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The convict's hands shook as he adjusted the ship's trajectory, squinting at the map and checking against the numbers on the console. Not that he knew why he bothered checking the map, so far it had been wrong the whole time. Stuff was where there wasn't supposed to be anything, things which were supposed to be there weren't. The whole expedition was stupid as far as he could tell. Seemed like a convoluted way to kill someone, but what did he know. The numbers scrolled up slowly as he moved the ship forward, time passing only measured by the changing of those numbers and his breaths.
"Stop," a voice said clearly, startling him into letting the ship come to a halt. He had thought that he was too far down to receive any signal. He also didn't recognize the voice. It sounded masculine and tired.
"Uh. Hello?" the convict called out, wondering if he'd imagined it.
The light under the radio flickered on as the voice returned. "You shouldn't go that way."
"What? Why? That's where the map says to go."
"You're headed straight for one of those cave systems. The ones that are a big loop. The corridors are really tight in there and if you take the wrong turn you could get stuck in there for hours, even days."
The convict groaned, rubbing his hands over his face. "Well, what am I supposed to do then? That's where the coordinates are."
"What were the coordinates you had, kid?"
The convict huffed, squinting at the map. "Four hundred sixty-five by two hundred thirty one."
"Kid," the voice said, sounding slightly amused and somehow even more tired. "You've got the numbers on your console backwards if that's where you need to be. You're in the wrong spot."
"Oh." The convict said before throwing the map to the floor with a curse. "Shit. No wonder the map was wrong. Fuck. I have to go back and take all those fucking pictures again. God. I was wondering what the fuck they wanted pictures of nothing for."
"Kid. Take a breath and calm down," the voice said, "It's not the end of the world. Just take a minute. You alright on oxygen?"
"Fuck if I know," the convict grumbled. "Probably. I've got four lights still."
"That's good. Take things a bit slower. Mark out your path on the map as you go so you can retrace your steps if you need to. Add in stuff as you find it. It helps you stay on task."
The convict sighed, slumping in his chair and leaning back as far as he could. "Thanks. I guess."
"No problem kid."
The ship was quiet, no noise except for the slight creaks which came from the pressure on the hull. After a few minutes of sulking he sighed and picked his map back up and started to try to retrace his route back to where he was supposed to be.
"Hey kid," the voice said, surprising the convict as he hadn't thought they were still there. "Do you know if the black box made it?"
"Black box? What box?"
"From the SM-13."
"No clue," he huffed, "They didn't really tell me anything before sending me down here."
"Yeah, that sounds like them," the man sighed. "Do you have a computer console on your ship? Uh…looks like a big screen with a keyboard and scroll ball. Not sure what model your ship is, they seemed pretty scrapped together really. Mine was in the back, across from the camera screen."
"Hang on," the convict said, setting his map aside and going to look. Near the back of the ship was a device that looked like what the man had described. "Looks like it."
He tapped the keys, surprised that it turned on and had a message. Evidently it had been trying to download something and he didn't have the right permissions on his computer for it.
"If it's not hooked up I can probably talk you through connecting the wires. There's a panel down on the side of the wall."
"No, it's on," the convict replied, tapping in random responses just to see if he could guess the password. "Says it's trying to download something but I don't have the right permissions."
"Huh. Well, that's something. Honestly, I wasn't sure where this thing was storing data anymore if it was at all. Good thing that works. Hopefully. Hang on. I'll see if I have the password." The voice went quiet for a moment before returning with a slightly distant sound, like they had moved somewhere further from the microphone. "Okay, so you're going to want to hit the control, alt and F9 keys to start with. Let me know when you've got that in."
"Wait," the convict said, staring at the radio in lieu of an actual person to address his expression towards. "Are you down here too? I didn't think there was anyone else on an expedition."
"They tell you that you're the first one down, too?" the voice asked with a huff. "Honestly, I don't know why they thought anyone would believe that. They didn't even bother with making a new manual, just scribbled on top of the old one and said 'good enough'."
"Uh, no. They just said that the last ship was unrecoverable."
"They're not wrong."
The convict frowned, hands hovering uncertainly over the keyboard. "How are you alive down here?"
"Never said I was."
The convict could feel the hairs on the back of his neck prickle, his eyes wide and his hands trembling. What the fuck? Who was he talking to? What was he talking to? Was this a joke? Some kind of prank? What the fuck!?
"Kid, did you put in the code?"
"Uh. Not yet," he replied, voice trembling slightly. What was he supposed to do? It had to be a joke but who would bother? Why would they bother? But the alternative…Ghosts weren't real. Right?
"It's control, alt, and F9. That should bring up a prompt to request the password."
"Why should I trust you? Who are you?"
