Hazel and Klunk (An RnC Subnautica AU)

Chapter 3: Quarantine

On Day Nine, we got a message from the Trading ship Sunbeam. They told us they were going to come get us at some point. I was relieved but also worried. There was almost literally no land around for miles to land on. We just had to keep surviving for a while longer.

Klunk went back out to the island and came back with diamonds and lithium! I was right about the valuable materials on that island, but the sheer quantities available surprised me. I had never seen so many diamonds in my life! We could finally cut open the wrecks and search for more fragments. We'd been scanning everything and anything we saw. Because Klunk was robotic, the odd creatures I saw a few days before left him alone, or so he theorized.

"Ahh, the benefits of being robotic," Klunk sighed, as he walked back to Sally II.

I retorted, "Being organic has its benefits too. Many robots have restricted movement and can't be reevaluated without destroying their current memories and personality. Organics can change their range of movement, although it takes work to both gain and maintain." I crossed my arms and asked, "So, what are those things?"

He turned on his heel and said, "Check your PDA, Smartass."

"Ooh~ Are you going to be fresh with me? Fine, see if I care... or if Sally lets you in," I smirked, tapping keys on my PDA. I searched for the new data downloaded, while Klunk argued with Sally II. I love sentient vehicles, I thought, snickering. I imagine that if Sally II had a face she would've been smugly smirking at him as she dodged his attempts to board. We didn't have a moonpool, so she wasn't stuck in one place just yet. I finally found the entry and sat down on the floor to read.

The entry read, "An aggressive creature with the ability to teleport itself and others in space. No genetic crossover identified with indigenous lifeforms. Demonstrates no recognized defensive behavior.

"1. Head: Mechanisms located in the head region provide its warping capability, which it uses to stalk its targets.

"2. Torso: Appears to hunt other lifeforms, but no digestive organs have been identified. Internal structure considerably more complex than other known organisms. Unable to distinguish whether organic or artificial in nature.

"Assessment: Further research required."

"Great," I said, "so it's aggressive to me but not to him. What in Zoni's name does this thing do, then? What is it for? 'Hunts other life forms but no digestive tract.' What the fuck? How does it live then?" I looked at the species designator given to us: Warper. That made a lot of sense, as it warped from place to place and even warped me.

When Klunk finally gave up, he decided to check the radio, as he hadn't done that yet and there were plenty of messages from the day. I continued reading through the research.

At least, I did until I heard, "▀▖┗▛Nine new biological subjects designated. Mode ▄▖▜▚┣: hunting/analyzing. Sharing subject locations with other agents." The radio had played a distorted, partially translated broadcast that sounded deep and menacing. The end of my tail fluffed up, and my lilac eyes went wide as dinner plates.

"What... the fuck..." I said, not taking my eyes off the radio.

"I think we are far less alone on this planet than we anticipated," Klunk said, "Something out there is capable of Standard Galactic Speech!"

"I know..." I thought for a moment. "Wait, the radio said 'Partially translated.' Whatever is talking isn't capable of speaking directly to us, but is capable of talking through the radio. And it said biological, so whatever it is searches for organic subjects and not robotic."