Just a Package

The latest part of the dig site was just one of many exciting encounters today. The first level that worked on the opening found a few bodies that still had clothing on them. He fact it was preserved so well was much to debate about before even unearthing the rest of the remains.

As one of the teams finished geraing up, one of the locals came by with a package. The amount of postage on the box was defintely odd. With know one to sign for it, he was told to place at the table with other dropoff material.

Too happy to get away from the area, the local courier took off without another word. He would get his payment from the home office.

"Dr.William!" A man called out down below. The harness keeping him close enough him to the lift despite his over-extending. "You have to make sure to come to see this before you go home today!" 

"Sure, just make sure you take a lot of pictures!" Dr.William waved at the enthused student. He continued his descent into the ruins. "Gloves on to!" 

His last words went unheard. The students had a real hard time remembering to do so. Always commenting that the gloves prevented a real "feel" of what was found. the oils on the body were not that a big deal to them. 

But this was a semi-funded University Dig. A few procedures needed to be done still. Only 15% of what was found so far was going on display after all. Everything else was going into private collections and secret viewings.

"What the heck is this thing on this one's chest?" The students gathered around looking at what looked to be a metal harness in most places. "It's embedded in the skin to."

A few more moved their lifts over to see. Looking over the sides causing the baskets to bounce a little. It was a good thing the ground was leveled where they were set up at.

"Well, lookee here." One of the security guards called out. "I think this is that missing convict from last month." 

"Well, that would be around the time we had that washout and security was real lax." Mordecai, the department head from the University said. He stroked his mustache giving it a little twist at the end. He was a terrible poker player William found out. "Well, at least we have the right people with us down here."

"Just in case a few other convicts here I take it?" William observed the distraught look on the convict's face and the fact his body was leaning towards the exit. Not going further in. 'These marking on his side defintely looks like an animal.'

"We will go in first to check in case any others are here hiding out." The security guard gestured for four others to go with him. Leaving the Archeology team there.

"Welp, I am going back topside." William took a cursory glance at the body then moved back. "This is how horror movies happen. Not risking it."

"Don't be such a coward." Isabella, the daughter of one of the people paying for the dig said. Her voice always reeked of ridicule. Well, that or passion when she was on her back having fun. "You will waste energy going back up."

"Fine by me, at least I am in shape." William waved her off behind him. "If some crazy monster comes running out, do slow it down with your bodies for me."

The radio only picking up static and a strange hum of sorts.

The other team looked at each other for a bit before following behind to go back up. Slightly spoked there eyes darted around the sides. Each of them noticing something very weird.

"Dr.William..." Pete, a Botanist called out. ".. we had more lanterns hung up yesterday. I am quite sure of it."

William didn't answer as he sped up. His hand reaching into his side to grip one of the concealed handguns he carried. Safety off as he prepared for the worst outcome.

"Hey didn't you.." Pete shut up when he received an elbow in the side from another member of the dig site. "That hurt you know." He said in a whisper.

"What do we have here." A convict said coming out from the side. A few lanterns lit up behind him. "Perfect way to get out of this country is what it is." 

A total of 6 people came out into the path. 

"Shame." William opened fire running directly forward. "Not ending up in this place like that guy back there!" Paranoia and quick action generally worked in his favor. 

The first gunshot scaring the others enough to cause a panic. The next ones hitting at least four of the targets. A shoulder check to the one blocking the way allowed him to get pass.

"Holyshit!" Pete cried running out next. Only turning back to see Isabella get grab but getting free after she poked her grabber in the eyes. The convict fell and was then trampled on by the others. "Oh shit!"

Topside they were at least happy the rest of the security team reacted to the gunfire. William said nothing but pointed behind to the others. He moved and switched out his clip quickly. Reloading completely could wait till later.

"Ha..ha.. ha.." Claire a local ran over to him exhausted. A bit of blood on her boots. "I can't believe that just happened!"

"We got lucky." William had his breath under control looking around for anything weird. So far nothing looked amiss. "If Pete would have shut up, we might have made it to the entrance with an issue."

"How the hell was I suppose to know they were there?!" Pete was embarrassed but that didn't save him from the hard stares of the others. "You could have said something!"

"And alert who ever was in the place.. that makes sense." William frowned at the boy. The privileged fuck always pissed him off. "If you would have read the bloody security guides given I the beginning, you would have know to shut up about something that strange."

"Like anyone reads those!"

Everyone raised their hands but himself. Isabella didn't read all of it but she read enough of it regarding hostage situations or in the event of a robbery what to do. She was already on the phone calling her dad to add more security.

Gunfire went off down below. Either there were more convicts down than they thought or whatever animal took out that one guy was found. It went on for a few more minutes before finally stopping.

"Well.. this is going to go really bad or really good." William moved away from the entrance with most following behind. "Really wish the jeep was not busted from overheating."

"The odds that the security team is coming out?" Claire asked. A few hopefuls said high while William said 50/50. "Hey.. why aren't the lifts on?"

Up above the machines didn't move. The baskets only slightly moving due to the desert breeze. The different harnesses dangling a bit without bodies in them.

