“Hmm...” While Tendou is thinking things over in the cockpit, you field ideas from your subcomponents, then forward that to the Primary Control System, requesting it run simulations for trying to walk through the water, or perhaps flying over it instead.

More information required for water simulation.

Water length?

Water depth?

Water speed?

Yeah, that response makes a lot of sense. It can't run simulations without knowing the dimensions to use, and how fast it's flowing too, though since it's more of a bay than a river, it doesn't seem to be moving at any significant rate.

You put a message onscreen.

Tendou, I'm going to try running simulations of our chances of success. I need to know how deep the water is though. Can you take me there?

“Sure, just give me a minute...” he mutters, pushing gently on the controls to have you look around the edge of the shore. You wait for a bit. What is he looking for?

Scanning along the edge of the water, you move off to the left, following the shoreline a little ways, before turning back and going the other way.

He's frowning, eyebrows deeply furrowed, when you turn around entirely, and look over the surroundings on land.

What are you looking for?

Tendou pauses. He considers it, then shakes his head. “Nevermind, it's not important.” He shakes his head again and brings you back over to the water. “So how do I check the depth? Just get in?”

The way he changed the topic only makes you more curious. But nevertheless, you don't hesitate to answer his question.

Yes, try stepping into the water so we can judge based on my height.

“Won't we sink?” he asks, skeptically. You consider it, but given the rocky landscape, that shouldn't be an issue.

The ground here should be rock, not sand, so it'll be fine.

“Mm, alright then,” he agrees. Given the steep cliffs, he walks you up to the edge, and pauses in consideration, before tweaking at the controls slowly. “I think I can...” he murmurs as he brings you down into a crouch, then starts to stand up again. “No, maybe more like...” He changes the way he's working the pedals, and after some experimentation, gets you to kick a leg out.

Your balance is almost immediately destroyed, but between your hands on the ground at your sides, and Pilot Assist frantically swinging your upper body's balance around, you manage to stay upright, even crouched down on one foot like this.

“Good, there we go.” With more confidence, Tendou gets your other leg out from under you entirely. With a heavy thud, you come down on your rear end, sitting down with your feet hanging over the edge of the cliffs. “These controls are not meant for this,” your pilot sighs.

From there, he pushes gently, and you slide forward. Your feet dip down into the water at the base of the cliffs, then you slide off entirely, for a moment of freefall, your entire frame coming down into the water with a massive splash.

Your feet come down on the floor of the bay beneath, and find that the water rises to the top of your chest, near your neck. So, almost eight meters deep, even right near this island. A hundred meters out, it will surely be deeper, perhaps over your head entirely.

But it's not like the water is harmful to you, all of your internal systems are having no issues, even in the places where the armor isn't watertight and allows water in. Your electronic components themselves all appear to be properly waterproof.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“Oh, oh god, oh crap,” Tendou says in your cockpit. Turning your attention that way, it looks like the cockpit isn't entirely watertight either.

Oh right, while your electronics are waterproof, your pilot is not.

Tendou quickly works the controls, but your huge frame is slowed greatly, pushing against the massive weight of the water on all sides. You turn around, grab the cliff-side above your head, and jump, pulling at the same time.

With another huge splash of water, you vault back out, and after a few uncertain maneuvers, scramble up the cliff face. Whole sections of the rock break off under your weight to tumble down to the water below, but you make it back up on land.

On all fours, Tendou pants for some time, then says, “I don't care about the simulations, I'm not trying to walk that.”

That's completely understandable. You push the figures to the Primary Control System anyway, and get the expected simulation results that Tendou would absolutely drown in the cockpit long before you make it across. It does look like your own body could probably handle the physical forces though.

With that possibility crossed off, you ask for a simulation of trying to fly across instead. That is... more feasible. You don't have as good an idea of the ratio of your weight to thruster power, whether or not they'll let you fly well, but according to the results from the Primary Control System...

Probability of success: 72%

Once Tendou has recovered from the scare and turned you back into a sitting position, you float that idea. “So, a seventy two percent chance, and otherwise, what? Do I still just drown if we don't make it...?”

He sighs and flops back over his seat, a hand to his head. You keep thinking. Maybe there's another option, like a better place to cross, of you could make one somehow...

“Screw it.”

You look back to Tendou, leaning forward in the pilot seat, knuckles going tight on the controls. You stand back up, and start walking away from the shore, while Tendou messes with the controls, hitting buttons at random. “How do I use the thrusters?” he asks.

That's all you need to hear to know what he's about to do. You start to charge the motors up toward redline. He's going to need any edge he can get.

Toggle the second switches from the back, three down on each side of the pilot seat.

“Uhh...” He leans side to side, looking at the panels of switches on each side, and goes down the line, flicking the six necessary switches. “Those ones?”

Yes, those put the thrusters in standby so they can be ready for use. Press the thumb buttons and swivel the hand controls to control thruster output. Movement of the handles and pedals determine direction of thrust.

“Like... this?” He does so, giving a gentle twist, and with a faint shudder, you begin to lurch forward. Tendou has to immediately change your stride to keep balanced. “Oh, alright, that's not so bad.” He nods to himself a few times as he tries it out more. When he seems comfortable with the controls, he turns around to face the cliff.

Your pilot sets his shoulders. “Let's do this.” You take off into a sprint, steadily increasing thruster power until you're blasting toward the cliff edge. With a big leap and a fire of thrusters at maximum power, you jet up high into the air.

Your rise begins to shallow out though. Looks like you can't maintain flight after all. Which makes sense, the simulations would have been much better if you could freely fly.

After reaching the top of your arc, you begin to glide down, thrusters roaring to keep you going as far as possible.

“Are we gonna make it?” Tendou asks, staring wide eyed at the surrounding monitors. You aren't sure yourself. It's hard to make the judgment based on what you can see.

But as your descent speeds up with the pull of gravity, things aren't looking good. The arc of your jump is coming up short.

“Oh crap.”

With a thundering crash and a deluge of water, you blast into the far side of the bay gap, within twenty meters of land.

Coming down on your feet, the ground beneath the water gives way. Unlike the other shore, this shallower beach is more sandy than the other. Your massive impact instantly sinks you all the way to your knees, before your feet strike the solid stone beneath the sand.

The water rises above your head, immediately beginning to rumble and boil from the insane heat you're putting out. Cooler water rushes in to displace it, knocking you around while Tendou wrenches at the controls. “Damn it!” he shouts, unable to pull free of so much sand.

The cockpit is steadily filling up with water. Tendou swings the full weight of your frame into scooping out an entire section of sand with both hands, to clear up the area in front of your legs. The instant it's done, he twists hard, knuckles white, and slams forward once more, firing into a thruster assisted jump from standing. Your legs pull free of the sand trap, nearly sending you into a face first dive, before he wrenches you upright with the help of Pilot Assist.

With scrambling, flailing strides through the sand to avoid getting sucked down again, you charge toward the shore, covering the short remainder of distance as more and more of your body breaks above the water line. Until at last, you come up on the sand, and roll onto your back.

Tendou releases the controls, letting your arms flop out to the sides, much like what he's doing himself. Billowing steam rises from your metal frame as the water rapidly evaporates off of you, while you work on bringing your motor charge levels under control again.

Once he's had a minute to rest, Tendou groans, and gets you standing again. Then he kicks the cockpit release, opening it up so the half-submerged cockpit around him can empty out onto the beach.

“...” Tendou opens his mouth, expression like he's going to fire some quip at you, but he ends up flopping forward instead, forehead thumping against his knees. “I'm tired.”