Downfall
"That looked like the teleportation ability. Since this is a short-distance skill, it should still be nearby. The skill can only allow the user to jump within its range of sight since the exit portal must be created at the time of the jump," the assistant said.
Jack screened his environment carefully. Its range of sight could not be larger than his, he thought to himself, but a 360-degree scanning of the environment yielded no traces of the creature. He saw no movements and no signs of life.
"That is strange. Maybe it camouflaged itself on arrival through an invisibility skill or it used successive jumps to increase the distance artificially. It is theoretically possible that the creature managed to execute a long-distance jump using a modification of the ability documented by the Rasp. I am lacking enough information to provide a better judgment of the situation," the assistant added.
"That's fine. I think it fled because it realized that it had no chance," Jack asserted.
Jack stayed still for another 20 minutes and carefully scanned the environment for any unusual movements. After he was certain that the creature had disappeared, he continued on his way to the nearest city.
"What do you think got me on the head?" Jack asked the assistant while running.
"I have reviewed all of your body sensations again carefully and have developed two theories. First, the creature might have used an ability similar to what you know as telekinesis which allows the user to manipulate material objects using energy manipulation. This could be used to cut objects and it would likewise explain why it was able to penetrate your hardened skin since it would be based on Sym energy in its condensed state while your skin is strengthened but still contains sensitive skin. The second hypothesis is that the creature was not alone and had support of another creature that used an invisibility skill or was capable of speeds that were unable for you to detect," the assistant said.
"I think theory one is more plausible. It must have noticed that it could not penetrate my skin outside of a small cut which prompted it to flee instead of trying it again," Jack said.
"Yes, I would agree with that assessment. Still, it is important for you to be careful since, in this world, anyone can be killed no matter how strong they are. This time it was a shallow cut but next time it could be a hole in your airway or head which would be sufficient to kill you," the assistant warned.
"You don't have to remind me. I know how dangerous it is here," Jack said.
"But we have gained valuable information during this encounter. Not only are the humanoid creatures intelligent but they can also use abilities that are secondary to Sym energy accumulation in the brain. Multiple abilities at once, even. Things have changed greatly since my last data update," the assistant said.
Jack continued on his path for two more days and only interrupted his run to eat and sleep in his cave which he could access through a portal. Before he knew it, he could make out the outlines of a city in the far distance. It appeared like an almost medieval city that was surrounded by a strong wall as if to prepare for siege warfare. But the wall seemed more modern than a simple stone wall and appeared to Jack as if it was made of or coated in metal. He could not see any houses since the wall covered the entire city, which means that the wall must have a length of many kilometres. What he could make out were a few very large buildings closer to the city centre but they were too far away to make out their appearance. Jack was about 2 kilometres away when the assistant suddenly interjected.
"Stop, Jack!" the assistant said.
"What's wrong?" Jack answered, startled, as he came to an abrupt halt.
"The city seems unusual. I can see a variety of areas where dense Sym energy is present. If you look closely, you can also see at least three areas where black-purple fog is visible," the assistant said.
Jack looked closely at the city wall and, indeed, he could see the Sym energy emerging from certain parts of the walls. He was so distracted by the metal wall itself that he didn't even notice the familiar fog.
"So, what does this mean?" Jack asked, still standing still.
"According to my records, no city would be built close to dense Sym energy since it is toxic to humans. The low-density energy that is engulfing the entire planet is not toxic and not visible to the eye which means that the energy here must be very high to become this visible. I am not sure what, but something significant has occurred in the past 5000 years since this city was a low-density Sym energy area," the assistant said.
"I see. Now that I'm here, I want to take a look anyway. Did you say that there was an invisibility skill?" Jack asked.
"Yes, such a skill exists in my records. I did not suggest it since our main priority is to first master space-related abilities since this is needed to return back to Earth. Do you wish to learn the invisibility skill now? I predict that it would require approximately 3 days of practice to be able to use it continuously for a stealth infiltration," the assistant said.
"Let's do it later. I first want to take a quick look and I can still come back with invisibility if there is a need for it. Using portals should be sufficient," Jack said as he continued on his journey and carefully approached the city while taking cover behind trees and hills.
