His torn clothes were almost useless, so he found something suitable for himself from the line of corpses.
Thick gray pants, a dark turtleneck, and some kind of modern bulletproof vest. In addition, there was an interesting backpack nearby that could be unfolded and folded into three parts.
"That's better... At least a little better." His voice pierced the silence between the pale, bleached trees.
With a long dagger in his hand, a pistol in his pocket, and a heavy metal cable attached to his backpack, he began to feel a little more than just cattle being led to slaughter.
"The wind... It's gone," he whispered, stretching his free hand forward.
And yet, the blood-red leaves continued to sway as if in the wind. The reason for this phenomenon remained unknown.
It didn't seem strange to him. It felt deeply wrong.
As he examined each white trunk, he shuddered at the rare black spots on the bark. From the side, they resembled human faces, frozen forever in the tree.
"Creepy as hell..." he whispered, shuddering, and pulled his hood even tighter.
The look was completed by a thin black cloak with a hood.
Perhaps he thought the cloak would help him hide in the night, or perhaps he felt a little safer when he was completely covered up. Although it seemed childish, both options were true.
...
Time flowed on, and he continued walking forward in absolute silence. He didn't know where this path would lead, but turning back seemed even more foolish.
"Why do I feel this way? I'm protected and armed... Could it be because of those corpses? No weapon or equipment helped them, but still... It's so scary. It doesn't seem normal."
After wandering for so long, he began to imagine that he was surrounded by a white army of long-limbed monsters. It seemed that there would be no end to these creatures.
The constant paranoia was getting tiresome. Not even a couple of seconds went by without him looking over his shoulder.
Realizing that this couldn't go on, he took a desperate step.
"Paymax, wake up," he said, leaning against a tree and pulling the slider on his bracelet.
While the advanced intelligence was coming back to life, he took off his backpack and took out the only water flask he had found among the corpses. The liquid felt foul and stale, but it was clearly better than nothing.
"Hello, I am Paymax! Ah... It's you, the new tactless user. I regret to inform you that your request to change the friendly mode cannot be granted. Beep! Paymax is malfunctioning and cannot make any mode adjustments at all. That's too bad... for you!"
"I already noticed that. You're very unstable, Paymax, and you're definitely not helping the world. That's too bad... for you."
While the hologram kept chattering away, he slowly sipped the stale water and tried to calm his breathing.
Only now did he notice how fast his heart was beating because of imaginary dangers.
It wasn't that there was anything rash or unstable about this reaction... In fact, no one could have guessed what might be waiting for him behind the next tree.
And yet, the robot's chatter helped him calm down, and at the same time did not prevent him from remaining alert.
"Okay, let's go." He pushed himself away from the tree and resumed his usual pace. "Paymax, your new user has a task for you."
"But the questionnaire... Without filling out the questionnaire, Paymax can't..."
"You can ask questions and complete the task at the same time. Take a look."
He opened one of his pockets and took out a deck of cards he had taken from the richest of the corpses. At first glance, there were just under twenty cards. At first, he mistook them for ordinary playing cards and didn't think much of them, despite their strange design.
And yet, he couldn't shake the feeling that he couldn't understand the language the descriptions were written in. It was for this reason, and another related to the title of the former owner of the Pit, that he took them with him.
The hologram of the planet looked at the cards spread out in a fan, then turned to him in confusion.
"User, these are cards. Do you really think so little of Paymax? Such trivial tasks are simply insulting!"
"Paymax, I do not doubt you. I need you to translate the description of the cards."
"Can't you read?"
"I can, but I don't really know this language."
"Then how do you speak it?"
"...Damn," he muttered, putting his hand to his face.
His rebirth was so sudden that he didn't even have time to grasp the basic principles. If there's a black hole flying in the sky, red trees all around, strange weapons... It was logical to assume that this world would be extremely different in other aspects as well.
He didn't know this language. And yet, he was speaking it.
However, his denial of logic in this aspect was understandable. He was helped. The being that revived him made it so that he could understand others and speak for himself. It was another miracle.
"User, I'm happy to tell you that it looks like you have... Alexia!"
"Alexia?"
"A simplified explanation just for you: the loss of the ability to read while still being able to understand spoken language."
"Wow..." He scratched his cheek awkwardly.
After thinking for a moment, he decided to give his new friend some context. After all, they were likely to have a long journey together.
"Paymax, here's the thing... As you may have noticed, I'm a rather strange user with unusual questions and tasks. I suspect it's because I have amnesia, and very serious amnesia at that. I don't even remember how I got here or where I live, can you imagine?"
"I understand, it must seem like a serious loss to you, and you feel empty... Beep! According to my sensors, you have a serious depressive disorder with melancholic traits. Apathy, or, in your slang, the damn blues!"
"…"
"Paymax is an understanding and very intelligent AI. Would you like me to conduct a psychotherapy session for you?"
"I think I'll pass... Better get busy with the cards."
"But you're sick, and I'll have to read to you aloud. Then we won't be able to fill out the new user questionnaire, and that's not what we agreed on!"
"Compromise. First 5 cards, then 5 questions, and so on, okay?"
"Okay!"
The rustling of scarlet leaves continued to play at the edge of his senses. It reminded him of someone's whisper or call.
'Someone was whispering.'
'Someone was calling him.'
Such thoughts made him glance in all directions, but each time his fears were not confirmed.
The white and red night forest, illuminated by the pale golden light of a frightening celestial object.
And it was as if in this whole place... As if in this whole world... As if in this whole life... He was alone. Almost.
"Look, it's Ryskar! God, what a robo-cutie!" Paymax shouted, imitating a touched tone.
His gaze was fixed on the first card that had been revealed...
And on the white trunk nearby, blood-red shreds and deep claw marks stood out in stark contrast. Unfortunately, they went unnoticed.
A truly terrible kind of luck.