Part 2[spoiler] So if a seal was ever broken, the occupant of the suit was saved from the immense cold by freezing faster than the environment could, and saved from the immense pressure of the ocean's weight and the toxic atmosphere of Tarkaven. But getting the liquid into one's lungs was tricky. It had to be injected very carefully into the lungs via machine, and throughout the procedure, one often panicked in their breathing, only slowing things down. It was here that Brendus had shown Davidson a nifty trick. Take a deep breath of air, plug your nose, and let the needle do its work. As you exhaled slowly, the liquid went in easier and bonded faster, preventing more issues. Davidson spoke in his water filled suit, which was translated from gibberish and bubbles, to a headpiece that was in one ear that played back his voice in a normal tone to Brendus. "Hey, Brendus, where are you from?" "Aye, I came from some wee little backwater world." "That where you started mining?" "Aye. Grew up on a rocky 2G world. Taught by the natives there when I was a wee boy." "I didn't know people could be born on such heavy worlds like that. You must feel pretty damn strong here." "Aye. Feel like I could move a bloody mountain." "I wouldn't doubt it. By the way, thanks for all the help." "S' no problem lad. Me mum always said to help those in need. Starting out on a job like this, from a city boy world like yours, s' tough. But ye'll get the hang of it." Brendus stopped his loader, and spoke into the comms. "Aye laddy, lunch time! Get yer silly straws out, cause that's all we can eat in a big bucket like this one!" The man laughed heartily as Davidson powered down his lance and walked over to the loader as Brendus climbed out. Two Weeks Later Davidson sat on the ice field on his break, staring out to the sky up above, taking in the view of the evening sky. Genlaic was high in the sky, and the dim blue sun was going down on the horizon. The last light shined on the green-blue clouds, tinged with the red-orange bands that formed on Genlaic. Behind him sat the orbital elevator which extended all the way up into space, and the home base on the only decently large landmass in the area. A few miles away, he could make out the foliage of the hardy alien plant life that managed to grow here. Behind him, he heard the steps of Brendus's suit on the ice, as the man came over and sat down next to him. "Aye, 'S really something right? I'd live here if I could." Davidson pointed to the patch of alien forest off in the distance. "Well, if you walk that way for a few hundred kilometers, you'll find the old colony still there. Think you'd give it a shot?" Brendus laughed. "Aye, that I would. But I'd do it the right way. Not like those poor bloody sods who landed here first." Brendus suddenly patted Davidson on the shoulder, the metal clanging together loudly. "Aye, must say, you've impressed me lad. Didn't think you'd hold out for so long on the job. Now that yer used to it, it'll get easier from here." "Thanks. If it wasn't for the fact that we need the money, I'd've thrown the towel in a while back." Brendus nodded from beneath his suit. "Aye, saw yer wee ones last night. They look something special. And yer wife looks like a sweet thing. I'd work here for them too." "You got any family back home?" "Aye, that I don't. I don't have a home." "What happened?" "Me home world was destroyed by its star. Damn thing went nova. Nobody knew what was comin'. "I'm sorry to hear that." "Aye, no troubles laddy. Happened a long time ago. If there's one thing about time, if you give a man enough of it, after a while, he'll start to feel better. Besides. I bet me mum cursed that blasted thing all the way up until the end. Probably gave it her thoughts on the matter quite well." Davidson laughed at the thought. As did Brendus. The two stayed there for some time, watching the last dim rays of light go down on the alien horizon, before they got up and headed back to base. 3 Months Later Davidson held his lance steady as he continued to cut more ice out, as all around him, crystalized lightening fell from the sky, sending small ice crystals everywhere. It panged harmlessly off his suit, but was somewhat of a distraction as he worked. The winds were roaring, and Brendus was having a hard time in the grappler as well, having to make sure everything was stabilized before he made any moves. The sky was a very dark blue and green, as flashes went off, and were then followed by tremendous booms followed by more ice. Davidson had to admit, as beautiful as these storms were, they made working conditions a little bit difficult. There was no harm to equipment out here as the lightening became crystalized too fast for any damage to take place, but with the high winds and constant stream of green-blue crystals, it was still challenging. Brendus was in the middle of hauling an ice cube up from the ice around it, when an immense boom sounded out above them, followed by a hell of a lot of crystals. Brendus swore over the comms. "Aye, bloody hell that was a whopper of a sound!" "You sure that won't cause any problems? I mean that was damn loud!" "Aye laddy, the machine back home covered this. We should be right as rain, or ice, in this case!" Brendus laughed once more, and then, suddenly another massive wave of thunder rolled over them, and the ground shook under Davidson's feet. Davidson looked at his feet, and saw a massive crack in the ice, passing alongside him. He spoke into his comms. "Brendus, I think we've got a problem here. The ice is cracking!" "Aye laddy you ain't pullin' me leg are ye?" "Not for this, no way!" Another massive wave of thunder and crystals, and the fracture spread alarmingly over and across Brendus's grappler. Davidson practically stared into the abyss as the fracture slowly widened, with no end in sight to the darkness below. "Brendus, you'd better get your ass out of that grappler now!" "Aye laddy, here I-" Another wave of thunder, and suddenly, the ice split. With a massive, earth shaking sound, the ice heaved and groaned, and finally broke, shifting titanically. Davidson felt a sense of vertigo as his view of the grappler was lost and he found it rising up into the air. Or was he sinking? At the worst of times, another clap of thunder, and Davidson saw the grappler tilt over the edge of the ice, leaning towards him. Davidson had already dropped what he was doing, and began running without looking behind him, when another tremor was felt, and he was sent slipping out of control on the massive ice plate he was on that was now sinking. Huge chunks of ice came crashing down behind him as lightening flashed and crystalized, and then there was an enormous crash as the grappler impacted on the ice behind him, and suddenly, the plate that he was on split apart and fractured. Davidson was looking into the blackness of eternity as a crag spread past him and rapidly grew in size. He shuffled backwards frantically, when all of a sudden, he was pinned. He turned his