I Am Auton: The Survival Series, #3

By Chris Wright

★Book 3 of the Survival Trilogy, where the multi-verse hides many secrets

 

Gina is on a routine assignment, tasked to take out a murderous warlord. All of a sudden, the world she thought she knew is pulled from underneath her feet. She had forgotten who she was, but reality hadn't forgotten her, and a horrifying enemy is unleashed; one that sends her on a collision course with worlds that seem beyond her control. Soon, she is joined by her friends, friends she never knew she had, as the mysterious 'Auton' joins their final fight for survival.

★Book 3 takes the characters from the series into even deeper and darker worlds, worlds that are inhabited by creatures that would give the boogeyman nightmares. More epic in its scale than the previous two installments, this once again blurs the lines between Horror and Science-Fiction, as the fate of the characters reaches its finale.

★I Am Auton once again flows at a furious pace, while still allowing time to get deep into the characters minds, as horror's that they never knew existed crawl out of dimensions that surround them. With situations that are as bizarre as they are varied, each character inhabits their own world, a world that eventually collides with the others. Book 3 is haunting and horrific in places, while at the same time being hopeful and poignant, as the characters battle to save each other

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chris Wright
• Release date: Jan 5, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393025672

Chris Wright

Chris Wright is a young author who enjoys reading and is keen to share this joy with others. He lives in England, but he grew up in a small village in Hampshire. He wants to inspire young readers with his tales of a simpler time, outside among nature.

Book preview

Dedicated to my beautiful wife Alison, for her support and encouragement through thick and thin. I would also like to thank my friends and family for their support and anyone who has read the previous novels in the series, as this gave me the encouragement and drive to carry on.

Chapter 1 –   The Periculo’s

Chapter 2 –   Hounded

Chapter 3 –   Artifacts

Chapter 4 –   Cosmic Reflection

Chapter 5 –   Icaros

Chapter 6 –   Hologrammed

Chapter 7 –   Observation

Chapter 8 –   Indeterminate

Chapter 9 –   Lighter

Chapter 10 – Shapeless

Chapter 11 – Null and Voided

Chapter 12 – Second Skinned

Chapter 13 – Bewitched

Chapter 14 – A New World

Chapter 15 – Brainstorming

Chapter 16 – Patched Up

Chapter 17 – Far Apart

Chapter 18 – Linked In

Epilogue – I am Auton

Chapter 1 – The Periculo’s

Echigo Region, Niigata Prefecture, Japan, Earth

Year:   1256

It was a cold night, snow blanketed the forest on the slopes of the mountain, each step Gina took had to be precise, carefully covering her tracks. If she left any sign of ever having been there then her mission would be classed as a failure.

She was born into the Kusonoki clan, trained from birth to become an assassin and intelligence gatherer. She had excelled in her training, enduring hardships a lesser child would crumble under. She was a shining example of dedication to her craft and was now in demand across the Niigata region as a mercenary and covert killer. She wouldn’t take any job, she had principles; women and children being out of bounds. But women and children were never the problem anyway, the scourge of Japan were the warlords that were vying for territory and bickering over loyalties. It was a brutal and violent time, but it kept Gina in well paid work, taking advantage of the political upheaval. She was able to use her skills to remain undetected, while she carried out her duty, making it look as if she was never there. Each warlord had an army of dutiful samurai, ready to die on their sword for their master, so she did all she could to avoid attracting their attention.

She continued to carefully ascend the heavily forested mountain towards her target’s fortified palace. The warlord she had her sights on was called Tamura. She had been hired by Katsuragi, a warlord in the neighboring mountain region as payback for Tamura’s incursion into his own land; an incursion that claimed the lives of four of his loyal samurai warriors. The chill in the air was causing her breath to condense into a thick fog that shrouded her face, while her delicate footsteps gave the impression that she was gliding through the dense foliage. She was close to the perimeter now and quick surveillance revealed three samurai guarding the front.

She had been watching the guard’s routine for three weeks, careful to spot consistent patterns, and any small consistent lapse in their dedicated routine at their outposts. She now knew that between three and four in the morning the guards changed position, it was a brief window of only one minute, but it was enough for her to quickly scale the wall and duck over to safety beyond the samurai’s gaze.