"I'm Simon. As for why you should trust me… I guess I don't have a good reason. I know being down here messes with your head, particularly if you're down here long enough. But, I want to do good where I can. And if you don't know if the black box made it and you can pick up the signal for mine? Maybe you can take what I've gotten so far back. Maybe it'll be enough to make things right. Maybe….Maybe it'll be enough."
"Right," the convict said hesitantly. He had no idea what that meant but it didn't sound like it was bad. After a moment he sighed and typed in the keys, getting prompted for a password. Either he was crazy or he wasn't. Either way, he hopefully wouldn't get in trouble for this. "I put in the code. Did you find the password?"
"Yeah. Pretty sure it's not the same password as before so just as well I didn't memorize that one. Let me know if you need me to stop and repeat the password, okay?"
"Right."
"85G34L97T3. Got it?"
The convict carefully typed in the code as it was relayed and was surprised to see that it worked. The computer downloaded a lot of information, the various files popping up on screen.
"Looks like it worked. I've got pictures and audio logs."
"Er. You may not want to listen to those. Might have…uh…had a bit of a meltdown. A few times." Surprisingly human sounding, for a supposed ghost. Unless they were from before? Why was he even considering that ghosts were real? It was probably someone messing with him. Maybe they'd lied and there were other expeditions going on at the same time.
"Well, at least I might have something to show for being down here. Maybe they'll let me out when I go back up after getting the pictures they wanted. Whatever. Thanks, I guess."
The radio went silent for a while and the convict wondered if he'd imagined it all until the light turned back on and Simon's voice came back.
"What's your name, kid?"
The convict blinked in surprise then blinked again, turning his face away even though no one could see and rubbing at his eyes. He was stronger than this. Some random ghost of a man asking for his name wouldn't make him cry. What the fuck? This was so stupid.
"Jaden."
"I'm going to promise you this, Jaden. No matter what happens to you, either down here or if you make it out of this, I will remember your name. You won't be just a nameless convict. You're a person, Jaden. You have a name and you deserve to have that recognized. You won't be forgotten."
Jaden sniffed, burying his face in his hands and trying to keep the emotions from overtaking him. Why did it hurt so much to be recognized as a person? To have someone ask for his name and to use it? Fucking shit.
"No one asked before, you know?" he managed to get out through the tight feeling in his throat. "They just called me convict and gave me orders."
"I know," Simon said softly. "They never asked for my name either."
"I'll remember you too, Simon," Jaden promised, feeling like it was only right to acknowledge the man's humanity. Even ghosts deserved to be remembered. "You won't be forgotten either."
Simon went quiet again as Jaden rubbed at his eyes, trying to keep from sobbing. Fucking human connection for the first time in over a year, and it was at the bottom of a stupid ocean of blood with someone who claimed to be dead. What the fuck.
"I," Simon's voice was rough, like he was fighting crying too. "Thanks, Jaden. I hope that it does something to balance the ledgers after everything. You know? I hope you make it. Be careful. Be smart. Also, don't use the camera once you're pulled up to the surface, okay? It uses a high level of x-ray to take pictures so don't hit anyone with it."
"What?" Jaden asked, feeling horrified at the thought of how much radiation he was probably getting hit with. Why didn't anyone say anything? What the fuck?
"Yeah, sorry about that. I mean, it's not my fault but I'm still sorry. Maybe I'll see you again if they send you back down, but hopefully they'll get what they wanted and let you go."
"Why would you tell me that?!"
Simon huffed and went quiet again, or at least quiet enough that Jaden couldn't hear him. The light was still on so something was probably getting through just not that he could hear. "Sorry. I might have hit some people with it and it made me feel like a complete asshole. Just didn't want you to do the same thing."
"Fuck," Jaden groaned, rubbing his hands over his face. Whatever. Nothing he could do about it now but to just keep going. "Fine. Fine! I'll do the stupid photos and get out. Maybe it won't be that bad."
"That's the spirit, kid."
Jaden huffed and turned back to the control panel, putting the map where he could see it easily and tracing the route he was going to take out with a finger. "Hopefully I can get it done quickly enough now that I'm not reading the map upside down."
"To be fair," Simon said with a soft huff that turned into a chuckle, "it was your instruments you were reading upside down, not the map."
"Fuck off!" Jaden snapped, glaring at the wall where the radio hung before groaning and rubbing his face. Whatever. He had work to do and not a lot of time left to do it. If possible he really didn't want to die down here.
"Goodbye, Simon," Jaden said as he adjusted the ship's position to go back the way he had come, hopefully back on track.
"Goodbye, Jaden," Simon replied, voice quiet. "Good luck." The radio cut out at the end, leaving Jaden in the quiet of the sub's interior. He blinked for a moment, sniffed, and continued on into the darkness.