Learning to Love Time Loops Without Going Insane

“I want two more drones deployed down there ASAP. Sorry, everyone, dinner’s over. Exploration is starting early.” Tim pushed his plate away. “John, if these readings are accurate, are you prepared to suit and take a look?”

“Absolutely.” Cal stifled a laugh. John's mustache made his giant smile look ridiculous, but he couldn’t fault the man’s excitement. He wanted to get in there just as badly. They needed to find a mana pool.

“Melissa, get those drone cameras on monitor number two and run diagnostics. Cal, Andy, suit up with John. I want you three prepared to head into the caves.”

“You got it, Tim.” Cal followed Andy and John.

They quickly donned their suits while Stan kept them up to date over the comms.

“The readings look accurate. The third drone arrived and is picking up the same thing. It’s not even very deep into the caves. I wonder if we sealed the entrance to our airlock if we’d even need suits anymore.” Stan’s commentary had moved from fact to speculation.

“Something to consider, but for now, I want you three to go ahead into the cave. Don’t go further than drones until we give clearance.” Tim cut in.

“Understood. Okay, boys, let’s go.” John hit the button to prime the airlock, waited for the beep, and opened the door. “After you.” He motioned Andy and Cal in first.

The bulky suits made for slow going, especially as no one wanted a hard fall on the rockier terrain. That was too much of a risk of cracking a helmet or damaging another part of the suit. What the drones did in a few minutes took the three of them nearly half an hour to replicate, but finally, the drones came into sight.

“Found them, readings still giving off the same readings on your end?” John asked over the radio.

“Yep, no change here. Melissa is preparing a sample drone for collection purposes while we wait on your findings.”

“Understood Tim. Andy, if you could test the air with your equipment, we should get a good idea of just how safe this place is.” John set his equipment bag down and started rifling through it.

Andy typed a few things into a small environmental scanner he had dug out of his own equipment bag. “Well, this is giving off the same readings. In theory, this air is safe to breathe.”

“You’re sure it’s safe?” Cal looked over at his friend as he typed away.

“I mean, as sure as I can be. Wait why? Don’t do anything stupid Cal!” Andy looked up and yelled at Cal. He was too late.

Cal unclasped his helmet and pulled it off. He took a deep breath, ignoring the yelling over the comms. “God dammit, did he really just take off his helmet, the readings in here are screaming of a suit breach.”

“He did, but as much as I hate to give him any credit, he is fine. No, John, not you too.” John had joined Cal in pulling his helmet off.

“The air tastes slightly different.” Cal had his tongue out, licking the air, similar to what Bug did when she was bored.

“Lack of pollutants, most likely. You get weird tastes in deep caves too. Are you going to join us Andy, or not?” John had also started removing the rest of his suit and pilling it up against the wall.

“Permission to remove my suit.” Andy’s voice had accepted he was resigned to this fate.

“Granted, I guess, but you’re also ordered to slap my son on the back of the head. Tim is currently pacing back and forth, ranting. So, Cal, you’ve got that to look forward to when your dumbass gets back.”

“Dad, let’s be realistic here. You know me, There was a near one hundred percent chance this suit was coming off as soon as we confirmed it was safe. Now, John, he was a wildcard here, but I really can’t blame him.” Cal could hear his father’s sighing perfectly through the radio. “Now that I mention it, I’m amazed you haven’t joined us yet.”

“I’m going to do the responsible thing and get the tunnel sealed to an airlock so we can more easily traverse it, but since you’re already there, go find the source of the oxygen if you can. Just be careful. We don’t need any Alaska repeats.”

“What happened in Alaska?” John asked Cal.

“Old mineshaft, lots of bugs, best not to ask. I still get the random nightmare.”

“Fair enough. I once fell into a pit of scorpions. I know how bad those stories can get.”

Cal nodded, sure that he did not actually know how bad some stories got. He shuddered at his early memories of Many Eyes. He briefly wondered how Many Legs’ education under Ethel was going. He hoped she had a lead on the mech pilot, and those were some skills they could use.

