Shrouded Seascape

Screeeech!

Charles spun the steering wheel hard, and the car swerved before pulling to an abrupt stop. Yet, the sand giant did not shrink. In fact, as it moved away from Charles, it continued to grow larger.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

With each impact, the sandy grains on the ground and the cars trembled. The sound came from the giant's enormous, pillar-like hands pounding on the desert sand. This was no mirage or trick of the eye; the colossal sand creature was real!

At this moment, Charles had lost all hope that he was on Earth. There was no way something like that existed on Earth.

What should I do?

That was a question Charles desperately needed a solution for. In the face of this bizarre sand giant that was growing with each passing second, none of his usual tactics would work.

Before he could think further, a seismic tremor coursed through the ground as the sand giant slowly turned around, its body slightly leaning forward. A massive head that looked like a collapsed mountain peered out of the violet haze.

The sand giant had no face. Where its features should have been, jutting sand dunes sat in their place, with waterfalls of yellow sand cascading down the dunes' steep slopes and trickling into the desert below.

Unlike the gaping holes on its back, the giant's front was riddled with dunes of varying sizes. They resembled grotesque growths on a human body.

Just as the enormous head approached nearer, Charles' pupils constricted to pinpoint—he noticed something on the creature.

Charles extended his trembling right hand to the side. "Lily, Mirrorbox! Audric! Take cover!"

The Mirrorbox was opened, and a blindingly soft light flooded the desert. For a few brief seconds, everything returned to normal, while the sand giant in the distance remained unscathed.

Charles' expression froze in place. He clearly saw the same gentle light flicker on the sand giant's body. Lowering his head, he gazed at the desert sand as his thoughts ran.

Seeing that the approaching sand waterfalls were threatening to swallow everyone whole, First Mate Bandages gritted his teeth and yelled into the intercom, "Captain! I suggest we split up... Retreat... Our survival chances will be higher..."

"No! Don't run! Everyone, follow me and charge forward!" Charles' command took everyone by surprise. It was essentially an order to commit suicide.

But as soon as they saw Charles' car in the distance speeding toward the cascading waterfall, the others followed without hesitation.

Their actions had the opposite effect; the giant's body grew even larger. Just as they were about to be buried by sand, Charles' voice crackled through the intercom again.

"No! It's still growing! Wrong angle, turn right!"

Though the crew members in the other three cars couldn't understand Charles' plan, they screeched to a halt and swiftly veered to the sand giant's right side.

When Charles noticed that the sand giant's towering form was finally starting to shrink, a slight sense of relief stirred in his heart. He seemed to have gotten an idea of the desert's strange patterns.

But before he could rejoice in his realization, the sand waterfalls were already overhead and descended upon them like a torrential downpour.

Sand filled their surroundings as the cars were caught in the massive sandstorm. Moving forward was starting to become challenging.

"Keep going! Don't stop! We're almost there!" Charles shouted into the intercom and floored the gas pedal with all his might.

His gamble eventually paid off as the sandstorm gradually waned. The sand giant was still moving beside them, but its form had shrunk considerably and was continuing to shrink.

"It's not over yet! Keep going, don't stop!" Charles yelled into the intercom once more.

Gradually, the sand giant in the distance shrunk to the size of a basketball. Only then could Charles finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Captain, how did you realize that going right would cause that thing to shrink?" Conor's voice crackled through the intercom.

A slight smile appeared on Charles' face. "Remember the Mirrorbox? After opening it, I saw the same light on that creature's body."

"And... what does that mean?"

"I'm guessing that thing isn't a sand giant at all; it's a mirror."

"A mirror?"

"Yes, a special mirror. Actually this entire desert is its front side, and we're on its body now. The mirror reflects the entire desert and the real sand giant is under our feet," Charles explained.

However, the bizarre revelation confused everyone further.

Charles then continued, "I felt something was off when the sand giant grew larger regardless if we moved forward or backward.

"Then, I caught a glimpse of light on its body, and I used the Mirrorbox to verify what it was. To put it plainly, you can try to understand it as a special type of reverse mirror.

"For ordinary mirrors, the reflection will diminish in size when the object moves farther away from the mirror. But what if there exists a special mirror in the world? A mirror where the reflection enlarges regardless of whether the object in reality moves closer or farther. Since moving backward or forward didn't work, I thought we would try observing from the side."

"But... that sandstorm was real! It wasn't a reflection," Conor countered.

A complicated expression surfaced on Charles' countenance as he stared at the sand giant's gradually disappearing silhouette. "Yes... The scariest part is that the reflection in the mirror is real. Especially when we are part of that reflection."

Standing atop the car dashboard, a shiver coursed through Lily as a thought hit her. When Charles had opened the Mirrorbox, perhaps the "real" Charles in the mirror had seen them too. Lily shook her head vigorously to banish the terrifying thought.

Grabbing the intercom, Charles said, "We'll sort that out later. We have to settle something more important now. Headcount check. Car One: Captain Charles, Gunner Lily."

"Car Two: Boatswain Dipp, Doctor Linda, and Sailor Norton."

"Car Three: Second Mate Conor, Cook Planck, Second Engineer Audric, and Chief Engineer Paul."

After the report from Car Three, the intercom went silent. Car Four, which should have continued with the headcount, remained silent.

"Car Four! Do you hear me? First Mate! Reply if you hear me!" The unexpected silence stirred a wave of anxiety in Charles. Just as he contemplated if he should stop to find them, a brief burst of static sounded from the intercom before Bandages' slow manner of speech came through.

"Car Four: First Mate Bandages... Second Engineer..."

When Bandages completed the headcount report, Charles exhaled in relief. He then asked, "First Mate, why did you take so long to respond?"

"When we... entered... the sandstorm...we got... delayed.. by... stuck tires..."

"Identify yourself," Charles instructed.

"Bandages. Position:... First Mate. Duty: To assist the Captain in organizing work plans... and responsible for compiling... the cargo loading schedule. Helmsman covering the... 1200 to 2400 shift! Today's secret code is...."

Though it had been a close call, fortunately, everyone was accounted for and most importantly, they were the real version of themselves. Charles' anxious heart gradually settled back in place.

"Everyone, head east, bearing sixteen degrees!"

"Roger!"

"Aye!!"

The cars drew a yellow line through the desert and sped straight toward the semi-desert.

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