A reunion under the starless sky
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A/N: I... may have went a little bit overboard with this one, it's the longest one so far. BUT, it's my birthday! As I'm writing this, it's striking 1 AM. I'm officially 21, baby. Anyway, I really enjoyed writing this one, and I hope you'll enjoy reading it! PS: You have no idea what I've prepared for the ending for this story :)
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Tags: IRON LUNG SPOILERS!!! Convict!Simon x Convict!Reader, reader is also an Eden Member, Reader is gender neutral, no mentions or descriptions of Y/N, Childhood best friends, slow burn, Angst, Comfort (?), Swearing, mention of violence, Religion based trauma, trauma in general, character death, Blood (ocean), I'll add more in the future.
You didn’t know what to do. In an instant, all your happiness just vanished, just like stars did all those years ago. You wanted to drop to the ground and cry. You wanted to smash your fist against the wall and scream. You wanted to curl up on the floor and never get up.
As the woman’s voice screamed and begged through the radio, you spiraled further into your own head.
"Please get us out! Please, Ava, help us! We can’t take this anymore, I’m begging you!”
“…You’re not from the surface,” Simon mumbled, as if the reality of the situation had just washed over him as well.
“What? What did you say? We can still leave this place, right? Please, Ava, listen to us–”
“You’re trapped here as well?” Your voice sounded unfamiliar to your own ears. Was this the pressure finally getting to you? Or maybe you’d hit your head way too hard?
Or maybe you’d just lost all hope?
You didn’t notice the way Simon looked at you. The way his face fell as your words confirmed his worst nightmare. The voice on the other side fell silent for a short moment before bursting into tears – choked coughs and gasps so frantic they made your skin prickle.
You were tired. You were scared. And you were definitely done pretending everything was fine. Because it wasn’t fine. It was more than just not fine. You were in the worst place imaginable in the entire galaxy after the Rapture – surrounded by monsters and blood, forced to rot away in a vessel that could might as well be your coffin.
“Look, they’re still there. We talked to them,” Simon said, trying to keep some spirit. "I know the radio’s been spotty, but we’ve made contact before – we could just be out of range. Maybe we just need to get ahold of them, and then they’d send someone down to meet us– "
You felt the air get pushed out of your lungs. The third light on the oxygen monitor just turned off. You were on your last bit.
This time, panic didn’t hit suddenly and harshly. It crept slowly, targeting your lungs more than before – making you painfully aware of every breath. Your head started to spin so badly it was hard to stand still. You sat down on the ground, desperately trying to convince your brain not to freak out. Freaking out would only waste more oxygen.
“...Is that the last of it?” The woman’s voice spoke after a long pause. When neither of you answered, she spoke again.
“One left, then?… It’s not enough. You two won’t make it.”
You didn’t even notice as Simon crouched beside you – his shoulders trembling as if he was holding back a full breakdown. Both of you were on edge.
Neither of you could speak. If any words had come out, they would have unleashed a flood of screams. Why were you in this place in the first place? To pay for crimes you didn’t commit? In the end, you hadn’t even talked about Filament Station yet– but now, its ghost seemed to haunt you for something you didn’t do.
“Try to control your breathing,” the woman said. Her tone was slightly unnatural but calm – like she hadn’t spoken to anyone in longer than you could imagine. Whatever was hidden behind her words, your mind had other things to focus on.
You didn’t even know how much that last oxygen square meant. Was it 25% remaining? Less? More? They hadn’t bothered to tell you, and the manuals offered no useful information on the matter.
Maybe it was better not to know the exact number. Knowing it would mean knowing the precise amount of time before you suffocated.
“Could you– … could you just– keep talking to us? Because–” Simon was breaking down too. Somehow, through the screaming ringing in your ears, you heard the shake in his voice. Unconsciously, you reached for his hand. He grabbed it, squeezing your fingers so hard your joints popped. You squeezed back.
“…What would be the point? You’d just run out of air faster. Maybe that’s for the best… Some of the others went that way. Not the worst fate down here…”
“…Actually, just keep your thoughts to yourself,” you muttered quietly, only now realizing you were crying. Tears blurred your vision as you looked up at the radio – as if the woman on the other side could see your shattered expression.
The lump in your throat made it so hard to speak. You’d never realized how difficult it was to hold back tears until now; when any uncontrolled breath could cost you another minute of life.
“Maybe we could find a way to talk to them again? They don’t know the danger of this place.... We have to warn them. We can’t die down here.” The woman kept on speaking, her voice growing in urgency.
“We don’t want to talk anymore,” Simon hissed through his clenched teeth, each word forced out with so much contained emotion that you thought he might snap again.