head, desperately trying to see what it was, and found the grappler's crane arm, laying against his back. He called out to his comms frantically. "Brendus, I need help! I'm trapped here! I'm gonna die!" There was nothing on the comms, as the ice around Davidson cracked and shifted, groaning from the pressure as the massive wall of ice that was advancing over top of him was threatening to engulf his smaller plate. His suit was durable, but not that durable. Brendus's voice came over the comms once more. "Aye, hang in there laddy, I'm comin for ya!" Davidson looked up, and saw Brendus leap from the towering mountain of ice above him, and come crashing down into the ice. Brendus impacted onto the ice like the heavy man he was, covered and protected by his bright yellow mining suit, but came sprinting over quickly. He stopped by Davidson, and looked at the crane arm. Davidson noted that the ice was cracking rapidly under him from the weight of the grappler. "Aye, called for help laddy, but we need to move now! Looks like ye don't got a choice!" Brendus made the motion of his hands as if he'd just spit in them, and gripped the frame of the grappler's crane. "Brendus what are you doing!?" "Aye kiddo, savin' yer life! Time to move me a mountain! Born on a 2G world, living on a world that's one quarter away from being 1G! Aye, I've got this!" Brendus got down low and strained with all his might, lifting with his legs and arms. Davidson watched as Brendus was actually doing it, struggling, but he was actually moving the crane. "Aye, come on you wee son of a bitch!" Thunder rolled over them once more, and Brendus was visibly shaking as he lifted the crane's arm up. Davidson struggled to move, but it wasn't enough. "Come on Brendus, a little bit more!" Brendus gave it his all, and Davidson heard the metal groan and strain as Brendus gripped it tightly. But Davidson caught the cracks in the ice around them, and watched as Brendus was struggling. He spoke into his comms.[/spoiler]

Part 3 [spoiler]"Brendus you have to get out of here! The ice isn't going to hold!" He looked down briefly, before he pushed with all his might. "Aye, I ain't going anywhere laddy!" The ice beneath them cracked further, and Brendus roared into his comms as he lifted with everything he had, and watched as the crane lifted, an inch, and then two. Davidson scrambled out from under the crane, or tried to, when all of a sudden Brendus let go. The crane shuddered from the impact of falling ice over top of it, and in the final strain, the ice began to break. With his last option, Davidson shoved Brendus, HARD, and only had a moment to glimpse him. "You tell my kids and my wife, I love them!" The ice broke under Davidson, and as Brendus scrambled to his feet to try and help, Davidson fell into the void as the ice fractured and thunder rolled over them. The fall went on forever, as all faded to black, and Davidson lost sight of Brendus and the alien sky up above. Davidson's eyes fluttered open slowly, as he slowly began to look at the world around him. He looked at his visor, to the warning lights and flashing signs displayed across it. His suit was damaged, but intact. He looked out to the world beyond, to nothing. There was solid blackness. Davidson waved his hand in front of him, and found that he could, at least move. But he didn't even see his hand. He spoke into his comms, and got static as a reply. Davidson looked up, and saw nothing. He was surrounded by it. He moved his legs, and found that they moved slow and sluggishly. And now that he moved his arms, he felt it too. He was underwater..... He looked at the various signs displayed on his visor once again. The suit had taken a beating, but now that he was underwater, he needed to change things. He spoke, somewhat panicked. "Suit, uh, change to underwater operations." Various functions came on in his suit, and then, suddenly, he had light. It was weak, and from what he could tell, one of the lenses on the suit was broken, but it was better than nothing. He looked at the gauges for his suit. He was under an enormous amount of pressure right now. There was literally at least well over 10 miles of ice pressing down on the water he was in right now. And he was on the ocean floor. His pressure gauges were flashing warning lights. His oxygen was good, and could filter the water. He'd be fine there. But his suit only had enough food for maybe two days at the most. And he had no clue where he was. If he had drifted all the way down here, he might have even been picked up by currents. But what was troubling, was the power. His suit only had a limited amount of power. Davidson pushed himself up in the sand, and looked around. He was a dead man if he tried to go anywhere. But, he was a dead man if he waited too. What could he do? He took deep breathes, trying desperately to stave off panic. His only chance was to wait. If he went in a random direction, he might be traveling farther away. With a deep breath in the goo like water of his suit, he spoke calmly. "Suit, power down non-essential functions. Transmit a beacon on the suit's power. Turn off lights, disable HUD. Turn off all joints and motorized movement functions. Keep only vital systems going." Davidson watched as the world outside his visor vanished, the interface on his visor did as well, and he could no longer move his suit without immense effort. He stayed still, laying on the bottom of the ocean floor, transmitting a beacon, hoping against hope it would break through the ice, or anything. He let his head rest against the padding of his suit, and laid back. Now he waited. It was all he could do. 1 Day Later Davidson hummed himself a song in the goo of his suit, trying to pass the time, and the growing fear that nothing was coming. He could hardly sleep in the night, assuming he even knew what time it was. Every now and then he had to turn the power to his joints back on, because he was cramped after staying in the same position all day and night. When he tried to sleep, he could feel even his heavy suit rocking in the currents as he sat in the sand, and it unsettled him. He was thinking about his family, his wife, son and daughter. What he wouldn't give to see them right now. He was afraid. And then, there were phases were he was sad, depressed to the point of crying. But nothing helped. He was down here. And no one was coming. He was going to die down here, hundreds of light years away from them, on a ball of ice. Davidson sat in the darkness of the ocean, keeping his eyes closed. It was more comforting that way. At least he was warm and well insulated. As far is things were concerned, he was in relative comfort, except for light. But he was immobile. Thoughts turned to the surface, as he wondered what was going on up top. Surely Brendus and the others were searching. Devski was a machine, a very powerful intelligence. They would find him. They had to. He sighed. Who was he kidding? He was going to die down here from starvation. He opened his eyes