It was a couple of minutes before they would do their rotation, so Gina approached the base of the wall silently and sat there still, waiting for her chance. She knew that the changeover was like clockwork, and that where she was sat was the perfect position. She counted down, waiting for the moment and as suddenly as she had been waiting for it, that moment came. She flung the rope towards the top of the wall, the hook on the end clasping itself in place. Without a second to lose she pulled the rope taut and hastily jumped up, before majestically scaling the vertical barrier. With hardly a footstep out of place, she pulled the rope up behind her and bounded down the adjacent stairs and disappeared down the dark passageway.

She knew the layout of the palace thanks to a local peasant who had worked on its construction. Gina offered him a financial incentive, and that’s all it took to get a detailed map of every crevice and corridor laid out before her. Her breaths’ misty presence had returned to normal now as the torches placed throughout the palace spread welcome heat across the rooms and passageways, while the orange hue they created cast imaginary shadows across the floors and walls. Gina quickly stopped in her tracks as her acute hearing could sense a faint noise. She ducked quickly and quietly into a side tunnel. She held her breath and calmed her pulse rate as a samurai approached, taking their well-known confident strides. He marched past her confidently and off down the orange-hued passageway. She listened carefully to make sure no one was following him and once satisfied, she continued onwards towards their master’s sleeping quarters.

It was only thirty meters further, but she had to take her time, creeping slowly and cautiously. The only unknown factor for her was whether Tamura had his warriors guarding the outside of his bedroom, and if so, how many.

It was one situation that would give her presence away, so if someone was stationed there then she would have to retrace her steps and try a different approach to his room. She was in luck, the entrance to the room was clear, so there was no obstacle in her way. She tip-toed towards the door and patiently turned the handle as silently as possible, slinking into his quarters before she latched the door closed behind her. She crept ever closer to his bed, his heavy breathing a sure sign that he was fast asleep, and knelt down next to him. With a silent and deadly set of split-second motions she reached into her pocket, pulled out her knife, clasped her hand over his mouth and let the blade strike his throat mercilessly. Tamura had no time to figure out what was happening before he felt his world slipping away, unable to scream, unable to comprehend that he was being slain; the pain and confusion riddling his mind with thoughts it couldn’t grasp. It was all over quickly, and Gina covered his head with the adjacent pillow, his blood swiftly dying it red. She stepped back and looked away, something she always had to do.

Despite committing acts of cold blood, she always prayed to the universe to allow the safe passage of their spirit. If her meditations had taught her only one thing, it was that life was precious and despite a person’s violent and repressive actions in this life, they were still ultimately a spiritual being on its path of learning. Tamura was a bloodthirsty and savage leader, responsible for the deaths of thousands, but he was still a living creature capable of love. It was now time for the repressed to be free, and for Tamura to pass on and reflect on his life of bitter aggression.

She stepped away from the departed Tamura and turned to the door to make her escape, planning to go out as slowly as she had entered. Her breathing and pulse were still calm, an effect of years of concentrated conditioning. Adrenaline only made the mind foolhardy and Gina had no time for foolish and rash decisions; everything had to be calculated and dealt with calmly. She felt a light breeze against the back of her neck and spun around in surprise. There was no sign of anything out of the ordinary and looking towards the window, she could see it was closed. She put it to the back of her mind, dismissing it as just something she had imagined and turned back towards the door, reaching for the handle carefully.

As she touched the handle, she felt the same light breeze on the back of her neck, this time slightly stronger and colder. She ignored it and continued to calmly turn the handle to make her way back out of the palace when the breeze tickled her neck again, and then again, in quick succession, each time getting stronger and colder. It then became more rapid until she couldn’t ignore it any longer and was compelled to turn to see what could be causing it.

Gina’s usual calm pulse and demeanor was suddenly seized by a crippling fear, she was confronted by what appeared to be a flock of fleshy bones swirling into the air. The bones began whispering to her as they got closer, with more bones joining the skeletal murmuration. Gina began to hyperventilate, the first time she had ever done so, her body was unprepared for it and struggled to compose itself. The bones slowly began to bond, locking themselves into a figure looking like a strange chimera between countless humans and a dinosaur with multiple limbs and heads that were jostling for Gina’s attention. It converged into one horrific beast of bone and flesh that towered above her, with a grotesque skull comprised of a series of normal sized skulls all locked together to form a nightmarish rotten face, while its multiple limbs thrust the horror ever closer.

