Chapter Text
Chapter V
It was already early at night. Most have left for their rooms, or the common areas. Some played board games, to think about anything else but the impending doom of humanity.
Ava made her way to the cafeteria. She had worked until now. The fact that the Butcher had somehow survived the ocean, but the crews of the other subs hadn’t…she didn't like it.
“Captain,” someone called out to her from a room. She stopped and made her way to them. Inside were some of the mechanics.
“Yeah?” She leaned against the doorframe.
The short and muscular one turned to her, “We finished cleaning out the engine of the Iron Lung, so we can start repairing it tomorrow.”
He looked exhausted and tired. They have been working on it for three weeks now. The blood was everywhere, settled into every crack of the sub. It had started to corrode the metal and wiring, at least what was left of it Whatever Simon was so afraid of had ripped the Lung in half, and It had shredded most of the hull. Only part of the engine,–the front, and the camera module were able to be recovered. But what they pulled out was overgrown with vines, veins, a fleshy substance, and gallons of sticky blood.
The cleaning crew, made up of mechanics and some scientists, were wearing hazmat suits the entire time. After that happened to Simon, she didn't want to waste the life and sanity of useful people.
Ava gave an appreciative grunt, “Good. Take tomorrow to just look at it. We still need to hurry, but it leads to nothing when you can't work properly.” she turned away. “Good job” she added and went on her way.
The door to the cafeteria swung open.She grabbed a tray and filled up her bowl with the same veggie soup and the bread that everyone was eating. She turned on her heels and walked back to her office. She had things to do, and no time for a break.
Walking back to her office, she was already planning what she would have to do next.
Turning the corner, Ava saw two figures standing in front of her office door. A taller blond man in an off-white cardigan with a pair of foxes on it, and what looked like a rock in glass case.
“Ryland, Rocky, what can I do for you?” Ava unlocked the door and entered. She beckoned the two others to follow her inside.
“What do you know about ‘the Light'?” Grace asked. He put his glasses under his chin, hanging them from one ear.
“Why are you asking?” Ava deflected and sat her tray down. “Also, I hope you don't mind me eating?”
Grace and Rocky looked at each other.
“🎶🎶.”
“Yeah, same, buddy.”
“🎵🎶🎶.”
“Okay,” Grace answered and turned to Ava, “We would prefer it if you would not.”
She looked surprised. “That was a rhetorical question. I just asked to be nice. I don't really expect an answer.”
“🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵🎶,” he whistled, and shook his body.
“Sorry, I'm hungry and I have no time,” she said, and began to eat.
Rocky slid behind Grace. Both knew it changed nothing.
“Fine. But I need to know more about ‘the Light’,” he had an urgency to his voice.
Ava looked up at him, swallowing the spoonful of soup, and asked, “Why?”
Grace glanced back at Rocky who didn't like being in the room.
Grace thought about what to say. Or how to say it. “Well, Simon was talking about it after he woke up. Twice,” his tone stern, “And the two people from the SM-8 found something they referred to as ‘the Light’. And after seeing it, they slowly went insane.”
Ava put her spoon down. “And you think this “Light” did something to him?”
“🎶🎶🎵,” he hummed from behind Grace. He looked back at him
“Exactly. It would explain a lot. And we know nothing about it.”
Ava looked at them both. “You know I don't understand you, right?” She sounded a bit annoyed. She got up and walked to a shelf.
“🎵🎵🎶🎵.”
“Yeah, it would be best to turn your bubble-fish on.”
Rocky hit a small button and the display on his speaker system came to life. “Ava needs to tell Grace so Grace can do his job,” he chirped, and walked to Grace's side.
“Problem is, he doesn't have the clearance. He is just a scientist and researcher,” she turned towards them with a file in her hand.
“Well, you are the one who can change that. Right?” Grace argued back. Ava gave him a look that reminded him of Stratt.
“Well yes, but we have rules,” she dropped the file on her desk and rummaged through a drawer under it.
“I can try and find out what happened to Simon without the information. But it will take a lot of time. But we have no time, we have no idea what we are dealing with. We know nothing about the ocean. It could be something that could kill us all. Or it could be what saves us all. Fuck the rules. Don't you want to save humanity?” Grace got louder with each word.
Ava looked at him with surprise, her eyebrows scrunched together and the wrinkles on her forehead deepened. She stood up slowly.
“What?” She sounded confused and surprised. She pushed her chair back and nearly knocked over her empty bowl. Her body was rigid.
