Chapter Text
Mechanic curled in on themselves with a groan. They were sat on the floor of a Salmonid den in which, by some miracle, the Salmonids hadn't smelled them out. Then again, they were half covered in Salmonid ink.
But that was the least of their concerns by a long shot.
They'd made a bad call earlier in the fight and got slammed into by a Steelhead. Turns out blunt force trauma to the chest hurts a lot more than ink.
They glanced down to see their hand covered in cold, blue liquid and froze. Blood. They were bleeding.
Maybe not blunt force trauma then.
"Mechanic! Where are you?!" Shiver's voice crackled over the comms, causing them to jump but it still brought Mechanic comfort.
The Mechanic silently activated their beacon, allowing Deep Cut to track their location.
"Ay, Ay? (I'll be there soon, you gonna be ok?)" Big Man asked, albeit slightly distorted by the static of the walkie talkie.
Mechanic clicked the button to talk on and off three times to signal "maybe" to their partners.
Mechanic shifted in discomfort as their shirt clung to their wet side, the murky white slowly being stained blue. They squeezed their eyes shut, willing tears away. The Mechanic bit their tongue, preventing a whimper that might alert the Salmonid of their location, albeit they likely didn't have long before the Salmonid caught the scent of their blood.
"Big Man and Shiver should be there soon, hang in there Mech." Frye spoke, startling Mechanic slightly, inadvertently causing them to jar their wound.
This raid could not have gone worse.
Mechanic's ear twitched at a sound off to their right, they turned their head to see a singular Smallfry land next to them, seemingly having fallen from the walkway at the top of the tall wall the Mechanic was pressed against.
The Mechanic startled, reaching for their weapon only to remember they'd dropped it in fear when they first got injured. In their panic, they yanked their bloodied hand away from their wound and reached over to grab the Smallfry, upsetting their wound further but preventing the small Salmonid from alerting others.
The tears in their eyes threatened to fall as the pain of their wound increased, making the injury seem larger.
"Ay, Ay. (Not far out now Mech, stay with us.)"
The Mechanic twisted slightly, bring their free, un-bloodied had to the radio, pressing the talk button once to signal "ok" and to let Deep Cut know they were still conscious.
Small droplets of ink landed around them as a particularly large swarm of Salmonid passed overhead.
"Ay? Ay, ay, ay? (Mech? We're going to land on the surface and have to mine down, I have enough power eggs for one floor, where are you?)"
Mechanic's blood somehow ran colder than it already was.
They pressed their radio button thrice.
"Ay... Ay. (Right... We'll be down as quick as possible.)" Big man spoke calmly, easing the panic rising in the Mechanic's chest.
For a moment.
Another Smallfry tumbled over the edge of the walkway and landed near the Mechanic, who desperately swiped at it, grimacing and biting back whimpers at every movement. The Smallfry in their hand squeaked as it was jostled about, causing the Mechanic to falter for a second as they glanced around.
The Mechanic's momentary pause gave the other Smallfry just a big enough window for it to bolt under the Mechanic's legs and out into the open.
As a last ditch effort, the Mechanic hurled the Smallfry still in their hand at the escaped one,only for it to bounce off harmlessly and join the other in it's escape.
The Mechanic could faintly make out the sound of the exploration bot on a floor above them.
They reached for their radio with their cleaner hand, the already bloodied one returning to it's position holding her wound in a fickle attempt to stop the bleeding, and unhooked the radio from their belt.
"Help." They murmured into the radio, their rough voice likely getting further distorted on the other end of the radio.