Making his way down to the building, Hans was amazed by the fact that he was actually able to summon things he was imagining in a vision...he thought that this was only possible for the Nomads to do such things...appearently, everyone who was participating in a vision was able to form something in it...more or less.
A second glass of Rheinbeer would be splendid. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath again to concentrate on the desired object, he was not able to think about this straight...there was no silence anymore...something distracted him...a sound.
Right behind me.
Suddenly feeling awfully uncomftable about this fact, Hans turned around slowly, looking over his shoulder...
The source of those sounds was much more unpleasent than the sounds themself. There, a hidious predator was standing only a couple of feets away from the scientist. Showing his teeth was not a smile, and the pure appearence of this beast was causing Hans to react with an escape reaction...
Throwing away the empty glass and not taking a more detail look at the animal, he was running down the path instinctively.
Heart beat. Deep, fast breaths. The sound of mud being squatched under his shoes. Those were the onliest sounds Hans was currently hearing while the adrenalin was rushing through the body; making his whole body reaching the maximum of its activity to escape from the danger.
Knowing that he was not able to outrun this born predator, Hans jumped into the thick bushes in order to slip through the trees; hoping that the hunter would also be slowed down by the fauna...
Turned out that this was not a good idea...reaching a small glade right behind the coppice, some pals of the beast were waiting for him to drive the prey in their hands.
Taking a quick curve towards the the path to the building again, the howling and wheezing of the group hunting hom now was heared.
Hans jumped on the path again. Realizing that the onliest safe place was inside the building, he sprinted towards the great, wooden door.
Looking behind him, a crowd of seven individuals was hunting him...
When reaching the door, Hans ran straight against it: It was closed.
Shaking the metal ring which was fixed on the wooden door desperatly, he was yelling loudly around to open the darn entrance.
The door creaked open slightly, but not far enough for Hans to enter the building. A faint, blue light shone through the small opening. The seven predators halted. The sound of their beaks opening and slamming shut was replaced by silence.
A transparent, blue body, shaped like a flowerhead, slowly came through the door. It was attached to something that resembled a neck, although it was only partially visible.
Once outside, it emanated a low-pitched and quiet sound that quickly increased in both volume and pitch. Within seconds, it was an unbearably high-pitched and loud noise. Fortunately, it quickly reached frequencies so high Hans could no longer hear them. Then, he noticed the predators - or rather, the fact that they were no longer there.
In one snake-like motion, the creature then pushed open the door, burst toward Hans, grabbed his arm and pulled him inside the building.
Hans felt the cold, stone floor behind him. The interior of the structure was pitch-black, and the creature that dragged him inside was nowhere to be seen. He closed his eyes, recovering from the events that had just transpired.
Moments later, Hans felt a change. The environment was warm and humid, and the floor he was lying on was soft and covered in various mosses.
Hans was staring at a small fern right next to his face; still laying on the ground with his head turned right, and not moving an inch.
The smell of wet grass. The warm atmosphere. The sound of apes and birds in the bushes and on the trees...those effects were hammering right on his mistreated brain. Everything felt so numb...like awaking from narcosis...mixed with a headache worth three boozed nights in a row.
And there Hans was remaining for a minute...five minutes...half an hour...without a move. Once the pain in his head was ebbing and the environment became clearer, he listened carefully...no nasty predator sounds around. Relieved by the fact that those beasts were appearently gone, he dared to move into a sitting position.
In spite of the enormous headache, Hans was able to remember this strange event in every detail once thinking about it...and was not able to figure out what the hell has happened after the door was opened...this blue light...the sound...
Rubbing his head, he decided to think about this after taking a family pack of aspirin and a great bottle of water.
What a good thing that he woke up at the other end of the glade where he was camping. After standing up, Hans carefully tapped the dry earth and moss off his lab coat. Suddenly he saw a purple glowing in his pocket, shining through the white coat cloth...it was the artifact!
Finally, it was active...which was kinda relieving since Hans had now an evidence that this whole nightmare-like vision was caused by it.
Shocked for a second after thinking about that, he was concentrating...concentrating on something against this huge thirst...but no beer appeared in his hand this time...
Though a bit diappointed, he was now sure that this was not another illusion...it was reality.
Opening the entrance of the tent to get the desired medicine, water and sleep, he slipped inside and closed the zipper...
Just to see that he was not alone. There, at the table, a Hispanic-looking man with black hair and beard was sitting, looking at the scientist. Completly surprised, the sound of Hans' jaw opening and closing had something in common with the predators in the vision.
