The sea engulfs Cherno Alpha.
The water rushes in on her. Sasha gasps, sputters, chokes.
Can't breathe can't breathe can't breathe
Aleksis' words flood her mind and rattle her brain. She wants to help him. She wants to pull him out of the water and into the air. She struggles but she can't pull herself free. The water's crushing her.
Sasha can't breathe Sasha no no no no no
She can feel his fear. He's scared, more frightened than she's ever felt him be. The world is turning black and his voice is fading away.
He goes quiet and in her last moments, she is desperate and she calls – she screams – for him.
Aleksis!
Her scream empties into the Drift's void. It echoes, reverberates, disappears.
She drowns.