"Au! Au!" Auscella cried inside the lifepod.
"What's wrong, Auscella? Are you hungry?" Lazarus asked.
"We are all tired here. Can't she shut up?" Lexus groaned.
"Au! Uaaa!" She cried as she pointed at Shingo's computer and the lifepod's console. She then stormed at the device as if it had killed her parents.
"No! What are you doing?" Shingo roared and pushed her when Auscella tried to stomp on the computer. She was throwing a tantrum.
"Auscella! That's Shingo's computer! You can't damage it! It's important!" Lazarus lifted her from behind.
"Au! Uwaa!!!" Auscella cried again. Bumping her fist at Lazarus' chest and stomped her foot in irritation.
"Hmm… She doesn't look like she was doing it as a prank. She looks visibly distressed." Laurel frowned. "Did she not like computers? But that's absurd. They are just boxes."
"Maybe she doesn't like the humming sound? I heard some children are sensitive to unfamiliar sounds. It's the first time I've seen someone dislike computers, though. Most humans find the humming sound of computers comforting," Bob suggested.
"No harm in trying. Shingo, could you turn off Mistral?"
"I am still debugging Mistral. I can't figure out why he has been repeating the questions we ask," Shingo said. "The logs also displayed double questions. Maybe the receivers were echoing the signals received. If the damage is in the hardware, this is going to suck. We don't have any replacement parts."
"We should rest, Shingo. You can fix Mistral later tonight." Laurel sighed. Auscella might be at fault, but she shouldn't encourage Shingo to fiddle with Mistral either. They needed all the manpower they could get for tomorrow's food gathering.
The moment Shingo turned off Mistral, Auscella stopped crying.
"Au~" Auscella giggled. She then went toward Lazarus's seat, yawned, and fell asleep.
"Good job, Bob." Laurel nodded. Praising Bob for suggesting that they turned off the computer, "Let's sleep."
"It's weird though. Was it really that disturbing?" Bob tilted his head.
"Mistral uses Silent Vapor Fan technology! It shouldn't make any sound!" Shingo was unconvinced. "We shouldn't pamper her."
"She might be our key out of here. Let's just be gentle with her, okay? She is an alien. they might react badly with technology," Lazarus said. She then went to another seat, and after patting Auscella's head, lay down.
"She is alone here in the wilderness. In a way, she has it worse than us," Xiaolang said.
"Why is she alone, though? Where are her parents?" Lexus tilted his head.
"Let's sleep. We can answer such questions tomorrow at the ruins after breakfast," Laurel said.
At night, they went through their unusual routine: lighting a fire, cooking seawater to produce salt, and then handling other crafts. Bob and Xiaolang tried to make more knives or sharpen the ones they already had, while Lazarus tried to sew a leaf dress. Anna tried to braid vines to produce stronger ropes, while Shingo was messing with his computer. They somehow fell into a routine before they knew it.
"So, for tomorrow, should we go for another check inside the ruin?" Laurel asked.
"Yes. There is much we don't know there," Xiaolang nodded.
"Hmm… We haven't fully surveyed the northern mountain and eastern plains, though." Shingo pondered, wondering whether there was anything worth finding in that spire.
"They have computers there. Shingo, can't Mistral read the files there if we connect Mistral to it?" Lexus asked.
"Of course not. This is an alien world. They use completely different encryption. We brought Mistral there before. While he could sense that there were signals, he couldn't connect to them. They merely registered as unidentified signals," Shingo said. He then added, "I don't want Mistral to go near that spire ever again."
Shingo hinted that the spire might be at fault for Mistral's weird behavior.
"... Do you think Mistral's weird behavior came from the tower? But you said that our computers and theirs aren't compatible," Laurel said.
"It must be. What other explanation could there be?" Shingo said. Mistral was very important to him. "Mistral is important! If he is damaged, we won't survive here. We need his advice. Even if we do survive, there is no way we could ever go home. He has the gate address. Do you want to live as cavemen here for the rest of your lives?"
"I agree with Shingo. We won't bring Mistral out again. Let's put him somewhere safe inside the lifepod," Laurel nodded.
"But what if we need his advice later?" Lexus asked.
"We could always bring a photo and show it to him later. There is no need to bring Mistral out, right? Mistral might have a premium casing, but it is still a commercial one. It is not designed to withstand this kind of life," Shingo said.
"To the next problem. While I agree that the spire still holds some mysteries, I don't think we should abandon our effort to explore the whole island," Laurel said. But she stopped herself from continuing.
"The northern mountain has cloud reapers, while the eastern plains have those rhinos. While I think we can deal with cloud reapers somewhat if we are careful, there is no way to deal with those rhinos. If they catch us, we are dead," Xiaolang said.
Yes. The reason he wanted to focus on the spire was not because it had led to civilization. It was because it was safer. The eastern plains were a no-go because of those rhinos. But the northern mountain was equally dangerous. Even if they could deal with the birds, the mountain itself was dangerous. There were cliffs in some areas, and the footing was bad. If they were attacked while crossing those narrow ridges, they might die.
"We can definitely do it! We have beaten scarabs before. What can these birds do?" Lexus bragged.