We are your slain it rasped.

Gina for the first time in her life gasped in terror. She was face to face with a Gashadokuro, a demonic force made of those murdered in a ruthless manner, their twisted and confused souls stuck in a loop and tied to a resolution that could only be solved by enacting remorseless revenge on their assailant. They were the angry souls of Gina’s previous work. All of them. Their bones rattling in front of her with rage and hatred, while the remnants of their rotten flesh dropped to the floor to create a decomposing carpet. She snapped herself out of this shock and turned back to the door, wrenched it open and ran, feeling the Gashadokuro’s cold and revengeful wind slapping her neck with relentless force. All her thoughts of extracting herself from the palace without her presence ever being discovered were quickly pounded away with the sounds of her frantic footsteps as she scrambled to find her way back out.

She darted around the corner to be faced with a surprised Samurai, her sudden appearance causing the hardened warrior to nearly jump out of his skin. Within a split second he had recovered from his brief startled trance and his hand had automatically drawn his razor-sharp katana, its perfectly engineered blade cutting through the air a second later.

Gina was quick to react and with a millisecond to spare had managed to jump sideways to avoid the swiftly approaching blade. She bounced herself off of the wall with her legs while reaching to grab her kusarigama; the long-chained blade instantly shooting towards her assailant. The outstretched blade connected with the samurai’s neck, the incision nearly cutting straight through. By the time Gina had landed, she had flung herself forward and with a rapid flick of her other arm that had been reaching for her sword that she carried on her back, she cut through the samurai’s thigh and straight through his artery.

The only thing the samurai could do as he crumbled to the floor was scream out in pain; a scream that broke the palace’s silent hallways as it reverberated and echoed throughout each chamber.

Gina dashed forward again, knowing she had been compromised and that a small army of samurai were now aware that something was wrong and that they would be now desperately searching for an intruder. As she ran towards her favored exit, she could hear them getting closer. Subtlety was not their agenda and so she was able to make out where every footstep came from, quickly realizing that they had effectively blocked the way she came in.

She had to think quickly, try and remember how to get to the second-best escape route; the north end of the palace wall where only one guard was normally stationed; a guard that may already be running away from his post to join in the hunt. She closed her eyes quickly and made a finger sign that she used to help her access deep memories. She had memorized the layout of the palace and was trying to find the best way to get to her destination. The plan of the grounds flashed through her mind in an instant and the answer became clear. She took a deep breath, opened her eyes and turned back to Tamura’s bedroom.

This was the only way out, she had to go back into his room and exit through the window to scale the roof undetected. There was of course one problem, the Gashadokuro. She then heard the loudening sound of frantic footsteps from over twenty fully armed samurai closing in behind her. Okay, she thought, two problems. She had to face a demon or twenty skilled samurai that were ready to die at a

moment’s notice. Personally, she feared the thought of being outnumbered and cubed into small pieces by samurai’s less, but something in her mind told her it was quicker to force her way into the room and sprint for the window and to try and ignore the Gashadokuro.

So, facing an almost impossible choice she started up her sprint again while the mini army of sword wielders turned into the passageway to see an agile and super-fast Gina darting away from them. Her cover was already blown, so she had no reason to be quiet any longer and so her hurried footsteps got louder and louder as she pounded the floor in desperation. With a quick flick of her head and a reach into another inside pocket, she released a shower of sharp-edged shuriken stars behind her towards the warriors. She didn’t have time for accuracy, so it was a matter of luck whether any connected with a target. The stars spun towards the samurai haphazardly, most of them bouncing off walls or being swiped away with the blade of a sword. Only two managed to connect to anyone, causing little damage from that range, other than a painful gash to a cheek and one warrior losing his precious top knot. It was nowhere enough to stop their approaching rage and only enraged the top knotless warrior further.

