{ breathe }
unedited
1.2k words
— — — — —
"Highly concentrated biomass."
"Called it."
"So, petrified super poop?"
"Uh, yes exactly."
The four kids had made their way to the Wantanabe's Jupiter in order for the rock to be tested.
"Okay, excuse me, I'm washing my hands now." Penny blurted out, walking towards the near-by sink.
"I was thinking-" Will started and smiled when Hiroki and (y/n) finished the sentence for him.
"The waste converters."
"Every Jupiter has them, and since it can turn human waste into biofuel-" Will continued.
"It is possible."
"Wait didn't mom say that it will take at least three years to produce enough waste to launch a Jupiter." Judy asked, picking up supplies.
"Yes but didn't you see that cave? It was filled with the same kind of waste that we thought were rocks." (y/n) exclaimed as Will backed her up.
"Exactly, we don't have to produce it. Whatever's been in that cave has been doing it forever."
"Okay, just so I'm clear. We spent the night in what is essentially an alien toilet?" Penny's face dropped.
Everyone ignored her and focused on Hiroki's words. "You better hope that whoever used it is no longer there." Everyone else's smiled dropped. "This sample contains digestive material from every creature I've logged on this planet. Whatever created it. It's on top of the food chain. An apex predator."
Judy sighed. "Anybody got a better idea? The Resolute leaves in nine hours."
"Dad may not even have that long." Will commented, refusing to admit that his father may be gone.
"Will." Penny looked at the boy, understanding his overwhelmed emotions.
"Let's get on the radio. We'll need all the help we can get." Hiroki stated while Judy got straight to work.
"All right. While you guys work on that, I'm gonna go find mom."
"Wait, please it's dangerous. Your mother would want you to stay here." Hiroki begged as she shrugged his comment off.
"Well, then I guess it's a good thing I take after my dad." As she left, Penny trailed after her, leaving the three to discuss their course of action to gather more of the biomass.
-----
Entering back into the cave, it was dark, wet, and much more moist then it was before.
"This way." Penny led, hovering her flashlight everywhere. "I don't remember it being this warm.
Taking of a small chunk of the biomass, Hiroki smelled it.
"What do you think?" Will asked.
"I think we'll need a lot more."
Victor walked further, discovering a narrow entrance that dived further into the cave. "What about over here?"
"I don't know, we only went this far."
They stepped in and started walking, they traced their flashlight for each step they took, needing the light to see where they were going.
Once they reached the bigger space, a man asked out loud. "Is there enough down here?"
"Let's find out." Taking out a small flint, he lit the torch to light up the room and through it deeper in to reveal that big amounts of poop piles.
"Woah, incredible." Hiroki said, but no one understood him as he talked in Japanese.
"We are literally full of shit." Penny joked.
Victor looked around. "Looks like we're alone, that's a good start."
"Let's hope it stays that way." (y/n) muttered, eyes flashing from wall to wall for any particular movement.
"Should we take a closer look?" Victor asked Hiroki.
"Yeah. Stay here, just in case." Hiroki motioned towards the three kids as they obeyed and let the adults do the work.
As they were walking, Victor stopped in his tracks. Aiming his flashlight down, it revealed poop, but instead of it being hard, it was squishy.
"What is it?" The Japanese man asked.
"It's fresh." They pointed their lights up when a voice boomed from behind them.
"Should we bring everybody else in here-" Penny was shushed as they all motioned their light upwards. Revealing bat-like creatures hanging from the ceiling.
"This just keeps getting better and better." (y/n) sarcastically whispered.
The group slowly and silently made their way out of the cave, joining the rest of the remaining survivors.
"So there's some good news and some bad news." Victor announced, taking his gloves off and shoving them in his pocket.
"The good news is there's enough biomass to get our Jupiter's off this planet." Hiroki stated, thinking that everyone could use some good before the bad.
"And the bad news?" His daughter asked.
"We have to break it apart and haul it out of there without making a sound."
"But that's impossible." Diane pointed out.
"I don't understand, why do we have to be so quiet?" A man from the crowd asked. Hiroki and Victor nervously glanced at each other. "Well uh, there's some worse news."
A voice spoke from the crowd. "There are creatures sleeping inside the cave and we don't want to wake them up." Victor glared at the (h/c) girl. "What? We might as well just tell them."
"If there are things that'll eat us then why would we go in there in the first place." A man in front of the girl spoke.
"Would you rather die trying get off this planet or get your ass burned from the sun?" The adult man stared down at the kid before nodding.
As the sound of agreements spread through the crowd, Victor took charge once more, diving the survivors into groups and heading towards the cave.
Penny looked at her brother, seeing that he was still trying to make communication with their father. She walked over to him and spoke softly, "Will, everyone's going up and (y/n)'s already there, come on."
"Uh, yeah, I'll be right there." Penny sighed but left him alone, walking back up the mountain.
Victor was about to head up as well before he saw what Will was trying to do. "You still trying to contact your father?"
"I just want to let him know that we have a plan."
"Had any response?"
"Not yet."
"Yunno, I used to have one of those when I was a boy. My friends and I used to send secret messages back and forth." Will awkwardly smiled at the man. "Will, I want you to know that when we get back to the Resolute, you and your sisters and (y/n) are welcome to stay with us for as long as you need."
"Thanks, but that won't be necessary."
"I just mean to say that-"
"My mom will be back soon. And once all the fuel's ready, we're gonna find my dad and save him."
"It's good to think positively, but don't let that keep you from thinking rationally. We need you here, we need your head here. Helping people who still have a chance." Victor took his bag off his shoulder and sat on the opposite box to Will.
"You know Will, I wish your dad was here, I do. I'm sorry he isn't, he was trying to do what he thought was best just like you are now. But I always tell my son that there are times to follow your heart and times to follow your head."
"Which one do you think my dad was following when he risked his life to save everyone? It takes a certain type of person to do that."
"Yeah. Yes it does, but if he waited another day he wouldn't have had to. You know the history books are full of sorties of heroic men and their sacrifices, but do you know who writes those stories? The survivors."
Will looked down to the dirt, saying nothing.
"I'll see you inside."
𖨆