“No, you don’t understand…! You haven’t seen the Light… It’s been so dark for so long. It changed everything…”
The headache was worsening. You pinched the bridge of your nose in hopes of easing it – keeping your panic at bay was one thing, but her nonsense was another.
You huffed. “What are you even talking about?”
There was a long pause. It lasted only a few seconds, but nothing could have prepared you for what she said next.
“…It’s what caused the Quiet Rapture.”
The headache vanished in an instant. Or maybe it wasn’t gone but was completely overshadowed by the information you just learned.
“…Or a fragment of it, at least,” she paused again. “It was a light… Can you believe that? Shining through the hull like it didn’t even matter. Like nothing in this universe could ever possibly matter…”
The most mysterious and unanswered question settled on everyone’s minds: What caused the Quiet Rapture?
Was it something? Someone? Maybe the stations got moved, not the stars and planets? If so, how could you see entire planets and stars disappear right before your eyes when it was happening?
You’d never forget the sight of Mars evaporating – one blink and it was gone, as if it had never been there to begin with.
And she’s saying it was caused by a light?
You stayed on the ground while Simon straightened to his full height. Both of you stared at the radio as if it had grown arms and legs – spouting nonsense about astronomical secrets and dancing on your wall. In some way, it did.
Simon swallowed thickly. “You actually found something?... Does that mean you know what happened? Is that how you’re still alive?”
“Yes… no. No, this– this isn’t right. I’m forgetting something important. We shouldn’t be talking about this. You have no idea what’s waiting for us down here. You don’t know, and it’s better that way – forget about the Light. It won’t help you, and you can’t help us… Some things are just too dangerous.”
At Simon’s groan, you finally blinked. You’d been so focused on her words, you had zoned out – eyes stinging first from tears, now from lack of blinking.
Wiping your eyes, you looked at him – he didn’t look well. Pale and sweaty, just like you. You also couldn’t help but notice the dark red spots on his bandaged forearms. If he looked bad physically, you didn't wanted to imagine what was happening inside his head.
He rubbed his face with a sigh that said more than any words could. The weight was just too much.
“…I think I have a concussion, or something… If it’s not CO2 buildup, my head’s not right.”
You slowly stood up as well. Standing right next to him, you could feel the heat radiating from his body. He glanced at you briefly, his eyes darting around the space – avoiding looking at the oxygen tracker again.
“I just wanna know what happened… And you’re still alive, so I don’t know if there’s a backup system, but just give us something.”
Both of you stared at the radio, which had become… uncomfortably quiet. Was she just waiting? Thinking of what to say?
“…Hey, can you still hear us?” you called out, loud enough for the radio to pick it up. For some reason, it remained silent.
Both of you exchanged glances – wordless communication. She couldn’t just be… your imagination, right? It was impossible.
At the same time, you both had strange visions. People who weren’t really there. Very specific dreams that reminded you of things you’d rather forget. But she couldn’t be another hallucination, right?
“…Please? I don’t know if you’re just a hallucination. I don’t know what’s real anymore.” His voice trembled again as he spoke. “I’ve been losing track of time and…” He glanced at the oxygen tracker again, his shoulders tensing visibly. “We’ve been seeing some things.”
There was no answer, not even a sound of breathing. Are you finally starting to lose your mind?
“Look, we just really need you to be real right now, okay?” He tried again, met with silence once more.
You had no idea what this place was doing to you, but it was good at it – breaking your spirit and mind in the cruelest ways possible, as if it found entertainment in your suffering.
“I just wanna live,” he pushed out. You could see tears glistening at the corners of his eyes as he shook his head.
“Is that so wrong? Why doesn’t anybody else want that? Everyone on Eden just doesn’t care.”
In the span of a few hours – maybe a day or two – you both had reached your breaking point. You didn’t even care about what might have happened between you before – you just grabbed his hand again.
Both of you needed it. The only remaining comfort was each other, and at this point, you’d take anything you could get. He grasped your hand back, just like before – his thumb caressing your knuckles in a back-and-forth motion. The rhythm was comforting for both of you, a small act that kept his hands busy and brought you the tiniest bit of emotional support.
Eden. Filament Station. The Consolidation of Iron. Those three names circled relentlessly in your mind, yet they brought no clarity.
Eden had stopped caring about being alive – hiding every error and mistake beneath years of religious brainwashing, stripping humans of their will to live.
Filament Station had become a graveyard of its own, flames claiming more lives than you could count.
And the C.O.I.? They simply didn’t care. Wearing masks of “Humanity’s Future,” as if it was just an endless masquerade, hiding their own skeletons deep in a closet… or should you say, at the bottom of an ocean.
