A pair of eyes opened slowly.
Everything was dark at first. His head felt heavy, like he had been underwater for a long time. He blinked a few times and tried to focus.
"Veronica… check the location."
A soft electronic voice answered from the glasses resting against his face.
"GPS navigation is completely dark. No signal. No satellite connection. We are offline."
Akshat pushed himself up into a sitting position. He expected pain. He expected the familiar emptiness where his missing limbs should have been. Instead, his hands pressed firmly against the cold ground. Both arms. Both legs. Whole.
He stared down at them for several seconds.
"…They're back."
Veronica's voice came again, quieter this time. "Vital signs are stable. Limb structure appears fully restored. No surgical scars detected."
Akshat flexed his fingers, then his toes. Everything responded normally.
"How?" he asked. "How the hell did this heal?"
"I do not have a confirmed answer," Veronica replied. "One possibility is residual effect from the Perfect Body Serum. However, that remains speculation. The data is incomplete."
Akshat let out a short breath and stood up. His body felt solid. Stronger than it should have after whatever blackout he had just woken from.
He looked around. The same entrance. The same heavy stone arch. The Door of the Gods.
"We're still here," he muttered.
Veronica's tone sharpened slightly. "Akshat, current environment readings are unstable. I advise caution."
He ignored the warning and started walking deeper into the cave-like passage. The air grew colder the further he went. After a short stretch, the narrow path opened into a wide room.
The interior looked both royal and modern at the same time. Smooth black walls. Red design lines ran across the floor and ceiling like glowing veins. The furniture was elegant but dark — a large bed, a long table, several chairs. Everything carried the same black-and-red theme.
Akshat moved carefully through the space, checking corners and surfaces.
"Anything unusual on scans?" he asked.
"No active life signs detected in the immediate area," Veronica answered. "However, residual energy readings are irregular. I cannot categorize the source."
He searched for several minutes. Drawers. Shelves. The underside of the table. Nothing stood out as immediately dangerous. No weapons. No obvious traps. Just the strange, expensive-looking room.
Finally he turned back toward the entrance.
"We're leaving. There's nothing useful here."
The moment his hand touched the door, something cold and wet wrapped around his neck.
A thick tentacle.
It tightened instantly, cutting off his air. Akshat's eyes widened. He grabbed at it with both hands, but more tentacles erupted from the floor and walls, wrapping around his arms, torso, and legs. Within seconds he was completely trapped, lifted slightly off the ground.
Veronica's voice crackled. "Akshat—!"
The glasses were torn free by another tentacle and thrown across the room. They hit the floor hard and skidded to a stop.
Akshat's vision started to darken at the edges. The pressure on his throat was precise and merciless. He couldn't speak properly. Only a broken, dying whisper escaped.
"…Please… stop it…"
The tentacles hesitated for a fraction of a second.
Then they moved with sudden force. Akshat was thrown hard against the door. The impact flung him back through the entrance, out of the room entirely. He hit the ground outside and rolled, coughing violently as air rushed back into his lungs.
The Door of the Gods stood closed in front of him again.
He stayed on his hands and knees for a long time, breathing hard. When he finally looked up, the glasses were gone.
Veronica was still inside.
Akshat stared at the sealed entrance. His only real tool for surviving this unknown planet — the AI that had guided him through everything — was trapped on the other side.
Ten full minutes passed before he managed to calm his breathing. His new limbs still worked. His body still felt whole. But the fear sat heavy in his chest.
He stood up slowly.
"I'm going back in."
He pushed the door open again, muscles tensed, ready for another attack.
The room looked the same at first glance… until his eyes landed on the bed.
A woman sat there.
Black hair. Red eyes. An elegant black gown that contrasted sharply against the dark interior. She held Veronica's glasses in one hand, turning them slowly as if examining the technology with quiet interest.
The moment Akshat stepped fully inside, the tentacles returned. They shot up from the floor and locked around his body again, pinning him in place before he could take another step.
The woman finally looked up from the glasses. Her red eyes met his without emotion.
The interrogation had begun.