Interstellar: exploring the cosmos with my anomaly system

Astra ran as fast as she could, stumbling in her steps as arrows rain down on her, one of them nicking her calf causing her to hiss in pain.

"CELI! I thought you said there was no form of intelligent life here!" She shouted as she continued to run, hoping the trees in her way slowed them down in their pursuit.

[Apologies, the standard for 'intelligent life' had drastically increased 3000 BHE ]

"BHE??!"

[Before human exploration, 2024 to be precise the error of a thing know as brain ro—]

"Thanks for the lesson but now's not the time!" Astra stammered, quickly trying to find a place to hide before settling behind a tree.

"Help a girl out here! That portal power, how do I use that?" She asked in a hushed voice, hoping to calm herself down.

Astra backed against the tree, with uneven breaths, She clutched at her calf, hoping that would somehow dispel the pain.

"Celi, seriously, portal power. How do I use it?" she hissed, keeping her voice low. from their approaching adversaries.

[Activating portals is not advisable, not when your body hasn't gone through the S.Y.S.T.E.M evolution process.]

"We won't live to evolve or anything if we don't do something!" She hissed, peeking around the tree trunk. The figure with the wooden mask was closing in, its movements eerily silent.

 Another arrow whizzed past her head, embedding itself into the bark with a dull thunk.

[warning, there might be others]

"Yeah, figures..." She groaned, turning back ahead of her in hopes of hiding her body grabbing onto a random branch she could find. "Just give me access to this power already!"

[Understood, overriding protocols...]

The figure slowly walked over to where Astra was, their movements slow, but deliberate before like a spring snapping free, it launched forward.

Her body moved on instinct. She ducked low and swung wildly with the sharpened branch she still clutched in her hand. The branch met steel with a harsh clang, the vibration jarring her bones. Splinters exploded from the impact, and the figure retreated a step, unnervingly quiet as it reassessed her.

The eerie calm in its posture sent a chill down her spine. Her breathing steadied, but the beating drums in her heart slowed for no one. She tightened her grasp on the branch, her heart racing with fear.

"Alright, let's see how smart you really are, dumbass!" She commented, her voice shaking despite the confidence in her words.

The creature took it as a challenge.

The masked figure lunged at her, a blur of calculated fury as its never ending strikes came within a breath of ending her. Astra's focus narrowed, her gaze locking onto its every movement.

She tracked the arc of its arm as it poised for another attack, muscles tensing like a coiled spring.

In a heartbeat, she activated the portal. The shimmering edge sliced through the figure's arm with surgical precision, severing it mid-swing.

For a moment, the world seemed to freeze. The severed limb hit the ground with a dull, lifeless thud, the sound jarring in the tense silence that followed. Astra stood her ground, chest heaving, her eyes meeting the hollow gaze of the mask.

It didn't scream. It didn't recoil.

It simply tilted its head, as if reconsidering its options, the unnerving silence in its reaction only made Astra worry.

 "Not so smart now are ya?" she muttered under her breath, gripping the branch tighter, ready for whatever came next.

[Danger!]

Astra side stepped, an arrow sticking itself where she stood, her gaze falling to the arrow before going back to the creature before her, but by the time she looked it was already gone.

"Ha! Pussies!" She snarked, tossing the branch at the direction she assumed they left. Silence settled in the forest once more, her eyes growing heavy and tired. 

"Right… side effects…" She murmured, leaning back against the tree once more. "I'll just…take a minute."