“…You know...” Simon spoke, still trying to get at least some confirmation, a sign, a fucking flicker of hope that you weren’t entirely doomed. “No one on Eden wants to think this way, but what’s more likely– that every planet and star disappeared, or that a few space stations disappeared? Isn’t it easier to believe they’re still out there, wondering where all of us went? Isn’t that more likely?… And if it happened, why can't it happen again?
He was crying. It had been so long since you saw him so vulnerable, so close to breaking right before your eyes. You wanted to say something, but what could even be said that would fix this?
The radio remained silent, not even a crack of static, just complete stillness seeping into your bones. You weren’t sure if the rotting smell came from the walls around you or from your own body, already giving up on the idea of survival.
“…Because it doesn’t matter,” Simon mumbled after a moment.
You opened your mouth without thinking.
“No,” you shook your head. He looked at you, eyes squinting in the saddest expression you’d ever seen – wet and shiny with salty tears, lips pressed together as he barely held himself together.
“Don’t– don’t say that,” it was an automatic response. Part of you had already made peace with your fate, accepting that death was knocking at your door.
But another part of you still wanted to fight. As much as you wanted to give up, you had just regained the only reason your life still held meaning – and it was standing right in front of you, trying his best not to burst into tears.
You still believed there was no hope. But you’d be damned if you’d stop fighting now, after everything you two had been through.
“It doesn’t matter,” Simon repeated, shaking his head as something shifted within him. His devastated expression softened as he stared from the radio to you, and from you back to the radio, as if still hoping for an answer. There was none.
Finally, he looked at you properly – standing face to face – and you saw one tear slowly make its way down his face.
“…There’s no backup system, is there?” The question was left unanswered. After all, neither of you knew the true guts of the submarine… And how could the voice from a hallucination know that?
Slowly, he took a step back from you. It was just one step, but it felt like a new wall had risen between you two. He released your hand, and it fell limply by your side.
“This piece of shit–" he glanced around the submarine "–they wouldn’t put a CO2 scrubber in this. They wouldn’t include a backup tank. There are no deposits down here. This is the end.”
What happened to 'we’ll survive'? What happened to 'we won’t die down here'? As Simon kept speaking, you heard the voice of the Father:
'From soil you were born, into soil your body will turn after your death.'
Was your life really never your own?
“And I’m wasting my breath… talking to a phantom. That wasn’t even there to begin with.”
Maybe Eden was right. Maybe religion did have a bit of truth. Maybe this was your fate from the very moment you took your first breath: to die, never having had a real choice in any point of your–
“Would you give everything just to survive?”
Her voice cut through the long, stiff silence as if it didn’t matter whether she was really there.
You wanted to live – that was the first and foremost reason you hated Eden in the first place. Humans should be able to choose their own path – even if it was on the edges of the vast nothingness of space.
And as much as you couldn’t say it out loud, you truly wanted to share this path with him.
Yet he stood there. Slowly raising his hand, where the seed in resin rested, the yellow light bouncing off its flat surface.
“…Yeah. I never had anything to begin with,” he said.
You didn’t notice the way his eyes glanced at you right after he said it.
“…116… 520. We will see the answer together,” the woman spoke. The coordinates instantly burned into your mind.
“…You two will live… and we will be free.”
Slowly, he turned his head toward you. From his expression, you already knew he had made up his mind – waiting for your choice like for the key to your way forward.
You didn’t trust her. Something, like a quiet, soft whisper, told you that something was wrong.
But you still wanted to live. As irrational and stupid as it sounded, it was the only thing you had left – either death or following the coordinates of a woman you just met through a radio.
You stared at the map, carefully tracing the path you’d already taken – moving your finger along the lines to match the coordinates.
Setting the right numbers, your finger hovered over one of the marks, the small box printed exactly at the given set of numbers.
“…X: 116, Y: 250… If that’s where you are, then they knew you were here. Maybe they were hoping we would find you.” You glanced over your shoulder, first at the radio, then at Simon. He was already sitting on the chair, body angled toward you and the back of the sub.
His brows rose in surprise at the new discovery.
“They… We’re still looking for us?”
“Maybe.” You nodded, even if she couldn’t see you. You bumped your fist against the wall before turning fully toward Simon.
He pushed the lever forward at your question. “We’re about… X: 380 and Y: 614. Not far, I think.”
“I just hope it won’t take us too long to get there…” you muttered, watching the numbers flicker on the panel for a moment.
“It’s there… We wouldn’t lie about this. Not about that. It’s everything…” You only now noticed how she said “we.” Was there more humans out there too?
“So what is it? What could possibly be so important down here?” Simon glanced at the radio as you moved around, grabbing onto the pipe to keep your balance while the submarine surged forward.
“… Do any of you believe in God?” The question made you wince.
