Log 0060—Day Cycle 37
We scouted out the location. The entrance is a deep hole about a kilometer and a half southwest of the Shallows Base, roughly below the Floating Island with the first Degasi base on it. It's in a new biome we haven't seen before, the Grand Reef. It's pretty, in an ethereal kind of way. It's lit by large Anchor Pods, which must be some sort of evolutionary spin-off of Floaters. They are made of a large suspended blue orb, which instead of just attaching to something and hoping it doesn't float away, has developed its own maroon-colored net of sorts that function like roots and hold it down. Amanda suspects that once they've grown tall enough, they burst, spreading spores to be dispersed on the currents.
There are also Membrain Trees, which are weird enough that even Amanda can't figure them out. They're somewhere between coral and a plant living in symbiosis that turned into co-dependency that turned into some sort of synthesis. The coral forms a base or stem supporting a translucent bubble which houses an entire micro-ecosystem that's warm and filled with microbial life. The bubble glows blue, while the plant life within glows purple and pink.
The area is rich with resources, with lots of Lithium and large deposits of copper, gold, and lead (which we won't be able to access until we make a Prawn with a drill arm). There were also new types of resources available.
Amanda calls them Aluminum Oxide Crystals, but I call the blood-red gemstones Rubies. They can be processed into alloys that are stronger than plain old titanium. There's also Gel Sacks, which are organic structures that grow on cave walls. They're a dark green with bright purple nodes on them that break off and float away to form new structures. It's the gel that interests me most. Combining that with ground up Rubies can produce Aerogel, a light, porous gel where the liquid portion has been replaced with gas, creating a highly durable, highly heat-resistant substance that's perfect for coating onto vehicles.
Perhaps most importantly, there are also Uranite Crystals, which are actually uranium oxide. It's radioactive and unstable, which would be bad, except that they'll be perfect for forming reactor rods for the Nuclear Reactor.
The area is… semi-safe. There is another type of life though, aside from the usual varieties of fish – the Sea Treader. It is a three-legged thing, mostly blue with some bioluminescent orange thrown in, that's bigger than the Seamoth, but smaller than the Multi-Purpose Room, that walks the ocean floor grazing on plant life. They walk in large herds, with the smaller ones in the middle, communicating by some sort of chemical signal. They're big enough that they churn up the sea floor and can expose more resources to harvest, which is useful.
I also had the misfortune of encountering that purple light in the distance. It was a monstrosity – part biological, part mechanical, and all mean. They're slightly bigger than a human, with two large claws like scythes. They have a tough purple shell covering their heads and moving down their backs like a cloak, but leaves their translucent chest bare, showing their internal organs and skeletal structure. Worst of all, they have some sort of telekinetic power.
No, I'm not going crazy, at least not yet. One second I was inside the Seamoth, looking at it, the next I was outside in the water, struggling to get my oxygen mask on and floundering. I managed to get back into the Seamoth before I incurred any permanent damage, and the internal pumps got the water out before I ran out of air, but it was a near thing.
I hate them. And I hate whoever made them. If that had happened while I was even slightly deeper, I'd be dead. I must avoid them at all costs.
However, while it was chasing me it got distracted. There was a large eel that crackled with bioelectric current. More importantly, it was covered in bright green globules that pulsed faintly. Upon seeing it the Warper immediately abandoned me and chased after it, attacking it with its claws until it literally tore it apart.
…
Amanda and I are working on theories for this. Those green pustules looked disturbingly similar to the ones on my hands. They've now spread to my armpits and feet.
I need to move faster.
We scouted some more and discovered that the Warper didn't stray too close to a tunnel opening that seems to lead towards the Degasi Seabase. I'm not sure why, but that's the best bet. We're on our way back to load up the Seamoth with supplies. That's about as far down as I can get, so that's where we're building.