The chill of the freezing water was barely a concern as Lara swam deeper and deeper, her flippers propelling her along at a comfortable but determined pace. She ducked under spiraling branches of coral and squeezed through gaps in the walls protruding from the sea floor. As she reached a thicket of tall swaying seaweed, she stopped, the suddenness of which whipped her ponytail around her in the water.

She had found it, the thing she was looking for.

Carefully she pulled the scanner from her pack, and pointed the lens at a bug-eyed fish swirling around the plants. 

What are you?

The scanner buzzed and whistled as it evaluated the creature, before beeping and flashing an answer on the screen.

“A Peeper , huh? Indeed.”

“ I could have told you that,” Jill’s voice huffed in her earpiece.

Lara rolled her eyes, stowing her scanner and admiring the beautiful yet frantic swim patterns of the little creature. 

“I was determined to find out for myself,” Lara explained, turning to face the direction of their base, and Jill’s probable location.

“Besides,” she continued matter-of-factly, “Perhaps he could have had the virus.”

“Did he have the virus?” Jill cut in, not missing a beat.

Lara’s eyes narrowed, “No.”

Jill’s strained laugh cut through, “Are you doing anything constructive?”

“I am surveying our territory and the creatures therein.”

“Mhm, and are you going to help me fix the base?”

Lara chuckled and swam back to her floating seaglide, turning on the little engine and preparing to swim back to the base, “I thought you had it under control?”

“That’s when I thought you were swimming off to do something important.”

“So I suppose you don’t want any of the copper wiring I found on my swim over here?”

Jill sighed, “Did you grab that immediately as an excuse for when I inevitably yelled at you for dicking around out there?”

“Are you yelling?” Lara inquired, putting on an air of innocence, “I thought you were simply giving constructive feedback.”

“Get your ass back over here and help me construct our stupid base.”

“Yes dear,” Lara replied cheerfully, picking up speed in the direction of the base.

Jill groaned over the radio.

Before long, the underwater base came into view. It was a simple round room from the outside, but there had been nothing simple about its construction. From pumping water to siphoning air, to making sure it was braced against solid ground, the entire process had dragged on. Had they been equipped with a submersible this project would have gone much smoother, but the remoteness of this place had made bringing much immediately off the table. Somehow supplies to construct an entire underwater room had become more feasible than deploying from a submarine or other livable vehicle.

Jill was puttering around the outside, drilling something into place.

Lara swam up to her and smiled when Jill turned to acknowledge her. Jill smiled a bit in return. 

“Copper wire?” Jill asked, extending her hand.

“I’m doing quite well, thank you, how are you?”

Jill sighed and rolled her eyes, but her smile lingered, “How are you?”

“I’m quite well thank you, and you?”

“Tired. Copper wire, please?”

Lara handed over the spool of wire and Jill groaned in relief, “Thank god, we really needed this.”

“How's it coming?”

“Nearly finished,” Jill explained, “Just having some minor tech issues. Whenever the door opens then closes, the scanner shuts off and I can’t figure out what’s shorting it.”

“Shall I have a look inside?”

“Yeah, actually, if you go in, tell me how things work on the inside?”

“On it,” Lara replied, making for the hatch entrance to the base.

Lara opened the door and felt herself get rushed into the chamber before the bulkhead as the space filled with the seawater. Closing the door behind her, Lara pulled a switch to drain the water. The process was so fast now it impressed her each time. When the chamber was dry, Lara pulled the large wheel on the bulkhead door to the right and wrenched the door open, allowing her to step into their base.

The space was modest and functional, but to Lara’s surprise it was fairly comfortable with Jill. Lara was no stranger to roughing it, and she was finding that any space could become cozy with her partner, but it was always pleasant to find a bit of domesticity in the farthest reaches of the most brutal lands out there. 

Lara left behind their living quarters and went down a ladder into their scanner room. The screen for managing the room was flickering and Lara stepped closer to inspect it.

“You in yet?” Jill asked.

“I am. The screen is flickering.”

“Fuck,” Jill hissed, “I thought that was gonna fix it.”

Lara began tinkering with the console. 

