Subnautica FanFiction

Part 7

By: Ian Fox

Ingenuity

Jason woke up from the black abyss of sleep and rolled onto his back to see the sterile light of the clock above him. It read out a time that let him know it was morning. Although Jason wanted a few more hours of sleep he swung himself into a sitting position, kicking away the scattered electronics and pieces of machinery that covered the life pod's floor. He stood and looked over the mess before starting a few simple stretches, he had bags under his eyes and every joint in his body would crack as he went through the motions. As he leaned forward to touch his toes his chest sent out a small ache of pain where he had been wounded about a week and a half before. Regardless of this, Jason felt the best he had since he had crashed on Subnautica.

He was making progress, and a lot of it. Last week he had set up a structure around his pod that allowed him to walk around and work on his project without ever really having to get into the water. Jason had accomplished this by scraping the rest of the life pod's panels and collecting an exuberant amount of debris to make floating walk ways on what he decided would be the back of the pod. After finishing his stretches and giving his neck a good crack he followed a small path that was clear of debris over to the air compressor, where a small air tank was propped up by a metal rod so that it could fill properly. He pulled on it, causing the metal rod to clang noisily onto a heap of clutter.

The tank Jason had unfortunately lost to the eel creature actually came in handy when he needed to find a way to breathe above the water's surface. The small tank he made by breaking down the larger, destroyed tank was connected to a utilitarian face mask made from a mouth piece and some scrap plastic. He could easily let a small amount of oxygen seep out from the mouth piece and still have enough to stay conscious in the deprived atmosphere. The entire set up was ingenious, or at least Jason thought so, and had allowed him to work quickly and efficiently on his project.

Carrying the small tank back over to the storage locker he flipped it open and grabbed an already cooked fish-creature from a stasis box and gingerly popped a few shreds of flesh into his mouth before replacing it back where it had been lying. The stasis box was made from an advanced micro-organism research module that slowed the life cycle of certain alien bacteria. All Jason had to do was strip it down to the bare stasis chamber, scale it up to the size he needed, and connect it to the solar energy reserve of his life pod. It had taken him a few days, but he found that he would need constant breaks from the intense Subnautica sun and it had given him something to keep his mind occupied.

Jason figured out that if he kept his mind busy on things that had to be done it would fight off his crippling depression. He worked from sun-up to sun-down and sometimes even through the night, it was all he had to do until he finished and needed to figure out which step to take next. Jason was nearly done with his project, another day or two and there would be nothing left but to test out his idea to see if it worked the way he wanted. If it didn't, that would mean more work, but if it did that would mean he would have a difficult choice to make.

Jason dipped his head to fill his mouth with filtered water, sloshing it around before grabbing his tattered wet suit from the locker. The chest of the wetsuit had been ruined by the beast and Jason really only used them to keep his legs and feet from burning in the intense sunlight. After tying the arms of the suit around his waist he looked down on the large, jagged pink scar that branched over his chest. Luckily for him the medical programs that the computer had were able to restore a good amount of his muscle tissue, and after he had woken up, sprawled out on the life pod floor, he found that there was only a slight pain when he leaned over.

"Valen- Computer?" Jason stumbled over his words, it was strange to hear his own voice, these days he did very little talking.

"At your service." The computer replied.

"How are the weather patterns today? Saw some scary looking clouds heading our way around sunset last night." Jason asked, rummaging through the piles of mess to find the tools he needed.

"Optimal weather patterns, cloud cover, chance of light precipitation: 43%" The computer replied quickly.

"Thank you, Computer." Jason coughed, slipping a few tools into his waist and the rest into a hand made belt that he swung onto his shoulder.

Jason strapped the small air tank to his thigh and secured the face mask over his nose and mouth before releasing the latter and climbing up. Popping open the top hatch of the pod Jason wasn't greeted by the usual intense heat and blinding light, instead the clouds above him glowed orange, which reflected off the still surface of the water, giving his surroundings a very eerie feel. Jason grunted as he hoisted himself to the top of the pod before making his way down a latter he had bolted to the side of his life pod. He landed lightly on a platform that wrapped around the two insanely large RAV propeller systems. The other two platforms that had the rest of what he needed to complete his project were nearly empty, with only a few more pieces strapped down to keep them from sliding over the edge and into the water.

When he first started he didn't realize just how hard it would be to take apart the two propellers in his life pod and reassemble them outside. Jason had been forced to create three of the propellers because he would find himself losing the smaller, important pieces pretty often. The third propeller was the mess that plagued the life pod's cabin, but was also his saving grace. Without it, he might not have been able to get so far, so fast. He threw down the belt of tools in front of the two propellers and started where he had left off the night before. Removing the straps from a large engine piece he plucked a wrench from his waist and held it with his teeth as he weakly struggled to pick up the piece before bringing it over to its corresponding propeller. Slamming it heavily into one of the propellers he worked on getting it fixed into the rest of the engine.

It took him a while before it was properly secured, but Jason liked that. The longer he worked, the less he had to think, and by taking his time he knew there was a smaller margin for error later on. After checking to make sure all the connections were correct and tightened he stood up, stretching his back again. His eyes landed on the large scrapes that spelled out "Valentine" on the side of his life pod. Jason would do this often, and each time he could feel his mind attempt to slip back to the delusions he had suffered from weeks before. But he was stronger now, and would shake off the feeling before going back to work. Perhaps that's why he had decided to make this side of the pod the back; so that he would have a constant reminder of the fact that he wanted to get well away from this cursed planet.

