Chapter 10: The Plan

It was a tranquil morning so far, everyone was still asleep, the sky was cloudless, and the ocean was calm. The strange flying creatures were making weird and cute noises while circling far above the Multipurpose Room and occasionally swooping down to see what this strange new object was.

That tranquility was broken by a large explosion suddenly booming out from the direction of the Aurora, followed by a shockwave that caused the flying creatures to become disoriented in the sky. As for everyone inside the Multipurpose Room that was used for sleeping in, they all woke up, including Jake.

Most of them had varying degrees of a bed head while also having a little bit of drool running down the corner of their mouth. Jake had rolled out of his bed and sat up, luckily not hitting his head on the ceiling this time, and assessed the current situation.

The first thing he did was move towards the door of the Multipurpose Room and open it in order to peek outside to see what that loud boom came from. While he was looking outside, he heard the synthetic female voice from coming every PDA that was still working.

[Please note that there are currently minor and major explosions happening on the interior and on the exterior of the Aurora. In approximately 2 days, the Drive Core, unless repaired, will cause a quantum detonation, releasing radiation in a 2 kilometre radius from the Aurora.

This release of radiation might cause catastrophic damages to local Flora and Fauna. For your own safety, please relocate another 1.5 kilometres away from the Aurora. After the Drive Core has caused the quantum detonation, it is possible to enter the Aurora wreckage and repair the Drive Core to stop the radiation from leaking further.]

Once the PDA stopped it's update on the situation with the Aurora and didn't continue with any more reports, everyone glanced at each other before looking to Jake, who was a little bewildered.

A few of his memories about the gameplay of Subnautica started coming back to him, but even then there were none that mentioned any details about smaller explosions occurring in the Aurora. It was entirely logical if you thought about how smaller explosions were happening in the Aurora.

Because of the fact that there were possibly tanks of gases in the Aurora, those could cause smaller explosions, along with any types of energy storage malfunctioning. However, Jake still didn't know why the other people in the base had turned to him for orders in what to do next.

Scratching his scalp, Jake didn't know what to do until he saw the tools that had been placed beside Owen's bed. The knife, Scanner, and Habitat Builder were quietly sitting on the floor with the batteries taken out of the Scanner and Habitat Builder.

"When did you make the tools and how did you find the resources required to do so?" Jake questioned with a raised eyebrow while looking Owen in the eyes. Glancing at the tools, Owen shrugged before he answered Jake.

"While you were unconscious from your injuries and exhaustion I took the opportunity to scrounge around for resources with some others. I then fabricated these three tools along with some extras that were being used to scan as many things on the planet as possible.

We then got the opportunity to make this base and some beds before having to relocate everything from the life-pod. Too tired to continue after all that, we then fell asleep and were awoken by the same thing as you."

Digesting everything he had been told, Jake shuffled towards the Scanner and Habitat Builder on his knees while wondering what else he had all missed while unconscious.

Taking hold of both the Habitat Builder and Scanner, he didn't carelessly press any buttons in case he did something wrong while marvelling it with stars in his eyes.

How cool was it to be holding futuristic technology that was capable of magnificent feats, especially for someone like Jake, who spent most of his time fighting, and considered himself a brutish person.

Yes he had completed high school with excellent grades, but that's all they were, excellent. He wasn't some mathematical genius, innovative inventor, or mad scientist that could further Humanity's technological or scientific standards.

Nothing more than a person born with a tumour that caused him to grow nearly endlessly and a strong body cultivated through rigorous exercise. At most, he could be considered a talented fighter, but that was the extent of his abilities.

Done with his thoughts, Jake handed the two tools to Owen with longing in his eyes and regretfully shifted his gaze back to the Aurora that was straight out of the open door. If he got the chance, he would want to go to a library in this universe and read about it's history and study technology.

Snapping out of his daze again, Jake realized that everyone was still looking at him with expectant gazes, and he figured that he should probably take charge of the current situation. The first thing that he will do is get the names and skills of everyone here, after that he will make a list of things needed to be done.

Starting with Owen, he asked him about his skills and life experiences, he then moved onto Theodore, Owen's father, before questioning Ozzy, William, Mary, Derek, Grayson, which is Berkeley's first name, Ryley, Helen Yu, Alia, Jennifer, and Denise.

Owen was 25 years old, he was trained in an academy called 'The Milky Way Pilots Academy', which is used to train pilots that pilot not just spacecraft, but any kind of vehicle or machine that is under the category of transportation or combat.

Depending on what you are piloting, you will be assigned to specific classes based on your, but you may choose to take other classes as well, it will just cost more.

Owen's skills are piloting a ship cabable of space travel, such as the Aurora, piloting a P.R.A.W.N suit, piloting a Cyclops, piloting a Sea Moth, basic handling of a Habita Buidler, basic handling of a Scanner, and basic first aid.

Theodore is 50 years old and a retired doctor, who has over 25 years of experience, and was just one of the passengers onboard the Aurora having gained his spot on the ship in case of any medical emergencies amd because Owen suggested it to Alterra.

Ozzy is 29 and was a cook in the cafeteria with basic first aid and basic handling of a Scanner. William is 26 and was an electrical engineer who went to 'The Milky Way School of Professions and Trades', having spent 6 years there.

He has advanced handling of a Repair Tool, a Laser Cutter, advanced electrical engineering, and basic mechanical engineering. Mary is 24 and also went to 'The Milky Way School of Professions and Trades' for 5 years, but she studied to be an all-round surgeon.

Under her belt of skills is advanced First Aid and a plethora of skills relating to surgeries. She stated that there were simply too many to count and didn't specify the number.