The assistant had continually encouraged Jack to be creative when experimenting with and using his portal skill since, at least that was the theory, this is how abilities are strengthened and new ones are discovered. Jack had taken this to heart and had included his ability-use into his meditation. When he was running or resting, he would always be circulating and condensing his energy and he would likewise create portals of different sizes and play around with them. Some of the new things he had discovered were the creation of tiny portals that he could use to quickly throw items into his cave hideout as well as the ability to create a portal at a distance or even throw a portal far away instead of opening it on the spot.
Portals had the strange feature that they would always stand upright as if aligning themselves to the planet's gravity. A portal will not hover in the air but practically stand on the ground like a large mirror. Jack had learned to use this fact by creating a smaller portal and throwing it far away like a frisbee. As soon as it landed, it would align itself to stand upright which was very convenient. Another technique that Jack had developed was the confinement of the portal into a ball which he could throw into a designated area and expand at will.
Jack was fascinated with the possibilities such a simple technique had to offer and one of the techniques he was currently working on was a way to stick a portal to a wall so that it is not limited to ground use. He was also interested in creating a portal that was not upright but was either pointing downwards or upwards but these ideas had so far been elusive. A sticky portal that could be attached to the wall would come in handy now, Jack thought.
As Jack had approached the city wall and was within a 500 metre distance, he started to confine a portal into a small ball and aimed at a spot on top of the wall that seemed isolated and not easily visible from the ground level. He needed to throw the ball with precision so that it would neither land in front of the wall nor would it land behind it. Since he doesn't know what dangers he might encounter, he must place the portal in a secure spot that he is able to see from his current location.
Jack carefully threw the portal ball and observed its trajectory in flight. Even before the ball had reached half of the way, Jack could tell that he had overshot and that the ball would land well within the city walls. With a single gesture he made the portal disappear and prepared to throw another ball. He continued the process multiple times until he was confident that the portal would land at its designated area. He had to be this careful since the appearance of a portal next to humans or a creature would be cause for alarm and might force him to abandon his reconnaissance mission.
The portal ball landed right in the centre of the lookout that Jack was aiming for and he could see that the portal was gradually unfolding to stand upright. Luckily, it had gotten dark and the black-purple portal is inconspicuous enough to not be easily noticed. Jack waited for another 10 minutes in case someone would approach the portal but it seemed like there was no one there. He then opened another portal at his location and stepped through to the other side, above the wall.
Once he reached the top of the wall, he immediately placed the portal into a corner of the outlook to be less noticeable. He then turned around and looked in all directions to see if he could make out any signs of life but the entire wall seemed abandoned. He could see no lights, no humans and no signs of technology that would be expected in such a sensitive area. Since this city is close to the high-density area, it must have been heavily guarded and protected, Jack thought.
Jack created another portal and emerged inside the city that was hidden by the wall. He could make out many small and larger houses, streets and even transportation devices that resembled cars and motorcycles but they seemed to have an entirely different approach to their operation. From all Jack could see, this city was abandoned. He noticed that the Sym energy was getting stronger the closer he got to the city centre. The black-purple fog was visible everywhere and he almost felt like he was back near his cave since it felt so familiar. Jack felt uneasy since he was not used to infiltrating a potentially dangerous place and his vision was limited due to all the buildings and objects that obstructed his view. He might end up walking straight into a creature's nest and would only realize it once he bumped into them, Jack thought.
He decided to change his approach. He created a series of portals and moved on top of the buildings instead of walking through the streets since this increased his field of vision while simultaneously making him harder to notice. He continued moving over the roofs by throwing portal balls and was able to get close to the centre of the city within one hour. As the buildings became more difficult to navigate due to their different heights and close proximity, Jack started to notice movement on the ground. As he looked down, he saw the familiar movements of a creature. It was approximately 3 metres tall and looked like a mix between an octopus and a dog based on its fur and the anatomy of its legs. Jack slowly crouched on the roof and approached the oblivious creature. As he was getting to the edge of the roof, he saw two more creatures to the left and one more to the right. The creatures were not fighting each other but were just walking around, being idle.
"That is very atypical behaviour for creatures," the assistant said.
"I know. They should be fighting or at least getting into each other's faces," Jack said.