Gina crashed through the door, silent movements now a hindrance rather than an advantage. She didn’t stop running, she just continued onwards towards the window. In her peripheral vision she could see something swirling in the room once more and felt a chill in the air that seemed almost alive, but she had no chance to look at it properly, and even if she did, she didn’t want to. She reached the window, never looking back, and pulled it open before jumping through. The samurais were in hot pursuit and entered their master’s quarters in desperation, knowing they had to stop the assassin. They all stopped dead in their tracks at the deep red blood-soaked bed, as Gina’s legs disappeared out of the open window.

Master? cried Ishida dropping to his knees.

The others looked on in shock as they began to comprehend what had happened and that they were too late to save their master. There was a sudden change in air temperature and the room dropped several degrees, which is when they noticed the swirling mass in the corner. It was hard to make out at first, but the mass then made sure that it was understood.

Leave her, she is ours It croaked menacingly in multiple voices. 

The swirling mass coalesced into a gigantic flesh and bone form, its appearance deliberately created to cause a human to obey its whim or freeze up in complete terror before being devoured. As quickly as the Gashadokuro formed itself into its hideous manifestation it un-swirled itself into an aerial catacomb of a hundred skeletal forms, jumbled into inhuman forms. Then with a quick flick of what almost appeared to be a tail, it soared out of the window in pursuit of Gina. She was scrambling effortlessly up the sloping roof when she felt the cold breath of the demonic skeletal scourge behind her once more. She clambered up quicker, refusing to look behind her, the flesh and bone fiend in hot pursuit. She felt something grab her foot and yank her back, turning quickly to counteract it with a swipe of her sword. Her sword was primitive compared to a samurai’s, theirs could cut through bone like it was made of butter, but Gina’s was a short crudely forged blade which worked well against soft tissue but was no match for bone. The effect was that it just bounced off the grotesque bony hand that had gripped her. She had no choice now other than to turn and face the terror she was running from, her mind analyzing quickly what choices she had left.

She spun around, knowing that the weapons she had were limited and that none of them were really up to the task of fending off this spectre. Her best chance was to use the long-chained kusarigama again, so she flung it with all her might to try and knock the demonic hand free from her foot. It was useless, the blade bounced off again, leaving Gina the most vulnerable she had ever been. She was dragged down a few feet and was now lying on her back, her pulse and breathing throbbing dangerously through her. The awful chimera was now in full view, each of its unsightly parts oozing with evil decaying flesh.

The Gashadokuro didn’t say a word, it just slowly drew itself closer to her, as if it was enjoying the fright that Gina now had across her face; the malevolent manifestation seeming to grin with pleasure. Gina closed her eyes and made another hand symbol, she had to find a way out of this. She used different hand symbols for different outcomes, each one a specific configuration to elicit a certain well-trained subconscious response. But nothing immediately happened, it all seemed futile, a pointless endeavour.  

Then, something formed in her mind, something unexpected, a series of thoughts and visions she was never expecting. A thousand fleeting pockets of information flooded her anxious mind and she opened her eyes startled, looking directly into her victim’s tortured skulls as they pressed their monstrous eyes closer.

Behind the multi-souled menace, a bright light began to form and pulse with ever more rapid oscillations until an incredible dazzling light shone on the Gashadokuro like a spotlight. The flesh and bone demon turned to the strange light, confused at what it was and why it was there. Its curiosity was met with a piercing whine that emanated from the light and the devilish creature began to crumble apart, its flesh being burned to ashes and its bones collapsing into a powdery dust. Gina looked on astonished, she wasn’t expecting that. She had suddenly glimpsed thoughts that she never knew lay hidden inside of her, a series of impossible memories that seemed almost impossible to make clear sense of.

Her breathing calmed as she lay there transfixed at the glowing and pulsing light, bright enough to illuminate the entire palace. The remnants of the Gashadokuro filtered away into the night sky, carried by a light breeze, the dust drifting like snow in the intense light. Gina kept her gaze on the form in front of her, still trying to understand what it was. She was also still trying to understand the immense flurry of visions that had flashed into her mind, as the shining orb continued to float brightly straight across from her; she was convinced that whatever it was, was benevolent. She lay there apprehensively, not sure whether to move, the flashes of images she had encountered still being pieced together into a narrative that would make all of this mean something. Unable to keep quiet any longer, her mind reeling at the confused and overwhelming information it had been bombarded with, she decided to gently stand up and then opened her mouth slowly.

