INTO THE UNKNOWN

Stelis knew the unknown.

Ever since they were a hatchling, they'd wanted to know what lay in the waters outside the dome. They'd conjured up wild stories - of sea monsters and pirates and lost cities, just waiting to be discovered. They constantly snuck away from their teachers and down to the moonpools to harass the explorers as they climbed out of their submersibles. When one of them disappeared in a hissing-serpent attack, Stelis had taped up letters on Captain Borealis' office door campaigning to be trained as their replacement, despite still being four years too young to hold a job. Unsurprisingly for those who knew the captain, she was moved by the dragonet's determination and gave them the position. And so, for twenty years now, they had been surveiling the seafloor, building a map of the murky and strange world around them.

In their thirteenth year as a pod-pilot, the Explorer-Commander passed away in his sleep. Stelis, who had set records on depth dived and area charted in a single day, was the obvious choice to replace them. They became the second ever dragon to take the helm of the Mothership, coordinate the pod-pilots, and collect their data into a map - the Big Map, projected on the Big Table. Nobody else called it that, but the massive table containing detailed records on everything Stelis had ever wanted to know, that they were now in charge of, deserved a Big Capitalized Title, in their opinion.

That was where they now stood - over the Big Map in the Mothership, floating out in a remote region of the Seagrass Plains, about a quarter of a mile southeast of a deep ravine. Data was flowing in from the pods - three in the ravine, and two in seemingly disconnected caves a thousand feet in the other direction from the Mothership.

"Pod Four, come back to base. You're running low on power." Stelis ordered over the radio.

"Yes sir! Right after I get scans on some of those fungi up ahead ..."

"Negative." Stelis inturrupted. "Return now. Fungi ain't worth risking your life in some twisting cave for."

There was an audible sigh on the other end of the line. "Yes, sir."

Stelis sighed. They were pretty sure "play it safe" was some sort of curse to the explorer boys. Granted, they'd once been one of them, willing to smash their own sub for answers, but now Stelis was responsible for all their lives. There was enough danger they couldn't control, with erupting hotspots and acid-spewing worms to leave anything they could control up to chance.

"Commander Stelis, come in." a different voice crackled through.

Only one dragon called them by title, or had a voice that dry and bored. They fumbled huriedly with the buttons, then responded, as cool as they could, "Home Base, this is Commander Stelis. I presume I'm speaking with the Captain's Secretary?"

"You would be correct. Commander, we're getting strange readings on our instruments. Something big is hovering near us. It's blocking ..."

The radio cut to another, squeakier, voice, "Stelis?"

"On the line with home. Hold." Stelis barked.

The voice only got out "Alright, but ..." before Stelis manually switched the channel back.

"... about fifty kilometers per hour. It's over a thousand meters up, but we'd still like you to check it out."

"Rodger. I'll pull in my boys and head home right away." Stelis replied, then clicked into the team outbound frequency. "Explorers, we're heading in. Home Base needs us."

Various affirmative dings came in. "What's going on?" Pod Three's pilot responded.

"Some weird readings got the Captain jumpy. Probably just another bigjaw, but she wants us to check it out."

The squeaky voice of Pod One's pilot cut back in with a fake cough, "Speaking of weird, I'm picking up a new and unusual radiation signature."

"What?" Stelis responded, "There aren't any chargefish on the sensors."

"Exactly. Nor do they migrate through this area, or anywhere between us and home - which is where the signal is coming from."

"Anyone else picking this up?" Stelis asked.

"Yeah." Pod Three.

"Indeed." Pod Two.

"Looks like it." Pod Five.

"Nope. Oh, wait, hold on, I'm looking at the wrong panel. Yeah, I've got it too." Pod Four.

Stelis clicked off their radio. "That's not good." they breathed, rubbing one set of claws over their wrist anxiously. They clicked the radio back on. "Weird. I'm sure it's just an anomaly. Pod One, keep an eye on it, alright?"

"Yes, sir." Pod One responded.

Stelis breathed out, and tried to collect themselves. After only a moment of silence, there was a chime from the comms panel. A cool computerized voice announced, "Warning! Connection with Home Base has been lost. Attempting reconnect ..."

Stelis counted four heartbeats before the voice spoke again, "Attempting reconnect ..."

Beat. Beat. Beat. Beat. "Attempting reconnect ..."