He returned to his work promptly, taking advantage of the cloud cover he worked through all of his regular breaks. By the time the orange sky above him began to darken into an ominous red he was tightening the top cover of his first completed propeller. There was something about it, being done, that filled him with a feeling Jason couldn't recognize. It was almost a mix of extreme accomplishment and bottomless fear. The cover was on; all he had left to do was test it to see if the thing would actually work properly. If it didn't it was likely Jason would have to take apart most of the propeller just too figure out what he had missed, and God forbid if he didn't have the correct part. Something like that could push his work forward another week. But there was nothing he could do now. The two systems were conjoined and he would have to finish the second before he could test either.

Jason was having a hard time seeing how much time he had left before nightfall. He was still very much weary of being out after dark, this was when the most terrifying predators would emerge and begin to hunt. Even though it was no longer necessary for him to be in the water, he'd be damned if it was worth the risk. Jason couldn't afford to get hurt again, and next time he might not be lucky enough to make it back to his pod. But, since there was still a good amount of light from the sky above he decided he would connect one more piece to his second propeller before heading back inside. As he was tightening one of the first connections a cool drop of rain smacked onto his back.

"Woah…" Jason whispered, looking up to see large globs of water come splattering down on him and his life pod.

Jason thought he heard the large drops smacking against the water, but as he turned to look upon the scene he found that the ocean behind him was sparkling with phosphorescent blues and greens. He stepped to the edge of the platform to get a better look. Although the surface of the water was harder to see through with the darkening sky Jason could easily make out the shapes of thousands of strange creatures that were hugging the water's surface. They were almost squid-like, with several lighted orbs over the length of their tentacles, which were reaching out of the water towards the sky; ask if the creatures were trying to climb the large drops up into the clouds above.

Jason was awe struck because in all his life he had never seen so much life in one place. For a moment Jason was completely captivated by the scene, the entire ocean in front of him a stage for the dancing creatures. He retreated back into his pod before returning with a slick-winter jacket from where he stored his wet suit and grabbed a handful of meat from his stasis box. He sat on the platform with his back against his pod, popping bits of the cooked meat into his mouth as he watched the creatures continue their dance. But when he finished his meal and crawled over to the edge of the platform to get a better look at some of the creatures the rain suddenly stopped, and the millions of dancing lights quickly retreated back into the dark waters below.

Jason's ears rang from the sudden silence that was left behind, but there was a smile on his face. The most important part of survival, it seems, was to take the good and the bad equally. Things would happen that would seem tragic, but life was balanced. For each obstacle Jason would have to overcome he was certain there would be some way of surpassing it so that he could get ever closer to his goal. The smile still on his face, Jason climbed back up and disappeared into his pod. He stripped off he tattered wet suit and replaced the small air tank how it had been in the morning and laid down atop the cushioned storage locker. He had already been tired when he awoke so it wasn't long before he slipped into unconsciousness.

Jason was alone in the dark. He looked down, but was unable to see himself; he looked around, but there was nothing to see. He turned in circles, or at least he thought he was, until a tiny spec of light suddenly sparked in the distance. As he focused on it other lights began to shine as well. One was lit so close to his face it blinded him momentarily. But when he was able to see again he found that the light was one of a giant creature's tentacles. Following the lights he could see the creature was massive in the darkness. Lights behind its eyes were a menacing red and they stared down at Jason with great intensity. Jason was not afraid though. He stood there, studying the creature. One of the lights began to approach him, but still he had no fear. It stopped just short of his feet. Although he could not see his own body he felt himself step up onto it and began making his way up, towards the creature's head.

It continued to stare him down, as if it were unsure of his intentions. Jason wasn't sure what he was doing either, but he knew, even if he wanted to, there was no threat he could possibly present. A rumble began to surround him, making the lights around him shake and widen. They shone more intensely with each moment, and Jason found himself looking away to keep from being blinded. When he looked up again the world was no longer dark, and the creature was gone. Instead there was a world of white, a sterile clean white that gave no hint as to its dimensions.

"Jason?" A familiar voice called out from behind him.

As he turned the world warped, and when he saw who was calling him he found that he was back in the cramped halls of the Aurora. The girl in front of him was wearing the standard jumpsuit given to all research scientists aboard the ship. Her blonde hair was pulled into a bun, a wooden stick diagonally held it together.

"V-Valentine?" Jason whispered, feeling tears begin to well up in his eyes.

"Where have you been? You're late," Her face held an expression of annoyance, and she crossed her arms. "We're not going to get to go to breakfast now."

"I-I'm not sure…" Jason's head began to pound; the pain brought him to his knees.

"Jason? What's wrong? Are you okay?" Valentine rushed towards him, crouching to grab a hold on his shoulders.

Jason looked up to see her worried green eyes staring into his own. He reached up to touch her face, to feel the warmth of her skin again.

"We should get you to medical." Valentine said, moving before Jason's fingers could touch her cheek.

Jason began to sob, he just couldn't help himself. Valentine continued to talk but her voice began to fade away. Jason squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head.

"You're dead!" He screamed into the darkness behind his eyelids.

"Everyone is dead!"

Jason woke up to a dark cabin. Tears covered his face and the space behind his eyes was burning. He sat up and swung his feet down. He propped his elbows on his knees and continued to cry in the darkness of the life pod's cabin.

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