to the dark world beyond, and suddenly he squinted his eyes. That wasn't possible. He had to hallucinating. He looked out into the blackness, to a single dot of light. Small, but still light. That had to be somebody. If anyone was crazy enough to jump after him, it would be Brendus. Davidson powered up his suit, and kept himself focused on the light. He had to go before he lost it. Davidson pushed himself up from the sand, and with one step, then two, he went towards it. He was like a moth to a flame, drawn to this one little flicker amidst the dark. He started building up a better pace now, and slowly at first, the light grew stronger, as he got closer. And now, the light was beginning to grow brighter. He was moving as fast as he could manage, breaking into a sweat as he tried to run, huffing and laughing as he got closer, the light stronger. And then, as the light seemed its brightest, it was gone. Snuffed out, leaving Davidson in darkness. He sunk to his knees, and activated his comms. "Brendus! Devski! Hello is anyone there! I'm here, you passed me! I'll turn my lights on so you can see me!" Davidson activated the lights, looking out ahead of him. His eyes only had a stark few seconds to realize what they were seeing, before in a flash, it exploded into motion and vanished in the dark. Davidson gasped in shock, and turned out his lights. He stayed stone still in the darkness, as some great fear washed over him. There couldn't be anything down here. There was only simple sea life in these oceans. But what he saw couldn't be possible. He didn't see much, but it was enough to convince him that what he saw was real. He stayed still, that primal fear running through him as he scanned the dark ocean in a panic, when suddenly, the light appeared again. But it wasn't far away. It was close, but dim. And as Davidson peered at it through his suit, ice ran through his veins as he started to make out the details. He was staring into the eyes of something. Something that could stare back at him, and was intelligent enough to realize that it was staring at something strange, something new. Davidson squinted as he tried to make out something, anything. He was deathly afraid, but he watched, as something, from another world, an alien life form, peered through the wall of protection that was his suit, straight into his eyes. He couldn't make out much, but it had some kind of form. It was ghostly, like a shimmer in the water, but he could make out its eyes. They were large, larger than his to be sure, and had the faintest glow to them. They were black, pure solid black, but he could tell, that they blinked through both vertical and horizontal eyelids. He was shaking in his suit, but compelled by some force. He activated his suit's comms to external, and spoke, taking a hushed breath as he uttered the simple word. "Hello?" He didn't know why he did it, but the response startled him, and in the briefest moment, he saw something that he truly had no words for. In a dazzling flash of colour, the being before him flashed dazzling lines of blue. They ran down its veins, all across its ghostly transparent body, flashing for the briefest moment. He couldn't make out any more details, but the lights that filled his eyes were burned into his memory. And then, as the eyes peered at him, a transparent, fragile hand was placed against the glass of his visor. It was slim and sleek, but had five fingers, just like a Human. Through its skin he could see something that looked like retractable spikes embedded at the tip of its fingers, when his suit suddenly began flashing warnings. He was brought back into reality, as the warning signs flashed on the visor. Davidson panicked, as the "Breach Imminent" flashed in red on the screen. The thing was opening his suit! He activated power to the joints in a panic and flailed his arms slowly, desperately trying to get the thing away from his suit, but as the siren became blaring and the screen flashed, words of text scrolled across his screen, as the emergency cyrostasis was activated. Davidson screamed as his suit was opened to the crushing depths of the ocean, and then, there was nothing.[/spoiler]

Part 4 [spoiler] 1 Month Later There was sound. Some noise, in the distance. Like muffled talking. And he was dimly aware of light. He had the sense of light, being shined on him, bright and warm. And then he felt something in his throat. A tenseness, he was lacking something. It grew more and more, like his body needed something. Davidson woke up screaming, to the sound of blaring warning sounds and the voice of Devski speaking to him. He started coughing, choking on the air. He faintly heard the sound of Devski in the background, as his vision blurred and went into dark tunnels. He couldn't make out what Devski was saying, but he was losing consciousness rapidly, and as he struggled, grasping at nothing, the world went black around him once more. Davidson opened his eyes slowly, faintly registering the sound of a heartbeat monitor, as the world came back to him. He looked around him, slowly at first, unbelieving of where he was. He was in the medical wing on the mining station. He looked up to the ceiling, taking in the view of Tarkaven's early morning sky. He looked around, and found curtains all around him. He reached out to them, sluggishly, and found tubes and wiring in his arms, as well as his chest. He gripped one on his chest, when suddenly, the voice of Devski broke through. "I would leave those if I were you. We had a hard time thawing you out. You were still insulated by your suit's gel layer. You nearly drowned once you came to." Davidson reached up weakly, feeling the words barely forming on his lips. "Family....need to....." "We have updated them on your current status. We will contact them when you are ready. But at the moment you have several drugs running through your system to remove the gel layer in your lungs and body after it froze and bonded with you. You need some time to recover." "What about....... What....... Brendus?" "Your co-worker is in good health. He was most frantic upon contacting me and was distraught about the incident for several weeks. But, now that I have contacted him on your current condition, he seems to be doing much better. In fact, all the crew is. Welcome back Mr. Davidson." Davidson breathed an immense sigh of relief as he laid his head back down on the pillow, and closed his eyes to rest. What'd he'd seen down there suddenly flashed back to his mind. Had he been saved? Or was it mere accident and he'd almost died before he was saved by the suit's preservation features? One thing for sure, something told him to keep it to himself. In the meantime, he was going to just rest for a while. 1 Year Later Davidson rode the elevator shaft far down, standing in it with a few other workers. Brendus stood next to him, and bumped him over the shoulder in his suit. "Aye laddy, ye' sure you want to do this?" "You couldn't stop me if you tried." "Aye then. But I'd weigh yer options with lady luck. Ye survived a fall down below the ice, hit the ocean floor, and managed to drift over here on reserve power until somebody found ye. If that's not tempting fate, I don't know what is." "Don't worry about it Brendus. We'll be fine." "Aye. What happened to you down there?" "I sat on the bottom of the ocean for a day and a half. No light. Nothing. Only darkness. And then, I saw the light." Brendus shook his head. "Aye, ye lost yer marbles when they unthawed ya. Said you were screaming up a storm before ye started choking. Doesn't sound like no light to me. You sure yer feeling okay? Davidson simply nodded. "I'm better than okay." The lift reached the bottom, and as warning lights blared and water slowly began to fill the room, pressurizing the inside with the outside. The group of miners waited patiently, until everything stopped and the lights went green. Brendus patted Davidson on the back.[/spoiler]

