27 Chapter 27 - Truth From a Stick? (1/2)
Dustin helped the prince to stand, wondering what in the hell was going on.Every time he seemed to be getting closer to this damn shuttle station, monsters uniquely suited to his evolutions kept popping up, and then this huge lake appeared.Now Olivia was missing, and he wasn't sure where she had gone.As far as he could tell, she hadn't just run away in fear, because she would never had left her PED, yet there hadn't been a sign of a struggle.
Coughing, the prince finally seemed to be getting better.
Dustin went to pick him up, so he could start heading around the lake to get to the shuttle station, when a familiar figure appeared.The memory of a hand sticking out of a cocoon had him looking at the stick giant in suspicion.
It paused, seeing the look on his face, then pointed at the PED.He hesitated.Olivia would need it.It pointed again, and he sighed.Chances were that she was dead.At least the sex was good.
Handing over the PED, it slipped it onto its arm, and began to evolve.How did it do that without getting any genetic material?Didn't it need to resync with a new user?
Looking up at him, he found himself looking into Olivia's face.The prince looked at her, then at him, then back at her.
”Is this a joke?How does she have Olivia's face?” asked the prince in confusion.
”Yes, that is a good question,” he said, in a low growl.
”I can explain, but we need to get out of sight.The drones will be back any moment.”
”Drones?You mean this planet has managed to receive enough ratings to warrant a show broadcast?” asked the prince in astonishment.
Turning, she ignored him, and with a shrug, Dustin followed her.They stopped at a tree that looked like many others.Dustin tried to see if there was like a hidden door on the bark or something, but instead, the Olivia look-a-like moved a rotten stump off the entrance to a tunnel.
”Of course, I should have seen that coming,” he said, feeling tired all of a sudden.This whole damn planet was getting on his nerves.Why couldn't he just leave all ready?Why did this crap keep happening?
After climbing down, she moved the stump back into place.They descended into a cave for about thirty feet, before coming to a decent sized room.Sitting down in a corner, the prince stretched out and made himself comfortable.
”You have survived an incredible amount of time on the surface.My sister was the one who you had encountered before.”
”Ah, that's why I thought you were dead,” he said, kind of understanding.
”Yes, my sister died fighting the carpet bird.”
”That flying rug thing?”
”Yes,” she nodded, sitting down as well.
”The drones watch you, and when you do not die from the creatures, they send harder ones.”