"Damn you; piece of junk!" Stelis cried, stomping over to the comms panel and firmly hitting the 'cancel' button.

"Connection attempt aborted." the machine stated obviously in its monotone voice.

Muttering to themselves about computers, Stelis wandered over to the glass bulb surrounding the command chair. They gazed out at the seemingly endless field of purple seagrass swaying serenely in the Mothership's headlights. Off to port, Pod Four's lights were already visibly approaching, flickering as swarms of dark fish passed through them. The Seagrass Plains were where Stelis had spent a good deal of their early career, and were usually a calming sight, a familiar kind of unknown. But now, their gaze drifted starboard, where the great dark mass of Mt. Kalim was visible, marking the way home. They couldn't keep from turning over possible scenarios for what might be waiting for them - including the worst.

The thump of Sub Four making contact with its lock shook Stelis from their thoughts a few minutes later. Within another minute or two, four more thumps followed. With that, Stelis grimly took the wheel and started home, moving at emergency speed.

An hour later, as the Mothership crested a red ridge, the dome came into view. But something was wrong. It was only barely visible, a slightly bluer region in the deep green, filled with the dark rises of apartment buildings.

"Where are all the lights?" Pod Four's pilot was unable to keep a quiver of fear out of their voice.

Pod One answered them, "They appear to be unpowered. I'm not even able to get a blip of radiation other than the anomaly above us - the reactor must be off."

"What about the batteries?" Pod Five asked, "Shouldn't they be good for over a day?"

"There's no electromagnetism in these waters but the background and us." Pod Three responded gruffly, "They're either dead or disconnected."

The radio erupted in static. Swearing, Stelis fiddled with the focus knob, until they were able to make out, "... Commander! Come in, Commander!"

"I'm here, Home Base. What's going on?"

"Thank ness. Dock ASAP! We're !"

"What?" Stelis called. "What?"

"Only emergency radios . Can't . We'll soon!"

"Damn." Stelis swore again, then switched back to the team frequency. "Alright guys, approaching home. Detach and dock."

A few affirmative responses, followed by mechanical thunks as the pods were released to dock in their own moonpools. Stelis' claws gripped the wheel tight as they pulled into the big dock as fast as they dared. Still, the sub needed to ascend agonizingly slowly to avoid hitting the sides. Stelis was half tempted to dive out the hatch early, but they knew more than anyone the danger of open water contact. The contamination was everywhere, and even the smallest amount getting into your body would cause you to take a one-way trip to the surface. And so, they waited until the light turned green and the hatch opened by itself, letting them into the dock. And then, they ran.

Thirty seconds later, Stelis emerged from the underground tunnel system onto the street, and into chaos. Capt. Borealis was speaking loudly on the front steps of the Spire building, the literal and governmental center of the dome, tall enough that its top floor windows looked straight out into water. In front of the captain, a crowd had gathered to listen, but they also whispered among themselves, filling the air with a low anxious rumble and making it difficult to make out what Borealis was saying. A few dragons ran back and forth throughout the square, bursting into buildings, calling out names, nearly at random.

Stelis heard the rest of the explorers padding up the concrete steps behind them, but continued to run, making their way through the crowd and up till they stood in front of the captain.

Borealis noticed him approach, and pointed him out to the crowd. "Commander Stelis is now here, and we can begin the evacuation. If you are to my left, please head into the tunnels and make your way calmly but quickly to the north docks, and they will join you shortly. If you are to my right, head to the tunnels and head calmly but quickly to the south docks. I will join you shortly."

It wasn't exactly a calm break, but it was quick, leaving Borealis and Stelis alone but for the five explorers.

"Orders, captain?" Stelis queried.

"We're evacuating and going into hiding." Borealis told them, with well-practiced confidence. "You will lead us to a secluded spot as far away as possible, as stealthily as possible. Your fellow explorers will run defense, and eventually return to the dome to check if it is safe."

Stelis thought for a moment. "I think I know a good route. I'll see you in the deep."

They turned to head back to the Mothership, then paused. "Captain?"

"Yes?"

"... you've heard the same stories I have. Do you think this is them? The Hunters?"

"I don't know." Borealis replied, but her voice wavered. Then, all her confidence dropped away, and she admitted, "Probably."

"Damn." Stelis breathed. Some part of them had hoped they were wrong, but it vanished, leaving them feeling empty but for a creeping dread. They shivered, and it wasn't from the captain's freezing breath.

