EVE Fiction

I'm practically immune to cabin fever. Which is good, because this cabin is all I have. When I received my mission I imagined that I'd be sent to a bustling metropolis, sprawling with life and a melting pot for different cultures. Instead, I was dropped onto a planet covered with trees as far as the eye can see. A green sea, disturbed only by my home, a grey, metallic structure, perched on top of a pillar in the middle of the forest, rising above the canopy. It's made to look like a tree, but it fails to blend in with the rest of the flora. Climbing the spiral staircase leads into a room that's rather luxurious by military standards. It has a nice double bed, a few chairs, a table, a holoscreen that never has anything but static on it, a large bathroom and a balcony with the most breathtaking view you could imagine. If you like green, that is. Descending a ramp at the base, on the other hand, leads into an underground storage room chock-full of equipment, uniforms - which I don't wear anyway - and food. Food bricks, to be exact. There's a two-wheeled vehicle parked to the side and a neat selection of portable railguns. What's bothersome about that is that I'm the only living soul in this place. Aside from the trees, there's nothing else. I rode on the vehicle for a few hours and there were just trees. Trees planted in rows, evenly spaced out from eachother.

You might ask why am I here? What's my mission. The official reason is gathering intelligence. What kind of intelligence? I do not know. What I suspect to be the real reason is solitary confinement. I acted like a wild animal and now I'm sent to a place where I am the only animal. I have enough food bricks and water for the rest of my life. An unsettling thought. Will she ever call me back? I do not know. I've started forgetting the faces of others after a while. I sometimes doubt that there's anyone else any more. I am now the queen of this planet, and I have no subjects. It's oddly liberating. Or have I already lost my mind in this place? Perhaps the lack of any sound in the forest is playing tricks on my nerves and I've gone feral. All that's left is to fashion a wooden spear and dive into the woods. Can you imagine the bewilderment of whomever discovers me after a few years? Ha! But it would be a futile effort, there's nothing to hunt in here anyway.

Letting the last thought linger in my mind for a few moments more, I slowly rose to my feet and went down into the storage to pick out an uniform. I suppose that a girl should be dressed properly, even if there's noone to see her. After I buttoned up, I paused for a moment to straighten out my hair, momentarily wishing for a buzzcut and picked out a railgun, flinging its shoulder strap onto my shoulder before I went on patrol. The storage room is way more interesting than the forest anyway. Besides, it's not really a room, it's a very large cave repurposed into a facility. The sounds of my footsteps idly echoed around as I read the labels on the crates: tents, climbing gear, a rebreathing apparatus... as if there's anywhere to dive in here. Perhaps that's a way to play tricks on the unfortunate person that winds up here. Who needs a camouflage net in a place like this? Is it even big enough to cover up this structure to begin with? A geolocation suite, what's that supposed to? My heart skipped a beat and I dove for the crate almost reflexively, only to discover that it has been unsealed already. My heart skipped again as I flung it open, only to let out an exasperated sigh of relief when I saw that the piece of machinery was still there. What was also there was a stack of papers with writing on them. Home base, the lake, the road, the city and a few others.

I grabbed a backpack, some food, a rserve fuel cell, a tent and a rail rifle, strapped the navigation module to my forearm and gunned the engine of the twowie towards the closest thing marked on the paper. By the time that I had reached the lake, the sun was starting to set. The lake itself formed a perfect circle in the middle of the forest, breaking up the monotony of the trees. It just stood there, a blue blemish on the perfectly laid out green carpet. I nearly broke the twowie when I dropped it on the ground and tossed my uniform aside as fast as I could, taking a few strides insides the water, yearning to feel its reassuring grasp around my body. Then I stopped, thigh-deep and a single shiver went up my spine as I looked down. The bottom of the lake was made out of metal. I slowly knelt down and placed my fingers on the metal for a moment then stood up and swam for a while before I got out of the water. I went to put my tent up, but I knew that I would hardly be able to sleep, for I needed to know what was at the bottom of the lake. I allowed myself a faint smile as I shook off some water drops, for I had a purpose once again. But that purpose would have to wait until tomorrow, for I needed to bring out some diving equipment, and then visit the other markers and then... and then... and then... I tossed and turnt and by the time I finally fell asleep, the sun had set long ago. But there was no moon, only the unknown stars marred the sky above.

I woke up sore. I suppose I should've put the tent up. I rolled my shoulders and did some stretches before heading back towards home. The journey was rather uneventful, as always and yet I was getting more and more excited by the minute. Once I arrived I went into the storage room and set off to make a list of all the available equipment. To my dismay, I found a spacesuit, amongst other things. It wasn't exactly what I needed, but it lit a brief spark of hope. Maybe I would be able to leave after all. I finally found a crate labelled "environmental suit". Letting out a squeak of joy, I opened it and. It was empty. I slammed the lid back down with a silent curse. I suppose I'd go dive into the lake first. I prepared all the gear that I'd need then went upstairs and practically collapsed into my bed.

I ate a food brick in the shower. I just let the water drops fall on me for a while, slowly putting what I needed to do in order. I was slightly flummoxed because I didn't perform a detailed inspection of the altered vegetation near the city. Depending on the specifics, I could possibly venture beyond the border fence without sustaining any ill effects. Once I finished my food, I turnt the water off and went on the balcony, waiting to dry off in the warm air. My skin went dry quickly, but my hair remained sogged far longer than I would've liked it to. I went back inside and cut it down to a tomboyish disheveled mass with the help of a kitchen knife, then got dressed and added a wire cutter to my equipment bag before I finally set off towards the lake.

