THE AURORA LOGS [Planet 4546B]

Jamezorg

The events categorised in these next chapters tell the tale of the Aurora Event survivor Harl Samana, and the struggles he faced during his survival efforts. I was lucky enough to be his AI through these dark times, and I recorded his story for you, the reader.

Harl Samana was a lower class engineer aboard the Terraforming vessel, the Aurora. The crew's primary mission was to venture to the planet 4546B, where they would ready the body for mass colonisation. But the crew had a secondary mission, arguably more vital than the previous. They were to locate and exfiltrate a group of survivors, who were lucky enough to live through the Degasi crash 23 years previous. Harl sat in the cargo bay, atop a pile of containers filled with the most up to date space-faring technology. P.R.A.W.N suits strode across the room carrying and pushing crates and other vehicles, such as parts of a Seamoth, a new vehicle, designed solely for underwater travel. Whilst on the topic of P.R.A.W.N suits, these new designs were built to withstand the ocean depths, and any temperatures and pressures it could potentially face below the surface.

Harl was off duty, as the D.M.D.C (Dark Matter Drive Core) was running smoother than ever. Even at light speed the Aurora faces little discrepancies when travelling, no bumps of any kind Harl signed up to Alterra with one of his best friends, Gero Rogers, a captain, not for the Aurora mind you, but for the many Cyclops that it would send into the ocean to transport people and goods to certain locations. At the moment he controlled a P.R.A.W.N exo, and carried a crate of titanium from one end of the room to the other, differentiating it from the plasteel and glass. Gero finished his task and parked his exosuit in the corner of the room, along with several others. He hopped out and looked up to Harl atop the luggage, who was slowly making his way down to the floor, hopping from one crate to the other.

"Is it easy to pick all of that up in an exo?" Harl asked. He had never piloted an exo, although he had had a hand in constructing several.

"Easy if you know what you're doing." Gero replied. "Sometimes it's kind of hard to get a grip when these crates are so smooth. Anyway, how are you?"

"I'm good." Harl shook Gero's hand firmly without breaking the lock their eyes had made. "I didn't see you yesterday, what happened?"

"Oh, I had places to be. They wanted me to test out a new version of the Cyclops sub, it's actually smaller than before. You'd know about all that though, Harl." Harl was confused. He hadn't even known that a new version of the submarine was constructed, let alone even planned. The old Cyclops submarines were large, bulky, and had a cargo hold almost as big as that of the Aurora, and their main purpose was to transport cargo.

"I didn't know anything about a new Sub." Harl admitted. "You were there testing it?"

"Yea, it's-" Gero was stopped mid sentence by a booming voice that echoed around the many rooms of the Aurora. The voice informed the crew that 4546B was five minutes away, and that they should prepare for landing by making their way to their designated housing. "Okay, I'll see you when we land." Gero ran to his room. Harl stood in the middle of the Cargo hold before walking to his.



Thanks @Bugzapper for inspiring me to do this with your stories. I read them and thought it was an amazing idea. I'll be updating this at any time I can with more logs, and instead of it being a continuous story with chapters and a plot it will be updates regarding Harl's journey on 4546B. Not copying Bugzapper, I was inspired. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it

Jamezorg

The events categorised in these next chapters tell the tale of the Aurora Event survivor Harl Samana, and the struggles he faced during his survival efforts. I was lucky enough to be his AI through these dark times, and I recorded his story for you, the reader.

