Um.
First thing's first, there's a lot of smoke, which tells you that something is on fire in the Submarine.
Two, everybody's missing.
Three, there are large serrated spike sticking into the hull.
And your head hurts a little, but that's probably from the lack of coffee.
Damn it.
Other urls found in this thread:
youtube.com
en.wikipedia.org
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Well, time to get up! And probably not look to closely at that red stuff by the door.
>Pick a few hairs out of your head to see if you're still a ginger.
Time to prioritize. By which I mean, get some coffee. Hopefully the smoke isn't coming from it.
Oh great, the fucking voices in my head are back.
Actually, on closer inspection, that looks like blood. And my fucking rivet gun! Someone went through your tools! Damn it! It was probably Stillwater again, asshole.
You really need to change the locks on your locker, your tools are not for free use! Ugh, you need coffee...
Look here you little shit, my hair is fine.
Right, I gotta find my locker. It's around to the rear of the Clarke. My thermos should be there, I can get a sip.
Let's check the back.
...
NO.
NO NO NO
It's dry, you can't even lick it off of the ground. Noooo...
Please help, voices. What do I do?
Say a prayer of mourning for the spilled coffee. Then investigate smoke-origins.
That's a lotta smoke. You might wanna check it out.
Plan B!
B is for Booze!
Get some hard liquor to drown our sorrows of our coffee...
You just need more spit to rehydrate that coffee!
Unfortunately, the smoke and water leakage over at the far wall may be a more pressing concern. You should investigate that.
?
Also, what's that red thing hanging from the ceiling? It looks mighty spooky.
ALRIGHT, ENOUGH PERSPECTIVE SWITCHES, THIS IS NOW 1ST PERSON
This coffee was just the right flavor, so rich in taste and so tingly on the tongue.
I don't drink liquor, liquor's disgusting. Not like coffee.
Judging by the amount of water leaking from the panel leading into the engine and the smoke too, there's definitely a fire in the back there.
Let me take a quick sniff. Burning metal, slight tingle, probably an electrical problem too.
Yeah, this is sub is fucked. I can't fix it with just a rivet gun. My tools are missing from my locker tool, Stillwater must have taken them. Where is that fat bastard!?
I think we were briefed on those when we came down to Varuna Base. They said there might be Skirmisher Crabs patrolling the area for prey.
I did not think they could be that big.
Right, a spare cartridge for the rivet gun is in my locker plus the rivet gun by the door too...
I think it might be a good idea to call for help.
Is that a burger on the top shelf of your locker?
Collect that gold/yellow-colored thingy in the top shelf of that locker. Then go and see if you can find the captain or whoever's in charge of this thing and give your report.
You may also want to see if there are any escape pods or stuff on the sub. Never hurts to know where to go when everything's fucked.
Inspect the burger in your locker.
Then wonder why your eyes are solid green globes.
Sure, search locker.
For some reason this thread refuses to autoupdate for me, which is annoying.
It's my spare rivet gun cartridge. I'll pick that up.
> ITEM ACQUIRED: RIVET GUN AMMO
> FEELS FULL
Yeah, I know, it looks funky, but something's better than nothing.
Damn it, the locker door feels pretty loose. A stiff breeze could pull this off.
I have green eyes. They said that green eyes are some sort of recessive mutation and apparently it's only a 1 in 100,000,000 chance of it actually ever happening.
Same with the red hair.
Unfortunately, this part and the front of the sub are about it. Everything else is either the engine (which is on fire) or the bottom of the ship which mounts engineering apparatuses like winches, cranes, mechanical arms, and welders.
The Clarke is an Auxiliary Vessel, we're not designed to be an exploratory vehicle which DO have escape pods.
Honestly, I'm kind of jealous right now.
Let me head back to the front.
Alright, rivet gun in tow. Door appears to be unlocked as well.
Red screen appears to be telling me that the sub's comms are out too, that's a shame.
Lead me on, voices.
>only a 1 in 100,000,000 chance
Realise that you are a Mary Sue. Lament at your existence. Then rejoice that you are most certainly the Protagonist™ because of this, so will make it out alive.
What's that computer screen in the cockpit say?
Carefully open the door into the next room.
What's that crack in the wall about?
