Willard wasn't the type to get nervous before taking action. He normally jumped right in and felt at home. But this trek through the deep, unable to see anything beyond the thirty feet his waterproof headlamp could reach… If the propulsion pack on his back wasn't speeding him along, he knew that he might die of starvation before reaching the open ocean. Though he made sure to keep his speed reasonable, too fast and he might lose control and careen into the ice wall.

A black hole appeared below. He could see nothing beyond it.

The cave walls disappeared as he plummeted into the open ocean. Willard came to a complete stop, hovering in space, attempting to get a bearing on his location. Looking up, Willard noticed the gentle waves of ice in the ceiling. Beautiful. But other than that, the water was too cloudy to see anything at all. How did Connelly and Robert see where they were going? Willard wondered, and how did they see anything alive in this milk?

He thought back to his communications with Connelly while he was topside. What was it she had him do? Switch off the lights? It was worth a try. He would never find them with such poor visibility.

Willard turned off his headlamp and was plunged into a deep, weightless, darkness.

Willard's eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness. He could make out the faint impressions of the glowing world around him. His mouth opened as he saw what had lured Connelly and Robert away from the sphere cable. "Wow…"

A surge of water passed by, causing Willard to spin in place. His gear stretched out away from his waist like a dancer's skirt. When he came to a complete stop he realized that something had just swam past him—close enough for its wake to send him spinning.

Willard gripped the controls of his propulsion pack and prepared to launch himself towards the ocean floor. He couldn't make it out fully, but whatever had passed appeared to be the size of a skyscraper and was quickly turning around. Its dark shape was silhouetted by the slightly brighter waters. As the beast reared around, Willard saw a wiggling creature floating above its head…a parasite?

Click, click, click.

Willard shouted in agony as sound pounded through the water and bounced off his body. Willard's eyes burst open. He was concealed in the water. With no light to give away his position, he was invisible to the naked eyes. But something had tipped this creature off to his whereabouts…and now it knew exactly where to strike.

Willard felt a wave of displaced water suddenly push on him. The creature was charging! As Willard throttled the propulsion pack to full speed, he thought, this must be the same creature that chased Connelly. Is it waiting for them? Or is this its normal stomping ground?