Jack slowly moved back and jumped to an earlier roof through a portal. Due to the high density of Sym energy that Jack had accumulated, he was able to easily maintain as many portals as needed. He would only be careful to not create too many so that he could differentiate between them later. The portals he created can be sensed by him at all times. He has a feeling of direction and distance for each portal he has created. If he would create two portals next to each other and moved far away from them, differentiating between them would be difficult which is why he tried to have at least one kilometre between each portal that he sets up. Temporary portals that he uses such as his wall portal or the roof portals are an exception since he will remove them later.
"I think I have seen enough. Whatever is going on here is not my problem," Jack said as he made his way back down on the street and started to enter a building.
"Are you trying to create a hideout here?" the assistant asked.
"I need clothes," Jack answered.
He chose this house because it looked like a home that a family would live in. So they must have plenty of clothes. As Jack entered the house, he found a typical interior that was not far from what he would encounter on Earth. Maybe not something that he would see in the US or Europe but maybe in some other countries he has not visited yet. It was foreign but familiar.
He made his way upstairs and started to look for cabinets and drawers that could have some clothing. As he walked through a room that must have been the bedroom of the parents, he passed when he noticed some pictures on the wall. He was surprised to see humans on them. The assistant did explain to him that the inhabitants of this planet are humans very similar to him but he was surprised nonetheless since he did not expect them to look this similar. They seemed tall, their skin was white and they had high cheekbones, similar to eastern Europeans or Asians, but they looked very different from either. He could not pinpoint which ethnicity they resembled.
He continued through the room and discovered some clothing inside a cabinet. He could find a variety of pants, shirts and other clothing items that looked like sweaters and some type of uniform. As he was about to try them on, he noticed how dirty and smelly he was after over a month of practically being homeless on this planet. He looked around and found a bathroom that contained a bathtub as well as some type of toilet but it did not look like the typical western toilets he was used to.
After confirming that the house still had flowing water, he quietly took a shower in the dark in order to avoid drawing attention from creatures that might be patrolling outside. Afterwards, he dried himself with some towels and tried on some of the clothes he found in the bedroom. He managed to get some pants and sweaters that fit him well and even a hoodie that fitted reasonably well. Downstairs, he also found two pairs of shoes that he could wear. After dressing up, he looked at himself in the mirror and felt like ages had passed since he had last seen himself wearing regular clothing. He had been in the hospital since he was 22 and had been bedridden long before that. His face looked much older than he remembered and he had grown a beard. His hair was long and his eyes seemed more experienced than they used to when he was younger.
He had created a portal and hid it in the cabinet upstairs that he found the clothing in. He would surely return later to search for more houses, clothing, valuable items he could use and to use the shower.
Before he left, he had to do one last stop. He did not get his hopes up but Jack slowly made his way into the kitchen area. He was looking for any kind of food that he could find with bread, fruit and salt being on the top of his list. He looked through all the drawers but could not find any fresh foods. There was a cooling device that seemed to function like a fridge but it was empty. He did find about 1 kilogram of salt which he immediately stashed into his portal to send it back to his cave but he could not find flour or any other food.
"Does wheat exist on this planet?" Jack asked the assistant.
"It does not as far as I am aware. But there are other grasses with seeds high in starch that are used in a similar way for similar dishes. Bread and foods such as pasta exist albeit they taste different from the wheat dishes you are familiar with," the assistant said.
"Great, tell me when you see something that is a starch flour or other dish," Jack instructed the assistant.
After feeling like a human again, fully cleaned and with the taste of salt in his mouth, he decided to visit a few more houses in order to find more things he could use. He spent another hour stealthily jumping through portals on the city's rooftops and could find a place that looks like a clothing store as well as a food supply store. He grabbed a few items from each store and threw them into his storage portal so that it will be safe in his cave but he also installed portals in both buildings in order to return them later. He found many foods that he did not know what to do with, as well as some type of flour. He also found some packaged foods that he could eat immediately which seemed like a conserved bread, some pickled fruits and a type of candy albeit with a taste that was unfamiliar to him.
After this midnight haul, he jumped back to outside the city walls through the portal he had left in the food store and planned his next journey.
"Where's the next city?" Jack asked, his mouth full with the food he found in the store.
