“The Event”

Droplets of water splattered onto Jessica's right cheek as she laid unconscious along with the rest of the group. They were surrounded by a towering roof of trees, swerving to the winds in a rhythmic fashion. The rocks in the perimeter were adorned with bright green moss. A nearby stream of water contained a plethora of unfamiliar creatures.

This strange new place hid many spectacles and marvels waiting to be discovered at a moment's notice. At this point, the droplets had formed a miniature pool on Jessica's face, waking her up in the process. The girl's eyes flipped open, her pupils refocusing to the unusually bright light level of this unknown environment. After a moment or two of observing her surroundings, reality set in.

"Get up!" she shouted, violently shaking Hunter.

She did this continuously until he and the others regained consciousness. The group of teens picked themselves up off the floor and stood in awe of how far the flora shot up into the skies, as if their only goal was to kiss and mingle with the heavens.

"Umm?" Elise muttered. "Where are we?"

"Not sure," said Darahyon, still patting the dirt off of his fairly new gatherer attire.

It didn't long for everyone to turn their heads to Hunter.

"Why are you all staring at me for?"

"You were the one that got us into this mess," said Jessica. "How are we supposed to get ho-"

The quick rustling of nearby leaves halted all conversation. A large and black four-legged creature emerged from the bushes and had the entirety of the group in its sights. The roars of this creature were overwhelmingly loud, scattering the birds which laid dormant on the nearby trees.

"Hunter! Do something!" pleaded Jessica.

Hunter began the summoning process and once again pulled the massive weapon out of his meek ring. He threw the axe straight towards the creature at full force. The predator leapt up to the thick branches of a looming tree, barely missing the swift blade of death. Without skipping a beat, it lunged towards the group. Hunter re-called the axe to his hand where he swung once again. This time, the blade went straight through the beast's neck and landed into the bark of a nearby tree.

The animal's head flew across the forest, killing it instantly. The sheer power of Hunter's relic was unreal. As for the rest of the animal, it laid three feet away in a pool of its own blood. The group thought it was a good idea to distance themselves from the mess and into a clearing in the forest.

"Way to go Hunter!" Elise said, congratulating him.

"What the hell was that thing?" asked Jessica.

"No clue," said Daniel. "Proxima, where are we?"

The silence was very telling. A few moments and nothing.

"Proxima, what is our location?" repeated Daniel.

"I think Proxima died," cried Elise.

"Wait," said Jessica. "Where are my gloves?"

She frantically searched the area, leaving no stone unturned.

It's not here," she added, quite displeased.

Jessica had been working on those gloves since her entry into The School of Daculate Advancement. She dedicated years of heavy research and risked her own neck for her relic. Having it disappear just like that would be soul crushing.

"I truly can't see this getting worse," Jessica added. "Thanks to Hunter, we're trapped in the middle of nowhere and we have no way to get home. Proxima is dead and my damn gloves are gone!"

Jessica gave a sharp glance to Hunter. He rolled his eyes.

"That crazy ass man trapped us in a room!" Hunter exclaimed, "What was I supposed to do?"

"Well, I don't know Hunter, maybe don't hit an electric wall with a metal axe!" she yelled.

The sky suddenly darkened. The moisture in the air decreased, the winds grew colder and the birds scattered out of the forest and into the skies. The gatherers grasped their shoulders to warm themselves, mellowing out any anger that they had left. It was as if a pocket unzipped itself in the sky in order to spill its contents. A wave of glowing green light pierced the skies. The group didn't think this planet could get any brighter, but it did. The flash of light was intense enough to stun them for a second or two. Accompanying the light was strikes of neon green lightning, none of which landed anywhere near the gatherers- thankfully.

"Oh no," Elise muttered quietly, her breath heating up the cold air in proximity to her mouth.

The group looked on to the event perplexed. Every student at SODA was outfitted with special lenses that allow for enhanced sight such as zooming, which allows them to view farther distances that normal eyes could never achieve. They shifted closer together and focused on the neon phenomenon in the sky.

"No!" screamed Elise. "A bird got caught in the middle of it all."

"It's falling," Jessica said. "Fast."

"That's no bird," Darahyon added.

"It looks as if it's a small box of some sort." Daniel said, now focusing on the object.

