Coda-9994 jolted awake. Cold, dark water surrounded him. He looked down and saw the remnants of his vessel sinking to the bottom of a void. Certain that he was dreaming, Coda bit his tongue in an attempt to wake himself up. When nothing happened, he came to the slow realization that it was all real. He had landed on Ouroboros.
The whale rushed to the surface and took a massive breath. He lingered for a moment, then raised his head out of the water to look around. It must have been night on the planet, because the sky was dark except for the trillions of stars and two blue-tinted moons. Two moons? He wondered what this planet's sun looked like, but for that, he had to wait until morning.
He lowered his head back under the water. Tiny flares of light flashed around him as he swam. He tried to remember what the explanation was for things glowing in the ocean. Bioluminescence, typically, but this was not Earth. This was Ouroboros. The laws of this world were beyond all Earth knowledge.
He glided through the water, carving wispy trails of light with his flippers. A message showed up on his eye-screen. Turn on headlight?
He turned it on, and what he saw both startled and amazed him. Tiny, flashing plankton swarmed around his light, then scattered as something else approached. It had a segmented shell and long, bristled limbs, which it shoved into its mouth every few seconds. Filter-feeding, Coda presumed. He stared at the creature in wonder and awe for as long as he could keep himself still. It was his first time seeing another living ocean creature in the flesh.
The creature hovered in front of his light for a while, then darted off into the depths. As Coda processed what he had seen, he decided that perhaps this planet was not so terrible after all. He wondered how beautiful it would be in daylight. Yet, despite his amazement, his heart still longed for Earth.
His heart would always be with Earth, no matter how twisted and ruined it became in human hands. Earth was home and always would be. He could not fathom how humans could destroy such a beautiful and sacred place, then, instead of picking up the pieces, they wanted a new planet to plunder and ruin. He wondered about Jim back on Earth. Did Jim even know that he was alive? Was he still there at the facility? Waiting?
He stopped swimming and asked his headset if there were any messages. After a couple minutes, it spoke back to him. New messages found. Play audio?
Coda affirmed.
Dear Coda,
Honestly, I don't know what to say. No words can express how much you've changed my life. Without you, I would never have been the man I am today. Because of you, I finally ditched the anthropocentrism that I accepted for far too long. It is with profound sorrow that I say goodbye. Know that I will fight with everything I've got to make sure that your story never repeats.
By the time you receive this, I imagine you'll be exploring the superocean of Ouroboros. I hope you find wonder and delight in everything you see. I hope you indulge your curiosity in ways you were never able to before. Enjoy every little thing. I'll never forget you, pal. No matter what.
Sincerely,
James Morris
The whale shut his eyes and whimpered. The message was dated the day of his departure, but he had only seen it now. So much could have changed in that year and a half of silence, but here was a tiny memento of the Jim he loved. There were more messages along with that one, but he opted to listen another time. There was only so much his mind could take in the first few hours on a new planet.
.........
Hey buddy,
If all goes well for you, I'm hoping to hear back from you soon. It's been so long, and I don't know how much longer I can take. It's unbearable to not know where you are, or if you're even alive...
An alert popped up on Jim's computer screen before he could finish the message.
CODA-9994 HAS LANDED ON OUROBOROS ALIVE
Jim leaped up from his desk. Elation coursed through him as he ran out his office door. Immediately upon exiting, he wrinkled his nose. The hallway smelled like rancid cat food. Someone was microwaving fish in their office. He gagged, then sank back against the wall, laughing like it was the funniest thing ever. Coda had made it to Ouroboros. Now was not the time to be bothered by poor office microwave etiquette.
He took his phone out and dialed Amelia's number. "Hello, Amy. Did you get the news? Coda landed! He made it!"
"Wait! Slow down. What's this?"
Jim repeated himself a little slower.
"Fantastic! Let's give him a few days before asking about his findings, though. Sound good?"
"Great! Bye!" Jim hung up returned to his office. The stink of reheated fish wafted in as he took a seat behind his desk. He was back in his tiny office, but that had been the least of his problems in the past year and a half. Jim wiped the algae off the front glass of his shrimp tank, then checked his computer again. No new messages. He took his phone out and texted Ice Five's current number.
His flight arrived.
Three dots appeared at the bottom of the screen. Fiver spent an excruciatingly long moment typing a response. Come to L's tonight. If questioned, request Vitamin K and sildenafil.
Jim nodded and put his phone away. The clock on his wall read four-thirty PM. Only half an hour left for that day. If he had to admit to liking anything about not working with Coda-9994, it was that he could go home at five o'clock on most days, and there was far less variability in his schedule. However, he did find the consistency somewhat boring.
When he left his office, it was, somehow, already the thick of rush hour. Cars, buses, motorcycles, and pedestrians swarmed the streets like ants around a drop of spilled syrup. By the time he finally got his car out of the parking garage, what should have been a ten-minute drive to Larkin Variety and Pharmacy took twenty-five minutes instead. He arrived fuming with suppressed road rage.
The person behind the counter wasn't Linda, but an unfamiliar employee with earbuds shoved in deep and turned up high, blissfully unaware of Jim coming up to the counter. Finally, he smacked the counter to get the employee's attention. "Sorry about that," Jim apologized quickly, "but may I speak with Linda?"
As if on cue, Linda came out of the bathroom. "Hey, what'd I say about them earbuds? Take those out right now! Oh, hello Jim. How may I help you?"
