The Power Of Radiation 14 Leaving And The Pink Pond

After Theo's remarks on the Doctor ranking system and hierarchy, Mark had a lot to think about. He thought about how nice it would be to be called a Master or Grandmaster Doctor while living here and the prestige that comes with it. Mark imagined a Grandmaster Doctor to be similar to a kind, old professor like the ones at his college. They would spend most of their time teaching those younger than themselves and researching the deeper intricacies of the medical world. The only person who he could think of as a reference to someone with this kind of intelligence and knowledge is the infamous Igor Karma. As awful as his final experiment was, it was recorded by the UN, during his time he was equally considered one of the smartest men of his century.

Mark's wistful thoughts lingered in his head and he gathered all his supplies and reattached the mini crossbow to his wrist. With this done, Mark looked out for one final time at Brambleton and how this is just the start of his time in the advanced VR world. Mark's eyes glint with determination as he says goodbye to George, the village elder, and other kind villagers who came to say goodbye to the first traveler they have seen in a while. Theo was not present and Mark could only see part of his house and rocking chair from the road leading away from the village. Mark then joins a gruff man by the name of Vlad in hitching oxen to the carts of produce. Finally, they set forth on the weeklong journey to Stone City 50 kilometers away. Mark can only hope they have a nice peaceful journey and he can finally become a doctor and learn about the rumored Doctor's City.

Vlad is a very gruff and boring man. Mark means this only in context, because Vlad has only said less than 10 real words since they left Brambleton 2 days ago. Vlad is considered to be almost mute in the village but he is not a dumb person. Vlad usually speaks in the form of grunts and primitive sign language and can only be understood by his wife of over 10 years. Mark shudders when he thinks of putting up with a spouse who has the personality of a rock for 10 years. All 3650 days of it. Vlad, like many farmers and people who live in rural areas, enjoys the quiet and peace from nature which is very foreign to people like Mark who has lived in a mega city surrounded by other people all his life. Today just like yesterday seems to be just another peaceful day to Mark and Vlad but a large b.u.mp in the dirt road to Stone City quickly derails their plans.

The two carts which hold the produce, like most things and structures in the village, are old and not maintained well. This can lead to accidents like the one that happened from rolling the cart over the rock just now. One of the axles of the cart breaks from its very stressful life to a scream of surprise to its pa.s.senger Mark. Vlad thinks nothing of it considering the cart's history and grunts in the direction of the woods around them saying the word replacement. While Mark is lying on the ground from his fall, Vlad grabs the hatchet he carries with him and goes off in search of a branch than can stabilize or fix the axle of the cart.

Mark seeing this unfortunate chain of events, sighs and gets up off the ground in hope of stretching his legs some while still staying relatively near to the cart. Mark a.s.sumes that it will take at least until dark for Vlad to both find a suitable replacement and fix the cart. Mark ventures off in the opposite direction of Vlad as he looks around and admires the nature which is nonexistent everywhere in a modern-day world surrounded by the stone and concrete of mega cities. While admiring nature Mark hears the sound of a waterfall or river and his curiosity gets the best of him. Mark follows his ears to the source of the sound.

The scene that Mark sees next amazes him. A clearing in the woods showing a pink colored pond in the middle of it. The pond is surrounded by tree and gra.s.s that look to have been colored slightly off green from absorbing the pink water of the pond over the years. This leads to a remarkable sight of almost every different shade of pink being present in a 150-meter area leading up to a dark pink and almost purple color being present in waterfall leading down from a cliff to the center of the pond. Mark has never seen anything like this as the color looks so out of place and artificial to his eyes in the woods that are predominantly shades of green and brown. What would any normal person do when presented with such a strange sight? Mark goes right up to the pond and the waterfall and admires the clear but obviously pink water. Mark then after a moment of thought did something that he would have never done on a whim in real life. He sticks his hand in the water after a moment of hesitation.

There is no reaction from Mark as the water feels like normal water from anywhere just like in his home city besides the unusual color. After this, is the only next logical step to Mark's curiosity and the reoccurring thought that he is in a virtual world and nothing will transfer from here to real life in terms of his actions and decisions. Mark then scoops up some bright pink water with his hand and drinks it with even less hesitation than before. Mark then narrows his eyes at the strange taste of the water as it is both sweet and tastes like melted beets. The consistency of the water is also weird as it is thinner than he expects and seems to beyond mere water and closer to vinegar or soy sauce consistency.