Boran pulls Kit in for a long hug and Kit sighs,

"It's okay Boran I know how it feels, once it gets into your mind you can't see anything else." Kit pats Boran's back and pulls away.

"You saw Charlie right?" Boran asks and Kit gives a solemn nod, Boran continues,
"I saw my Mother, she was an abusive drunk, do you think this thing is using memories to trick us?" Boran asks and Clair speaks up.

"Quite possibly, but that isn't the extent of its power, It put our entire submarine in emergency mode." She says and Boran shakes his head,

"Actually no, It's the strangest thing, the only thing that isn't working is the controls to move the submarine, everything else is working fine. And when I made coffee earlier I know I made the coffee but somehow it was empty." Boran reluctantly says knowing he sounds crazy.

"What are you suggesting?" Kit says now fully paying attention and wanting to hear whatever crazy theory Boran has.

Before Boran even has a chance to respond Clair blurts out,

"Waves! Like brainwaves and electrical waves! What if it can alter those somehow?" She seems excited as the scientist in her takes over.

"But what about the coffee?" Boran asks and Kit chimes in,

"Yeah and why can't we move the sub?" They ask and Clair thinks for a moment before responding.

"What if we can move the sub?" She asks and they both raise an eyebrow,

"Like, what if we just don't think we can because it's altering our brainwaves in a way to stop us," Clair says and Boran looks over at the coffee and nods slowly,

"So I just remember making coffee but the truth is I didn't at all? Well, can such a being even exist? And if that's the case what is it an alien?" Boran asks and this time Kit says,

"Clair you know I love you but I think this thing is way beyond science, there's a few cracks in your theory, even if we don't believe we can ascend the sub the autopilot still would've brought us to the surface, whatever this Stranger is it can deny the laws of science and nature," Kit says and Clair sighs defeated but nods.

"Yeah you're right this is way beyond science. Maybe we should go outside and explore more? That tunnel that was covered by the fake seaweed." Clair suggests and Boran nods but Kit shakes their head.

"No thank you! I will stay right here." They cross their arms and sit down with a huff

"Fair enough honestly. Okay, Clair let's get in the Mechs and get out there. Clair and Boran get into the Mechs cycle the airlock and turn the comms on.

"Alright so, stay close," Boran says and turns to Clair, she nods and they start walking towards the opening of the cave brushing away the fake seaweed and continuing on. As they walk in this passageway they see it leads out into a vast open area it almost looks as if a whole city was submerged underwater, the buildings are made of a blue crystal and come in all different shapes and sizes.

"Holy..." Boran says stunned, Clair nods in agreement. As they walk into what appears to be the city they notice no life is around anywhere. Boran walks into a house and looks around, he sees a bunch of random oddly shaped furniture if it could even be called that, and a purple crystal on what appears to be a table. He goes to reach for it and Clair stops him.

"Wait, you have no idea what that is," Clair says a hint of worry in her voice and Boran stares at it, unable to resist the pull he picks it up.

The crystal glows and a voice starts speaking from it, the voice seems to instantly project into their minds and translate to English, the voice seems rushed and almost as if they are crying.

"Remember child, keep some of the blue and red on you, blue is for defense and red is for hiding, if you see it then hide! When the lights flicker it's on its way." the voice says and then a higher pitch voice responds,

"Where's the gateway Mother?" it says with terror creeping into its voice.

"It's where the two waterfalls cross." Mother responds and then the crystal stops transmitting.

Boran turns to Clair who is dead quiet. Boran doesn't say anything but looks around more houses and notices they all have a purple crystal.

"What do you think the gateway is?" Clair says and Boran sighs and turns to her,

"More than anything I hope it's a way out of this hell." He says as they walk around more, eventually coming across a cart of some sort carrying some red crystals, these crystals seem to have been fashioned to be used as necklaces.

"What did that mother say? Red was used for hiding? Do you think we can use these to hide from the Stranger?" Clair asks and Boran nods tying one around the Mech's arm.

"Hopefully this will work for now." He says as Clair ties one around her arm and grabs a handful to bring back to the sub.

After about another ten minutes Kit chimes in over the comms,

"Uh, guys you should come and see this..." Their voice crackles and then static fills the line.

"Kit? Kit, what is it?" Boran tries to respond but the radio crackles and then all around them the Bioluminescence life flickers in and out and they look at each other, quickly grabbing the red crystals and jumping into a house. Even in the giant Mechs, these houses are big enough that they can hide and peek out the doorway.

As the lights go out a faint blue light surrounds a figure, this figure seems to stand roughly at eight feet although stand isn't the right word, it's floating, hovering off the ground moving through the water effortlessly, its body seems to be just a large black cloak, Clair remembers the sample they collected it seems to match the cloak. The creature's hands are long and skinny, coming to a sharp point at the end but the most disturbing part of the creature is its face, it has a pale face with bright yellow eyes that move back and forth at a terrifying speed, its only other facial feature is its mouth, stretched in a permanent smile with rows of sharp teeth that would make a shark jealous, the smile is so wide it seems to crack the skin around the mouth.

Clair can't take it anymore and dips back into the house shaking the image of it out of her mind. Boran does the same and they stand there and wait, they wait what seems like an eternity until eventually the Bioluminescence returns and they both let out a sigh of relief. They leave the house and venture back to see that a new pathway is open near the sub, a pathway that leads to two waterfalls crossing over each other...the gateway.