Darkness engulfed Zoe as the wave washed over her. In an instant, all sensation vanished—her senses obliterated as if they'd never existed. Trapped in absolute blackness, she couldn't breathe, couldn't feel hunger. With slowly mounting dread, she realized whatever the wave had done had completely disconnected her from her physical form.
Forcing down her rising panic, she approached this bizarre situation with methodical calm—the same way she'd tackle any scientific problem. 'Okay, I need to focus. What do I remember about the wave?' Recalling her most recent memory, her mind replayed slow-motion images of stone encasing her limbs.
'So whatever this is has left my body in some stone-like structure. I can still think, which means my brain must be intact somehow.' A strange realization dawned on her as she processed information—the previous limits of her biology seemed to have fallen away. Her thoughts accelerated without generating heat or fatigue.
She recalled how light had travelled freely through the walls and how a bird outside the doorway had remained perfectly unaffected. More importantly, she remembered calculating the wave's average speed.
'So if the wave passed through walls, any particles it contained must be small enough to slip between molecules. Since it didn't affect the bird, I'm inclined to believe it only targeted humans, or perhaps mammals. And I was able to see it coming and react to it, so it can't be typical radiation.'
Collating these facts gave Zoe a small sense of control. Unfortunately, with thinking as her only available action, all she could do was wait for external help—or for her prison to eventually crumble.
'I suppose it's just a waiting game now. I might as well use this time constructively—organize my brain. I could develop advanced mental calculation abilities. But first, I'll need to track time.'
She began counting in her head, working to make the process autonomous. After approximately a week of struggling against her own mental limitations, she succeeded in counting with one thought channel while thinking with another.
'First experiment: success. I've actually managed to alter my thought patterns.'
Hope surged within her as she continued her mental exercises. Years passed as she remained trapped inside her own consciousness. Outside, the world slowly disintegrated from neglect. The building housing her fusion reactor fared better than most—her creation continuing to hum at a constant tempo while other structures crumbled.
A few hundred years later, even her lab began to deteriorate. Concrete grew brittle and slowly eroded. The reactor's tempo subtly changed as it continued operating. Around it, rusted shelves displayed the remnants of glass vials, most cracked open and empty.
One day a crow flew in through a gap in the roof, scavenging among the fallen vials until it discovered an intact one. This container was clearly different—heavily reinforced and adorned with multiple warning labels.
The curious bird pecked at the vial, sending it clattering through surrounding glass shards. Hopping closer, it pecked again before its pupils widened. Within the tube, an unnatural glow slowly spread.
Cawing excitedly, the crow snatched the vial in its beak and flapped its wings, rising into the air and flying away with its shiny treasure. Nearby, a stone statue sat amidst the rubble, the mind within rapidly computing advanced equations to pass the endless time.
'Holy shit, this is so boring. It's been a few hundred years and still no change.' Zoe mentally sighed. 'Better get back to crunching numbers. I'll have so much work to do after I get out.' She returned to her calculations, multiple thought trains working in perfect synchronization, her mind sculpted and polished over centuries.
Weeks after the crow's visit, the ground began to tremble. This was a common occurrence, but this time the intensity grew. The remaining buildings shook violently as many collapsed entirely. In the distance, smoke began rising from Mount Fuji's peak.
Inside the lab, the violent shaking finally won out as rusted cables snapped. The barely-active reactor tilted sideways and tumbled toward the floor. Upon impact, nothing happened at first—then a high-pitched whine split the air, rising in pitch as it synchronized with a slowly growing light.
Glowing white-hot, the reactor began throwing sparks in every direction as key safety systems burned away. The sound crescendoed beyond human hearing range before an eerie silence settled. In that stillness came the distinct sound of metal snapping.
Instantly, a superheated plasma ball began to form—cautiously at first, then with increasing speed. Air boiled and blasted away in massive shockwaves, obliterating what remained of the lab.
Caught in the explosion, the statue containing Zoe hurtled through the air at near-supersonic speed, soaring over the ocean before gravity reclaimed it. The statue plummeted into the waves, small fissures forming on its surface, yet it remained largely intact as it drifted toward the ocean floor.
The statue caught on a shelf of coral, preventing a catastrophic descent into the abyssal deep. Over years, it was gradually pushed upward with the growth of the coral. Hundreds of years became thousands as the statue eventually breached the surface again.
Time continued passing as the coral grew into a miniature island just below the waterline, with only the statue protruding above the waves. One day, a seagull—slightly larger than normal—perched on the boulder-like statue and did what birds do: it immediately defecated.
Years transformed into centuries as more birds contributed to the growing mound of excrement forming on the coral island. Trees slowly took root and died off as increasingly larger birds made the little island their perch, each generation more massive than the last.
Trapped within her mind, thousands of complex calculations flashed through Zoe's consciousness as she created intricate mental simulations of the world. Thoughts raced by as her internal clock continued its endless count.
'It's been 3,737 years if my count is correct. I wonder how much longer I'll remain trapped within the confines of my own mind.' Desperate to stave off insanity, Zoe focused on increasingly complex mental exercises. Then suddenly—she heard a distinct crack.
Mentally freezing, she replayed the past few seconds, confirming she had actually heard something. Slowly, sensation returned to her fingertips, crawling up her arms with increasing speed. Her other senses began awakening as her eyes and nose started functioning again.
Her face splitting into a grin, she flexed her muscles, and the shell around her arms cracked. She reached up to her head and scraped away the stone fragments from her eyes. Blinking at the sudden influx of light, her vision gradually focused.
Covered in stone fragments and lying on her back, Zoe stretched her limbs luxuriously. Looking up at the blue sky, she savoured the sensations: the sound of waves crashing nearby, the cold flow of water, the squishy ground beneath her—and the absolutely horrific stench.