"There should be a larger city approximately 300 kilometers from here. It used to have a population of approximately 850,000 inhabitants 5000 years ago," the assistant said.
Jack followed the direction indicator in his vision and proceeded to the designated location. It would take a long time until he arrived. He had been thinking about speeding up his travels by using portals in some way and spent his time experimenting how this could work. While running at full speed and jumping to close the distance faster, he continually tried to throw portals far into the distance. He was attempting to throw a portal far ahead and then to rapidly create a portal in front of himself to jump through. This sounded like a great idea but, unfortunately, when the portal ball landed and unfolded into a usable portal, he had already caught up. He also tried the approach of throwing a portal like a frisbee, but it required too much finesse to throw it well and the distance it flew was limited since the portal would always re-align itself vertically, which increased its wind resistance.
As Jack was running, he thought of other ideas. In general, the portal ability was limited since it was only able to create a portal and could not fulfil other functions needed in fast travel across large distances. He needed a different ability. He remembered what the assistant said about brain regions and how similar abilities will be located in similar regions. Jack began expanding the Sym energy accumulation in his brain and moved it in all possible directions to see how his ability would change because of it. Since abilities are intuitive, he tried to feel if anything useful would come out. What would be perfect for him would be a portal that can propel him into the distance without the restrictions of the teleportation ability which could not teleport far. Jack was looking for an ability that allowed him to jump 5 kilometres or more at once.
He was not sure what exactly he was looking for, but he had nothing better to do as he was running through the nightly desert, so he kept playing around with Sym energy and its abilities. After experimenting for a few hours he kept coming back to one part of his brain where he felt a different type of portal being created. Instead of a portal that had an entry and an exit, this portal seemed to only have an entry and its appearance was different from the regular black-purple portal he was used to.
The new portal had a greenish colour and instead of being like a mirror that does not show what lies behind, he could clearly make out the environment that lies ahead of him through the portal. The portal looked like it was a magnifying glass that allowed Jack to look far into the distance. It seemed that he had found his solution.
He threw a stone through the portal to see what would happen. With his far-distance vision, he could see the stone falling from the sky approximately 500 metres from where he stood. The portal was propelling whatever moves through it far ahead. He could intuitively feel how he would be able to adjust the distance by infusing more power into the portal. For the next test, he tripled the power he put in and grabbed a large stone with a weight of approximately 50 kilograms.
He looked through the portal and could see parts of the desert he did not recognize. He saw sand, some types of trees and mountains. He threw the stone into the portal with all his strength and saw if he could make out its impact in the distance but he saw nothing.
"That must have been many kilometres into the distance. What do you think?" Jack asked.
"I am not familiar with this ability but I would be surprised if normal humans could survive such a catapult-like ability. You should do more tests before you perform a long-distance jump," the assistant recommended.
Jack started to experiment while sitting on a rock and with 3 of the window portals in front of him. He felt like a security guard observing the CCTV since he was basically checking and adjusting three monitors. For his first test, he caught a small rodent and threw it into a short-distance portal to test its impact but the animal seemed fine when it suddenly emerged on the other side. He quickly caught the same rodent again and threw it into a portal that was about 2 kilometres into the distance. The animal emerged just fine from the portal as Jack could confirm but it then landed on the ground from a 10 metre drop and died rather unceremoniously.
Grateful for the animal's brave sacrifice, Jack got up and performed a short distance jump. When he emerged 500 meters into the distance, he felt like he had been inside a rollercoaster. The jump was incredibly disorienting. It felt like he was being accelerated and also like he was inside a centrifuge for a split second before being spat out.
"Any damage?" Jack asked.
"I cannot detect any impact on your organs or body as a whole," the assistant said.
Jack then continued with his experiments and started to increase the distance to up to 15 kilometres which was his limit since he got incredibly nauseous if he increased the amount.
"I guess I will do consecutive 10 kilometre jumps for now since anything longer is too much," Jack said. To recover from his nausea he sat down and observed the distant environment with his new monitors. He was able to look into all directions since he could easily adjust the distance by adjusting the amount of Sym energy. As he was screening the environment, he noticed a light in the dark night and started to zoom in. He could not believe what he saw.
Humans.