Probably the Super Scary Crabs mentioned in .
What's the red thing above the computer to the left?
Collect the keys in the pool of blood. Preferably in a handkerchief or a napkin. It's pretty gross.
Hey, I don't know what any of that means, but I'm pretty sure you're bullying me and I will not be bullied by my own auditory hallucinations.
Skirmisher Crab harpoons. They shoot those to down large prey. I wouldn't touch them, apparently they're very toxic.
They must have thought our sub was some big fish or whale or something.
It's a damage report.
> ENGINE OFFLINE - FIRE DETECTED
> WARNING FIRE SUPPRESSION SYSTEM OFFLINE
> HULL COMPROMISED, MULTIPLE BREACHES
> COMMUNICATIONS OFFLINE
> SEEK EMERGENCY REPAIRS
Yeah. That's the gist of it.
Those aren't keys, that's my rivet gun. I guess I'll pick it up.
And don't be such a prude, voice. I've handled worse things.
> ITEM ACQUIRED: RIVET GUN
> AMMO LOADED INTO RIVET GUN
> FEELS FULL
I grab the wheel and spin it. It starts to open.
Here we go...
Quick! Make an angry face whilst opening the door to pre-emptively intimidate whatever's on the other side of the door!
...
>inb4 we turn this into DOOM rather than Dead Space.
Jesus this place looks terrible, and from out here the sub looks absolutely demolished too.
At least the lights work somewhat. The main spotlamp is casting a light on the door into Varuna Base's main submarine lobby.
I don't need to make one. I AM ANGRY.
Why?
BECAUSE THAT FUCKING WALKWAY IS OUT. And you definitely aren't jumping that gap either.
Also wait...
Is that-...
Is that Stillwater?
Ugh.
Please direct me.
>implying our minimalistically drawn compatriot is not actually looking like pic related up close
What's those two red things to your right, just under the crab harpoon?
Amnesiac voice here. What's 'stillwater', and are you meant to be in a submarine BAY, as opposed to somewhere out at sea? How did crabs get inside here?
>GET TO YOUR FUCKING CONTAINMENT BOARD!!!
You've made a grave mistake. YOU LEFT YOUR THERMOS ON THE CLARKE. HOW ELSE ARE YOU GOING TO CARRY COFFEE??
Also maybe walk carefully to what might be the corpse of your co-worker.
Also, do we have anything else on us besides our extremely good looks and the RIVET GUN?
Check Stillwater for signs of trauma and/or useful stuff you can find on his body.
Or if he's not dead, recruit him to your cause.
Loot that body
While the thermos is special, I'm going to have to leave it behind. I'm gonna need all the space on my belt I can get from the looks of this place.
I can always get another thermos. Hopefully with coffee in it.
Jackson Stillwater is my Security and Submarine Pilot guy. Asshole all the way, drinks my coffee, borrows my tools without asking, hits on me all the time.
Still, I wasn't expecting him to be dead. Yikes.
We're at Varuna Base, about four kilometers under the sea. Our job was to investigate and possibly salvage Varuna Base after we lost contact with it six months ago.
The Skirmisher Crabs... are actually a good question. There should've been a defense field surrounding the base keeping the bigger fishes out, what happened here?
Ugh... He smells terrible.
And he's dead!
Fuck. Something tore the flesh off of his face! And there's some weird goopy sticky slime all over him too. What the hell is this stuff!?
There's nothing on him either. Not even any of your tools. Damn it.
Right, sitrep, there's nothing here to loot. And there's a gap in the walkway that's too big for me to jump across safely.
>Please direct me.
NO, YOUNG WOMAN I AM INFERRING VIA GENDER STEREOTYPES DUE TO THIS DISEMBODIED VOICE BEING EXACLTY THAT – DISEMBODIED.
YOU ARE STRONG.
YOU ARE CLEVER.
YOU ARE POWERFUL.
YOU ARE INDEPENDENT.
YOU ARE CAPABLE.
YOU CAN DIRECT YOURSELF WITHOUT ANY OF OUR INPUT.
YOU ARE THE MASTER OF YOUR BODY.
YOU CAN DO ANYTHING.
I BELIEVE IN YOU, YOU ONE-IN-A-HUNDRED-MILLION GIRL.