"At least it was a good run while it lasted." they commented, without anything smarter to say. "... I'm gonna miss this place."

Borealis seemed to understand. She nodded. "We'll survive, though. This isn't the end." She didn't sound so sure.

There was another tense second of hard-to-put-to-words feelings, then Stelis shook their head. "Well, time's wasting. I'll see you out there." they said, snapping a salute. Borealis saluted back, the perfect image of the unshakable captain staring into the jaws of the cold sea. As they both turned and ran, Stelis hoped that it wouldn't be their last image of her.

According to the old stories, both of the large vessels had been built for tourists, as a comfortable way to reach the dome on the ocean floor. Other than repairs for upkeep, the one in the south dock was untouched, still featuring several roomy and comfortable cabins. On the Mothership, however, they had been knocked out long ago to provide storage for rations, scanning and inspection equipment, and whatever cool stuff the explorers wanted to bring back. As such, the fifty or so dragons onboard were forced to cram around heavy equipment on the upper deck and into tight locker rooms on the lower.

Immediately, Stelis assigned one dragon to find a few others with maintenance qualifications to keep an eye on the engine. They had a feeling it was not going to like this ride. Then, they settled themselves into the command chair. As the controls lit up in front of them, their nerves subsided just a bit. If there was one thing they knew how to do, it was pilot a sub.

"Comms test." they called into the radio as the Mothership began to descend.

"Receiving, loud and clear." Borealis' voice came back. It surprised Stelis a little to learn the captain knew how to pilot a sub, but then again, they thought, it seemed like there was little she couldn't do.

The other explorers radio'd in too. As the ship began to pull away from the dock, Stelis reminded everyone. "Remember to keep lights and sonar off, and keep radios on lowest power. Pods, you'll be relying on your eyes to keep us out of trouble."

The pods sent back affirmative dings.

Running the ship on its slowest and quietest speed, Stelis began to circle around the dome to rendezvous with Borealis. When she came into sight a few minutes later, they immediately turned to the west, heading for a sharp slope of black sand leading into the depths. As they left, though, they called up the view from the rear camera and put it on their own viewscreen as well as those on deck. That way, they could all watch as their dark and empty home slowly receded into the green emptiness, then behind the sandy ridge. As it vanished, it took everything most of them had ever known with it.

Only a few moments after the reflector on top of the Spire disappeared behind the ledge, there was a loud BOOM as the ship rolled violently to port. Stelis was thrown off their chair, and they heard screams echoing from belowdecks.

"Sand shadow! A whole pod of them!" Pod Three reported, and Stelis cursed. Their people needed them and their expertise; they couldn't afford to get all soppy and distracted. Sand shadows were incredibly dangerous, even to submarines, but fairly easily avoided. They were ambush predators striking from - you guessed it - the sand. Stelis pulled up hard on the wheel while jumping to emergency speed, and hoped that Borealis was doing the same. They flicked off the deck viewscreens and turned their own to the bottom camera. Indeed, there was a trio of lean black shapes underneath them, like stealth missiles with teeth, charging up towards the ship even as it gained elevation.

"What the hell?" Stelis yelled. "Pod Two! Pod Four! Move in with stunning charges!"

"Affirmative!" Pod Two replied.

"Locked and loaded." Pod Four said. "Let's fry us some sharks."

"Pod One! Pod Three! Protect the other ship!"

"Yes!" "Alright!"

A scuffle could be heard, even through the lower deck. A soft hum, followed by two hard thumps and and a sizzle. Then, another thump, followed by a sickeningly loud CRUNCH. Then, a flurry of movement, though that was drowned out by Stelis' desperate call into the radio, "Status report! Status report!"

Bits of glass and a cloud of blood could be seen floating out slowly from beneath the ship. Pod Two radioed back, "Four's been hit and is taking on water! The stunners were ineffective, but I pierced one shadow through with the mining drill, and the others have backed off."

"Damn, damn, damn." Stelis swore. "Four! Lock onto the ship! We'll get you out of there."

"I'm trying!" came a panicked call back. Stelis pushed the ship down and turned it, trying to catch the pod. Meanwhile, the cams showed the shadows were regrouping, trying to weave around Pod Two and move in for another attack.

"Shadows aren't supposed to act like this." Pod Two stated.

