Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A dim red light greeted Veri as she opened her green eyes. There was a calmness that washed over her instantly as she heard the sound of silence. A serene silence. A silence that was comforting her, almost like she was heading back home. Except she wasn't. The silence was a decoy, a way to distract her thoughts from the unknown that lay before her.

A man sat opposite her, his body slumped over and his elbows resting on his knees. Occasionally, he gave Veri a glance. It wasn't hostile; it was friendly, almost as if he wanted to engage in a conversation but couldn't gather the words. Veri noticed this and decided she would begin the conversation for him.

"Hello. I'm Veronika." She greeted, her voice gentle and soft.
"I'm Alex..." He said, equally as shy as she was.

The submarine they were in suddenly jerked and Alex followed the movement clumsily. He awkwardly shuffled in his seat, slightly embarrassed.
Alex wasn't a very social person. During his life of crime, he kept to himself, working for his own benefit. So someone new, was something new to him.

The submarine continued with its jerky and erratic movement, both people getting thrown around on their seats.
Veri took this time to examine the interior of it. It was a small submarine, probably able to fit eight people maximum. She also noticed there were handles to hold onto, so she clasped her right hand around it. To her left, was a door and a console that glowed red. A strange symbol dominating the rectangular console. On her right, was the entrance/exit of the submarine. The way she came in. They way she'll go out. She just hoped that soon enough, she would lay her feet upon this metallic flooring once again and on her way to freedom.

Suddenly, there was an upwards movement until it stopped. Veri assumed immediately that they had docked.
There was a robotic voice that spoke, it's voice commanding the two EXR-P, "Submarine has arrived. Please stand at a minimum of 5 studs away from the hatch until it's fully opened."
Veri and Lex both stood up in unison, watching as the hatch opened, transforming into a bridge for the duo to cross over onto the concrete dock.

As they placed their feet on solid ground, Veri felt an immediate sense of unease. What were they getting themselves into?
The ground was cold and hard, and the room smelt strongly of sea water. An unpleasant smell to Veri. She immediately noticed a large number, 13, above the dock's entrance/exit. Then, with a sudden panic, she realised the submarine was leaving. She stepped after it, helplessly watching it slip under the water. Alex stood beside her, watching the water ripple from the disturbance.

A male voice suddenly spoke, cutting her from her distress, his tone firm and serious, "As discussed during your briefing,your primary objective is to secure and bring back the Crystal. Your secondary objective is to secure as many loose assets as possible. You've been equipped with a diving tank, allowing you to navigate any potentially flooded areas. You've also been equipped with a Crystal container, used for securing the crystal if, erh, when, you reach it."
Alex and Veri looked at each other as he said this.
"You have permission to use any additional equipment you may find. Our Navi-Path AI has marked the shortest route possible to your primary objective.
It should be noted, that you'll mostly be left on your own, as we are currently busy managing multiple teams
We will tune in from time to time, if it matters in the moment. Open the door,
and proceed when ready."
Veri and Alex both listened to his words intently, feeling doubt lingering in them despite the reassurance and the guidance. Immediately, her mind raced with all possible scenarios of what was to come in her head but her thoughts stopped as soon as Alex began moving.

He wasted no time. He was immediately opening drawers and item lockers, his muscule memory of thievery coming back in an instant.
On the other hand, Veri cautiously walked towards a door that was labelled '100'. After a quick scan, she noticed it was locked with a key card.
"Hey, Alex?" She called out as she examined the lock.
He stopped what he was doing to look at her. "What's up?" He asked.
"If you see a key card, let me know, the door is locked and I assume this is where we're meant to go."
Alex nodded, "Why do you assume that?"
Veri paused at the direct question. "Well I... Don't see another way to go. And this door is the only one lit up."
Alex shrugged, "Okay. I guess that makes sense."
He goes back to searching. "I'll keep an eye out." He adds as he opens a drawer and pulls out a small folder.

Veri also set off, keeping a keen eye out for a key card. After awhile, she spied a flash of blue on a small, square desk. Immediately, she headed over, crawling under some light blue boxes and swiping the key card into her hand.
"I found it!" Veri announced and Alex bounced over.
"Wow, good job." He said, rather deadpan. Surprisingly, he looked almost jealous, as if he wanted to find it.
Veri decided to comment on it. "Are you jealous?" She enquired, tilting her head with a little sass.
"No." He replied a little too quickly.
"I'm only teasing you. Come, let's open the door." Veri said with a hidden chuckle.

They walked over to the door labelled 100 and Veri slowly slid the card into the card reader. With a BEEP and a WOOSH the door opened, revealing a medium lengthened room. There were desks laid precariously by the walls, and a few scattered lockers. Hesitantly, they stepped in, scanning their surroundings.