"I'm looking for Vitamin K and sildenafil," he said.
Both she and the other employee burst out laughing. "Oh, Jim, you really have no clue. I know what you really want, but it's still hilarious."
"What's so funny about...?" Jim started.
"Great! It means you've never had to use it! Sildenafil's the generic name for...you know what? Don't even think about it too hard. And don't look it up, either. Blame Fiver for that one, 'cause I had nothin' to do with it." Linda blotted at her eyes and tried to stop laughing. "Follow me."
She opened a door marked EMPLOYEES ONLY, revealing what appeared to be nothing other than a mundane cleaning closet. Then she moved a large box aside, revealing a hidden stairway. "As you can see, we've made a few renovations."
"Thank you, ma'am," said Jim. He climbed down the stairs, and Linda hid the entrance behind him. Chris, Sofia, and a few others whose names Jim still didn't know sat around the table, playing Egyptian Ratscrew with Fiver. Tegan sat with Roman against the wall, tutoring him on what appeared to be math problems. Nearby stood a man in a blue jacket, who waved as Jim entered. He raised his eyebrows. What was an ICA Special Security Force officer doing here?
"Dr. Morris?" the officer asked, extending his hand for a shake.
"Jim is fine. You?"
"Matthew." They shook hands. "Honestly, I'm surprised Ice Five let me in. Considering the blue jacket and all."
"And honestly, I'm surprised you even had the guts to try it, given what went down last year. If I were Fiver, I wouldn't trust anyone who so much as wore blue jeans, much less the blue jacket. How long have you been doing this?" Jim asked.
"I've been in contact with Gregor Faustus for a while. I could be considered a family friend, I suppose. I helped Roman while he was in custody. Nice kid," said Matthew. "Admittedly, I haven't actually met Ice Five until tonight."
"How?" Jim asked. "I met them on my second day."
Ice Five interrupted them from over at the table. "Long time, no see, Jim! I was starting to wonder if you'd forgotten us."
"Yeah? Is that why the first thing you did upon receiving my message was to set me up for embarrassment?" he demanded.
"Everyone got that memo, Jim. Even the ladies," Fiver assured him.
Jim rolled his eyes. What was it with Fiver and making everything awkward?
Fiver's gaze drifted to Matthew. "You came to us, but do I know you?"
"You will," he said. "My name's Matthew."
Jim swallowed hard as the two shook hands. He had a gut feeling that there was something he needed to know, but didn't. He shook his head and stepped aside to where Tegan and Roman were working. He looked down at the paper in front of them and grimaced. "Long division?"
Roman clasped his hands together and shook them. "How many more, Tegan?"
"Just two. You're doing great. Can you try this problem on your own?" She tapped one with her pencil. "Yes, Jim, it's long division. Gives you bad memories, doesn't it?"
"Sure does," Jim agreed. He made no comment on the fact that Roman was learning at seventeen what Jim had learned at half that age. "How have things been going?"
"Roman, I'm going to go talk to Jim for a little bit. I'll check your work when you're done. Sound good?" Tegan asked. When the boy nodded, she stepped aside with Jim. "Do you have a gut feeling like something is horribly wrong?" she whispered.
"Why?" Jim asked.
"Never mind." Tegan scoffed at herself. "It's probably just me. Sofia always tells me I'm too suspicious anyway."
"No, wait! What do you think is going on?" he asked. "Should I be concerned?"
Before Tegan could answer, Ice Five got up from the table. "May I have your attention, everyone?"
The room fell silent.
"Thank you all for coming. We're here to discuss a plan moving forward, now that Coda-9994 has landed on Ouroboros. I think we can agree that a great deal will be decided by his eventual verdict on the habitability of that planet. If it isn't habitable for humans, then we're set. If he says otherwise, then we have an even bigger problem," said Fiver. "Any ideas?"
"I say we get in contact with WOHLF branches from other areas," Chris suggested. "There's more to the world than Hull."
"Civilian support," said Tegan.
"Leak some disturbing information from the ICA." Sofia glanced at Jim. "We have eyes there."
"Show the ugly side of it all, then?" Matthew asked. "I feel like that's easier said than done."
"You and Jim should talk," said Fiver. "Put together, I'm sure you two could come up with something. If you want, you can go in that back room."
Taking that as a cue to leave, Jim retreated into the back room. Matthew followed and closed the door behind them. He pulled his phone out and opened it to a photograph. It depicted a group of young to middle-aged adults on the dock in front of a ship. "Do you know who these people are, Jim?"
"Marine Defenders International," he answered. "Back when they existed."
"No, I meant the people specifically," said Matthew.
"No. Why do you ask?"
"Because WOHLF was originally formed by ex-Defenders. If we can find these people, they might be able to help us," Matthew explained. "Are you sure you don't know them?"
"Positive," said Jim. That wasn't entirely true, though. Someone in the picture vaguely resembled his memory of Ice Five unmasked, but he couldn't say that.
Without warning, the door opened. Roman, perhaps sneaking off to the bathroom. "Sorry," he muttered.
"Wait!" Matthew hissed, catching the boy's attention. "I have a question. Do you know any of these people?"
Roman grabbed the phone from the officer and squinted at the screen. His eyes widened. "Dad has this picture on his desk."
"Why?" they both asked.
"See her?" Roman pointed to a young woman in the photo. The name Tatiana Kevan was embroidered on her jacket. "She was my mother."