Emergence from the Obscene

The blistering sensation of melted flesh should have been the first indication. And the heaviness of eyelids plastered with some sort of unidentifiable muck had to be wiped from my face even as I sat upright in the midst of the black sand with strange orange rippling all throughout it.

Where was I?

The mission had been simple.

Go to the unknown planet, collect this strange black and orange sand, and return to the capsule for further study.

I never imagined that I'd find myself hours later sprawled in the middle of nowhere and it was only then that it dawned on me - there was a crack in my helmet.

Not just a small crack, but a huge crack, and yet here I was breathing.

Yes, breathing. On a distant planet where oxygen was scarce or completely unavailable. I gasped - worried that the feeling of my lungs collapsing would commence immediately. A strange reaction, and when I looked down at myself I noticed that the rest of me was entirely intact. Despite there being a huge and alarming hole in my astro-suit - I was completely fine and where my exposed skin was revealed it looked like nothing had even occurred.

That was five years ago, and the beginning of the evolution into what I must've been meant to become. I now live my life fulfilling vigilante justice with rejuvenating powers and the ability to breathe gases - which I later suspected led to my alternation changes from the planet my accident had happened on.

I am still researching the black sand, which I've come to learn has properties that aid in healing, but I still haven't uncovered if it was the gas makeup on the planet - now called Diestus, or if it was the strange orange sands.