1.
In the distant future, Earth is ruled by a newly born intelligence of technology, reducing humanity to a mere adjunct. To begin anew, the "Kunpeng" sets off into the vast cosmos, carrying the Nuwa System designed to reboot civilization.
"Elementa...
Raina Grace was awakened by hunger. Despite her extreme exhaustion, she had no choice but to get up and find something to eat.
Struggling to sit up, she glanced outside the cave they had found after a night's search - a tree hollow abandoned by some wild beast. It was faintly light outside; she couldn't tell if it was late evening or early dawn.
At this point, time had lost its significance. The absence of day and night or their reversal made no difference to her.
For a wild beast seeking food, the passage of time is defined only by hunger; day and night merely affect the likelihood of finding food.
Raina Grace staggered to her feet and walked outside. Regardless, food wouldn't come flying to her; she had to search for it herself.
Outside the cave was a familiar scene of grass and green trees. WeeStick fluttered beside Raina Grace. If she was lost in thought, so was it; if she walked slowly, it flew languidly. In any case, it never left her side.
Raina Grace couldn't bother with it now. Afraid of straying too far and losing her way back, and concerned about leaving Arlinwood alone in the cave, she dared only wander nearby.
She thought about it – her only option was to search the grass and soil for edible plants, fruits, or tubers. She couldn't reach what was too high, nor catch what was too fast.
After aimlessly searching for a while, dizzy and without any findings, she let WeeStick try, but it had no experience and didn't even know what to look for.
Raina Grace eventually had to rest and crawl, practically lying on the ground, until she finally found clusters of yellow berries hanging low on a bush.
Her instinct told her they were edible, though it might be a hallucination born of hunger.
Without further thought, she ate a few. They were tasteless, but also didn't seem harmful.
Lying on the soft grass, she continued eating the reachable berries until she felt full, her teeth sour from the effort.
Below her was a soft meadow, surrounded by insect chirps and bird calls, and overhead, the dense canopy of trees. Time seemed to settle, her breathing slowed, and Raina Grace felt like a stone half-buried in the earth, lying undisturbed for hundreds or thousands of years.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
But she couldn't. She lazily got up, picked more berries to take back to Arlinwood.
Back in the cave, Arlinwood was still sleeping, but restlessly, her limbs moving as if she was running in her dreams.
Raina Grace woke her and fed her some berries, after which she fell back into a deep sleep.
Physically exhausted but mentally restless, Raina Grace pondered on questions like whether the cave could protect them from the cold, where the next meal would come from – seemingly important but not urgent issues, without reaching any conclusions.