What are you? She asked, hoping this shining light could communicate.

There was a reply, but not verbally, its response was etched into her mind.

I am Auton

––––––––

11,000 meters below sea, The Great Triandan Ocean, New Mars

Year: 3515

It had been a dark time for humanity, it had been fighting two cataclysms and managed to lose both. A series of tribal wars had gotten out of hand and the planet had been ravaged by conflict, all in the name of religion. The twenty years of war had exacerbated the problem they already had with the warming climate, and before they knew it, they were confronted with horrors that dwarfed their childish squabbling. Huge storms hit each continent, the seasons seesawing between droughts and floods, each one successively greater than the last. Eventually it got to breaking point and the oceans rose to heights that isolated most settlements. The world was left with tiny islands dotted around the globe, and each one barely had enough resources to support those living on them.

You would think that humanity would have learnt their lesson, as this was the second world they had driven to rack and ruin, having previously evacuated their last planet, Surtana. They had spaceships, but they didn’t know where to fly them, everyone had been too caught up in the struggle to spend time looking for new habitable words; so, their spacecraft were useless now. In order to survive they only had one option left, to retreat deep below the sea surface. There was plenty of food to sustain people in the sea and it was big enough to house the entire population that was left. 

Everyone left the surface in submarines that varied in size. Some could only hold a maximum of four people; others could house a hundred. It kept communities small and by and large isolated from each other. This helped keep the fragile peace, as the interaction between different communities was reduced, causing less chance of tension. There were bands of pirates that still roamed the oceans though, bands of criminals that had joined forces; their only goal being to steal and take whatever they could. This was the main danger the new dawn had brought, large conflicts were impossible, but hijackings and robberies were commonplace. Occasionally submarines went missing that dropped too low into the ocean either by damage or from attack, or by trying to steer clear of the pirates and being crushed by the incredible pressure, while others were deliberately sunk once plundered.

Mike and Monique had been travelling the vast expanse of ocean

for three years now, oceanic nomads, like so many, and were happy with the relative isolation. There were underground outposts dotted around where you could stop off for supplies, eat at subterranean restaurants or even grab a drink in an ocean floor bar. They were all crudely constructed, but no one cared, it broke up the monotony of endless water that surrounded their floating homes daily.

When the confined spaces got too much, these places were always buzzing with life and old friends. Mike and Monique visited them when they needed to, but they were more than happy enough with each other's company, a bond that they felt stretched back through lifetimes. It was hard to make sense of sometimes, but they both felt it from when they very first met.

Mike, I can see a sub approaching from the left, it appears to be on course straight for us Monique said as she glanced at her screen.

Shit Mike replied, Lets slowly adjust course and I will radio them

Monique began to steer the sub gently to the right while Mike tried to hail the approaching vessel.

This is Star 43, please identify yourself, you are dangerously close to us Mike shouted down the receiver desperately.

There was no response, so Mike repeated himself, only to be met with the same silence and the realization that the submarine had altered its course to once again be heading directly for them. There was a tiny flash and a sudden change in pressure and they both looked in terror at a small missile that had been released from the rogue vessel. It was a small projectile, designed to take out engines and minimize damage to any precious cargo, and was a well-known weapon used by bandits.

There was no mistaking it now; they were being assaulted by pirates; mercenaries eager to strip their home to pieces and steal whatever they could. Monique had just enough time to react to the incoming missile and she flung their submarine to the left and descended ten meters lower. The sudden drop took its toll immediately on Mike and Monique, their ears almost popping under the pressure.

They both felt a heaviness ring through their bodies and their lungs felt like they were rippling and rotating inside them. Monique knew she had to quickly ascend the ten meters they had dropped, to counteract the effects and so automatically boosted the thrusters to

lift them back up.

The pressure eased and Mike quickly leant over to their own missile guiding system, flicked a few buttons to lock on to the approaching attacker and released a barrage of small missiles. The missiles spun off in more directions than Mike had intended, but thankfully two of them connected with the pirate vessel. Two tiny explosions sent swirling shockwaves around them, causing both subs to wobble with the watery impact. The damage to the pirate vessel was minimal and caused little change in its behavior.

