Chapter 5: Chapter 3 – Departure

Okay, I may have gotten a bit too excited over this safe. I hope my arms didn’t take any damage from me ripping its door off its rusted hinges! But it looked like it was about to come off anyway, and just needed a helping hand. That counter door had already caused plenty of noise as is, so it’s not like there’s any need to try to stay quiet at this point. If something was going to be alerted to me being here, that noise should’ve been plenty! At least the covering I moved earlier cushioned its fall, so the noise wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been.

After uncovering the safe, I had noticed it had been damaged by water. I’m going to guess that whatever liquid had been in the broken bottles had fallen on the cover and started to rust the safe. Who knows for sure, though! What’s important is that it had happened. Due to the damage I saw multiple points I could use to aid it in its inevitable demise. I just hope whatever’s inside hasn’t been damaged by the water, too.

I crouch down, making sure that neither my coat nor my bag are touching the floor.

The inside of the safe is pitch black. Without my eye augments, there’s no way I could even see what’s inside. I’d have to risk going in blind, or burning whatever’s inside with fire to see. I may sometimes complain about losing my eyes, but these things do have their upsides at times.

Old documents, a couple of faintly glowing crystals… And are those coins? Not quite the haul I was hoping for, but at least it’s something! The positive side is that the inside seems to have stayed nice and dry. Considering the damage to the safe, I can’t say I expected that.

I open my bag and take the papers out from the safe. Even though I know I can’t understand the language, I still take a look at the text. It’s legible, but yes, I have absolutely no idea what it says. Looking at it is a bit disorienting. I carefully fold the papers and put them in my bag. I take the crystals and put them in one of the inner pockets of my shoulder bag. Don’t know what they are, but if they’re in this safe, they have to have some value, right?

And now, the coins. Looks like there’s some dozen larger, golden coins, and an assortment of smaller ones as well as one that’s a bit larger than the golden coins. If this is what they use for money, these could come in handy. They don’t seem to be that heavy, either. Let’s hope these aren’t some weird commemorative coins with no value rather than actual currency.

I put the coins in another pocket inside my bag. I give the safe one last look to see if there’s something there, and… No, I can’t see anything. I’m pretty sure I could notice if there was a hidden compartment or something, too. It sure does seem like it was left here because it was too heavy and the things in it weren’t important enough to waste time on. Ah well.

Nothing more in there, so it's time to close the bag.

I stand up and stretch my back. Looks like this is all I’m going to find in this place. It’s better than nothing, but not quite the jackpot I was hoping for.

As I ruminate on my less than stellar haul, I walk back outside and absent mindedly put my mask away again. As I thought, it’s a bit late. I should probably try to leave this place before it gets too dark. I wouldn’t want to end up walking through the forest surrounding this ghost town in complete darkness. Night vision expends more power! And I wouldn’t want my first walk through a forest to be a recreation of one of the horror movies I watched when I was younger.

I mean, that could still happen since I have no idea how deep in the forest this place is, but I’d rather not try to spend a night with dead people! Thankfully, after getting a bit closer I have come to realize that the exit has been visible since I got out from that marble building, right there at the end of this row of buildings I’ve been going through. It just didn’t register that it was a gate before. This place has actual walls around it. I couldn’t have walked into the forest in a random direction even if I wanted to!

I walk past the last couple of crumbled buildings closest to the broken gate, determined to finally leave this ghost town. Sure, I could spend more time exploring, but I’m not going to find a place to sleep in here. I’m also getting a bit hungry and thirsty. Anything here would’ve gone bad decades ago.

Better get started with that rather than stay here.

Just one push. Just one, tentative push is all it took for the gate door to come crashing down to the ground. That’s not how easy I expected this to be at all! Even after all these years it looked sturdy, but it wasn’t attached to anything anymore. Looks can be deceiving, as they say.

And so, as I step over my handiwork, I’m finally out from that graveyard. Now all I need to do is… Follow an unmaintained forest road to who knows where?

Sounds like a perfect plan. No way this can fail horribly.

I slap myself on my cheeks. Pessimism won’t get me anywhere! Time to go.

As I start my great epic journey through a forest with only this old, decrepit road paved with cobblestone to guide me, a sense of unease takes over me. Questions start to pop into my head. Questions I have no answers to.

