JELLYFISH

DOOR 024

"If you have to use it, use it. Then come find me."

Why did they think of what he said after all this time? [name] still had it tucked away in their jumpsuit. They completely pushed it out of their mind once they were in the water, but once [name] remembered it was there it left them feeling weighted.

[name] wanted to cry.

These sounds, these feelings—everything was becoming too much for them. Couldn't they catch a break?

The beeping continued, becoming much harder to ignore and pushing [name]'s momentary despair to annoyance. They only now took in their surroundings too, both sides of them lit up by a green light in the dark cave. To their right was a long, rusty metal sheet, angled down into the cave, and to their left was a longer stretch of said cave. When [name] angled their head that way, they realized that was where the beeping originated from, or at least it was guiding them in that direction.

So they headed left. Kei must've swum through these caves before, since as they were swimming they noticed two tubes of circuits with open, fixed wires. It could've been someone else of course, but [name] would've liked to think that Kei did something useful before his final moments.

Kei was dead. It was still hard to process; just like everyone else's deaths. Aisha's, Ezekiel's, even Vanessa's. They didn't deserve to die here.

But [name] didn't want to die either.

They stopped upon coming to an open gap above them, watching the bottom side of the Searchlights swim above to their right. They waited a moment longer as the lights flashed over the cave they hid in, then away, and then they swam across.

The beeping became louder and the cave became a shade darker and much thinner than [name] thought. And just as [name] was wondering if they were even heading in the right direction, the path to their left opened up into a sleek, metal square. Even though [name] still floated at the opening of the metal compartment, they could see well enough through it, and above that, there was an open area at the top. Lights glowed yellow, one of them shining brightly at the Searchlights that swam in dangerously close circles around the area, but never within the circular, open-top dome.

[name] swam forward, then back, then forward just a tiny bit, then found themselves too far out for their liking and went back again. In their time of indecisiveness, they spotted a roundish platform jutting out near the left where a sealed gate was. On this platform, there was a metal device that was very familiar to them. It was sleek, but [name] knew they were looking at the back—it was a switch.

They lifted their head again, glaring at the creatures above as they planned their next move. [name] swam out and clung to the left wall where it just barely curved inward. [name] swam along it, grasping at it whenever they felt unsafe, and almost breathed a sigh of relief when they made it to the platform. The green lights were all the same, and so was the lever.

[name] checked the Searchlights again, their necks feeling sore after all the times they had done this. Then, they pushed off the wall and grasped the metal device, their fingers digging into it tight as if it were going to slip from their hands. [name] pulled the lever down, then pushed off the platform and back against the wall, where they rang their sore palms together.

The beeps persisted even after the lever was pulled but at a slower pace. That should be it, right? They had swam out here, repaired the cables, and activated the switch in the center. They distinctly remembered the announcement from the PA system; now all they needed to do was head back to the airlock.

For once, [name] felt happy to return to Hadal Blacksite. Not once in [name]'s life would they have thought to miss those dreary walls or the eerie symbol on all their products.