"You don't say!" Pod Three returned. "I thought it was perfectly normal for them to ignore all our countermeasures."

"Shut up! Something weird's going on." Pod Two yelled back. "I want to know why."

"Uh, not our biggest problem right now!" Pod Five interrupted, "Guys, check your scanners!"

"Oh shoot." collectively echoed through the radio as they saw what Pod Five had seen - two fast moving craft heading towards them from the dome, electronic in nature but bitterly cold on thermals. They could even distantly hear the rumble of engines.

Stelis clicked into the ALL FREQUENCY mode. "Hail, foreign ships moving at sixty-three kilometers per hour to the west!"

There was no response.

"Hail! Please identify yourselves!"

Nothing.

"Why are you following us?"

The radio emitted a flowing sequence of syllables that were far too deadened to come from a dragon snout.

The hatch behind Stelis clicked open, and somebody very wet tumbled onto the floor. "Alright, we got Four back. Enough with the stealth. Run your engines hard as they go toward the Jungle Abyss!"

The previous quiet hum turned into a rumbling roar as the engine kicked up five levels, though not quite enough to cover the anxious babble of the passengers. The subs set off at a blazing pace, leaving behind a cloud of bubbles and stirred-up shadow blood. The sand underneath them blurred into a solid surface, then disappeared into the murk as the subs struggled to descend as fast as they moved forward. Yet, even at this speed, the distant alien crafts were still gaining on them.

Stelis pulled down the end of a voicepipe - an old technology but a reliable one - and called into it, "Engineers! Overclock the engine!"

Somebody came to the other end of the tube. "But, Commander, the engine's already 'bout to catch fire as it is! The sub's just not made for these speeds!"

"I don't care!" Stelis called back, "You're maintence! You solve problems! Solve this! Or we're worse than dead."

"... I'll grab an extinguisher and see wha' I can do."

Stelis droped the pipe and returned to the radio. "Captain, how's your ship?"

"Captain Borealis is with her people reassuring them. This is her Secretary."

"You can pilot a sub too?" Stelis asked in disbelief.

"No. But, it doesn't take a genius to hold a wheel in a straight line." the Secretary responded drily.

"We're gonna need to do a lot more than that soon!" Pod Four's pilot cut in from over Stelis' shoulder, pointing to the scanners. Stelis glanced over at it, but couldn't be quite sure of what they were seeing.

"What do you mean, Four? The damn shadows somehow on our tail again?"

"Yes, but more than that. There's stuff all around us!"

"Oh, don't worry, that's a common glitch." Stelis reassured him, "Something got on the sensor ..."

"No, I'm seeing it too Stelis." Pod One called in, "They're real."

"Holy depths." Pod Five breathed.

"We're screwed." said Three.

"We've also got a bigjaw at 275 degrees." Two added.

"Definately screwed." said Three.

"No we're not." Stelis stated confidently. "We've got one more trick up our sleeves. Somebody get Borealis on the line. I ain't doing something this risky without approval."

"I sent for her." the Secretary said.

"Excellent. Two and Three, pull up to the main hatch."

There were a few beats of nothing but tense heartbeats and engine noise. Then, "Captain Borealis speaking."

"Start an angled ascension while I talk. I'm doing the same."

Stelis paused as they maneuvered the craft into such a position, aiming for the surface two kilometers above. Then, they switched the call to a private line and continued, "Alright, sir. We're surrounded. Alien craft are closing in on us, every bit of life within five miles has decided we look like a tasty snack, and the engines are going to burst into flames."

"Have burst into flames! Have burst into flames!" echoed out of the dangling voicepipe.

"... have burst into flames." Stelis corrected.

"Alright, well, each shuttle was equiped with twelve emergency evacuation suits ..." Borealis began, then said, horrified, "No. Oh no."

"Unfortunately, yes."

"We don't have any other emergency options?"

"Other than picking boyant-looking objects to grab on to? Nope. We're going to have to choose."

"Not me. I stay with my people." Borealis insisted.

"Fine, though the survivors would be much better equipped with a leader ..."

"You can go, if you desire. But I am not the type of captain to leave people behind."

Stelis shrugged. "Suit yourself. Or, don't, I suppose. I'd suggest we prioritize the survival of our future - call all parents and children. After that, our doctors."