Pffft, fuck that! Help me, damn it!
The door on your locker can come off, right? Said it was almost about to fall off, go back, grab it, rivet the fucker to your side of the gap and use it like a bridge.
(And grab YOUR thermos, lady. You can use it for the goop. Maybe you can analyze it in some lab.)
>your
Can you climb on top of the submarine and move the headlight-thing?
These sound like good ideas: though a locker door isn't made to support human weight. You'll probably want to make sure that there's nothing left back in the sub for you before you cross the bridge.
OH FUCKING CRAP WHAT IS THAT SHADOW IN THE WATER TO THE RIGHT
AAAAAAH FUCK GET BACK INTO THE SUB HIDE HIDE HIDE
Or at least try to be very, very quiet to avoid disturbing it.
That's a good plan, I'll try that.
Unfortunately, I can't. Even if I could, the headlamp is operated from the inside and most of the controls are shot anyway.
That um-
...
Yeah, no idea what that is but it's another good reason to build a bridge.
Guess I'll grab the thermos too while I'm at it.
Let's fucking do this.
>Guess I'll grab the thermos too while I'm at it.
thermos-tan is best waifu
Godspeed.
>nobody's gonna hear us
I mean, yeah, we don't have any bodies, but we're all gonna be here to hear you. It'd do you good to brighten up a bit.
Right, I've grabbed thermos, I've bolted the locker door down to the walkway to give myself a little bridge.
> RIVET GUN FEELS HALF EMPTY
That big thing is still in the water, but if I'm quiet I should be fine.
Right, let's go.
The big thing's moving alright. Maybe it'd be wise to crawl along the board to spread your weight, so that you don't cause any dents (thus making a noise), and also so it's easier to stabalise yourself?
MOVE MOVE MOVE
Real quick, can you...
Steal Stillwater's bandana? He's dead and fucker doesn't need it.
Also USAIN BOLT THE FUCK OUTTA HERE.
These things can't be rushed, I'm surprised it takes my bodyweight.
Not so fast. Running is going to make a lot of noise and, if there's something slippery later on, we're gonna fall over, and either hurt ourselves or fall in the water.
If the big thing has seen us already, it'd be trivial for it to knock us in. Let's take caution.
...
Oh no. Dramatic zoom. Out of interest, what's your name, young girl? Tell me it's not Jonah, okay?
Ya dun goofed
SEE YOU LATER FUCKER
DUDE! I HELPED ENGINEER THAT SUB AND THAT SUB LOOKS LIKE IT'S GOING TO EXPLODE! GET OUT OF THERE!
...
Right inside the lo-
...
oh.
Um.
Look, I can't even describe the smell, it's absolutely AWFUL.
Okay: note three things.
1) A head does not fit through a vent that small.
2) There appears to be water leaking in from Door 2.
3) Did the decapitated guy write the message on Door 3? If so, how did he make such deep scratches into a heavy blast door? If it wasn't him, then do we assume the thing doing this is intelligent enough to write?
So door #3 is probably where everyone retreated to.
Investigate the corpse's walkie-talkie. Maybe you can hail someone.
First, flip the bird at the camera. Or flash it, up to you.
Then, run Headless Horseman's pockets and steal that walkie.
If you know how to work one, try to communicate with fellow crewmates first, then whatever serves as Main Comms and then if that fails, open broadcast to see if there are survivors. Do not say where you are or who. God knows if you are dealing with some kinda sci-fi shit that can mimic human voices.
Do you all have pockets by the way or are these jumpsuits with harnesses to hook stuff onto?
Wait a moment. The writing specifically says 'US' – in the plural form – but there's only one corpse on the floor.
Where's the others?
Did you know that guy?
Might be the one outside.
Good point, check and see if he has any tags IDing him.
Can you tell a comrade's identity without their face? He's a greenshirt, so clearly not part of the same group as our beloved protagonist (who still hasn't told us her name).
She's C.M.C.
Yeah, it actually looks like the blood trail leads up into that vent. Something ate his head and just didn't clean up.
Judging by those scratches, he or someone else might've had something heavier to beat on the door.
Hey, just because I'm alone doesn't mean I'll strip. I'll wait until I'm out of danger to get out of my SmartSkin.