"The signal on my phone keeps cutting out. How about everyone else?" Isabella asked. They all had the same issue. "So we need to try the Satellite phones then."

"Really turning into a horror movie here." William grumbled. He moved over grabbing an extra box of food bars. A few extra bottles of water were put in his bag as well. The few looks annoyed him a bit. "Look, I am doing all this because I am scared. If I have to take off running into the desert, I want to at least stand a chance."

Not paying to much attention, he picked up the package since it was next to his delivered items on the table.

"When you put it that way." The others did the same. Not enough to bog themselves down but enough to survive.

"The radio is busted. Like melted almost." Isabella stated after coming back. Seeing everyone's sadden faces, she had worse still. "The sat phone is fried. The others are most likely on the Supply Team and the Security Team."

"Well... whole bunch of nope to what you are thinking." William stood up took one look at the entrance and walked away. Heading directly towards the first town by foot. "A days trek by foot, I can do that easily."

He grabbed one of the security forces' rifles and ammo just in case.

"Wait! What about the scurity team that went down what about the students who worked up top?!" Pete called out.

"I am just being practical here. Nothing is stopping you from checking on that." William kept moving. "We haven't heard any more gunfire, haven't heard any talking, and in case you haven't noticed... some of the equipment has been fried. I am not a brilliant man but I am a smart one at least. This, this screams get the fuck out of dodge really quickly."

"I am with him on this." Claire stated already following behind. "No way is this caused by anything normal." Most of the dig team following with.

"Isabella, what do you think?" Pete asked worriedly. "We need to at least check on them."

"Maybe a good vantage point from up top." Isabella looked around then made her decision. "Guess crawling on top of the boon into the basket is the only way." 

Those who stayed crawling on top of the other lifts making their way up. A few due to fear of being on the ground and wanting to hide a little. As they climb William and company made tracks pretty fast.

"What do you think really happened?" Only a shrug was given. "I am Mosconi by the way."

"I know who you are, you have a good singing voice. Just wish you wouldn't do it at night time." William commented. "All I know is that I did not want to be there anymore."

Most of them agreed. The ground started to rumble as a weird wave came up from behind them.

"What the hell.." William couldn't move as he floated. The others having the same issue. ".my.. throat..is.." He could no longer speak as his body seized up. A tingling down his spine growing hotter. 

The sand below them gave way as they floated back down. Turning into a large sinkhole that swallowed them up into an endless abyss it seemed. Up above another wave of light passed over. Then another as it built in frequency.

Chapter 2 New Body

The team that headed to the town were luckier than those at the dig site. When reaching the top, Pete made the mistake that one of the other college students made. He touched the metal harness attached to the corpse uncovered.

With out gloves on at that.

A silence permeated the area with a wave of light snatching them all up and spiriting them away to a different place. 

The distance for the people who left was just enough to keep them from getting spirited way as well. At first. The area the fell into had its roof missing and constant years of tremors and weather damage left it exposed to the elements when the wind blew the sand away.

Several hit podiums and weird protrusions coming down. A young man had the unfortunate encounter with a rod. His jaw hit before cracking and then sending him off into light.

One by one they all hit something that sent them away. All but William and Claire. Mosconi had shattered his legs landing on his feet. Falling over onto the weird floating ball of light, he body healed then vanished on the spot.

William woke up first. Crawling to the only bit of light he could see thinking it was possibly a Medical team come to help. The broken bones were forgotten and the stinging pain across most of his body was ignored as he just wanted to live.

"Ughh!" Claire awoke next. "Ahhh!" Her scream was intense as she sat up on extinct. The excruciating pain was enough to cause her to faint. Heading hitting right against a metal box.

*Chish!* The box lid opened up as metallic-looking beetles entered her body. Her flesh was repaired but she did not awaken. A crown of a beetle now on her head with antennae wiggling. Small pulses extending in the area.

Each pulse bringing clarity to William who was grateful his mouth was mangled and he couldn't speak. He would have surely screamed after seeing what looked to be Claire covered in some type of living metal.

After the pulses stopped, Claire vanished into light. Going off to a place unknown. All that was left was the original light William mistook for medical services. It was a lever that was attached to a lift as far as he could tell.

'Must get to the light!' William dragged himself along. He rembered falling so he was defintely in a hole. Which meant he needed to go upward to be found. His chin pushing against the floor to help even more. The stinging pain keeping him conscious. The moment his finger touched the lever, his skin ignited. "Ahhhhh!" 

Flesh, bones, organs, and everything that was "him" and "who" he was burned away. A suction force pulled away at him into the ball of light. Sucking the immaterial of his essence away to parts unknown like the others.

William was the last to cross over the Dimension, but would not be the last overall. The caved-in area was already getting checked by the locals and an extremely upset Billionaire looking for his daughter.

As William travelled he heard voice discussing various matters. Nothing he could understand so he tried to focus. Just to hold onto a semblance of himself. What felt like hours but was only a few seconds he rembered everything that happened but could not feel any discomfort.

