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Description
Deep below the last rays of sunlight, Maggie and Zoe carried on their course. They carefully skirted the edges of the lights that illuminated their path. After their last encounter, they expected much more strangeness to cross their way. Yet surprisingly, there was nothing, aside from the swarms of plankton and small abyssal creatures that drifted about. The emptiness was eerie, but the duo found comfort in it. That was until the lights they followed suddenly died.

”Where’d the lights go?” Shouted Maggie in alarm.

”Do you think I would know?” Zoe replied, equally surprised by the abrupt darkness.

The gloom of the deep felt both too big and too small, and both Maggie and Zoe lacked anything to pierce it. They drifted around, looking for any solid surface, but down here in the eternal night there was no direction that felt correct. Up could be left, down could lead them in circles. They were lost yet perfectly still.

”I… think we needed to turn back sooner.” Zoe whispered, too afraid of what could be lurking around her to raise her voice any further.

”But the Twins need this.” Maggie said back.

”Does it matter if we die down here?” Zoe replied nervously.

”We won’t die… I think.” Maggie could barely hold the quiver of fear that had entered her voice.

“You think? For all we know this could be some elaborate trap!” Zoe muttered.

”Why would this be a trap? Anything could have meant the lights died, it isn’t exactly on Maribeth.” Maggie tried to assure Zoe, but Zoe would have none of it.

”You say that as if we can trust them! We don’t know what she or her boss intend, we literally just met them!” Zoe started getting angry, lashing out in her helplessness.

”I, we can trust them, we have to, for the Twins’ sakes,” Maggie said, “I really wish they had names.”

“Them too! We only knew them how long?” Zoe asks.

”About a day, for me, I found you about a day after meeting them.” Maggie explains.

”So you’re sure we should be risking our lives for people we barely know?” Zoe digs deeper into Maggie’s reasoning.

”I,” Maggie paused for a moment, unsure exactly what to respond with, “I don’t know, it just seemed like the right thing. And…”

The silence the water held was broaden by the distant, deep moaning of a rockslide or some other large thing crashing down. The sheer volume of the vibrations halted the two’s conversation as they hung in the water. Even long after it had finished, the two couldn’t bring themselves to speak, fearful of the deep expanse around them. Until at last, Zoe whispered again.

”And?” She asked Maggie.

”And, look I don’t know what to tell you! Maybe there could be answers down here?” Maggie retorted.

”Answers to what exactly?” Zoe asked, the questions mounting on Maggie’s consciousness.

”You should know! The, thing! The like, everything around us! I don’t know, I just feel like I should know!” Maggie’s response was distressed, the fear and questions getting under her skin.

”Calm down, calm down. I can ask them later when the light comes back on.” Zoe said, Maggie only softly muttered an agreement.

The two started to try and take in what they could from their surroundings. Of course there was darkness, and water, and the myriad of tiny things that swam through it. But eventually there was also light in the window of some old building.

”There! Light!” Zoe exclaimed, having noticed it first. Maggie nodded in response and with Zoe in her grasp swam over to it.

The light was a ghostly pale blue, and seemed to pulse as the two drew near. Once the two arrived at the window the light spilled from, the two stopped, feeling comfortable not drawing any closer. Despite the suspicious nature of the glow, it was the only light the two had, and in that was a strange comfort.

However, this comfort was quickly shattered along with the glass of the window as a monstrous beast slung itself at Maggie and Zoe! In the commotion Maggie released her grip on her bottle, that strange bauble she had from the start, and it sank like a stone down to the seabed.

“No!” Shouted Maggie, trying to reorient herself in the tremendous wake of the Tardigrade Dweller. The Dweller itself snapped and clawed at the water, but didn’t strike for Maggie or Zoe in all its flailing. Instead, it too was focused on the bottle, and as it couldn’t swim, it sank after it.

”Help!” Cried Zoe, who was carried by the surge of water down with the bottle and tardigrade, her oscillating cilia unable to propel her against the current.

Instead of Zoe, Maggie reached for the bottle, her massive fins generating het more current which pushed Zoe along. The Dweller’s snapping maw opened wide, revealing a second head cradled within. As it did this, a sound, no, a voice rang out from within it. Faint and struggling, but filled with determination, the beast cried out.

”Memory!”

With the Dweller’s jaws stuck again to shout, Maggie took her opportunity to snatch the sinking bottle, and quickly pivot to retrieve Zoe. She held both the item and companion close and braced, but no blow from maw or claw ever came. Instead, the Dweller’s continued its descent and collided with the sea floor in a cloud of detritus and silt. When it got up again, it didn’t even try to ascend to attack Maggie and Zoe. Instead it roared and shouted to the depths incoherently, pounding its clawed feet into the soft muck below it and further raking the substrate with its mandibles. Maggie and Zoe watched it continue this routine for what felt like forever, until the Dweller curled up and began to whimper.

“That was-” Maggie said, only being interrupted by the guiding lights returning.

“Let’s just go. I don’t want to be here any more.” Zoe said, and Maggie couldn’t agree more. Without another word she departed from the Dweller and followed the lights onward.

