Chapter 12: What is this?
After paying a bit more than required due to the use of the anti-gravity engine, Aric hopped off and walked away as the taxi car automatically returned to the conductive road. He was glad to see small mountains right outside the city, and some even had caves.
Normally, caves were a luxury in his place at least, and he hadn’t seen any caves, but here, according to Apis, caves had formed naturally, and people never ventured there as they weren’t beautiful at all.
As Aric was led to a cave, one could easily see why. These caves were not pleasing to look at, were dirty, and it would take a good amount of money to make them beautiful and livable. Who would choose this place when one had all the luxuries of the cities? In addition, this planet was away from any oversight, so the capital influx was less here. This was a boon for Aric as he could conduct his temporary operations from here.
"Apis, so my body is now resistant to all kinds of viruses and bacteria from any foreign world?" Aric asked again.
"Yes, according to reports, you have been injected with Viocilin, which is the general version of resistive enhancement. It allows the body to produce every kind of combination of proteins required to combat any aerosol, liquid, and solid contamination that might happen in your journey through the stars."
"Alright," Aric replied as he checked the cave. Even though Apis had said that there were no dangerous animals, he made sure that this forest wasn’t visited by animals at night. The small area only had sparse vegetation and dead leaves from the trees around. After confirming the safety, he placed Apis down and went back to the place where he left his other communicator.
"Time for some truth, baby."
Aric took a deep breath and jumped to the world he had first visited. Within seconds, the scenery changed, and he was back at the place he had first visited. The same gravel land, the same lush forests. Aric took a few breaths to take everything in. From the subtle smell alone, Aric was sure that this place wasn’t touched by technology. By now, he knew the smell of his own world and the interstellar world.
Aric didn’t know why, but he was sure that the enhancers had given him a bit of heightened senses. It wasn’t much, maybe a 5 to 10 percent increase, but it was enough for him to judge some normal things around faster.