-Shipwrecked- (Sci-fi, open)

[☪ℓυηαя∂яσρ☪]

Rikimaru shook their head at Theo, then listened to Icarus grimly.
They hated this planet. They wanted to go home. They wanted Reinen back.
Monty pinned his ears back as Rikimaru looked at him. He could tell his master was distraught but didn't know why. He wished he could speak people.
Rikimaru looked back to Reinen with sad, quiet eyes.

[Jeydon]

Icarus awaited the Captain's decision anxiously. No matter what Theo decided, he had to go through with it. At first, Icarus had though he hadn't told the Captain about this option because he was afraid it would affect Theo's judgement. Now, though, he realised that the second, subconscious reason was because Icarus had been afraid he wouldn't be able to carry out whatever plan of action Theo decided to take. If he chose to wake Reinen up, would Icarus be able to live with himself knowing that Reinen could have survived, but had been sentenced to death by Icarus when he woke him up? If the Captain chose to let Reinen sleep and hope things would get better, but then things didn't, would Icarus be able to live with the guilt of not letting the Captain speak with his son one last time, even though the Captain had wanted Reinen to stay asleep? If Theo chose to let Reinen sleep and he did live, but suffered from disabilities due to the brain damage, would Icarus even be able to look at Reinen and see what he had done by not being able to help him? His mind so clouded with doubt, Icarus failed to see any possible good outcome. So plagued with anxiety, something very rare in this man, Icarus had to force himself to look up at the Captain and meet his gaze.

[Black Dreamscape]

ALEC

"Well, seeing as we both suffer from this common ailment called "being electronic", I'm pretty sure we aren't crossing this thing anytime soon. I say we double back and check out another tunnel, or maybe get this stuff to the humans for analysis." As he spoke, Alec swiveled in place and started down the way they'd come, waving Minerva over. He was a little curious about what mysteries the rest of the tunnel system held, but the strange qualities of the substance had piqued his interest even more. Maybe it was something that didn't even exist in the Milky Way galaxy? That was probable, most planets humans landed on yielded new discoveries.

[InfectedHau]

"Well," Minerva said, "I'm not detecting any kind of decay in it, though that doesn't really mean much. Scanners are shot to hell, this stuff could be rusting me from the inside out and I probably wouldn't notice. It could probably sit while we finish exploring, though. You're point man on this adventure, it's up to you." Turning on the spot, Minerva followed after Alec, flicking her lights back on. This was fun, she'd never explored much before. It was kinda hard to explore a ship when the complete schematics were downloaded into one's memory banks. For the first time in her life, Minerva was experiencing intellectual stimulation. Everything before this had been a simple matter of looking up the correct procedure in her data banks, now she had to actually think. She liked the feeling.

As the pair of AI left the room, neither noticed the ripples moving slowly across the surface of the lake.

[Black Dreamscape]

ALEC

The AI backtracked through the tunnels, wishing he could still connect to the Internet. Honestly, he'd been taking easy access of a civilization's worth of information for granted, and it was coming back to bite him now. On the ship's mainframe, Alec had made a habit of periodically deleting information from his folders to free up space and make programs run more smoothly. He hadn't expected to be cut off from his freely available databanks, nor that he would ever need information on, say, the chemical compositions of liquids. At least the extra space was convenient now, when he could save every bit of data collected in the caverns of this alien planet. Now only if there was someone who could make any sense of it...

The tunnels widened out, and Alec recognized the familiar turnoff point where the atmospheric readings had suddenly dropped. "Wanna check out tunnel #2 over here?" he asked his companion, tapping the wall between the two passageways. Minerva had entrusted him with decision making, though, making it more of a rhetorical question. Alec swerved into the tunnel he had indicated and kept going straight on ahead.