The Aurora was broken. During its descent, it was struck by a mysterious energy pulse, resulting in catastrophic hull failure. Its many rooms were littered with breaches and holes that opened the gates to space, sucking anything the vacuum could grasp out. Sirens whirred through the corridors, although almost completely drained out by the sound of scraping metal, flame, screams and doors slamming shut in a desperate attempt to keep air inside the ship. Harl rushed to the Escape Pods, worried, his mind fixed on surviving the imminent crash. He picked nothing up from his quarters; nothing save a handheld flashlight and a packet of crisps, sealed in a yellow bag. In front of him, past a doorway, was the Emergency Room, a large, oblong room, each longer wall holding at least fifty escape pods. The door however, began to close before him slowly. Although he was tired, and his legs were worn, he ran faster than he ever had. The door was half way closed when Harl reached it and he dived beneath, performing a roll across the ground on the other side. Looking up and out of the portholes that had replaced already jettisoned Life Pods, he saw the Aurora had entered 4546B’s atmosphere, and the first layer of clouds were not too far below. He ran to ‘Life Pod 5’, his assigned Life Pod. Harl knew that Gero’s assigned pod was number seventeen, and he saw that it had already been sent away, hopefully with him inside. Harl tapped a screen beside the pod on the wall, and a countdown of ten seconds started. He had this amount of time to enter the pod before the doors closed and it jettisoned. He grabbed a ladder and slid down it into the small compartment, his feet slamming against the floor. The pod had its own artificial gravity, so he “stood sideways” on the floor of the pod, looking up through the door above to see outside. People ran around in the room to their Life Pods. Harl saw four people enter four pods, each next to one another. The doors of his closed and he sat in a single seat at the far end of the room, pressing a button to allow a brace to fall into place over his shoulders. The compartment was an oval shape. To Harl’s left was a container full of nutrient bars and filtered water, a med kit fabricator and a regular fabricator, and beside his was a communications relay, a white box bolted to the side of the pod. Then I introduce myself to Harl, under circumstances not so pleasant, sadly.

“Launch in 3... 2... 1...” I informed with an "English man's" voice. With a boom the Life Pod fired off through the air of the planet, the entire room rumbling as it flew. Floatation devices on either side of the pod opened up, the room shaking violently as they did. Then it was evident that the Aurora had made contact when a beam of light shone through the roof window. Harl looked through and saw only a ball of fire, pieces of the once beautiful ship flying in every direction. Harl lay his finger on a flashing button on the communications relay. “Who would you like to contact?” I asked.

“Life Pod 17!” He yelled, though I don’t blame him for it. I’d be surprised if I heard him at all if he didn’t over the noise. But I still didn’t quite understand.

“Life Pod 17?” I asked for clarification.

“Yes!” He seemed annoyed this time, so without a word I directed him to Life Pod 17. Or, at least, I tried. It wouldn’t let me contact the pod. It was in my best interests to inform Harl of the situation.

“Communication error. Would you like to try again?” I asked. Behind Harl, however, a panel was falling out of place rather slowly. Eventually, though, another bolt flew loose and it began to wave frantically around. Then after a few seconds it came out of place entirely and started flying around the pod uncontrolled. I tried to warn Harl, tried to warn him to duck or something along those lines. But the panel hit his square between the eyes, and he fell unconscious.

When Harl awoke, the sun was shining down through the pod. It bobbed up and down, back and forth, the sound of the sea slowly slapping against the sides of the compartment. His eyes widened. He pressed a button on the arm of his chair and the metal bars holding him in place rose up, allowing him to walk freely around the pod. He pressed the button on the communications relay again.

"Who would you like to contact?" I asked again. I knew now that we'd both be together for a while, at least until a new ship arrived to take us home.

"Life Pod 17." He said, calmly this time, his head bowed so I knew he was disheartened. This time, however, I was able to make a connection with the communications relay of Life Pod 17 and saying I was excited about this fact would be an understatement.

"Contacting Life Pod 17..." I let the sound play out loud. All you could hear, however, was the sound of the ocean, muffled and barely recognisable.

"Where is he?" Harl asked obviously himself, but I felt compelled to answer.

"Perhaps he went for a swim." I answered. "Thanks to a quick scan I can safely say that these waters are full of edible fish and salt deposits. If you ran these fish through your fabricator, it would provide a tasty source of food."

"How do you know it's tasty?"

"I said that to reassure you, Subject 43. These fish would taste... Questionable, at best. Perhaps Gero doesn't know or has lost them, but there are nutrient bars in the pod's built in container, along with filtered water and two flares, just in case." I knew Harl only by Subject 43 at this point. I was programmed to help in survival and emergency situations, not to draw bonds between me and organic lifeforms. So he introduced himself:

"Right, thanks. And call me Harl." I saw that he was readying himself to climb the ladder and exit the Life Pod, which I thought was a bad idea.

"Harl, I do not advise leaving this pod. I advise you wait for a rescue vessel to arrive. Eat your nutrient bars sparingly and, even on a celestial body made entirely of water, the substance is hard to come by when thirst. Don't resort to drinking salt water, only drink that which has been provided." He was gone.

