Chapter Text
I’ve been having the same dream for the past few weeks.
A little odd, sure, but dreams don’t do that often. I’ve had repeats before, yeah, but nothing that . . . common.
It’s always the same series of events, very subtle and almost eerie. I stand in a dark room- sometimes I can make out the walls, but they change every time. Then off in the distance, a single green light flickers to life like the beacon at the end of an old dock, reflecting off an unseen sea. The light would blink in a certain pattern as some sound builds in the distance. Like an orchestra warming up in perfect singing unification, but as quickly as it sang to life, one by one the individual instruments went silent until a singular string somberly sang in tune with the light’s flicker.
. . . - - - . . .
Then the light weakens and the string follows as if its player grew tired, leaving me as I came in the abyssal blackness.
I usually wake tired and confused, never like a nightmare.
But only recently has the dream made a sound.
And that sound . . . I woke up crying ever so slightly, a single tear that faded quickly. That happened last week and it hasn’t bothered me since. I once tried speaking with the other members of Outpost Zero, and only a couple people claimed to have a similar dream, but no one said anything about the strings and their somber tune.
I’ve started to keep a dream diary to try and better understand it, but like I said, it’s gone quiet after that and I’ve almost forgotten about it, until today.
My PDA chirped to life early in the day, blaring an alarm that cast itself through the rest of the facility. Unfortunately, I’ve always been the lazier of my group and I ended up continuing my rest until the ringtone I set for Cal came through the white noise of emergency sirens. He’s a friend of mine who runs some of the supervising work up at the Vesper satellite above Sector-0 - Calvin Gunn is his full name, but I just call him Cal. He’s Alterran through and through, but he’s got a sentimental heart and doesn’t mind sneaking a good word in for some of us down here.
I groaned and lazily threw my hand over my nightstand and hit the answer key.
“Robin?- Rob- are you there?- Awake?” His voice came through with clear worry and urgency, grabbing my attention only a bit.
“Mrm? . . . kimda . . .” I mumbled through my sheets.
“Have you not heard the evac sirens?!”
I hummed and rose slightly, stretching out a bit and yawning deeply with a quick crack of my knuckles, “Yeah . . . just a drill I’m sure- it’s always a drill.”
“Robin, there’s meteors inbound on site!”
Okay, now I was awake, “. . . What?” I shook myself out and bent down over the blue screen and tapped it a few times until I found the radar.
“You and Jeffreys are the only two unaccounted for!- but at least you’re still present to check for him.” He huffed a sigh, still carrying fierce worry.
“Jeff? What about Jeff?” I examined the feed and noticed that I still had some time before the storm above got to the base.
“He got up early today to examine the mountain Architect facility, but we haven’t heard back from him.”
“I’ll check it out.”
“If anything goes wrong, get straight to the escape pod- I’m not going to lose you out there.”
“Can do Cal.” I gave a quick solute to the blank screen and quickly checked my hair in its reflection. I didn’t need to bother much with any attire- bless my AEP, so I pretty much was already rushing through the base to the freezing air outside. I threw open the door and was able to catch a glimpse of the outgoing escape shuttles flying off to the Vesper satellite. Another ringtone called in for me- this time my sister, Sam, over at PHI Robotics. I tapped the answer key, but left the device at my hip as I made my way up the snowy path past the base, taking note to wave at the cute snowman I built by the entrance.
“Robin? Is everything okay out there?” She sounded worried, obviously, but I still had plenty of time. I could enjoy the scenery of the snowy mountain before me and the glacial cave lit by classic Alterran lighting.
“Yeah, I’m fine, how’s Pengling central?”
“Fine here- PHI Robotics is built in a sturdy cave, remember?- I’m more worried for you.”
“I gotta check in with someone before I go- Cal’s request on the spot.”
“On the spot?” She probably raised an eyebrow on the other end.
“. . . So, I may have slept through the alarms-“
“Robin!” She groaned, “How many times have I told you- you know what- forget that- just focus on keeping yourself safe!”
“I will, I will, I just need to check in with Jeff first.”
“Well be quick please- and contact me when you get to the vesper!”
“Okay, I will- love you.” I flashed a smile.
She sighed again, the electronic tone echoing through the icy cave, “You give me a heart attack sometimes, but love you too- and please, do contact me, I got some news for you.” She hung up on her end, probably to gripe about my risky behavior to her colleagues, but her final statement was a bit more fluttery. Usually when she comments on good news it always has something to do with her progress on the Pengling bots- which I’m always happy to hear her out on her end, but as a Xenolinguist with no aliens to learn from, it’s been slow on my end. There is the occasional Architect glyph deciphered, but as a language written in the style of the Egyptians of long past, we’d need a Rosetta Stone just to find out how they said “The Cat Sat”.
