I walked for what seemed to be hours, moving from corridor to corridor.
The further I marched the more tired I grew and the more tired I grew the more hopeless I realized this journey was.
I had already started to give up.
Unlike before in the 'Natural Selection' where I wished to see and speak.
Here I could do both but there was nothing to see, no one to talk to.
Of everything I saw today this corridor maze thing was the blandest.
I got tired at some point and I even started to toy with the map that was basically supposed to be my only hope.
I inverted the map and followed it backwards for quite a long time.
"Hmm. Maybe the map is like some kind of trick or illusion or something, maybe there is something to decipher, yeah stein seems like a guy that'd like puzzles."
Then the words came from nowhere, in this deafening silence they even seemed like they were screaming directly at me.
-{STEREOTYPE!}
-{STEIN DISLIKES PUZZLES!}
From what it sounded like, the recurring words in my thoughts knew Stein to some extent and the surroundings seemed to directly affect it.
It was like the words appeared as block letters directly in front of me.
They felt so realistic that I thought I could possibly touch them.
Just from reading those simple sentences and words I usually understood all that was supposed to be behind it automatically.
But it was different now, I was just confused.
"What the hell do you mean by 'Dislikes puzzles'? What kind of smart guy doesn't like puzzles."
I was expecting a reply of course, but one never came.
It was a bit disheartening that I couldn't even talk to myself.
At the very least I learnt a bit more about Stein and about the The Words in my thoughts.
I had originally discovered that The Words expanded my knowledge on what I attempted or intended to learn about.
It could also make deductions based on what information I could find out, all according to the information that, if I am correct, it had once had the chance of collecting.
But one thing I'm still confused about, is why it didn't have a similar guide for the efficient utilization of energy.
On that topic since I realized I wouldn't be getting help from any unknown or phantom source, I simply had to understand the way energy works here.
I just folded up the map and buried it into the pocket of my attire.
I had not noticed how tattered it was until now.
It was like a slave's uniform.
It was composed of this brown sack like material which I guess was mostly used in things like this.
The lower part of the attire that covered my legs were actually a bit tight fitting with almost no extra material; some parts at the end were ripped.
I could vividly remember tripping a few times in what was called a 'Thorn bush' while I was in 'Natural Selection'.
The upper part that covered my torso had a number sewn onto the area on the left side of my chest; '1700'.
I was unsure what significance the number held.
If it was like my number in the list according to when I was created then, I wouldn't have a small number such as 'one thousand seven hundred'.
I thought maybe it was my original cell number or maybe that was my number on the list of subjects that managed to either qualify for 'Natural Selection' or survive it.
I laid on the floor in the way I was when I first gained sentience.
It was the first and only way I had ever gathered energy although I could gather energy while on my feet but, since this was the first way I had ever gathered energy it felt much more comfortable.
I started with the basics I had self learnt.
Simple accumulation and release, with each revolution of the energy around me I had the odd feeling of my muscles being strengthened and rejuvenated.
The occasional releases made the transparent and space distorting energy to be forced out, during the releases my ambient surroundings seemed to distort and ripple.
Later on, my releases started growing in intensity and I tripled the frequency to match with my developing accumulation speed.
Each release growing stronger into bursts and spreading into the very depths of my physical body and the bursts growing into what could only be described as explosions.
I was feeling stronger already.
Once the energy had revolved around me and had been released that energy has relatively been made into my own and even when away from my body I could remotely feel the surroundings it had drifted to during the hours that passed.
Then, as usual in the little time of my realized life something unexpected happened.
-{INTENT TO LEARN DETERMINED}
-{KNOWLEDGE WILL BE REVEALED}
It was truly amazing, the knowledge stored in the depths of my soul far from my leisurely reach that manifested accordingly did have knowledge on efficient energy manipulation.
If I was correct then the occurring words only revealed information on things I had shown willingness to learn.
It seems that information of this caliber had an obvious level of willingness that I must show so my 'Intent to learn' could be determined.
The excitement filled me to bursting point and I leaped onto my feet and started running in a random direction.
I then finally left the badly lit corridors and entered on with blue luminescent crystals scattered around its ceiling which effectively lit the place up.
On each crystal was a small gathering of buzzing insects which released a similar bright twinkling blue light from their abdomens.
I kept on my merry course nonetheless still carelessly releasing vast amounts of my energy so I could feel and therefore see the corridors ahead of me, hence allowing me to decide on what path or route to take before even reaching the separate paths in question.
It was quite efficient.
I randomly made my way through the beautifully lit corridors hoping to trigger The Words once more.
During my relatively high-speed mobility in which my lengthy black hair just flowed behind me freely.
I quickly passed what seemed to be a very young beast, with her eyes possessing the same amount of confusion as I had when I began this stupid course.
I could barely even feel her presence with my energy until I had dashed past her.
I immediately turned around and ran towards the young female beast while trying to assess her physical features and see if I could understand whether or not she was hostile.
She wore what looked like a single piece dress made of the same sack-like material as my own attire, she had two horns protruding from the top of her head as well, both of the horns were flat and didn't grow upwards but backwards.
This made her look more like she had extra ears on her head that rested upon her hair.
Her left eye was yellow and the other completely white.
She was relatively short and hence looked like a young child and she seemed to ignore me even when I returned to get a closer look at her, the number on her attire said "1546".
"… And you are?"
She asked rather confidently even though her voice sounded coy, youthful, childish and extremely inexperienced.
Her voice almost made me burst into laughter.
It was the first one that I heard that sounded so refreshing and comical, unlike Stein's that was gravelly and raucous.
The little girl seemed pretty adept.
She gave off the feel of a very capable combatant and always kept track of her surroundings even though she wasn't using the map.
She constantly coated herself with a thin and possibly impenetrable layer of Energy for defense and even when she was looking away and ignoring my pestering stalk act, I still felt like she was keeping a steady eye on me like she was being wary of my next move.