Chater 1

..."𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒂𝒚. 𝑺𝒐 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆, 𝒀/𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒈𝒂𝒛𝒆."...

~ 𐌻𐌴𐍈𐍂 𐍂𐍃𐌰𐍁𐍃 ~

"Do you ever think about regret?"

The small cargo plane shuddered. Zayrn scrambled for purchase, sinking his fingernails into the armrests. His bottom was sore thanks to the lackluster cushion on his seat, there was turbulence every five seconds, and a cold sweat was clamming his skin up. Worst of all, his boss wanted to have a philosophical discussion with him.

"Erm, yeah sure. I think about regret. Like a lot. Especially right now," muttered the frazzled brown haired man(Zayrn).

Zayrn regretted getting on this plane. He regretted the new island (temporarily named "Nemo") being discovered. He regretted taking this job as Dr. Nilsson's assistant, and even more so, Zayrn regretted trying to get his foot through the door in a scientific field.

Not so much because he hated science (maybe he did, maybe he didn't) but mostly because he hated the situation he was in right now. On a metal deathtrap, thousands of feet above ground, and hurtling his way toward a potentially deadly island.

Not exactly the island resort vacation one hoped for.

"I'm thinking about regret currently as well," Dr. Nilsson nodded, her sea green eyes gleaming in the low light. It flickered out at every other bump. "I caught myself ruminating this morning on the curious subject of opportunity. Of chance. And then, of course, the natural route is to think of regret.

"Can you comprehend it, Zayrn?How lucky we are? What chance we had of being right here, on this plane, on our way to make one of the most potentially groundbreaking discoveries in the last millennium? So little chance, astronomical really... Yet, here we are. Doing just that Imagine the regret we would feel if we had not seized this opportunity at once."

Zayrn agreed distractedly, trying desperately to hold his lunch in when the plane gave another teeth-clattering shudder.

"Think about it, Zayrn," Nilsson continued. "What has no man ever discovered? What is the one thing that defines us as a species?"

"Our genes?"

"Exactly, our intelligence; our sentience," Nilsson snapped her fingers, clearly not listening to her assistant at all. "From the skeletons recovered from Nemo especially of the cranial bones we can deduce that they belong to a creature of equal if not more intelligence than even us Homo sapiens possess. It's not certain of course but very, very likely. Can you imagine us no longer being the only beings on this planet capable of conscious, subjective thoughts? Of self-awareness? Of feelings? Possibly even of new or foreign technology?"

Nilsson gave a deep, longing sigh. "Ah, now if only I could get my hands on one. Just one. I would love to study it; dissect it - of course, with the creature's consent."

"Er, yeah," Zayrn threw his boss a doubtful look, "and you think that they'll just be like 'yup go ahead Kill and dissect me please'?"

"For the good of discovery, I'm sure they would be honored," Nilsson smiled, completely and utterly delusional in Zayrn's humble opinion.

"Yeah, for the 'good of discovery' sure." Zayrn did not roll his eyes. "Besides, if they're supposedly so smart, then why haven't they built like - I don't know - a boat or plane or something? Why didn't they ever build technology that would enable them to leave their island and discover the world beyond?"

"Perhaps they have a fundamentally different way of thinking," Nilsson considered his query. "Humans are a naturally curious, competitive, and territorial species. However, the Ophidian narus, or the 'naga' as it is generally termed, could be more reptilian in nature - not only physically but behaviorally as well.

"Reptiles - snakes really, are not territorial unless it is during the mating season. They are simple creatures with no drive for exploration or conquering beyond what is required for survival. They possess a homing instinct, content to settle down where there is abundant prey and suitable shelter.

"As for them never leaving their island or discovering us before we could discover them, truth is: we won't know their motivations until we have an opportunity to study one. In depth. For all we know, they are content with simplistic perhaps even primitive - lifestyles despite their high intelligence. Thus, there wouldn't be a need to see other parts of the world."

Zayrn squinted, "You got all that from a few bones? Wow."

"The skeleton of a creature can tell us a lot but not everything."

Zayrn jumped as a hand clamped over his own. He looked up to meet his boss's eyes. She was smiling one of those rare smiles a genuine one.

"I am truly looking forward to this, Zayrn. More than anything else in my life thus far. I am glad, too, to have you join me on this journey of discovery."

"Uh, sure," Zayrn covertly slipped his hand out from under hers. "I'm glad too, I guess..."

Zayrn was not glad thank you very much, but he was receiving a hefty paycheck.

.......

.......

.......

.......

.......

End of chapter 1.

Hello readers, well this is not my own story so all credit goes to it's rightful author.

I make many grammatical errors so , sorry for that. Its Male naga x male --novel soo enjoyy it.😌

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***