[A note from Laurel: I am exploring the southern beach to the cliff with Lazarus. I will be back before sunset.]
"She is sick. She shouldn't push herself too hard," Shingo frowned as Mistral showed him Laurel's note.
"Should we go after her? I am worried."
"What can you do, huh? There are monsters in this jungle!" Lexus scoffed, his arms crossed on his chest. "Nah, I am tired. I won't go. You can go by yourself and get eaten."
"Let's get these foods onto the ship," Xiaolang said. "I will go after them. You can rest inside."
With all the water bottles filled, they had to bring the berries and fruit they collected by hand, so they couldn't carry much. Shingo sprawled on his chair.
"I am wiped. I could use a bath. Let's take a bath near the shore. Mistral, it should be safe, right?" Shingo asked.
"I'm in!" Lexus nodded. "My body reeks of sweat!"
[Affirmative. There are no harmful toxins detected in the sea. However, you should take some distance away from the lifepod. Because the water purification system was damaged, the system decided to reroute the pipes. The pipes now unload the wastewater directly into the sea.]
"Huh? What does that mean?" Lexus tilted his head.
"It means this lifepod throws our poop and pee into the sea directly below or beside it," Shingo explained.
"Huh? Ew! Does that mean I will have to bathe here with pee and poop? No thanks." Lexus snorted. "Listen! Don't ever use water from here again, understand!"
"It should be safe if we take some distance away and don't drink it. It's not like the pool water was completely clean either… Didn't you know that all the water we drink comes from recycled pee water too?" Shingo said. In colonies, water purification was essential. Each colony must have at least two such facilities.
"He is just Lexus, after all," Xiaolang snorted. "Let's put the fruit inside, then I will search for Laurel and Lazarus."
"Okay. Ah, Mistral, here is the data we got from the berries and fruits. Does this mean they are safe to eat?" Shingo asked. The spectrometer was quite clear about its report, but he asked just to be sure.
[Affirmative. With the exception of the last poisonous berries, these fruits and berries should be safe to consume.]
"Then, what are we waiting for? Let's eat!" Lexus brought out one of the apples.
"Lexus. I think we should wait for Laurel and Lazarus and share with everyone…" Anna said.
"Huh? We are the ones who risked our lives for this! Why should we share?"
"Don't be selfish, Lexus. Wait until everyone is here," Xiaolang said. It was more like a command rather than a request.
"Tch." Lexus put the fruit back on the floor. As Xiaolang was about to depart to search for Laurel and Lazarus, they returned. Laurel and Lazarus were bringing three coconut-sized fruits, but their shells gleamed like pearls. They then put the three green orbs beside the lifepod.
"Everyone! We are back!" Lazarus said. "How'd it go? We found this beautiful fruit! I saw a flipping boar and a cloud strider eating it, so I thought it would be safe."
"I was about to search for you," Xiaolang said. Anna hopped out from the lifepod along with Shingo, Bob, and Lexus.
"You are sick, Laurel. You should rest," Anna said.
"I feel better after napping. So I wanted to explore," Laurel said.
"So… these are fruits? More like rocks to me," Lexus said as he inspected the fruit.
"I saw the boar crack one of the fruits and eat it," Lazarus said.
"How come we didn't see it before? How far did you explore?" Shingo said.
"Do you remember the reef we found earlier when we traveled south?" Laurel said. "We decided to go around it. Then along the top reef, that's where the fruit was. These fruits didn't drop from trees, but they emerged from underground."
"Ah. Like watermelons…" Bob said.
"Let's call these crystal watermelons," Anna said while admiring the watermelons.
"Huh? Do watermelons grow on the ground?" Lexus asked.
[Affirmative. Watermelon is a species of flowering plant in the family Cucurbitaceae that has a large, edible fruit. It is a scrambling and trailing vine-like plant and is widely cultivated across colonies due to its ease of cultivation.]
"Ah, but these crystal watermelons do not have vines like real watermelons. They just sprouted on the ground near a tall tree." Laurel forwarded the picture. A tree, seemingly normal, just like any tree you could find on this island, was in the center. The fruits nested at the base of its bark. It was as if someone had put them there, but they hadn't. Laurel explained that the fruit stem was connected to the tree itself.
"We should test it later," Bob said. "If this fruit is edible, we will eat it at night."
"Yeah, for now we should rest. The night is coming." Xiaolang nodded.
"So, what did you guys gather?" Laurel asked.
"We have this apple-like fruit harvested from a dangerous tree, this peach-like fruit from a shrub, blackberries, and red berries," Xiaolang said. "The spectrometer said they are edible."
"Whoa. Amazing! So many!"
"Great work. With this, we can save the nutrient bar for later." Laurel nodded.
"I will take the peach!" Lexus said. He then bit into it, and a rich creamy texture coupled with saltiness permeated his mouth. Lexus pulled back, tilting his head. It didn't taste like a peach at all, but more like cheese. He then spit out the seeds into the trash can. "This thing didn't taste like fruit at all."