The joyous feelig of penetrating into unknown territory and discovering what lies there, in a place where no Khanid has stepped before... well, all that was a little muddled when I dove into the lake. The featureless bottom spanned end to end. At first, I couldn't really see anything that broke the monotony, but once I descended a bit deeper, I made out a large shape in the middle of the lakebed. It seemed to be connected to three cables, going in different directions. I picked one of them and swam along its length, continiously going shallower until I eventually emerged at the coast not too far from where I had parked. Groundside, the cable was hidden in the grass, making it almost imperceptible to the unsuspecting viewer. I knelt down and pushed the grass away with my hands, eventually revealing a wide white circle embedded in the soil that the cable connected into. Investigating the other two cables revealed similar results. I resigned from making any progress here and retreated to my vehicle for a brief rest and a sip of water. This obscure mystery was starting to get on my nerves.

I was cutting the fence away. The fallen trees looked to be decades old and the grass was in a reasonably good condition, if you discount the odd colour. I opened a hole wide enough for me to pass with my vehicle and moved forward as the sun was starting to set. After a brief ride, I was greeted by buildings that emerged from beyond the horizon. When I finally reached the first building I was greeted by the sight of urband decay, trees that had sprouted in the middle of the roads, broken windows and lifeless, abandoned buildings. I slowly walked around by foot, peeking inside the buildings when I spotted something that made me pause in the middle of one the streets. Another human. Just sitting on the other end of the street, leaning back against a building. I brought up my railgun and looked through the scope. He. She? It was wearing an uniform similar to mine and was long dead, by the looks of it. The face was nothing bu a skull, grinning at the reality of the situation. I cautiously approached and rifled through its pockets, producing an old notebook with ages that were starting to turn yellow. I opened it up and it had the same handwriting as the list of the coordinates I had found back home. I offered the unknown person a bow and went inside a building to read through the contents of the notepad.

Page after page after page of disappointment. Nothing but scribbles about how much she missed her family and children. I never had any family and yet here I am, completely intact, speaking in a psychological manner. Or maybe I'm only intact because I don't know how much the loss hurts. I threw the notes in the air and went back outside to check the body for any identification. I could afford at least that much to her, if I ever got off the planet myself. I snapped up the dogtags and looked at them and... Sebiestor. My dead friend was Sebiestor and she was wearing the same uniform as I, no less. And she had served the State Protectorate as well. I stood still for a while, trying to figure out the exact purpose of this place once again. What did she do to get sent here? What did I do? Can I ever get out? She was dead, obviously. Would I die like her and just be another body in the street? But if that were the case, why aren't there more dead people in this place? I slowly went back inside the building and started climbing the decrepit staircase towards the rooftop. Once I reached it, I looked around, pinpointed the largest building around and went that way.

Once inside, I scoured all the floors and the basement to no avail. There were some debris and parts of long-destroyed furniture in the rooms, but little else of significance. I spent the rest of the day going from building to building, carefully exploring every nook and cranny, only to find more of the same. Whatever happened here, the place was deserted a long time ago. I idly wandered the streets before I found myself in front of the unfortunate Sebiestor girl. If only she had properly documented her journey... I grit my teeth and kicked her head with the heel of my boot then found a building that looked in better shape than the others, went to a corner, hugged my railgun and draped my jacket around my shoulders and knees before I went to sleep.

I woke up in the middle of the night by a slight pain in my head. I tried standing up, but I fell to my knees and threw up on the floor. I slowly crawled out to get some fresh air, leaving my railgun behind. I threw up again and managed to drag myself to where the Sebbie was. I leant back against a wall on the other side of the street, stopping to rest for a moment. I now knew what happened to her. I looked around for anything different, but to no avail. I reached up towards the stars. A meaningless gesture of desperation that got interrupted by a coughing fit. I felt like I was going to hurl again, but there was nothing left in my stomach at this point.

I fell asleep again. Then I woke up, the sun shining in my eyes as I struggled to get on my feet, leaning against the building. My headache was worse and I felt like I was burning on the inside. Yet, I refused to just sit down and wait like the other one did. I stumbled towards my vehicle, mounted it and drove on. I drove for hours, or maybe days, but the place had no exit. I went back to the body and carried it off to the end of the road. I dug her a grave and buried her there. I felt bad for kicking her. A moment of weakness, perhaps only existing as a reminder that I am only human after all. I hung the Sebiestor tags around my neck and slowly sat down.

Perhaps I failed. Failed to gather my own intelligence and rushed headfirst into a situation I couldn't resolve. Except that this time there's no out of it. I messed things up and now I'll reap my reward. On the other hand, I'd finally get some rest from the world. I wouldn't have to worry about anything, or anyone. A stinging sensation of loss pierced my mind for a second and I got up to look for the diary that I had thrown out so carelessly. Even though I found it, I had nothing to write with. Maybe it wasn't her diary in the first place. How many people died here, I shall never know. Whatever the number is, it won't be a surprise, as everything that's alive ultimately dies. I had someone close, but I forgot who it was. I wonder what happened...

I slowly exhaled and closed my eyes. It's funny, because when I look back, I have no regrets. I did the best I could, given the circumstances. Was I the best in what I did? No, but I did enough, and that's what counts. I think. I will be departing in a moment, but my conscience is clear. Sometimes you just have to know when to admit defeat. No shame in it, it'll happen to everyone. And besides...