It took me some hours, but I managed to turn this cave into something habitable. Nothing too fancy though, only grade 3 reinforced walls, lighting, vents, and holographic camouflage for the entrance. I also dug up my ship but I don't think I will be able to repair it in a while, besides, my gravity technology was still unusable.

"Did you find anything else? A deviation in the quantum field? An anomaly in the electromagnetic waves? Some weird radiation or strange biological mutation?" I asked. While I was securing the cave Lybra did in-depth research on the laws of physics of this new universe.

>> Except for the state of graviton which is unknown and doesn't seem to follow the same rule as our universe the physical laws are apparently the same. I did find some kind of weird background radiation, current analysis shows it as harmless but it also doesn't follow the known law of physics.

"Hmm, I don't really like the idea of being constantly exposed to strange and unknown radiation. Can my suit protect me from them?" I responded with a frown.

>> No, that is one of its weird characteristics, it permeates any matter and no kind of insulating seems able to stop it.

"Even hadronic matter?" I doubted.

>> Yes, while it did slow down the radiation drastically they still permeate it.

"That's incredible..." I said astonished. You must understand that hadronic matter is basically matter compacted to the limit. There is no gap for radiation to pass through because, unlike atoms that are made of 99% of nothingness, it's made of 99% of matter. 

"Well, if even hadronic matter can't block it, I doubt we can do anything about them for now. Since you didn't find anything harmful about them, we'll just monitor my condition for now... Still, this place is very interesting, we've only been here for a few hours and there are already mysterious things happening. Our stay here will most likely be eventful," I chuckled, before returning to my work.

***

It took me half an hour but I secured the surrounding of my new base. I found a small river only two kilometers away to the south of my landing position. The local flora is healthy and indicates a temperate climate with no shortage of water, what does surprise me is their resilience. From what I noticed most of them have grade 1 or 2 resilience, and while it isn't that unusual, the fact that they evolved that much in this seemingly calm and hospitable forest is surprising.

Unfortunately, I didn't find much about the fauna, most of them seem to have been scared away by my landing or are hiding in their nest. But from what I've seen they should be at the same grade as the flora. I'm not sure but I think there is some link between the radiation and this strong wildlife. Something to investigate later once my base is fully operational.

I was returning to the cave, but I had an uneasy feeling. A growing itch that something bad was going to happen. But no matter where I looked my surrounding seemed safe and there wasn't any threat nearby, in fact, I didn't feel any danger. Yet my bad feeling was growing stronger. I knew better than to ignore this feeling and stopped on my track.

Something was calling me, a pull from the forest. I felt my heart tightens, I need to go now! If I didn't I would regret it for the rest of my life.

I quickened my pace in the direction of the pull. I kept accelerating jumping over roots and rocks while avoiding branches and trees, I was running with all my might. I was fast, an outside observer would have barely seen my shadow. But even then, I felt like I was too slow. I needed to be faster! Much faster! I put more strength in my legs straining my muscle to gain a little more speed.

I could see the trees decreasing as I reached the edge of a clearing, my heart was anxious. I leaped out of the forest, the sudden change of landscape did not hamper my vision. Before my eyes was a poor little girl who was cornered by a huge reptile. It wasn't the first time I so a child facing imminent death, and if I could I would try to save them. 

But this time it was different, this time my mind went blank, my brain was crashing down and my body moved on its own. And before I understood what happened, I grabbed the girl and pulled her out while guarding her with my other arm. This stupid move actually cost me a lot as the reptile's jaw crushed my right forearm. But I was too shocked to care about losing an arm.

"Estelle!" I yelled, hugging the girl.

Feelings that I never thought I could feel again flooded my brain. Tears wanted to run wild but I repressed them, I didn't want them to blur my vision. I wanted to engrave this very moment in my memory, her look, her smell, her heartbeat, her body temperature. Everything that would confirm that the person before me was alive and not an illusion.

When she lost consciousness, my heart almost stopped. At this instant, something broke, somewhere inside my psyche, a crack appeared. It was a tiny crack, something barely noticeable, it wasn't even a physical crack. Yet, its repercussions were immeasurable.

My barely functioning mind froze and memories that I wanted to forget, but couldn't, flooded my mind, pieces of a past that I had sealed away. 

~ Flashback ~

It was a grey room, the walls, floor, and roof were made of metal and it only offered a dim light making it dark and cold. To conserve energy, and ensure the survival of the two biological entities aboard, the ship's computer had shut down almost all systems. Leaving only the air and water recycling system and some other basic systems, it could extend its operation for only two more weeks before running out of power. 

I was cold and hungry, it had been days since that happened. I've been in a daze since only reacting when my big sister hugged me or when she gave me water. I couldn't erase that image from my mind, it was engraved in my memory. Awakened again by my nightmare, I tried to hug my big sister for some comfort.

"... Celeste... sorry... I'm tired," she responded weakly.

Her body was colder than before, I could tell she was at her limit. She gave me the only food we had and didn't eat anything since we were here. I could feel her life slipping away and her breath weakening.

"No, stay with me! Estelle! Please don't leave me alone!" I hugged her tighter.

"... sorry..." she whispered closing her eyes.