“Let’s not get into that,” you shook your head, giving the radio a disapproving look.
As new light appeared on the panel, Simon turned the angle switch – the submarine turning in its course, as the woman spoke.
“An ignorant God sees a sliver of our universe through a pinhole and thinks it understands all that is and all that will be. And it will.”
You moved to the photo button, brows furrowing at the vague metaphor. Squinting, you watched as the blinding light flashed onto the screen, revealing an empty space before the vessel
“And why is that?” Simon let out a heavy sigh, probably just as tired of another religious existential crisis.
“Because the God makes sense of what it sees, despite what it should be.”
“Could you not talk in riddles? What does that even mean?” You ducked your head to look at the radio from beneath the hanging wires.
“The Light. It illuminates… and it blinds. It thinks, and therefore we are.”
“Even if your miracle could fix their problems, they’d just send us down again,” Simon grumbled from his seat. You saw him shaking his head with a grim tone, you tried not to overthink what you’d do if you truly got out of this place.
“Why wouldn’t they want to save you? Usable skills fade every year… same as the stars.”
Both of you hesitated before answering. The topic was already too sensitive, and what would she even say if she knew the truth?
“…They blame us for what happened,” Simon said for both of you. You just clenched your jaw and pressed the button again – only more empty space and ocean floor ahead.
“I was only trying to stop it.” Your ears perked up at his words. He did? You didn’t know that. The topic of Filament Station was still too delicate to openly acknowledge.
He must have sensed your gaze, because he turned back to the panel.
Another long pause, only broken by a heavy sigh on his side.
“…Filament Station. They blame us.”
Another photo – this one finally different, or perhaps, unfortunately so. It showed a narrow corridor, walls curved inward as if something was sucking them in, including you.
“What happened… to the Filament Station?”
You clenched your jaw even tighter. Why was this conversation suddenly becoming so frustrating?
Simon sat silently for a long moment. “Yeah, I… I really don’t want to talk about it.”
But the woman kept pushing. “What. Happened. To Filament Station?”
The mood swings you’d experienced since entering the vessel were truly remarkable – fear to anger, anger to panic, and panic back to fear. Now, you were getting really pissed off.
Simon just shook his head with a deep groan before turning to the radio. “…It’s gone. How do you not know?”
“Filament Station is gone?!” she gasped, her voice cracking slightly due to the static. You ran your tongue along your teeth, trying your best not to say anything wrong. Honestly, you arrived at Filament Station just at the end of the whole ordeal – barely knowing any details.
“Yes. It’s gone. Just like everything else since the Quiet Rapture. So what does it fucking matter?” Simon rose his voice again – quiet anger taking over.
You didn’t blame him, but hearing it again made you freeze and stare. What the hell had happened there to make him this angry?
“Why do you care? Why does anyone care?” he spat, harshly turning the angle switch to the side. The vessel groaned under the sudden turn, pipes banging against each other. You had to grab onto something to keep your balance again.
The woman didn’t speak again for a while. But when she did, you were ready to claw her eyes out in this very moment.
“…Maybe you do deserve this…”
You opened your mouth, ready to snap back, but Simon was faster.
“…You think this is fair? I didn’t blow up Filament Station, nor did they. But the ones who did aren’t getting punished – just us! I didn’t have a choice; we drew a short straw and traded one fancy metal box to die in for another, while the people I thought were my Brothers abandoned me!” He slammed his fist against the panel.
You stared at him as he poured his heart out. So, this was what had happened? He’d been betrayed? Who actually blew up Filament Station?
“They abandoned us, just like they abandoned you!” With that, he gestured upward – and though she couldn’t see it, the meaning was clear. After all, the C.O.I. had left her here to die. You took a step closer.
“What does it even matter if we meet up? Probably nothing. We can’t get to the surface, and neither can you. So what’s the fucking point?!” He finished his thought by screaming and banging his hands against the panel – the lever jerked back into place as the submarine halted.
You saw him hide his face in his hands. The pressure, combined with these sudden harsh motions, was clearly taking its toll on him.
“…What’s the point?… I just wanna go home.” You moved slowly, your steps only the sound for now. You said nothing; there was nothing that could fix this situation or make it any more bearable.
So, you did the first thing that came to mind – slowly wrapping your arms around his neck, leaning forward slightly just to hug him from behind.
It was an awkward position, the back of the chair digging into your stomach... but you just couldn’t bring yourself to care. You could feel his body tense in alarm – every muscle immediately alert, ready to push you away. To your surprise... it didn’t happen.
Slowly, he relaxed. It took him a full minute before his shoulders slumped and settled back. You didn’t squeeze him – just kept your arms around him.
