"That's right," Cortana confird.
"Perfect!" Natalie exclaid, her voice urgent. "Hurry! Let's start the broadcast!"
The system began transmitting...
Suddenly, a panicked female voice rang out.
"Oh my god! This is Escape Pod No. 2! Everything was fine until just now, the pod's stabilizer system suddenly failed! I'm falling straight into the ocean!"
"Please, soone help ! I've attached my coordinates. Sending now!"
The broadcast was short but urgent. Natalie's expression instantly changed, the situation for the crew mber in Pod No. 2 sounded critical.
"Ding. Coordinates for Escape Pod No. 2 recorded." Cortana's voice ca again.
A faint glow appeared from Natalie's bracelet, pointing her toward the escape pod. A line on her HUD displayed the direct distance between her and the location: 300 ters.
"Wait, I'm only 300 ters away?!" she asked in surprise.
"Correct," Cortana replied.
"Tch... 300 ters..." Natalie gritted her teeth and stomped her foot. "Fine, I'll go try to save her!"
As soon as she said that, the viewers in her live stream exploded in disbelief.
"Is this the Natalie I know? She's not chickening out?!"
"She just turned brave mode on! She's diving into the deep sea in this creepy environnt?!"
"Let's go, Natalie! You've got this!"
"Haha, well... it's still a human life, right?" Natalie muttered as she strapped on her oxygen tank.
Deep down, she knew the other 'crew mbers' were just NPCs. But the realism of Subnautica blurred the line between ga and reality. Not saving soone would leave her feeling guilty.
Besides, it was better to have an NPC companion than to explore the terrifying ocean depths alone.
Faced with a choice between fear and saving a life, Natalie chose the latter.
"By the way, Cortana, can I send a broadcast back to the other crew?"
"Yes, of course."
"Alright, let's do it."
"Recording..."
"Escape Pod No. 2, this is Pod No. 5. Hang in there, I'm coming for you!" she declared firmly.
"Broadcast sent," said Cortana.
"Alright." With a deep breath, Natalie stared into the dark, bottomless ocean and dove in.
Splash!
The light around her vanished instantly. All that remained was the pitch blackness and the muffled roar of water.
She flicked on her flashlight.
The beam barely lit more than five or six ters ahead. The deep sea swallowed light like a void.
It felt like she'd been transported into a subrged version of Silent Hill, except this wasn't a narrow, haunted hallway, but a vast, ominous seabed. And sohow... this was even scarier.
"Ugh, this flashlight is so weak, I can't see anything!"
"Swimming through pitch black ocean with just that light? This is nightmare fuel!"
"This tension is killing ..."
"Natalie, be careful! There's no way there aren't predators in that massive ocean!"
The viewers were on edge, but Natalie had been through Silent Hill, she gritted her teeth and kept swimming toward the signal from Pod No. 2.
"Don't be afraid. You're here to help soone. Be brave!" she kept whispering to herself.
Small fish, drawn to the light, swam around her curiously. Their presence helped calm her nerves a bit. Slowly, she moved further and further away from her own escape pod.
"Ding. Incoming transmission. Play now?"
"Play it," she responded.
"This is Escape Pod No. 2 to Pod No. 5. Thank you for coming. The pod has stopped sinking, it's likely resting on the seabed now. I'm not in imdiate danger, but the backup oxygen system's failing. I don't have much ti left. Over." The familiar voice returned.
Her heart clenched.
Natalie imdiately sent a reply. "Escape Pod No. 2, hold on! I'm only about 200 ters away!"
That response gave her strength. Her resolve hardened. She swam faster and more fiercely.
240m... 219m... 156m...
She was getting closer. Inside her suit, sweat dripped down her back. To conserve energy, she no longer spoke to the live chat.
"Holy crap, she's so focused she's not even talking!"
"Keep going, Natalie!"
"Yeah! You've got this!"
Despite knowing it was just a ga, the audience's hearts raced.
Then, when the marker showed she was under 100 ters away, sothing strange appeared ahead.
In the dim light, the seabed dropped off sharply, forming a massive underwater cliff.
And stretching from the edge were thick, winding strands that looked like tentacles.
"Wait, what are those? Sea snakes...?"
"No, they look more like octopus tentacles, giant ones!"
"Each one is at least 30 ters long. This is insane!"
