Castaway Planet

Galactic Calendar 259872/ 2000 [ Sol Year 4387/ Day 153 of 365. Sol standard year]

Days after of Crash landing/ 1

Uninhabited Island / Ruins / Room looking at Indoor forest

Galactic Standard Time / 1600

Bryce looked at what his Augmented Reality Nanites were showing him. So far he had been able to decode about ninety percent over the last hour. All that he had left to finish was the last five percent, and that was the last bit of the other file. He looked towards the others and frowned. Rodolphe had fallen asleep and was only now starting to wake up. Zane meanwhile had gotten a few tools out and had done maintenance on his rifle. Zane looked like he was finishing up, putting all the pieces back together.

Bryce shrugged and looked at the file he had finished first. So far one was ready to play, and he should have a report for the others. So without a word, he opened the first one.

As soon as he did that, there was a small buzzing around him as a ball of darkness covered him. He felt the computer station behind him and he realized that this file was an immersion type. That meant that this was made to let whoever opened it experience it in 360-degree vision. The tech do that was something that had only created thirty years ago! For a second, he wondered if the tech was made by studying the Builders, it would track. But then a moment later there was a flash of light.

When he could see again, he was looking at a forest. He looked upwards, seeing the same crystal that they had seen through the windows. So whenever this happened the place it was recording was in a place like what they saw.

“But what am I following,” He muttered softly as he tried to find the source. But a moment later he saw that the view was moving through the forest. He turned around again and tried to find the source, but he saw nothing. For a moment he didn’t understand, but then he was caught off guard as the picture changed.

He looked around, trying to get his bearings. The recorder was flying in the air, and it seemed to be following a shadow in the forest below. As he watched, he saw a shape between the leaves. At first, he couldn’t see anything, but after a few moments, he thought it was humanoid. As he tried to move downward he found that this time, all he could do was change where he looked. But as he watched the shape, he thought he saw a flash of something in its hands. As he looked behind the creature around, he thought he saw more of whatever it was. The one thing he was sure of, was that there were many of them, but less than five. For a moment he had to wonder if Zane was right then this might be one of the interrogations. But then he realized that this was wrong, if it was an interrogation, where were the questions? Then he fell into the Black Hole and realized just what kind of file he had opened.

As he watched aghast, the view went higher. Finally, he could see a large clearing ahead of the beings below. It was maybe a hundred feet wide at least, with only a few small bushes around the edge. All of it was covered in long golden grass that was eight feet tall. There was a large rock twenty feet tall at the center of the field. The view went above the field, looking right down at it. As Bryce was forced to watch, he waited for what he knew was going to happen.

From the opposite side of the field, three small waves in the grass started to move towards the other side. The other side that now had active as the figures the view had been following came out of the forest. And the view shifted towards them now, letting Bryce finally see them.

Bryce swallowed a lump as he was finally able to see what he had raced ahead of. He had been right, there were five of them moving in a cross formation. Each one was a humanoid, and they almost looked human. They had bronze skin, black hair, and four small eyes, one pair set above the other. Each one had the same number of fingers as the skeleton the group found. He was taken aback as he saw the pistols and metal spears in their hands. For a moment he wondered if they were security and had volunteered to fight. But the way their clothing had holes in them told him all he needed to know. These were prisoners, and if they were of the same race as the body they found, then they might be Builders. And if they were, then that meant that the war that destroyed the Builders might have been a civil war.

He stared down in shocked horror, his mind going all over as he tried to figure this out. He had barely read anything about the Ruins since his escaped. But he had read that people thought they were all from different species. But if one race that built them all, then that one race killed themselves fighting each other? He had seen what happened when that started, and the chaos as friend fought friend. But what reason could they have had to fight?

But as he watched, he noticed that the leader looked to be different from the others. This one was at the center of the five defended than the others, with a long crest of white skin on its head. And while the others all carried pistols, this one had two spears. And it was a bit shorter, maybe half a foot at most. The only thing he could do was watch, and hope that they only had to deal with the three waves.

Below, the one in front moved into the grass, the others following behind. As they moved into an arrow formation, the better to protect their front. The ones at the right and left both looked at their sides while the middle twirled their spears. And the one at the back looked over their shoulder as they maintained formation.

He wanted to cry out, to tell them what was coming for them. But he knew this was so long ago that he didn’t have a word for the time that had passed. All he could do was watch, take the file, and let others know what had happened there.

