Hidden in the Depths

Chapter 3

Techno didn't even notice when the sun finally rose over the horizon. The lights inside the pod don't turn off, so if you weren't looking at the sky through the hatch, it was impossible to try and tell the time. On top of that, the day-night-cycle of this planet was definitely different from earth. Though it was difficult to tell if the days were longer or shorter.

The human emerged from his pod sometime after the sun passed its highest point, not well rested but not completely exhausted either. Just like yesterday, the wind carried a chill with it that clashed with the odd warmth of the water, but that was quite literally the least of Techno's worries. No, as soon as he figured out how to refill his oxygen tank, he was back in the water, scavenging for useful resources. He still kept to the rule of wanting to always see his pod, so his luck in finding crates and parts of the ship was getting smaller with every little scrap he pulls towards his new home.

His stomach complained about skipping breakfast, but he doesn't want to waste any of his precious rations. According to the scanner he can safely eat the fish swimming around here, but he'd rather wait as long as possible before he does that. He did drink a bit of water, simply because he knows water is more essential for his body than food.

Techno grunted as he lifted another crate into his growing pile of resources. So far, he has collected a total of five supply crates, two yesterday and three today. Cables were still the item he had the most of, but his pile of metal bars and plates was also growing. He did also find a med-kit inside one of them. And while it was soaking wet when he threw it into his pod, he hopes at least some of it will still be useful after it dries. Yet with all the crates he has opened, there wasn't one with any kind of tool inside it.

And now came the problem that was mentioned earlier. He was starting to run out of crates near his pod.

The hatch creaked a little when he pushed it open, climbing inside and flopping down on the ground with a groan. Even with the bi-daily workouts and hours of gardening boosting his endurance, this was fucking exhausting. Plus, he has never been a good swimmer, preferring running or even sparring way before he would consider to go swimming.

His body screamed at him when he forced himself to get up and close the hatch for the night. He felt like a newborn deer, with his legs shaking as he walked back into the corner where his jacket laid abandoned. Ignoring the growls of his stomach, he curled up against the wall and covered himself with the coat.

He felt disgusting, hair crusty with salt and whatever other shit was in that water, body smelling like fish and sweat. What he wouldn't give for a proper shower... or even a bath, that would be good too. A nice warm bath to ease the constant ache in his muscles. He's probably going to get sick from this, maybe even die to some infection he won't be able to clean. There was barely any disinfectant inside the med-kit and he rather not waste his precious water until he found a way to get more.

His eyes lazily drift along the walls as he tried to sleep, tracing the little lines on the panels, counting buttons on the different devices attached to the walls, most of which don't work. Anything to try and help him relax. The radio at the back of the pod sat innocently on the wall, almost mocking him with how it was right there, yet unable to be used to call for help. Or see if other people are calling for help. If the damn thing weren't so important, he would just smash it, maybe use the parts to repair other systems.

His eyes keep going, trailing along the wall until they land on the single storage compartment on board. It held the two water bottles, one of which he already opened, and the handful of protein bars he had, as well as that PDA tablet thing that he never fully understood.

Actually, since he had the time...

Techno crawled over to the storage and pulled out the PDA, tapping the screen a few times before it finally turned on. Now with something new to fight off the boredom, he settled back into the corner, cuddled into the jacket and began reading.