Page 19 of Guardian's Soul

"Deactivate." He sounded slightly breathless when he uttered this command, bringing me back from my revelries about his anatomy. "Your turn." He rose lithely off the contraption, reaching for a towel that appeared from out of nowhere. Well, not quite. It came out of the sleek tower. Still.Damn!

A light fog pushed out over the bench, followed by a slim metallic arm, pressing and gliding smoothly down the bench, cleaning it.

Torn between excitement and trepidation, I lay down on it as soon as the sanitation process was done. My eyes were glued to Thrax, who nodded encouragingly at me.

"Activate," I mumbled, having to clear my throat because, honestly, this required more courage than I thought. Especially when those metallic arms came out. The links working around my extremities made me realize they allowed maximum range while giving support but leaving room to bend an elbow or knee if needed.

The headrest underneath me adjusted, just like the mattress part, making me feel stabilized and protected. I was still staring at Thrax when I felt a slight nudge from the machine to spreadmy arms and legs, and when I followed it, there was just enough resistance to turn this movement into a workout. Just like I had watched Thrax's body turn into anXandI, mine was now too. The resistance was working me both ways, just hard enough to make me begin to perspire slightly. The machine allowed me to follow my natural instincts on how to move, but when it registered any hesitation on my part, it took over control. Nudging me into different positions that I felt not only in my extremities but in my stomach and butt. In under five minutes, this little contraption worked every single muscle in my body, a workout that would normally take at least a couple of hours.

"Deactivate," I pushed out after about ten minutes. My breathing wasn't hard, not really, and neither was my heart rate too elevated.

"Does this machine read your heart rate?" I asked Thrax, accepting his unexpected offer to help me up. My stomach muscles actually screamed at me.

"It reads your entire body composition to ensure you won't overwork yourself." He confirmed. "Do you want me to show you how the other machines work, or do you want to take a break?"

After several weeks of being a prisoner with my arms bound behind me, I've lost lots of my stamina. It would take some time to build myself back up to where I used to be.

"A break sounds good," I admitted, "but is there like a simple treadmill I can use later?"

"Treadmill?" He creased his forehead.

"Yeah, something you can run on?"

"Oh." He nodded his understanding. "Follow me." He led me to a cylindrical machine that resembled theshower. "It's easier to experience than to explain. Same principle, activate and deactivate. It's pretty self-explanatory."

Unsure of how the cylinder would make me jog, I decided to trust the alien and entered. The ground was soft, and the insidewas more spacious than the outside had indicated. Black walls surrounded me from all sides, more so once the rotating door closed.

"Activate," I mumbled, fighting against the slight case of claustrophobia trying to creep up on me. A small light in the dome was the only source of illumination in the chamber. However, when I spoke, the walls suddenly displayed images beyond my wildest dreams.

"Wow," the word escaped me like a breath.

"Please choose your surroundings." A computer voice prodded.

I turned in a slow circle, trying to take in all the images shown to me and trying hard not to get roped into one or another because… because these were all alien worlds.

My fingers hovered over all the possible words I could explore, but one suddenly stood out to me more than others, called to me on a deep level that was hard to explain.

All the other images retreated, and in the next second, I found myself standing on top of the lavender sand. The sound of waves crashing against the shore was as realistic as the light sea breeze I felt on my face and the scent of salt in the air. Stronger than on any beach I had ever been to on Earth, but hey, this was a beach somewhere out in the universe, so…

My eyes moved to the purple sun above me, and a shiver skittered through my body. This sun that should have felt utterly alien to me felt strangely familiar. So did the three moons barely visible.

Before I had time to think about it, the ground underneath my feet shifted and started to feel like sand, enticing me to take a step forward and then another. The scenery surrounding me moved with my steps, faster or slower, depending on my speed. Ahead of me, behind me, and to my right was ocean as far as the eye could see, and to the left, an alien forest about a quarter mile away. The same pull that had made me choose this world drewme toward it. I shifted to the left, and,yep, I was now heading for the forest. The crashing of the waves dimmed, and so did the scent in the air. It was still filled with salt but mixed with something… earthier… if that made sense because this didn't look like Earth.

The alien trees loomed closer, their forms both strange and strangely familiar. So very alien, and yet they stirred something deep within me—a longing that defied all logic as if they were calling to a forgotten part of myself. The trees were enormous, towering above like natural giants. Their trunks were a labyrinth of roots that twisted and coiled like vines, wrapping around what might have been a central trunk—if such a thing existed. It was impossible to tell whether the roots were growing upward or downward, but they did burrow into the soil below. Every part of the tree, from its sprawling branches to its towering height, seemed woven together by the same thick vines.

At the ends of the longer, sturdier branches, clusters of leaves formed crowns that looked more like oversized bushes. Their hues were mesmerizing—blue-green shades that shimmered softly in the dappled light. On the forest floor, ferns in deep reds and oranges sprouted like flames, adding a vivid contrast to the scene.

A narrow footpath emerged, winding its way into the forest, and I found myself drawn to it. The trees closed in around me as I moved, and the distant crash of the ocean faded, replaced by new sounds. The twittering of what could only be a bird, the occasional piercing screech of some unseen creature, and the faint rustle of life scurrying across the ground filled the air.

The earth beneath my feet hardened and became rockier with each step. A sudden movement caught my eye—a creature darted across the path, flat and elongated with vibrant green and red scales, a strange hybrid of lizard and snake.

Everything felt so vivid, so astonishingly real. The deeper Iventured, the more I needed to see what lay ahead as though some unseen force was guiding me. My feet carried me faster, my breath quickening as I ran, certain that just around the next bend, I would find a small lake. In my mind's eye, I could already see it—the crystal-clear water teeming with a rainbow of round fish. And when it appeared, it nearly took my breath away. How could I have possibly known this sight would greet me?

The rushing roar of a waterfall grew louder, pulling me away from the strange sense of déjà vu, forward as if holding a promise. I could picture the bluish water cascading over rugged ochre cliffs, the rocks draped with fiery orange ferns.

I didn't even realize I was panting, my shirt damp with sweat as I sprinted faster. A need I couldn't explain drove me onward, desperate to see if I was right. And then, the breath caught in my throat.

There it was. Exactly as I had imagined—the lake, the waterfall, the ferns, it was all there as though the image had been plucked from my mind and brought to life.

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