Part 9 [spoiler] Time went by slowly, and Davidson closed his eyes to pass the time, resting against the padding in his suit. He turned out even the HUD on his faceplate, sitting there in patient silence. It was agonizing, waiting down here. But, suddenly, off in the distance, there was a light. Davidson cut the sounds his suit was playing back, and stood up from his sandy resting spot, and took slow, careful steps towards the light in the distance. Just like before, it grew stronger, as he came closer, and at the height of its peak, it extinguished. Davidson stood still in the darkness, looking out of his faceplate to the world on the other side, when suddenly, in the darkness, he could make out two eyes, staring directly at him. He didn't see anything else, but knew it was watching. He stared back into the abyss, and spoke into his comms. "Hello?" The reaction was immediate, as bright lines of light traveled up the creature's veins in response, fluttering lightly before disappearing. He shook, falling to his knees. This was it. This was why he came down here. This was his last, and only guiding purpose. That brief glimpse of those dim little lights all across the creature was what he had come down here for. But, in sudden realization, he felt the same. They did not cure him of his sadness, his hopelessness. They were, truly beautiful, but he still felt empty and lifeless inside. He watched in a hushed breath as the creature's midnight black eyes appeared in front of his faceplate again, watching him with unknown intent. Again, as it watched him, it placed a slender hand on his faceplate, but only remained watching this time. But Davidson, deep down, had wanted this to happen again. And that's what he had prepared for. He spoke to his suit, giving the command. He wasn't afraid of what this thing was. And he wanted to peer at it as close as he could. "Suit, disengage safety protocols. Unlock joints and helmet." With a few conformation lights, and the hiss of seals, his suit did just that. Davidson took a deep breath. Here was hoping Brendus knew his tech. He closed his eyes, and brought his arms up to his helmet. And in one fluid movement, done quick so he would not hesitate, he lifted his helmet up with a hiss of air, and gasped as water flooded into the space that it occupied, before filling out. Davidson opened his eyes, as if believing himself to be dead, crushed from the pressure of the ocean. But as he opened his eyes to the darkness, the true darkness that was now enveloping him, he smiled. Brendus had done it. As long as he kept the upper torso section of his suit on, the protective energy field would remain around his own bio-electric field. And it held the immense pressure at bay without a hitch. Davidson looked around him excitedly, when the lights from the creature before him fluttered once more in mesmerizing patterns. It swam around him excitedly in the darkness, before floating back down to greet him. And then, the one lone light he had seen came on before, illuminating the darkness around him, revealing the true nature of the being before him. The lone light was a lure, like some of the ancient sea creatures from Humanity's home world. It was long and flexible, transparent like the rest of it, and attached to a large, semi oval like head, which was shaped almost like a mushroom. Small, flexible appendages hung from the creature's dome like head, and it seemed, were able to produce light like its lure on top of its head. In the dim light generated by the creature, what he saw was, in short, stunning, and alien, and, beautiful. Instead of a central brain in its transparent head, were links, like neurons. And in the darkness, Davidson watched them, as they blinked rapidly, as the creature watched him, with curious eyes. He smiled, looking at its face. It drifted close to him, but he could see that its eyes were at work, looking at him like just like he was looking at it. Its face was humanoid in shape, but much smoother and lacked much in the way of features. No nose, or ears, or mouth as far as he could tell. Just curious eyes. He let out a hushed breathe, watching. He watched the neuron like links in its head, firing off in small, dim bursts. It was like, it was nervous too. This was first contact between two sapient life forms, as close as it could get. Davidson didn't know if it would work, but it was worth a try. He spoke slowly, watching its eyes and what went on in its head. He smiled as he said it. "Hello you. Longtime no see." The neurons in its head fired off rapidly, and in a sudden burst of light from everywhere in its body, the entire creature was illuminated, as multitudes of colour exploded from the veins in its body, its lure and smaller head appendages changing colour as well. And then, as if it couldn't get any better, Davidson could hear it. He could hear it in the water, as it sang. For every light that flashed in its body, the creature sung, low, long traveling sounds that resonated in his bones and made his hair stand up. And, as the creature sang, and lights of every colour traveled through its body, it was illuminated, like some great angel. Davidson was already on his knees, but he felt the weight of everything on his shoulders now, as all he could do was watch. His arms fell to his sides slowly, as the creature extended its pale finned arms, in open hands, in a universal gesture of peace, as light radiated from it, like it was a god, standing before him. The rest of its body was sleek and transparent, with no distinguishable features, or even much in the way of insides. He could tell, there was gills on the creature's neck, which was what it was using to make its song, while further down, there was a small rounded cluster of what looked like organs, a bundle of everything it needed to operate, and nothing more. Farther down, surprisingly, it had legs, with great fins that flared and drifted in the water, just like the ones on its arms. Its legs were sleek and slim, like its overall form, but rather than end in toes, there was a transparent webbing, the same in its hands. The lights came to a slow halt as they stopped travelling down its nerves and fins, until at last the lure was the only source of light left, and the creature let its arms down beside it, now watching him. Davidson had no idea what just happened, but the haunting melody that had just been sung stayed in his ears. He was simply awestruck, from everything. He couldn't think straight. He didn't even know what would come from this point on. What could he possibly do? The answer came to him, as the creature drifted slowly over to him, and razed a hand, slowly, to touch. It wanted to know. Davidson unlatched one of his gauntlets quickly, letting it drop to the floor, and raised his own hand, watching as the creature waited. He held his hand out, slowly, watching as it now held one, single finger out, and Davidson did the same. He didn't know how his barrier would react. But he was hoping that the creature would pass through unscathed. He looked at the visible barbs in its fingers, hoping that nothing happened on his end as well. He edged closer, slowly, and watched, as he brought his one, single finger up to the creatures. He made contact, squishing the creature's skin ever so slightly, and he watched, as ripples of bioluminescent light traveled across its nerves, all the way up to its "brain." In response, the creature fluttered more lights, and before his eyes, it parted, doing a summersault in the water before him, coming to rest back on the bottom of the floor. Davidson had felt it too. When he made contact, he could feel the electricity, just the slightest bit of it, and felt it ripple up into his own body where it ignited in his own head. He shook his head, looking at the creature before him. It was mesmerizing. He didn't want to look away. And he wanted to feel that strange feeling again. He held his hand out in full this time, and, mirroring his actions, it slowly guided its hand over, and pressed its fingers against his. Davidson felt the tingle in his nerves, and watched as the same ripples traveled up the creature. The neurons in its head fired off like fireworks, and the sensation grew stronger, until it was almost too much to handle. Davidson went to pull his hand away, but gasped in shock as its other appendage wrapped around his, doubling the dosage. The sensation was painful, as his own head was overloaded with the feeling. It felt like there was a million ideas all going off in his head at once, and as he tried to pull away, the creature's hands split into many fine smaller graspers, tentacles, that clung to his skin and kept the connection going. But when he looked over, gritting his teeth as his nerves sparked on and off, he saw the same thing happening to the alien. It was a two way exchange. But, why? The pain reached a new height, and in his head, like a fog, he saw things. Things he didn't understand. He didn't know what was happening. He tugged away, to no success. But, at the same time, the alien flashed faster and faster, its own nerves lit up like a Christmas tree, and he could see it was struggling to hold the connection. [/spoiler]