Subnautical Naughtiness (Ocfos)

[Mashugana]

"We wound up getting caught in a small stampede when one of those things broke in through a wall, I shielded you from the worst of it, but if Gramps hadn't hauled us up, we might not have made it." Tessa explained as she helped you to your feet. You notice that your legs are weak, but you should be able to make it to the pods. The old man, however...

"Hey, don't worry about me kid, I'll be able to move for just a little longer." the older man responds to your concern, smiling with a sort of grim courage even as you saw blood flowing from the large tear in his leg. It was the kind of fatalistic expression you'd seen in war, on wounded soldiers knowing the end was near.

"Alright, if we're lucky there will be at least one or two more pods, we can do thi-" Tessa starts to say, before a nearby door caves in and a loud, high pitched chortling noise is heard. A large beak the size of your torso pokes out of the doorway, followed by a creature with a bird like head with four eyes, a spiny body somewhat resembling a sea urchin, and tendrils that allow it to skitter along the ground. Bizarrely, it manages to squeeze and compress it's body as it fits through the door, beady, gleaming eyes focused on the prey before it as gore drops from it's beak.

"Ah fuck, it's the one that got Jamie!" the old man swears. "Get goin' kids, pods should be down the hall."

[Ocfos]

Seeing the old man's expression, Nellie knows right away that he too is aware he doesn't have enough time to be saved.

As she hears him usher the two on, Nellie is taken a bit by surprise over his eagerness to distract it so they can escape. At the least, that's how she understands his words.

"It's been an honor, sir. We'll make sure your sacrifice isn't in vain." She says, giving a salute to him. "Make us all proud." She says as she turns to run with Tessa as much as she now can.

I can't believe what's going on right now... Almost there, almost secure... Rings through Nellie's head as they continue towards the pods.

[Mashugana]

"N-Nell?" Tessa stammers as she's dragged along, glancing back as the old man picks up a piece of jagged metal debris, holding it like a crude machete as he yells coarsely, a wordless, baritone battle cry as you hear his awkward footfalls, running towards the monster as it caws and shrieks, before the sound of scrambling and shouts and yells gets more frenzied, a mixture of pain and fury as you hear flesh being torn and large bodies scrambling and struggling against the walls.

The pod door is spattered the remains of a previous kill, but the door is open, and you and Tessa scramble in and activate it. As the thrusters rie, you get one last glimpse of the bird like monster as it lurches towards you, it's maw now gorey as it wheezes, a piece of jagged metal lodged in it's throat as it's eyes glare at you with a horrid intelligence before you're both ejected out into space, the pod's AI activating as it calculates the nearest habitable area. The very planet you were headed for to begin with.

"We... we made it..." Tessa says with a trembling, cracking voice as she slumps against the wall of the pod, tears falling from her face. "Oh god, why did it happen? How could it have happened like this...?"

You notice other pods ahead of yours, entering the atmosphere of the plant, when the pod's AI makes an alert sound, before registering something is approaching behind you, with an image of the ship enveloped by a flame colored fog or gas, as if it's being grabbed and pulled after you! Somewhere, deep within that image, you can see a round sphere like object, with a sun like glow.

[Ocfos]

"I could tell by the way he looked me in the eyes. He wanted to make the sacrifice. Corps teaches you to rely more on silent communication. Pouring one out for that guy as soon as possible, he deserves at least that for giving us the time we needed..." She says in a rather disbelief tone, a bit stunned by herself from everything going on. She walks over to Tessa against the wall, slouching down next to her as she leans over to comfort her with hugs.

As she comforts Tessa, she looks up at the alert notification, and sees what it displays.

"What...the hell..?" She mouths lowly to herself (plenty loudly enough for Tessa to hear), not moving her eyes from the display as she holds Tessa close.
Provided Tessa hasn't shuffled away from the fully naked squid lady trying to comfort her, that is.

[Mashugana]

Tessa sniffs and wipes her eyes, nodding her head as she listens to what you're saying, but the look on her face indicates that even so, she'll need some time and a stiff drink to come to terms with such an act as she returns the hug, grasping onto you like a small child clinging to her mother. When she hears your bewildered voice, she looks at the display as well, and her saddened, shocked expression changes to one of confusion and uncertainty, as if she isn't fully aware of what she's seeing either.

