By: GreyM4tter

—Unit Log-02—

“Connection”

Despite the large blast, the structure behind the former door was relatively untouched. Once the wreckage of the once sturdy bulkhead was removed, Mason dropped into an airlock set back and down from the gaping hole in the wall.

Inside, a bright yellow light flashed on a panel on the opposite side of the room, which upon closer inspection he noticed the flashing lights were status indicators that read:

“WARNING”

“Low oxygen environment ahead”  

“Ensure an environment suit is equipped before depressurization” 

Behind him a new Diapod ponderously plods over to an electronic patch panel and jacks into the exposed interface with some kind of organic nerve tendril.

The voice of Diatom in Mason’s head then spoke.

“Ah, this will do.”

“This panel was once used for routine maintenance on ship systems for the Wife, including that pest W4TCH3R, and is conveniently unshielded from my meddling.”

“Since I’ve found my way in I have something for you so we can keep in touch as we delve deeper.”

Through the door another diapod ponderously made its way along the deckplates toward Mason

The new diapod, now at Mason’s feet, convulsed for a second before separating a tendril from its translucent body and offering a softly glowing piece of itself to Mason. 

“Before you leave, take this lingua-dia-spore so we can continue our little arrangement long distance while Diatom establishes ourselves in the upper layers.”

Mason shrugged, tossed the spore into his mouth and swallowed it into an internal storage compartment and walked over to the EVA suit locker on the left wall from the door.

After inspecting the suits Mason disregarded them as his partly synthetic nature made external life support useless, and the suits were far too small and human shaped anyhow. Without much else to investigate in the spartan airlock chamber Mason wandered over to the information panel once more and punched the red “Cycle airlock” button.

A mechanical voice over the speakers announced.

“Magnetic boot locks disabled, prepare for low g traversal.”

Loud hisses emanate from the walls around him as the pressure decreases and air is sucked from the room till barely any remains, all sounds reducing to distant murmurs and the vibrations that emanate through the ship’s structure. 

In the flash of the doors receding a dim and misty light filtered down and through the airlock as the door machinery proceeded with a muted thrum in the deckplates.

 Mason, now untethered from the floor, grabbed onto the wall and pushed themselves through the doorway, up a staircase covered in all manners of lichens and moss into a small overgrown clearing.

 Looking around his eyes filled with vibrant colors weaving into and throughout each other forming a thick barrier of flora. He looked up to see the plants continuing far above into a tangled loose canopy that let sparse shafts of distant light pierce the surrounding darkness. 

Lost in the strange beauty of this wild oasis, a sudden tap at Mason’s shoulder startled him so much that it made him leap forward causing him to sail into a wall of vines, flailing and spinning about in surprise.

A new voice called out on an open channel, apparently from the other side of the clearing where Mason had just stood.

“What brings you here?”

“I’d been informed that W4TCH3R was in control of a pretty nasty defense system on this side of the Wife, I wouldn’t have guessed anyone could have survived that.”

“Another explorer and I barely got through their network junction, which was supposed to be relatively weakly defended. Yet I find you here standing seemingly undeterred.”

Drifting into a patch of light, the voice revealed itself to be a tall yet broad man who by their rumpled appearance seemed to have been only recently acquainted with one of the environment suits from whatever airlock they had come from initially. 

The man appeared to be in their late 30s with a weathered face and a large extravagant deep green cape draped carefully around their torso and over their left arm. 

“I can’t say I’d be much help in relieving your confusion.” 

“I woke up here just a few hours ago, apparently I was flung into the side of this ship hard enough to penetrate multiple decks in my sleep but how that happened escapes me”

Mason responded.

“Had you never heard of the Wife of the Wizard before your rather ballistic arrival?”

The man inquired.”

“I can’t say I got out much before now, the Synthos council doesn’t like dealing with other species, although I’d never understood their isolationist beliefs…”

And then, as if interrupted by a nagging thought, Mason inquired.

“Say what’s your name, mystery man?”