Cipriano broke the silence: "We meet again, Doctor." His voice was cold and emotionless, but he could not - or simply did not - hide his Hispanic accent. For a few seconds, he stared right into Hans' eyes, like one cat staring another down. Then, a subtle smile appeared on his lips, and he gestured for Hans to sit down opposite him.
Hans rubbed his eyes as he could not believe what he they were seeing.
Though the first reaction to this strange appearence was fear; that this man could be here to steal his equicment or was a hitman hired by the Gaians; Hans somehow recognized something familiar in this guy...
Was it his face, the beard maybe? Well, a lot of people have beards...no, the pure appearence was unknown, but the voice...he had already listened to it, for sure. Of course, it was not a long time ago, certainly! Could it be that...
Having a vague idea who this could be
Hans ignored the inviting gesture made by the stranger to sit down, squinted his eyes and returned the rigid view of his guest.
"O-Otousan?", he tried to say with some courage while reaching for the tazer on the sleeping bag, unsure of making a mistake by that or not, "is that y-you?"
"That is indeed the name you know me by," Cipriano replied. His eyes focused on Hans' hand that was reaching for the tazer. Staring right into Hans' eyes once more, Cipriano spoke commandingly: "I would refrain from doing anything you might later regret."
"Now, please," Cipriano repeated while gesturing to the chair on the other side of the table, "Take a seat." In a mocking tone, he added: "Make yourself at home."
Feeling a bit embarressed for grabbing a weapon that obviously, he coughed and left the tazer where he was.
Hans was still looking completly irritated at this man he had met nearly three months ago, the one with whome this adventure had begun. He has never seen him in persona, only knowing his voice from the couple of times they had flown together in space.
"I, uhm, I am...very suprised...to see you here, Otousan! I mean...heh...", was all Hans could say since thoughts were flying around in his head like an angry bee swarm.
An inner feeling told him that Otousan's appearence was clearly linked to the previous activation of the artifact somehow...and since Hans had not completly understood what the heck had happened the past fourty-five minutes, he told himself that his guest will bring some clearence to this mad situation for sure...
So better not wasting time or tazering his visitor.
"Sorry, Otousan, I am, uhm, kinda confused right now...", he scratched the back of his head while searching for words, "...and surprised. To see you here in person, I mean..." His head reminded him of the urgently needed water and medicine.
"Uhm, but where are my manners", Hans said and smiled as good as he could in such a strange situation, "Before I accompany you at the table, do you want anything to drink, maybe something to eat after such a long journey to Gaia?", while opening a mini-fridge full of different liquids and small boxes.
"No thanks," he answered, "I don't intend to stay for very long."
He stared ahead blankly, his mind wandering off elsewhere. After a silence that lasted a little too long for Hans not to notice, Cipriano continued in a tone of feinted friendliness: "Don't let me prevent you from getting yourself a drink."
"Join me when you are ready. I'm sure you have many discoveries to report."
Not looking up while Cipriano was telling him that, Hans was searching for the great water bottle somwhere behind the cell samples and enzymatic essences which had to be kept cool.
After he had got everything he needed, Goeben sat down at the table. "Well", he laughed while dropping effervescent tablets in the water, "where to start and where to end, Otousan...I have been rather busy the last couple of weeks after our last meeting in Coronado."
He stopped to drink two glasses of water in a row. "Ahhh...alright, let me sum up:", holding up a hand to list the events with his fingers,"I have tested 154 species with Cardamine, trying to cover all animals from different environments and of great genetical diversity."; he raised the index finger.
"A quarter of them have shown reactions towards Cardamine, the rest went off unharmed...mostly."; showing the third finger,
" Those were tested with the Liquid Cardamine. Two promising results which have shown nearly the same reaction."
Hans showed the ring finger, "And last but not least, the artifact was activated...which is why I am still a bit...uhm, irritated."
Drinking another glass of water, hans was waiting for Cipriano to pick a topic he was interested in.
The Outcast, who could only be described as "disinterested" while Hans spoke, allowed a silence to fall after Hans stopped speaking.
After seconds of the men merely exchanging stares, Cipriano finally replied by echoing what Hans had said, slowly, and with emphasis on each word: "Two promising results."
Cipriano gestured to the tent's exit. "What's keeping you, von Goeben? Show me what you've found."
![[Image: 3zJQb83.png]](http://i.imgur.com/3zJQb83.png)
