Episode 3: The Planet
When Theovelt opened his eyes he was looking at a forest full of colors he had never seen before. Being born on New Earth, his eyes only grew to comprehend the dull reds and browns of his surroundings. Occasionally he would see colorful illustrations in a book about Old Earth. The sight he now saw gave him a headache.
This is not what I expected to see when I woke up this morning, he thought to himself.
The most prevalent trees in the forest were tall with hefty trunks that bore bright pink bark. The lush branches atop the trees held lemon yellow leaves. Scattered among these dominant trees were smaller timbers with blue bark and orange drooping branches.
The sight of these trees reminded him of the works of a highly esteemed Old Earth doctor and philosopher whose name was escaping him.
Uncertain of where to go, and a little overwhelmed with the task of finding a prisoner on an alien planet, Theovelt turned to survey the landscape and hopefully find something other than the bright forest to look at. First, glancing about him, he noticed he must be on a road of sorts. He was standing on a dirt pathway surrounded by strange looking green grass. Grass rarely grew on his home world, and what did manage to grow held a yellow-brown hue.
Theovelt continued surveying. Seeing mostly woods he was about to give up, pick a direction, and start walking when a glint of light caught his eye. Off on the horizon and up on a hill something sparkled in the noon sunlight. Theovelt decided to follow the path that led towards the only unique land mark that he could see.
He walked steadily along the path through the forest for a few hours. Eventually, he came to a clearing that looked down into a valley. Across on the other side of the valley and further up a hill, he finally saw the glint in full. Shining with a vibrancy that outdid the colorful trees was a sizable chrome city.
Theovelt carefully climbed down the steep slope of the valley, managing to lose his footing on the loose gravel only twice. At the bottom of the valley, Theovelt carefully examined a deep purple, nearly black, stream. He was fearful of what this strange water might do to his boots, much less his skin. Looking around, he gathered an assortment of sticks and leaves. One by one he tossed pieces of his collection into the stream and watched what happened. To his relief, nothing of note happened to give him any alarm about the strange water. Lastly, he unfurled his staff and poked it into the water. Again the only reaction was the ripples of the fluid.
Confident that the water was no serious threat, but still apprehensive, Theovelt stepped out onto a rock jutting out of the liquid. The purple water lapped at his boots, but did not dissolve them as he had feared. Perched atop the tiny rock in the middle of the stream, Theovelt took his next step towards another rock covered in a glowing moss. He placed one foot on the mossy rock and felt the slick surface. Adjusting his footing and firmly planting his foot on the mossy rock, he pushed off of the first rock and brought his second foot to the mossy surface. Before he could firmly get his footing, the rock beneath him began to move. It lifted up and began floating up stream. Waving his limbs to maintain his balance proved unfruitful and Theovelt went tumbling, face first, into the purple water. He righted himself and looked to see a face in the rock he had been standing on shoot a jet of water into his face. Theovelt quickly learned that: mossy rocks might not be rocks, this stream wasn't very deep, and purple water is still wet.
On the other side of the stream he took some time to dry off and then carried on up the steep hill of the valley, then further up the hill towards the shining city. The road brought him right up to a large archway in the wall of the city guarded by two local Globinians, holding pointy spears and using mixing bowls for helmets.
Globinians are blob creatures with transparent lime green skin that move by shifting their weight to roll and slide in the direction they choose. Movement causes them to leave behind a gooey trail of their outer skin. As they move and shed their skin they begin to shrink in size and mass. To combat this they must eat anything that they can find by absorbing it through their outer skin. Once inside of them, their internals 'digest' whatever it is that they consumed, turning their 'food' into the the same substance they are made of at a 90% mass ratio. From this description you may wonder how these creatures are able to wear helmets and hold spears. Their skin is naturally adhesive and while their tendency is to absorb any object that touches them, they can use the same force used for movement to resist absorption. Theovelt's only knowledge of such creatures came from scary stories about Slimes in Old Earth sewage systems and caves.
"Halt, stranger!" the guards said in unison, crossing their spears to block Theovelt's entry.
"Hello sirs. My name is Theovelt, and I have come to save a... friend of mine. Would you be able to please take me to your leader?"
The two guards stared at each other with a look of perplexion on their faces. "Come with us," they commanded bluntly.
"Why thank you!" Theovelt said. He had expected this to be much more difficult. Maybe Arthur was correct in choosing him after all.
Theovelt followed the guards along a few winding streets. Between the guards moving fast, and paying attention to not step in their gooey trail, Theovelt wasn't able to take in the sights of the city as much as he would have liked. He got the impression that it may be similar to the large cities of Old Earth. New Earth had only one small city, nowhere near as large or tall as this bright city.
A few minutes into their journey, Theovelt and the Globinian guards passed under an iron archway and into a crowded courtyard. Ahead Theovelt saw a large crowd gathering in front of a window. His curiosity piqued, but he could not see past the crowd to what they were staring at.
The guards led him to the right, away from the crowd, through a recessed doorway. Entering into a hallway they made a quick left turn into another hallway that curved down--Theovelt perceived--to what the crowd was fixated on.
Oh, this must be where the leader is. His people must enjoy watching him work! Theovelt thought excitedly.
Coming to a large reinforced crimson door at the end of the hallway the guards slowed and one moved behind Theovelt while the other began opening the door.
The door swung open and the guard behind him flung Theovelt through it. As he turned to thank the guards for their assistance, the door slammed behind him.
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