It was the closest you two had gotten since stepping into the submarine. The awkward half-hug he had given before barely counted – now, your cheek was pressed against his shoulder. The walls he’d put up earlier seemed to crumble beneath your warmth. For a moment, you thought of what to say to ease his trembling figure… only to realize it was the submarine shaking.
Both of you slowly looked up and saw… colors.
“Oh… there it is… It’s so beautiful. How could we have forgotten this?”
The hull was cast in colors – light shining through like sunlight pouring through windows on a sunny day. Creating shapes that danced over your features and the panel.
It did look beautiful. But it also triggered every primal instinct in your brain to scream.
“A tiny glimpse of answers greater than our… infinite.”
Both you and Simon moved as quickly as possible – rushing to press the photo button, only to be blinded by the flash.
The entire image was almost white… Something was filling nearly the entire frame. It was so bright that it hurt your eyes.
“It bursts our minds like a thought. Oh… what we would give to see it again.”
“What the hell is that? Where are you?” you spoke up.
Something was happening. You didn’t know how, but the picture somehow was messing with your brain. The shape of whatever you saw seemed to be moving, almost dancing over the static, grainy image, even after it dimmed into blackness.
“There’s nothing to be afraid of… not anymore. This was meant for us…!”
“…We’re in the wrong place,” Simon mumbled, turning on his heel toward the panel.
“We will see. ___, Simon, we will see the answer together.” Both of you froze mid-step.
“They’re calling to us… This is our ｓａｌｖａｔｉｏｎ…”
The tremor of the submarine intensified. The whirl outside drowned out all other sounds – except her voice, which now warped and twisted into a choir that echoed in your mind.
You watched Simon step closer to the radio… only to rip out the cable, which had been torn from its shell all this time.
Suddenly, you remembered what had felt wrong ever since you started talking to her – the radio’s light never lit up when she spoke.
“… Ｗｈａｔ ａｒｅ ｙｏｕ ｗａｉｔｉｎｇ ｆｏｒ? Ｔｈｅ ａｎｓｗｅｒ ｉｓ ｒｉｇｈｔ ｔｈｅｒｅ…” The voice was different now. It spoke from inside your skull and around you at the same time, the banging in your head back with ten times as much pain as before.
“...We didn’t tell you our names...” Simon managed to mumble.
Everything happened so fast. The submarine seemed to crack open – something bursting through its side. Blood was everywhere, yet your mind remained still amid the chaos.
You caught a glimpse of an eye twice the size of your head. It stared right back at you.
Your eyes snapped open with a gasp. Simon was hovering above you, his lips bloody. Cold sweat covered your entire body, reminiscent of the blood you had just felt.
“You’re okay. It’s alright– you're awake.” Simon was holding your shoulders desperately as you thrashed around like a caged animal.
Gasping, your mind slowly returned to awareness. “What the fuck?!” you screamed from the bottom of your lungs.
Did you fall asleep? Was it fainting? It made no sense – you didn’t remember losing consciousness. It was impossible for all this to be a dream. It was real, so damn real you could still feel the rush of adrenaline. But how could it be real if your submarine was still in one piece?
Oxygen be damned – this was enough. This couldn’t just be a dream; it was way more than that. And from the way Simon’s hair stuck to his sweaty forehead, you were sure he knew what you were talking about.
“Calm down, just– fuck–” he coughed again, spitting on the ground. Only now did you notice the red blood pooling on the floor, reflecting your shocked state. That explained the blood trailing down his lips.
“Simon, what the fuck was that?! The– the voice, the blood, the Light–”
“Yes, I know!” he shouted, then immediately regretted it. You were already breaking down; screaming wouldn’t help.
He pulled you in hard, and you wrapped your arms around him. It couldn’t just be your imagination – whatever was happening, it was connected to this place. Whatever was in this ocean, it knew what it was doing.
You held onto him tightly, and he did the same. Holding each other to avoid shattering completely.
“I know. I don’t– I don’t have a single clue what it was, but I know what you mean,” he said quickly, his uneven breathing tickling your ear. He pressed his face into your hair, desperately trying to calm himself.
It was horrible. You felt tears prick your eyes – if not for just one small detail.
Reaching out with your trembling hand, you gently took the hanging seed off his wrist – the resin now cracked in half.
That seemed to be the breaking point for Simon. The moment he saw the crack, he broke down, clenching his teeth so hard you could swear you heard a crack.
It was the captain’s voice – though at this point, nothing could be certain anymore. Lies had turned into truths, and truths into lies. Things you once knew had become ashes of your old beliefs. For all you knew, it could have been another trick.
But as the static rose again, you glanced at the radio. Its light was on every time ‘The Captain’ spoke.
Something was clearly messing with you – constantly giving you slivers of hope just to rip them away, breaking you further.
