parts of the leather-like material from the hole and tried to rip out a piece as big as possible. Holding it in his hands confirmed his assumption that it was softer and more malleable, but it was a secondary layer on top of the hard surface he had seen before. “So it’s not really a weak spot, just a second skin like a cornea,” he thought.
He ripped out the leather and ended up with a large piece about the size of a medium towel. “That’ll do,” he thought, and wrapped his lower body in it like a diaper, so at least he had some type of clothing. He shook his head, looking at his ridiculous outfit, but anything was better than being naked. And the leather was quite sturdy. He then took as many big pieces of leather as he could and turned one into a bag, while another was used to store some extra sashimi for the road. “I can’t believe how good it tastes,” he mumbled with a full mouth. He placed the extra leather and food supplies into his bag and walked toward the edge of the crater. As he was walking, he saw a shiny stone sticking out of the creature’s head, which he had accidentally split open during his ability experiments. It looked like a single crystal he had seen in his chemistry class a long time ago. Such crystals will grow and have perfect rectangular shapes since their growth reflects their molecular geometry. “Fascinating,” he said, grabbing the stone out of the creature’s skull. He subconsciously licked his fingers afterward and then paused. “I did not just do that,” he mumbled in embarrassment. “This place has an effect on me.”
He started moving in a random direction since each one looked the same to him. To find his way back, he punched a hole into the ground with one finger every few metres to leave a discreet trail. He had become versed in strengthening his body with Sym energy, so punching a hole into rock was easy now. He even tried jumping really high by strengthening his legs, but abandoned the idea—being seen by everyone was the last thing he needed right now.
His visibility in this dark purple fog was about 200 metres, but when he circulated Sym energy into his eyes, he could see approximately 1,000 metres in every direction. This helped avoid threats, but he still did not know where he was going. He had enough food for a few days but was lacking water. The creature’s tentacle meat was surprisingly salty, great for preservation but horrible for hydration. He was quite thirsty now, but everything in the area was made of rock. “What should I do?” he thought to himself. “If I can’t find water within 48 hours, I’m as good as dead.”
Jack had been walking for about two hours but had found nothing except rocks and craters. Every once in a while, he saw some movement—presumably giant creatures in the distance—and changed directions to avoid them. Some looked completely bizarre, and he even saw two flying creatures and one that was at least 8 metres tall. Their movements seemed strange, with some moving in slow motion and others moving as if they were sped up.
He still punched holes into the ground just in case, but he had lost all orientation after changing directions about 15 times. He usually spotted the creatures from far away, but they did not seem to notice him. After circulating Sym energy into his eyes for so long, his visual field had expanded to around 2,000 metres through the fog and far into the distance. “Maybe I am becoming Superman,” he concluded.
He was really thirsty now. He had been walking and snacking on salty sashimi the entire time, and it was getting unbearable. He wanted to stop eating, but it was just too delicious. Boredom got the better of him as he wandered around in his leather “diaper,” snacking on sashimi from the bag like potato chips, occasionally punching a hole into the ground with his index finger. “If only my parents could see me now,” he chuckled, and then his expression turned sad. “I wonder how they’re doing… I hope the message reached them.”
Jack had thought about the message for a long time and also considered mentioning the Mars stone, but he expected it would only get his father into trouble. If the police or the government saw the message and started questioning his father, it would not end well for him. And there was nothing in it for him, so Jack left it out. “They’ll probably think I ran away or that someone helped me. Or maybe they won’t think at all and just trust in God,” he pondered. “I’ll trust that they’ll handle it well.”
Then Jack suddenly stopped. “Fuck this,” he said aloud. “I am thirsty!” He dropped his bag and went down on his knees, placing his ear to the ground like an American Indian seeking buffalo. He had been thinking of ways to find water for a long time, and this was one idea: channel as much Sym energy into his ears as possible to detect groundwater. He had listened near the ground almost every time he punched a hole, but to no avail. This time, though, he felt good about it because he had heard some faint white noise for a few minutes, and he was sure it came from underground. He had seen no creatures for 2,000 metres in any direction, so he could execute his plan: digging for gold.