The "sun" pulsates and warps, changing in size and vaguely in shape every few moments, at one point barely large enough to make out, at another nearly as big as the ship, which is currently appearing to almost be slowly disintegrated as it's absorbed into the anomaly's fog, chunks of it appear to be being... it's hard to think of another word, but it's like they're being bitten off.

"It's... it's eating the ship..." Tessa whispers, her voice trembling in terror.

The "sun" grows brighter and brighter, larger and larger with every piece taken, until it dwarfs what remains of the ship, taking on a bright white colored lighting that hurts your eyes if you look at it directly, even with the display's darkening feature active as it takes an oval like shape.

Then it cracks.

The flame colored fog envelops it, and for a moment, all is silent as the great white oval like "sun"'s crack grows along it's surface, pulsing and flaring all the while, until finally...

The display suddenly goes black as the AI in the pod crackles to life. The pod begins to rock and rumble, and you feel a pull on your gut.

"We are now entering the atmosphere, estimated time of impact in T minus one hundred and twenty seconds."

"Oh shit, quick, buckle yourself up!" Tessa shouts, snapping to attention as she grabs onto the seating. "It should set off the 'chute in half that time. Landing will be super rough, but it's not like we have a choice!"

[Ocfos]

Nellie doesn't hesitate to get up once Tessa snaps her out of it. She goes for the seat closest to Tessa and straps herself in as well.

She puts a hand over to Tessa, trying to reach for her to comfort her (And herself at this point).

"Everything will be alright, we'll be fine." She hesitates on if she should actually admit to Tessa yet that she feels her as more than a friend, as she half-fears she might not get the chance to otherwise. But if they're not gonna make it to the surface, what would the point even be? Nellie's thoughts confuse herself quite a bit in what she should say, if anything.

In her combined hesitation and confusion, she does nothing.

[Mashugana]

The next few seconds become a blur as the pod rocks violently, the alarm going as the AI details how close you're getting to impact, and you see Tessa's eyes suddenly widen as she yells something out to you, but the impact occurs and your head snaps back against the seat, the force of the blow causing you to black out.

Your dreams are of being submerged under deep, dark water once again, the feeling of eyes upon you, and a female voice, familiar but unnameable, speaking in a language you don't understand, before great orange eyes stare at you from the abyss below, unmoving and unblinking. One word enters your mind with the force of a sledgehammer, told by a voice as deep as the darkest depths of the ocean, and booming like the loudest thunderstorm.

"BELIEVE."

You snap back into wakefulness, the sound of waves lapping at your pod, and you realize that you're lying face down on the floor, a broken buckle lying nearby. You have a piercing pain in your skull, likely from the impact, but you seem to be mostly fine as you inspect the damage to your little vessel. One thing is off though.

Tessa isn't there.

[Ocfos]

Nellie groggily stirs awake, groaning angrily as she tries getting up off of the floor.

"Believe...?" She mumbles to herself, "The hell's that supposed to..."

She then notices Tessa isn't in the pod. "TESS?!" She shouts as loudly as she can, still groggy, but definitely unable to see her from where she is sprawled on the floor.
Putting a hand on the back of her head, she's hoping she at least won't find blood on the back of her head where she got knocked out.

[Mashugana]

You're able to stand, though the haste of your action causes your vision to blur, and you feel as if you'll be sick for a few seconds, to your displeasure, you'd find there was a little blood on your hand when you withdrew it, partially congealed already, you must've hit your head hard enough to concuss yourself, and the effects aren't helped any by the steady if gentle rocking of your pod. Glancing at the seat Tessa was in, you curiously note that the seat belt and lock mechanism are still on, despite it's occupant having disappeared, and the lights begin to flicker as movement is detected within the pod, and the AI begins to crackle to life again, doing a diagnostic.

[Ocfos]

Nellie crawls over towards the seat Tessa was in, confused as she starts to feel around at it.

"Te...Tess..?" She mutters in confusion, "How did...? But she was..." She continues, starting to have a small breakdown at the sight and slight disorientation from the rattling impact.

[Mashugana]

There doesn't appear to be anything there, no blood, no torn clothing, nothing. Yet Tessa was with you up until you'd crashed and were knocked out, where could she have gone?