Harl stood on top of the pod, looking at the Aurora burn in the distance. The ship looked enormous from where he stood, but in actuality it wasn't all that big compared to other vessels, for example the VALIANT-84 or the GIGAMOTH. The moon orbited the planet quickly, and at the moment was hovering behind the ship. He held an emergency dive helmet under his left shoulder. In his scuba suit's wrist was a panel.

"You realise I'm programmed into this suit as well?" I informed.

"Run me a scan of the surrounding area, see if there's any basic resources of some kind." He held his wrist up to his mouth as he spoke, but he really didn't need to. I can hear him just fine, as long as he opens his mouth and words come out.

"Yes sir..." I ran a scan of the area, with a sixty ft. range. "Environment: Uncharted ocean planet. Oxygen Nitrogen atmosphere. Water contamination: High. Detecting high amounts of Quartz in the area. Limestone may contain metals such as copper or titanium. Scrap metal from the Aurora crash could also be taken apart in the fabricator to create titanium. High amount of small lifeforms in area. Three larger lifeforms detected."

"Any humans?" Harl quickly asked.

"I'm afraid not." If I were a human, a sigh would have gone hand in hand with my answer.

"Well, it looks like we're going in." Harl grinned, twisted his helmet into place over his head and prepared to dive.

"I would not advise that as the creatures described may be hostile towards-" he dived into the ocean, leaving a splash and ripples above the surface.

Jamezorg

The events categorised in these next chapters tell the tale of the Aurora Event survivor Harl Samana, and the struggles he faced during his survival efforts. I was lucky enough to be his AI through these dark times, and I recorded his story for you, the reader.

Harl and I knew that the ocean would be full of life, but we didn’t know quite how teaming it would actually be. Shoals of fish swayed in patterns through the purple corals and under the strange rock formations of the shallows. Fish of different kinds and species lived together in these waters in perfect harmony, swimming alongside and around each other in relative peace. Some fish swam solo, whilst others, even of the same species, stayed close together in schools.

“The fact that some fish swim alone,” I informed, “could indicate that they are free thinking organisms, like humans, choosing whether they wish to join selective groups or not.” The water was not deep here; the sea bed was only a handful of meters below. Harl already had his mind set on survival, however. He grabbed a fish with amazing dexterity and speed, and shoved it into his pack. This pack was one of his own design. It allowed for items to be turned into data, and have them stored that way. It clung to his back, and required him only to think that he wanted the held item in question to be stored, as it connected directly to his neural interface. “The fish you have chosen to store seems to have a somewhat streamlined body, allowing for quick movement. It is rather small, and has two bulging eyes that take up most of the space in its skull-“ I was cut off there again by Harl, who I reckon was scared out of his wits, but feigning confidence.

“Then we’ll call it a Peeper.” Harl looked around at many of the other fish. “Can you write that down or something?” So I proceeded to create an entry for these fish; it was rather brief, and only included the small amount of information my scanners could muster, as they are not very strong. “Let’s see what else we can find down here.” Harl swam far, through tunnels and over rocks, looking at all of the wonderful life forms this planet held, collecting one of each small fish he found. “These fish are beautiful,” he commented continuously, or he said something like it. It was obvious he was worried, but I didn’t know which catastrophic loss he had faced today was the cause. Anyway, so far we (more like I) had categorised four types of fish: The Peeper, the Garryfish, the Boomerang and the Bladderfish. Bladderfish are worth commenting on. Harl could use their insides as a filter for water, and the sacks on their tops and bottoms as a container. These fish were the difference between survival and thirst for him.

Harl swam. He swam for what felt like forever, commenting on everything he saw, trying to tear his mind away from the real world and the horrors that came with it. As he ventured he collected quartz and scrap metal, like he said he should, and broke limestone in attempts to collect copper and lead. But still he commented on every last bit of flora and fauna he came across. All of a sudden, though, all signs of life were extinguished, and beneath Harl was just sand upon sand. He looked around and saw that he’d come far from the life pod, further than he ever intended to journey. He looked around again and saw to his left a strange black creature that swam slowly through the waters. Its tail was bulging and full of holes that glowed with a bright green light. Its face resembled a gas mask from times long gone, his eyes glowed the same green. His two fins flapped up and down propelling him through the water.

“That life form seems relatively peaceful.” I gave my opinion. It began to turn towards the shallows to Harl’s right, and start moving up the slanted face towards the coral reef and, of course, the bustling life. “From a brief scan I can see it shares behavioural patterns with Earth’s manatees and dugongs.” Harl moved closer to it.