After they grew comfortable, they began moving towards the door labelled 99, occasionally swiping stuff off of the desks. Veri noticed how sleek and speedy Alex was at sliding these research things into his PDG luggage. This also made her realise how heavy the PDG was. She barely noticed it until now and how it dragged her.

Alex waved her over to door 99, and they stepped through together. A similar room greeted them, but it was longer. The same desks and lockers scattered around.
Veri couldn't help but wonder why there were lockers, so to feed her curiosity, she walked over and opened one. Surprisingly, it was empty and that made Veri question it more. Why were there empty lockers scattered around?

"You alright?" Alex's voice snapped her attention back to reality.
"Yeah, thanks, I was just wondering why there's empty lockers everywhere." Veri's reply was slow as she was caught off guard by his question.
Alex hesitated. His face told Veri he was hiding a secret, almost as if he knew something about these lockers.

"Alex. I know we're basically strangers but... Do you know something about this place?" Veri asked upfront.
He paused, fidgeting with his fingers.
"I do." He replied quickly but blankly.
Veri stared deeply into his eyes.
"Can you tell me? Like I said, I know we're strangers but... We're in this together after all." Veri's voice was quavering with nerves, but Alex didn't notice as he was blinded by her confident body language.
"Well, I used to work for Urbanshade." He stated, "I've read and seen a few of the... um... things we might encounter."
Veri's heart began pounding, "like what...? There's no need to be so... Suspicious!"
"It's a lot. I'll tell you when it matters in the time." Alex states.
"We're not in a rush. You can tell me as we walk." Veri replied directly.
Alex sighed, slowly moving to door 98.
"Well?" Veri pressed, almost desperate to know.
"Like you said, I'll tell you as we walk on." Alex reminded, his voice surprisingly calm.
Veri sighed, jogging after him.

Chapter Text

"I'm not going to dive into details." Alex stated as they walked side by side through room 98.

"That's fine. We barely know each other." Veri replied. She found herself surprisingly warming up to this guy. A little too quick for her liking. Veri knew she shouldn't trust this guy yet but they could be spending days down here together. The best thing she could do is to at least try to build a friendship with him.

"I... erm..." He hesitated, his body language reserved as he avoided eye contact. He took a deep breath and continued on, "I had stolen money from this 'Urbanshade' company, and uh..." His eyes shifted away, almost as if he was unsure of what he was saying, "I also got my hands on a few... secret stuff they have here."

Veri narrowed her eyes. His words sounded hollow, almost like his story was missing an important piece.

"What kind of stuff? Does it link with the 'encounters' you mentioned?" She enquired.

"Maybe... It was just... Just uh... Their research about some things." He blinked twice and shyly looked into her eyes.

There was a pause of silence as they stepped into room 97. This time, the room was even longer, with clear large windows on either side of the hallway.

Veri couldn't help but look outside and shiver at the vast darkness that lay before her. The ocean was dead and quiet; not a single fish swam in sight.

Veri turned back to Alex.

"Research?" She repeated, "are you going to expand on that orr...?"

Alex looked at her, his face unreadable. It seemed that whatever this 'research' was, he wasn't going to say. Veri felt unease seep into her skin again. Why was he hiding these companies secrets? Surely they can't mean that much to a fellow prisoner.

That's when it hit her. He wasn't a prisoner. He had mentioned earlier he had worked for Urbanshade. Why had it only sunk into her now? Why was a previous employee of Urbanshade down in the dumps of their Hadal Blacksite?

Veri couldn't help but flare up a bit as they continued walking down the long hall. I have the right to know! My survival is as important as his survival is to him.

"Fine." That was all Veri could manage to say, a bitterness in her voice.

Silence sunk in again. However, this time, it was empty. It wasn't comforting. It was just a reminder that they were alone in this unknown place. Just the two of them... and they couldn't even get along.

They continued to door 96, a repeat of one of the earlier rooms. And then 95. 95 was a large room. There was a crooked T-shaped hallway that had a long hallway going right. That was a dead end too. To her left, were the remains of two doors, completely caved in by loose rock. The only way was forward, and so they headed that way towards 94.

The door opened and before Veri could analyse the room's layout, there was a green light that immediately shone upon her as she stepped inside. She stared at something that was producing a beautiful green light, her body frozen until a pain shot in her head. Her mind fogged, unable to look away. The force pulled her in closer, the light clogging her brain.

Darkness grabbed her until there was a sudden relief. She collapsed onto her knees, immediately noticing the green light was gone. 

She panted, holding her throbbing head. Everything around her was distant; she felt sluggish. It hurt to even think. What on earth is going on?

