luna-Tic 2

The distance between us and the forest was not that far. I could see the dense trees ahead of me. I noticed when I came closer that the whole area was covered by a dense fog that was covering the whole road and most of the forest on both sides of the road.

I was wondering if it was normal, so I asked M, "Is it normal for that dense fog to be around this area?" After a couple of seconds of silence, M replied, "As per my knowledge, this type of fog shouldn't appear in this lower land, but I can analyze it for you when we get in." It only took us a few minutes to enter the fog. Although I was not driving the vehicle manually, I asked M, to slow down because she was the one controlling the drivability of the vehicle.

The visibility was zero. In front of us, and I couldn't see anything. At all, and for unknown reasons, I felt something was wrong. Though I didn't know what it was, I still had that strange feeling. Although the vehicle reduced the normal speed it was running at, but still, it was running at almost froty miles per hour, which was not that slow in my opinion, but M assured me that was the minimum and it was safe since the vehicle is equipped with sensors and cameras with a range of five kilometers, almost more than three miles. 

That made relax a little bit, "analyzing ... analyzing" I heard M's voice inside my head repeatedly a few times, with a few seconds of silence in between, "Conclusion: the fog in front of us is not natural, it is artificial, and I cannot locate the source." That is weird. Why would anyone create an artificial God in a forest, and on a highway connecting to countries?, was what I was thinking. 

I nearly shouted in anguish and grabbed my head with both hands when I felt a tremendous headache come on, and then I heard M say, "Danger.... Danger Danger Danger, I have....." 

Nothing follows. 

All at once, M stopped talking, the headache abated, and the automobile came to a complete stop as well.

...

Misfortune became my best friend recently. The moment I passed through the portal, I found myself in a dark forest—the strangest forest I have ever seen. Although the trees are tall, the branches are tangled together from the top, and it blocks even the sun's light. I became immediately scared, and I felt a fear that I had never felt before in my life, and a third message came again:

You have arrived.

Experiment initiated.

You have 24 hours to complete it.

Mission: Survive.

Reward: 200 Credits upon completion.

The Count Down will start in five minutes.

Food and water are provided.

Your objective is to survive for 24 hours.

Good Luck.

And that was it; no further clarification, no other details, and where was the food and the water? No one gave me anything. I tried to reply to the sender, but there was no network connection. I couldn't call anyone or send a message to anyone.

Not only that, even for the first time in her life, Jennan was unable to communicate with her personal AI. Filled with frustration, she started looking around her for the food and water that had been written in the message. The whole area was almost dark, except for a few sun rays coming through the branches of the tall trees, and not knowing where to go, or even what to do, she decided just to march forward. Luckily, after a few steps, she saw a backpack beside a giant tree trunk.

On top of the backpack, there was what looked like a safety glasses, white in color and with large square lenses that would cover most of anybody's face. Looking at it up and wondered what it was for. At that moment, she felt a small unmentionable electric jolt. Instead of throwing it, she held it on her other hand, looking at her fingers. "What was that?" she said, and looking again at the glasses, she saw something written on it.

Nam: Jennan Hadi

Age: 20

Race: Human

Status: Healthy

Skills: Nil

Gifts: Nil

Grade: 1

Points: 0

Remarks: Volunteer

Mission: Survive

Duration: 24 Hours

Reward: 200 Credits + Skill

That was the information she saw appearing in front of her. She read it once and twice, and still was not able to understand what was going on.

((My apologies for the short chapter. I was contemplating where should I stop with this chapter in order to give all of you a clear picture of where the story is headed. Finally,

I decided to make this chapter a merger between the two stories, so from the upcoming chapters you are going to see a clear picture of the direction of the story and also, hopefully, a longer chapter.))