“Stop fucking with us!” you screamed, high-pitched and raspy. It loud it made you cough, adding strain to your already damaged body.
The voice was momentarily speechless, stuttering as it tried to form a sentence.
“I– I… I don’t know what to say…”
“No– no, I’m done. I’m done being fucked with!” Simon slowly got to his feet, leaning over the wall as if movement itself was too much.
“The radio’s broken– I broke it! You can’t tell me that you’re you!” he yelled, still screaming. Suddenly, he turned – moving toward the deck computer and flicking through the photos.
“I don’t even know how you survived…” she muttered on the other side of the radio.
“Survived?! Survived is too big a word for this fucking nightmare!” you yelled, losing your own control. You just couldn’t hold it back anymore.
Eventually, Simon found what he was looking for. The screen displayed a photo he had taken, God knows how long ago now. It was a picture of people in the hangar, the ones he flashed with radiation.
“What did I do when we were in the hangar?” he asked, pointing at the radio.
“No! How many people were in the hangar?!”
“Tell me how many, give me a number!”
“Three! Three, three… You– you, uh… took a picture… Yeah? You blasted us with radiation,” she explained urgently.
Both of you paused for a moment. She was right, but it still wasn’t enough proof.
Simon shook his head, baring his teeth in yet another scream. “No– No! You’re lying! You can’t be talking, I know the radio’s–” In that moment, he reached behind the device, only to feel resistance. The wire didn’t budge; the end wasn’t disconnected from the back of the radio. It was still intact.
You stared wide-eyed. This was only getting worse by every second. Simon seemed just as shocked as you, his hand slowly dropped from the wire.
“…What? What’s wrong?” The captain’s voice came through. She was the real Captain – the same woman responsible for everything that had happened to you.
Your mind began to clear. First, overtaken by fear and anger, then gradually understanding the reality. Somehow, you two really had reached the C.O.I. after all this time… but at what cost?
The ship was a ruin. Blood from outside had seeped in, rust and decay covering the walls. Patches of overgrown material – something flesh-like covering spots – made the metal bulge and bubble. How long had you been here? How you didn't noticed the damaged until now?
“Convicts, what’s wrong?” the woman pressed.
“What’s our names?” you blurted suddenly, staring at the radio. You held your breath.
“This isn’t helping,” she backtracked immediately.
“Answer the damn question, what are our names?!” you demanded, throwing your hands into the air.
The captain hesitated briefly. You could hear her sigh before she responded.
“...I don’t think we’ve ever got your names.”
“...You sent us here to die, and you don’t even know our names?” you whimpered.
She didn’t even know. Didn’t bother to learn the names of the people she sent into this nightmare. Like replaceable parts, easily thrown out in moments of fault. Not two individuals with their own lives.
“We didn’t send you–” she cut herself off mid-sentence, as if the lie hurt too much.
The breath you let out was the most pathetic sound you've ever made.
“Look, it’s– uh… it’s been days since your last contact. You should have run out of oxygen by now. How are you still alive?”
Both of you slowly checked the oxygen tracker. Strangely, the last square was still lit. The final light remained bright against all odds.
She was right. You should have run out of oxygen. So why hadn’t you?
“I… I’m not sure,” Simon mumbled, his expression dazed and shaken. Nothing here made sense anymore.
“It says we have one light left. I really don’t know… Maybe we’re dead? I think we’re dead...” he muttered, more to himself than to her.
Your eyes wandered around, taking in the state of the sub. The vessel looked terrible – so much so that you were surprised it was still somehow holding together. As you looked at the ground, you noticed the map. Blood dripped from its corner as you picked it up – the paper so soaked in red it staining your fingers.
Clenching your jaw, tears pricked the corners of your eyes again. You couldn’t help it – after so many hours trapped here, who could blame you?
“Listen… I– I think we’ve done enough, and–” you choked out, the lump in your throat making it harder to speak.
“We’d really… really like to not be down here anymore... Please?” If someone had told you a week ago that you’d be begging for mercy from the C.O.I. Captain, you’d have frown in anger. Now, you were willing to kneel just to escape this place.
Her sigh was like a slap in the face – full of remorse and guilt she hadn’t expected to carry, like a weight imposed upon her without consent.
“I know… I don’t think that’s possible,” she replied quietly.
You started to cry uncontrollably.
“We had nothing to do with Filament Station, I swear!” Simon said, stepping in. He was on the verge of tears as well but somehow kept it inside while you bawled your eyes out. You’d cried more in this submarine than in years before.
“That wasn’t part of the plan, and they weren’t even involved!” he gestured to you, even if she couldn’t see.
“I’m really sorry,” she said softly. No more confidence, no more hatred – just a simple apology. Too bad it didn't mattered now.