We need to go lower again, but slowly. Get us as low as we can go and I will try and fight them off Mike shouted, now visibly shaken.

Monique did exactly that, dropping them slower in tiny increments, while Mike tried to lock on to the deviants above them once more. Three more tiny missiles shot away, one connecting, the others disappearing into the dark vast ocean. The pirate vessel began to follow, desperate to follow through with its assault. Mike and Monique dropped even further, both now beginning to shake nervously. The bandits fired two more missiles, both bigger than their first attack. The first one soared passed them and deep into a black chasm below them, the second one hitting one of their engines.

Shit cried Monique, One of the engines has gone

Mike didn’t know what else to do other than just fire everything they had at the pirates, and twenty missiles duly obliged: all of them heading towards the marauding ship. The ship returned fire desperately, but the twenty missiles meant that none of them could get through and a series of further explosions rippled through the water, creating an undersea tsunami. Three of Mike’s missiles survived the watery wall of destruction and managed to pass through before connecting with their target. The pirate’s vessel was hit full on and in a split-second the entire structure had twisted in on itself before a gigantic bubble of fire burst into life, splitting the ship into a thousand pieces. Mike and Monique both let out an audible sigh of relief, a relief that was short-lived, as they continued to sink deeper and deeper; Monique trying her best to raise the vessel back up.

What’s the problem? Mike asked, sensing the dread that was pulsing through Monique’s veins.

The attack took an engine out and the thrusters, and something is wrong with the computer system 

Wrong how?

It’s not reacting to my instructions. I can’t stop us from descending She cried, her dread beginning to cripple her ability to think logically.

Mike starting typing away on his screen, trying to find some way out of the situation, anything at all that could change their trajectory.

Can you spin us around with the other engines, maybe turn us upside down? He asked, worry flooding his mind.

Yeah, I think so, but what will that solve?

Well, if I can fire a missile and disable our balance weights, it might be enough to propel us back towards the surface, if we’re facing the right way Mike garbled, his flooded mind starting to sink under the stress.

As long as we don’t ascend too quickly, otherwise that’ll kill us

And if we continue to descend like this then that will kill us too! Mike exclaimed, his desperation now being joined with the painful pressure changes coursing through his body.

Okay, I guess we have no choice Monique replied as she fiddled with her controls, How many missiles do we have left?

Mike turned back to his console and his heart suddenly felt like it had dropped lower than their craft and had left the rest of his body behind. The realization was almost more crushing than the tingling in his cells as the oxygen in his body began to expand. They had no missiles left. He had fired them all in their desperate battle to flee the pirates. They were stuck at the mercy of the ocean, unable to alter their course.

There’s none left Mike said, shaking his head in frustration and disappointment at himself. Why didn’t he leave a few missiles? It was a foolhardy thing to do, as it could have been weeks before they reached a station that would enable them to replenish their stock, but the panic of the situation had made him reckless.

None? Damn it Monique screeched, You could have told me that before I moved us upside down!

So, there they were, upside down, descending to depths that were guaranteed to crush them both and tear their insides apart. Mike and Monique couldn’t tell whether it was the pressure deep below the ocean’s surface or the fact that they were upside down that was causing their brain cells to snap, crackle and pop.

The only solution is the escape pod, you need to get to it Mike said, knowing it was the last resort. 

But that only holds one of us

"Yes, it will hold you. Go, now, before we get any lower"

Monique shook her head defiantly, refusing to leave Mike alone.

Go, please Mike pleaded.

I’m not going without you, we either both make it or we both don’t. I’m not leaving you She snapped back.

Mike shook his head, Monique was always stubborn and he knew he had no chance of changing her mind, meaning that he had to try all he could to get them out of this situation. With hundreds of potential situations jumping in and out of his mind, the sub continued to drop deeper and deeper, each meter causing more strain on their already overloaded bodies. He had no ideas; his mind had run dry; so he despairingly bashed his hands against his console in the ludicrous hope that he would hit a magic ‘escape’ button. Nothing happened of course, other than Mike cussing and cursing the electronics.

I’m sorry Monique He said slowly, his anguished mind blaming his short-sightedness for getting them stuck like this.

