Kin rushed through dark, cramped corridors, the harsh white glare of his headlights illuminating a spectral circle in front of him, shaking and swaying with his panicked steps. His entire body quivered with the stress of supporting his weight under such terrifying circumstances.
“Gah!” He tripped on a curled piece of metal, sending him sprawling on the floor like a big metal spider, bumping his cranial dome on a jut and widening the crack infinitesimally. The water jetted in, being pushed under the monstrous pressure of the deep, hitting Kin’s head like a baseball. “Ouch—”
“Quickly, Kin!”
“Okay. Okay. Which way now?”
“Left, then left again followed by a right—”
Kin stopped talking and devoted every ounce of his energy into running. Assisted by the motors in the suit, he vaulted over obstacles and slammed aside boxes, determined that—
“I want to live.”
“Almost there—”
Kin screeched to a halt in front of the remains of the escape pod, mangled by the force of water impact when it opened, Activating his pressure-blade, Kin proceeded to slice away huge chunks of ferroluminium, carving up the pod.
“Got it!”
“Where?”
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“Over there, by the triangular piece—”
“This one?”
Kin removed the box gingerly from the pile of chunks.
“Yes, there should a spray labeled Coltrite Repair. Spray it on the crack, quickly—before it solidifies—”
”Okay—done.”
Clear mist spurted out of the spray onto the damaged section of Kin’s helmet, hardening into solid coltrite a couple of seconds later. “Okay, Kin, now there should be a button on the inside of your left upper arm labeled Temporary Seal and Dry. Hit it, yeah, just like that.”
“And close your eyes!”
Kin closed his eyes.
A vapour sprayed out from nozzles on the inside of the suit, encasing Kin in a form fitting plastic glove. Before he realised he couldn’t breathe, a lot of things happened in not a lot of time.
The inside of the suit glowed red-hot and the water, which had accumulated to his thighs, instantly exploded ina flash of steam. This was jettisoned out in a cloud of bubbles into the surroundings. The heat also disintegrated his seal.
Kin drew in a grateful breath. “Okay, Kin, now start looking for a place to charge. We’re low on power. Kin obliged, and began to start shifting boxes. “No wait, watch out—”
“Great, what monsters are hiding in the boxes?”
“Not monster. Delta P.”
“Come again?”
“Differential Pressure. Basically, there might be air pockets blocked by debris. If you move them away, the water will be drawn in forcefully. You’ll be sucked in too, and thrown against the opening. Do you want your dome to crack again?”
“Uh...”
“Precisely.”
“Okay.”
Kin continued shifting his headlight left and right, sweeping for a safe, flat area. As he took a leap to clear a ledge, his foot kicked into a spiral of metal, dislodging it and causing a swirl of bubbles to run into the hole behind. Kin was quickly jerked towards the opening and slammed forcefully into it chest first, wedged like a plug. His head bounced of the back of his cranial dome, and as darkness fell, the last things he heard were Mion’s frantic voice and the soft voice of the UI Alert.
“High impact sustained. Heavy damage received. Estimated lifespan of RMAS exosuit shortened to approximately three hours.”