Part 5 [spoiler]"Aye then laddy, welcome to the ocean shift! If ye thought that up top was something, wait until ye get sight of this!" The doors to the elevator opened, revealing an entire new world to Davidson's eyes, as the crew stepped out onto the sandy ocean floor. 2 Years Later Davidson worked the controls on his rig, cutting vast swaths of sand up into the water, which was then captured and filtered through by the complicated systems of the machine he drove. He looked out to the ocean beyond, which, although dark, was illuminated but a vast forest of bright glowing, luminescent plant life, alien sea life, and ocean vents. The sight never got old for Davidson. There was every colour of the rainbow down here, with vast plant life growing in abundant quantities in the oxygen rich waters, and titanic sea life which made his own home world and Humanity's ancient world look like household pets. Above that sat the eternal ceiling of ice, which reflected and captured all the amazing lights, causing them to dance across the surface in a display of ever changing colours, weaving in and out with each other. Davidson checked on the signs of the other crew members as they all traveled at relatively the same pace along their projected courses. He brought up Brendus's comms and spoke. "Hey Brendus, nice day as usual down here right?" There was a short delay before Brendus patched in. "Aye, would hope so after last night! Ye had a pretty nasty chat with yer wife! What's the matter?" "She wants me to come home. She says we can do with what I've made. But I don't think so. I've been watching the accounts. They're spending it faster than I can make it." "That's to be expected laddy. Ye aren't there when she needs ye. And same for yer wee ones. Ye've been on the job for 3 years now. 3 years is a long time for yer wife to wait for ye." "That's what I told her before I left. It was her idea. I told her she'd miss me." "Aye laddy. S' not about who's right and wrong. Ye never argue with the womenfolk on this matter. Yer not there, she's lonely. End of the tale." "She'll just have to wait a bit longer. I'll be home soon. And you can bet I'll be coming back in one piece too. You say this job is the most dangerous on the base. So far it's been easy sailing, more than the ice cracking ever was!" Brendus laughed over the comms. "Aye, that was beginner's bad luck laddy. When things go wrong down here, s' a right big mess." "We'll have to wait and see won't we?" "Aye laddy, that we will." Brendus laughed deeply once more, as they continued forwards on their rigs, harvesting the rich minerals from the sand. 1 Year Later Davidson sat in silence, clutching himself closely as he replayed the video, over and over. He received some mail from and odd address, and opened it up in the cafeteria to watch. Everybody wanted to know who it was, and upon finding out who and what it was from, the cafeteria quickly emptied out, and now, Davidson sat here in silence, rocking on his chair back and forth, shaking. He heard footsteps behind him, but didn't care. It was only when his friend placed a mighty hand on his shoulder, and spoke quietly. "Aye. I'm sorry, Davidson." Davidson stuttered out, a lump in his throat. "It's not your fault." Brendus was quiet for a time, watching as Davidson replayed the video, over and over. "It's mine. I didn't go back. I should have gone back. But I stayed. I stayed here, for, for, nothing! And now they're gone!" "Ye can't blame yerself. Yer wife left ye 9 months ago. She took yer kids. She and her boyfriend were driving together." "But if I'd left sooner, this wouldn't have happened." "And ye would have come home without a penny in yer name. It would have been the same outcome." "But....my kids....my kids.... OH GOD MY KIDS!!!!" Davidson lapsed into another fit of weeping, and was unresponsive to Brendus. Brendus stared out from his bushy face at the video which looped constantly. It was the last recording of Davidson's kids. His wife, and her new partner, were recording them before they left their home. It looked to him like some holiday was happening, and they were taking the kids out somewhere. As the footage played, Davidson's ex-wife was recording them in the vehicle, their smiles and excitement for where they were going, and then the footage suddenly went black, only to start over once more. This was the point at which their vehicle had been smashed into by a carrier. The car was literally torn to shreds in the air and its remains plummeted for over a mile down to the streets below. No one survived. Brendus watched the footage over once more, before he turned away. He gripped Davidson's shoulder tight, before walking off to leave him in peace. The man needed to be alone right now. And he understood that more than most.[/spoiler]

Part 6 [spoiler]1 Year Later, 365 Days until end of Contract Davidson traveled along on his rig, headed back to the shaft that would take him back up to base. He and Brendus were the last ones to finish up for the day, and both met at the same time, and dismounted their vehicles. Brendus made his way over to the lift, as did Davidson. "Aye, a good day's work for the start of your last year no?" "Yeah." There was an awkward pause between the two as they both stepped into the lift. Brendus was having a hard time, doing his best to cheer up Davidson. Ever since the incident, Davidson hadn't been the same. "Aye friend, want to go up topside and see the storm comin' in? She's goin' to be a big one!" "No thanks." Brendus lowered his head in silence. The water pressure began to lower as the chamber began to empty itself slowly, depressurizing the room. It was uncomfortable before Davidson suddenly broke the silence. "I don't want to go home Brendus. But this place, it's not beautiful anymore." Brendus tensed up. "Aye. But you'll have some money to come back to, at least." "I don't care about that." Brendus stayed quiet. "I don't care about anything. I don't want to go back home. I don't want to stay here. I just want to go somewhere, and die." Brendus reeled back from Davidson's