As fast as this unusual scene started, it ended. The air retracted back to its normal temperature and the sun once again took command over the skies. The ambience of the forest restarted as if nothing had ever taken place.

"We're screwed!" Hunter panicked. "We're dead!"

"Did- did we cause that?" asked Darahyon.

"It can't be," Daniel added. "Right?"

Jessica chuckled uncomfortably, attempting to lighten the mood.

"Um- guys, remember when we were trapped in that room?" Elise asked.

"No Elise, we don't. What room was that? We have no idea what room you're talking about," Hunter said sarcastically.

Jessica tapped the back of Hunter's head with such a force, that he staggered on to the dirt.

"Go on, Elise," Jessica said, bearing a huge grin.

"Well- I think I made the box that fell from the sky," she said, holding up her Tyranix. "I tried duplicating an iron bar to help us escape but it morphed into some weird thingy."

"A relic maybe?" Darahyon wondered.

"But that doesn't make sense," Daniel added "What would a relic be doing in a room like that?"

"Firstly, what gave you the idea that an iron bar would help?!" shouted Hunter.

"Well I altered the material to be non-conductive!" Elise replied. "And I wasn't the one that charged at a door plastered with electricity."

"Where am I?" a voice echoed.

The group stood at attention and scanned their surroundings.

"What was that?" Elise asked, her hands covering her mouth.

"What do you mean who was that?" the voice continued. "I'm right here."

"Invisible lifeforms?" Daniel wondered until it hit him. "Proxima?"

"How do you know my name?" they replied.

"You're our personalized intelligent companion," he added.

Silence soon fell upon the group. No strange voices, nothing. Just what the group assumed was the regular ambience of the forest.

"Proxima?" asked Daniel.

"Guys!" cried Elise. "Did we fry our digital companion on the first day?!"

"That has to be a new record, right?" asked Darahyon, letting out a chuckle. "We're already breaking records like we said we would."

The rest of the group threw sharp glances at the teen until his laughs eventually stifled.

"Okay bad time. Got it."

"We need to get to higher ground," said Hunter.

"Agreed," Daniel replied.

The gatherers made their way through the unfamiliar terrain and eventually came upon a slight opening in the trees which led up a towering slope. They all climbed to the top in order to get a better

understanding of what they were dealing with. As Elise looked above the forest, it hit her. "Guys!" she shouted. "I know this place!".

The group looked at her doubtfully.

"No, I'm serious. My aunt always told me stories of this place but it's impossible."

Elise sank to the floor in astonishment.

"Well?" Hunter asked. "Where are we?"

It was as if the words hadn't registered into Elise's brain as she still sat, starstruck.

"Come on, spit it out," Hunter said, quickly growing impatient.

"Shoot, what was the name?" she wondered. "Uh- it was- "

"It is called Earth, one of the only planets left in the universe that hasn't reached the level of advancement as the others in the quadrant. Populated by thousands of species of unique flora and fauna, this planet is supplied energy from its nearby yellow star, the sun."

"I guess Proxima's working again," said Jessica.

"If you were here, I'd give you a big fat hug!" Elise said, jumping up and down with excitement.

"If Proxima retrieved this information then does that mean that they're connected to the hive?" Daniel wondered.

"I'm right here." said the companion. "Why are you talking about me in the third person?"

"Oh, sorry Proxima," he apologized. "It's peculiar how you're speaking to us like this though. Usually we'd need to use your wake word."

"I'd say I'm pretty damn awake Daniel."

"Shit!" Hunter laughed. "Proxima got cool."

"Call me PC for short."

"Ooh, what does that stand for?" asked an intrigued Elise.

"You can't be serious."

"PC, can you connect us to the Jyrinion Hive?" asked Daniel.

"No can-do Danny boy. My connection to home world was severed during my forced reboot."

"Dammit," he scoffed. "How'd you get information about Earth then?"

"I pulled it from ginger girl's memory bank."

"So- this is an unadvanced planet with no means of communication to home?" asked Darahyon.

"Pretty much."

"We're good as dead," Hunter deadpanned.

"Let's not panic," said Daniel. "There's gotta be a way for us to send a distress signal to Jyrinion. The only lead we have is the box that Elise duplicated with her Tyranix. We need to find it and see if it'd be able to help us send a signal back somehow."