I kept my eyes down in case I slipped on the ice as I rounded the corner of the cavern and bore witness to the elaborate entrance, bore into the glacial ice or perhaps it was frozen in and only revealed with excessive melting. This place had always put me on edge, despite the curiosity. The structure had this sort of timeless all-knowing lear of icy teeth as I approached it.
“Jeff? Jeff?!” I called with a response through my own echo. I staggered up the light slope and carefully entered the breezeway beside the force field blocking the rest of the facility. The little terminal beside it opened as usual, revealing the same glowing white symbol it always carried. Jeff once found a tablet that seemed to match it, but the terminal refused it, one side green, the other blinking red and chirping in unidentifiable gibberish. But of course, Jeff being the klutz he is, lost it during a trip down under the waves. Claims some beastie attacked Fred’s Seatruck while he slunk around an artifact over by Delta HQ. Oh, Fred is our main transport guy, works maintenance. Nice guy that one- told me about the shaving kit his daughter sent over for Father’s Day, says it’s one of the finest for a custom shave. It’s a cute thought, but with no Jeff in sight, I quickly called up Cal, “Hey, no Jeff in sight.”
“Odd, he should be there, his GPS shows that he should be standing pretty close to you.”
“Huh? Oh- he probably left his PDA here.”
“But then where’s Jeff?-“ A loud crash from outside cut him off and a low hum began to build behind me from the facility, “Nevermind- we’ll hunt for him later- but the storm has begun!” He groaned and another crash echoed through the cave, again causing the facility to groan behind me.
“I can’t get up in an escape pod now!” I threw up my hands and some loose ice clattered down from above.
“Yeah- your best bet now is to hunker down back at base- that glacial cave could easily collapse o-on y-yyyy-ou.”
“Cal? Cal you’re breaking up.”
“Ppp-pro-bbaabbllyy- ttthhh-eee -ssssttttt-tttt-ooorrr-mm- wwaaaiittt ttthheeree’s sssooommmeee- iinntt-eerrr-” A loud buzz later and he disconnected, but that wasn’t the only buzz as a green light bloomed to life behind me. “Cal?” I squeaked, well aware of his broken call as I turned back to face the now bright glowing terminal, “Uhh, Jeff? This better not be one of your-“
“Jeff woke me up, and now Jeff is gone.” An electronic voice echoed through the icy cavern, flat, but almost . . . sorrowful?
“Wha- what?! Who are-?” I jumped a little, yet the voice spoke immediately in return.
“Leave now, Robin Ayou, any further actions will be denied forcefully-“
CRASH-
That time a meteor must’ve directly struck the cavern as large chunks of ice began to fall from the ceiling. I didn’t have time to continue bantering with whatever this was- I had to get out of here! Another meteor struck the roof and the voice cried out as some sparks flew from the wall being followed by another more basic and mechanical beat, shutting down the light.
The odd voice . . . something about it felt familiar-
BANG!
Okay no more waffling I gotta go! I slipped a little on the ice and bolted off as fast as I could. The cave was collapsing behind me as I ran out, the small ravine to the base in view, only for another meteor to strike the rock face and block off my only means of escape. I swore out at the flaming sky above me- but I couldn’t stay out here and- wait I could climb those rocks there and take the river path over- I can’t stay out here not now. I scrambled over the makeshift ramp, sending a quick glance back behind me to the cave which sat completely enclosed now from the meteor strikes. I scampered off before I got lost in my thoughts again, desperately running over the slippery frozen river. The meteors continued their attack on the frozen surface, but I just had to run- make it back to base. It should be safe there- I should be fine. It sat in sight before me, the white light gleaming through the windows with all the promise and warmth of safety it could ever offer. I sighed in relief and felt a sort of weight leave me.
It’s going to be fine, the storm won’t last long,
but (of course, there had to be a “but” in that phrase with my running toll of rotten luck) the meteors weren’t down with me as a few cracks and bangs later, an avalanche quaked and rolled over the base, crushing my only source of safety under snow and ice. One of the radio towers took some of the aftermath and bent over like a twig, inches away from the frozen lake right ahead of me. I cried out again, my gait growing uneven on the frozen waterfall, only to fall in sync with the broken tower and straight down through the icy lake which revealed itself to be a raging torrent under me.
I fell in,
and I was swept away under the rocks and ice,
under frozen water,
only able to hold my breath for so long,
and losing consciousness quickly.