The map of the world

Theo spent most of the time just lying on the bed, waiting for someone to show up.

Unfortunately, no one came.

Minutes passed, then hours.

After two full hours, he finally got too bored. There was nothing left to lick in the entire room.

He'd licked everything and he'd even counted the exp he had gotten so far after leveling up. 1195 to be exact. Nothing really happened and he knew for a fact he was nowhere near the exp needed to level up again. How he knew, he didn't know. It was odd and yet, he felt that he could feel certain things if he focused enough.

His muscles were stronger and his senses were sharper. This was different. And he also had this strange feeling he never had before, almost like a new power- something he didn't know and something he couldn't wield- yet.

With every passing minute, he became surer and surer that there was a chip inside his head. But Blenn did suggest that wasn't possible.

He didn't trust Blenn though.

'Is there any way I can get better at directions? If this is a game-like thing then where's my minimap?'

And then suddenly a small beep resounded. [Would you like to purchase the map of the world?]

'What sort of friggin question is that?' Theo was taken aback. He really was. 'And purchase? What will it cost me?'

There was no response from the system.

The mere fact that the system was being so helpful was proof enough for Theo that this was probably just a chip inside his head. But who'd do such a thing to him?

Theo was now in a predicament. He had an option to perhaps literally have the map of the whole ship but he didn't know what it'd cost him.

'Should I really take the risk?' It's not like he had anything better to do and he didn't have anything good he could lose either. At least according to him.

So, 'Yes.'

Nothing happened… 'Wait, that's it?'

Sigh a sigh, he just lay down, staring at the ceiling. The bland white ceiling of the Ainmester…

But there was something different about the ceiling. Small dots started forming and soon, he could see and make out certain things.

[Purchased world map with 1 Steller coin!]

What was a Steller coin? He didn't know and he didn't have time to focus on that either, after all, the thing in front of his eyes was something he'd never seen before.

What looked like plain random dots at first, slowly turned to a map, but it wasn't just a typical map, no, it was the map of the whole galaxy. And Theo could zoom in. Zoom out feature was locked past the galaxy but this also meant that there was more to this map.

At first, Theo thought this was just a joke but when he zoomed in, he saw the star systems he'd previously read in school about. Everything was perfect: almost.

This was a real map and even the uncharted territories were mapped but nothing was named, at least not in any conceivable language.

Even if this was a chip embedded in him, who'd have such an extensive map of the galaxy?

But then the question remained, what if this was all just fabricated to look real?

Wait, he could prove that. This part of the galaxy wasn't mapped, meaning, he could just see if things from the map matched with the things from around him.

There wasn't anything in this room he could confirm it with so he had to go out anyway.

Wait, wasn't the point of all this was just to find the way to his room in the first place?

Theo chuckled at his own folly. He started fiddling with the map and sure enough, the map of the ship was brought up.

Stellar maps were only supplied to people associated with the space association, meaning, if someone really did copy the right parts of this map, they'd broken the law.

'But what was that language?'

The language was definitely foreign. Maybe he could use his translator later?

With all the thoughts in mind, Theo finally went out of the room and headed for his.

This time, hoping, he wouldn't get lost…

***

The map was really like a minimap, stacked into Theo's left corner, whenever he was focused on the road instead of the map. And when he was focusing on the map, it'd enlarge itself and show details.

Theo could zoom out to a certain limit, but from then on it was locked. For now, he just needed the map of this ship.

He kept on walking and after a certain time, he reached his door, fairly easy. It was just two hallways away all this time.

'Then why the hell did I go through all that trouble?' He felt dumb but he went in anyway.

His room- the very same; the air freshener was nostalgic. It felt a bit empty without Sizzy… 'Maybe I should go see her progress…'

He went to the corner. He had to see something first.

When he touched the Holo, it flashed. He had a message. He'd apparently forgotten about Sharon's warning.

With a sigh, Theo clicked the button.

"Hello, Theodore.

First of all, buy a warpnet package.

I heard there was some trouble with your voyage but everything's okay now. Though the journey may be difficult I wish you luck.

Venira."

It was a prerecorded message. Since Theo only had a basic warpnet package messaging was the best it was capable of.

'Now she's caring about me?' Theo snorted. He knew this was just a ploy from his mother, after all, he knew her well.

But for what?

Nothing came to his mind.

So, without anything else, he touched the Holo and brought out the immediate maps.

"It doesn't match?"

The corresponding maps didn't match.

And so, Theo became even surer of his hypothesis.

But then a thought came to his mind. 'Wait, what if-' He traced the map back to earth, the abandoned blue planet once home to billions of humans.

And he saw it.

A blue planet with abundant life. 'This is old.'

Very old in fact. At the very least, few hundred million years.

Planets being destroyed and new ones popping off wasn't that rare in the course of a few hundred million years.

'Were there intelligent races before us?'

All this time, Theo was avoiding the topic, he was just running away, but now, now he couldn't. Not anymore.

So, he ran a simulation on the holo- a simulation of a hundred million years- and the result- definitely not something he wanted to see.

The map of his immediate vicinity was a 60% match. Anything more than 33% in space was good enough- and he knew that. 'This could very well be real.'

After all, chips were illegal and even if he'd gotten an implant- the actual process was three days long- not three hours.

But then the question remained. "How the hell do I have the map of the ship?"