"Veronika — " She heard her name in the distance, but she could see nothing. Her vision was blurry and blinded.

Blinking away tears, she began to retain her vision. Slowly. Painfully slowly. She could make out a figure stood kneeled over in front of her. Veri could only assume it was Alex.

"Veronika." His voice was clearer, but it still felt like she was underwater, hearing a muffled version of the world.

She felt hands gently hold her arms, and she tried to focus her vision on Alex. Slowly, his features came into view. His brown eyes were lightless, and fear sunk into Veri. Would he take advantage of her weakened state?

Alas, Alex hoisted her up by sliding his arms under her armpits and placing his hands on her back. Veri staggered, pressing her weight against his as she slowly and gently placed her two feet down.

"Easy does it." His voice was clear now, and Veri was beginning to see 20/20 again. Her head was still throbbing but it was manageable. Irritating but manageable.

Veri stuttered as she tried to speak, "Wha - What was that?"

Alex held her forearms as he explained, "I don't know... I didn't look at it."

Veri was so confused. Her mind was boggled and she felt as if her ability to think was stolen by that something.

"Then... How did you...?" She asked hoarsely.

"I resisted its pull. I think that's all you have to do." Alex stated. His voice had an edge to it, as if he knew this was going to happen.

"You— you knew about that thing, didn't you?" Veri exclaimed as she pushed off of Alex, almost tripping over her feet.

Alex was silent.

"Why didn't you warn me?!" She shrieked. She didn't feel angry at all. She felt emotionless towards it all. But she still felt something at the fact she could've prevented her demise.

Silence.

Veri stood, her body shaking slightly.

"I told you there's a lot to this place... You... I..." Alex's voice was quiet, almost in defeat. He was staring at the floor, unable to make eye contact.

Suddenly, he clenched his fists, and his body language opened up.

"Be grateful I saved you! I could've left you!" He snapped.

Veri stepped backwards at his sudden yell. Her eyes widened, offended by his comment.

"I am grateful." She said gently before raising her voice, "is that supposed to make me feel better?!"

Alex paused. The fire in his eyes died down. This arguement was pointless.

Silence.

Alex walked over to door 93, it automatically opening. With no other option, Veri followed him inside.

Chapter Text

Alex and Veri walked through a collapsed part of the Hadal Blacksite. The walls were damaged, lights were flickering and even water began to leak onto the floor. 

They walked through the next door and found the entire roof being held up by weak support beams. Veri's heart thumped in her ears. At any moment, those supports could give way and crush both of them.

Alex must've sensed this as he began scurrying to the next door - WOOSH!

This room had stones on the floor, occasional boulders scattered around. 

"Wow. They really need to up their care for this part of the site." Alex scoffed.

Veri chuckled uneasily, "Yeah... They do. Imagine how many liabilities they've caused already."

Alex shrugged, "I doubt they care about that."

In the next room, door 018, their path was almost entirely blocked by the collapsed roof. Small spouts of water poured out before them, filling the eerie silence. There were two gaps, big enough for a small adult to crawl through with ease.

They stopped to ponder which way to go.

Veri suggested left while Alex suggested right. Dumbfounded, they chuckled at each other.

Finally, they decided with the right direction and Veri crawled behind Alex.

Suddenly, after what felt like a good minute, Alex stopped.

"Lex?" Veri enquired quietly, trying to peer over or around him.

"It's a locked door. We need a pink-ish key card." He stated.

Veri paused. "Pink?" She repeated in a higher pitched tone.

Alex began moving backwards so Veri did too, and at a quicker rate, they crawled out of the 'tunnel' and back into the collapsed room.

Before searching for the mysterious pink key card, they made intense confused eye contact. Veri couldn't help but wonder what was behind the door. They hadn't seen a door that required a pink key card until now. What was behind there?

Veri crawled through the tunnel on the left, which opened up to another collapsed part of the room. Ahead of her lay the next door, labelled 017. Confused, Veri stood up. Why was the next door here? Veri had assumed the door they found was the next way to go. Unless this one's fake...

Veri walked up to it and heard no abnormal noises coming from behind it.

She immediately pushed the thoughts away and focused on finding the pink key card. She walked up to some... slightly damaged drawers and began opening them until she came across a draw that was lodged tightly shut. Even pulling with all her might, it barely budged. She tried again, focusing all her strength into pulling open the draw.

Arching her back and digging her heels into the ground, she finally flew backwards with a strained grunt, landing abruptly on her backside as the draw flung open. She quickly stood up, brushed herself off and peered inside. There lay the pink key card.

Out of the blue, Alex appeared from the tunnel. Veri swiped the card and spun on her heel, frightened by his appearance.

"Lex! You scared me!" She panted.