"I know for a fact I was injured." William voiced out. But he could tell his mouth did not move. His voice came from every direction but also from nowhere it seemed. "Where the hell am I?"

He could feel he should be scared as well as angry but the feeling was numb. As if hidden behind a barrier of water. Which infuriated him but still did not cause a feeling to surface. He started to freak out but it never built up.

"Owww!" William said on reflex but the pain was not really there as he hit a ball of light. Which was better than anything else in the vast darkness. "What the heck is this thing?"

*Shine!* The ball lit up with the light entering him. Immediately returning his various sensations to him. The Concept of Three entered his mind.  

"The Body to house everything...."

"The Mind to develop everything...."

"The Soul to experience everything...."

"SHIT!" William shouted loudly from the pain then blacked out. He woke up hours later feeling somewhat normal besides seeing countless gas giants in every direction. Which would be impossible since that would kill him. "I have to be going crazy in a dream or I was saved and given some really powerful pain meds I wonder?"

It came out as a question and he did not expect an answer.

Knowledge System: This is not a dream William. Reboot to fix errors.

The voice came for nowhere and everywhere the same as his own. But he could here it and that is what mattered. The voice sounded like the configuration for his laptop he set up. Which made him give that a try since he couldn't see his bag anywhere.

"Knowledge System," which was the name he gave to his laptop when buying it. He actually did that for all his computers since it was funny to him. "..activate GPS location."

Knowledge System: No signal detected. Reboot to fix errors.

"Knowledge System," William didn't like the sound of that but still that helps a little. "..open map."

Knowledge System: No map detected. Reboot to fix errors.

"I have several maps downloaded.. that doesn't make sense." William really did not want to reboot. Especially since he could not tell where his laptop currently was and didn't want to lose any data or worse it might not come back on. "If this doesn't work, I am going to go bananas. Knowledge System, reboot."

*Shine!* Light shined around William as he disappeared once more. At least this time it was not painful.

On the Continent of Pangea, in the Akademy of Habilis, the students have gathered about in one of the courtyards. Spending free time doing nothing before the teachers came with the new assignments. As the Upperclassmen, they had more time on their hands the first month of the school year.

A dazed young man stared at the sun with his mouth open. Drool coming down one side. His classmates giving him odd looks. Well, the ones who didn't know what happen last week did.

*Shine!* A ball of light shot down into the dazed young man. The three Concepts linking with the body in moments.

Eleven of the students thought internally not letting on it was their fault he was now dumber than a box of rocks. As the top students in each field of a major study, they were usually together since freshman year. Despite different backgrounds before entering the Akademy.

"Upperclassmen William looks really bad lately. Did he have trouble with his Mana Pool?" A student asked in a murmur. "I mean for one of the top twelve, he looks bad off."

"Aaah." Will wiped his mouth from the drool. The life of the previous body owner disappeared into his own. The young man's mind was so damaged it couldn't put up a fight against the force brought from his own. 'Well... how the hell do I get home now?'

Picking apart the damage information was a pain but he knew enough to get by he hoped. For now anyway. The tingling sensation in his chest, back, and head kept him occupied. A weird type of feeling in each location.

"Alright, gather around for assignments." The Coordinator came over speaking with authority. "A new batch of students have come in and we need some volunteers to speak with them and guide them for a bit."

The Upperclassmen all groaned not wanting to do the grunt work. All but William who raised his hand to volunteer. 

"Well don't all of.." The Coordinator was about to convince them of the perks of doing it but stopped seeing the raised hand. The shocked look was quickly removed from the Coordinators' face. ".. thank you for you assistance young one. Here is a little payment for doing so."

A bag was floated over to him. Sending one's consciousness inside revealed a few Welcome Books, Beginner Clothes of the Akademy, and a few Elixers for Beginners. 

"The students are gathered at the front entrance, you are excused from the next proceeding to take care of this."

"Of course, Coordinator." William said respectfully. He walked at a brisk pace to meet the students. The moment he was out of range of the others, he popped open the bag taking in an Elixer. 'Gotta hurry to down this!'

*Uncorked!* The elixer fragrance was pretty good. At least he thought so. The entire thing was downed without a bit of it wasted. The bottle was shaken for good measure. 

Refined Mana passed through his body quickly. Healing the damage to the bones as well as the damaged organs. Bringing it back to a decent healthy state to make a better appearance which an Upperclassmen should have. But the most important was the mind restored from the damage more.

Knowledge System: Restored to Gathering Realm, Operation Features are still disabled. No Signal found. Info on storage capacity function available.  A total of one Terrabyte of information is available.

'Good.' William pulled out of the Beginner books and read as he moved. Every bit his eyes scanned over was stored away. A mental image forming in his mind bit by bit. Page tears, wrinkles, and stains. 'Ok a terabyte will not last if I am not careful. Must remember to clean up what I store later. At least the scanner used for artifacts came with. But where the hell is it?! And where are my guns!?'

Knowledge System: Search Function disabled.

Not only did he have to understand different information quickly, he needed to find ways to access his computer more.