“It’s not a matter of want right now… We can’t... risk any more dives,” she added, her voice cracking. Despite the fault in her words, her tone carried that cold, calculating edge – like you weren’t people, just numbers to cross off.
“But what about the mission?!” Simon raised his voice. “What about everything we’ve learned? What about the sample?! The reason we came down here in the first place?!”
He gestured wildly – from the hull to the photo button, from you to himself.
She paused, once again at loss of words. When she finally spoke, it made your stomach sink even further.
“Yeah… it’s not worth the risk. A bone fragment isn’t going to tell us anything we haven’t already seen with our own eyes.”
You wiped your eyes slowly, hands trembling uncontrollably. Slowly, you filled with a new, overwhelming anger – at this situation, at the C.O.I., at Eden, and most of all, at her.
"Not worth the risk...?” You rose to your feet, staring at the radio as if your gaze could reach her – and maybe, if you were lucky enough, able to pierce through her skull.
“Not worth the risk?! It was worth the risk when you sent us down here! So what the hell changed now?!”
“I–” she had no answer. You waited and waited and waited for her to say something, anything, but she remained silent.
“…This isn’t about your past. It’s not punishment. And I know it’s not fair. But I’ve received new orders: to hold and observe,” she explained slowly.
Your shoulders slumped. You didn’t even have the strength to scream anymore. You had no strength left for anything.
Simon sniffed, leaning against the wall. “…So… after everything we’ve been through, you’re just going to leave us here?”
“…Sorry.” Her apology sounded hollow – no matter how much she said it, it wouldn’t change a thing. Her words couldn’t save you, couldn’t pull you out of the depths or open the submarine. Her apology wouldn't grant you your freedom.
This was it. This was the end, wasn’t it? Just like Eden predicted. Humanity has sinned, and now they were paying for it. You were paying for it.
Simon moved slowly – taking deep breaths in and out, somehow still maintaining the familiar three-second pattern. He moved like his body was made of plastic – too stiff for comfortable motion.
Gradually, he lowered himself onto the leather seat. You remained at the back of the sub, leaning your head against the wall.
And you dared to believe you’d finally earn your life back?
“…Did anyone ever made it out?” Simon’s voice cut through the heavy tension. It was barely audible but still managed to reach the radio.
“Did you know their names?” he asked another question.
You followed Simon’s steps – taking a deep breath through your nose and exhaling slowly though your mouth. You could enjoy the oxygen while it still lasted, right?
“…You know, I remember what you said. When you said we were the first ones down there,” Simon began, his voice somehow steady again. You weren’t sure how long it would last.
“I was thinking about it when we were looking at the wreckage of the other ship you left behind. The um…” He lifted his hand, trailing his finger through the air. “The SM-8. I almost didn’t notice the name through the big fucking hole in its side. I was–”
“SM-8?” Her voice cut in. She sounded shocked, almost in disbelief.
“Did you just say SM-8? How do you know about that ship?”
“It had letters on it,” you deadpanned, furrowing your brows. “We can read.”
“…You found the SM-8?” she breathed out, the information clearly hitting her hard. Which could mean…
Your eyes widened as you moved.
“Yeah, we did. And not only that–!” You pressed a button on the keyboard of the deck’s computer. The yellow screen lit up again. “When we found it, the computer connected to it! It was trying to– to download something. Something about the black box! An archive, right?”
Simon rose to his feet, catching your intent. If she was so shocked about your discovery, this could serve as bargaining material.
“If you want it, you gotta come down here and get it. That’s the deal, that's fair–!" he said.
It could have been a terrible idea. One you'd smack yourself for just few hours ago. Now it was you only idea. Something that suddenly opened a door that had been closed this entire time. It might be your ticket out.
Simon continued. “We went through hell, but we came back with something far better than a piece of bone. But if you want it, you have to get us out. That’s– that’s fair!”
You held your breath again, but this time for a different reason. This was your chance.
“… There is- no way that your computer downloaded anything, you don’t have the right credentials. That computer shouldn’t even be active without us giving you the login!” she said skeptically. In some ways, you couldn’t blame her for questioning you. But did you care? No.
“We’re not lying! There was a note– someone told us to splice the wires, and I know: big secrets out! We’re not the first down here, but this is what you need!” Simon roared into the radio again. His hands flailed desperately. “Isn’t it what you wanted?”
“Come on! Why would we lie to you? After all this time?!” you added, your pulse pounding in your ears.
“We saw it, we fell into a cave, we went down, navigated through it but we found this ship!” You slammed your hand against the wall near the map in frustration. “It still had power– the computer tried to connect to it! We’re telling the truth!”
