Chapter 6 - Stranded

Once the next day arrived, Van didn't delay Sehwa's lessons any further. After a short meal, Sehwa's day started with a brief physical exercise under his guidance to let her properly recover.

Though Van quickly realized another issue. Sehwa had difficulty standing up or putting any force in her legs.

He had already seen the state of Sehwa's legs when he met her curled up in a corner but it was only at this moment that he saw its severity.

They tried standing up slowly from the bed and Sehwa could only feel the heaviness of both her feet. It felt tethered to the ground and pushing forward resulted in a slight stinging pain.

Sehwa even tried to stand with Van's help but it was to no avail. Like a crumbling structure, her lower body immediately lost any force and she would have fallen to the ground if Van wasn't watching over her.

Fortunately, their trials weren't without results.

Though Sehwa seemed slightly timid, it was mostly due to her circumstances and it was clear that she was determined to continue on with her lessons.

"I can… continue." She exclaimed with brightness.

In Van's eyes, this was a very sudden change. When she first found her, she had that same light hidden within the depths of her sobbing eyes, yet when she awoke, it's like she lost some integral part of her.

He believed it had something to do with her past and the memories she had forgotten. Sehwa had also confirmed that the only memory in her mind that remained was her very own name.

With enough speculations, he concluded that the influx of information from the implant must have somewhat triggered her hidden memories.

Alas, it was a risky endeavour that brought more danger than positive results. So Van had completely dismissed that idea and focused on helping Sehwa achieve enough knowledge to survive the outside world.

"That's fine too, but we still have lessons planned out for today, right? The days coming will be exhausting for you. Both in mind and body." He warned.

"Oh… right."

Sehwa softly replied as she was led to her bed once again. There, Sehwa sat upright while Van took a seat in his usual chair.

He held a clear tablet that was unfamiliar to Sehwa's eyes.

"This is a mobile terminal. It comes in various forms and has been popular since some distant past due to its many convenient functions."

Sehwa's curious gaze wasn't hard to perceive so Van directly explained.

"It's normal to carry one for daily use as it also serves as a communicator, meaning that it can be used to make conversations with someone you know that lives or is currently far away.

However, today, I am gonna use this to show you the basics of alphabets and how to write and read them."

Thus, signalling the beginning of Sehwa's hour long language and common sense lessons.

The Strera Common, as the universally spoken and written language, is the most simplified of the current existing tongues. Its vocabulary was large and its syntax was easy to understand with enough grasp.

Additionally, the alphabet consists of only 25 letters and Sehwa, already having the general knowledge through the implant, had only felt some difficulty at first but was able to adapt just fine later on.

She also showed a particular interest in the mobile terminal Van was holding and was tending to ask more about technological topics that Van didn't shy away from sharing.

"Where do you go?"

As soon as their lessons were finished and Van was about to leave, Sehwa asked with a perplexed expression.

"Huh?" Replied Van in confusion.

"Sometimes, you look tired and fatigued. And gone for a long time."

"Oh… that. I was just scouting the perimeter. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to find some supplies. But, unfortunately, most of the supply rooms have been cleaned out. Anyway, don't worry about it. I'm not doing anything dangerous."

He tried to reassure Sehwa but it was plain to see that Sehwa still had some doubts.

"When did you get so rebellious? I need to do my daily patrols to keep this area safe."

With a chuckle, he dismissed any of her incoming objections and strode away. Leaving behind the mobile terminal they were using earlier at Sehwa's request.

"He escaped…"

She giggled slightly as soon as she saw Van's escaping figure. Sehwa then turned her attention to the tablet she was holding.

"Interesting."

The tablet's screen turned on as Sehwa whispered under her breath. Soon, she was practicing writing words."

"What is… this? A dia, um, diary?"

Among the applications, she found one entry that caught her attention. It was a journal app. An app to record your life, thoughts and experiences.

And knowing that excited her, to write about her day could be another pastime. So, as she practiced writing and forming sentences, she slowly filled the diary with entries.

• • • ° ° °

It was only a month later that their lessons died down and became more of a daily conversation as practice for Sehwa.

During that time period, Sehwa was like a sponge absorbing everything that Van was telling her about. She also asked him about things as time went on and she became aware of the gist of their own situation.

She was an "imperfect", as per Van's conjecture. And imperfect is a term used to refer to the many cases of human biological experiments where, through human trafficking, many young children and adults were forced to undergo a set of gene-splicing processes that would ultimately result in humanity's final evolution.

It was inhumane.

