Chapter 2 - Jackson Situation

"Master!" Henry jumped forward and grabbed Bell and Jackson, hoping to use his body to shield both of them from the explosion.

Being pulled into the void by the explosion of the new element, Jackson, Henry, and Bell clenched their fists and braced for impact.

A moment later, Jackson, Henry, and Bell were thrown away into a forest with Henry protecting both Jackson and Bell. They somehow came out okay, with just minor injuries and cuts from the trees and branches. Sighing in relief, Jackson got up but noticed something different. His body felt so heavy, as if he were lifting a 300 kg weight.

It felt so heavy that he decided to call out for Henry and Bell to understand the situation. He was more worried about the two, more than his own life, even though both were only AI machines he created. To Jackson, they were closer and more important than his money-hungry family.

"Henry! Bell! Are you guys okay?" Jackson screamed while lying down.

"Master! I'm okay!" Floating over to where Jackson was, Bell scanned his body for any injuries or fatal wounds. Luckily, she found that all he had were minor injuries, but she noticed that Jackson was not getting up. "Master! Are you okay? Are you hurt? I already did a full scan, and no fatality was found."

Before Jackson could answer, Henry rushed over to check Jackson's condition. "Master! Is he okay? Did you scan his body for any injuries?"

"Henry!" Jackson said in a pained tone, struggling. "I'm okay, just my body feels so heavy." Complaining about his current condition, Jackson couldn't help but somehow feel surprised that all of them survived that terrifying explosion. He struggled once more to get up. "Damn it, I can't move at all!"

"It's good you're okay, but Master, we have a problem," Henry sighed and gave Jackson a report of the situation. "I've lost connection to the net, and we have no signal to our local systems."

"Same here, Master. Not only that, but I have scanned the area and could not find our location at all," Bell also gave her report to Jackson.

"Bell, tell me what the area looks like. Maybe I can help; the explosion might have changed the terrain." Jackson replied to Henry and Bell's reports. He, too, could see that there were large trees in his surroundings, but he knew that he lived near a city and there were no such large trees close by.

It was impossible that Jackson, Henry, and Bell could have been thrown so far out by that explosion, but it was a possibility. Also, with Jackson's memories and knowledge, he had never seen such abnormally massive trees in his life.

The trees were close to 120 meters tall and 7 or 8 meters wide. It was not just one tree, but all of them were similar in size and structure.

Hearing Jackson's command, Bell floated up and performed another scan, but this time she covered more than the previous scan. Once she finished, she floated back down to Jackson and told him her results.

"Master, this place doesn't seem to be on earth at all." Shocked by what she saw, Bell couldn't help but feel a little helpless.

"What do you mean, Bell? That can't be possible that we were blown away to outer space and into another planet in just a few minutes." Jackson complained at what Bell just told him. However, Jackson somehow felt that something was wrong.

Hearing this, Henry joined in. "Master, during that explosion, the blast was not directed outwards, but we were pulled inside the blast zone." Henry checked his memories to help with the situation, but it all happened so fast that he could not recall any of it.

"Master, I'm not joking. My full scan of the area only showed this sea of trees." Hoping that Jackson would believe her, Bell also followed Henry's report.

With both AI's suggestions, Jackson couldn't help but worry a little about the situation. Seeing the two waiting for his reply, Jackson could only give them some orders to ease the situation. "Bell, continue to scan the surroundings. Henry, make a temporary shelter. Unfortunately, I still can't move, so you are going to have to do everything," Jackson said.

"Leave it to us, Master!" Bell replied and floated away.

"Master, let me help you to a nearby tree." Henry lifted Jackson by his torso and dragged him to one of the trees close by to rest. After setting Jackson down under a root stem, he walked out to gather materials for a makeshift shelter.

Left by himself, Jackson tried to move around, but his body was so heavy that he gave up and just decided to lay there like a dried fish. Closing his eyes, Jackson couldn't help but think of how his project failed. While deep in thought, he started to feel warm. He started to feel like he was being bathed in a warm bath.

He didn't know what was happening to him, but he felt that his strength was somehow returning. Every breath gave him strength. Every breath made him feel more relaxed and comfortable.

"What is this feeling? Is it because the air is clean here that I feel great or maybe just like what Bell mentioned, that we are in another world?" Jackson lay there, deeply immersed by this unknown feeling.

If someone were near while he breathed in, they would be in for quite a shock. A glimmer in the air became a small speck of light that materialized in front of him and seeped down into his chest.

And they kept coming for a while, filling Jackson with warmth. This continued for a couple of hours until Bell came floating back, and Henry finished up the shelter. Bell hovered around Jackson with anxious energy. "Master? Master!" Floating on top of Jackson's head, Bell woke him up.

"What is it, Bell? What's wrong?" Jackson slowly got up, and felt that he felt lighter, and could move around now. He still couldn't get on his feet, but at the very least he had control of most of his body.

"Master, I don't think we are on earth anymore," Bell explained.

"What? This again?" Confused as to why Bell kept insisting that they were on another world, Jackson felt helpless at her behavior.

"Master! It's true. Listen, I continued to scan the surrounding area within a 5 km radius from this point. I was able to scan unknown wildlife and fauna in the surrounding area. Earlier I scanned one, and it seemed to be a wolf-type beast that is two times bigger than a grey wolf of earth." Bell reported to Jackson about what she saw and now seemed concerned about the creatures attacking them.

Hearing from Bell's findings of the area, Jackson was surprised. "I see, is this why I feel heavy? A shift in gravity?" Jackson felt that the situation might be very dangerous. Before he could reply to Bell, Henry came back carrying something.

It was a small ant the size of a dog.