Guy had quickly gotten accustomed to the lack of his eye. In fact, most days he still believed it was there for all the function he had lost. Though he hadn't ever consciously pondered actually digging his own orb out - despite the intrusive imagery, he would've thought it would make certain tasks far more difficult. As a mechanic, he relied on precision movements of his hands and tools, but even with the one eye, his screwdrivers would find the tractional creases, his wrench would find their seat around the nuts and, more importantly, he could still see Luna for all her tall, pristine beauty.
Whatever his impulses had made him do had saved her - they were both certain of that fact. But by what means and mechanisms lay beyond their understanding of the body - be it human or angelic. Mars and Luna had spent countless hours reading books of history and medicine in hopes of finding an explanation - a guide or a hint at what might've rescued the girl from the lethal toxins, but the closest they had gotten were ancient texts pertaining to the healing touches of the Divine entities of Logo's chosen, though none of it made sense to any of them. But if there had ever been any doubt regarding his divine nature, Mars and Luna were now thoroughly convinced that their visitor had been sent from the Powers to save their people from the slow death of their decaying station. Luna and Guy had spent several nights awake, questioning the turn of events that had led them from the day in the kelp-field and to the desperate moment where he had fed her his flesh, but the riddles remained unanswered. If only he could remember who he was - where he'd come from, perhaps he'd know something more about his oddly nature. But for all he knew, he'd been born from an aquatic egg and only birthed as Luna came to wave the kelp knife around him to ward off the shark.
Luna felt guilty for the loss of his eye, but as he put it, there was no way in which they could’ve known that the fish was toxic. They were all in agreement, however, that whoever had placed the fish there was likely to have known. Mars, recovered from his psychotic state after nearly a month of force-feeding and rest, had been less accepting of pushing the matter aside until the station had been stabilized again. It was clear that he still, even after recovering, believed Guy to be some form of holy being worthy of worship - constantly seeking his advise and oftentimes voicing his regret to break the tenets. But the results of their break from tradition were obvious; no longer did their people starve and stumble around in a ravenous stupor. Their cheeks were filling, their muscles were bulging in the suits and laughter could be heard echoing between the sturdy hull plating of Sitabee whenever Guy was hidden safely away.
Most disturbingly was a cryptic message sent from Sitalii, the one Mars had kept to himself up until a day in which he confided in Guy, but would only do so under the eyes of his niece. The three, who had become somewhat of a governing council, sat in the control room and stared at the screen; the Commander’s log, as it were.
Guy and Luna both hovered over the screen, their own faces slowly acclimating to the supply of fish, and read from the chaotic texts that seemed to speak of a red kelp that had completely overrun the exterior of the station. And that was it… in his insanity, Mars had read something more into the log, but his thought-processes now escaped him.
It had started with a growth along one of the supports - a small patch of an undetermined algae first thought to be rust. It had promptly been scrubbed and found to be nothing in particular, until a week later when two new patches appeared on the outer hulls of the cantina and the observatory - again removed, only to reappear.
Within a month, three scrubber-teams were removing the patches around the clock, but it was a losing battle of attrition; one doomed to fail by the frantic speech of Commander Marillus.
He seemed almost obsessed about ridding the station exterior of the growths, as if stricken by an increasing terror that worsened with every passing day. His measures of removal became more and more extreme, even going as far as to use subnautic thrusters to burn the patches away.
The last coherent words, however, sunk into them with an icy cold - words Mars had no intention of reading again. He rose up from his seat, folded his arms behind his back and strode to look at the porthole.
“The station can no longer be abandoned. The growths have taken over the hull. Partitions 65-72 have fallen to the kelp. Sealed and jettisoned. Charges set. May Logos forgive us.”
Luna and Guy looked to one-another with confusion at those last words, hoping the other would speak an analysis. It would be Mars who eventually did. “It’s… it’s unfair of me to ask. In fact, involving you in this altogether has been a selfish venture. You’re young, practically kids. But you’re the only ones I’ve been able to trust - the only ones whose advice I’ve ever wanted to listen to… so, tell me. What does it mean?”
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Guy stepped over to lean on the screens, scratching the white bandage over his hollow right orbit. With a shake of his head, he confessed: “No idea. He could be referring to detonation-charges, but it doesn’t say where he placed them. By the signature, this is an automatic distress call broadcasting the Commander’s log. It’s also part of this station’s systems - set to trigger if the core powers down. Manually.”