"Ah, sorry! I just heard you grunt and came to see if you were okay!" He said as he walked quickly over to her.

"I'm - okay. I found the key card!" Veri exclaimed proudly.

Alex took it from her and examined it closely. Soon, he started heading back the way they came.

"Good job!" He congratulated as he crawled through the tunnel, Veri following behind him.

Atlas, they reached the door and Veri stood cautiously behind Alex as the door slowly but surely opened. It seemed that years of damage was catching up to it.

The path veered to the left and at the end of the hallway was a dark room. The only light source was the one above the door; the room ahead was shrouded in darkness.

Alex cautiously walked forward as Veri watched all around them.

As they entered the opening for the room, a light flickered, leaving Alex and Veri momentarily blinded.

Before their sight fully regained, a deep feminine voice dominated the struggled silence between the two.

"Ah, Expendables!" It spoke with a clear and gentle voice.

Alex rubbed his eyes and stepped back, almost crashing into Veri as he stared at where the voice was coming from.

Veri did the same, staring in bewilderment at the sight.

Before them sat a mutated creature, similar to the shopkeeper Sebastian they had met previously. This time, the humanoid was much more monotonous, the only colour coming on them coming from their messy dark brown hair, their pair of fins and their light bulb. Veri could make out a mix of features from different animals scattered across her, the main ones seeming to be a thresher shark and a spinner dolphin. Minor details included perhaps a sailfishes fin... And maybe flying fishes fins...?

"No need to be afraid, I am not here to harm you." It continued, "I assume you have already met Sebastian? I am Lilith, a fellow ally like he is."

Veri stepped toward it, continuing to admire it's features until Alex grabbed her wrist.

"I am Lilith Blackwater." She introduced herself in a friendly tone, "I am not a shopkeeper like Sebastian is, so I only offer you refuge from your journey."

Silence lingered as she stopped, placing two hands on her hip. Veri noticed that she had four arms. Two of which were fiddling about.

Lilith was looking expectantly down at the duo.

Suddenly, It dawned on Veri that she should introduce themselves.

"Oh, right! I'm Veronika. This is -"

"Alex." He replied skeptically.

"Pleasure to meet you two. You seem like good friends! Feel free to stay as long as need be." Lilith spoke. That seemed to be all she had left to say.

Veri began looking around this medium sized room. With careful observation, she could hypothesis this was Lilith's hideout, similar to Sebastian's. In the bottom right corner of the room, next to Lilith, was a waterhole. Veri crouched beside it and touched the stagnant water.

Lilith watched her carefully. Well... Veri assumed so. As Veri stared up at Lilith, she noticed Lilith had no eyes. Instead, two fins covered where her eye sockets should be. Is she blind? Veri wanted to know, but that might be a rude question.

On the other hand, Alex was watching this new 'ally' with caution.

Suddenly, there was a crackle sound followed by Sebastian's voice, his voice calm yet oddly serious.

"p.AI.nter lost sight of those two Expendables I mentioned earlier—"

p.AI.nter? That computer we met earlier?

"— They're not in your vicinity are they?" He enquired.

Lilith stared down at the duo before answering, "pleasure to hear your voice once more! To your surprise, I have the two you mentioned right here."

There was a pause and another crackle as he spoke, his tone the same, "right, okay, thanks."

The radio beeped, signalling the end of their interaction.

Alex and Veri shared a look. Why did Sebastian care about where these two were?

Lilith's attention was back on them.

Surprisingly, Alex spoke up first, "why does he need to know where we are?"

Lilith hummed, "I assume he has his reasons. Reasons that I do not know of." 

Suspicious... There was a subtle edge to her tone of voice and Veri couldn't help but assume that she was lying.

However, nobody seemed to press further. The room went back into silence.

Veri met up with Alex at the start of the hallway they came from, Lilith still watching them. Just as they were going to walk back down the hallway and towards the door, Lilith called out.

"Hold on," she spoke gently as she pulled something out from a bag she had slung on her waist.

Alex and Veri flinched, stepping backwards.

However, Lilith had pulled out a medkit, leaning over and handing it to Veri.

"Take this for your journey. I can sense you both need it." She finished her sentence and shifted back into her resting position.

Veri was super confused. Wasn't she blind? How can you sense...?

Alex thanked her and immediately began walking back to the door they came through. As they stepped through the door and crawled back into the tunnel, it slammed behind them. Slowly, the door locked.

That's when Alex realised he no longer had the pink key card.

"What the!? Where'd the key card go?!" He exclaimed as they stood up in the collapsed room.

Veri chuckled, realising Lilith must've taken it from him secretly.

"She's good..." Veri teased before crawling back to the door labelled 017.

This time, it opened much quicker and the duo continued on their mission.