"It's giving Cthulhu vibes. I've got chills!"
"Natalie, don't go near them! That thing's a sea monster!!!"
The chat blew up. Seeing tentacles in deep ocean settings was a nightmare.
Natalie froze. Her bracelet's arrow still pointed, directly beneath those things.
Her expression twisted with hesitation.
"Ding. Incoming transmission. Play?"
"Play it," she said hoarsely.
"This is Pod No. 2... sothing's outside. It's hitting the pod. I-I don't think it can take much more... No. 5, please! Save ! Please—wuwuwu!"
The woman's terrified sobs echoed through the water.
Bang! Boom! Boom!
Even after the broadcast cut off, Natalie could still hear the thudding.
She turned downward. The sounds were coming from beneath the writhing vines.
"Shit... Pod No. 2's right under there!" Natalie growled. "Screw it, I don't care what the hell that thing is!"
With a deep breath, she plunged straight into the mass of tentacles.
"Natalie is INSANE!!!"
"Total respect! She's charging in head on!"
As she got closer, she saw the truth, they weren't sea snakes or tentacles at all, they were green sea vines.
At the sa ti, Cortana's analysis popped up.
[Seaweed Vines: Common in shallow zones. Grow densely, like forests of the sea. Constantly stretch upward to chase sunlight. Uses: Textile fibers, gauze, dical supplies. Fruits contain extractable oils.]
"What the, just seaweed?! I almost had a heart attack!"
Natalie didn't hesitate anymore and dove down toward the coordinates.
"Wait, don't go charging in!"
"There might still be a monster nearby!"
"This could be suicide, Natalie!!"
The barrage of warnings in the chat didn't slow her down. She was determined to save that woman.
50 ters...
"Ding. New transmission. Play?"
"Play!"
Then she heard the final, horrific ssage.
"It broke through! The pod's flooding! No, what is that?! Don't eat ! I don't want to die-!"
The voice cut off abruptly.
Silence. The chat went dead.
Even the stream paused for a mont.
The chilling scream of soone dying echoed in their ears.
"Oh god..."
"That was... brutal."
"That scream... it felt too real."
Natalie scread, pushing herself harder than ever before.
30 ters... 20... 10...
Finally, nestled in a rocky dip on the seabed, she found Escape Pod No. 2.
The outer shell was mangled. A massive hole gaped in the hull.
Blood filled the water around it.
Her stomach dropped.
As she approached, the pod shuddered.
She froze.
And then... sothing erged.
A creature over three ters long, reptilian like a giant crocodile, wriggled out of the escape pod, its jaws dripping with red froth.
"What the hell is that?!"
"It's chewing on sothing, it's eating her!"
"That woman... she didn't make it..."
Natalie held her breath.
The monster didn't notice her. It slumped onto the seabed, seemingly to rest.
"Natalie! Don't just stare! If it sees you, you're dead!"
"Get out of there, NOW!"
Only then did she react. She turned and swam upward.
She didn't say a word on the way back.
Eventually, she climbed back into her own escape pod and collapsed. She didn't move.
But then, her shoulders began to tremble. Quiet sobs filled the live stream.
She cried.
"Natalie, it's okay. You did everything you could!"
"It wasn't your fault. You tried your best!"
"It's just a ga... don't bla yourself..."
Everyone understood.
They had heard that woman's voice too, so desperate, so real.
Even though it was just a ga, the guilt of not being able to save her felt overwhelming.
Natalie wiped away her tears and said softly.
"Thanks, everyone. I feel a bit better now."
'"This ga... it's brutal with its story."
She took a breath.
"But I did gain sothing, I've beco braver."
The audience could see it too.
The once scared girl who feared the ocean at night had jumped in to save soone. She faced tentacle like monsters, stared down a sea predator, and ca out stronger.
She wasn't the sa Natalie from Silent Hill.
"I guess... this is growth," she murmured. "Even though Subnautica is just beginning, I've already changed. It's taught what courage ans."
Those words ca from her heart. Subnautica wasn't just a ga. It was an experience, one that left a lasting impact on her.
"Alright, that's all for today's stream," she said. "I'm exhausted... we'll continue tomorrow."
Though she'd only stread for two hours, the emotional and physical toll was imnse.
But everyone watching knew.
This was no longer just gaplay.
It was a journey.
1484 Words.
Reviews
All reviews (0)