“Alright boys, I like the smell of this tunnel.” The room they were in was a small circular chamber. It had one tunnel that led back the way they came that connected to various other tunnels, none of them with oxygen that they had found yet. This chamber had four more tunnels that went deeper into the underground. John had pointed to the one directly across from the exit tunnel. They followed him in, one of the drones coming behind them.

“The air has a damp, earthy smell to it, and the walls are starting to show signs of liquid. Closer inspection leads me to believe it is water, but we will want to run tests in the lab. Securing several samples.” Andy was speaking into the radio as they went deeper.

“Uh, guys, is it just me, or does it look lighter up ahead?” Cal could swear there was the faintest glow in the distance.

“It’s not just you. I think something down here has some bioluminescence features. Hopefully, it’s flora and not fauna.” Andy slowed down as he spoke. “We should send the drone ahead, just in case.”

“Yeah best to be safe, could be killer fungus in there.” John joked.

“Negative, return to base. The signals are getting harder to relay in real-time. Come help us assemble this new airlock and tunnel. Once we do that, we can run some signal boosters to the first chamber and then prepare a real expedition.” Tim was back on the radio, ready to reassert his command.

“Yeah, I think Tim’s right this time. No sense getting ourselves killed boys; time to head back.”

By the time they made it back to the base, Melissa and Stan were attaching the tunnel framework. They had dragged several other containers outside as well.

“Cal, move those containers into the chamber where the oxygen starts. Bob will be out soon to help bolt the framework to the tunnel sides. Andy, can you get those samples inside and start testing them? John, I'll need your help here.”

Jen and Robert exited the airlock as Andy entered. Jen was carrying a large spool of cable. “I’m going to start tacking this up along the cave wall while you guys get the tunnel together. Hopefully, I’ll have this done before you, and we can start getting the drones further down.”

“Thanks Jen. Is Tim joining us?” Stan asked.

“No, he wants to help Andy with the samples.”

“Understood.”

The next several hours were spent carefully expanding one of the flexible tunnels through the cave tunnel. Parts of the walls and floors had to be smoothed out to avoid rupturing them, and then the makeshift seal in the cavern had to be tested. Once the tunnel was attached and the gap filler settled, Robert lit a colored candle while Stan stood outside and watched for any leakage.

“Looks good, Bob. I don’t see anything.”

“Good.” Robert put the candle out and started work on his following projects. He had shown Cal the plans to add doors to the other tunnels.

“Do you really think we need them?” Cal had asked.

“No, but I prefer to live in a better safe than sorry world.”

“Good news, I’ve got the cable completely attached. Melissa is hooking up the signal booster now.” Jen walked up to Cal and Robert, smiling.

“That is good news, I want to get back into the further tunnels. John, are you ready?” Cal called out.

“Sure am. Who else is coming this time?”

“I am,” Stan answered.

“Same,” Jen added.

“I’ll stay here and send the drones after you shortly. Should only be another few minutes, just load them down with any samples you take.” Melissa continued splicing wires while she was talking.

“Hey guys, I just want to let you know before you head out that the sample is reading as water. Tim and I are going to head down the cave as well with the drone so we will catch up. I want more samples, and he wants to smell the air.”

“Alright, Andy, just let us know if you want us to wait.” Cal radioed back.

The group returned to the area where the signal had started dying previously. This time, though, there was no loss. It looked like Melissa’s handiwork was paying off. The sound of a drone somewhere behind them gave further proof of it. John was the first one into the room with the glow.

“Woah, now this is something. You guys gotta see this.” His voice echoed out of the chamber.

The three hurried in. Cal was amazed at what he saw. There were some sort of vines hanging from the ceiling, brightly glowing. Along the floor were several different plants, some with flowers and one resembling a small tree.

“This is amazing,” Cal spoke as he continued to look around in awe. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something move. “Wait, what was that?”

“What was what?” Stan asked.

“I swear I just saw something move right over there.” As soon as he pointed, a small rocky figure jumped from the wall and ran down one of the tunnel exits.

“Hey, Andy.”

“Yeah, Cal, what’s up?”

“We found Fauna.”