"No! No no no no! Estelle! Wake up! please wake up... I beg you! Please don't leave me! I swear I won't disobey you anymore. I'll be good I won't fight with you ever again! Please don't leave me alone!" I cried desperately. 

I cried and cried, even as my tears run dry I kept crying. Her body had turned cold and her heart had stopped, yet I was still hugging her begging her to wake up.  I couldn't accept that my sister had died.

~ Flashback end ~

The girl looked exactly like my sister, her malnourished and tattered body was superposing with the last memory of my sister. I knew she couldn't be my sister, my sister died a hundred tritiums ago. And yet... Tears were running down my cheek.

My mind was jolted back by the reptile's roar and my eye fell on it.

It froze on the spot, pupils dilated, breath and heartbeat increasing, muscle slightly twitching. Its body has entered a state of high tension, its survival instinct has kicked in preparing its body against the death threat. Yes, in other words, it was terrified. 

He was probably the apex predator of this forest, from what I could see he was grade 3. Without a doubt, it was a strong beast, but its fate was sealed when it bite off my forearm, death was the only future left for it. That was the cost of hurting me, an outcome shared by all beasts who've taken a piece of me. 

But all this didn't matter anymore because it committed the unforgivable. 

I was seeing red and my blood was boiling in fury... no, fury wasn't even enough to describe my anger. This disgusting thing needed to disappear, its very existence was unbearable. Just thinking about hurting Estelle in any way is worth the capital punishment. And this thing DARED to try to KILL her?

Yes, she couldn't be my sister but at this moment, this was a negligible thing. I could feel her ragged breath on my chest, her body was in a terrible state of exhaustion. Seeing the malnourished body of this girl who looked exactly like Estelle was heart-wrenching. But seeing how much she was hurt was even more painful. This is unforgivable!

Was this thing responsible? I wanted to drag it to hell, making it taste absolute despair. I wanted to torture it to death but I couldn't. The girl needed medical care urgently, I didn't have time to waste on this thing. Fine, I'll settle on erasing its existence. I won't let a single trace of this thing behind. Its very existence was blasphemy.

Without even thinking I kicked an IE2 grenade at it. These things were hard to make even for me, I only had three right now including the one I just used. IE2 grenades are antimatter-based weapons that didn't explode but imploded, annihilating everything in a five-meter radius. It was a very valuable weapon but I didn't care. I wanted this thing gone and I wouldn't let it leave even a single atom behind.

It didn't have time to react before being enveloped in a blinding white sphere. It lasted only five seconds and left behind a perfectly smooth smoking crater. Satisfied with the result I calmed down a little and ran back with the girl tightly secured in my arms. My right arm had stopped bleeding and I could fix it later. The girl was my priority.

"Lybra prepare the medical pod," I ordered with an emotionless voice.

>> Understood.

The return trip was quiet and nothing obstructed my way. I was looking calm on the outside but my mind was a terrible mess and Lybra, who was monitoring my health since the crash, was deeply concerned about my abnormal brain activity. In this forest, where most of the fauna has been scared away, the only person who was relaxed was the sleeping girl in my arms.

*** Tale of an unlucky lizard ***

I was sleeping soundly when I was suddenly awakened by a powerful quake. Of course, I was in a bad mood, normally I only woke up in winter and hibernate the rest of the year.

Furious from having my sleep disturbed I let out one of my mighty roars. I've barely been sleeping for two months but I was a little hungry. Since I woke up I may as well search for some food before going back to sleep. I may even find out the one who disturbed my sleep and vent some anger.

I began to stroll in search of food, my steps echoed in the quiet forest. After some hours, I realized I may have made a mistake. One, it wasn't winter and some of the beasts I hunted weren't here. And two, it seemed my mighty roars had scared away the rest of them. And because of that, I didn't find any prey to satiate myself, truly unfortunate.

I was taking a break in the clearing when my luck seemed to turn. A prey just delivered herself to me, a wounded human child. I hesitated, there wasn't much to eat but I was hungry. Humans can become annoying when you hunt too many of them, coming at you by hundreds for "revenge". But this child didn't appear like she would be able to survive much longer, I may as well make her my snack. 

I opened my jaw to swallow her but something unexpected happened, the child was yanked out of my reach and my jaw closed on another human hand. I was quite surprised, I didn't see this human approach at all and while I was able to bite her forearm off, it was rather hard and it had posed a great resistance.

The taste however was rich, it was the best meat I had ever tasted. Satisfied with the taste I turned back toward my prey. The new human was hugging the child, they had jumped a little far from me. Readying myself to pounce on them I roared "You're a worthy prey!"

But I suddenly felt a bone-freezing chill. The prey was looking at me with cold eyes, her bloody red irises gave me creep. No, she wasn't a prey at all! This was a predator! I froze, my whole body felt cold and I was tetanized. What is this?! How can something this dangerous be here? I'm going to die, I need to flee!

But my body wouldn't move, because I knew deep down if I moved I would definitely die. I could only stay still and hope she would spare me. Then she moved, she kicked a weird stone at me. I didn't react, I didn't understand what was happening before a white light swallowed me. The last thing on my mind, before my consciousness disappeared, was that I shouldn't have left my bed.