SmartSkin doesn't have pockets, we use harnesses, belts, and modular attachments for everything else. Hooks up nicely with ExoSuits too.
Nah. But he does have a nametag. R. Lobaton. Judging by his green suit, he was a miner.
That's a good question. This guy definitely wasn't alone.
Good thinking. I pick up the radio and turn it on. Thank goodness for disaster proofing.
Nothing but static.
...
>en.wikipedia.org
Trust me, friend.
You'll understand in due time.
Might as well check all the doors.
The radio suddenly starts beeping in...
Morse code?
> .- .-. . / -.-- --- ..- / - .... . / .-. . ... -.-. ..- . / - . .- -- ..--.. / .. / .- -- / .. -. / ... . -.-. ..- .-. .. - -.-- .-.-.- / -- -.-- / -. .- -- . / .. ... / ... . -.-. --- .-. -.. .-.-.- / -.-. --- -- -- ... / .- .-. . / -.. .- -- .- --. . -.. --..-- / -.-. .- -. / --- -. .-.. -.-- / - .-. .- -. ... -- .. - / - .... .-. --- ..- --. .... / -... ..- .-. ... - ... .-.-.-
Um.
Do any of you voices remember Morse code?
Take his nametag just in case someone doesn't believe he's dead.
Can you run through different frequencies on the walkie?
And does Roger have anything else on him?
You may not believe me, but sort of.
Here's the translation:
"ARE YOU THE RESCUE TEAM? I AM IN SECURITY. MY NAME IS SECORD. COMMS ARE DAMAGED, CAN ONLY TRANSMIT THROUGH BURSTS."
Well that's inconvenient. We can try for a reply maybe?
You know anyone named Secord? He's in Security, says comms are damaged and he can only transmit in bursts.
He's asking if you're rescue. If you can tap Morse back, tap back:
"..-. .-. --- -- / .- ..- -..- -....- ..--- ..--- ...-- / -.-. .-.. .- .-. -.- . --..-- / .-- --- -.- . / -. --- - / .-.. --- -. --. / .- --. --- .-.-.- / ..-. --- ..- -. -.. / -.-. .-.. .- .-. -.- . .----. ... / ... - .. .-.. .-.. .-- .- - . .-. / .- -. -.. / -- .. -. . .-. / .-.. --- -... .- - --- -. --..-- / -.. . .- -.. .-.-.- / .- -- / . -. --. .. -. . . .-. --..-- / .. -. / .... .- .-.. .-.. .-- .- -.-- / -... . - .-- . . -. / ..--- --..-- / ...-- / .- -. -.. / .- - .-. .. ..- -- .-.-.- / .--. .-.. . .- ... . / .- ... ... .. ... - .-.-.-"
So you know we aren't sabotaging you, "FROM AUX-223 CLARKE, WOKE NOT LONG AGO. FOUND CLARKE'S STILLWATER AND MINER LOBATON, DEAD. AM ENGINEER, IN HALLWAY BETWEEN 2, 3 AND ATRIUM. PLEASE ASSIST." is the message.
Thank goodness, I thought those communications classes were useless but you've come through for me, voices!
I tap back my message here. He taps back:
> --- -. .-.. -.-- / .... .- ...- . / -.-. --- -. - .-. --- .-.. / --- ..-. / -.-. .- -- . .-. .- ... .-.-.- / -... .- ... . / .- .. / -- .- -- .. / -. --- - / .-. . ... .--. --- -. -.. .. -. --. .-.-.- / -... .- -.-- / ..--- / .. ... / ..-. .-.. --- --- -.. . -.. .-.-.- / ...-- / .... .- ... / ... ..- -... / -... ..- - / -... ..- .-.. -.- .... . .- -.. / ... . .- .-.. . -.. --..-- / - --- --- / - .... .. -.-. -.- .-.-.- / .-.. --- -... -.-- / .- -. -.. / ... - .- ..-. ..-. --- .-. -.. / - .-. .. . -.. --..-- / --- -.-. - --- .--. ..- ... / .- - . / .... .. -- .-.-.- / ... - .- ..-. ..-. --- .-. -.. / -- .. ... ... .. -. --. .-.-.- / . -. - . .-. / .- - .-. .. ..- -- / .- -. -.. / --. --- / - .... .-. --- ..- --. .... / -- .. -. .. -. --. / - --- / -.-. --- -- . / - --- / -- . .-.-.- / .-- .. .-.. .-.. / .- ... ... .. ... - / .-- .... . .-. . / .. / -.-. .- -. .-.-.- / ..-. .. -. -.. / ... - .- ..-. ..-. --- .-. -.. .----. ... / -.- . -.-- -.-. .- .-. -.. / - --- / . -. - . .-. / -- .. -. .. -. --. .-.-.- / .-.. --- -... -.-- / .-- .. .-.. .-.. / .... .- ...- . / -- .- .--. / --- ..-. / -... .- ... . .-.-.-
And to that, I see that the camera's red light is now flashing, probably to alert you that he has control on them.
