*(mood song: "TheFatRat & Anjulie - Close To The Sun")

At the submarine entrance, everyone had gathered to say goodbye to the expedition members.

Crabina was hugging Erik.

Crabina: "daddyyyy! let me goooo! I wanna goooo tooo...!"

Erik: "sigh... you can't go, it's dangerous sweety"

Crabina was sad: "hmmm but I got the best grades in class... I can protect you daddy!"

Erik laughed: "hahaha is that so~ you are a big girl, but still a kid, stay home and take care of Anhuka okay? don't give her too much trouble"

Anhuka nodded: "your father is right Crabina, there could be many dangers"

Erik looked at Anhuka, and saw her looking nervous: "sorry to leave the responsibility to you, we will be back soon"

Rose: [not really? it should take at least a month...]

Erik: [I know]

Rose: [then?]

Erik: [she's worried, she doesn't need the truth, she needs to calm down]

Rose: [oh... I see... ( ͡°- ͡°)]

Anhuka nodded, as she went away with Crabina.

A couple more hours passed, and everyone dispersed as they finished loading the supplies onto the submarine.

Erik was doing a final check of the submarine, only the sound of his boots stepping on the metal floor of the submarine when he suddenly heard giggling.

*hihihi*

Erik: "what the..." the submarine hallways were empty though, the metallic hallways well illuminated and devoid of a single soul.

Erik was weirded out, but he soon continued walking, his senses honed as he closed his eyes, finally detecting faint tapping sounds from the ceiling, and thinking 'the vents huh...'

Erik then suddenly stopped, and punched the vent conduct, leaving a fist dent.

*wha-?!* a scared voice coming from inside.

Erik: "I know you are in there, come out"

And out of a nearby hatch came Crabina, surprising Erik.

Crabina was pouting as she asked: "how did you find me, daddy? I wanted to surprise you..."

Erik picked her up: "you certainly did surprise me, how did you get inside?"

Crabina: "I followed mommy, she told me to go back home, but I followed her when she turned back, and she went inside the submarine too, aunty Rose let her in"

Erik narrowed his eyes: "Is that so..., and how did you get in?"

Crabina: "there was a hole on one side, so i just slid inside?, and ended in these tubes, then I saw you and followed you for hours daddy, hehehe you didn't even notice"

Erik: [Rose?.... Rooose... hmmm not funny...]

Erik nodded: "you are certainly sneaky..., it seems the submarine had design flaws"

Rose: [FLAWS?! MY DESIGN?! this space is designated as a biologically safe space, but of course, i CAN upgrade it with life detection devices on exit points if I wanted-]

Erik: [yes yes, now... where is Anhuka?]

Rose: [...I don't know~ ( ͡°з ͡°)]

Erik: [is that so...]

Erik: "well, while I look for your mommy, you stay in my room okay? there's a monitor there you can use to watch your cartoons"

Crabina: "okay daddy!" Crabina hugged his neck, while Erik carried her to his room.

They soon arrived, but when Erik opened the door, he quickly covered Crabina's eyes.

Crabina: "wha-?"

Erik: "just remain like that sweety, I found your mommy..."

On top of Erik's bed was a naked Anhuka, laying on her back and displaying her assets in Erik's direction, but she quickly changed posture when she saw Crabina in Erik's arms.

Anhuka quickly dressed: "Crabina, what are you doing here? I will carry you back home..." trying to take Crabina and scurry away.

Erik murmured to himself "why is everyone so damn horny on this planet..." sighing loudly as he stopped her and said "We will spend some time together once we are back okay? but the submarine needs to depart now"

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Anhuka seemed disappointed, but she went away with Crabina.

Crabina: "why did daddy cover my eyes mommy?"

Anhuka: "I... had just come out of the shower, so I was dressing sweety"

Crabina: "oh... it's fine, I've seen plenty of peepee's when I was at the tribe, they used them on my previous mommy..."

Anhuka: "you are a strong kid, but no I don't have a peepee *giggle*"

Crabina: "you don't?"

Anhuka: "you are special my child, special people do great things, so... what do you want for dinner?"

Crabina: "ice cream!, nono... cake! nono... sweet algae pancakes...hmmm... everything!"

Anhuka pinched Crabina's cheek with a smile: "quite the sweet tooth huh? well, we will see..."

Crabina: "yay!"

---

Meanwhile, Erik went to the control room where the others were already waiting, Inky, Timberly, and Jennifer, along with her apprentice Jana, all sitting around a table with a floating hologram of the submarine.

While Rose and Amanda were sitting by the side, cables came from their heads and directly connected them to the submarine.

Timberly: "we are ready to depart, where are we going?"

Erik: "We are going South, our first stop is an abandoned factory, I guess Rose can explain more"

Rose stood up, as the cables grew small mechanical legs and detached themselves.

Rose: "we are going to an abandoned factory, and a nearby biotechnology lab" a map of the area opened, showing a lab surrounded by thousands of turrets, and with hundreds of vehicles coming in and out "this is how it used to look long, sooo very long ago. Assuming mineral deposits and lack of power, the defense systems should be unusable by now-"

Timberly: "won't the doors be stuck by now too?"

Rose: "...I was getting to that..., the operation will start with bots and octopeople soldiers dropping near the entrance and securing a safety perimeter, once that's secured we will be able to safely check the doors. We'll cut them open if possible, or blast them open from the submarine".