The man hesitated for a second, and then spoke

“I’m Caelix, you?”

“Mason.”

“Well, Mason, I might be able to help you find your way out of here, but first I need you can tag along with me, there’s something I need you to do.”

Caelix spun and began to propel themselves toward a shaded area that Mason recognized then as a tunnel through the overgrowth.

Diatom suddenly spoke in Mason’s mind

“It’s best if you go along with them for now and keep a watchful eye.”

“They seem very cagey about revealing whatever is under that cape and may similarly be hiding ulterior motives that could stray you from our path.”

Are you coming or not Mason?”

Caelix shouted over their shoulder.

Internally Mason responded

“You might be right D. but Caelix feels nothing like W4TCH3R”

“Most liars are far subtler than a raving AI.”

“letting your guard down now, would be the epitome of foolishness.”

“Hmph, fine.”

Mason then thrust themselves off the wall and through the tunnel behind Caelix’s receding form.

After an indeterminate but certainly long period of time had passed under what felt like miles of foliage and up a subtle incline Mason and Caelix found themselves on the outskirts of a ruined complex atop a large hill.

Around them spread dense jungle over the vast open ground which curved up on the horizon linked to the ceiling far above with cables of vegetation and flourishing alien life that reached up from the surface.

 But more than that the shapes of the jungle seemed to follow faint patterns of ancient structures that once dotted the landscape and horizon on the inside of the ship’s curve. 

Although oddly the vibrancy of it seemed to fade as it approached Mason’s surroundings becoming almost barren.

Above the vast ceiling, which was actually the spherical walls of the inner levels, curved down to a broad point where it was met by a massive structural column that firmly braced the habitation ring and the inner layers of the ship.

On level with Mason and Caelix, cluttered around the base of this pillar, was a vast complex of buildings and unrecognizable structures in various states of disrepair and dilapidation.

Looking back at Mason, Caelix began to explain.

“From what the stories of previous explorers have recorded.”

“This is the primary spin facility that maintains the rotational inertia used to create gravity when this ship is on the float.”

“It’s long since been inactive but due to its state of disrepair the locks and security mechanisms here are disarmed so there is fairly easy access to the maintenance areas in the spin shaft from a hatch near the bearing join on this level.”

“The spin gravity is usually maintained by low grade pulses of power from a Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator on site to keep the ring at speed but the abandonment of this ship has left the mechanism to decelerate and wild natural growth to occur.”

“So you’re saying all that needs doing is someone to float up to the thing and give it a shove?”

“We’llll, ever since this ship appeared, those who have tried previously to restart the spin haven’t exactly returned.”

“Ah, so that’s where I come in.”

“Let’s get in before whatever thing claimed the previous adventurers spots us sitting out here eh?”

The two figures then pushed toward the top of the spin shaft’s base, free floating above the overgrown complex.

As Mason scanned the buildings below he noticed that unlike the surrounding wasted jungle, vegetation density in the complex steadily increased as they approached the spin shaft.

Growing bored of looking at indistinguishable ruins Mason began to look up at the horizon, but then, out of the corner of their vision he thought he caught a glimpse of some slight movement.

“Huh, I must be going crazy”

“What is it Mace?”

“I, no surely not, I must just be a little tired from our trek down here. My vision is playing tricks on me.”

“That’s not concerning at all, could you describe it?”

Caelix inquired

“Well it wasn’t particularly bright.”

“Whatever it might have been was hidden mostly by one of the ruins, what do you make of that?”

“Caelix?”

Looking around frantically Mason realized that Caelix was no longer beside him.

“Cmon just because I’m an amnesiac doesn’t mean I can’t figure out your practical jokes.”

No response.

“Oh shit…”

Mason transformed his arms into their tractor beam configuration and pulled himself to the ground with a thud.

“Caelix! Make a sound so I can find you!”

But he heard nothing

Then Diatom spoke

“Continue on, we don’t have time for this.”

“I can’t just leave him behind, he’s helped us out so far It’d be wrong to abandon him here considering how far he’s gotten us.”

