Chapter 3: Diving Required

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Atronac would give Planet 4546B something - it really had some beautiful sunsets.

He sat atop Lifepod 16, taking assessment of his rations. It was laid out beside him on the white Alterran metal. Behind them was the most incredible sunset he'd ever seen.

"Six filtered water bottles, and five nutrient blocks," he said with satisfaction. Finished with his day's work. Now he got to lie back and enjoy the sunset. Literally.

He took a nutrient block and unwrapped it. It didn't look appealing - just a rectangle that looked like it was made of dirt, and it didn't taste much better - but it was good for keeping people alive. And that was all he cared about. After a slightly traumatic day of getting used to the neighborhood, he deserved his rations.

Atronac laid down, closed his eyes, and reimagined the day.

The water had felt cool but not cold as he slid into its depths. Immediately he felt how he always did. What was under there? It was so deep - he never had like deep waters. Especially now, where it seemed so endless.

Well, really he could see the meadow of red grass about fifty meters below surface, where he was when that leviathan attacked. It was quite a nice place - red grass, like previously mentioned, and strange eroded pillars of sandstone that seemed like a natural cause of erosion. Maybe the currents had done that.

He had dived about fourteen meters before he felt his lungs scream for air.

He hadn't gone down since.

Flashbacks kept on dancing in his eyes, of the depths of the oceans, of asphyxiation, of the leviathan's grinning face. No, he would not go down unless he had to.

And he knew he did.

He hated this planet.

Stupid planet. Stupid Aurora for crashing. Then the Sunbeam got the idea to do that as well. It was a trend that became consistent with the Aurora's rescue mission, which he was a part of. You could guess how that ended. The Atlas joined the predecessors. End of story. And no one made it out. Except him.

He pushed down the emotion aside. A white moon began to rise, dwarfed by a red planet that reminded him of Mars back in good old Sol. How he wished he was back there, at home.

He shoved the hatch open and slid down the pole. No luxury bedding for him - he sat in his seat and closed the bracing harness. He tried to go to sleep, to forget his worry, anxiety, knowing that he would have to descend into the waters again, knowing that he would have to face his fears.

After an hour, he nodded off, into a dream of the deepest, darkest waters, floundering for air, and the leviathan's face looming out of the darkness...

When he woke, he recorded the day in a PDA entry. Then he climbed the ladder and sat on top of his pod, mentally preparing himself. He knew that he had to enter the water again. No excuses.

Just... it was not inviting. That leviathan could be down there. Along with who knows what else. Like snakes. Or spiders. Giant, aquatic spiders. No, the possibilities were too horrible.

And yet... he felt something. Something drawing him in, something that just made him want to go in. Go in so deep that he wouldn't surface again. He was torn. What a mess.

Before he could rethink it, he strapped on his mask, took a breath, and dove into the endless sea.

Again.

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