Hongjoong paid no mind to PSH, who was swimming right by his side again. He had no specific goal in mind when he had jumped into the water; he just needed the distraction from the endless spiral of guilt and sadness his heart had gotten sucked into. His treacherous mind tried to convince him that everything that had happened was his fault and could have maybe even been prevented. He knew it was nonsense, but he had no means of distraction on this godforsaken planet. He could only suffer quietly, angry at himself for letting his brain trick him.

What would he have done? Catch the Aurora safely in his arms?

He knew thinking about it was a waste of time, so he wanted to use it more wisely. And what was better for that than exploring this planet? He could at least try to find some clues on how to get back home while he was gloomy. There might also be some distractions on the way.

The warm water around him already soothed his muscles, easing his tension. And even if he didn't like having that android behind him, he would try to talk to him if it meant he was not alone with his head. PSH was probably even better for that than Wooyoung. Hongjoong could just dump his worries on the android without having to care about burdening him.

"Do you think we can repair the Aurora and fly it home?", Hongjoong asked PSH in a low voice, his eyes glued to a big shark that was busy with digging a hole into the sand to hide in right now. Maybe he would stay away a bit farther from the ground from now on.

"I don't see a problem with flying it back, but repairing it might get difficult. We do not have the means to do so, and some important parts might be broken beyond utility. We would need to find new resources to use as substitutes. And even then, it is highly unlikely we can cross space with it."

For an oh-so human robot with feelings, he sure was cold. Hongjoong still saw no use in pretending anything else.

With slow but powerful movements, he dived down deeper, ditching the kelp forest to their right to turn left. There was a quicker route to the grassy plateaus from here, and Hongjoong idly grabbed a Floater on his way, squishing it absent-mindedly.

"Did you pick up any signs of life on the ship?" Hongjoong knew he wasn't supposed to ask. PSH knew exactly how many people had still been alive on board while they were there, and he was able to calculate how likely their chances of survival were regarding the explosion.

Hongjoong shouldn't ask. And he still did.

"I am unsure whether that information might jeopardize your current state of mind. You already seem distraught. Do you need me to run a scan on you?"

Useless android. He could not even do what he was told to.

"Stop recommending things that only waste our time and just tell me. I expect you to answer when I ask you a question. I don't need artificial empathy from you," Hongjoong bit out, turning to glare at the man. PSH immediately lowered his head respectfully. His voice was sharp like a knife when he spoke, cutting through Hongjoong's heart mercilessly with every word.

"When we visited the Aurora, I detected thirty-two beating hearts around the ship. I was not close enough to scan how healthy they were, and some of them might have already died before we returned to Lifepod 5. Regarding their distance to the main explosion, twenty-six of them will have died if they didn't move at that time. I am positive that the radiation or their injuries will also kill the rest of them by today or tomorrow. We might find one or two survivors. I memorized their locations, so if we manage to get in tomorrow, we can check on every single one of them."

It must have been the Operating Crew. They were responsible for staying on the ship until it crashed in case they could still repel the accident. If there was no way in, there was also no way out, and they had been doomed to await the explosion without being able to flee.

Hongjoong was choked up, felt his heart ache for them, but he stubbornly refused to cry. He needed to be reliable. There was nothing more they could do. Even out here, regarding that leviathan and everything, it was highly unlikely that many people survived.

It was not supposed to be like this. They were all supposed to live, no only the four of them.

More than before, he feared for Jongho now, for Lydia. Where were they? Did they survive? How were they supposed to find them out here in the vast ocean?

PSH's words were cold and lethal, but they also managed to wake Hongjoong up. They would have to go there tomorrow and try to save anybody they could. He still had people to protect. He needed to find Jongho and Lydia, literally any other person who might have survived the crash. He had found Wooyoung too, and if Wooyoung was the only person he could save, the anchor his sanity could hold onto, then so be it.

He could at least do that.

Hongjoong nibbled on his lip, angrily squishing the Floater that contently stuck to his gloves.

"I know you do not wish to hear of my 'artificial empathy', but any guilt you are feeling is fabricated by your mind. Those people did not hate you for leaving them there. They took a risk that came with their jobs, and every single one of them prayed for the other survivors to be well. They had no means of knowing that you were out there. The possibility to die on this planet is very high anyway," PSH kept on talking unpromptedly again and Hongjoong scoffed, feeling his hurt get washed away by anger. With a sharp movement, he halted, turning around to face the android.

"Oh, fuck off. You can't read their minds, and neither can you read mine. You being the cold robot you are can easily say things like 'don't worry' and 'it's okay'. But those calculations of possibilities, those... numbers, it's utter nonsense. These are human lives and emotions we're talking about. And you damn tin can have no idea how those work! So what if they can make you smile and cry and laugh? You have no idea what feeling actually entails. So stop trying to pretend you do and stop patronizing me. I don't need that from you!" Hongjoong was ranting, his emotions getting the better of him as if they wanted to support his claims. That stupid android had no idea.