And no matter what, no human life must go through such an experience. Records showed that the casualties from the experiments alone were estimated to be in the millions across all the hidden facilities.

Wars were fought for such actions to be halted immediately. And so they did.

It had been centuries ever since the last known case was discovered and forced into a stop by the Union Rule, the head governing body of all celestial systems known to mankind.

Imperfects now roamed free as official citizens and the sight of them became the norm to many major cities.

Soon, they were dubbed as imperfects no more but instead were known now as demihumans.

Though some still use it to refer to them in a derogatory way. Such people were shallow and commonly were a part of a supremacist circle.

Afterall, it was easy to distinguish their varied appearances to the humans, elves and sanguines. Though all were humanoid in form, demihumans were extremely peculiar.

Some of them had animalistic appearances, whether by their skin with furs, hands into paws, and facial characteristics.

Others had a more unique and distinct look and it could range to anything humanoid-like.

Van once told Sehwa a story of a four-armed agent he once worked with. He was bulky and quite gigantic, intimidating many people he wasn't associated with. Fortunately, he only turned out to be a boisterous giant and he didn't mean any trouble to anyone as long as he wasn't provoked.

Van had many stories to tell. According to him, he is part of a travelling association that focuses on deep explorations. People like him were called Surfers.

They travel by crews on ships and ride the Qeilian River to the Outland Belts.

It was a dangerous profession that led to the loss of many surfers and Van was required to join such an association to further his research.

Originally, he was from one of the major cities and he lived quietly as a researcher for some time until he couldn't make any further advancements based on current knowledge.

The place they were currently on was one such ship he and his party joined for another expedition.

Unfortunately, tragedy struck while he was separated from the others.

Almost two months have passed since and Sehwa was his only companion for most of that time.

"Van, I want to come with you." Sehwa determinedly demanded.

"Ugh… No, no matter how many times you ask, I won't let you get out there."

She was immediately faced with an instant rejection. But Sehwa didn't back down easily either. A month had only gone by but her recovery speed from her pitiful state to her, now, very energetic self.

Her words now flow smoothly and she isn't bedridden anymore. She had also changed to an extra pair of shorts and shirt Van had found that fit her teenage size.

"Let me come! I promise I'll be obedient."

Once more, Sehwa pleaded. This interaction between her and Van had become a routine after Sehwa became more and more healthier and her familiarity with her only companion grew.

Sehwa was a very cheerful girl, and that only became clearer for Van as time went on. She pestered him about their situation and the ship's current circumstances.

That's why he understood why Sehwa wanted to come with him. She wanted to look for a way out and that is fine. However, currently the outside is still dangerous and one mistake could lead to their deaths.

There was only one way out of this place. And that was the recon deck. There, they could find one recon ship and take shelter while sending out a signal for help.

At this point of time, they had no such capabilities to do both.

That area, unfortunately, was a territory of something else. Something Van was too afraid to face.

Van had once made the mistake of letting Sehwa know that there was a core keycard for the recon deck that would open its doors and lock them in.

Ever since, Sehwa had continuously been trying to convince Van that she wanted to come with him.

And Van wasn't naive enough to not know that she wanted to look for it. This day, however, was different. Sehwa felt that she had completely recovered now and was capable enough to not hinder Van while hiding herself.

In the end, Van could only sigh in resignation and accept the inevitable result.

"Fine… but I have a condition before we proceed."

"Really!? Yes, I won't disappoint you Van! Don't worry!"

Sehwa jumped in cheer. It was quite an ironic sight for Van who knew that they weren't going to some playground.

They were entering a dangerous battlefield where mysteries plagued every corner and death was always looming by the nape of their necks.

Still, he understood that Sehwa also knew this fact. It was just her positive personality surpassing the graveness of that fact.

And he was right, in actuality, Sehwa couldn't help but shake in nervousness just knowing the fact that out there exists terrifying monsters that she couldn't ever imagine.

But, she deeply wanted to leave this place. She had a throbbing feeling that staying here any longer would end badly. Sehwa wanted to escape as early as possible with Van, the only person she knew and her only "family-like" person.

"I am planning to patrol in the further areas of the perimeter, we will go tomorrow. Today, we will prepare ourselves and I have something else to show you."

Van explained to Sehwa.

"Show me? What is it?"

"It's just a little something to help you protect yourself tomorrow."

He replied to Sehwa's curious inquiry.

"Let's go."

Van left with steady steps and she followed closely behind him as they entered one of the rooms Van had always locked whenever he left Sehwa alone.