Mars should not have been surprised to hear the boy’s wisdom, but once again, he found himself taken aback. He turned around to look at his visitor - his friend. No older than eighteen, he carried himself like a man twice his age, leaning ponderously against the displays while scratching his chin. He had aged since the first time they met, his hair had grown longer and his one remaining eye conveyed a thousand years of wisdom - both in the workings of Man and machine.
Opposite to him, with her rounded bottom atop the table, Luna swung her legs and jerked her jaw back and forth, well aware that she was in no position to answer the question. Still… she made it seem as if she did.
“I’ve tried hailing them back, but there’s been no response. I’ve never heard of ‘red kelp’, but by the sound of it, it’s aggressive to the point it interferes with their system. Could this be a request for assistance?” Mars questioned his advisors. Guy shrugged and continued to rub his chin.
Luna finally dropped from the table and snapped the air with finality, suggesting: “If it’s a call for aid, we should go investigate. Maybe the stuff’s clogged their airlocks? Not sure how that’d work, but it’s a thought?” Mars was quick to chuckle and raised his bony fingers.
“No. On the off-chance this isn’t an agricultural incident, I need my advisors here. Seeing as you’re the only ones who could make the trip, that’s a no-go. Not until the subnautic returns.” This immediately soured Luna’s smile. Frowning, she looked down to the floor and stepped next to Guy, speaking into the metallic plates: “I’m not a child, Mars. I - we know that the Subnautic’s not coming back. I’d like to think it will one day… I want him to return with that core, but he’s almost a year overdue. So let’s stop living in that fairy tale. You’re the Commander and we’re your advisors. That’s just how things are…”
It pained Mars to the point of tears to hear her speak such dreadful words. She wasn’t wrong, he had known it for some time - the supplies might’ve lasted six months with strict rationing. But a girl her age should’ve had her father around for some time more. She finally looked up, not with sadness, but with the glare of an adult - a determined, grown woman. Mars shook his head and looked back into the floor.
“I’m… sorry. I wish he’d have been here to take the reins. He’d have been so proud of you - the way you and Guy have kept this place running; how you’ve kept me… how you’ve returned me to sanity. I-”
Tears welling in the corners of her eyes, she raised her soft palm in front of Guy and said: “N-not now, uncle. For what it’s worth, you’re more than a worthy replacement. You’ve had to make decisions I think even he’d struggle with. I haven’t always agreed with you, but you’ve been right… let’s keep that tradition going. Send us to investigate the distress-call.”
Something had definitively changed about her since her bout with death, but none had survived the great famine without aging a decade past their biological age. Least of all these two, the scorned pair.
Guy finally broke from his silent musings to agree. “We should. If it’s a distress call and we can help, that’s good. And I hate to say it, but their station’s younger than this one. Site L is approximately one thousand years newer, which means the core’s got a ways to go before it catches up to this one… if the message really is what it sounds like, that core’s not doing them any good.” The cold with which he spoke those dreadful words chilled Mars to the bone. But that was what he appreciated about Guy; his bluntness, his utilitarianism - his calculative mind.
“And… if this is some threat, we should learn what we can about it. Kelp or not, it’s got the Commander spooked. So if there’s a vote, my vote’s on investigating.”
Mars raised a disarming hand and clarified: “There are no votes… But you have some valid points. If there’s been some form of station-wide decompression, then that cores need to be retrieved. If not, we’ll help our brethren and hopefully get something in return. I… I hate to ask, but-”
Luna took a determined step forwards, clanging her boot to the floor to proudly volunteer: “We’ll do it. Guy can find his way in there and we’ll come along to lug the luggage.”
Mars signaled a profound disagreement in the form of a frown - not a disagreement to her volunteering, in fact, he was counting on it. But the dread of being without the pair for their lengthy journey was a torturous visage.
“I expect you to return in the same condition you left, all right? No risks, no brash moves. Take enough power-packs for the return. There should be more than enough now that Guy’s refurbished them.”
The trio raised their hands in the triangle - a sense of normalcy blanketed the room if only for a moment. Luna might’ve expected to see her father as she turned around, but knew that in her stead was another, fiercely powerful man. An angel who would see them all safely there and back. A Guy like none other.