It’s okay Mike, it’s not your fault, we didn’t ask to be attacked. You did all you could

There was a sudden crunch and the craft came to a standstill, taking them both by surprise and almost knocking the wind out of them. They looked at each other, partly relieved and partly stunned. They turned their camera feed from the reverse of the craft on and saw that they had been caught on a ridge, one just wide enough to cradle their damaged sub. They both took deep breaths, the pain from the pressure still causing their bodies to almost convulse, tiny beads of sweat escaping from each of their brows.

Well, that’s a good thing yeah? Mike said to Monique, just about managing to smile through the pain.

It’s better than being dead, I guess. But now what do we do? She replied in a lacklustre way, scanning her surroundings, I don’t want either of us to move until we know how safe we are on here

She continued scanning around her, before carefully checking the craft’s vital signs and position.

How far down are we from the surface? Mike asked, also carefully scanning the outside of the craft.   

Six and a half miles. That’s about as deep as this ship can handle I think. We didn’t build these for depths lower than that

Suddenly there was a movement from something outside their submarine that caused them both to spin their heads around as they attempted to see what it was. The momentum caused their bodies to involuntarily move, which caused the craft to lean over on to its side, precariously close to the edge of the ridge.

Shit, don’t move Mike said.

Yeah I get that Mike, thank you Monique replied sarcastically,  What the hell was that? I didn’t think anything could live this far down

Well, we know practically nothing about what could be down here Mike replied, we’ve been too busy fighting each other to-

His sentence was cut short by the sudden sight of a bio-luminescent creature spinning and rhythmically pulsating with a spectrum of colors. It appeared to be dancing, deliberately trying to attract their attention. Multi-colored pulses seemed to start emitting some kind of sound, a high-pitched buzzing that seemed to emanate from inside each of their skulls. 

Okay, what the heck is that? And what the hell is this sound in my head? Monique shrieked.

Before Mike could even answer her, their submarine moved as if something had grabbed it and flung them sideways. They both held on to their seats hard as their straps threatened to tear with the force they were being flung with. The entity followed them, it’s strange buzzing communication continuing, but sounding louder and more frantic than before. The sub began to descend even deeper, the pressure that had eased in their bodies beginning to return as they were thrust ever deeper into an unknown world. Mike glanced at the camera feed to see that something that appeared to be alive and that was multi-colored and iridescent was holding them close.

The pressure began to increase exponentially, their bodies ready to implode with the strain, both barely able to stay conscious due to the forces they were being dragged to. Then they saw something glowing in the distance, an entrance deep below, a doorway that filtered its way through every color that they knew and even some they didn’t. It seemed to be the opening to a huge structure. With no time to compute anything that was happening to them, they felt themselves set free, as if the creature had thrown them like a baseball towards the all-colored doorway.

As they rapidly approached it, they saw the first entity following them, the buzzing sound increasing once more in their heads.

Within seconds they had reached the entrance and they seem to breach a kind of membrane. The effect was dizzying, the colors of a thousand rainbows spun through their entire consciousness, the shades merging with their very essence; bathed in impossible light. Without any warning their sub broke apart into tiny shards and they were flung on to an unusual surface, their bodies slamming to the floor with extreme force. They still had no idea what was happening, but both made the decision to jump up quickly. They both rose to their feet and glanced around at their odd surroundings. They seemed to be in a kind of underwater ship, the inside of it hummed and vibrated as if it was alive. They looked at each other surprised, not sure where they were, confusion splayed across their surprised faces. They noticed that the pain had gone, as if all the pressure from being propelled so deep undersea had vanished.

So, you know my question don’t you? Monique said looking at Mike.

Erm, Where’s the bathroom?

Huh? No, where the hell is this? The bathroom? What? She retorted.

Sorry, that’s all I can think about suddenly, I should have gone before the explosions started He replied looking around wide-eyed at the room they were in.

Their strange peace was interrupted by the sound of something in the distance far away down a corridor. Something seemed to be getting closer to them, the air felt different and the sounds seemed to echo and reverberate into a solid form that was suddenly stood in front of them.

Hello Mike said, not sure what else to utter.