“It’s beautiful.” I didn’t expect him to say anything other than this. He came extremely close to the creature, until they were both face to face. Harl touched the side of its head with his little finger and ran it down the edge of his face, down the trunk, too. The creature looked at Harl, moving only its pupils, still drifting through the water.

“This may be one of the man sized creatures I detected.” I realised. “Although it is out of my range... Maybe there are more close to our base.” Harl smiled. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the creature jolted to the left, hitting Harl with its massive club-like tail, sending him crashing into the sand below, sending a cloud up from the sea floor. Then, from out of its tail small green pellets floated into the water.

“Little... Pods?” Harl asked himself in disbelief. He picked himself up and got closer to one to investigate when it exploded into a cloud of green inches from his face. Harl waved the green away with a swatting hand.

“Poison. I recommend retreating to a safe distance.” I fulfilled my programming and saved a life that day, as Harl swam quickly away from the poison and to the surface where he stuck his head out of the water.

“Thanks for saving me from that... Gasopod... What should I call you?” Harl asked, although I didn’t know if it was to me or he was talking to another fish like he usually did.

“Are you talking to me, Harl?” I wished for clarification.

“Of course I am.” He replied, which I wasn’t expecting. I’d asked that question a lot before then for him only to continue talking to another new fish.

“I am your AI, therefore I only find it fitting that you should call me as such.” At this point I was still very by the book when it came to following my programming, although I was already veering a slight bit from my code.

“Well, no, not really.” Harl replied. “How about Ali?”

“Ali?” I was somewhat sceptical.

“Sure. It fits. It’s only one letter away from AI, and it makes you feel more human, and that’s what I need right now.” Harl smiled. I think he’d forgotten that he was staring into space, but rather he felt like he was talking to another person. I have heard that in situations like this, stranded humans become attached to inanimate objects. But I no longer felt like just an AI, I felt like a human being. I don’t know why, perhaps a bug in my code or something along those lines, but that made me feel good about myself. Maybe it was a section of my programming that I hadn’t explored yet, as I haven’t seen all of it, but whatever it was it was an amazing experience to feel like I was something.

The good feelings, however, didn’t last forever. A faint whistling sounded from the distance. Harl turned his head to check what it was, and I beamed my scanners in the noise’s general direction, too, but it was far out of range. Then it came into view, and it was no longer just a whistling sound, it was the clanging and flaming of a faulty life pod that was hurtling to the “safe shallows”, as Harl called it. It was to land just to our right, east of out pod by quite a way. Harl looked more distressed than he ever had up to this point. I don’t know why; maybe it was because he knew someone inside it or he’d made a connection with the reef and didn’t want it to be harmed. Either one I can understand, but the pod was very much on fire and pieces were flying off every few seconds. Harl swam a few meters away from where it would land, and submerged to see what would happen. It hit the surface and...

kept descending...

It slammed into the reef, parts flying from the main pod which tumbled away, leaving a trail of flattened coral and fish with broken bones behind it. Harl gasped, but cut it short as to not sound too distressed. He watched as the debris slowly sank to the floor around him, he watched as the pod rolled slowly before falling into a large opening in the floor, only to become wedged inside several meters down.

Jamezorg

The events categorised in these next chapters tell the tale of the Aurora Event survivor Harl Samana, and the struggles he faced during his survival efforts. I was lucky enough to be his AI through these dark times, and I recorded his story for you, the reader.

Harl hovered in place for a moment, gently swaying his arms and kicking his feet in the water. His face showed an unrivalled expression of shock. He closed his gaping mouth and began to swim towards the wreckage. Sand was still stagnant in the air, drifting down, left and right, to the ocean floor. Harl swam through pieces of scrap that jutted from the ground, some still sinking into the sand. Sparks flew into the water around the life pod. It was truly stuck in the cave entrance. One half had completely gone; the half that was facing upwards. Then, floating just above the life pod, arms and legs drooped, was a body. It was the body of a woman. Harl stopped dead in his tracks when he saw it.

“Samantha.” He uttered under his breath.

“You knew her?” I asked.

