Voice log number 27
Status update: I've taken the Cyclops down a ravine large enough to accommodate it. I've never handled a Cyclops sub before, but the controls were easy enough to figure out. Thankfully, I made it down that ravine with only a few bumps to the hull. The local fish seem a lot less agitated by the sub's presence than I thought they'd be. I've noticed a substantial increase in the amount of alien structures down here. There are these two enormous skeletal structures, scans say they're a few million years old. Both of them have lights shining on them, so the aliens were probably studying them. Don't know what for though, I haven't seen anything that would suggest they care about the evolutionary history of the planet. I may be regretting my choice to spend the night down here, some of the fish are pretty damned creepy. Regardless, it saves me coming back down tomorrow. The caverns seem to narrow, so I'll leave the Cyclops here and take the Prawn suit out to continue. Hopefully it isn't too much further to the next alien base. Sleeping in the Seamoth was bad enough, I don't need to find out how the Prawn compares.
Health update: No change in the alien infection's effects on my body and my mental health is as stable as it can be, for now.
Levi update: I already miss the little guy. He seemed sad when I started to drop, but I get the feeling he's back to playing by now. I did briefly consider installing a tank in the Cyclops so he could tag along, but there's a few issues there. First, there isn't really anywhere in the Cyclops to put a tank big enough to accommodate him. Second, he didn't seem to like the tank back at base, so he probably wouldn't like a smaller one. Side note: Since letting Levi out into the waters around the base, I've filled the tank with various species of fish from around the crater. Adding in seeds for local plant life has made the tank self sufficient. Levi's grown to about the size of a small dog, and his love of chocolate nutrient blocks hasn't ceased. I hid a few flakes around the base before I left. Something to keep him occupied. Speaking of occupying Levi, I never thought I'd be able to entertain an alien with close up magic, but doing the age old 'Disappearing card' trick with a treat always seems to amaze him. I'll have to go through other party tricks and see what sticks.
Fauna observations: Everything down here possesses some form of bioluminescence, both flora and fauna. Most of the locals seem to be ray fish, similar body structure to the ray's up top, but translucent. In fact, everything down here is see through. Makes them all look like ghosts. There are two leviathan class predators that I've encountered down here. First off is a large sea serpent, not unlike the Reapers. No facial claws, thankfully, but it also doesn't seem to use echolocation. This animal seems fairly rare down here based on the few that I've seen, hopefully there aren't more deeper down. The other Leviathan is this big octopus-crab looking thing. They look like they're all head with a bunch of legs sticking out the bottom. Creepy looking things. They appear to send out an electromagnetic pulse, I'm not sure if this is a self defence mechanism or a hunting one. Either way, they can render all my electronics useless for a few seconds. They've even shut down the Cyclops once or twice. Thankfully, they're either deaf, or completely ignore sound, they home in on lights when hungry, so shutting down the Cyclops' lights makes dodging them easy.
Personal notes: I'm not afraid to admit that this part of the planet scares me a bit. Those electrical octopus-crabs are creepy as all Hell, and the weird clicking they make doesn't help me any. Honestly, they popped up in a nightmare I had last night. I don't remember most of it, I think it had something to do with being chased by a Reaper into a small cavern where it couldn't follow. I thought I was safe, but then I heard this weird clicking sound and turned around to see these giant, glowing eyes staring at me from the darkness. It sent out an electromagnetic pulse and fried my Seaglide before coming towards me. Just as it was about to impale me with one of its legs, the whole scene melted away. No clicking, so Reaper roaring, nothing. Then I heard a voice, the same one from the Aurora hallucination. I couldn't make it out this time, but the darkness slowly brightened until I was just floating in the ocean. I could've sworn I saw some huge shape in the distance, and maybe some blue or green lights? I don't know though, it's mostly a blur. I've read that most dreams have meanings, but I'm not sure what meaning this has. I'm scared of being eaten? I didn't need a dream to tell me that.
The increase in alien structures has me hopeful that I'm on the right track. The way the rocks look around the structures makes me think that they've been around for years, and if those lights have been shining on those fossils all that time, they need to be getting power from somewhere. If I'm lucky I won't have to go too far to find whatever power plant is supplying the various alien things with power. Honestly, I don't care how far I have to go to find it, I'm either shutting it down, or cutting the quarantine platform off from the grid. Whatever it takes to get home.
Voice log 27, ended.