"We are in an alien world, after all," Shingo said as he bit into the apple. It tasted sweet and soft. His teeth cut through it. It was as if he were eating a banana. Unlike the other tree, this fruit didn't have seeds.
Then Xiaolang and Bob ate the berries next. They popped in their mouths, flooding them with a sweet and sour taste.
"Ah! It was spicy!" Anna said.
"The blackberry was a bit sour. If you don't want it, I will eat it."
"Let me have one as well!" Lazarus grabbed one.
An hour later, all the fruit they had brought was eaten. They sighed in satisfaction, finally having sweet food after so long. It was not as sweet as candies, so their childish tongues were not satisfied, but compared to the nutrient bar, this was a heavenly treat.
After sleeping, the night came. The celestial orb rested and the world turned dark, illuminated only by the ethereal forest glow. Bob lit a fire beside the lifepod.
Lazarus hit the fruit with a stone, and a crack ran along its smooth gem-like surface. The pearlescent shell cracked open, revealing a white fleshy interior. It smelled like chocolate milk, and the children gulped. Shingo scooped up the fleshy interior and mushed it with a copious amount of water and hovered the spectrometer above it.
"It's safe," Shingo said.
"Good. Let's cut the others and split them among us," Laurel said.
"The shell is pretty, maybe we can use it as a bowl," Anna said as she pried open the fruit, separating the shell from the green flesh inside. The shell was translucent, like glass. Lazarus did the same. From the three fruits, she got six bowls out of them. After cutting the melon-like interior and removing a single seed inside, they put the cut pieces on them.
"Let's eat!" Lexus said. He grabbed one chunk and popped it into his mouth. Lexus frowned. It tasted nothing like any fruit he knew. "Ugh! It tasted like tomato soup! What the heck is this fruit? You should have picked a better one."
"The spectrometer said it is fine." Laurel shook the taste away and kept eating. She was not a fan of tomatoes either, but she couldn't be picky here. "If you want to complain, then find the food on your own."
"This would be perfect with some salt…" Shingo said.
"We should be able to gather salt if we boil seawater. I read that in an encyclopedia," Lazarus said. The forest felt eerie at night, so the children didn't yet brave the night, but Laurel began to entertain the idea.
"It is good that we can gather food, but this is hardly enough," Laurel said. One day on this planet equaled 48 hours. During that time, they had to eat at least four times—during midnight, morning, afternoon, and evening. "I propose we also go out to collect fruits at night."
Anna and Shingo turned away. After what they had seen during the day, fear gripped them. But they also knew the importance of doing it.
"Agreed. But we must be cautious."
"We shall begin tomorrow. If we can store some food, that would be even better," Laurel said.
"Huh? And how are we going to bring them here? We are already busy with water duties!" Lexus yelled.
"We must do it regardless. The nutrient bars will run out in two or three days. After that, we would starve," Laurel said.
"This is hopeless. We are going to die here! How long has it been? Why didn't anyone come here to save us? What were the USF doing!?"
Laurel turned her head. The others did as well. This place was likely uncharted territory outside of the USF. Even if the emergency beacon reached the United Space Federation somehow, it would take years or even decades for any vessel from the USF to reach their location. The chance that they would die here of old age was higher.
But none of them said it. They still clung to hope.
"Um… Can you tell me in detail about where you went, Laurel? I am trying to make a map with Mistral, and this should be useful. With the picture from the peak of the mountain, I should be able to generate a map so you guys won't get lost," Shingo said, breaking the silence.
"Great! I will also forward the pictures we got from the mountain peak before to you. It should be here, here, and here." Laurel flicked her finger and swiped the photos to Shingo. Shingo brought out his computer. Then, with Mistral's help, he superimposed the image Laurel took from the peak of the mountain onto a flat plane, generating a weird but somehow believable map for them. He also put legends on it. So far there were only their lifepod and the lake.
The map of the island then floated above his smartbox.
"These crystal watermelons should be around here, near the southern reef," Laurel said and tapped on the touchscreen on top of Shingo's computer. A symbol then popped up where Laurel pointed.
"Predatory birds here. And at the corner of the woods near the lake is the dangerous tree," Xiaolang said, zooming in on the picture.
"The river is here. And the great tree is here. Don't forget that the lake is the scarabs' home," Bob said.
"Ah, don't forget, the scarabs don't only appear in lakes. They also appear on northern beaches," Anna said, recalling the event where the scarab leaped at her.
"Don't forget the Seliphesaurus. It's right here," Lexus said.
"That monster lived in the sea. We should treat the entire western sea as its home," Laurel commented.
"Well, let's start exploring this island!" Shingo said. Just as he was about to close the map application, Lazarus pondered.
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Laurel, we are leaders. A leader must be strong and compassionate. They must stand tall in front and support from the rear. I hope you can become a great leader someday. ~Laurel