The solid echo looked like nothing they had ever seen before, it was a different color depending on how you looked at it, and whether you had one eye closed or not. It wasn’t humanoid, more a cloud of limbs that pulsed with light faintly, almost dreamily. The solid echo reached out one of its limbs and a bright flash suddenly engulfed them. In front of them was a pure white light, and the closer you investigated, the more information came out of it. They looked at the blinding light transfixed, as it told them its story.  

They were an advanced race that had come to this planet hundreds of years before, their own planet suffered an ecological disaster and their oceans were poisoned by invading new creatures they called ‘Periculo’.  The Periculo had flourished on the surface for centuries, never knowing the existence of the ancient race below the sea. Their impact on the planet devastated Solid Echo’s habitat and they had to quickly find a new home. The Periculo were never far behind them though, also reaching out to colonize any suitable planet they could find.

If the Solid Echo’s kind were ever threatened again by the Periculo’s, then retribution would be swift, and the Periculo’s would never know a war had been waged against them silently. The Solid Echo’s would simply make the Periculo’s habitat a no-go zone, forcing them off the planet, if they wanted to survive. What the Solid Echo’s hadn’t taken into account was the petty nature of the Periculo’s, and that they would be too busy needlessly squabbling over silly things, and not able to see the planet around them falling apart. This meant that they hadn’t been able to formulate an escape plan to leave the planet, and were stuck on its shrinking habitat, destined to cause the world more turmoil.

Well, I don’t like the sound of these Periculo’s Mike said turning to Monique, They sound like quite a nuisance

Erm, Mike, I think you’re missing the point here She replied, shaking her head.

Mike frowned at her, not understanding what she meant, before he turned back to the pure light shimmering in front of them. The blinding light let out another pulse of information that smacked Mike’s brain like a hammer.

You are a Periculo He was told.

Oh He said sheepishly, once again not sure what words to formulate at first and realizing that this entity was probably not particularly happy at that moment, Would you accept an apology?

The white light thrust its information into a condensed ball that grabbed hold of Mike’s throat. The blinding light got brighter and was now beginning to spill out into the whole room. The story wasn’t over, Mike and Monique were being shown the devastation that the Periculo’s had wrought on the Echo-one’s previous home and how the ‘Periculo’s’ had unknowingly followed then and landed on the same new planet, one the Periculo’s had named ‘New Mars’.

They were shown that the ice caps had been deliberately melted by the Echo’s to flood the land and send the Periculo’s on a path to seek a new home. The Periculo’s never saw any of it coming, by the time they had realized, it was too late and they could only retreat to the sea and not to another distant world.

Could you stop calling me a Periculo? My name is Mike

The grip on his throat got stronger, forcing Mike to stop talking. Monique tried grabbing the ball that was holding Mike in place, but instead of her grabbing it, it grabbed her, also by the throat. They were now both being held in the vice-like grip of an angry echo, one determined to wipe away any threat to its species. They both tried to pull away, but it was impossible, the hold on them just got stronger the more they tried to fight it. Mike had a plan to beat the echo into submission and flung his right arm towards it, ready to right hook it, but his hand just lingered in the air aimlessly. Monique had better luck trying to connect her foot with it, while shouting about ‘kicking its ass, wherever it is’. She connected with the light, but it made no difference, she was now just being held by the echo in two different places.

Okay, I give up She said, admitting that she wasn’t really prepared to fight a bright light made of an echo that had somehow become solid.

The grip on them both got harder and harder, to the point where they were going to lose consciousness. Their minds began shutting down, while their oxygen was being squeezed out of their brains. There was another strange sound, they both acknowledged it, but had little impulse to try processing it. A buzzing sound, high-pitched and pulsating seemed to bounce around inside them. Just as they were about to close their eyes and ultimately give in to the relentless pressure, as the echo started crushing their windpipes, they saw another multi-colored form slink in from an entrance above them; the same entrance they had fallen through.

With a sudden jolt, the ball of light that had been clasping their throats let them go and they dropped to the floor struggling for breath. They looked up to see the multi-colored entity that had entered grappling with the echo, a bizarre brawl of color, sound and indescribable information. It went on for around a minute, the multi-colored entity managing to push the solid echo back, as if it was somehow wounded.  

The solid echo retreated hastily, un-forming itself and splintering back into sound as it disappeared down the corridor. Mike and Monique had just about got their breath back, but not the