Baines leaned back against the cave wall, exhaustion finally seeping into his bones, and exhaled slowly, forcing the tension out of his shoulders.
Now that the immediate danger had passed, his thoughts finally had space to settle. The fear lingered, but it no longer crushed his chest. Instead, a cautious awareness took its place.
"So, eye," he said quietly. "Show me what you can do."
A faint blue interface flickered into existence before him, hovering in the air like glass etched with light. Lines of text assembled themselves neatly, each pulsing once as if acknowledging his command.
[VISION AND SCANNING SYSTEMS ONLINE]
His eyes widened slightly before he steadied himself.
So, it wasn't just a voice.
The interface shifted as Eye continued.
[INTEGRATION LEVEL: 1%
MODE: EXPLANATORY OUTPUT
VISION AND SCANNING FUNCTIONS
-NIGHT VISION
FUNCTION: LOW-LIGHT ENHANCEMENT
USE: IMPROVES VISIBILITY IN DIM ENVIRONMENTS
OPERATION: AMPLIFIES EXISTING AMBIENT LIGHT
LIMIT: INEFFECTIVE IN TOTAL DARKNESS; MAXIMUM RANGE 10 METERS
-ZOOM
FUNCTION: TELESCOPIC FOCUS
USE: MAGNIFIES DISTANT OBJECTS FOR IDENTIFICATION
OPERATION: NARROWS VISUAL INPUT AND INCREASES FOCAL RESOLUTION
LIMIT: MAXIMUM MAGNIFICATION x2; IMAGE INSTABILITY LIKELY
-WIDE-ANGLE VISION
FUNCTION: EXPANDED FIELD OF VIEW
USE: INCREASES PERIPHERAL AWARENESS
OPERATION: INTEGRATES PERIPHERAL VISUAL DATA INTO CENTRAL PROCESSING
LIMIT: REDUCED DETAIL AT EDGES; PROLONGED USE CAUSES STRAIN
-RANGEFINDER
FUNCTION: DISTANCE ESTIMATION
USE: APPROXIMATES RANGE TO VISIBLE OBJECTS
OPERATION: CALCULATES DEPTH VIA FOCUS SHIFT AND PARALLAX
LIMIT: ACCURACY LOW; RESULTS ARE ESTIMATES ONLY
-DEPTH PERCEPTION CALIBRATION
FUNCTION: SPATIAL ALIGNMENT ASSISTANCE
USE: IMPROVES MOVEMENT ACCURACY AND BALANCE
OPERATION: CORRECTS BINOCULAR VISUAL DISPARITY
LIMIT: DOES NOT GENERATE ENVIRONMENTAL MODELS
MEDICAL AND BIOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS
-SELF-HEALTH MONITORING
FUNCTION: BASIC PHYSIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT
USE: DETECTS PHYSICAL STRAIN AND INSTABILITY
OPERATION: MONITORS PULSE RHYTHM, RESPIRATION, AND MUSCULAR FATIGUE
LIMIT: DATA RESOLUTION INSUFFICIENT FOR DIAGNOSIS
-NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCY DETECTION
FUNCTION: METABOLIC IMBALANCE AWARENESS
USE: IDENTIFIES INADEQUATE NUTRIENT INTAKE
OPERATION: COMPARES ENERGY OUTPUT AGAINST INTERNAL RESERVES
LIMIT: ONLY SEVERE DEFICIENCIES DETECTED]
'…Ineffective in total darkness?' Baines paused, a chill creeping up his spine.
Suddenly, a thought passed through him that made him tremble.
Why else would the All-Seeing Eye say it was ineffective in total darkness? There was only one reason.
He covered his left eye again and,
Pitch black.
He uncovered it, and the outline returned.
'Am I blind?' He thought grimly.
[HOST IS INCORRECT. VISION AND OCULAR NEURON SYSTEMS APPEAR TO WORK PERFECTLY]
Phew…
An unknown weight left his shoulders, 'Then why can't I see?'
[HOST APPEARS TO HAVE DIFFICULTY ADJUSTING TO ENVIRONMENT]
After a moment of silence,
"…I-Is there anything you can do about it?'
[NO FUNCTIONS AVAILABLE FOR ASSISTANCE.
RECOMMENDATION: TIME IS NEEDED FOR THE HOST TO ADJUST TO THE ENVIRONMENT]
'Then… there is some light here but not enough for normal eyes.'
Relief washed over him.
'When you say time, do you mean days?'
[HOST IS CORRECT]
Baines tightened his fingers and gritted his teeth. 'Are you really saying I can't leave this place?'
[AS HOST FORMALLY EXPERIENCED, THE LACK OF OXYGEN IN THE AIR CAN RESULT IN DEATH]
Hearing that his death would be certain if he carelessly stepped outside shook him more than he thought.
"Then what am I going to do here?" He whispered.
[HOST IS ADVISED TO SECURE THE BASIC NECESSITIES OF LIFE]
"Necessities…"
[CORRECT. HOST HAS FOUND A RELATIVELY SAFE SHELTER]
[SOURCE OF WATER HAS BEEN DETECTED A FEW METERS AWAY]
"You're right."
His eyes skimmed through his surrounding and there he was, just a few meters away from the pond he had crossed earlier.
The thought of whether it was clean or not didn't cross his mind. Just the fact that he had one made him excited.
'All that's left is clothes and…food.'
His thoughts stopped.
'How do I find food here?' His gaze shifted to the gazes of the beasts just across the pond and gulped.
'I will think of it later.' The probability of his survival had increased.
He went through the remaining functions.
'Maybe it's the name, but most of the current functions are related to the eye.' Baines mused. 'Well, it clearly stated. Vision functions. And it was the self-health monitoring function that helped when I was outside the cave.'
"Since I am going to stay here, I should ensure there aren't any lurking dangers around." He whispered and stood.
'Eye, activate zoom and wide-angle vision.'
The change was immediate.
The green outlines sharpened, and his view expanded dramatically.
Zoom increased his ten-meter line of sight given by the night vision by two, and further including wide-angle vision further expanded the doubled vision.
His vision increased from a mere ten meters to well over twenty-five meters.
The cracked ground looked like shattered glass spread across the cave. Black, jagged rock formed the walls and ceiling. And drifting through the air, reckless and formless, were thin black tendrils of smoke.
He hadn't noticed them before, but now,
'…What is that?'
Baines reached out cautiously.
[WARNING: ANOMALY DETECTED IN THE ATMOSPHERE]
His breath caught.
"What?"
He remembered the earlier false alarm. Eye had warned him of danger, only to retrieve its words.
'Is that smoke really dangerous?' However, when he looked again, the tendrils were gone.
'Did it just… vanish?' Unease settled in his stomach. 'What if it comes back?'
Baines moved slowly, his eyes focused, taking in his surroundings in search of the black smoke.
[OBJECTS DETECTED]
"Huh? Where," His head snapped around, trying to find it.
[50 METERS IN NORTH-WEST DIRECTION]
'North-west?' He turned his head.
It was close to where the statues stood. If the statues were located north, the left corner was where the detected objects were.
And from his position, he could see its outline.
'That's not the smoke.' His eyes narrowed. 'Eye, what is that?'
[OBJECTS APPEAR TO BE LIFELESS AND HARMLESS]
After receiving confirmation, Baines moved.
He deactivated the zoom and wide-angle vision function, returning to the basic night vision. Then he approached cautiously.
When he arrived, his eyes widened.
"What!"
Lying close to the stony cave walls were two sacks of preserved food, a small dagger, a bundle of clean clothes, and a brown leather pouch.