12 Endless Possibilities

I honestly didn't know how to feel. I mean, it was bad enough when I thought I was strapped to that table for a few months, and then I found out what I thought was only a matter of months was in fact almost 3 years.

I could deal with that.

But the idea that I lost almost 6 years of my life was a bit much. I closed my eyes and thought about everything. It was like I fell asleep at 19 and woke up at 25. A lot of life was lived between 19 and 25. Most people got started on a career, bought a house, and had a family. And yet, all I had was scars and nails that weren't fully grown in yet.

How would a normal person react to this? Yes, 'normal' was a relative term, so maybe 'average' person. I guess, based on my observations that there would have been anger, denial, grief, mourning, all the characteristics of dealing with death.

However, I wasn't feeling any of those. I didn't seem to care about the loss of years, after all, I had a career, I had my own house, and I even had my own cottage. I wasn't interested in getting married, nor was I interested in starting a family. So, had I really missed out on a huge portion of my life? And if I wasn't missing out on anything, then what did that say about my life beforehand?

"You have been silent for almost 28 minutes. I apologize for not understanding how Earthlings measure time," said Jun Li tentatively. I waved my hand from where I was sitting in the booth.

I had come over here to sit after the revelation and had yet to get up.

"It's fine," I reassured him. "I was just thinking about my life on Earth and what I was really giving up."

"And what are you giving up?" he asked, sounding curious.

"Nothing," I replied. "And I think that is half of my problem. I have nothing really on Earth that I couldn't stand to give up, so maybe my life was not as great as I thought it was."

"Then what do you want to do with this life?" Jun Li asked. Standing up, I left the nightclub and walked back into the hallway. Pulling up the map on my tablet again, I looked for the quickest route back to my room.

"I don't know," I answered honestly. I didn't want to continue to be an educator, what would I teach out here in the universe? Something tells me that identifying human remains that were more than 50 years old was not that important in the grand scheme of things. I felt 13 years old again when everyone was asking me what my plans were for the future.

The universe was endless, did I really want to tie myself down?

That was an easy answer. No, I didn't want to tie myself down. So for right now, I would be unemployed, travel with Jun Li, sell the weapons that the Sisalik managed to obtain, and do whatever I felt like doing.

Having a plan went a long way to making me feel better. Knowing that I didn't miss out on anything went even further. I fell asleep that night dreaming about an unknown future for the first time since I could remember.

----

"Vraev'ox, I need you to take a team and go out to find our missing weapons," said the man seated on a throne-like chair in the middle of a room. The room itself was decorated with the skulls of multiple species showing the prowess of the man. There were more than 500 different heads of his kills proving his right to be the chief of the tribe. And those were only the impressive kills that he wanted to show off.

"Yes," replied Vraev'ox, his words coming out more as clicks than actual words. The annual hunt was going to be in a few rotations and if he had any hopes of proving himself to the available females he needed to be there. No male was willing to miss the annual hunt because there was no guarantee that they could contribute their DNA unless they were able to hunt and kill suitable prey.

Unfortunately for the males, it was the female's call what was a suitable prey and it was normally the largest and most dangerous predator on the hunt planet.

However, Vraev'ox was not interested in proving himself to the females and he had a few friends who were in the same situation as he was. It was taboo not to attend the hunt willingly. It was the males' responsibility to provide strong genetics and family lines to the females in order to improve their race. However, Vraev'ox had no desire to do so. The chief also knew this which is why his name was drawn for this particular mission.

"Thank you, Father," he said as he dipped his head down.

"I can't do this every year," replied the chief tiredly. "The females have been coming to me demanding that you submit to their demands."

Vraev'ox suppressed a shudder. He was not interested in submitting to any of their demands. "I understand."

"If you are lucky, this hunt will take you several years to complete. You won't have to come back until the weapons are found."

"Understood, Chief," he clicked before coming to attention. Turning around, he left his father's kill room and went to find his comrades who would join him on this hunt. He prayed to the Goddess that his father's words proved true and he wouldn't have to return any time soon.

----

After a great sleep, I enjoyed my shower and tried a hot beverage that Jun Li assured me was similar to hot chocolate. Taking a sip, I spat it across my bedroom. Watching a bot coming out of the wall in order to clean up the mess, I frantically tried to get the taste of whatever that was out of my mouth.

It was sour, bitter, and spicy all at the same time. Shuddering, but definitely more awake than I was, I left my room only to be greeted by yet another robot.

"Jun Li said that you wanted to see the inventory," said the small bot sounding like a little girl. "If you want to follow me, I can show you."