"The sky is darker than usual today." I was muttering to myself as I walked along the pavement leading to the rust-stained building that we are forced to call a shipyard.

Life here in the Meruem Dockyards is pretty uneventful, except for the usual rainy days, as well as the common hurricane here and there. So, in other words, it was boring. Grabbing my bucket and mop, I headed towards the newly brought-in tow ship from the Netherlands. Somehow the Dutch made something that was actually interesting. Suddenly, I felt a large, rough hand slamming on shoulder.

"Kurtis, stop dadreamin' about during yer shift. Get ta scrubbin' boy." Tipping his plaid cap, the massive build of the boatswain for my 'janitorial division' revealed himself with a wide grin. Naturally, a 6'5 or so Scotsman would give anyone a scare, so I acted accordingly and leapt away from the bear of a man.

"What are ye' actin' like tat for, boy? Get up there and do yer job, rookie!" The man that just ordered me to get up the ropes and clean the deck is Sir Lewis Oliver, the 7th. He would never let anyone be introduced to him any other way. After leaving this side of the harbor for whatever duty he needed to perform, or rather, whoever he felt like smacking in the face to be more precise, I heaved the mop and bucket on my shoulder and began climbing onto the deck.

As I was climbing up the side of the fairly big ship, I looked to my side and stared at the designation of the vessel I was assigned to.

KM Dauntless 001

It was spelt out in big, white, letters that really contrast that light blue hue of the paint. I then continued to climb till I was nearing the edge of the deck, when I felt I hand grab on to mine. Looking up, I saw a feminine face staring at mine. I grabbed the edge of the deck with my free hand as woman heaved me up the ship.

"Thanks Sis. You really didn't have to do that." I spoke up as I settled the bucket on the wooden floor.

"No need. I was coming down anyway. Careful not to trip on anymore planks this time around." The woman in question cheekily waved off my comment as he crouched down and grabbed the rope with her gloved hand.

"I'll try not to. Just don't come home with more burnt palms." I responded to her reply as I dipped the mop onto the water filled side of the bucket. I then took a small bottle of cleaning agent from the back of my belt, and poured the right amount onto the floor as I began to mop the grimy, wooden deck.

"Since when was I the one who had scalds trying to look cool?" I made one last snark at my sister, who had already gone down to the pier at the bottom. I smiled off handedly as I continued to wipe the floor clean.

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On the pier, the young woman walked onwards to the maintenance office, as she struggled to hold the clipboard filled with papers in her arms, filled with stacks of necessary paperwork for the reworking of the Dauntless come this fall. The rainy season has begun anyway, so there would be time for the contractors to focus on retrofitting the old tow ship to it's ideal working capacity.

I adjusted the clipboard and slid it under my arms, then I proceeded to hide all the numerous pens and markers in my pocket (which I secretly used to draw graffiti on the ships my brother is working on, just to annoy him) and knocked on the door to the maintenance office three times.

I then began to wait until someone answered the door. The chief engineer, a tall, 40 something woman, answered the door and invited me in, as per usual. Taking note of the many frames scattered about, I went over to the chair in front of the desk and laid down the paperwork for the renovation of several utility vessels and the retrofitting of three ships.

"You know, most people take care of handling these things." The chief chided as she browsed through the papers, her glasses lowered a bit, spinning a pen with her free hand every so often.

"Most people have sticks so far up their asses that they treat paper as if it's the most important thing in the world." I offhandedly replied as I took my phone out of my pocket. I then opened up the local news app to look at the current events, opening up different mobile idle games whenever I felt like it.

"Technically, paper is important." The chief smiled a bit at her favorite colleague, arranging the paperwork into a neat little stack to the side of the desk. She took out several documents and looked through them, carefully picking out several pieces and laying them in front of the me. She looked at the pile and arranged them neatly, before placing them in my clipboard.