“Well if you're so intent on endangering yourself for the sake of a stranger you just met.”

“On your descent I spotted a bit of artificial hair leading into the warehouse ahead of you.”

 “Also turn your thermals on for both of our sakes.”

“What? Oh, neat.”

A hum and a click emanate from Mason’s head then the world turns into shades of purple and orange.

Ahead Mason notices unlike the rest of the structures nearby the warehouse is unusually hot.

Approaching the building Mason senses the radiant heat from outside the locked doors.

“Guess they aren’t going to lay out the red carpet for me, here goes.”

Walking a few steps back Mason crouches, his internal reactor beginning to glow increasingly bright.

In the blink of an eye Mason leaps forward, legs outstretched and in the moment felt the doors satisfyingly crumple inward around his feet with a resounding crunch.

Barely taking time to steady himself Mason is racing forward towards what appears on thermals as a glowing writhing mass of orange.

From within the grasp of the creature Mason hears muffled shouting and feels static in the air.

Turning off thermals, Mason sees Caelix trapped in a net of sticky writhing vines that had apparently torn Caelix’s cape from his suit and was eagerly working to remove that as well.

Before Mason could act the creature seemed to notice his presence and emanated a burbling groan from an unseen orifice. It began to more quickly tear at Caelix’s environmental protection suit, and Mason saw that it would likely tear a fatal hole before he could make it. He knew he only had one option.

In his mind Diatom spoke

“I know what you’re planning, you know how stupid this idea is, last time you tried to futurelook you ended up crashing here, think this out carefully.”

“I don’t have time to think, D.”

And for Mason, suddenly time stood still.

Before him, phantasms of himself rushed out in all directions; he saw hundreds of failed attempts end in Caelix’s death blurring his vision of successful outcomes, this was unacceptable.

He frantically looked around; he felt hopeless and he began to think, the warehouse was dark and dreary, hardly a place to die for how unremarkable it was certainly no proper end for an adventurer.

He saw how the creature had grown to fill the space filling every nook and cranny, above he saw the skylight that Caelix had likely been dragged through. Weirdly it seemed the creature had avoided growing under it. 

“Hold on.”

Mason channeled his power into one of his arms amplifying the output but keeping the range short, perhaps he couldn’t kill it outright with Caelix in the way, but maybe he could stun it and save Caelix, even if it cost him an arm.

TIme resumed and in the span of a second Mason’s arm exploded with brilliant light the creature recoiling viciously tossing Caelix’s struggling form towards Mason and retreating its substantial mass into a large hole where it seethed and screeched in pain.

Caelix landed with a thump beside Mason and groggily looked up.

In a slightly slurred and delirious tone Caelix remarked

“My utmost sympathy for the bugs.”

And promptly collapsed.

Hurriedly with his remaining arm Mason tractor beamed Caelix onto his back and used a few nearby strands of vine to fasten him securely.

Pushing off toward the maintenance hatch again Mason coasted the rest of the way up to the spin shaft and pulled himself and Caelix inside.

On the other side was a skinny metal catwalk that circled the main rotor shaft.

Posted on the walls were numerous pictorial diagrams describing a pressure based emergency restart system that could be remotely activated from an analogue dashboard on the catwalk nearby.

After carefully depositing the sleeping Caelix’s body safely on the floor Mason stumbled over to the terminal and flicked the emergency solid rocket spin start lever.

A distant cry of bird analogues taking off could be heard as the massive counterweight was released below roaring past and up the shaft toward some hazy destination further in where the energy transfer plate lay.

“Good work getting the gravity back up kid”

Mason turned about with a start

“Good to see you’re awake Caelix, I was worried the vine creature had ruptured your suit”

“Well, yes and no, there is a rip in the left arm of this suit but I’m fine, and anyway, how did you lose an arm?”

Playfully punching Caelix’s shoulder Mason said

“Just regular hero stuff, no need to thank me”

“Say, is your arm bleeding green?”

T.B.C.