Description
Deep below the last rays of sunlight, Maggie and Zoe carried on their course. They carefully skirted the edges of the lights that illuminated their path. After their last encounter, they expected much more strangeness to cross their way. Yet surprisingly, there was nothing, aside from the swarms of plankton and small abyssal creatures that drifted about. The emptiness was eerie, but the duo found comfort in it. That was until the lights they followed suddenly died.

”Where’d the lights go?” Shouted Maggie in alarm.

”Do you think I would know?” Zoe replied, equally surprised by the abrupt darkness.

The gloom of the deep felt both too big and too small, and both Maggie and Zoe lacked anything to pierce it. They drifted around, looking for any solid surface, but down here in the eternal night there was no direction that felt correct. Up could be left, down could lead them in circles. They were lost yet perfectly still.

”I… think we needed to turn back sooner.” Zoe whispered, too afraid of what could be lurking around her to raise her voice any further.

”But the Twins need this.” Maggie said back.

”Does it matter if we die down here?” Zoe replied nervously.

”We won’t die… I think.” Maggie could barely hold the quiver of fear that had entered her voice.

“You think? For all we know this could be some elaborate trap!” Zoe muttered.

”Why would this be a trap? Anything could have meant the lights died, it isn’t exactly on Maribeth.” Maggie tried to assure Zoe, but Zoe would have none of it.

”You say that as if we can trust them! We don’t know what she or her boss intend, we literally just met them!” Zoe started getting angry, lashing out in her helplessness.

”I, we can trust them, we have to, for the Twins’ sakes,” Maggie said, “I really wish they had names.”

“Them too! We only knew them how long?” Zoe asks.

”About a day, for me, I found you about a day after meeting them.” Maggie explains.

”So you’re sure we should be risking our lives for people we barely know?” Zoe digs deeper into Maggie’s reasoning.

”I,” Maggie paused for a moment, unsure exactly what to respond with, “I don’t know, it just seemed like the right thing. And…”

The silence the water held was broaden by the distant, deep moaning of a rockslide or some other large thing crashing down. The sheer volume of the vibrations halted the two’s conversation as they hung in the water. Even long after it had finished, the two couldn’t bring themselves to speak, fearful of the deep expanse around them. Until at last, Zoe whispered again.

”And?” She asked Maggie.

”And, look I don’t know what to tell you! Maybe there could be answers down here?” Maggie retorted.

”Answers to what exactly?” Zoe asked, the questions mounting on Maggie’s consciousness.

”You should know! The, thing! The like, everything around us! I don’t know, I just feel like I should know!” Maggie’s response was distressed, the fear and questions getting under her skin.

”Calm down, calm down. I can ask them later when the light comes back on.” Zoe said, Maggie only softly muttered an agreement.

The two started to try and take in what they could from their surroundings. Of course there was darkness, and water, and the myriad of tiny things that swam through it. But eventually there was also light in the window of some old building.

”There! Light!” Zoe exclaimed, having noticed it first. Maggie nodded in response and with Zoe in her grasp swam over to it.

The light was a ghostly pale blue, and seemed to pulse as the two drew near. Once the two arrived at the window the light spilled from, the two stopped, feeling comfortable not drawing any closer. Despite the suspicious nature of the glow, it was the only light the two had, and in that was a strange comfort.

However, this comfort was quickly shattered along with the glass of the window as a monstrous beast slung itself at Maggie and Zoe! In the commotion Maggie released her grip on her bottle, that strange bauble she had from the start, and it sank like a stone down to the seabed.

“No!” Shouted Maggie, trying to reorient herself in the tremendous wake of the Tardigrade Dweller. The Dweller itself snapped and clawed at the water, but didn’t strike for Maggie or Zoe in all its flailing. Instead, it too was focused on the bottle, and as it couldn’t swim, it sank after it.

”Help!” Cried Zoe, who was carried by the surge of water down with the bottle and tardigrade, her oscillating cilia unable to propel her against the current.

Instead of Zoe, Maggie reached for the bottle, her massive fins generating het more current which pushed Zoe along. The Dweller’s snapping maw opened wide, revealing a second head cradled within. As it did this, a sound, no, a voice rang out from within it. Faint and struggling, but filled with determination, the beast cried out.

”Memory!”

With the Dweller’s jaws stuck again to shout, Maggie took her opportunity to snatch the sinking bottle, and quickly pivot to retrieve Zoe. She held both the item and companion close and braced, but no blow from maw or claw ever came. Instead, the Dweller’s continued its descent and collided with the sea floor in a cloud of detritus and silt. When it got up again, it didn’t even try to ascend to attack Maggie and Zoe. Instead it roared and shouted to the depths incoherently, pounding its clawed feet into the soft muck below it and further raking the substrate with its mandibles. Maggie and Zoe watched it continue this routine for what felt like forever, until the Dweller curled up and began to whimper.

“That was-” Maggie said, only being interrupted by the guiding lights returning.

“Let’s just go. I don’t want to be here any more.” Zoe said, and Maggie couldn’t agree more. Without another word she departed from the Dweller and followed the lights onward.