As for Derek, he was in the same department as Ryley, which was the Non-Essential Systems Maintenance department, and his job was to clean and maintain the daily essentials onboard the Aurora.

This included the bathrooms, vending machines, exercise machines, coffee machines, and any kind of daily essentials. Only having completed the mandatory schooling required until the age of 18, he didn't go to any other school like Owen or Mary, but he could still get a relatively decent job.

Turning 23 this year, he was one of the youngest crew members that had been onboard the Aurora. Ryley did basically the same thing as Derek, but he went to school for it and was in charge of assigning what each person under him was to maintain.

Coincidentally, he was also turning 23 this year, on the same day as Derek, which was why they seemed to get along so well. It was joked around between the other crew members that they were actually a pair of twins that had been separated at birth.

They, however, always denied it as they believed they had nothing in common with each other except for their birthdays.

As for Grayson Berkeley, who didn't really care if you called him Grayson or Berkeley, he worked under CTO Helen Yu. His job was to check the working efficiency of any and all essential technology onboard the Aurora and assist Helen if she needed anything.

Flirting with Helen all the time, he hadn't yet worked up the courage to ask her out when this situation happened, and when he realized that he might die, he told Helen about his feelings.

At the ripe age of 21, he was the youngest crew member on board the Aurora, he went to 'The Milky Way School of Professions and Trades' for two years before luckily landing a job onboard the Aurora under Helen.

Helen also went to the same school, but she studied for four years and worked her way up in the Alterra corporation for another three years before getting a promotion and becoming the CTO, or Chief Technology Officer, onboard the Aurora. Her birthday is on June 18th and she will be turning 26.

Alia was the woman that was in the life-pod with Ozzy, she was just a passenger and has only completed her mandatory schooling up to the age of 18. In fact she had celebrated her 19 birthday onboard the Aurora.

Jennifer was the Head of Human Resources, at the age of 29, and was the most senior employee of the Alterra Corporation that had been onboard the Aurora. Most of the crew on board the Aurora had been hired by her, which was why she had been surprised to see Jake, who she had no memory of ever seeing.

Lastly, Denise was another one of the passengers, having also celebrated her birthday onboard the Aurora, she was 26 this year. Just like Alia, she had yet to go to school for any other types of occupations, but she was "lucky" enough to be selected for the journey on the Aurora.

Finally done with the introductions, skill adequacy, and relevant schooling history, Jake was just about to move on to the current plan before he was stopped by Owen.

"All of us introduced ourselves, so it's only fair if you introduce yourself as well. None of us ever remember seeing you onboard the Aurora. Even if you snuck onboard, how had you escaped the notice of every other person onboard?"

The other people in the room nodded their heads in agreement, but they wouldn't push for him to reveal his identity if he didn't want too, he did save their lives after all.

Pondering on whether or not to tell the truth, Jake couldn't pull himself to do so since he didn't even know the truth himself. Instead, he would tell them where he came from and how he had "snuck" onboard the Aurora.

"My name is Jake and I'm 16. I came from Earth. I used to fight in an underground arena and play video games, but I haven't done that while I've been onboard the Aurora since I had to hide away from the crew. I snuck onboard because I was running from the authorities for assaulting someone who threatened my mother with a knife.

I had been evading the authorities for a while before I had snuck onboard the Aurora and came to this planet." Telling them about the incident that happened when he had flipped the motorcycle and beaten up the two muggers when he was 14, Jake told a lie that wasn't a complete lie.

"Now that I have told you my story, can I explain the plan that I have made to check if there are any other survivors or people on the planet?" Questioning in an exasperated tone, Jake was irritated that they were wasting precious time by questioning him, but he wouldn't hold it against them.

You would have to be extremely petty to hold it against someone for questions you and your origins when they have no idea where you came from and what you intentions could be.

Everyone digested his story with differing expressions, especially when they learned that he came from Earth and had assaulted someone. Some had cautious expressions, while others had dubious expressions.

Nonetheless, they still chose to trust him since he quite possibly saved all of them from certain death. Gesturing for Jake to continue, Owen patiently waited to hear the plan that he had come up with.

With the wave from Owen, Jake started to explain his plan, which turned out to be a very dangerous plan that could very easily go wrong.

"For starters, we need at least four radiation suits, one of which is in my size. I plan on going to the Aurora and fixing the Drive Core before it causes a quantum detonation, but I will need Owen, Helen, and William to come with me.

Along with doing that, I also plan on procuring as many resources from in the Aurora as possible before it explodes and ruins almost all currently usable things onboard.

The Long-range comms relay must also be repaired as well as searching the onboard databases for any useful information. However, repairing the Drive Core as well as any other things that might cause it to explode and kill us all takes priority first.

Because I don't know how to repair it, I will need Helen and William for the repairs and Owen for the codes to all of the doors as well as his authorization.

I will make a list of everything that is needed to go to the Aurora and a proper plan on a PDA or anything that I can write with, but first I'm going to try and catch some fish. I'm famished. By the way, can I use some goggles please?"

Everyone had been listing with rapt attention and focus while Jake had been speaking, Owen had even been taking notes on his PDA, but their expressions faltered when Jake spoke about the fish.

Rubbing his forehead, Owen tossed the pair of goggles he had been using towards Jake while thinking about the objectives that needed to be done. "Catch enough fish for all of us, please. I will get Jeniffer to bring up the materials needed to construct a Fabricator and electric oven while you are hunting for fish."

Waving goodbye, Jake descended into the ocean and started hunting for fish of any size that he could get his hands on. Everyone else made eye contact for a few seconds before collectively shaking their heads and starting to get on with the day.