Borealis groaned long and hard. Finally, she said, "I hate it, but it makes sense."

"Stelis, the bigjaw is half a mile out!" Pod One called in, "Should we move in to intercept?"

"Hold on." Stelis called, then cut back to the private line. "Ready captain?"

"Alright, make the announcement. I'll do my ship." Borealis replied, then added, "It's been an honor to know you."

"You too, captain. I hope, by some miracle, you make it out of this alive."

There was no response. With time wasting, Stelis made the announcement. Three dragons in doctor's uniforms, and nine other dragons, surrounded by eleven dragonets came in, through the hatch. Stelis turned around to face them, letting the ship continue to drift straight.

"You're our best chances at survival, and so you get priority on the emergency suits. They only fit adults, so for you dragonets, I have a pair of friends in subs outside to take you to the surface." Picking up on the parents' expressions, they quickly added, "Before you ask, yes you can watch them go."

The hatch rolled open, revealing the inside of Pod Two. Despite admonishments from Stelis, the saying goodbye process became quite emotional and slow. Luckily, two of the doctors had enough sense to slip off to the side and begin donning the emergency suits from the wall lockers. Eventually, both Two and Three had taken full loads of dragonets, and begun their own ascents, and the parents began donning their suits. The suits were black plastic, tight-fighting, fullbody, and hot. They had to be, to keep out any leaking water and any chance of infection. It took them several precious minutes to get them on, connect the polymer helmet to the oxygen tank, and run a full system check.

While this was going on, on an order from Stelis, One swung by and managed to stuff Four in next to them. It didn't seem fair to leave the kid behind just because he had the misfortune to get attacked. Five was taking the remaining eight dragonets on Borealis' ship.

With everything as prepared as possible, Stelis stepped over to the intercom, took a deep breath, and announced, "My fellows, as you have probably guessed, we are in imminent danger. I am doing my best to steer us out together, but if I fail, those who were not asked to come up front are unlikely to survive. We asked them because they are our future - our children and their guardians, medical support, and the explorers to lead them. As for the rest of us, well, find your loved ones and hold on to them."

There was panicked shuffling in the compartment, yet an air of eerie calm. No one came for Stelis; their parents had died a few years ago, and they'd never gotten around to socializing outside the explorers. Nobody else really got their obsession with the outside anyway. So, they sat alone, pulling back on the wheel with all their might, listening to the panicked shouts of the maintenance guys desperately trying to hold the engine together and stamp out the worst of the fire. Sensors were reporting serious damage already, as well as hull weakening. They were also showing creatures nearly upon them, though one could now tell without sensors from the roars and stirring of the water and swarms of dark shapes approaching in flickering light.

It occurred to Stelis that they were all going to the same place - the great unknown. The surface, certainly, hadn't been known for generations, and if those with suits really made it out, they'd have to figure it out for themselves. As for death, Stelis wasn't particularly religious and hadn't been much bothered with what happens after the sea monster gets you. Some part of them was excited - one more adventure! The more sane part was terrified. When they'd left the dome for the first time, they'd been terrified too, but at least they'd had some idea of where they were going and what it'd be like. There was so much they'd seen since that they'd never have been able to imagine as a dragonet, yet they had always had a familiar home to return to. Here, whether one went up to the surface or beyond to death, it was going to a leap headfirst into the unknown. That was exciting. That was terrifying.

Something rammed into the side of the ship, then something else, jolting Stelis out of their philosophizing. They nodded to the suited dragons - they'd waited as long as they could, but they needed to get out before too many monsters got close. The suits had flotation devices built in to get them towards the surface, but that wouldn't help if the other side of the door was a giant maw. The hatch opened and water rushed into the cabin, causing the ship to slow. The suited dragons, one by one, threw themselves through the current and out into the deep. Stelis then opened the main hatch and the lower hatches, to give everyone else at least an attempt to swim for it. Dragons poured out and ran desperately into the water, betting on a slim chance of a good unknown over the certain journey to death here.

A swarm of chargefish circled the glass, and as chargefish do, erupted in a flash of electricity. With the shielding already cracked from fauna attacks, the charge flowed into the hull and the previously dim lights went out, as did the controls. The wheel locked up and the engine stalled. Then, just to add more injury to injury, there was the unmistakable sound of the engine exploding - three hundred pounds of ripping metal blowing out like the world's largest shrapnel grenade, and the hiss of a white-hot fire boiling the water as it was quenched. There were just a few dragons left in the ship at this point - some who tried to dive out the new hole in the back, others who appeared resigned to their fate and had simply curled up comfortably.

