Dark Star Survivor Chapter 8

As Zoey had little else to do on her trip, she spent most of her time browsing through Pfortner's database . Mostly she looked up things she had forgotten about her home, Gaia . The database seemed to have most of the media that had been a part of her home . Before the enemy had appeared, Gaia was a world of countless cultures and people . Humans had developed many forms of entertainment, and Zoey found solstice in revisiting the vid shows and games she had once enjoyed . Her memories of those times were still vague, but revisiting them seemed to mend the ache in her heart when she thought of her forgotten friends and family . It was as if she could hear their laughter again when she saw the familiar sights and sounds .

Time passed swiftly . Zoey was able to keep track of how long she had been traveling thanks to the terminal she had . After a full year of travel the stasis tank had completed the repairs to her body . She opened the terminal to check the info .

SUBJECT: ZOEY

STATUS: HEALTHY

CELULAR MODIFICATION ANALYZED

BRAIN ACTIVITY: NORMAL

ORGAN STRUCTURE OPTIMIZATION COMPLETE

It was as Pfortner had said . The tank had aided the changes to her body . Over the year she had traveled she had been testing the limits of her body as the virtual environment adjusted her stats to match her physical form . Combat arts, obstacle courses and even gravity training, Zoey had gradually become familiar with her new capabilities .

She was now several times stronger than she had been as a normal human . Her agility, strength and mental acuity had been improved to a remarkable degree . On Gaia she would be considered a superhuman of sorts . She could easily navigate through obstacle courses in a few minutes when a normal human would take an hour .

Her reaction time and speed had also improved by leaps and bounds . She had tested herself by simulating a military soldier and a firearm, and she was actually able to react and dodge the bullets as long as she was able to see the moment it was fired . Calculating the trajectory of the bullet allowed her to minimize the distance to move in order to dodge it . In order to train herself, Zoey had simulated entire scenarios where she was hunted by squads of soldiers . Through this training she discovered that 3 enemies simultaneously attacking her was her limit . She could minimize damage and avoid most hits, but any more than 3 and she would be overwhelmed .

Needless to say she also tried figuring out ways to bring out her transformation, but was unsuccessful . She had eventually figured out that the virtual simulation did not have the required data to replicate it, and since she also had no experience with activating the transformation, it was impossible to simulate it .

On Gaia, she had always gone unconscious when the transformation activated, and she recalled nothing of when she was out . She theorized that the transformation was triggered by an instinctual reaction to the threat of the enemy . Her unconsciousness was an unfortunate side effect, but maybe she would uncover the method to utilize it in the future . It was a part of her after all .

As Zoey hurtled through the vast unknown Divide between universes, she was unaware that she was getting ever closer to her destination . Somewhere in an unknown universe, in a hidden alcove amongst the vast number of galaxies, a pair of rose colored, almond shaped eyes watched a etherial display . A tiny dot moved through a vast empty expanse coming ever closer to the boundary that separated the universe from the void .

These rose colored eyes belonged to Sethrii, and she was a goddess of the universe called Exta . Sethrii was the "Administrator" that Pfortner had contacted to gain safe passage for Zoey through the Divide . Sethrii had been intrigued when she intercepted the original communication from a different universe . Even more intriguing was that the Administrator had been requesting assistance with allowing a single being to pass through the Divide .

Sethrii had spent many galactic cycles probing and researching the Divide with her magic, but had been unable to even discover a method to scratch the boundary, much less send a living being through it . For the small price of assisting the passage of the being and placing them somewhere safe, the Administrator called Pfortner had offered her all his research on the Divide .

She had agreed to the request and was excitedly awaiting the arrival of her new charge . If her fellow deities could see her now they would be quaking in their boots . Very little could excite Sethrii, and woe be unto them that got in the way of her excitement .

Zoey, still in her virtual world was surprised when the console chirped at her announcing her imminent arrival to the new universe . She was excited, yet apprehensive . Would she be able to find a home in the vast unknown? She was different now than she had once been . No longer confined to the dead surface of Gaia, her mind was filled with infinite possibilities that awaited her .

Zoey was ready .

Chapter end