"You aren't the one who killed it. It was Xiaolang," Laurel sighed.
"This is the last of our meat. And we are also running out of branches and firewood. I wonder whether we should stop lighting fires soon." Anna said.
"Hell no. We still need fire to boil water. If we don't do that, we will die of thirst!" Lexus scowled.
"Don't worry. If we can't find any more branches, we can just cut down a live tree," Xiaolang said. "Bob and I already made the axe for it. Mistral told us how to make firewood. Should we also add this duty, similar to water duty?"
[Cutting wood to make fire is extremely inefficient and hazardous. Wood can be used to make furniture and its dust can be used to make compost and was an important soil ingredient. It was even banned under some colonies' local law.]
"Hmm… Yeah, we should. But we need to be careful. Some trees are dangerous, right?" Laurel said. "Is it… safe?"
"Yes. Some trees are dangerous, so you must not go by yourself. But we don't have any choice. We need fuel," Xiaolang said.
"We shouldn't destroy the forest, though…" Lazarus pouted. She knew the importance of water, but she wished she had another choice.
"Who's going to do it?" Lexus asked. His body language said it all. He didn't want to do it.
"I will." Bob said.
"Who is going to boil water then?" Lexus scowled. He was not thrilled to see Bob getting popular. He was supposed to be his underling.
"I will. Bob, if you would help me with how to use the charcoal," Laurel said.
"I will help too. If it's boiling water, I could do it." Anna offered.
"Hmph! It seems someone doesn't want to work." Laurel smirked at Lexus. She then turned to Bob. "But Bob, you shouldn't do it alone. Some trees are dangerous."
"Alright, alright! I will help Bob cut down some trees! Damn it. I am the son of BlackDiamond Group. Why do I have to do this menial labor? Remember! I contribute, okay?"
"I will help too," Xiaolang said.
"Alright. So for tomorrow, we will have Bob, Xiaolang, and Lexus on logging duty, while Anna and I will do water duty. As for Lazarus and Shingo—"
"Shingo and I will try to collect some more crystal watermelons." Lazarus nodded.
"Au!" Auscella raised her hand, seemingly wanting to contribute.
"Auscella, Shingo, and Lazarus will be on food duty. That is all for tomorrow. At midday, after ten hours, we will gather at the lifepod and inspect the spire once more. Any questions?"
"Au! Food duty!" Auscella chirped. She then pointed to Shingo and Lazarus. "Shingo, Lazarus!"
"Yes. We are going to look for food tomorrow." Lazarus nodded.
"Food! Crystal watermelon!" Auscella chirped.
After they smoothed out the details, Lazarus began to sing. It had become a tradition at this point. They sang in a choir-like manner, with Anna and Lexus often taking turns while Laurel followed with her violin. Everyone sang. The song caused ripples to bloom in their hearts. It encouraged hope, so they could move on.
Auscella soon raised her hand, chirping as she copied Lazarus' song, singing in a tune that was uniquely her own. Her high-pitched note then dropped, creating a subtle giggle. She was obviously inspired by Lexus' singing with that sudden drop.
"It seems we have a new singer. Thank you, Auscella." Laurel said, patting her head. "Please don't mimic Lexus too much."
Her statement elicited a giggle.
"Oi! My singing is perfectly fine! It is not out of tune! It is revolutionary. You guys just don't understand the art of it yet!" Lexus defended himself.
"Alright. Let's sleep. We have a long day ahead of us," Laurel said.
The next day, nearing sunset, under the scorching sun, they went back to the spire with Auscella in tow. The moment they entered, Auscella did something outside their expectations.
"Au!" Auscella chirped, and the door closed behind them.
"The door is closing!" Shingo yelled. Before he could get near it, it slammed to the ground with a thud. He then banged on the door in panic.
"Calm down. In the worst-case scenario, we could escape using the pipes," Xiaolang said.
"Au!" Auscella chirped again, and this time, the door opened. The children turned to her in surprise. It was as if Auscella had performed an indescribable magic trick before their very eyes.
"Open!" She pointed toward the door. "Close!"
The door obeyed her command and closed. The children turned to Auscella in wonder.
"Oh! So you can control the door? How?" Shingo was excited.
"Au!" Anna tried yelping Auscella's trademark chirp, but of course, the door didn't budge. "It didn't seem like it was voice-activated."
A tinge of red embarrassment painted her face.
"Even if it was voice-activated, it wouldn't be in the same language, would it?" Lexus scoffed.
"But how did she do it? Was it by using gestures? But I didn't see her making any unique gestures." Shingo pondered as he looked at Auscella.
"I guess biometrics are the only possibility. She was born here after all."
"But biometrics should only act as a lock, not the entire command system. We didn't see her scanning her eyes or handprints on a tablet or panel here, right?" Shingo said. He remembered Auscella never touched any of the panels on the walls.
The mystery only grew deeper.
May God bless us. His blessing eternal. His care everlasting. When you are in a cold, dark place, please turn to the stars and you will find Him looking over you. He longs to see His children happy. Only by overcoming tribulation can you earn your happiness. ~Lazarus