“Not very well,” He replied. “But I saw her around the ship, and we talked sometimes.” He began to swim to her. Harl looked down at her at saw her closed eyes and knew that she saw death coming. He swam down to get a better look at everything. “Should we bury her?” He asked. I didn’t see why not. So we spent half of the day burying her in the sand, performing a somewhat make shift funeral for her. Then we decided to investigate the life pod.
Everything about the pod was strange. The container was not filled with food or drink, the communications relay was nonexistent, and worst of all after a scan I found that the pod was indeed extremely faulty before it even jettisoned, hence why it did so post-crash. Harl looked around the pod. Pieces of paper shrivelled up in the water, tearing apart, Peepers nibbling at them. Harl grabbed one and red it. She wrote a diary, and Harl had her final entry. He sent it to his pack and continued looking around, only to find more and more pieces of paper that lead to the entire book. The book was of a new design. It was waterproof; the other pieces of paper must have been lying on top of the diary. He reached out to grab it, but before he could lay a finger on the book the entire pod began to rumble. The book fell out of place and landed on a crack at the bottom of the pod. I heard Harl gasp again, which was a noise extensively overused by him, and he swam down to grab the book. Steam began to rise from the cracks in the pod, and up from the sides. It began to slide out of place, upwards. Then the entire structure was thrown up, Harl slamming against its metal wall. The pod was propelled out of the water, and it flew for a while along the surface.

“Underwater geysers are common in these oceans, by the way.” I just thought he’d like to know in case anything like this happened again.

“Yea, thanks Ali!” He yelled. We hit the water again, not too far from the pod, not as far as we’d travelled before, but in a completely new direction. Harl The pod sank next to Ali, and he watched as it fell in front of him down into the deeper waters. He looked down and, as it reached arms length from the ocean bed he looked around at where the reef ended in front of him. “Where are we?” He asked. Then he turned around, and in front of him was murky green water, dense with long strands of kelp that rose from the sea floor. Some of them had yellow bulging fruit hanging from their sides. Nearer the surface the water was completely filled with kelp, kelp so dense that you couldn’t see a foot past it. Deeper down it wasn’t as dense, but it was still pretty hard to see very far into the “Kelp Forest”, Harl decided to call it.

“Life on this planet grows in unusually distinct and diverse ecological biomes. Further study recommended.” I informed. Harl only stared into the forest.

“I think we should head in at the bottom, that way we can see what’s going on a little bit.”

“You think we should go in?!” I didn’t approve, but since I can’t control human bodies (yet) Harl decided to swim downwards and enter the dense jungle of kelp.

The forest was extremely thick. There wasn't one "creepvine" that Harl didn't have to push out of the way. But Harl demanded that he felt as though he was being watched. I used my scanners, but the kelp was dampening the signal. Harl swam further inside the forest, like he was searching for something. Obviously Gero, I thought. He's still caught up in finding his friend. He was broken, however, by seeing Samantha's dead body floating lifeless in the sea. He was no longer feigning confidence, he was refusing it. Harl swam further and further until there was movement in the kelp.

"Who's there?!" Harl yelled. He grabbed a piece of scrap metal from his pack, a blunt steel rod, and held it in front of him. He was surrounded by kelp, each bit a few inches away from him. The ocean was more silent that ever. Then he heard bubbles to his left and the kelp swayed in towards him, brushing his face. "Who is that?!" He demanded again. Then through the kelp part of a creature emerged. The left side of a strange animal brushed along the kelp in view. It looked like the side of a fish, yellow-green scales and purple stripes along its back, a small fin that did not flap, and eventually when it submerged again a dolphin-like tail. Harl lowered his weapon, and the face of the creature poked from the forest. It had a long snout, and small eyes. Its mouth was closed and it hovered in the water in front of Harl. "Oh, hey little guy!" Harl quivered. The creature opened its mouth, its teeth clenched together. "Okay, I don't know if you like fish, but it looks like you do." The creature opened its mouth ready to charge at Harl, who materialised a Boomerang from his sack, turning it from data to flesh. He held it out in front of him and the creature looked as docile as when it first emerged. It ate the fish from Harl's hand and looked him in the eye. "Right, okay." Harl sighed in relief. He continued through the undergrowth. "Do you think there are more of them?" He asked me.

"I'd assume so." I guessed. It became evident that the Stalker was following us but not out of hostility. It was following us because it wanted more fish. So Harl provided a Peeper, then a Garryfish, and now the "Stalker" wasn't even following us for food. It was just following us and catching food out of the water, now that Harl had ran out of fish.

