CH 4° The Strange Tree

Hearing that made her eyes sparkle. The possibilities they could achieve with 'The E I' were endless.

Her mind couldn't help but wander, envisioning a world free from diseases and sickness. A world where humans could live without the constant worry of falling ill—would be the perfect world.

Seeing her daydreaming like this made Aldrich shake his head. "Let us proceed," he said, breaking her reverie.

Before long, they stood mere inches from the integration machine. Marie swiftly assessed its components, ensuring everything was in order, before giving Aldrich a nod of confirmation.

At this moment Aldrich who had been standing a few paces away from the machine took a step towards it.

Then something incredibly bizarre happened, for some reason, Aldrich felt himself stuck in a trance it was as if time had come to a standstill, his mind went blank, and his vision became blurry.

Before his mind could register what was happening, his surroundings suddenly shifted and he found himself in an eerie dark subterranean realm, very quickly a strange, cold sensation assaulted his senses.

He felt like he was standing in the middle of a raging blizzard with no snowstorm.

He subconsciously tucked his white lab coat closer to his frail frame to ward off the cold, every breath he took became a thick, visible white mist, and his hands started trembling, "what's going on?" he muttered, amidst his trembling voice.

One moment he was standing in his lab, next he found himself here, and the surroundings resembled an underground subterranean cave.

"were is this place?" he uttered aloud

With each passing second Aldrich felt himself growing weaker. He had almost zero tolerance for hash temperature.

"is this a dream" Aldrich mused in an attempt to rationalize the surreal situation, but the chill biting into his skin and the clarity of the surroundings destroyed any notion of a dream, Everything felt too vivid, too real to be a mere figment of his imagination. And last he remembered he was not asleep

He could tell from the walls surrounding him that this was a cave. He moved his hand to touch the wall, his fingers brushing against the rough surface. It was real. He felt it—the cold, the air he breathed in that threatened to freeze his nose solid.

At this point, every strand of hair on his body, even his eyelashes, was starting to freeze solid. "How the hell is this possible?" he muttered through chattering teeth.

The cave was huge, almost twice the size of a football stadium, with walls that seemed to stretch on forever.

At this point, Aldrich felt his head vibrate, a splitting headache assaulting him so intensely that he temporarily forgot the cold. He fell to his knees and clutched his head tightly as blood started dripping from his nose and ears.

And as quickly as the ache had come, it suddenly vanished, as if it had never been there. Then he felt something—a presence. He realized he was no longer alone in the cave.

In the distance, he saw something, but he couldn't make out its features due to his still blurry vision, as his eyes started to clear, the characteristics of the figurine in front of him seemed to take shape. It was a tree.

It looked like a tree of regular size, about the size of a fully-grown oak tree. The tree appeared incredibly old. What was strange was that where one would expect branches and leaves to be, there was something different.

Sitting atop the bizarre tree were massive bones in the shape of what anyone would call elk antlers. Not just any elk, but an Irish elk. The antlers were huge; he could count twelve of them.

The antlers, each the size of a small tree trunk, curved gracefully outward from the tree's crown, their immense size dwarfing the surrounding landscape.

Their shape was reminiscent of the grandest elk antlers, yet their placement on a tree that should have been adorned with branches and leaves created a surreal and unsettling sight.

The bone-white antlers contrasted sharply against the dark cave, their polished surfaces reflecting the dim light in an otherworldly glow.

Despite lacking the softness of foliage, they possessed a strange beauty, their regal curves and intricate details adding an eerie allure to the ancient tree. A regal and strange aura seemed to permeate the air around them, capable of inducing a sense of madness in any living thing that dared to approach.

The tree was bathed in a strange silver glow, it was unknown where the light was coming from, surrounding the tree were multiple strange crimson flowers.

The tree was bathed in a strange silver glow, casting an ethereal light emanating from nowhere and everywhere.

The source of this mysterious illumination remained unknown, adding to the eerie atmosphere of the cave. Surrounding the tree were multiple strange crimson flowers, their vibrant hue standing out vividly against the darkness.

Each flower exuded an otherworldly beauty, their petals glowing softly in the silver light, adding to the surreal scene unfolding before Aldrich's eyes.

Ba-dump! Ba-dump!

Sound of heartbeats began emanating from the tree, each beat sounding shallow and weak.

As Aldrich observed the tree, he felt as if he was gazing upon the oldest thing in all existing stence. Then he noticed something strange at its base.

On the tree, further down, he noticed signs of hacking, as if someone had chopped off a portion of it. Crimson fluid continuously pumped out from the wounds, making it appear as though the tree was bleeding.

Realization dawned on him, and he subconsciously took a few steps back. At that moment, he realized he had been standing on a frozen lake the entire time.

The ice parted, and Aldrich plunged into the freezing water, quickly sinking into the hollowed depths. Even as the frigid water enveloped him, his eyes remained glued to the tree, fixated on its unusual branches and the crimson blood flowing from it.

His vision went blurry and Just when he just his head was about to explode, he found himself standing back in the white room again.

His vision went blurry, and just when he felt his head was about to explode, he suddenly found himself standing back in the white room again.

________________________________________

"To be continued."

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