He listened carefully and clearly heard the flow of water. His mind went wild with thirst. “Imagine eating 20 bags of potato chips without water,” he mumbled to himself. “That’s how I feel.”
He knew destroying the rocks below would be easy, but he was unsure how far he had to dig. Estimating was difficult with his dramatically improved hearing. Yet as he walked, he could only faintly hear creatures in the distance, while the water flow was noticeably louder. Because it should be harder to hear through rocks and ground, he concluded it must be only a few metres below the surface. So he began digging by stomping into the ground, crushing the rocks as though they were sugar.
After 20 minutes of digging, he felt a cold splash on his legs. He had finally reached groundwater. Like an addict desperate for a fix, he squeezed his arms into the hole and formed a cup with his hands to let water flow in. It looked clear—good enough for him—and he crouched down to drink from his hands, his leather diaper sticking in the air. He kept drinking as much as he could. Then he sat to circulate his energy for 20 minutes, took a piss in another crater, and drank more fresh groundwater.
He felt great. He had eaten well, had clean water, and was no longer naked. In Jack’s book, that was a good day. He was no longer dying in the hospital. He looked down sadly, thinking of his parents again. “Well, one step at a time,” he said, getting up to fill the leather drinking bag he had made from his leftover hides. He had found that if he squeezed two parts of leather with enough strength, they almost glued together. It must have been a property of the hide, but it was very convenient. He had turned his diaper into something closer to shorts, and the bag was now a proper pack hanging on his back. The water bag for drinking was the last of his limited leather travel apparel line.
After filling his water bag, he looked around for a good cave to rest in. His vision had extended to a large distance, and he could see a mountain range that might be perfect. No creatures were in sight, for now.
It took him a while to reach the mountain range, and he was surprised by its size. He wasn’t able to see the peak, which made Jack curious. “I wonder what lies behind these mountains,” he wondered. “Maybe it’s the exit from this high-density Sym area.”
He looked around and found some caves that seemed deep enough to rest in. To be safe, he strengthened his entire body and sharpened his ears to the maximum, but saw no creatures nearby. He could hear some far off, even above in the sky, but none close.
He picked a cave that seemed narrow—too narrow for a large creature to squeeze in—and laid his spare leather flat on the ground. “This’ll do,” he said, setting up his makeshift bed. The entrance was so slim he felt confident he could kill anything that fit through it. But he also knew it’s not the strongest who wins a fight, but the one who wins. If he was attacked in his sleep, that would be it—even a small coyote could bite his neck. No amount of strength would save him from a sneak attack with his guard down.
From his time as a mixed martial arts competitor, he had learned no one has a perfect game. There are no absolute rankings. The number one can be beaten by the number three, and the number three can be beaten by number ten. There are good and bad matchups, weak spots, freak accidents, and bad days. Even Superman can be killed. He swore never to underestimate any threat. He hadn’t fought for his life just to die through overconfidence.
Jack used Sym energy in his hands to flatten the ground, feeling like a masseur creating a comfortable, even sleeping spot. Then he took a large boulder and moved it in front of the cave’s opening to ensure the cave was invisible from outside. He also wanted to guarantee he’d hear if any predator tried to enter.
He placed the leather bed on the ground again and lay down. He hadn’t felt cold once since arriving on this planet; he wondered if that was also an effect of the Sym energy. With hands behind his head, he pondered all that had happened, circulating the Sym energy diligently as the assistant instructed. It had been a crazy day: he was no longer bedridden or fading away.
Jack felt both scared and empowered. His life had taken a horrible turn, hurling him into a place that looked closer to hell than he had ever imagined, but it had also given him life’s greatest gift: hope.
He hoped to see his parents again. He hoped to see his old home again. He hoped life could be good to him once more.
With these thoughts, he closed his eyes and gradually drifted into a dream world.
Jack sank into a deep sleep.
“…”
“Jack, can you hear me?” the assistant said.