"There's so many stupid things wrong with that statement," Hunter added. "How would we locate the box and more importantly, did you not see the rabid creature that attacked us? What if there's more like it? Maybe even worse."

"I don't see you coming up with any better ideas," said Darahyon.

"I also lost my gloves, now I'm defenceless just like Dar," Jessica said, "No offense, Dar."

Darahyon ignored the comment and took a seat on the grass next to Elise.

"Let's be serious here," Daniel declared. "We either find the box or stay stranded."

The majority of the group agreed with Daniel's proposal which left Hunter slightly annoyed.

"We still need to find food and proper shelter though. We need to focus on this problem right now," Hunter advised.

Daniel and the rest of the gatherers agreed and scoped the environment. It was difficult to get a good overview of the trees as the hill was not as high as they hoped. The enhanced lenses would be useless in this terrain. Any structure or sign of civilization would prove helpful, but the group observed nothing but acres upon acres of deep forest and it was getting dark.

"The box fell somewhere over there. I say we head in that direction," said Darahyon, as he pointed south towards more forest. They had no choice but to pick this direction and keep moving otherwise they'd be sitting ducks bent to the mercy of the forest.

The gatherers slid down the hill in no time and treaded in the direction that Darahyon pointed to. It was not long until it was pitch black. Strange sounds surrounded the group. At any point, something could leap out of the shadows and they'd be none-the-wiser. It was too dangerous to keep traversing this area blind, forcing the group to halt their journey and make a camp on where they stood. The moon slightly illuminated the forest floor but not nearly enough to make it visible since it was obstructed by both the clouds and the roof of the trees.

"Elise," Jessica said "You think you could use your Tyranix to make us a fire".

"My book has never come into contact with fire before so I can't create it- but I can do it the old fashion way."

She gathered some dry leaves together and stripped them.

"You sure you know what you're doing?" Daniel asked, peering down at her as she knelt.

"I won the survivalist monarch three years in a row, Danny. Trust me."

She plucked some tiny branches off of the low hanging trees and stooped back to the forest floor. She gathered the leaves into a little nest, with the bigger twigs surrounding it. She took a thick, dry stick and twirled it with her hands at the centre of the nest. Survival studies was compulsory at SODA but no one payed attention except for Daniel and Elise of course.

Small sparks emerged from the timber and Elise gently blew onto them, spreading flames across the makeshift nest. She added more twigs, fuelling the growing fire. She had to take a step back in fear of getting burned.

"Could someone fetch more firewood?" Elise asked.

"I will," Hunter volunteered, holding his stomach which was now growling from hunger.

He drifted from the campsite and scanned the perimeter for viable wood. The cracking of twigs outside of his line of sight alarmed him. He looked around in an attempt to discern what that disturbance was. The more he stared into the pitch darkness of the forest, the more he began seeing the shadows distort and curl up towards him, however, a quick blink or two sent the shadows right back to their resting place.

"What are you up to?"

"Shit!" Hunter said, startled. "PC, you can't sneak up on me like that."

"I'm in your brain. Please tell me how I could sneak up on you."

Hunter stood confused. The glorified stack of code had a point.

"In other news, look what I figured out I could do."

The teen braced for what horrors the companion was fixing to release, but nothing happened.

"Of course, we get the defected companion," said Hunter, rolling his eyes.

"Hunter? Where are you?" asked a voice that resembled Daniel's although he was nowhere in sight.

"Are you invisible right now?" asked Hunter.

"No, I'm not." Daniel replied. "I'm with the rest of the group at the camp."

"Okay, PC, that's pretty cool," Hunter grinned.

"What did PC do?" asked Daniel.

"Telepathic comms," he said, while grabbing a few pieces of what Elise requested and returning to the warm and odd safety of the fire.

The group sat around the fire, all exhausted. This new land had not been treating them well. The lack of food was still a major issue as well as drinking water. How long were the days and nights on this planet? Had their parents figured that they had went missing yet?

"Night," Hunter said, while lying on the cold, damp ground to sleep.

The rest of the gatherers said their goodnights and drifted asleep except for Darahyon. He remained awake as he could not get his brain to call it a day. He was worried that he would never return home. Even though he had no family members left back on Jyrinion, he still wished of returning. He laid awake for hours looking up at Earth's crescent shaped moon through the scattered branches of trees until he finally drifted asleep.