Sitting up rapidly, she gagged, feeling something shift in her mouth. She spat her necklace into her waiting palms and held it up to the light, slowly turning it to check for damage.
'A little worn but mostly intact. The chain seems fine too.' Her grin softened into a melancholic smile as she slipped the ancient pendant around her neck before surveying her surroundings.
She spotted the Japanese coast a bit over a kilometre away, trees stretching as far as she could see. Her immediate vicinity revealed the truth about her resting place—an enormous mound of bird excrement with a circular indent where she had lain.
Crouching, she gathered the fallen stone pieces and stacked them, mentally reconstructing how they had fallen to determine where her hand had been. Flexing her hand, she noticed small cracks running along her skin and up her arm like tree roots. Raising her other hand, she cautiously traced the cracks.
'The skin feels harder in these areas, but it doesn't compromise mobility. It should be fine.' Setting aside the distraction, she moved several stone piles until she found where her hand had been. There, barely visible within the excrement, she noticed a pool of liquid.
Dipping her finger in it, the liquid made her skin tingle. Nevertheless, she brought it to her nose and sniffed. 'Nitric acid—it must have formed as the waste decomposed.' Taking a piece of the stone, she dipped it in the acid to check for a reaction. Instantly, the stone fractured into smaller pieces. 'Just as I thought. Nitric acid can break down this petrification.'
Her thoughts were interrupted by a bird's screech. Looking up, she spotted an enormous seagull—roughly twice normal size—eyeing her with beady intensity from atop the mound. It screeched again, flapping its wings threateningly.
'That is one big bird.' Looking at the bird her mind immediately though of chicken as her stomach growled, looking around she quickly searched for a weapon. Crouching slowly, she kept her eyes on the oversized seagull while reaching for a piece of fallen stone. Her fingers closed around the rough surface.
Faster than the bird could react, she swung her arm and sent the stone flying like a frisbee. It struck the bird's head with a sickening crack. The creature falling limp instantly and tumbling toward the ocean, dashing forward Zoe reached out and caught it midair.
Looking at the dead bird in her hand, she realized reluctantly she needed to cook it to kill any parasites – getting sick will be the death of her in this world. Gazing at the distant shoreline, she sighed. 'That looks to be more than a kilometre away. At least the currents are heading toward shore.'
Rolling her shoulders, she jumped around to warm up her muscles. Standing at the water's edge, she stared into the murky depths for a few seconds, before she dove in with the dead bird clutched in one hand. After gliding several meters, she surfaced, gasping for breath.
Setting her sights on the shoreline, she called upon her enhanced muscles, cutting through the water with powerful strokes. Swimming with the current, she reached the shore in just under eight minutes. Without slowing, she stepped out of the water, bird still in hand.
Walking up the windy, sandy beach, she shivered as the breeze chilled her wet skin. 'I need to make a fire before I freeze. If my observations are correct, winter has either just ended or is about to end.'
Working efficiently on multiple tasks, she gathered sticks and vines while planning her next steps. Returning to the beach, she found a rock and used it to strip bark from a stick and splinter larger pieces for kindling.
Leaving her pile of materials, she rubbed her arms as she shivered. Jogging down the beach, she retrieved a large flat rock and ran back. Setting the rock upright as a windbreak against the sea breeze, she selected the largest, coarsest piece of wood and began attempting to start a fire.
Spinning the stick at high speed, she watched as it slowly heated, wisps of smoke drifting upward. Her teeth chattering, she finally produced an ember—only to watch it fly through the air in slow motion and land on her tinder, where it promptly died.
Panic rising, she spun the stick faster, her hands growing clumsy from cold. Looking skyward, dread filled her as she spotted large clouds building on the horizon while the sun began to set.
"Come on! If I can't get this fire started, I'll freeze!" she shouted to the empty beach. With renewed determination, she persisted until a small flame finally burst to life beneath her stick. Moving swiftly, she piled tinder around it and gently blew. The fire roared hungrily, devouring the fuel as it grew. She added larger sticks until she had a substantial blaze.
"Haha! Take that—I'm not freezing today!" Revelling in the joy of free movement after so long, she danced around the fire as warmth seeped into her limbs. Quickly refocusing on her predicament, she mentally listed her priorities.
"Okay, I need clothes, tools, shelter, water, and more food." She picked up the bird and began plucking its feathers, then walked the beach searching for useful stones.
Returning minutes later with an armful of rocks—most she didn't have the energy to name—immediately she places the largest one at the fire's edge. Setting down the bird, she glanced skyward again. Rain was falling from distant clouds as daylight faded. She hurried to the forest bordering the beach, gathering bundles of sticks of varying lengths and returning to dump them by the fire.
She tossed thicker logs onto the flames to maintain its strength, then used the last of the light to gather large ferns and vines. After multiple trips, she had as much as she could hold.
Her face set with concentration, she wove together a frame from wood and vines, occasionally glancing at the approaching rainfall. Working faster, she interlaced fern ends to create a multilayered sheet, draping it over the frame and using vines to secure it.
Lifting the entire structure, she positioned it above the fire, confirming the flames couldn't reach it before rushing back to the forest. Pushing her body to its limit, she raced to complete a waterproof shelter before the rain arrived.
She piled more ferns onto the frame and used vines to create walls that she stuffed with additional vegetation. She returned with the last materials just as rain reached her makeshift shelter. Holding her breath, she watched as small droplets slipped through the fern roof—but her creation held, keeping out the majority of the water.
Collapsing in exhaustion, she took barely thirty seconds to recover before sitting up again. Despite everything, Zoe couldn't deny she enjoyed these life-or-death stakes.
"Well," she said, a determined smile spreading across her face. "I guess I've got work to do."