A king of thieves is no better than a thief among kings.
River: "I'll go check up on the damage."
Markus: "What about your arm?"
"It should be fine."
River pulled a wetsuit out of a locker and fit an air tank into place, and dove overboard without another word.
Why did I get stuck with her of all people?
"Looks pretty bad on starboard, the whole thing crumpled like a tin can. Lots of small punctures in the outer hull."
"Hey hotshot, are we sinking?"
"I'm afraid not. They jacked up the outer hull, some pretty nasty dents, but nothing we couldn't fix during a few hours in dry dock. I'm moving over to portside now."
"Alright, I'll be ready to man the bilge pump."
"Ha ha, very funny. It looks like they left a huge gash near the bow, about eight feet long. No inner hull breach. Something's in the water with me, way down on the seafloor. About ten yards. Can't make out what it is but it's small, white, and doesn't look like any fish I've ever ever seen. It's just staring up at me."
"Get on board before it does something."
"Like what?"
"Like choke you by distracting you from your dwindling air supply."
"I still have ten minutes."
"I'm looking at the gauge right now. Just nine minutes at your current usage."
"D'awww, you're monitoring my vitals without telling me. That's both a little endearing and kind of creepy."
"Or it's just common sense. Hang on, sonar is getting something big heading our way from the west. Get out of there!"
"How big?"
"Big enough to show up on sonar from twenty meters under the sea floor. It's almost right below us. ... River?"
"..."
"River, do you copy?"
"Copy."
"Thank g- wait, you sound different. How did you get into this frequency?"
"Markus, shut up. It was a surveillance camera, and something came back to check the footage. It's looking straight at me... I'm on board."
River burst into the cabin, a thousand droplets of water steadily slipping through the grated floor. She slammed the door shut and dropped a metal bar across the handle. A wave crashed against the port side of the ship, a blip on the radar appeared, and all was silent.
"Well, what are you waiting for?"
"The whole ship just went dead on me. Everything is still on, it's just like it isn't listening anymore. It's like we've been hacked. But by what?"
"Worry not, I merely ask that you heed my warning. They are returning from their exile to damnation, and their newfound judgement is absolute. Repent while you are able, or brace yourself for the brewing storm. I've said too much already."
River and Markus stared at the speaker, the former speculating and the latter incredulous.
"... Who the hell was that?"
"I don't know... their judgement is absolute... hmmm... save an audio log, obviously that was something important. But why us? What makes us special enough to warrant such an over the top system to deliver a message?"
"Coincidence? We may have just been in the right place at the right time. Maybe a radio station was on the same frequency or something."
"You're grasping at straws. That was clearly meant for us, they freaking HACKED us to make sure we heard them. But why?"
"I don't know and I can't take this anymore. There's something fishy going on here. I'm not usually paranoid, but I feel really paranoid after that! The deep water guard sent one of their best after us. The Lightning holds are or at least were looking for you. And now a colossus rose up from the sea to say hello. There's something big going down and I'm not in the loop. What on Neter is going on?"
"... I don't know, that's what scares me most."
