Quarantine's Victims: Subnautica Fan Fiction. written by my brother. Enjoy the break from dragons!
Posted March 13th, 2023 by Cheezmra
in California
March 13th, 2023
Quarantine’s Victims
Ze Red Barron
“Attention: Hull failure imminent. All personnel abandon ship.”
An image was burned into her mind. The closed hatch to lifepod bay 2, the door forced shut by the internal computer, calmly executing it’s commands. Behind the glass, a young man, perhaps in his early twenties, with hopes and dreams not unlike she once had, being pulled down the hall, his fingers clawing on the ground, toward a massive hull breach.
“All personnel abandon ship.”
Somehow, she found herself in Lifepod 15, ready to pull the launch lever, when another crewmember scrambled into the escape pod. The hatch closed behind her, just barely missing her fingers. Within seconds, the pod jerked as is blasted out of the bay of the crippled ship. The two survivors craned their necks to see out the single hatch window on the top. The capital class ship, Alterra’s Aurora, loomed in the distance, debris flying from a massive hole on the belly of the ship. Suddenly, a massive laser beam from out of nowhere struck the starboard. The entire pod lit with a brilliant light. A piece of debris seemed to fly right towards them, but somehow missed.
Suddenly, the pod lurched. It seemed to be propelling itself away from the ship. A purplish glow and flicker began to appear. The occupants looked at each other. The pod was headed to the planet that the ship was orbiting. For a few minutes, the gravity increased, the flickering glowed magenta hot, and the pod rattled. Reentry had barely changed since the 20th century.
Suddenly, there was blue sky above. A sudden blast spun the entire pod, a disorienting 360 degree spin. There was another blast, then a small parachute shot out. The pod immediately righted itself. A minute later, the small chute released, pulling the large main one out. The survivors were driven into their seats by the sudden slowing. Minutes later, the pod splashed down into a rolling ocean. A set of inflators inflated, buoying the pod to the surface
“You have suffered no serious injury. This is considered an flawless outcome.” A PDA voice droned.
The crewmembers looked at each other.
“Hello.” Said the first.
“Hello, you are one of the phasegate engineers? Regina? Regina...” Said the second.
“Brooks, Alterra phasegate engineer. You?”
“Estelle Carton, janitor.” She was a few decades Regina’s junior, and, in Regina’s mind, green and optimistic. Regina remembered a moment, many years earlier, excitedly climbing the steps of an Alterra office building, hopes and dreams bubbling in her youthful step.
“Reality has not quite caught up with her.” She thought, and as if to solidify it, Estelle smiled. “We made it. We got past the hard part.”
Regina released the seat constraints and got to her feet. The pod gently rocked under her feet. Estelle, to, got to her feet. The interior glowed with recessed lights. The two seats occupied opposite corners. The pod’s shape was rectangular, the edges rounded, and with a slight dome shape. A latter in the center lead to the upper hatch, the only window, now letting is bright sunlight. Next to Estelle’s seat was a Alterra Fabricator, currently inactive. On the far wall was a bench like protrusion with a locker. Above read the system’s main information. Continuing, just opposite of the fabricator, was a medkit fabricator. On the right were three solar cell indicators. One read zero, but the other two appeared functioning. The right panel gave the occupants some bad news. The secondary systems were online, the hull integrity was ok, and the floatation devices were ok. The environmental scan was still loading. The outgoing radio signals were offline, as were the outgoing signals. Regina inspected the radio opposite the panel. It was unresponsive. Estelle pulled out her issued PDA, and found it would not start. Regina pulled hers out. The PDA booted in emergency mode.
“There is a Readme here. Let me read it. ‘If you are reading this, then you have survived an emergency evacuation of a capital class ship. Congratulations: the hard part is over.’”
“’Your PDA has automatically booted in emergency mode. The operating system has one directive: to keep you alive on a hostile alien world. If that is not possible it will alert salvage teams to the location of your remains.’
“It features…”
Suddenly, there was a distant crash. The two of them scrambled to the seats and strapped in. Seconds later, the pod tumbled, seemingly in a huge wave. It took several sickening minutes for the pod to restabilize.
“What was that?” Estelle asked, already getting out of her seat.
“Let me finish reading. Take things according to protocol. Can’t tell you how much I was fined for that.” Regina muttered.
“’It features: Full monitoring of vital signs for timely survival advice. Two; blueprints for fabricating a range of survival equipment, tailored from your environment. And three; Onboard camera, microphone, and OCR technology for short range situational analysis – cross-compatibility with all Alterra compliant products.’
“’NB…Your personal and work files have been encrypted and may be retrieved at a later date by a licensed engineer.’ And that’s not me.” Regina finished.
Regina switched the survival checklist. “First item on the list: ‘Administer first aid.’ Estelle, you fine?”
Estelle nodded.
The PDA suddenly spoke up: “Bio scans information has been finalized. Scan detect this ecosystem supports only two types of life: microscopic, and leviathan class. Exploration is ill-advised."
