Hongjoong’s nose hurt like hell.

He gave a weak groan, rolling over on the hard surface he was currently lying on. His shoulder was pressed uncomfortably against what he assumed to be a naked floor.

What the heck had happened?

“It is not recommended to move in the state you are currently in. Your full body scan has been completed. Fortunately, there were no signs of encephalon damage, but further caution is advised. I will continue to observe your condition. You have unadvisedly transgressed the rules. You were supposed to stay in your laboratory.”

Hongjoong rolled around - out of spite - and blinked his eyes open to glance up at the person who had spoken. He did not find them at first, distracted by the surroundings greeting his hurting eyes. This was certainly not the lab he was used to.

He was lying in a round room and right next to him there was an ugly yellow stepladder leading up to some kind of hatch. The interior was vaguely familiar to him.

He was lying in a life pod.

Hongjoong blinked repeatedly, finally remembering the crash. He must have passed out when exhaustion had taken over and there he was, lost somewhere with... the delicious smell of grilled meat wafting towards his nose?

He turned his head, pushing his body up on his elbows with a strained huff. There was a man standing in front of the fabricator with a black uniform and a... pink apron with white clouds printed on it?

Hongjoong must have hit his head pretty bad.

Hongjoong did suck in a breath however when the man suddenly turned, and he noticed for the first time that this was no person at all. Icy blue eyes met his and he glared back, feeling a frown take over his features.

“I just told you not to move. Have you additionally suffered an aurally perceiving injury? Or are my communication devices not functioning correctly by any chance?”, he spoke as sophisticated as possible. Everything inside of Hongjoong cringed at the words and he was quick to sit up, shutting the android up with a glare.

“Who are you? Identify yourself.” The order was harsh but Hongjoong bit it out anyway, not caring about the current mood of that android. He had never seen that one before.

“I am PSH 22. Yesterday at 1954, I preserved you from our crashing spacecraft after you were incapable of doing so by yourself. You lost your designated robot, KYS 17, during that time so I will be his replacement until we locate him. Please stay seated to avoid further pain or discomfort.” His voice was deep and smooth, similar to KYS’ but not nearly as calming. He was using too many big words, hiding his bite between the lines.

Hongjoong decided to stay seated, not daring to trust his aching legs to bear his weight. He tried small-talking instead, not looking at the android too closely. He was just another copy of some dark-haired man with icy blue artificial eyes.

“So you are a protection unit? 22 you say... So usually not in usage?”

There was some kind of system for androids, but Hongjoong only ever interacted with the lab assistant androids, simply because it was unavoidable in his work environment. Sure, he sometimes saw other types of androids roam around the ship and it always made sense to keep an eye on them. They were sorted by the color of their uniforms and numbers.

This one here didn’t seem to wear any obvious color, probably because he usually wasn’t out and about. Hongjoong remembered that the numbers 20-29 were only ever activated in the case of an emergency, so it did make sense. However, he couldn’t remember what 22’s special feature was.

“Precisely. I was responsible for the sector you got stuck in and thus I joined you. Certainly, we will attempt to locate KYS 17 regardless. I have already run a scan of our close circumventions and am now accumulating data on where to begin the search.”

This android was far more annoying to Hongjoong than KYS had ever been. While Hongjoong himself understood the usage of androids in science, he could never quite grasp the concept of them having to look like actual humans to do that. It was just weird and unsettling.

KYS had always had a strange aura to him that made it unmistakable who he really was. With his mannerisms and his way of speaking, it had always been so obvious that he was an android that Hongjoong had never even felt the need to question whether he was human or not.

But this PSH guy right here was walking a thin line between an arrogant human and an antique robot. Hongjoong wondered whether his model was not being updated regularly.

“Then, where exactly are we? I take it we landed somewhere after we fell for that long?” Hongjoong took the plate with meat the man handed him, starting to placate his raging stomach with the perfectly cooked meal.

The android took his apron off, letting it disappear somewhere in his body. Whatever he needed a whole apron-compartment for.

“Indeed. We landed on planet 4546B. It is a planet outside of our federal territory and thus not investigated plenarily. There is little data about it. You might notice the swaying of Lifepod 5. This is due to the dihydrogen monoxide that makes up approximately 80% surface of the planet. So far, I have stayed in close vicinity to the area we landed in to not imperil you, but the fish you are currently consuming is a component of this planet’s fauna. After I check your health again you might fancy a look around outside, Medico Kim.”

Hongjoong threw a suspicious glance at the fish, not too fond of the idea of eating things he didn’t know anything about, but thankfully PSH seemed to notice that. He turned around, opening the food storage with provisions. What he pulled out resembled a regular-sized fish but nothing like the ones Hongjoong was used to.

“It’s an eye.” With bits of fish around it.

“The correct term is Peeper. I am able to scan any materials and substances on this planet just like any other android. This one here is plenarily safe to consume. As far as my processors could scan, there are many peregrine species to research. It will be a field trip experience.”