[☪ℓυηαя∂яσρ☪]

Rikimaru said nothing. They had no input in Theo's decision and therefore had no right to say anything. Though personally they wanted to not care about the situation, they were borderline-forced to. Reinen might be dying. And they had taken advantage of his weakened state to... to... well, they had taken advantage of him, that's all. They were a horrible person and hated themself for what they had done. Reinen had to live. He had to. They would never forgive themself if he died.
How long had they been with him after his injury? An hour? Plenty of time to notice just how gravely he was injured and get him the proper health care he needed. And they had been the one to put him there on that table in the med bay where he sustained his injury. If they hadn't just dumped him there like damaged goods he might still be okay. They should have found him when they heard they were going to crash and get him to safety; that would have been better than leaving him to lie there trapped like some useless meat.
A single tear trailed down Rikimaru's face.

[Jeydon]

Waiting anxiously for Theo's response, Icarus found himself glancing over at Rikimaru. Despite having worked alongside them on the Zodiac, Icarus didn't think he knew the second in command all that well. Did Rikimaru know Reinen well? How would this situation affect them? Icarus had handed over the decision to Theo without even considering how the answer would affect anyone else of the crew in the slightest. Though logically Icarus knew telling the Captain about this possibility had been the right thing to do, Icarus now found himself doubting his decision to tell Theo. As the only acting medical officer, it had been Icarus' duty to inform the Captain of every option, however Icarus now wondered if refraining from telling Theo would have been a better choice. Putting a decision about Reinen's faith in the man's father's hands could potentially destroy the Captain. By telling Theo about the alternative to letting Reinen sleep, Icarus had forced the Captain to choose between speaking to his son and sending him to his death, or waiting in doubt while his son slowly slipped away. Icarus wasn't a psychologist, but he knew that such a decision couldn't be good for the subject's mentality.

[InfectedHau]

"Lead on, leaderbot," Minerva said, kicking up her lights again. She felt the mystery liquid sloshing around in her internal storage tank, and once again wondered what it was. It seemed to glow on its own, was it radioactive? If it was Bioluminescent, was it organic? Why was it there specifically, on a planet with what seemed to have almost no liquid present on its surface? "Wonder if the humans could drink that stuff?" she wondered aloud.

Back in the recently vacated room, the mysterious fluid continued its machinations. The rippling continued as it twisted and warped, currennts flowing outward from the point where Minerva had touched it. It moved almost like a living being, recoiling from the point of contact. The ripples began to lose form, becoming less circular and more irregular. They began to move towards the center of the lake, forming a shape that any human would easily recognize.

[Rudigoat]

"Fix him." Theo's mouth spoke. His mind was silent. His voice sounded like a stranger's speaking from far away. He stood mechanically, barely registering his surroundings. This wasn't happening. This was some kind of nightmare, or the result of some sort of extreme-case training scenario, right? The mission would never have failed this badly, no one was really hurt or lost. It was all incomprehensible.
He needed to leave. The air in the shelter was suddenly far too heavy. He stalked out the door, pausing briefly to repeat his order. "Fix him."

The win felt good on his face. His legs carried him forward, but his mind was too overwhelmed to stop them. His robotic strides carried him through the ocean of swaying grasses to the wreckage of the ship. He had no idea why he'd come back or what he was hoping to find, but he needed something to do. It was better than doing nothing.

[Jeydon]

Icarus opened his mouth to reply, however said nothing, cut short as Theo left. A flicker of shock danced across Icarus' expression. He hadn't expected the captain to react that way. Icarus wasn't entirely sure what he had been expecting, but not that. After a second longer of silence, despite the captain's absence, Icarus nodded, turning back to Reinen. After a moment of staring down at his patient, Icarus realised that there was nothing he could do at the moment. He would need to return to the ship and gather more equipment, however first Icarus needed to spend some time prioritising the rest of the crew, who had a better chance of surviving. Turning away from Reinen, Icarus strode briskly out of the shelter, pausing as he exited to search for Theo. Spotting him, Icarus hesitated for a moment, wondering if it would be best to leave the captain be at the moment. Deciding against delaying, Icarus made his way up to Theo, hoping that he wouldn't take too long and could leave the captain alone soon.
"Sir, I need your permission to administer a medication to the crew. It's just a nutrient compound, to ensure they stay as healthy as possible, but since there's nothing immediately wrong with them, making them not my official patients, I still need your permission. It's protocol," Icarus explained.