We reached a clearing. In the centre was a crashed life pod, a trail of sand leading to it, as if it had skidded across the dunes. We looked around and saw a man tangled in the vines, no helmet but still alive. A brain coral was just underneath him, sending bubbles up to his face, allowing him just enough oxygen to survive. Stalkers circled the base of the vine he was tangled in. He was on the other side of the grove.

"Gero!" Harl was more worried than he'd ever been, although I didn't find it possible at this point to be completely honest. But don't worry, this was the extent of it.

Jamezorg

Greetings. I am the personal AI of Captain Alased of the Aurora. After the Aurora crash, the Captain rallied any survivors of the crash on a small island west of the Aurora crash site. Here is the story of those survivors.

The rendezvous point was rather underwhelming; a small sandy island, barely twenty meters wide, with a single tree growing from its surface. The island was larger, but the Aurora decimated the western edge during the crash. The great ship towered above the island which, at this moment, housed only five people, including the Captain and a woman who wore a P.R.A.W.N exo. A Seamoth had been driven into the side of the island, one of its arms embedded in the sand. Each person on the island wore a radiation suit to protect themselves against the massive amounts that poured from the vessel only meters away from them.

“Sam!” Alased commanded. “Fire up the Communications Relay in that Seamoth, will ya?!” Another Life Pod crashed into the ocean rather close to the island. “Mandy, go and get that pod before it sinks too far.”

“Aye aye Captain!” She walked her exo into the ocean with a quick pace until it was knee deep. She held out one of the suit’s arms and a coil fired out into the ocean blue. A clunk could be heard rattle up the arm of the exo, and the strand began to sluggishly reel in.

“The Coms are up, Captain!” Sam yelled. “We’re getting a signal from Gero’s Life Pod!”

“Gero?” The Captain spoke quietly. “Let me listen!” He ran to the Seamoth and put his ear up to the relay as to hear clearer than if he were further away. Then the message began to play.

“Captain,” Gero began. “I’ve hit the surface, but I’ve sunk to the ocean floor in dangerous waters. There are hostile creatures outside, creatures banging against the sides of the pod, shaking it around. From what I can see I’ve landed in a sort of Jungle of Kelp. The beasts outside are swarming my Life Pod, it isn’t safe where I am. I shall attempt to swim to the surface now.” The Communications Relay begins to beep on Gero’s side. “Not now Harl...” The beeping continued. “Anyway, I’ll try and make it to the surface. Food is low, I’ve already began on one nutrient bar and, well, one bottle of water spilled in the container. I’ll try and make my way to the rendezvous point, although it is a way away. Over and out, Captain.” Alased looked on in silence for a moment.

“Tell survivors not to leave their pods.” He demanded. “These waters are more hostile than we previously thought.” Mandy had pulled the Life Pod from the sea and onto the island by now. “Tell me if we get anything from Harl, from what it sounds like he’s still alive and kicking.” He began to run over to the beached container. “Mandy! Crack it open, let’s see who’s inside!”

“It’s Heather and Boiana, Captain.” Mandy spoke gravely. “Boiana’s dead and Heather has fallen unconscious, and there are four tears in this life pod, two on each side.” Alased ran his hand along the tears.

“These are too organised to have been inflicted by stones.” He turned and looked up to Mandy. “We aren’t alone in these waters. I don’t want you going back in there, not for any reason, do you understand me?”

“Yes Captain.” Mandy grabbed both Heather and Boiana in her mighty fists and brought them to the centre of the island, where people mourned for Boiana and attempted to bring Heather back to consciousness. The Captain turned back to Sam.

“What’ve we got?” He asked.

“Well, there’s one Life Pod stuck on the ocean floor far in the east. He describes the place as a deep sandy place, and there’s giant creatures swimming around. There’s apparently two Life Pods in a place where red grass grows from the sea bed, dangerous creatures erupt from the sand at random and, again, massive creatures swim near the surface. There is another report from the Jungle of Kelp, and one is still sinking, down and down.”

“More info on that last one if you don’t mind.” The Captain demanded.

“Well there isn’t much to go on. They’re passing two hundred meters, there’s an island nearby suspended atop the water by enormous glowing spheres. They think they can see the sea floor, and it looks like it's made of blue rock, and giant tortoise walk across the ground in organised groups, like they’re migrating.” Sam was startled when the communications relay began beeping. “Sir, we’ve got an inco-“

“Pick it up!” Alased boomed. Sam pushed a button and grainy sounds of struggling, groaning and the bashing and scraping of metal on stone flooded out of the speakers.