“Place gives me the creeps,” Jill groaned, then the sound of a drill followed from outside the base, rattling the wall behind Lara.

“This place specifically or the ocean?” Lara inquired, popping the back of the monitor off to expose the wires.

“All of it. I’ve had some…bad experiences with sea creatures. Sharks, mostly,” Jill explained, “But there’s something about this place that makes me feel… watched .”

Lara nodded in agreement, as though Jill could see. 

“I’ve had my own…bad experiences with sea creatures, myself. Eels. Sharks. Crocodiles. Squid,” she paused, “I’m sure I’m forgetting something.”

Jill stopped drilling. “And all that…doesn’t unnerve you out here?”

“Mm,” Lara shrugged, “I don’t think there’s a terrain out there that hasn’t tried mercilessly to kill me,” she tipped her head to the side and snapped a few wires out of place, “I like the challenge.”

“And that…feeling?” Jill pressed, “It’s like there’s always eyes on me…”

“I’m an exhibitionist,” Lara smirked to herself.

Silence.

Lara turned to face the wall as if she could see Jill through it as she waited for her partner’s reaction. When none came, she wondered if she touched a nerve somehow.

“I’m kidding–sort of. I just–”

“Shh! I hear something.”

Lara hushed instantly, straining for whatever sound could have driven such a frightened response from her partner.

“There,” Jill replied, “Oh, FUCK! He sees me!”

Lara dropped the panel onto the ground with a clang and sprinted for the ladder, scaling it immediately and heading for the door. Bursting through the front hatch she barely registered if the base door behind her had shut before she tried pulling open the exterior hatch. The overheard speaker blared at her for her attempt and she was forced to wait for the sound of air sealing behind her.

“SHIT! FUCK !” Jill yelled.

“What is it?” Lara called, frantically turning the knob to open the hatch.

“One of those giant lobster fucks !”

Fuck.

—

Outside the base, a large Chelicerate was barreling towards Jill. She pulled a flare from her pack and ignited it, swimming frantically towards the bottom of the base to find some sort of cover. The Chelicerate did not seem remotely deterred by the flare and instead picked up speed, as if seeing this as a challenge. 

Jill pulled out her bootknife, bracing for the creature’s attack.

Its jaws opened wide and it swam right for Jill.

She gritted her teeth, preparing to fight to her last breath against this creature. 

If you want to eat me , Jill cursed, You’re gonna have to really chew!

Moments before impact, a large blast exploded on the side of the Chelicerate’s beaklike face, erupting a deafening thud in the water.

Jill felt the pulse and turned to identify the origin.

Lara was in the water, barely outside the hatch and holding a large mounted weapon over her shoulder.

The creature shriveled a bit from its wounds, but turned to Jill to consider its next move.

Jill roared and lunged at the creature, inspiring it to think better of further attack.

Reeling back, The Chelicerate doubled over itself and turned, fleeing in the direction it came.

“You okay?” Lara asked when the creature was finally gone.

Jill, heart thudding in her ears, nodded affirmatively, “Yeah. Thanks for the save.”

“Of course. Glad we have this,” Lara huffed a laugh, “Couldn’t imagine coming down here without a big gun.”

“I’d ask where the hell you were keeping that around here,” Jill laughed, catching her breath, “But if there’s one thing I’ve learned about you, it’s that you’re always packing.”

Lara smiled knowingly, “Aren’t I ever?”

Jill huffed a deep breath, trying to shake off the encounter with the creature. Those things were going to be trouble. If one felt brave enough to get this close in such shallow water, others might. Jill worried they’d have to take the fight to them. This base wasn’t as fortified as she’d like it to be. 

“C'mon,” Lara prompted, “Let’s get inside for now.”

Lara was right. Time to recover from that. The scanner could wait. Securing this place and each other should come first.

She dreaded what all they’d find down here. A virus mercenaries wanted to weaponize was bad enough, the virus being deep beneath the surface of a frostbitten ocean was even worse, holding creatures of type and proportion they had never seen? 

“Hey Lara,” Jill called swimming after her partner.

Lara turned over her shoulder.

Jill bit her lip, considering, “What was that about exhibitionism?”