Chapter Text
Space was endless, wrapping the stars and planets and moons in its coldness like a blanket in the winter. Even with its vastness, it was comforting to Simon.
He always had a fascination for the far beyond skies, even if his heart was settled with engineering and the fields of botany.
But that didn't matter now in space, not when his sun was waiting for him.
And for his comrade, Ellie, who slithered on by to her own corner of the ship's laboratory. Endless scattering of notebooks, post-it stickies, and the flipped open laptop were strewn about her area.
Simon hummed softly in recognition, tending to the few plants that the IL housed in here. A way to keep him occupied, Simon thought mindlessly.
He always got engrossed into the chore, but who could blame him really?
But the quick blare of an alarm got him jolting back into his consciousness. Ellie was already scattering over herself, both of them making their way to the control room to see a memorable beeping as Simon sat in the pilot's seat.
One of the screens showed a light flashing that was titled Blip-B.
Simon's eyes showed worry as he quickly flitted over to the camera systems, flipping through and moving the screen around to find the source of Blip-B.
"What have we found Simon?" Ellie's low voice rumbled through the translator, prompting a shrug of Simon's shoulders.
He finally landed on the source of Blip-B, a cylindrical shaped hull that floated ambiently in the speckled void.
Simon's eyes scanned the entire thing, analyzing it and taking it in. Its structure was terrible, he could see that now, and it was honestly shocking that something like that was able to get sent into space.
"It looks like…a sub." Simon commented to himself as he flicked off camera.
"Sub?" Ellie rumbled with her curiosity.
"Submarine. It's a kind of ship that people back on Earth use to go underneath the ocean." Simon rattled on, getting himself up and out of the seat and heading back into the main area of the ship.
He made his way to the airlock, staring at it quietly as he debated on his next choice.
Ellie was quick to follow, tail thumping behind her as she settled to the side of the man.
"Are you going out to see it?"
"Yeah. Kind of have to," Simon began as he opened the airlock and stepped inside. Process was simple, he had done it before when trying to make contact with Ellie and when collecting the Astrophage at Eden.
It was seamless to get into the cocoon of a EVA suit and attach himself to the safety tethers.
"Simon must be careful. Careful." Ellie, even with her flat voice, wavered with unease as she spoke through the speaker in Simon's suit. All he did was nod softly as he began the decompression.
"I'll be careful El, don't you worry."
The airlock opened as Simon pushed away the cover, slowly peaking himself out into the blanket of space before pushing himself up and on top of the IL.
There were loops all over the hull so that Simon could secure himself. But he wouldn't get to that. Not when he immediately spotted Blip-B to the left of him.
It was only about 4 kilometers away, but it was still daunting to see with one's own eyes than through a camera lens as Simon unfortunately realized in that moment.
It sat silently, almost as if it had suddenly appeared out of thin air.
Simon fully pulled himself out onto the top of the IL and securing himself to one of the safety bars closest to him.
"Alright Ellie, can you hear me?"
"Can hear Simon, yes." Ellie responded quickly, translator buzzing in his ears.
"You uh…think we could get one of those fancy tunnels of yours? I just have to spin this thing around a bit and maybe then we could investigate this thing."
There was a low rumbled from Ellie's end as she processed Simon's plan, most likely thinking about the distance and how much material she needed to create such a thing.
"How far from the IL? Then I will decide."
There was an amused groan from Simon as he quickly calculated in his mind the distance. Ellie always had a bargain, Simon always fulfilled it.
"About, I'd say, 4 kilometers away?"
Another low rumble from Ellie.
"Not enough. But have alternative."
Simon turned himself slowly with a apprehensive sigh, making his way back to the airlock after safely untethering himself.
Back inside the IL after a struggle with the transition, Simon hurried his way back to the control room. He met Ellie back in the laboratory, her materials scattered in front of her as she took them in her curved limbs.
"Make cutter out of materials for Simon. Then get close to Blip-B and see what inside." Ellie purred softly with a shake, already getting to making the machinery that was being imagined in her brain.
"But what if there's something in there that the vacuum could effect? Like important information or—" Simon cut himself off with a click of his tongue. He didn't want to get his hopes up with the thought that came into his mind.
