1:5:5 Forgotten (Part 6)

A chime rang out as the doors parted; the floor grate rose from the sandpit and once it locked into place, a figure stepped out onto it. “Ollowwo’Owollo?” They looked nothing like what they were expecting. The figure from the lift was squat but noticeably solid, unlike the fluidic being they had seen in Crait’s memories. It stared at Lore and Char before repeating itself. “Ollowwo’Owollo? Wo’Olo Lo’Oolo.”
“Oolow’Owo.” Lore started. “Wolloo’o’lowo Owo’oo.” Char stared at them in confused amazement. “What?” Lore whispered to Char. The Toiswuar figure put an appendage to the side of its head and started whispering to itself.
“You understand them?” Char scoured her teleporter for the correct translation system. “What did they say?”
Lore paused… “You’re right: I did understand them… I haven’t a clue how…” They shook their head. “Anyway, they started by saying ‘hello’ but in the sense of: Hello, what have we here? Then they repeated themselves and added this is a secure area.”
“So what did you say back?” Char continued to struggle with her translator.
“I said ‘hello’ but as a greeting then told them we had gotten lost looking for the toilet.” Lore chuckled. Their face dropped soon after as they returned to trying to work out where they had learnt the Toiswuar language from.
“What are you? What are these noises you are making?” The Toiswuar moved in closer, it moved an appendage to its back.
Lore took a step back before responding. “Sorry. I’ll tell you the truth. My partner and I were interested in learning more about your culture and peoples.”
“You speak our words as though you have our flaps. It is impressive. Whatever you are, I am inclined to take you to our conclave.” It removed a pair of devices from its back, held them in front of itself then paused. “Please affix these to restrain yourselves.”
They resembled handcuffs but the openings were impossibly narrow. They struggled with the devices, not wanting to give the Toiswuar cause for concern. “I think that’s on?” Lore showed it their wrists bound together.
It shook its chest. “Thank you. Follow now please.” It moved aside to allow them to enter the lift first.

“What was that?” Char whispered to Lore. “How?”
“I haven’t a clue. It wasn’t in any of the cubes I don’t think…” Then it dawned on them. “Crait. It’s got to be.”
Char moved in a little closer. “Again, how?”
“Must have been while we were inside their head. They did have control for a bit.” Lore adjusted their cuffs to make sure they stayed on. “Are your ears going funny?”
“I’d say it’s the pressure difference; they’ve obviously tried to keep the same pressure everywhere but it must be harder to maintain this close to the surface.” Char looked over to the Toiswuar and, while it wasn’t looking, freed one of her hands to examine Lore’s ear. “It’s going to be a rough transition but I’ll be able to patch you up if it perforates.”
Lore rolled their eyes. “Thanks.”
The rest of the journey passed in baited silence. Through the lift’s front window, they caught glimpses of the civilisation they had helped re-create; a sprawling network of tunnels and enclosures spanned the ocean floor. Hundreds of thousands of Toiswuar going about their daily lives, swimming between domes; from their point of view, no larger than ants, synchronised in their movements. They marvelled at the enormity of it but the inherent peace that came from the separation by glass and ocean made it seem so much further away, almost unreachable. The peace was broken as the lift doors began to hiss as the pressure started to increase. Lore winced as the doors screeched open, a trickle of fluid leaked from both of their ears.
The Toiswuar left the lift without turning to look at them. “You are to follow. Please now.”
Further down, under the water, the views from the glass ceilings became all the more spectacular; Toiswuar swimming overhead at extreme speeds and unique vegetation that coloured the blue. Lore took a moment to watch the beings floating in the waters above as their forms contorted and shifted to propel themselves around; they moved with such grace, adapting with the current in near perfect harmony. They were a far cry from the blob fish like creatures Crait had laughed at in their memories.
They came to the end of the tunnel where the Toiswuar stopped. It turned to face Lore and Char for the first time since they entered the lift. “Do you require an oxygenated environ to thrive?”
Lore and Char both nodded.
The Toiswuar inhaled sharply through its side flaps. “Are you in possession of your own underwater breathing apparatus?”
Again, they both nodded.
“Please equip your life support so as we may continue.” It reached out a pair of tendrils and removed their bindings. “Do not attempt escape.”
Lore and Char started to ready their masks. Char paused midway, raising her hood but stopping short of sealing it. “We might need your newfound skills…”
“Why’s that?” Lore removed their mask to hear her properly.
“Sea water and my teleporter don’t quite mix.” Char nodded at the door ahead. “Even if the talks take place in a room like this, it’ll take a moment for my teleporter to purge itself and reboot.”
Lore sighed. “Then I guess we better hope that Crait gave me the whole language.”
“Be a bit of an arsehole move if they didn’t.” Char laughed nervously.
The Toiswuar waited for them to don their hoods before opening the lock’s first gate. “Please move respectfully. This land is for rearing of livestock and growing of vegetation.” The room slowly started to fill with water. “Please follow closely and remain on the pathway.”
