Theo strolled further down the cave. It was a big cave but the entrance wasn't big enough for the tiger thing to pass. But Theo couldn't be too sure of that. What if the tiger could shrink? What if the apes came back? What if the entrance broke and they all could get in?
Thousands of worries inhibited his mind. He didn't have a way to contact the spaceship and he didn't have any way to fight those things either. The only thing he could do was to survive for the next twenty hours and hope, the rescue team would come for him.
'Failing my very first mission, huh?' he snorted at himself.
With his teeth gritted, he walked forward toward the darkness.
The ceiling was tall and the cave was wide, the cracks were formed through thousands of years. This place was old.
He could see well in the dark thanks to his ARIMA glasses. But even so, this place was frightening. This whole planet had large insects, so how come he saw nothing in here yet?
How come there wasn't anything that was trying to kill him, in here, yet?
The fact that nothing harmful was in here was frightening, terrifying even; after all, the last time he thought nothing bad was about to happen, something very bad happened. It kept him on edge and the whole adrenaline rush was eating him alive.
But just as he walked a bit more, something came to his mind. 'Wait, the mission-'
The mission was to see if there were any precious gemstone reserves here, and he was in the cave, meaning it wasn't over. It wasn't over just yet. If he could survive and complete the mission, not only would he be allowed to finish this job, he'd also have enough money to not worry about getting jobs again.
From a man who wanted to pursue his dreams, Theo was reduced to someone, who just wanted the money and finish this job as soon as possible. Exploring wasn't for him.
He'd just learned it the hard way.
From now on he'd be content with just virtual reality.
And yet- and yet when he actually thought about what he'd become if he discarded his dreams, he could only grimace. 'This is so damn frustrating.'
He wanted to be an explorer, he wanted to go to various places, he wanted to see new things, have adventures. Not run away!
And definitely not abandon his dreams.
And yet-
'Damn!'
***
The cave just went on and on. The walls were crooked and there were some claw marks here and there. Something must have been here, he had to be careful.
But he didn't see anything, even with his glasses. This only tensed him even further. Breathing was hard and he felt like he could collapse any moment. But this shouldn't have been the case. His suit was designed to prolong his stamina but he just couldn't control his feelings anymore.
So far the cave only had one path but it soon changed. The paths didn't become two or three, rather it expanded to a massive room. And within that room was a pond that glistened like pearls.
And he had headroom- the ceiling was maybe a story high?
'Where is this light coming from?' He looked for the source but he didn't see any. 'Are those gems down below?'
A pebble fell from the ceiling. He was hyper-attentive so he didn't miss anything.
Theo knew what this meant, but he couldn't act rapidly. Rather, he chose to use his peripherals and enhanced vision. He didn't see anything out of ordinary at first, but as he looked carefully, he saw a bit of color fringing at the top. Something was up there and it could change its colors: It was big.
His breathing had increased rapidly. He already knew he was in trouble but he had to do this. He had to confront his fears, or he was going to die.
But he was already mentally exhausted, could he really survive? 'I Have TO!' He did have the motivation to do so.
"Damn!" He pulled out his gun and shot continuously. At least something will hit, something that massive, right?
Most of the shots missed, but: A hit!
The ceiling almost crumbled but it didn't.
Something fell, it wasn't dead. The colors were fringing a lot. 'A lizard?' Theo couldn't be sure but the thing was at least three times bigger than an iguana. It sprayed venom towards Theo and he jumped back and readied to fire again. He had a bit of a claw mark near his left hand. 'When did it-'
But then came sounds from the pond. Something was coming up.
'Damn!' Just the lizard wasn't enough?
But to Theo's surprise, it didn't play out like he thought. Things were different.
The lizard thing ran away immediately while leaving a trail of blood. It was injured from that impact.
But Theo's attention was somewhere else. 'A human?' But how would a human end up in a place like this and not to mention she wasn't wearing clothes. 'An R.I?' It didn't seem likely.
Her hair was flowing with the wind, but there was no wind here.
A girl had emerged from the pond, bare-skinned and her stare was right on Theo.
The girl was headed in Theo's direction and her expression was anything but hostile. It wasn't that light was coming from somewhere, rather the girl herself was glowing and emitting gentle light.
Her skin was light pink- her eyes, red like rubies.
But after what Theo just went through, he couldn't be not wary. "Stay back!"
But the girl didn't listen. She took gentle steps and looked at Theo with a sultry expression.
There was some kind of scent in the air, it was dulling his senses and not to mention his left hand was burning right now. 'I've to get out of here.'
How he could smell something despite having his breathing aid and filter- didn't really click yet.
But with just a second of lapse in judgment- Theo was left puzzled. 'Where'd she go?'
She'd disappeared but a second later landed on top of Theo. She wasn't hostile but that didn't mean she'd stopped what she was doing.
With just one kiss, Theo couldn't stop either. It was almost as though his body wasn't his anymore. It was almost as though, he was no longer free. But was any man ever free?
The scent only got stronger and so did Theo's feelings and the more control he lost.
It lasted ten minutes and at the end, Theo felt faint and he was about to faint.
He was a virgin no more.
"The hopes of our race are within you now…." A voice ran out. A peaceful, urgent, and sweet, soft voice. "I wish, we could have met again… though it's impossible."
Theo's light went out and he heard an omniscient voice deep in his mind. [Licking system unlocked.]
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