She had to believe you. She owed you that much after everything you’d been through.
She was silent for a long moment – long enough to make you question everything – before she finally spoke.
“How far are you from it right now?”
You glanced at the panel, reading the coordinates: X: 462.15, Y: 241.27.
“Not far, I think. I made a map of the layout…”
“Okay, if I give you the right credentials for the computer and if you really found the SM-8, you should be able to download all the data,” the Captain said. Her tone was matter-of-fact, leaving no room for argument.
“We programmed the black box to record power tendencies, just for this reason in case… well, you know,” she added.
You nodded, your breathing quickening. Did she really believed you?
“Yeah, but– tell me: If we do this, you’ll get us out?” Simon asked, eyes fixed on the radio.
“…If you do this–” she paused briefly, “–I’ll get you out myself.”
That was the promise you’d work toward.
Looking at each other, Simon and you ignored her brief conversation with a man you’d heard before – the one who cursed at you both after they dropped you back into the ocean.
Nodding in silent understanding, Simon immediately moved to the panel, while you turned to the photo button.
“Convicts, the SM-8 isn’t just another wreck. If we make it quick, we might have a chance to get everything,” she explained.
While the captain spoke, you pressed the button. Your bloodshot eyes squinted as the bright light flashed again, revealing the picture.
It wasn’t good. Before you was the skull – the same one from which you’d taken the sample. Now staring back at you with eyeless sockets, as if laughing right in your face.
There was something else: branches stretching across the grainy image. Thick, twisted lines created unnatural shapes – something that wasn’t there before. Somehow, you were back at square one.
“Look at me! They’re lying! They’ll say anything, are you out of your mind?!” the man’s voice screamed through the radio.
“Are you?!” the captain shot back. “If they’re right, and we do nothing—David, this is bigger than any of us!”
“Oh my God, enough with the slogan! It’s not worth it! They’re not worth it! It’s worth losing you over some fucking criminals!”
As they continued arguing, you ran up to the wall, grabbing the bloody map and slapping it back into place. Blood dripped down the paper, but it was still legible.
Sharing one more look with Simon, you heard the captain finish her argument with the same man – so called David – with a cold, hard line.
“…And you’re lucky I’m not sending you down there instead.”
You clenched your jaw, turning back to the map.
“Convicts, one of you said you mapped it. Do you have the coordinates?” she turned her focus back to you. Reading the bloodstained numbers wasn’t easy, but you pushed the thought aside.
“When the line broke, we landed in some kind of crazy cave– but the ship was the last thing we found. About 425… maybe 500? It was right next to the only way out we could find, and it spat us out around... X: 380 and Y: 615.” You wished you could thank your past self for writing down all those coordinates – they were your best shot.
“Alright, here’s the plan: We’ll get prepped on our end. If you can reach the SM-8 and get back, we’ll meet you outside in thirty minutes.”
You heard drops; blood splattering on the ground overlaid by the captain’s voice.
“But I’m serious, you two gotta be there in thirty minutes or I’m gone, understood?”
“Yeah,” you nodded quickly.
“So how do we get the files?” Simon asked from the seat, then moved to the computer after the captain’s order.
“Press Ctrl-Alt-Shift-9. A window will pop up. Username: Admin. Password, all caps: 7X11F268311.”
He hovered over the keyboard, frozen for a moment.
“…Uhm… Ctrl… Alt, Shift, and what…?” he asked, voice uncertain.
She repeated the credentials, the sound of keystrokes filled the small space. Simon managed to type the password correctly, and the confirmation message from the computer made your heart jump.
“I’m in!” he called out, settling into the seat.
“Okay. Thirty minutes. Get in and out. If you miss the window, you lose your chance. But if we pull this off, there’s hope – for the C.O.I., Eden, for everyone! Nothing else matters! But if you’re not there… you’re not going home."
You clenched your fists, trying to stop them from trembling. You had to regain control.
“Thirty minutes.” she repeated, emphasizing the weight of her words.
“We can do that, right?” Simon looked at you, and you nodded again. The headache no longer mattered – after all this was bigger than all of you.
“We’ll go in, get out, and then–” he said, hands gesturing around. “–all of humanity is saved!”
“And then we’re free…?” you asked after a moment, pointing at the radio as if it owned you money. You counted each second until her next words.
“…And then you’re free.” For the first time since you were trapped here, you managed a real, wide smile.
“Deal.” You reached for the camera button, but paused at her next words.
“By the way… my name is Ava.” You didn’t expect that. The name of the woman who brought this nightmare upon you – one single word, somehow adding humanity to her face.
Eventually, you and Simon mumbled your names, no longer just nameless criminals in her eyes.
“…Let’s get this done, then.”
You were more than ready to finish this.