"But I am actually able to understand how your mind works quite quickly. And I can see that-"

"What can you see?! My stats? My heart rate? My blood pressure?! So what if you can? It's worth nothing; you are worth nothing in that aspect! Hell yeah, thanks for telling me about the distressed waves my brain emits, but you have no fucking idea on how a heart works. None of you bastards do because that is all you are good for! Data, calculations, statistics." Hongjoong was downright yelling at him; he felt angry and desperate. He wanted to cry; he wanted to curl up somewhere and scream about the bitterness of the world. But at the same time, he wanted to stop hearing those comments from a stupid robot.

PSH's face remained calm, only ever curious but never reacting. He did not scream back; he did not look hurt — just his impassive self.

"Go away. You're making it worse. I don't have the energy to scream at you because you just can't understand. Whatever I'll say." His throat felt sore from his screaming, and Hongjoong furiously threw the Floater away. It ascended to the water surface, disappearing from his view.

Idly the red grasses swayed beneath them, but PSH did not leave. Hongjoong felt his eyebrow twitch with annoyance.

"I said, go back. Why don't you listen to me, you stupid-"

"It is unjust to assume that I am trying to patronize or look down on you in any way. Your emotional intelligence might be higher purely based on your race, but that does not mean that I have bad intentions. I will not leave you alone, as you are clearly not coherent right now. I will also remind you that us androids are not designed to be tools for you to order around. We help, we do not serve. You should be careful when trying to order me around. I am able to refuse your orders, and I am a protection unit. Thus, I will do my utmost to ensure your safety even if you do not approve." PSH talked smoothly and without the distress that had been evident in Hongjoong's voice. His eyes seemed darker than earlier however, making Hongjoong shiver at the implications of him getting data on how to be angry.

It probably made the human hate him that much more.

"Then you're not even good for taking orders. Do whatever the fuck you want, but leave me alone." With that, he turned, swimming off as quickly as possible. His brusque movements make the schools of fish avoid him warily, not appreciating how he stirred up the water.

At least he was doing sports already. If he hadn't been moving and getting rid of that anger right now, he might have grabbed PSH at his impeccable collar and fought him with both fists.

Hongjoong did not look around, not caring if PSH had a change of mind and instead dipped down in some cave. For a moment, deep darkness surrounded him as he impatiently pushed past lost fishes as he went deeper.

Soon, however, the bioluminescent flora down here managed to light up his surroundings again. They bathed the cave in a calming purple that seemed to mainly radiate from the jellyfish-like plants on the ceiling.

If Hongjoong knew one thing, it was not to touch purple jellyfish.

His survival instincts slowly came back to him, cooling him down while he dodged some passive life forms passing him and kept his eyes open for aggressive ones. He slowly went deeper, memorizing every single plant he saw and trying to exert his knowledge from other planets and alien species on them. Usually, at least the signs of danger were the same. It was mainly teeth.

He was just swimming away, while sometimes pushing himself deeper by the walls when the cave started to curve upwards again. As it seemed, those systems had connected ways and multiple exits. He might want to remember that.

Hongjoong followed the curve, dodging something that looked like a fat green caterpillar when suddenly a voice spoke up behind him. Hongjoong startled hard enough that he hit his knee on the ground of the thin tunnels, not really able to turn.

"What the hell?!"

PSH was behind him - of course, he was - and he had pressed his hand on his lips, his eyes widened apologetically. Hongjoong looked back at him with a roll of his eyes, nodding at him to speak.

"Excuse me, I just- This is Lifepod 3, can you - I am trying not to - is Jongho, Jongho....... I'm with - it constantly breaks off." He kept being interrupted by the message, but Hongjoong had already grabbed him by the arm impatiently, yanking him up to his side.

Jongho?

It was a tight fit, the tunnel around them not particularly fond of them squeezing together, but it did not matter.

"Stop talking. Let me hear." Hongjoong leaned his head in close to PSH's mouth, trying to pick up on the faint voice that kept being interrupted by the signal.

"..... are ....... cave....... not- alone....... Jongho! You hear, it's........ request help........ need....... can't....... cave!.......... ----" It broke off entirely and for a second Hongjoong froze before slapping PSH's chest as if he was a stubborn radio.

When the android gave a little sound of protest, Hongjoong merely glared at him before finally moving back. He could not stop his hands from trembling, a disbelieving smile twitching around the corners of his mouth.

"He's alive! Jongho is alive! We can get him! Let's go get him!" He accidentally kicked PSH on his way up, not caring in the slightest. His heart was filled with joy and relief.

Jongho was somewhere out there.