11. Ree

11

Ree

The only thing the forest tells me after scanning for long minutes is that it's getting dark and it looks just as thick, wild, and dangerous as ever out there.

After brief consideration, I decide it would be best to wait until morning before I go out into the trees. Hopefully, by then some of my injuries will have healed enough to make it safer.

I continue to stare out into the forest, which looks quite a bit like Earth, except for where I would expect to see leaves it looks more like bristly feathers. The greens of the plants are all so much brighter than I'm used to, but at least they are green.

I'm not sure what I would expect when being on an alien planet, but it makes me feel better that these plants clearly photosynthesize. I hope the night here won't last too long. As I'm thinking about that, a breeze picks up, making the feather-like leaves rustle.

Even the sound is distinct.

It's funny how after an event as disturbing as a crash landing it's that one minor detail that makes me most unsettled.

I doubt situations like these really hold up to any clear mental process to help a person make sense of it, and I know enough about shock to know I'm still suffering from it.

Everything I see seems to take on an overlay of menace. I know it's the fear of the unknown, which is pretty damn reasonable. And yet I know I will soon be out in it because I fear the slimes far, far more.

The breeze brings with it a cool air that raises goosebumps along my body. I look down at myself, surprised to see I'm still naked. I suppose it wasn't really at the top of the priority list.

Still, after spending weeks wishing I could be dressed, I find it weird that it took me so long to realize there was nothing stopping me anymore.

I concentrate on the desire to be covered, and just like it did that first day I woke up to this nightmare, the strip of fabric around my waist quickly expands to cover the rest of my body. I can feel the material becoming thick at the soles of my feet because it raises me slightly higher.

I found out early that it responds to my desire to be covered by expanding out into a black bodysuit, but it was made very clear that if I wanted to avoid any more of the stinging gas that invaded my small cell and left me hacking on the floor with my eyes streaming I wouldn't do it again.

The sleeves extend down to my hands, forming fingerless gloves and I can feel the material snug around my neck.

I experiment with another thought, imagining that the material covers my fingers, and it responds. That might be useful, for sure. For now, I focus on imagining the material stopping at my wrist, and it shrinks back.

I panic and nearly fall off the ladder when I let an errant curiosity about if it will cover my entire body flit through my mind. The black fabric covers my eyes and mouth for a moment before it occurs to me to imagine my face uncovered.

Well, that answers that not fully realized question. "Real smart," I grumble.

I'm surprised the slimes gave us something so incredibly useful. Or that it responds to mental commands. Then it occurs to me that if I can respond to my thoughts, it could respond to others, and so it's likely a package upgrade.

It's not as if I wasn't quickly trained that I wasn't allowed to clothe myself without permission.

"Like a good little bitch."

My self-loathing tries to crawl out of my skin and become a physical presence. If it did, it would probably kill me. That's just what I would need as the cherry atop this fucked-up sundae.

I shake my head, flinging off the inane thoughts.

"Just focus on what you can do right now."

Being dressed is an improvement, so that feels like a step forward.

The material of the suit helps some, but I can still feel the cold seeping through. This makes my previous decision to remain with the broken ship for the night seem like an even better idea.

All I can hope is that the slimes don't come in the middle of the night, but since night vision clearly wasn't one of my upgrades, I wouldn't accomplish much if I left now.

I descend the ladder and return to Silver. She is just as I left her, and I feel another pang that I don't have the supplies to help her.

I would also very much like someone to talk to and strategize with right now.

I can tell it's rapidly getting darker outside because the small amount of ambient light starts to disappear. I can still see by the light of the cryochambers, though I should probably see if I can power off Silver's broken chamber, just in case it might be useful later. I don't know how long their charge will last without the feed from the ship.

The thought of it being even darker in here makes the back of my neck prickle and my heart beat faster, so I leave it alone for now.

Speaking of feeds, I realize that I'm now cut off from my food and water supply.

I glance over to the dispenser I once drank out of like a giant gerbil. My movements are stiff as I go over to it. I lean down and position my mouth under it and push the button. I get a small mouthful before it gurgles and stops.

Even though it hurts to keep myself in place, I linger to make sure I suck in every drop.

I'll need to find water as soon as I can in the morning.

That I don't really know how to find anything in a forest isn't a comforting thought. I've never had to think of that before, since I've always lived in large cities.

The list of what I don't know and likely need to in order to survive this experience is completely overwhelming.

I'm depleted and give in to the overwhelming desire to sleep by laying down on the gray floor at the base of Silver's new cryochamber.

The light of her old chamber winks out, leaving me feeling like I'm blind in addition to helpless to any threat. Exhaustion quickly overtakes it all.

Even my shivering isn't enough to keep me awake, and I feel myself drifting into unconsciousness.