"Wrong. It's not the paper that's important, it's the contents. Gotta read the fine print, am I right?" I grinned as I proceeded waited for the chief to give out further instructions as for who to deliver the documents to. Upon receiving her orders, I began to snatch whatever I needed and quickly texted my brother. I then stood up and went outside of the office.

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Back on the Dauntless, the deck crew slowly began to make the old tow ship just a little more bearable for the maintenance unit and the engineers who were set to work on the ship in the following months. However, there were some things that really confused them for the rest of the clean up operation. Kurtis was quick to erase any graffiti, however, knowing that his sister was usually the prime suspect whenever he sees one.

"Hey, Kurtis! You should tell your little rascal of a relative to stop leaving these things on the walls! Had to repaint it every time, you know!?" One of the men barked at me from across the deck, scrubbing hard at a small drawing of an anime girl. At least that's what I think it is.

"Sorry! I'll get the detergent!" I shouted back as I hurriedly ran to the back of the vessel. Thankfully, we made short work of the external parts, and most of the crew were already tired from hauling most of the machinery that are going to be used next week onto the deck of the ship. Since I wasn't that tired, I went ahead and looked for Sir Lewis.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

As I went and dropped down the deck using the rope we use to climb up and down. We would use the lift, but considering how it was current being used to haul machinery to the other vessels in the port, it's unlikely that we would have enough time for it to actually be used for the Dauntless. I walked along the harbour, looking for the boatswain, and asking people as I went by.

"Ah, Sir Lewis? He is currently onboard the Exploration. It's the one with the funny looking island." I furrowed my brows in confusion. "You know? The one that had the massive bridge protruding forward from the main tower?" Oh. That one.

I thanked the man as I hurriedly ran towards Pier 34. We nicknamed the ship The Surprised, due to it looks like a surprised face from certain angles, so this shouldn't be hard to find, besides, I could just ask for directiond. All while walking, I suddenly heard my phone vibrate inside my left pocket. I checked it, and saw that it was only the notifications for the mobile games I downloaded. I glared disapprovingly at it and was about to clear my notification bar, when I saw a message that my sister sent me. I opened it and began reading whatever she wants me to do.

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On a car en route to the Ellison Metal Works Building, a woman received a text message while waiting to arrive at her destination. She opened up the message and looked at the contents.

"Alright sis. If I find something out of place, I'll contact you immediately. Tell me if there is something that can be done about it, or if I should leave it alone and contact the authorities. Stay safe! ." I smiled at the message and closed my phone. Hopefully this will be an uneventful meeting. I don't really need anymore idiots running around her job. My brother is enough.

I looked outside and stared at the coastline, watching ships in the distance as they did whatever ships do at this time of day. I don't really know, since I'm just an assistant. Hopefully Kurtis finishes his shift early.

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As the sun rose high in the sky, a young man is seen running across the pier, looking at all the designated numbers to the left of him. As he saw the right number, he dashed towards it.

'Jackpot!' I thought to myself as I climbed the staircase leading to the deck of the Exploration. I hastily looked around me the moment I stepped foot on the deck of the ship, and asked a random cadet if he knew where Sir Lewis was.

"Dunno. Last saw around the back. He was talking to the Admiral." The cadet then went back to doing his duty. I noted his words and ran towards the back of the ship, avoiding people as much as possible. I did accidentally bump into an officer, but I doubt that he noticed it. The incredulous look on the cadet behind him was probably just my imagination.

I arrived at the back of the ship and looked around me to see if Sir Lewis was there. I went over the aft and stared at the crowd below me. That's when I felt the thuds coming my way.

"Boy! Ah' heard that ye' were lookin' fer me! What's it that ye' need, Boy?" The large man walked towards me and stopped at my side.

"I just wanted to know if we were permitted to enter the Dauntless, Sir. For cleaning duties." I composed myself and gave out my request towards the boatswain. He studied my look for a brief moment before laughing.