Hongjoong nodded curtly, eating his fish as he indeed concentrated on the sway of little waves beneath their life pod. The abundance of water came with the perfect habitat for many different flora and fauna. From what he knew about the oceans in the Milky Way, there was anything ranging from the smallest of organisms he would not even be able to spot with his bare eye to ancient creatures that liked to live in the cold and dark depths of the ocean.

“Are you able to scan how deep it is? How far do your scanners reach?”

This android was not built for biology - even less for marine biology - but Hongjoong would have to work with it somehow. If KYS was intact somewhere around here, they could meet up soon and he could find a way back.

“Not as far as you would relish them to. I have already dived down to a depth of about 200 meters, but I can merely guess about anything deeper than that.”

Hongjoong sighed. Of course, he had to end up with an android of the useless kind. He should have never gotten that damned coffee.

Stressed, he rubbed the bridge of his nose, putting his plate aside as his stomach started protesting against the sudden onslaught.

“Fine then. I will check a few things first and then we can do some math. You go ahead and run that health check on me now. Have you sent an emergency signal yet?”

“As I have mentioned earlier, we are outside of the federal territory. The life pods will not be able to detect a space station from this far away. However, I already sent a signal to any other functioning life pods and the Aurora itself to gather data about any survivors. I have managed to receive a faint response signal from another life pod, but the connection was far too insufficient to comprehend.”, PSH rambled in his droning voice again and Hongjoong blinked when his brain actually started catching up with what he was saying.

“Wait. So what you are saying is that we can’t get any signal? At all? We are out here in the middle of the ocean on an alien planet and the life pods don’t even work properly? What the hell happened?! Aren’t they built to last through a crash? Also, the Aurora, what happened to-”

“If I may interrupt you there, sir? I have just scanned your statistics and it seems you are fine to move. Please take a look outside and things will speak for themselves.” His voice remained carefully neutral and absolutely void of any emotion, so Hongjoong just stood up with a huff, swaying precariously for a moment.

When he finally managed to grab onto the metal ladder, he quickly scaled it, opening the hatch above.

A blue sky greeted him, seeming far too peaceful for a second before he finally also heard the water.

And there was a lot of it.

The rustle of gentle waves sloshing against the walls of their floating life pod was the only noise to be heard, the few birds circling through the air above them only seeming distant. Hongjoong blinked against a sun that appeared to already have started its descend, looking around then.

And he felt every bit of hope, every bit of curiosity about this planet and its inhabitants diminish.

There was water. Water no matter where he looked. Water and more water, deep and blue, all the way to the horizon with the sun glistening on its surface.

Fucking water everywhere.

Hongjoong turned, shocked and confused, looking in the other direction only to suck in yet another harsh breath at what he saw.

He had found the Aurora. But the Aurora looked much worse than he had expected.

It was partially submerged in water the huge body of water surrounding it, the sinking process slow but that was not the worrying thing. Dark smoke was rising from its sleek body, curling towards the sky and even from the distance, he could see the fires eating away at it. If there were still people alive inside, they were most likely cut off by the danger.

Hongjoong felt his heart contradict in fear, thinking about his team, about their captain and every human on board. Had they all made it? What about the people who might still be in there?!

Hongjoong whipped around maybe a bit too hastily to look down at PSH, losing his balance in the process. With a yelp he held onto the bars of the ladder for dear life, feeling foreign hands come up to support him around his waist. Hongjoong shuddered at the touch, quickly regaining his balance to swat at the android.

“Hands off.”, he growled warningly, making the man retreat immediately with a curious tilt of his head. Hongjoong did not comment on it, looking over to the Aurora again.

“Can you tell how far it is? Can we go there?”

“The ship is precisely 885,71 meters from here. You can swim there in less than an hour. Due to your health however, I would not recommend going that far today. Withal, my build-in messenger has received the following message this morning.” PSH cleared his throat, continuing with a recorded computer voice. “Detecting increased local radiation levels. Trend is consistent with damage to the Aurora’s drive core, sustained during planetfall.”

Hongjoong sighed once more, slowly stepping inside again and pulling the hatch shut above him.

“In that case I also need something to protect me against the radiation... Does this life pod feature anything like that?” His throat hurt, a migraine also adding to it from stress. What if Jongho and his endearing smiles had not made it out? What if he was locked inside of the Aurora, slowly getting killed by radiation?

Hongjoong would hate himself for not going to save him. He had to try at least!

“At this level of radiation, your body should be able to withstand it without any complications. I will inform you when the appropriate suit is needed. For now, I recommend using the diving suit this life pod features. It is the optimal gear for the environment surrounding us. I also recommend adjusting to the dihydrogen monoxide and the planet today, in my presence of course, and we will endeavor to swim out there tomorrow after you have reposed enough. Our close surroundings are mostly safe to explore.”

Hongjoong nodded weakly, deciding that PSH was probably right. He let the android hand him the diving suit before he started putting it on. He grumbled about the tight fit despite feeling relieved to finally get rid of the bloodied coat. He had just finished zipping up when he turned to the android again, scrutinizing his relaxed form critically.

“One more thing, if we have to spend more time together, stop calling it dihydrogen monoxide. I might be a scientist, but water is just fine. Got it?”

“Understood, Medico Kim.”