Below the five prisoners, all had moved into the grass now, and the waves had split up. Two of the waves were going around the right side of the rock. The last one had gone to the left and was moving to the edge of the grass before it turned towards the five humanoids.

As he watched, the lone wave moved closer to the right figure, and the other two stayed at the edge. For a second he wondered just what kind of plan this was, then he understood.

Suddenly the right figure dropped into the grass, and from the way the others reacted it had cried out. Looking down, Bryce could only watch what he knew would happen.

As the figures from the back and front moved to help the right, the two other waves struck the left figure! But before they could reach the left, the central figure moved. In an instant, the central figure had moved in front of the left figure and swung out her right spear. The spear hit both of them before the waves could reach the left figure. As the front and back figures moved back, Bryce saw the back figure carrying the right. the right figure had lost its right arm, while the left held a rock blade in its hand.

As one of the figures moved towards the rock, the central figure at the left. Bryce just nodded as he watched, seeing just what the figures were doing. Get to a place where you can fight with your back while forcing your foes to come at your front, smart.

As he watched the figures moved faster, he frowned. There was something about all thiss that bothered him, but what was it? Then it hit him, and he looked towards the side the waves had come from. He tried to go higher but he couldn’t. But he watched in horror as five more waves suddenly appeared at the edge, moving towards the rock.

<>------------------------------------------------<>------------------------------------------------<>

Zane sighed as he looked at the door. The simple maintenance on his weapon had taken up enough of his time, but he was finished. The work was good, it had let him center his thoughts, and absorb the things they had seen. So far, this place was even more active than any Ruin the Family knew about. The constructs looked new, or maybe they just hadn’t been activated before. But the way this place was, how decayed it was? He just couldn’t see any way that this was possible. Suddenly he went still as something suddenly came up from the depths of his mind. It was impossible, it didn’t make sense how this was possible. But it fits, everything fits. It explained everything and more, everything made sense!

“Oh stars! This is so bad!” Zane said loudly as he fell backward. He held his hands over his eyes as he tried and failed to think of anything that might show he was wrong. But any idea that he created led back to his realization. No matter what he thought of, nothing changed. “We are in so much trouble!”

“What?” Rodolphe asked. His voice showed he was only half awake, and Zane looked at him. He watched as Rodolphe blinked and then looked around, throwing a hand over his face. “Nova. I wanted this all to be nothing but a bad dream.”

“Sorry man. But it’s been an hour. Time to make a choice soon. This place is safe,” Zane said with a grin. He forced himself not to even think about his idea. If he was right, they’d find the truth sooner or later. For now, deal with the moment and work from there. If they hadn’t been attacked yet, then maybe they were safe. If those things weren’t what he thought they were, then maybe they could rest here. Then a swift charge back where they had come, and then out into the light.

Rodolphe only looked at Zane before sighing. “So you want to spend the night here, behind doors that open one way….. smart. I mean if we can’t get up and out of this place, this might be the best choice we have. But let’s hear from Bryce and his files. So what have you decoded man?”

After a few seconds, they heard nothing and Zane started to feel a little worried. He looked at Rodolphe and saw the same emotions on his friend’s face. As one they turned towards Bryce and saw that he hadn’t reacted. He was still at the computer terminal, only now he was staring into space.

“BRYCE!” Rodolphe howled as he got up.

Zane passed by him and grabbed Bryce, his hand going to Bryce’s pulse. He sighed softly as he felt the steady rate, but then what Bryce was registered in his mind. He knew nothing about what was normal for Students! For all he knew Bryce could be having a heart attack or slipping into a coma!

“What’s wrong with him?” Rodolphe asked as he appeared at Zane’s left.

Zane shook his head and then looked at Bryce’s face. His friend's eyes were normal, and he seemed to be looking at something. “Augmented Nanites. He has to be looking at one of the files he decoded!”

“What could he be seeing in there?” Rodolphe asked, wonder in his voice.

Zane only looked at him and then felt a spark of horror.

<>------------------------------------------------<>------------------------------------------------<>

Bryce watched as the central figure directed the others to the rock. It was smart, but she had no way of knowing that she was sending them to their doom. The waves had multiplied, growing until there were thirty of them. As it was, the rock was nothing more than a killing ground.

“What is this? What are they?” Bryce asked as he looked down at the field. He still hadn’t been able to see anything about what was making the waves. Still, they were fast and they seemed to be able to coordinate together. And doing it in a way that the figures couldn’t hear. He had seen a lot of military plans over the years in the School. This looked like a classic, drawing a foe to what they thought was safe ground. Then once the enemy was at the trap, it was sprung.