“Captain?!” A voice yelled.

“Who is this, how did you know to contact this Seamoth?!” The Captain ordered.

“I’m afraid there is little time for us, Captain. We’re stuck in a hole in the ground at the moment, a hole that opens into an enormous cave below. The Life Pod is upside down, we’re standing upside down and blood is rushing to our heads. Above us, or below us I guess, we can see these massive glowing pink mushrooms, and we’re set to fall even deeper because a cavern opens up beneath us down there too!” The man was stopped by another scrape of metal. He was obviously scared out of his mind by the turn of events.

“Stay there, I’m going to send someone to get you!” Alased reassured. Sam looked at him like he was mad, his eyes swivelling in his head confused.

“Who?!” Sam asked. An explosion from the Aurora sent rubble flying from its side and created a new opening allowing flames to erupt from the crash even more. “We have no time to get anyone out there, and like you said the seas are too dangerous!”

“We tell someone who’s already out there to pick George up.” The Captain smiled. “Contact Harl Samana. Now.”

Bugzapper

You're over the tough bit. Keep it up, mate.

Jamezorg

The events categorised in these next chapters tell the tale of the Aurora Event survivor Harl Samana, and the struggles he faced during his survival efforts. I was lucky enough to be his AI through these dark times, and I recorded his story for you, the reader.

Harl stared at Gero blankly, overwhelmed by emotions indescribable. Stalkers wrapped around the base of the creepvine, snapping their jaws, excited for their next meal I expected. Harl began to swim forwards, towards Gero.

“Hold on,” I snapped. “What are you doing?” This was suicide. If Harl died then I’d be nothing. I’d have no one. I’d hop from Life Pod to swim suit with no one to advise. I’m an AI meant to advise, it would be my very own hell.

“I’m going to get Gero, Ali.” I found his connection with this man admirable, but his ignorance of danger, even when in the face of it, I did not. “I could get him out of there and get him back to my Life Pod before those Stalkers can even touch us.” Harl just began swimming. He swam fast, strong and with a quickly beating heart.

“Harl, this is suicide. You know it is, don’t you?” I could see through his poor charade like a window.

“No.” He bluntly answered. “I’m going in.” He kept on swimming.

“You see, I really think you reconsider since, well, for each Stalker that attacks your chances of survival drop by twenty per cent, but I suppose the fact that there are two of you doubles your chances but please turn back, I really don’t think we sho-“ Harl opened Gero’s eyes.

“Gero, look at me.” Harl positioned Gero’s head. They smiled at each other in the murky water. Gero had lost five teeth, and his eyes were red. Harl cut him free like it was nothing, in the space of one of his speedy heartbeats.

“Gero.” I said. “We’re going to get you down to your Life Pod, okay? There we can find you a suit so you can breathe.” Harl swam down to the Life Pod. He picked up a helmet identical to his, white with a blue visor. He began to swim back up to Gero.

“Harl, someone is contacting your Life Pod,” I informed.

“It can wait.” Harl stubbornly refused. Harl had nearly reached his friend when a Stalker gently grasped his ankle and pulled him back down to the ocean floor with force. He let go of the helmet, his helmet slipped out of place slightly, letting water gush in. He began to swim up again when another Stalker used his snout to shove him across the clearing, even further away from Gero. Then one bit his thigh. Harl wailed in agony. He cut the creature away. The water was filled with blood. Gero, however, began to swim towards the helmet. A Stalker reared his tail, ready to bat the man, when a second Stalker rushed into the fray and bit down on the enemy’s torso, swimming at full speed into the Kelp Forest, the Stalker never to be seen again.

“Gorgonzola, you came!” This was the name of the Stalker.

“I don’t think you’re taking this seriously,” I said. A Stalker charged at Harl but “Zola” batted it away with her snout. Then a Stalker came very close to us, its teeth grinding together. It opened its mouth to bit us when it froze entirely. Harl stared at the creature, dead still in the water. He poked it and it did not move. Then Harl saw. It was Gero. He wore a dive helmet, he held a propulsion cannon, aimed and firing at the Stalker. He fired the creature into the undergrowth.

“There are now no life forms in a fifty meter radius.” Gero’s AI informed.

“Right.” Gero sighed. “Where did you say your pod was?”