CRACK! The sound of breaking twigs made Axel instantly alert. His heart was pounding, and he gripped his Swiss Army knife tightly in the darkness.
His eyes scoured the darkness among the trees, looking for the origin of the sound. The sea wind was whispering softly, bringing with it the strong smell of salt. Amidst the rustling leaves, Axel could feel…something.
"Nova…you hear that?" he said softly, even though he knew she was still close to the fire.
Axel took a slow step back until he was leaning against the tree trunk. His breath caught. If it was some wild animal, he had to be ready to fight. If it was a person…
Footsteps fast approached suddenly.
"DAMN IT!"
Axel turned and ran back towards the beach.
BRUSH!
Something moved in the bushes as they parted behind him.
Axel wasn't taking any chances. The moment he hit the beach he yelled
"Nova! Get up! We're not alone!" Nova, who had been sitting by the fire holding onto the remains of an oyster shell, turned with a confused expression. "What do you mean?" "I heard something in the jungle!" Nova stood up at once, her eyes widening. "Maybe it was just an animal?" Axel shook his head, cold sweat trickling down his temple. "If that were an animal, why did it feel like it was following me?"
A pair of them peered out into the black forest. Palms swayed in the night breeze.
Silence.
No more footsteps.
He made a further effort to control his breathing and turned to Nova. "I'm going to establish a perimeter. We can't take any chances."
Nova bit her lip before nodding.
They leant on the earlier tension and sat once more by the fire. Their dinner was oyster remnants with roasted sea urchins.
The meal was plain, but something felt different this time.
Nova seemed much more at ease.
"All this needs to be documented," she said softly, tearing a piece of cloth from her skirt and writing something on it with a charred stick from the pile of firewood nearby. Axel cast an inquiring glance at her. "What's that for?"
End of the AI vs Human content rewriting comparison. It seems that the general approach of human rewriters is to make the text a bit more natural and easy to perceive for a reader, which is not normally the case with Synthesys projects, transforming them into a particular kind of writing style.
"Keeping tabs on what you've provided me," she said in all seriousness. "Each coconut, every oyster, each sea urchin. Once we get back to the real world, I'll pay you back tenfold."
Axel snorted. "Seriously? Nova, this isn't a business transaction."
Nova shrugged her shoulders. "You may not mind, but I have principles. It's not my thing to owe people."
With a sigh, Axel shook his head. "Suit yourself."
Axel stared out at the dark ocean. "I'll have to get more supplies tomorrow," he said to himself. "I'd like to go further into the jungle, but for now, it's safer to stay on the beach." Nova turned to him. "Why's that?"
But deep inside he couldn't help smile a little. There was something funny about Nova and her determination.
After eating, Axel stared off into the dark ocean. "One of these days," he continued muttering to himself, "I'll have to get further into that jungle. But right now, it's safer on the beach." He glanced at Nova. "Why do you say that?"
"Then if some search boat comes, it shall be easier to locate us here, and who knows, some more provisions may have washed ashore from the wreck along the beach."
Nova nodded slowly. His logic was good.
But suddenly Axel felt odd. His blood was warm above its normal temperature, and his pulse was rather quick. A queer feeling diffused through his frame—something odd.
He wrinkled his forehead.
"What is this?"
Then it suddenly broke on him, and he said:
Oysters.
Some believed oysters were an aphrodisiac. Axel wasn't sure if that was a myth or not. At the moment, though, his body seemed to agree in an uncomfortable manner. He peered accidentally with his eyes to Nova. She was sitting by the fire with messy island day hair, her skin slightly glistening with sweat. Axel looked away quickly. "Damn it."
He knew that if he stayed, it would only get harder to ignore this effect. "I need cold water." Without another word, he rose and made for the ocean. "Hey, where are you going?" Nova called suspiciously. "Cooling my head," Axel returned shortly, stepping into the water. The cool would spread all over his body in a moment's time.
SSSHHH…
He heard the gentle whisper of water around his ankles, creeping up to his thighs and stomach as he walked farther into it. Axel looked up at the sky and took a deep breath. "This is better." But just as he was beginning to calm his mind… BANG! A small explosion sounded off somewhere in the distance. Axel spun at once, his eyes narrowing. "What was that?" Nova, still upon the shore, had just heard it. "Did you hear that?" she said with a worried inflection.
Axel nodded. He cocked his head to a side, listening intently, but there was nothing.
Yet something inside of him told him otherwise.
They were not the only ones stranded on this island.
Axel froze in the water, tiny ripples washing against his legs. The BANG! still repeating in his head. It was not a sound made by nature. It was a man-made explosion.
"What was that?" Nova repeated, her voice more anxious now.
Axel walked out of the water and quickly went back to where he was sitting. He grabbed his Swiss Army knife, holding it tightly. "We can't ignore this," he murmured. Nova stood up, her face tense. "What do you mean? It could just be rocks collapsing or waves hitting something." Axel shook his head. "No. That was man-made."
He stared into the black jungle. By the light of the campfire, he felt disturbed, as if something—or somebody—was peering at them from between the trees.
"I've got to check around the beach. There might be some other wreck or something that can be of use."
Nova hesitated. "Do you really think that's a good way to go about it? If something is out there… we don't know what it is."
"Precisely the reason why we have to find out," said Axel.
Nova sighed and picked up a stick that was on fire from the flame as a torch. "Fine, I'll come with you." Axel glanced at her, a little surprised. "You don't have to come. I can do it by myself." "Axel, listen," Nova said firmly, "I am not staying here by myself while you go traipsing off into who knows what trouble. If something's wrong, it's better to be together than be separated, right?"
Axel looked at her for a few seconds before nodding at last. "Alright. But be alert."
They trod through the beach, with only the noise of the waves banging against the shore, and then the cool night air.
CRUNCH… CRUNCH…
Their footsteps reverberated in the wet sand. Yet Nova suddenly stood still.
"Wait," she said softly.
Axel turned, looking where she was peering into the sand in front of them.
Footsteps.
But they were not their own.
Axel squatted, looking at them carefully. Those prints were bigger than their own and deeper—like someone bearing a heavy load or trying to walk.
"These are not ours," he whispered.
Nova swallowed hard. "That would mean that someone else is here."
Axel got up and quickly looked over the clearing. His heart pounded.
"And they saw us before, obviously."
Nova held her torch with a tighter grip. "Do you… do you think they… are they friendly or do they pose a threat?"
It was some time before Axel spoke. He knew only one thing:
This island had ceased to be empty.