That night in the foggy wasteland.
Jack woke up in the space that didn't seem to obey any natural laws. He decided to explore after refreshing his memories and making some assumptions.
Using his near-perfect recall and the instantaneous nature of thought here, he made some observations about his current state. Over the few days he had been in this world, his ability to think had noticeably improved. He assumed it was because he had been constantly interacting with his past through near-perfect memory, along with his mistakes and accumulated knowledge. He also assumed his brain was making new connections at a faster rate than normal, working to contain everything he had carried over from his previous life.
This became his basis for what this space was and why he kept waking up in it. He believed it existed for exactly this purpose.
As for the nightmare on the first day, being hunted by the spider-like creature — still no idea.
. . .
He teleported in a single direction for a while without finding anything new. What he did notice was that the pressure around him began to thin and his body started moving slower.
He watched his foggy form distort and fade the further he went. He stopped. He didn't want a repeat of last time.
Then he noticed the others.
Similar dark creatures were around him. None of them had a humanoid form like his. They seemed to be waiting for something. As he observed them they observed him back. Their spheres of observation overlapped, and unlike his encounter with the spider-like creature, the interaction felt neutral. Friendly, even.
Seeing his own body becoming unstable, Jack began trying to solidify it. His form was liquid yet flame-like, and he used the pressure around him to shape it, starting with one arm and working outward. Eventually his body settled into a black human skeleton. His movements were no longer instantaneous and seemed subject to something closer to natural laws.
When the other entities saw this they began doing the same, copying his shape and shifting into similar black skeletons one by one.
He walked forward. Normally, slowly. The pressure continued to thin until he could see grass that kept warping at the edges — still a wasteland, but with something living in it. His body felt heavier and harder to move the further he went. He could have pressed on but felt like he might collapse.
A few of the entities that had walked with him did collapse. They fell to the ground like ordinary skeletons, moving only slightly.
Their sphere of observation overlapped with his. He felt them asking to move forward.
Go back.
He sent the message toward them.
They understood immediately. The word passed between them like a current, one to the next.
"Go back. Go back. Go back."
The ones at the front began turning around. Jack found himself surrounded by black skeletons all transmitting the same two words back and forth like parrots.
They waited. Watching him. Learning.
He thought about it for a moment, then decided to give them more.
He sent the word Jump.
They all jumped. And then transmitted Jump back and forth between themselves, the action tied directly to the word.
He kept going. Word after word, action after action. All of them followed the understanding he had of each word, the meaning and the movement together.
Words here carry meaning and the actions tied to that meaning.
They function like a hivemind.
He kept teaching them until the wasteland pulled him back and he woke in his room.