“Detected a large rock formation within 5 kilometers. The Aurora is currently resting on it. The ship has suffered orbital hull failure. Cause: unknown. Human life forms detected.”
Regina looked up at the hatch. “Why don’t we take a quick look? The air should be safe.”
She grasped the railings and stepped up the rungs. The pod rocked ominously as she reached for the release lever. There was a hiss as the pressure equalized, then a cool breeze, tinged with salt. Throwing the hatch fully open, she looked out over the horizon.
The PDA was right. The wreck of the aurora sat hardly submerged on was appeared to be a sandbar. The entire starboard side was visible, the engines still smoking. There was a massive hole near upper engine, presumably from the strange laser beam she saw earlier. From this distance, the 1200 meter long ship seemed small.
“Can I see too?” Estelle called from below. Regina climbed down, allowing the eager Estelle to climb up. “Don’t stay to long. I’m going to take inventory of what we have.”
Estelle was up the latter in no time. Regina opened the storage bin, and smiled. Inside were several bottles of water, several nutrient blocks, a few flares, a pair of oxygen masks, a flashlight, a scanner tool, and a few other items.
“No repair tool, and a busted radio. We can’t really swim there safely, but we cannot send any signals except flares. And what is she doing.” Regina looked up the latter. Estelle had fully climbed out of the life pod, and was standing on the roof. She was about to call her down when the entire pod was thrown to left.
Regina’s head and shoulder was thrown against the fabricator. Stars filled her vision. She was vaguely aware of the fact that it was beginning to tip to the right. The lights dimmed. Her PDA’s calm voice spoke out: “The lifepod’s starboard floater is compromised. Detecting water leaks.” Regina struggled to her feet, grabbing the latter for support. Pain blurred her mind, and she fell to her knees, clutching what used to be Estelle’s seat. A single though cut through the pain: Estelle.
The pod continued to tilt as Regina struggled up the latter. She could now make out screams over the beeping alarm of the lifepod. She pulled her head out of the hatch. Estelle was flailing in the water, screaming in panic.
“Estelle!” Regina called.
Estelle began to swim toward the lifepod’s side latter. She did not make it far.
Regina froze as a massive shape emerged from behind Estelle. A pale blue luminescent shape, a massive dorsal fin rising above the lifepod, two side fins, thicker then a meter, each extending out more then five meters. The translucent outer skin gleamed under the bright sun. Six yellow glowing eyes seemed to stare right at her.
Regina panicked and pulled into the pod, closing the hatch behind her, but before she could, she witnessed Estelle swallowed whole, the strange folds of it’s mouth closing around her.
The pod was thrown by the impact of the creature. Regina was thrown against the wall again. The lights winked again as another warning siren went off. Her PDA cut through the din.
“Hull Integrity Low. Floatation devices offline. Vessel Sinking.”
Regina stumbled over to the locker. A few items had fallen out, and the thin layer of water was forming on the floor. She grabbed the diving mask and pulled it over her throbbing head. She then pulled herself into Estelle seat and pulled the straps down.
The pod was struck again from the bottom, throwing it up into the air. Regina head was slammed into the headrest as the pod settled on it’s side. She could hear the leaking water, then a sudden zap as the power completely went out.
Regina released the straps and grabbed the latter, now above her. Water was filling the room at an alarming rate. She clutched the latter rungs, hoping to be able to hold on when the next strike came.
The water was now up to her knees. The dim emergency lights struggled to light the room.
The creature struck again, this time to the floor, now turned upright. There was a loud crunch as the floor hatch cover fell off. Water began rushing from unseen tears. Regina was somehow able to hold on. She looked over to the floor hatch, a massive serpentine creature slithering by, seemingly forever.
Regina held on, the cold seawater rising now to her waist. The room danced with shadows as the water refracted the light, shining through the glass hatches. Terror blanked her mind. She knew she would die. She thought back on how she got there. It was meaningless that she was a new phasegate engineer, still struggling though student debt. The years spent in schools and universities, the days stressing about whether she would make this promotion, the days of seeing her hopes dashed then revitalized, meaningless.
The pod was struck again, tearing off the entire wall behind her, the one with the display. The light completely went out. She could hear her PDA telling her that the pod was completely compromised. The floor hatch popped off, and water gushed in. Regina took a deep breath, before the water completely enveloped her.
The pod sank at a terrifying speed. Regina groped through the dark to the hole that was now in the pod. Everything was dark except for the pale blue of the ocean beyond. She thrust her arms through the water, trying to escape. At that moment, the massive creature that ate Estelle appeared before her, the folds of its mouth open wide for it’s next meal. She heard a roar that swelled to a screech before the creature struck the pod. Regina groped for the latter again, but it was too late. She floated into the creature’s hungry maw. The slimy gel of the luminescent creature closed around her, burning her skin with a potent acid. Her last thought through the pain was that she really should have spent more time with her mother.
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