Stelis snorted. They intended to go out striving. With the ship totally and completely done for, they finally dove out the hatch, getting smacked in the face with water that felt more like cement. They struggled through the current and out into the swirling sea. Salt stabbed at their eyes, and the force of the sinking ship tugged at their tail. They growled but kept their mouth shut, blinking and swimming desperately towards the surface. Around them, the water was filled with others doing the same. Between blinks, they noted it was light like they'd never seen before. The gauge had read only four hundred meters from the surface at last measure.

Above them, they could see the distant shape of the twenty-four suited dragons and four remaining pods. Below them, they could see the sinking shapes of both large vessels, as well as the swarm of sea fauna chasing after the slow-moving prey. A mighty roar, closer and louder than anything they'd had the displeasure of hearing before, echoed through the depths as the giant sleek shape of the bigjaw sidled up to the falling wreckage. It took one submarine in its namesake giant jaw and shook it like a chew toy. The sub effortlessly fell to pieces. Something pale began to float up from the wreckage - like a meter-wide ice cube.

But, at this point, Stelis' lungs were burning, and they couldn't make themselves look down any longer. With a relentless determination to survive, they kept kicking as hard as they could towards the surface, trying to ignore the bodies of those who had already succumbed drifting down around them. Up and up and up they went, hard and fast, just a little further! The glimmer of sun was visible on the surface just as they heard an furious hiss right behind them. They glanced down, and saw the wriggling shape of a hissing serpent climbing up next to them, surrounded by its signature cloud of brownish acid.

The acid stung, but the creature's attention wasn't on Stelis. It swam straight past them, towards the surface. Within a few seconds, it turned ... and its body was above the suited survivors. Unable to steer their ascent, they passed straight into the thick cloud as the creature itself swirled around them, then, strangely, dived back for the depths without taking a meal, though the survivors were surely doomed anyway. Stelis' eyes watered from the acid and horror, and they finally closed them. After another few desperate moments, they finally gasped for breath, only to take in nothing but water. Choking, scrambling, the world gave out to darkness.

Epilogue

Stelis' eyes opened again. Being honest, they hadn't entirely expected that. They were lying on their side in a concrete-walled tunnel, with pipes and wires on the walls and dim bulbs fascened overhead, along with some weird sprinkler-looking things. It was also bitterly cold, which was probably what had woken them up. This wasn't the afterlife - it seemed like they'd just fallen asleep in the tunnels beneath the dome for some reason, and had a totally crazy, very realistic dream. They tried to stretch out their aching muscles, but found that they wouldn't respond. Suddenly panicked, they tried to scramble to their feet - only, again, to get nothing.

At least their lungs were willing to let them hyperventilate a little. Just a tingle of feeling returned to their legs, but they still refused to move. Something was clicking its way up the tunnel behind them, too, but they couldn't turn their head to see it.

They heard a non-draconic voice say something in a weird, flowing language - just like in the dream. Words echoed mechanically in their ear, hopefully a translation. "Drone 0106-D. You're awake." It wasn't a question.

"Uhh." Stelis tried to say.

"None of that. You have a job to do."

Something hissed from the sprinkler-thing on the ceiling - a pale greenish gas. As it hit their nose, Stelis felt energy surge through them and they jumped to their feet. They could now see the creature speaking to them - it had a shiny red multisegmented body, with two roundish segments supported by two legs, and then a strange third pair of limbs growing out of a torso that stuck up perpendicular to the creature's rear end. On top of that was a pointed head with mandibles, a pair of antennae, and shiny black eyes. In its hand, it held a tablet. It pressed another button on the tablet, and something else hissed from the vent.

Suddenly, Stelis was very aware of a large crack in the wall of the tunnel, and the fact that the creature also carried a tray of cement. In a rush, they grabbed at the cement which the creature willingly gave up, and then set to work patching it into the crack with their own claws.

"Off to a great start," the creature chuckled. Then, it added, "We're glad you came to serve the Hive."

The creature wandered back off, leaving Stelis to go hunt for the next crack, which they did, like it was the most important thing in the world.

[make opening more sensual]

[add voices, not gas, to closing scene]