This thing was man made, he could see it through and through even with the terrible engineering. And if it was manmade then…
"Then make small dome for airlock. Simon suction to Blip-B, enter dome, and then cut into Blip-B. Good?"
Ellie perked up, her empty face still somehow showing the emotion of wanting confirmation before going on with the plan. It was something most people would find creepy, but Simon wasn't phased by it one bit.
He flashed a smile as he nodded, "Yeah. That'd be a good plan El."
"Great, getting started now. Simon get closer to Blip-B now too."
Simon let out a chuckle as he gave a thumbs up to Ellie, running off to the control room and quickly settling into the pilot's seat.
Taking the throttle in hand, he rotated the ship that prompted a soft hum, until the airlock was lined up with Blip-B from what Simon could best infer.
Now time to fill in that gap, carefully.
It only took a few taps to lower the distance from 4 kilometers to only about 1, perfect for Simon to get back to the ship quickly if anything were to go south. At least he hoped nothing would go south.
The slow sliding alerted Simon that the time was ready, Ellie passing him over the cutter and a folded up disc. It looked to be thin, but he knew Ellie's expertise would shine the moment he opened this thing up out there.
Back down the IL's walls, entering the airlock and getting through the whole process, and finally setting his eyes on Blip-B, Simon's anticipation fueled him once more. But it also stopped him in his tracks for a moment. He's making contact once again with something unknown, and the first time he got lucky to meet Ellie of all things. He just prayed the universe would be kind to him a second time.
He leapt off from the IL and was quick to meet Blip-B. Even through his EVA suit, he could feel this sickening cold burning from the hull. It sparked goosebumps over his arms as he carefully opened the disc. It popped open with ease, eagerly awaiting to be connected to the surface in front of him. With just a brisk touch to Blip-C as he attached the dome, that cold practically bit him. It was as if the ice age resided in that thing, his anticipation and shroud of hope quickly changing into anxiety and dread.
"Alright. You got this Simon, you got this…"
He mumbled reassuringly to himself as he flipped open a panel on the dome to settle himself inside of. It was spacious, thank goodness for that, and the dome sealed quickly and settled into the system similar to the IL's airlock.
"Shit Ellie, how'd you make something like this so quick?"
"A master does not reveal secrets, now cut open Simon."
Simon rolled his eyes playfully as he pulled the cutter up to the hull's side and began slicing into the metal. It burned and melted it into a circle, tall enough for Simon to fit through and anything he might find in here. But his body stilled the moment he pushed the metal forward and saw it hit the floor of the hull with a clang.
Maybe it was the cold that stopped him, or maybe it was the terrible hint of ammonia that wafted around him. Or maybe that the entirety of Blip-B was shrouded in a frozen layer with a freezing mist at the base of it all.
Or maybe, just maybe, it was the thought Simon had pushed down before. That sliver of hope Simon wanted to put faith in.
It was a human, sat directly in front of him, clutching to black box desperately.
Simon's blood ran cold before he took the daring leap to step inside, feet thudding against ice and settling in what seemed to be a freezing liquid. He was scared, hell he was terrified, but that didn't stop him from walking close to the body with eyes already watering.
His one chance of human contact after so long, lost to this sight.
But when Simon rested his hand against the other person's chest, it stilled. There was a heartbeat, faint, but there.
His hands shakily reached for a wrist, pressing his fingers down to look for any sign of a pulse. And there was. There was a pulse, and that meant whoever this was was still alive. Simon didn't even think twice before he slung the other's arm over his shoulders stepping back into the airlock dome. He kept himself in-between the other person—a man, he could finally take note of—and the frozen over interior of Blip-B.
"El? Ellie I got something, something huge!" Simon let out with a quiver in his words, now holding the man to his chest as he decided the next course of action.
"What? What Simon find?"
Ellie sounded ecstatic for once in their journey, stifling the nerves that were sparking all throughout Simon's body. He let out a shaky exhale as his gaze dropped to the limp man in his arms, colder than even the endlessness that spread out forever around them all.
"…A human, Ellie. I found another human."