“Sorry. I shouldn't have yelled,” he said quietly.
“Well, yes, but that's not what I mean,” Ava stared at him. “Ryland, in the three years I have known you, you never swore. Not even once.”
“Grace not swearing. Grace do not like. Not good example for students. Bad bad bad,” Rocky chirped, and broke the tension. Both humans looked down towards him.
“Yes. I don't like it. I know students do it anyway but I at least can be a good example for them,” Grace explained.
“Well…” her face smoothed over and she had set the strict expression back on to it. “You seem to be serious about wanting to know about the Light,” she stated with a sigh.
Grace nodded “Yes. Yes I am. I need to understand it to understand Simon.”
“Yes yes yes,” Rocky added.
Grace looked to his rocky friend. Rocky was standing next to him. His carapace tilted slightly upwards with the side facing Ava. He started to imitate human mannerism after some time around humans in the post-apocalyptic universe of the Quiet Rapture.
“They’re going to kill me for this,” she said and rubbed her eyes. “Fine.”
Walking to a PC she opened a program. She opened multiple tabs, typing away. She found Grace's user profile and clicked on it. Scrolling down to the permissions, she gave him access to the folder named “The Light” and the additional folder for the SM-8 crew members as well as Simon’s file.
“You can now read everything regarding the Light and what we found out about the ocean so far,” she leaned against the desk and looked at him. “Don't do anything stupid.”
She went back to her food. Rocky slid behind Grace again.
“I have one more request. It's regarding Simon,” Grace straightened up when he began to speak.
Ava put her spoon back down and looked up. “What?” She was annoyed again.
“I need Simon to not be restrained, and to be allowed to leave his room.”
“No. I can't allow that,” she answered, in a stern voice.
“You promised him. He would get the SM-8 black box for you, and he would get his freedom.”
“That was before he turned into whatever he is now. I can't let him walk around like that. He is still a murderer and dangerous being,” she was agitated.
“So are you,” Grace argued back. Both knew he was right. She was not killing people with a knife to the heart, but she was still their executioner. She had decided to send people to their deaths.
“This is bigger than us. I have to do it to save humanity,” she got up and leaned forward, supporting herself on her desk. “I have to sacrifice people to save the rest.”
“You sound exactly like Stratt when you say something like that,” Grace mumbled to himself. “And now you have to sacrifice your beliefs, like you wanted Simon to sacrifice his. Because I need him to be able to move freely.” He stepped forward.
It felt so untypical for him to argue like this. All those years, back on Earth, or on the aircraft carrier, he never argued back. Only when he was forced to join the suicide mission to save to world. How would things have ended if he had just agreed to it, or argued back harder?
Ava walked around her desk and stood a few feet away from Grace. Rocky had placed himself next to his space-blob friend.
“Why? Why do you need him to move freely?” She asked. “You aren't a doctor, so no for testing of vitals, or anything like that. So why do you want him to walk free? I know you weren't there, but he killed an entire space station. He blew it up. He killed innocent people from the COI. Children, mothers, elderly people. He had no mercy. He ended the life of countless people. He killed his brothers. Only a few survived Filament Station,” she argued, her voice increased in volume by the end. She took a deep breath, “So, why do you want him to be free?”
“Because he didn't want it to happen. Everything I heard about him. He apologised repeatedly for what happened. He didn't want to blow up the station.”
“He still did it. Accidental murder is still murder. He killed people before. He was the butcher long before Filament Station,” she took a step closer.
“He grew up in a death cult. They killed each other to fertilize the Last Tree. He did what he was told to do.”
“So he is allowed to kill people because that is what he was taught ?" She questioned him.
“That is not what I'm trying to say. He tried to do what he was told was right. But he knows it isn't right. He apologised for killing people. He protected me when he thought Rocky was a danger," Grace gestured towards his friend. “The first thing he asked after he woke up was if Rocky was gone, and if I was safe from him.” Grace took a breath. “He, Simon, “The Butcher of Eden", cares about people. If you give him a chance to decide something, for once in his life, he will help.”
Ava stood there for a moment. “I can't. He’s a convict. And unlike someone like Ethan, he is known. His crimes are known.”
“But it was part of the deal. Let him at least stay with me and in my lab. Give him at least that. Please.”
“Let me think about it,” she said with a sigh. “You can leave. I will tell you what my decision is later.”
Grace and Rocky walked down the hallway back to their room.