2619: Salvation: Pull From The Sea

Chapter Three

    "What the fuck?!" Skylar exclaimed. "Louise! Louise come take the kid!"

"Is something wrong?" Anderson shouted from his room.

"No this kid's fucking possessed and he's freaking me out!" Skylar screamed. "I'm a lab assistant! I did not sign up to babysit the fricking eldritch horror!" Unlocking the bed door, she flung it open and climbed out, Anderson already at the door.

"He's a baby-what are you talking about?" Anderson questioned as the baby screamed and another wave rocked the boat.

"He's going to send us down to the Kraken! Or the Meg!" Skylar insisted, holding the baby out. "Take him, please, he doesn't even like me!"

Almost to punctuate the point, the baby shrieked, raising his hands as Anderson took him. Another aggressive wave rocked the boat.

"Skylar, please breathe." Anderson tried to encourage, carrying the baby to his room. Skylar followed behind. "He's just a baby, he's not going to hurt you. If you're just worried about caring for him, that's okay."

"He's going to sink the ship." Skylar repeated through gritted teeth.

"How is he going to sink the ship? Skylar, explain your hypothesis," Louise said, clearly trying to calm her by phrasing it more scientifically. She took the baby from Anderson and started to rock him, gently shushing.

"Ugh, don't science me!" Skylar complained, collapsing face first on their bed.

"It's perfectly alright to feel nervous," Anderson started, patting her shoulder and sitting next to her on the bed. "Taking care of kids is scary. When we first got our dog, well, I completely-"

"A baby is not a dog." Louise corrected. Anderson gasped, hand against his heart. "How about when we took care of our niece for a week? You know she cried-"

"I'm not freaked out about taking care of the baby!" Skylar shrieked. "The baby is making the waves go crazy! And-And there was-something in the water!"

The baby made a loud babbled yell in response to her, lifting his hands up again, another wave rocking the boat.

"See?!" Skylar shouted. "He's trying to kill us with the fucking ocean!"

"Skylar, remind us of the definition of the word coincidence?" Louise implored. "It's a storm, it was storming just like this before we found him."

"You found him in the middle of a crater!" Skylar argued.

"We also found a plant," Anderson reminded. "According to your logic, that could also be the cause of the waves."

Skylar groaned into their sheets.

"Do you need a stress toy?" Anderson offered, going into his bag. "I'm sure I brought one with me, maybe it'll help-"
The baby raised his hands again, and instead of wailing, he breathed out a soft sigh, comforted by Louise's steady rocking. And the storm and the waves stop.

"You are awful!" Skylar complained. The baby blinks at her innocently, big blue eyes wide. It was almost hypnotizing, how blue his eyes were. He reached a hand out to her, with a small babble of curiosity. Skylar paused for a moment, staring at the baby. "Metanite?" She mumbled, as if just now remembering one of the most world famous superheroes. "Is he...like Metanite?"

"Why on earth would he be like-" Anderson quickly connected the dots. "Oh. Oh, Lou, I think we found the next Metanite."

"It can't be that." Louise said, but she didn't sound convinced by her words. "Where would he have come from-from what planet?!"