words. But, he didn't really have anything to say. But he was going to try. "Aye. Davidson. Ye remember what I told you about me mum?" "Yes." "Imagine how that felt. But not just me mum. All me friends, all me family, all gone. And there wasn't a right bloody thing I could do about it. But I blamed meself. And I blamed meself a lot. And I was right here, where ye are standing now, in the same way." Davidson looked over. "Then how'd you beat it? You know what it feels like then? The world is empty. And all I have are the memories of the kids I never saw grow up. The kids I'll never see grow up. And my wife, oh god my wife. I pushed her away until she couldn't take it anymore." Brendus nodded silently. "Aye, was just like that. All me friends and family gone, like the snap of a finger. Me home world, even. I'll never see those low plains again, or the glint of the low valley I grew up in, as the sun shined over its ancient rocks that shined so bright from the metals in 'em. But I hung on to somethin'. Aye, don't know what, but I found somethin' to care for, some reason to live." "What would that be?" "Aye. When me home system went, all of a sudden, all the natives to me world, Human and alien, were refugees, because we had no government. We were all suddenly the last of our kind, and we had no place to call home. But we organized, and tried to rebuild. We tried to find a new world to call home. And we found one. But the cost for it, was too great for those that were left. Even with help from outsiders." "That's why you're here?" "Aye. When I heard about what happened, I left me job, and went over to the rally fleet. It was chaos. But I found this wee little girl. Her parents were on her home when our sun went. She was on a trip out of the system, and came back homeless and alone. So, Aye, I knew what I had to do. I had to fight for all of them, in any way I could. And we all started something, together. Now, we're paying off our debt, and rebuilding our home. Every five years I come and visit that not so wee little girl now. I pay part of her funds as well as putting the rest to the species we owe our new home from." Davidson simply watched. "That's respectable Brendus. But, no offense, that's not my case." "Aye, I know lad. But it is. Just on a smaller scale. Ye need to find something to keep ye going. Some little light in the dark to shine yer way out. Count yer blessings. Remember those years back, when ye were trapped under all that blasted ice? Ye saved me, and fell down, for miles. But ye came back alive. How lucky is that? And ye would throw that gift away now?" Davidson nodded quietly. "Okay Brendus." Brendus chuckled, only lightly. "Aye, that's me city boy! Yer tougher than ye look ye know!" 360 Days until end of Contract Davidson stirred in his sleep, as he was having a vivid dream. Brendus's words were ringing past him in clumps, but amidst flashes of other things as well, his kids, his wife, and strange patterns that he vaguely remembered. He was surrounded by darkness, a familiar feeling, as he reached out for anything at hand, but found nothing. And then, like a small dot of light, something shined out. He ran towards it instinctively, and then, it suddenly exploded into a dazzling show of lights, as two large black eyes stared at him from an extremely vague humanoid face, that was transparent, showing all of its inner workings underneath. Davidson woke up with sweat sliding down is face, as he looked up and around his room in the darkness. This was the second time he had remembered his dreams so vividly, and rubbed his forehead before going back to sleep. He thought about all those years ago, down at the bottom of the ocean. And a revelation visited him. It had saved him. It had opened his suit, out of curiosity, and triggered the failsafe. And then, carried him in the ice chunk without his suit to the safe waters of the mining outpost. It wasn't hostile. It was curious, like a child. Davidson went back to sleep not long after, but a fire was ignited in his head, one that wouldn't be put out. 305 Days until end of Contract Davidson rode down the elevator shaft with Brendus, waiting for the right time that they were deep enough. The AI up above monitored everything, but couldn't pick up transmissions down this far. He didn't want to risk Devski hearing what he was going to say. He made sure his comms were closed off to the others in the elevator, and spoke to Brendus.[/spoiler]

Part 7 [spoiler]"Brendus, can you give me a comms check?" "Aye, sure thing laddy." As Brendus did so, Davidson cut him off. "Your comms are separated now right?" "Aye. I can hear you fine laddy." "Don't reconnect!" "What?" "Don't reconnect to them!" "Aye, sure thing laddy. What's the problem?" "I don't want anyone to hear what I'm going to say." "Oh? And what would that be?" "You said they found me drifting, partially covered up in my suit, but still in cryo right?" "Aye, that's what they said, I think." "And everybody thought that I opened my suit to give myself some time to hopefully live a bit longer, and so happened to end up back here right?" "Aye, sure is laddy." "I didn't." "What?" "I didn't do any of that. My suit was opened." "Aye, say what now?" "My suit. It was opened by something else." "Yer pullin' me chains." "I'm not joking, Brendus. I found something down there." "Oy, ye mean like an animal? There's loads of those down here." "No. Not an animal. Something else. It was intelligent. Sapient life." "Aye, that seems like a far stretch if it opened yer suit up." "It's not like that. It's, hard to explain. It's intelligent. Curious. I looked into its eyes. And it wanted to see me for what I was under the suit. When it triggered the failsafe, it must have brought me back over here. I need to go back Brendus. I've never seen anything like it before." Brendus was silent for some time. "Aye, why didn't you tell anyone?" "Because, I thought it should remain that way. It seemed, so fragile. And it was so far down there. Anything down there isn't meant to be found." "Then why go back?" "Because. It saved me. I need to see it, before I leave this place. I need to know." Brendus was quiet again. "You'd better not be pullin' me leg. I need time to think about this." "I've already got a plan. I'm going to go to back there with a suit. But I need to make modifications to it. I need help. But you can't tell anyone!" "Aye, yer right bloody serious then ain't ye? Okay then. Give me some time to think about it." 265 Days until end of Contract Davidson cut through ice with his lance, working away as Brendus did as well. So far, the plan had been going well. They had traded places on the work rounds, because it was necessary for what Brendus was going to do. Even though they were monitored slightly more than down below, they had their best chances up here. The plan was, over time Brendus was going to illegally modify Davidson's suit to fit the changes he needed to do this, and, every day, one of them would skip all breaks, and make a quick trip over to the old ice harvesting field that shattered, use their lance, and carve a path, straight down, until they hit the ocean. Davidson figured, that if they didn't recover all of his suit, then part of it must have still been down there. If they got close enough to it, it may still have had power to send its signals, which they would pick up. If Davison could pick them up, then he could find his suit. And if he could find his suit, there was a slim, but low chance he would enter area of the strange being he had encountered so long ago. It was a sound plan, and so far, things were going well. The only problem would be what would happen when Davidson went under for a day or two, if he was down there for that long. Brendus would have a lot of potential problems to work out. Hopefully, Davidson wouldn't need to be down for a day or more. And, in the meantime, hopefully their plan would stay on course as they slowly dug deeper piece by piece, and upgraded Davidson's suit for what he had in mind.[/spoiler]

