Hell's Sea Bed

(click)

Have you ever landed in a foreign country and taken your first step off the plane onto the tarmac, and felt the swift and consuming heat pull you in like the tide? And have you ever been so bare, so exposed to the elements, that you could feel every shift in the wind, a cold that demanded the attention of every one of your senses and pushed them to the limit of what they could accept? That’s what it felt like when I first arrived here. Even through the bodysuit I can feel it. Everything they tell you is true, all the old wives’ tales all the stories and jokes, it's all true, all of it all the time. I don’t know if I’ll wake again but if I do, I will keep going as long as I can.

(click)

It’s been 3 days now and I’ve still not been able to find or communicate with lieutenant Kalmar, I’ve fired 3 flares but she hasn’t responded. I only have one left. Visibility isn’t great so it’s a bit of a case of hit and hope at this point. I’ve been moving North, I think, it’s impossible to tell, but she should be doing the same if she’s able to follow the protocol. The nearest vantage point is maybe 5 km away, in these conditions I should be able to get there in half a day. There’s no way to tell the time, no visible sun, my watch skips back and forth showing random times, it must have been damaged during transition. I’m still able to record audio so it can’t be an electrical issue. There’s so much to analyze, but right now finding Lt. Kalmar, finding Kayani has to be the priority.

(click)

The terrain continues to shift, it's mostly like wet sand but it dries hard almost like concrete. Every hour or two I have to stop and hack it off before it gets too heavy. There are patches of some kind of liquid, a mercury-like substance in appearance. The heat emanating from them has forced me to keep my distance. There’s still no sign of vegetation, plant, or animal life. I can’t say I’m disappointed, anything that could survive these conditions would surely eat me alive. But there is this feeling, an instinctive sense that there is life out there, something nearby. It’s just a feeling there’s no evidence of life but the feeling, I just can’t shake it. I can only hope it's Kayani.

(click)

Kayani, if you ever hear this, you better fucking be there when I get there, I’m not even joking. You better be there or dead! I’m done after this, I’m leaving this hell, I’m heading back and leaving you here. You fucking, fuck, you better be there. Why did you walk off? I told you to wait! I fucking told you but you just walked off! This is on you not me, you did this, it’s on record I tried, but I’m not, I just not…

(click)

I’ve made it to the base of the vantage point, she’s not here. I’ll wait another day, I have enough rations for that, I’ve come this far I can wait for a little longer. She might need more time, I’ll wait, just a little longer.

(click)

There’s something here, something carved in the rock, it might be a sign of intelligent life. I can’t believe I didn’t notice it earlier. Wait, it's Kayani she’s carved her name, it's hard to read in these conditions, so little light. It's her name and the date but how does she know!? She must be guessing? So, she’s here!? Kayani!! Kayani!! Kay!! Wait this doesn’t make sense, the date, it's ten days after we arrived, it’s only been three days four at most, there’s no way she’s that far off, is she confused? I’m going to check the perimeter; she might be nearby.

(click)

It's day 4 or 5 I don’t know. It doesn’t matter anymore, I waited, I’ve looked, but it's pointless now, she’s gone, dead I hope, for her sake. This is my last message, I pray you never hear it. I tried to reconnect with the portal but the AI is refusing to connect, it keeps saying unsafe operation. Brilliant! I’m going to die in this piece of shit place and it’s telling me it’s unsafe to leave. Fuck it, fuck all of it, I knew the risk, we both did, I realize now I never really believed it, if I really thought this was how it would end, I never would…

(click)

Stop it! You're not gonna die crying like a little girl...

(click)

Before we left I told my mum I was going to take a trip to a place no human being had been before I was going to be a pioneer, an explorer into the unknown, I was going to help mankind move forward like Einstein or Da Vinci. She said to me, you’re going on a trip are you son? That sounds nice, it’s not dangerous, is it? No mum, it’s safe, it’s safe. Oh ok, she said, just be careful son, fools rush in where angels fear to tread. I remember thinking, wow was that really profound or just a random thought her dementia threw up that just happened to make profound sense. It doesn’t matter either way now, she was right. None of us knew where this was taking us, I wish I could have discovered more to tell you but I don’t have long left, I can barely keep awake. I don’t know where we are, what this place is but I think our initial predictions were correct, this is some kind of dimensional plane. No fuck it! I have to be honest... This is hell, I don’t know how I know but I know, I can feel it, this may truly be hell. Aaahhh it’s there in the back of your mind all the time, that feeling of fear and dread, darkness all around you, a constant presence. But it’s not the real hell, it’s like an echo of it... It’s like hell is an ocean and this is the sea bed, you know the ocean is above you all around you, you're in it and it can feel you, but you're just a spec, a spec somewhere you're not supposed to be. All the darkest things you can imagine, your nightmares are swimming above you. I don’t know what we found; I don’t know why we were able to get here but I pray you never come. This place will destroy us.

(click)