Ah, so here's what the base looks like.
Doesn't seem great. You want to follow what Secord says, voices?
>ONLY HAVE CONTROL OF CAMERAS. BASE AI MAMI NOT RESPONDING. BAY 2 IS FLOODED. 3 HAS SUB BUT BULKHEAD SEALED, TOO THICK. LOBY AND STAFFORD TRIED, OCTOPUS ATE HIM. STAFFORD MISSING. ENTER ATRIUM AND GO THROUGH MINING TO COME TO ME. WILL ASSIST WHERE I CAN. FIND STAFFORD'S KEYCARD TO ENTER MINING. LOBY WILL HAVE MAP OF BASE.
Seriously, how are you remembering all of this without pen and paper? You have an awesome memory.
Yes, but be cautious. Remember to maintain ANGRY FACE™ at all times.
If you can somehow salvage a weapon just in case, that'd be great.
Please do not maintain ANGRY FACE™ at all times. You'll strain your facial muscles so much if you do that.
Might as well follow directions
Comes with being an engineer. Also Morse is drilled into our heads during communications lessons, I'm not surprised I know it by heart by now.
Best we got right now is my rivet gun, which only has two shots left judging by the weight of it.
Alright, let's go then.
I'm starting to feel like there's some sort of implication from that loading message...
Also, I'm enjoying this quite a bit, OP. Been a while since I had fun with a quest.
I was about to say that we were making astounding progress until I stepped into the Atrium.
God, this place is a disaster. There's electrical wires dipping into the water too, that's definitely not safe even with my insulated SmartSkin.
Door on my left should be mining, and thankfully that gap is jumpable at least. But I'll need the keycard, wherever it is.
What's that black oval on the ceiling? Camera?
Why do the lights look like basketball hoops?
What's the underwater door on the left? It's open, which means that there's also water down wherever that leads to.
Can you grab the wire (carefully!) and get it out of the water?
Try the door on your right. No sense in jumping over a dangerous gap to a door that you can't even use yet.
There's a body in the water, pinned under some rubble. Got anything insulated you can sue to move it to get the body to float?
The guy in the water might have a keycard. If we can get to him we can get to mining.
The black oval is a ceiling camera. Secord will be tracking me with that.
That underwater door is probably how all of this water is getting in, which means there might be a breach in the tunnel leading to Hydroponics.
After a quick walk over, I try the door.
> ACCESS DENIED, NO CLEARANCE
Well. Okay then.
Hm, I could probably take a short swim over to him, but not without shocking myself.
Let's try this.
Hm, the wires are fine but I need something to stick these wires together and...
Fuck is this? I tap some of the blue stuff on the electrical piping. Ugh... it's that goop that was all over Stillwater, it's all sticky too.
Wait.
I pull some of it off, then paste it onto the wires. That should hold it.
Now what?
How good are you at pull-ups?
If you can pull yourself up a fair distance, you could try investigating the body in the water.
Put some of the goop into your thermos, especially if it's non-conductive and sticky. Could come in handy. I TOLD YOU THERMOS-TAN WOULD BE USEFUL.
Check for the water to be empty of evil fishy-crab-things, then consider fishing (ha!) out the corpse underneath the rock. Assuming you can lift it. If not, just fish (hahaha!) through the pockets.
Do you have anything sharp on you? How tough are your fingernails?