The cycle completed, the door opened. It was warm. While the water in the lock had been significantly below their human body temperature, the water inside of the dome was much closer to it; almost as if there were no boundary between themselves and the water, two entities in perfect thermodynamic harmony. Around them, a veritable garden of Eden; knee high kelp like plants flourished, spanning the majority of the dome’s floorspace, occasionally broken up by coral trees; fenced areas provided safe grazing zones for their livestock. Lore and Char found themselves giddy. An environment so alien yet so familiar and completely new to the both of them. Restrained by the Toiswuar’s rules, they held in their excitement and continued along the path. To their surprise, they eventually got their wish as they edged closer and closer to the pen. The creature had its head buried in its trough. It was nearly three metres long and one wide and, while it reminded Lore of a cow, it had more in common with a clownfish. Fins frantically flapped to keep it afloat, replacing its legs and instead of spotted markings, it was adorned with stripes of black and murky amber. Char reached out a hand to try and pet the creature only for it to be whipped away by their Toiswuar escort.
“Ooo’loo’lo! Low’ool’lo ow’lo.” Bubbled from it’s helmet.
Char turned immediately to Lore. “It said: Stop! Leave the Low’ool alone.”
“Low’ool…” Char repeated the creature’s name. She moved her hand away slowly, hoping it would meet her before she had retreated too far. “Cute.”
They continued walking, lost in the wonder around them; it didn’t last much longer. As they neared the lock, it dawned on Lore what they had just done; walking at the bottom of the ocean. They found themselves suddenly filled with concern and worry. For some reason, even though the danger had been the same, the lethal levels of water that surrounded them seemed far deadlier than the smog of Rexel. When the Toiswuar opened the lock, Lore made sure to enter as quickly as possible. The cool water didn’t help. They stood, waiting for it to recede once more, their foot nervously tapping against the grated floor. Char took their hand the best she could while still feigning arrest. They smiled weakly, thankful that Char couldn’t see it. Their strength returned as the water receded.
“Ol’o’O’Lo’oo.” The Toiswuar said as it left the lock. Char, once again, turned to Lore.
“Not far now.” They followed close behind it. “O’Wo’Lo’O Lo’wo’Lo’o?” Before she could ask, Lore answered. “I apologised for not asking its name.”
“Ah, thanks.” Char nodded.
“O’lo’Ow’oo.” It proudly bashed one of its tendrils across its torso. “O’Lowolo?”
Lore paused. “How do we go about this?”
“About what?” Char raised both of her hands to scratch her head.
“It asked me what my name is.” Lore paused. “I’m not sure it can even make the necessary sounds.”
Char shrugged. “It’s worth a try.”
“Okay…” Lore thought for a moment. “Ooo’Loo’O Lore O’W.”
“Ll’O?” It returned.
“Close enough.” Lore chuckled. “Funnily enough, Ll’O, in this context, translates roughly to twin or triplet… I think… It seems to be a taboo word at least.”
“I suppose it’s because, as an aquatic species, they might be more likely to be born in large batches rather than one at a time.” Char suggested.
“Maybe.” Lore wracked their mind. “I suppose it makes sense. Its not that desirable if your clutch only results in a couple of viable offspring. To them, my name is basically a slur though…” Lore chuckled.
“You never said what its name was?” She looked it up and down. “Looks like a Neil.”
Lore laughed. “Its name is Ow’oo. Its a Surfaceer of its unit.”
“Surfaceer?” Char questioned.
“Closest translation. It seems to be treated similarly to old-Earth astronauts.” Although they didn’t agree with the how, they couldn’t deny the knowledge of the local language was proving useful.
They walked in silence for a short while longer. Ow’oo moved along as though it had eyes in the back of its head, slowing as Lore and Char did, stopping and waiting when they fell too far behind and increasing its own pace as they increased theirs. It eventually came to a stop outside of a large lock door. It was thrice the size of the previous door, large enough to accommodate a small to medium sized shuttle. Lore hesitated to look beyond it but found their worries allayed when they saw the dome behind the door was a similarly oxygenated environment.
“Ooo’loo’lo. Ow’oo’Olowo’O.” Ow’oo vanished into the wall, entering via a panel to the left of the doors.
“I really can’t wait until my translator’s back online.” Char sighed. She took the opportunity to free her arm and remove her hood. “You want yours down?”
Lore nodded. “Trust me, I feel the same.” They took a deep breath as Char set their hood down on their collar. “I’m not warming to the fact that Crait may have pumped me full of knowledge.”
Char stifled a laugh and rude comment. “No.” She shook her head, beaming.
“For that, I’m not telling you what it said.” Lore gave her an exaggerated frown.
“Context clues tell me it probably said it’ll be right back.” She stuck her tongue out as Lore’s faux frown became somewhat real.
“There was a little more to it…” They reluctantly admitted.