Part 8 [spoiler]67 Days until end of Contract Davidson cut through the ice with his lance, on high power, melting through it with ease, as he carved the pathway in the ice which had now settled thoroughly. Their scans showed that they were finally starting to get there, and their pit descended into almost pure darkness now. This was his passion, his driving force, which kept him going. He didn't know why, but he needed to see the creature again. He wasn't crazy. Brendus had explained that everybody had their own ways of doing things. And maybe, it was Davidson's way of coping. Brendus said that if it was, he had no right to try and stop him and instead help him. The man was a true friend. The lance cut through more ice deeper and deeper, and with a sudden hiss of steam, Davidson found that there was no longer ice. Dark water surged upwards towards him, and, planning for this, Davidson activated a force field in the tunnel, keeping the water trapped in place so it didn't make it all the way up to the icy surface. He cheered, looking with a smile for once, at the blackened pit before him. They had done it. Now, all they had to do was finish his suit. Davidson checked his clock, and found that time was up. He started climbing upwards to the surface far beyond. He had good news, for once. 1 Day until end of Contract Davidson sat at the edge of the entrance to their great tunnel to the ocean far below, along with Brendus. The man whistled. "Aye." "We did it, didn't we?" "Aye, that we did lad. And now the last part is up to you. Ye made this, and yer time is ticking. If ye believe what ye saw is down there, crazy or not, it's yer choice." "What if I'm gone longer than a day?" "Aye laddy, I'll take care of things. Ye do what ye have to do." Davidson placed a hand on Brendus's shoulder. "Thank you. Really, for all that you've done." "S' no problem lad. Now go, time's a wastin." Davidson took a look at the great blue-green sky before him, as the pale blue star rose for the day, illuminating the gas giant and its immense rings, and for the first time in a long while, this place was beautiful again. Davidson looked down into the pit. "Well, wish me luck." "Aye lad. Good luck." Davidson teetered over the abyss, looking down to the darkness below. He wasn't taking the long way this time around. Davidson put one foot over the edge, and fell over, into the darkness below. Davidson crashed into the sand with a heavy impact, jarring his armour but not damaging it, as he stood up in the blackness. His radar was on, and he knew, he must be somewhere close, because the grappler that had long since been buried under the ice here was close. He turned on his lights, and looked out to the darkness outside his visor. There were things he never noticed before, now that he was calm. Even down here, there was amazing levels of plant life, which glowed very dimly in the dark, nothing compared to what was up higher, but even here, it was its own little world. Davidson set off in a direction, taking what he hoped would be the best path. He wasn't sure of himself, and as time wore on, his plan seemed more and more insane. But he felt like he had to do this, or he would never get the chance again. He walked in silence, listening to his radar as it searched for the transmitter in his suit. He walked for hours, or what seemed like it, as he slowly progressed through the sand of the darkened ocean floor. And, finally, as his guesses were right, there was a ping on the radar. Almost excitedly, Davidson headed off in the direction of the ping, growing closer with each step. He wasn't afraid anymore, as he traveled in the blackness that was so thick it looked like it would envelope him completely. And, with growing excitement, he did it. His radar was at the maximum, and he looked down, to find part of his discarded suit, laying there in the sand. An eerie calm came over him, as he looked at it. He was trapped in that once. Stuck down here with no light, no chance of rescue. And here he stood now, having come here willingly. He searched the area, and, seeing nothing left to do, he sat down. There was nothing left to do, but wait. And, one last thing. He used the interface in his suit, and spoke the one simple word he had before. Hello. He set it on a slow broadcasting loop to play in the waters outside, and simply lay there, dimming his lights. It almost felt just like before, when he was stuck down here. This place seemed like it was part of a tomb, and part beauty. It was serene, and calm, but so alone. And so, sitting at the bottom of the ocean, on an alien world, Davidson did the only thing he could do. He waited.[/spoiler]

Part 9 [spoiler] Time went by slowly, and Davidson closed his eyes to pass the time, resting against the padding in his suit. He turned out even the HUD on his faceplate, sitting there in patient silence. It was agonizing, waiting down here. But, suddenly, off in the distance, there was a light. Davidson cut the sounds his suit was playing back, and stood up from his sandy resting spot, and took slow, careful steps towards the light in the distance. Just like before, it grew stronger, as he came closer, and at the height of its peak, it extinguished. Davidson stood still in the darkness, looking out of his faceplate to the world on the other side, when suddenly, in the darkness, he could make out two eyes, staring directly at him. He didn't see anything else, but knew it was watching. He stared back into the abyss, and spoke into his comms. "Hello?" The reaction was immediate, as bright lines of light traveled up the creature's veins in response, fluttering lightly before disappearing. He shook, falling to his knees. This was it. This was why he came down here. This was his last, and only guiding purpose. That brief glimpse of those dim little lights all across the creature was what he had come down here for. But, in sudden realization, he felt the same. They did not cure him of his sadness, his hopelessness. They