ATHANATOS

Re-encounter

Log #3:

Author: Ryan Alester

SYSTEM_ID: M_612-9

As painful as it may be, a lot of our current questions may be answered from the helmet cam footage of Jas when the... when he got... when... he d-died...

So that's what the team and I are doing today. We have to analyse and find out a few things - What the weapon was, how it worked, and any other hidden details.

Our food supplies will last about two months or so and the farm is growing well. The scrap metal helped us to build a water generator! The hydrogen atoms are siphoned out from the M612's fusion reactor and Oxygen comes from the surface. The heat is also provided by the fusion reactor so every day we get about 3 liters of water. It isn't much, so we have to melt the snow from the surface to drink it.

So things are starting to get better, even if only a little. I really don't know if it'll continue this way.

###END OF LOG###

Ryan clicked a button on the computer. He got up off his swivel chair and out of the M612. He walked over to his table where a box with wires sticking out of it rested. Sitting down, he realised that someone else was sitting across the table. The someone looked distressed. Ryan went up to him to check on him. He looked unfamiliar and wore a strange black uniform. Ryan put his hand on the man's shoulder but his hand went straight through. All off a sudden, the man disappeared without a trace. Ryan, who was knocked off balance landed face down on the chair where the man was sitting. He got up and looked at his shaking hand. He shook his head and thought Maybe I am going crazy. He decided to take some rest and put his head down on the table.

________

Zack and Alex stood in the cockpit of the M612.

"What's our next move?" asked Alex

Zack replied reluctantly. "We need to find my dad."

Ryan burst out laughing. "Oh so now you think that it's a good idea to find him. What do you think I've tried to do relentlessly for a decade? But not even once did I get anything! Not a trace, not a signal, not a whiff, zero, zip, nothing!" said Ryan in a low voice as he walked towards Zack.

"He has a point. Ryan, while being a professional crap basket, did put in most of his life into finding Ethan." said Alex.

"Still, our answer to these questions might just come from him. X is trying not to break his cover while pretending to work under El, so he's not a viable source of answers. And I think I've come to the end of the list of people who could help us." said Zack.

"So what do you suggest?" asked Ryan with his hand on his forehead.

Zack sighed. "I dunno, ok? I'm just as clueless as everyone else down here. But we can prepare ourselves."

"Speaking of which, I managed to finish the first design of something that'll help us in the future." said Ryan excitedly.

"Nice, but what is it?" asked Alex.

Ryan pulled out two discs from his jacket's pockets and tapped his glasses. A green circle showed up at the center of his field of view. He put the two discs on his shoulders and raised his arm. A high pitched sound filled the air, as a dart flew out of the discs, through the window of the M-612 and finally attaching itself to Ryan's workbench.

"It's a grappling hoo-" said Ryan, before he flew through the already broken window and fell face first onto his workbench.

Later

Sam ran into the M-612 where Alex was sleeping. She carried a map and and flash drive. In her haste, she tripped over a ridge present on the ramp. There was a loud thump sound, and a groan. Alex heard this and woke up to investigate.