Where am I?

I look around as I take careful steps on the uneven cobblestone. I’m not an expert on forests, but it looks old. A forest in its natural state. If I remember correctly, in the nature preserves they prune the dead trees and work to keep the forest healthy. I can’t see a single sign of that here. It’s kind of oppressive, actually. You can barely see the sky from under all the trees. Really different from the town.

Kind of awe inspiring for my first experience with a forest, truth to be told. I just wish it was under better circumstances.

As for the road itself, it’s still entirely recognizable as a road. It may be overgrown and be slower to walk on than a road paved with asphalt or the like, but it’s still better than the literal forest floor. The roots of trees haven’t managed to entirely break the road just yet. I probably wouldn’t have been able to recognize the type of the road without the literal encyclopedia attached to my brain. Yes, I cheated. I have faint memories of reading about historical infrastructure and whatnot in school, but that was ages ago. All I know is, I’ve never seen anything like this in my life!

I see more of what I can assume are woodland creatures deeper into the forest, but I’m not going to go check what they are. I’m not carefree enough for that. As I pass, the ones close to the road run away. If they think I’m a threat, I guess that means people hunt in this forest?

Not that I personally would do anything to them, but they don’t know that.

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At any rate, it’s pretty obvious I’m nowhere near home. I have absolutely no idea where I am, no explanation I can come up with seems satisfying. The more I think about it, the less likely it seems that I’m even in the same world anymore. Everything’s just too different. And, quite honestly, that’s a scary thought.

Can I go back home?

The thought rises to my mind as I step onto a tree fallen over the road and then jump off it, back onto the road. Considering I have no idea what went wrong with the transfer that made me end up here, that seems kind of unlikely. I don’t even know what the teleporter does to a person. That means… Yup, if they don’t think I’m dead first, I’ll be fired for sure. And no matter what, they’ll confiscate my things and sell my home.

I’d be destitute even if I got back. Even if it’s the only life I’ve ever known, I have no idea how I could pick myself up from losing everything. I’ve never heard of anyone doing that. I really don’t like my chances.

What was that?!

A strange yowling sound coming from the forest on the right side of the road. Which is the side I happen to be walking on. I can’t see what it is, but it sounds like trouble.

I switch to the left side of the road while making an attempt at sneaking, hoping that the source of the noise hasn’t noticed me. It’s a little bit rougher than the right side, but I have to be careful. Keep my eyes peeled. I don’t want to get attacked by some wolf or something.

As I slowly creep forward, I notice that I’ve been on this road for a good hour now thanks to the clock showing in the corner of my eye all the time. An hour, already? Alright, sneaking is slowing me down a bit, but I’ve only been doing that for what, five to ten minutes? Surely, they wouldn’t have made a town very deep into a forest?

I sigh in relief as I leave the source of the yowling behind. It was moving away from me, too. I guess whatever it was didn’t notice me, or at least wasn’t interested in me.

Encouraged by that fact, I decide to switch back to the right side of the road.

… I see it now.

Two red eyes gleaming in the dark forest, only a few meters away from me. I have no idea what those eyes belong to.

It growls menacingly.

I don’t know if it’s alone, but its eyes are fixed on me.

I don’t want to get eaten by wild animals!

I panic. All I can think of is running away, but I find myself just feebly fumbling on the uneven pavement. I'm not going to die here, am I?!

A loss of control.

The software must’ve taken control of my limbs once my stress hormone levels reached dangerous levels. I don't resist it. With very little forewarning, I start running away from the creature at an inhuman speed and dexterity.

I know this will drain my batteries more than doing it myself, but I’m past conserving energy over speed. I never thought I’d find myself in a situation where this feature would ever naturally activate itself, but here we are.

All I have to really do is brace for the speed and follow the instructions popping in my eyes. The software can’t control my organic parts, I need to do it myself. In my adrenaline addled state, it’s easy.

I hear the same yowling I had heard earlier behind me. It seems my speed surprised them. That could mean they’ve hunted humans before.

I don't want to find out. I don't want to know what they are.

I want to get away.

I’m not sure if they are running after me, but I’m not stopping until I’m out from this damn forest!

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