"Why do ye' need mah permission, Boy!? Yer a crew member! Ya don' need mah permission to tidy up that hunk-a-junk! Just go and enter tha damn thing!" Sir Lewis then took my shoulders, picked me up and pushed me towards the staircase. "Just don't trip on yer way down!" He added as he left the railing to go and talk to another officer. I went ahead and headed back to the Dauntless. It was uneventful, save for the chase with the officer on deck. Had to buy a hot dog once I reached the harbour.

Running back to the Dauntless, I took the time to pace myself and continue eating my little snack. As I reached the port holding the tow ship, I finished my hot dog and proceeded to climb the ropes. I raced to my mop and bucket and threw dirty water overboard, to the ocean. I refilled my bucket with some tap water to the side of the island's walls, near an LGMD.

Now that I have permission from the Scottish boatswain to clean up the innards of the ship, I took my cleaning tools, a military issued handgun and a flashlight, I carefully opened the steel doors of the ship and made my way in. The red dimly-lit corridors were a bit unnerving, but they did hold some significant feeling to them. It was as if the ship had sunk and risen so many times. What could possibly had happened to give it the atmosphere?

"Maybe this used to be a sunken ship?" I shook his head in exasperation at the thought, and so I began to wipe every walls, every pipe and lights clean, mopping the floors as I see fit. Sis told me to look out for anything out of the ordinary as well. This is the ship that I could be assigned to, so I took a little extra time to memorize the locations of different rooms, as well as the layout of each corridor. One extra reason why I decided to volunteer for such a, 'Daunting' task.

…

That sounded better in my head, and it would only exist in my mind for as long as I am alive.

"Jeez. This eerie atmosphere is really getting to me, huh?" He supposed he could deal with a few jokes to light up the place. I focused my senses and continued to walk through each hallway with ease. For a supposedly old ship, the worst thing I came across is grime. It's disgusting, but at least it wasn't the maggot infested rats. God I hate those.

I continued to venture deeper into each corridor, searching every nook and cranny for any signs of grime I could clean. After making sure that he had each hallway finished, I turned around and started to walk towards the entrance, thinking I should be done with my cleaning duty for today, when I heard a low, but noticeable sound in one of the rooms at the lower, darker floors.

"What the hell!?" I whipped around to see what it could be, bringing out my pistol, as well as my flashlight. I had intended to leave out the lower floors, which could possibly be the boiler rooms and the engine rooms, to the others, once they cleaned every other room. I never really liked the smell and temperature of those particular places. I slowly went down the stairs, focused for any other noise but the sound I heard earlier.

"Hello? Is anyone there? Do you have clearance to enter this vessel?" I spoke out to the darkness, hoping that it was just a random crew member that got stuck here. I don't really want to deal with any 'Things', or any 'Aliens', or 'Mermen'. I had enough of those in my Netflix series.

Then I heard it again. It was still low, but the sound was loud enough for me to track where it could me. I readied my phone, putting my flashlight underneath my gun. Sis did say that if I find anything out of the ordinary, I should tell her.

I slowly explored the bottom portion of the ship, and patted myself on the back once I recognized that it really is the boiler room. I looked at the massive array of furnaces that we're placed side to side. I took note of each and performed extensive investigation into each one, just in case if there really was an alien creature hiding in thing. I pointed the gun at the opening of one furnace and cocked the hammer. I waited for any movement, before I looked inside to see that there really were nothing. I exhaled and continued further into the back of the ship.

It resounded again.

I carefully planned my steps as to not alert anything, but i still held my gun at the ready. I feel like I'm in a thriller, and that Michael Jackson is gonna come out of nowhere and Hee-Hee at me. It was a stupid game, but it was fun. I proceeded to enter the engine room, and looked at the array of cranks inside. I feel like the sound was coming from the very back, so I checked the whole room to see if nothing was out of place.

When I checked the back portion, I saw the origin of that low buzzing noise. I stared hard at the currently active console and wondered what it does. I opened my phone to see if Sis knew about this.