were, truly beautiful, but he still felt empty and lifeless inside. He watched in a hushed breath as the creature's midnight black eyes appeared in front of his faceplate again, watching him with unknown intent. Again, as it watched him, it placed a slender hand on his faceplate, but only remained watching this time. But Davidson, deep down, had wanted this to happen again. And that's what he had prepared for. He spoke to his suit, giving the command. He wasn't afraid of what this thing was. And he wanted to peer at it as close as he could. "Suit, disengage safety protocols. Unlock joints and helmet." With a few conformation lights, and the hiss of seals, his suit did just that. Davidson took a deep breath. Here was hoping Brendus knew his tech. He closed his eyes, and brought his arms up to his helmet. And in one fluid movement, done quick so he would not hesitate, he lifted his helmet up with a hiss of air, and gasped as water flooded into the space that it occupied, before filling out. Davidson opened his eyes, as if believing himself to be dead, crushed from the pressure of the ocean. But as he opened his eyes to the darkness, the true darkness that was now enveloping him, he smiled. Brendus had done it. As long as he kept the upper torso section of his suit on, the protective energy field would remain around his own bio-electric field. And it held the immense pressure at bay without a hitch. Davidson looked around him excitedly, when the lights from the creature before him fluttered once more in mesmerizing patterns. It swam around him excitedly in the darkness, before floating back down to greet him. And then, the one lone light he had seen came on before, illuminating the darkness around him, revealing the true nature of the being before him. The lone light was a lure, like some of the ancient sea creatures from Humanity's home world. It was long and flexible, transparent like the rest of it, and attached to a large, semi oval like head, which was shaped almost like a mushroom. Small, flexible appendages hung from the creature's dome like head, and it seemed, were able to produce light like its lure on top of its head. In the dim light generated by the creature, what he saw was, in short, stunning, and alien, and, beautiful. Instead of a central brain in its transparent head, were links, like neurons. And in the darkness, Davidson watched them, as they blinked rapidly, as the creature watched him, with curious eyes. He smiled, looking at its face. It drifted close to him, but he could see that its eyes were at work, looking at him like just like he was looking at it. Its face was humanoid in shape, but much smoother and lacked much in the way of features. No nose, or ears, or mouth as far as he could tell. Just curious eyes. He let out a hushed breathe, watching. He watched the neuron like links in its head, firing off in small, dim bursts. It was like, it was nervous too. This was first contact between two sapient life forms, as close as it could get. Davidson didn't know if it would work, but it was worth a try. He spoke slowly, watching its eyes and what went on in its head. He smiled as he said it. "Hello you. Longtime no see." The neurons in its head fired off rapidly, and in a sudden burst of light from everywhere in its body, the entire creature was illuminated, as multitudes of colour exploded from the veins in its body, its lure and smaller head appendages changing colour as well. And then, as if it couldn't get any better, Davidson could hear it. He could hear it in the water, as it sang. For every light that flashed in its body, the creature sung, low, long traveling sounds that resonated in his bones and made his hair stand up. And, as the creature sang, and lights of every colour traveled through its body, it was illuminated, like some great angel. Davidson was already on his knees, but he felt the weight of everything on his shoulders now, as all he could do was watch. His arms fell to his sides slowly, as the creature extended its pale finned arms, in open hands, in a universal gesture of peace, as light radiated from it, like it was a god, standing before him. The rest of its body was sleek and transparent, with no distinguishable features, or even much in the way of insides. He could tell, there was gills on the creature's neck, which was what it was using to make its song, while further down, there was a small rounded cluster of what looked like organs, a bundle of everything it needed to operate, and nothing more. Farther down, surprisingly, it had legs, with great fins that flared and drifted in the water, just like the ones on its arms. Its legs were sleek and slim, like its overall form, but rather than end in toes, there was a transparent webbing, the same in its hands. The lights came to a slow halt as they stopped travelling down its nerves and fins, until at last the lure was the only source of light left, and the creature let its arms down beside it, now watching him. Davidson had no idea what just happened, but the haunting melody that had just been sung stayed in his ears. He was simply awestruck, from everything. He couldn't think straight. He didn't even know what would come from this point on. What could he possibly do? The answer came to him, as the creature drifted slowly over to him, and razed a hand, slowly, to touch. It wanted to know. Davidson unlatched one of his gauntlets quickly, letting it drop to the floor, and raised his own hand, watching as the creature waited. He held his hand out, slowly, watching as it now held one, single finger out, and Davidson did the same. He didn't know how his barrier would react. But he was hoping that the creature would pass through unscathed. He looked at the visible barbs in its fingers, hoping that nothing happened on his end as well. He edged closer, slowly, and watched, as he brought his one, single finger up to the creatures. He made contact, squishing the creature's skin ever so slightly, and he watched, as ripples of bioluminescent light traveled across its nerves, all the way up to its "brain." In response, the creature fluttered more lights, and before his eyes, it parted, doing a summersault in the water before him, coming to rest back on the bottom of the floor. Davidson had felt it too. When he made contact, he could feel the electricity, just the slightest bit of it, and felt it ripple up into his own body where it ignited in his own head. He shook his head, looking at the creature before him. It was mesmerizing. He didn't want to look away. And he wanted to feel that strange feeling again. He held his hand out in full this time, and, mirroring his actions, it slowly guided its hand over, and pressed its fingers against his. Davidson felt the tingle in his nerves, and watched as the same ripples traveled up the creature. The neurons in its head fired off like fireworks, and the sensation grew stronger, until it was almost too much to handle. Davidson went to pull his hand away, but gasped in shock as its other appendage wrapped around his, doubling the dosage. The sensation was painful, as his own head was overloaded with the feeling. It felt like there was a million ideas all going off in his head at once, and as he tried to pull away, the creature's hands split into many fine smaller graspers, tentacles, that clung to his skin and kept the connection going. But when he looked over, gritting his teeth as his nerves sparked on and off, he saw the same thing happening to the alien. It was a two way exchange. But, why? The pain reached a new height, and in his head, like a fog, he saw things. Things he didn't understand. He didn't know what was happening. He tugged away, to no success. But, at the same time, the alien flashed faster and faster, its own nerves lit up like a Christmas tree, and he could see it was struggling to hold the connection. [/spoiler]