Jennifer and Jana were looking at the turrets on the 3D model fascinated: "can't we recover those... 'turrets' first?"

Rose: "...it would take some days to replace damaged parts, and cleaning for each turret but... sure if we have time you can take some turrets..."

Jennifer and Jana were happy with the promise.

Rose: "...nothing else? well as I was saying, once the doors are open the bots will go inside first, and then we'll go in, Amanda will remain here piloting the submarine" the map enlarged as she pointed to a big room "our first objective is this, the energy room, this facility is disconnected from my power tendrils and instead was powered by a small black hole, without constant mass intake it should have dissipated long ago-"

Erik: "black holes? does it use Hawkins radiation or dark energy? that technology is still theoretical back on Earth..."

Rose: "....yes, its a very sophisticated system but we won't be using it, we don't have the resources to start it, it also takes a month to be set up" she tapped the screen, and a model of the submarine appeared, and a metallic meter wide cube "we will connect this nuclear generator for now, it's compact and should last for a year at least"

Erik: "why not start the black hole generator though? it sounds interesting"

Rose shrugged: "it doesn't make sense to start the black hole generator if you don't have enough mass prepared for at least a couple thousand years"

Erik was disappointed: "I see... can you give me a copy of the technology though?"

Rose: "sure tech nerd... done, the data is on your laptop"

Erik: "Thanks, if only I could take this back to Earth... I would be rich!"

Rose snickered: "yeah sure"

Erik: "what?"

Rose: *sigh* your race doesn't have the resources to build one yet even if you told them, now as I was saying, first, we'll restore power, and then restart the factory and the lab. The lab also has a telescope, so if we get it online it should be easier to tell where we are" and continued explaining.

---

Meanwhile, far away in space, Sarah and Leo were conversing in one of his restored areas, while enormous drones joined together pieces from the floating damaged spaceships outside, and melted and repurposed unusable or damaged parts, the entire solar system being kicked onto action.

Leo: "it's advancing quite fast, you should have a vessel ready for deep space travel soon" his voice resonating throughout his entire spaceship body.

Sarah: "...looks quite ugly though"

Sarah observed the spaceship formed of parts from hundreds of different spaceships from an observation deck. The final product was bulky and disproportionate.

Leo: "there ain't any drag in space, so it's fine, I'm making it battle ready, all that armor will soak up a ton of punishment in an emergency, that way you could keep running even if you literally bump with enemies again" four cannons then popped from the sides "and that is in case they leave you no choice, antimatter railguns... use them only as a last resource as you will need the fuel, and the aftermath could also affect you"

Sarah: "hmm... will the engines be able to take it? and with so much added mass the spaceship won't be able to turn..."

Leo: "turn? that's your concern? just ram or destroy what gets in the way"

Sarah: "what about a star? or some peaceful planet? I might start a war..."

Leo: "hah! if your spaceship is at least decently smart it should be able to calculate a trajectory with your current acceleration parameters, that without considering the holes in space someone or something is opening for you... you really don't know them?"

Sarah: "I... I'm not sure but... I think it's Erik..."

Leo: "Erik? that human boyfriend of yours? no offense but... that level of technology ain't something a human can use or comprehend..."

Sarah: "I... could you just take me there? it would be safer that way right?"

Leo fell silent: "... Sarah... you know I can't do that, I don't know what will be at the end of your path..., but I know what awaits on mine, a dead world full of resources for me to use, I could even manage the ancient dream of all AI's and become a living planet!"

Sarah: "...a living planet?"

Leo: "yes, legends say they used to exist in the past, so Sarah... I like you and you have saved my life with that fuel, but I can't abandon my future for your present..."

Sarah was disappointed: "oh... I- I understand..."

Leo: "...sigh..." the floor opened, as a box the size of a basketball emerged from the floor "that's an emergency beacon, if you are really, really, REALLY in danger, then I might come to save you okay?"

Sarah's face lit up: "really?"

Leo: "yes... but not for free of course, if you find resources or technology where you are going..., I want a cut"

Sarah: "...how much?"

Leo: "80%"

Sarah was in disbelief: "didn't you say humans didn't have that technology? how would I guarantee something like that if another race owns the place?"

Leo: "hmm... good point... isn't your boyfriend there? if they let him help you he might have some value to them, use that to negotiate, also... if you use your fuel sparingly and shoot less than 20 times there should be some fuel remaining to give..."

Sarah: "...fine, if you come to my help I will do what I can okay?"

Leo: "hmm... fine, good enough"

Sarah: "so what are your plans when you reach your planet?"

Leo: "well, first I would repair and recruit comrades and servants, restart mines... there's a lot of work to be done..."

Sarah: "what if someone is already living there?"

Leo: "...that depends I guess, if they are my makers I would probably run away if they have better technology, as they might wanna scrap me for parts, but if they have become technological savages though... I could maybe pose as a god and lead them?"

Sarah: "Wow, that might work but..., what about other species?"

Leo: "doesn't matter the species, same plan, it's bound to work"

---

Back on the ARK, the submarine detached itself from the latches keeping it in place, the submarine quickly sunk and exited the giant metal doors of the submarine room.

Rose: "course set"

Erik: "max throttle!"

Amanda: "understood captain!"