"Basic life support systems online, primary thruster damaged, secondary thruster damaged, food and water preparation device functional, fabricator damaged, requires repairs, running at minimal power to conserve energy. Small life forms detected around pod, threat level minimal. Opening doors." you hear the AI chime off as the exit to the pod unfolds, creating a ramp leading into a vast expanse of ocean with no land in sight, along with the trap door above falling open, allowing you access to a ladder to get onto the roof of the pod if you so desired.

"Greetings Nellie Samotara, it is good to see you are alive. You appear to be injured, however. medical supplies are on the walls if you have need of them."

[Ocfos]

Nellie sits up, pausing as she heads the pod come to life, and the doors opening.

"Where did...the other passenger go?" She asks anxiously.
"Where's Tessa?"

[Mashugana]

The pod was silent for a moment, processing your question.

"There were no other passengers aboard this pod, miss Samotara. There is no record of anyone named Tessa in this pod's database."

The roll of the waves lapping against the pod from outside are the only other noises that you can hear. Everything else is quiet.

You are alone here.

[Ocfos]

Nellie pauses momentarily, staring at the screen.

"N-no, that's impossible! She was right there! She even activated the seat herself!" Nellie protests at the machine, starting to get on the verge of tears.

[Mashugana]

"There was no one else on this pod when you entered, miss Samotara. I would recommend consulting a professional when it is convenient to do so." the AI states, coldly and observantly.

It couldn't be possible, Tessa was right there with you, she practically dragged you into the pod! You saw her, felt her, heard her! For fuck's sake you'd SMELLED her on some particularly nasty jobs!

However, the AI suddenly speaks up again.

"In the meantime, you have not eaten in fifteen hours, readings suggest that while there are edible plant and animal life forms located in this area in abundance. Perhaps seeking sustenance would aid in clearing your head? The atmosphere and waters appear to be quite clear and calm, and there are no large life forms in the area."

[Ocfos]

Nellie doesn't respond for a while, simply laying down on her side to start sobbing. She usually has a hard time crying, but right now she's just so confused her brain doesn't know how to react.

After she's wept for a good while, she looks up at the computer again,

"Where... Where is she then?" She continues, "She can't be...d-de..." She continues to sob at the thought of the person closest to her on the entire ship, being just gone so suddenly.

But I SAW HER! The seat went down with h- Pause. Sniffles. Sitting up.

"Show me the camera playback of when I got in..?"

[Mashugana]

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

I'm rolling to see if the camera does in fact have footage or if something happened to it. 19. Oof.

The AI pauses for some time, but responds firmly. "My visual recording systems were damaged in the impact, I can only display one image, and it is in poor quality."

On the display panel showing the pod's status and other information, an image appeared. You could tell it was the interior of the pod, but it looked distorted and warped, as if it were an old time photo dropped into a puddle of water with oil or petrol mixed in, and the quality was foggy and grainy. It looked almost as if light grey smoke with strange lights was in the pod, and you could barely make out your own form in it, slumped in your seat. Most importantly though, you could see a small flash of orange, looking a bit like Tessa's hair! However, you couldn't tell if that was it for sure, or if it was merely an effect of the damage or strange lighting.

"This image was taken six hours ago, unknown spikes in radiation and alien life signs were detected very briefly at this moment."

[Ocfos]

"Wh..what? But that's impossible." She stares at the display for a minute, "Alien life signs? ...What kind of signs, and can you track them nearby?" She mumbles, staring at herself, "...Why did I fall out of the seat..? I'm sitting in it right here, just like I strapped myself in."

[Mashugana]

"Beginning scan." the AI chimes, taking a few seconds as the waves lap at the pod.

"I am detecting an abundance of life forms around us right now miss Samotara, these appear to be simple marine wildlife, similar to the species found on many other worlds and mainly consisting of fish and seaweed like organisms. There are no signs of intelligent life in the vicinity aside from you at the moment."

As if on que, you catch a brief flash of something silver flying by the window, before it hits the water and is submerged. A moment later, a second small shape flies out of the water for a few seconds, the fish being a bright blue with silvery wing like fins on the sides, zipping through the air for a short period before hitting the sea again.

[Ocfos]

"...No intelligent life in the vicinity? But what about the other pods?" Nellie jerks her head to the side as she catches something shimmering by the open door, though she finds out it's just the fish gliding by momentarily, as they leap out of the ocean.

Nellie sighs, starting to fix her wound so she won't have to fear ever having to leave the pod. She figures she might as well multitask as she's trying to make sense of the situation through the AI.