New Sight

Chapter 2: Resource

It was not long before he heard the sound of running water. It was a low gurgle and though it didn't register at first, Soleil was nearly tripping over himself to get to it now.

The sound led a ways from what he'd deemed was the path, but it didn't matter much. Not when it was leave the path or die. He treaded carefully yet hungrily through the forest. When he broke through the trees, there it was.

A running river, small, but enough. Water flowed from an unknown source higher up before gushing down against the rocks and going downstream.

Soleil had never thought water was so beautiful before.

He cupped his hands under the steady flow and brought it up to his lips, drinking greedily. When he'd drank his fill and splashed his face as long as he could bear, he stepped away from the cold river.

That was one thing down. Soleil threw a smug glance up to the sky.

But he wasn't done just yet. Now that he was hydrated, he was reminded of his hunger. Just one thing after another. Thankfully, there was no need to search far this time. Rivers had fish and walking further downstream led him to some.

it didn't occur to the excited Soleil how hard catching a fish was going to be until he started.

Rolling up his pants, Soleil stepped into the water. It splashed around him. It was cold and a shiver ran up his spine. Soleil considered getting out, possibly trying again from the side, when he felt them bumping against him: stupid fish who didn't swerve out of the way in time. He rushed down to grab it, but it was gone before he was even halfway there. Between him and the fish, one of them obviously wasn't in their element.

With still no food and consistent failures under his belt, Soleil stumbled out to try something else. Water dripped as he turned directly into the trees.

It was something he'd seen people do before—specifically something he watched in a Youtube video once. The idea always seemed ridiculous, but it was better than staying in the river and just getting cold. If he'd known he'd needed to do this, he'd have paid more attention to their talking. At least it didn't seem too hard. Soleil looked around before picking up a stick. Then another. And another. Until he finally found one with a sharp enough end. Returning to the river, Soleil stepped in again.

"Stay still, fish," He said, but they either didn't hear or didn't care. Didn't even slow down. Rude.

Soleil had only been fishing one time. It wasn't a memory he liked to think about and it wasn't only because it was boring, although its dullness was what he usually mentioned if it ever came up.

They had sat there in that fishing boat for hours, rod in hands. He had attempted conversation several times, only to fail and finally lapse into silence. The sun dropped, people played nearby. Soleil sat as still as a statue. The trip had been suffocating and he couldn't have been more relieved when it ended.

This was almost worse than then.

The fish were too fast for him to spear. They teased him by swimming near, before hurrying away. He'd gotten closer to spearing his own toes than anything else. What was he expecting though? That with stick in hand and pants rolled up, he was going to become Tarzan or something? This was going to take long and his patience was waning.

This was definitely worse than that fishing trip.

When Soleil couldn't take it anymore and the sky threatened to turn dark without him, he had no choice but to leave the river behind.

No problem. He wasn't ravenous and he could go a bit longer without food. Tomorrow was a new day and he'd have as much daylight to stab at the fish as he wanted.

Hopefully, the scientists wouldn't dock him points for only managing to get one resource. Then, it wasn't like this was a video game. They just wanted to make sure his mind was still in shape. He wasn't sure why they hadn't finished things up yet, but they must have wanted just a bit more. He must have been close to finishing this.

As he made his way back upstream, he tried to convince himself of these things.

Even if Soleil had no sense of direction, he would have managed to find his way back just fine. It was a good thing he wasn't going to get chased through here, because he couldn't have left a more clear path if he tried. Broken branches and footprints led the way.

About halfway back, Soleil realized he'd want a fire. It wasn't terribly cold now, but it'd be dark very soon and it was better to be safe than sorry.

His pace slowed. He didn't know what constituted as a good stick, but he gathered them all anyways. The rough wood scratched up his mostly bare arms, but he readjusted them and continued grabbing sticks until his arms were more than full.

Finally, he was back at the pod. Soleil piled up the sticks and dusted off his body. These were enough sticks, right? It didn't have to stay lit for the whole night. just long enough to keep him company. He squinted at them briefly and then decided this was fine.

What he really wanted to do now was look around. If he could do whatever the hell they wanted him to do already, there'd be no need to learn how to catch a fish with a stick. He could just go on already.

If only Soleil hadn't spent so much time at the river. If it wasn't only hours to nighttime, he would leave the pod behind. Instead, he was going to get stuck making a fire.

Not that he knew how to start one, but how hard could it be?

The thought drained from his mind when he turned and saw the pod. It was the first time he'd actually looked at it since waking. He had touched it, passed by it, checked around it, but he hadn't looked at it and so he hadn't noticed its condition until now.

The pod was supposed to be just like it was when he'd stepped in but that too was wrong. It looked broken—no, he wouldn't go that far. It was just in need of repairs. The door was barely attached and the whole thing seemed dubious. If this was a cartoon, sparks would be flying around it.

But how could this have happened? This thing was built to last a good seven centuries, despite its planned three century work. If it had malfunctioned, a red light inside would be flashing. There was no problem with the pod itself then, but why did it look like it'd been kicked around? Soleil walked over to it and let his hand trail against its sides.

No. Nothing must have been wrong with it. The pod was meant for centuries after his awakening. This was just another trick by the scientists watching.

Soleil didn't know what they wanted, but he thought there test was going overboard. What could they gain from tricking him? Shaking his head, he decided not to think about it; to him, they were the future and who knew how things had changed since he went to sleep?

His hands slid across the pod one more time. The same wonder he felt upon waking struck him again. This hologram was really amazing. How did they manage such things and how did it work and where was he if his surroundings weren't real? Was he even awake? The questions went on and on. He needed to ask about it when this was over; Soleil wanted to know everything. But for now, he had to make sure they didn't decide to cut him up instead.

Turning back to the pile of sticks, he frowned. Soleil had little idea how to make a fire. Like with the stick and the fish, he had only seen it vaguely in videos. Motivation to sit and fail over and over was mostly depleted, but there was no other choice.

His gaze turned up to the sky, which he decided would work as a camera of sorts. They were watching him from above like some kind of God. Jokingly, he called out to them. "Any chance you guys want to make some holographic fire for me?" It never hurt to ask. Maybe they were tired of watching him flounder.

He waited. Nothing happened.

"Right. On my own then."