But he was forced to watch this play out. This had already happened millions of years ago at least. But now he was a witness, and he had the proof. Once he got back and figured out a safe way to let others know about it, this would be remembered.

As he watched the final dance began. As soon as the front and right figures made it to the rocks the waves all charged. One of them jumped at the figures and Bryce was finally able to see it. And he wished that they had stayed in the grass.

The waves were made by long green snake-crab things each five foot tall. They had long snake bodies with ten long chitin legs. The creature’s head had a hood and under it above the front, most pair of legs were crab claws. As one of them leapt at the front figure another came out of the grass. This one spat a blob of red liquid that hit the face of the right figure. After this happened the figure dropped its weapon. It brought its hands to its face and before anything else could happen two more of the snake things attacked it. They sank their fangs into the figure's neck, killing it as far as Bryce could see. While this happened the leaper had hit the front figure. Before the figure could react, the snake-thing coiled it's body around the figure. As the figure tried to fight back, the snake-thing held the figure down before it bit through the figure’s neck.

As soon as the other realized what was happening the central figure pointed at the rocks. As they broke into a run as the central figure stayed where it was and started to swing its spears around in circles. Energy slashs shout out from each spear, not hitting anything but the grass. In moments the figure had a twenty-foot round section had been cleared in front of the rocks. The figure gained an energy aura colored a deep black as the creatures charged into the new clearing .

As the two other figures climbed up, the central figure stared down the snake things as five of them charged. The figure ran and stabbed out with its spear, sending a comet of black energy at one. It gored through the top of the creature’s head and then charged right at Bryce.

The view suddenly went white and what he was able to see next was a view of the snake thing. Rows of strange symbols appeared next to it as the creature started to rotate. A few moments later the view dissipated and he saw his friends looking at him.

All Bryce could do was smile bitterly. “Well, the idea that they forced prisoners to fight has been proven. And I think I have part of a map.”

“You should have told us before you went in!” Rodolphe said with a scowl.

Bryce sighed and shook his head. “I finished it and wanted to make sure it was something helpful. Old lesson from the school, you verify your intel.”

“Suddenly, a lot of our shared friend’s actions make sense,” Zane said as he slapped his eyes.

<>------------------------------------------------<>------------------------------------------------<>

Rodolphed only looked at Bryce as he tried and failed to understand him. He already wanted to destroy this school, but now he wanted to make it long and painful. The things that drilled those lessons into kids, they weren’t sentient. But that was for later, for now, he had to deal with what was happening in the here and now. “Still, you should have told us! Who knows what that could have done to you?!”

“Yeah, it took over my nanite stream! I couldn’t cancel it once it started! It was…..” Bryce said before he looked away and swallowed.

Rodolphe looked at him and tried to keep calm, but he felt terror. Zane’s idea about just what the Builders had used this place for. The very idea of sending captives against bioweaponswas something he hoped was wrong. But the evidence that Bryce had found was enough prove Zane right. And to destroy all the peace theories about the Builder’s Civilization. And the creatures that the group had already face. Each one had to have been the descendants of the survivors from this very complex. And now they were attacking the castaways. Plus the way that Bryce had reacted told him that this was the place where a lot of blood had been spilled.

“Okay,” Zane said softly as he took a deep breath. “How bad was it?”

“Five people, they had weapons and were dressed in rags. They had the same number of digits on their hands as the body we found. Might have been part of a civil war,” Bryce said softly.

Rodolphe could see that Bryce was haunted by what he saw. And that was enough for him to make a choice.

“Zane, your idea? We’re staying here tonight. Tomorrow we’ll try and get out of here. Bryce, that other file? Does it show where the other door goes?” Rodolphe asked.

Bryce looked down at his handheld unit and nodded after a few moments. “Yeah. It goes to a corridor that goes along the forest. I think it goes to another station like this. If I’m reading these characters right, there might be another room like this one there. If I can get another map like this from there, I might be able to find a way back up.”

Rodolphe looked at Bryce. He heard a lot of maybe’s in that idea. If the security room was there, there was no telling how it was. they were lucky that this place was in a ‘good’ enough state for them to hack into the computer. The chance of that happening twice in the same ruin!! But they had to keep their morale up. Having a goal was important. So for now, he would stay silent about his thoughts about all this.

“Okay, so I’ll go over our supplies. I’ll make sure we have a few meals planned,” Zane said with a small gin.