Part 10 [spoiler] More fog filled his mind, and suddenly, it started to make sense. He was seeing things, flashing buy, like lightening. It was the life of this alien. What it saw. What it knew. What it wanted. And what it was losing. And, he understood. From the very first time she found him, she wanted to go with him. She wanted to see what he was. To know that she wasn't alone. But, why was she alone? The painful exchange continued, and Davidson saw it. A plague. The scenes of her kind, floating lifeless in the sea in great droves. But, why? Where did it come from? More clouded images, and then he saw them. Roots. Roots? And as Davidson puzzled about it, the creature drew what it was learning from him, and held the thought in her mind. It was the plants...... The particles they made. Were, alien. They were a foreign parasite! This world had nothing on the surface originally. Her people once lived higher up in the seas. But it came from somewhere, and was strong enough to survive the extreme cold, boasting hyper adaptation. In the end, they had to go deeper and deeper to avoid spores. The creature watched through the fog of his own mind, what he had heard about the plants. They killed his kind too. Davidson started convulsing now, as the current became too much, and the creature unwound its grip from him. Davidson convulsed, falling back into the sand, watching as the creature drifted aimlessly nearby. He closed his eyes, the last residual images of what he'd seen fading into nothing, as his mind went blank. Davidson recovered, opening his eyes to the blackness of the ocean. Nearby, the alien drifted rather weakly, but was watching him. It drifted over slowly, as he reached out in silence. His head still hurt. But, he knew what he saw. And, he was crushed. Visions of this alien's kin, dead by the thousands, their bodies drifting in the water, silent, had temporarily merged with the footage of his children on their last day. It was too much. He couldn't take it. He stood up, and unlatched his other gauntlet, tossing it onto the ocean floor. The creature drifted by, its beady eyes watching as he approached. He hung his shoulders, but held out his hands. The creature drifted closer, and when it was close enough, he pulled her in, feeling that electric tingle across his hands once more, but not as, invading as it was prior. He pulled it in close, and before he even knew what he was doing, he had wrapped his arms around it and fallen into the sand, cradling it. Partly because of the crushing sadness that completely overwhelmed him, and partly for this alien. He saw everything, and although it was quick and faded like a matchstick, he knew. And as he held the strange being close, feeling her oddly squishy skin, watching as its veins pulsed with blue light, she let out a long, mournful sound that rang out into the ocean depths, answered by none. He held her there in his arms, grieving for his own losses, comforting a being that since she was born, only knew that she was alone in the world. He held her there tight, watching as her beady eyes stared into his, an odd sense of sadness conveyed. And she brought one of her hands up to his cheek, placing it firmly against it, and he shuddered from the touch, in part from the current, but from something else. That was the way his son did it. She knew. He smiled suddenly, watching her as she continued to press her hand against his cheek gently, sending shivers down his spine. An alien, who had lost everything, and his children, left alone in the world. And an alien, who was born into nothing, alone from day one, and now, had contracted the plague, was doomed to death alone, afraid. But she wouldn't have to be. He was here. He was here, to say hello, and goodbye. He understood now. He wasn't going anywhere. Even if he was late. He wouldn't leave her side. 1 Day Later, 24 Hours after Contract completion Davidson and the creature had remained close together for the better part of a day. And he knew that her time was running out. But she remained the curious, playful being that she was. But even now, he could see that there was something wrong. The various neuron like lights that traveled all across the inside of her body were going dim, and slowing down. Davidson could do nothing. And it was bothering him. He wanted to do something more than just sit and watch. As she drifted closer, watching him, Davidson reached out with his hand, drawing her attention. She looked at it, before realizing what he wanted to do. He couldn't speak with her directly. But he knew through the link things were shared. She placed her hand up to his, and this time, Davidson held hers in place, as the current passed through him once more, and Davidson tried to think about what he wanted to do. Symbolize what he meant. He wanted to help. More than what he was doing now. But, he didn't know what he could do, and the sadness started to creep up again, a reflection of his kids and how he wasn't there. He was trying to help. But he was never there for them. And now, he was here for somebody, and it wasn't enough. It wasn't right. He watched neurons fire off in her large domed head, and as the current grew stronger, Davidson let go, as her own images and responses flashed by. She was content. And she knew there was nothing she could do. When Davidson had asked about her kind, images flashed by in his head. She thought she was the last one. All it did was reaffirm that he had to do something. If she was the last of her kind, then not only did he have the weight of his family on his shoulders, but of an entire species. He had already let one let become snuffed out in darkness. He wasn't going to let another. As the creature stayed close by to him, he took her hand once more. The current traveled up his nerves as he projected the idea to her. After all, he had seen everything before. He knew what they could do. They were adaptable. If they could come this far down in the ocean in such a short time to flee the spores from above, they had a chance. She reeled back at his suggestion, and she showed him what it would mean. Her time would be shortened. But, if it worked.......[/spoiler]