~17~

The rest of my 'day' went by uneventfully.

I'd managed to convince Carol to end the call and leave me the fuck alone.

Although I now worried about that decision because Carol was now free to implement her horrible idea about trying to get her wife back. Which worried me a great deal, because I wasn't sure if I would be in the right emotional state of mind to deal with her during the fallout.

I finished washing up my dirty plates and placed them on the side rack to dry as I make my way to the front of my door to sit and watch the lighting of Titan change before my very eyes.

I switch on my livestream.

"Hey guys! You wanna watch Titan's atmosphere change from night to day?" I ask my computer camera, picking up my ear device as I made it to the front door.

I had to wait a moment for people to actually log online and start responding to me.

[Yes!!]

[Yes please <3]

[If your fake camera would allow it!]

[Omg! I finally get to witness the day and night cycle change for myself IN REAL TIME.]

I smirk at the fun excited comments sprinkled in with the hateful ones.

There was no way to convince people that what I was showing them was indeed not fake. But what could I feasibly do about it?

Unless I could teleport each and every single one of the naysayers directly onto Titan, I had a better chance of convincing a sandwich to fly.

Heck, even if I did manage to teleport them here, they'd still find a way to deny it and accuse me of just hypnotizing and or drugging them into hallucinating everything.

There truly was no way to reason with crazy people hellbent on discrediting you with every fibre of their being.

It doesn't really bother or irk me too bad though, every hateful view is still very monetizable from my end.

Whether the people watching me love me or hate me, I still profit off them regardless.

Which might be a very callous thing to think, but sometimes the line between your fans and haters is very thin and can be negligibly visible.

Even the people who claim to be 'fans' have been giving me shit for not streaming as much as they would like. That I've been going offline more frequently and ending the streams rapidly and more sporadically for their own liking.

Well, excuse me for wanting a single iota of privacy!

I grab the door handle a little too forcefully, and throw my whole weight into my shoulder as I push the door open a little aggressively. It was the best way to release the growing pent-up frustration I felt.

For a lot of the people acting this way, and their numbers only seem to be growing rapidly, it came off as 'how dare I take a moment for myself when I am nothing more than a means of entertainment for them, and should always be readily available for them to consume'.

I hunch down into a squat, rolling up the pants legs of my sweats so I can dunk them (my bare legs) into the water. I foolishly remember not doing so in the company of Leo and Dion and cringe internally at the memory, accompanied by the uncomfortable chill feeling of soggy pant legs afterwards.

Now on any sort of level, I am well aware that my situation of being used as a tool merely for the entertainment of thousands is solely my own doing. No one forced me to turn on my computer and start streaming. But at what point does enjoying someone else's life peril be considered as going too far, and you demanding constant access to said person's life for your viewing pleasure so you never miss a moment be considered a problem?

I plop down on the steel steps flat on my butt and kick my legs out to dunk them into the cool waters.

Although the water(s???) of Titan technically didn't have a temperature, it always felt cool against my skin. Especially around my legs.

Not too warm or cold. Just a nice chilly feel that makes you feel like you've gone out for a walk on a hot summer's day with a nice cool breeze refreshingly keeping you company.

"Ish- ow!" I flinch at the sharp pain I felt.

I look down to the side of my leg and notice a light flesh wound.

I must've nicked myself against the sharp metal corners of my ship's steps when pushing my legs into the water.

"It's always something..." I lowly mumble to myself and lean back on my hands and stretch out on the steps floor.

I leaned my head all the way back to the ship's door frame and lazily kicked my legs back and forth in the water as I lowly humbled to myself.

Absolute pure vibes ✨

One random comment popped into the small screen of my holographic visor right as I closed my eyes and allowed myself to drift away.

But my peaceful zoning out session was very short-lived as I saw a bright light shine harshly against my closed eyes.

I slowly crack open one eye to take a peak to assess the disturbance and immediately shoot both eyes open.

It was a golden comment.

The different hue and brightness of the text stood out amongst the rest, especially in the dim light of the environment.

But the message sent to me was in a completely different tone to the appearance of the message that displayed it.

[💛Get in your ship and blast off into the atmosphere. Now.💛]

"What, wha-?" I was beyond confused.

[💛There is literally no time. Please do it now.💛]

My mind barely finished reading the sentence and processing what was asked of me when another frantic message pops through.

[💛Trust me.💛]

Those simple words alone had my body up and moving on instinct.

"Okay fine. But I still need a minute to charge things up. 10 if I want to stay up there for any significant amount of time." I say as I get up and close the door. But...

Something glowing in the distance caught my eye and I lean out of the ship to look at it.

[💛No worries. You just need to be up there for less than an hour. Just please hurry.💛]

"What the heck is that...?" I barely register the golden comment of whom was most likely Leo as the blueish-hued light in the distance glowed invitingly.

Wait a minute...

Was it growing...bigger!?

Oh my God, no wait. It's getting closer!!

[💛Dear Almighty! Close the door and blast off!! NOW DAMNIT!!!💛]

I slam the door shut and leap over the distance to my computer and initiate the emergency launch sequence I used for the maelstrom.

Changing my setting since the tsunami scare has proven to come in handy very effectively.

I feel my ship protest at the sudden command, especially after the last few days where it didn't have to do anything, and I felt it slowly then rapidly launch into the air as the g-forces hit me.

I prayed to any nearby cosmic deity that would hear me to stop my ship from having any sudden malfunctions. And it seems the fly spaghetti monster answered my prayers as I felt my ship cruise into the sky without any hitch.

That is, until I felt something hit the bottom of the ship!?

How even!?!?

"What in God's name even hit me!? I'm thousands of miles in the air!?" I make my way back to my door to take a peak.

[💛NO MEL DON'T!!!💛]

Leo's gold comment quickly came in, but I elected to ignore it as I swung my door open because what could possibly reach me up here-

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

The screech of pure terror brought forth tears to my eyes as my entire body launched backwards into my ship.

[💛Mel, just calm down! Breathe! Everything is going to be okay! It can't get you from up there!!💛]

Leo desperately tried to soothe me, but his words nearly fell on deaf ears as my vision blurred from the fearful tears that sprung forth.

Hunching over on my hands and knees, I crawl back to the edge of my door to look again.

[AYO WHAT THE FUCK!? WHY ARE YOU GOING BACK!!!]

[Mel is a white girl confirmed, like, WHY WOULD YOU GO BACK AND CHECK!?]

[WHAT KIND OF LOVECRAFTIAN NIGHTMARE FUEL DID I JUST WITNESS!!!]

[Every day I am reminded that Mel, a woman, has more balls than I, a man, could ever wish to have.]

I wipe the tears from my eyes as I peek my head over the edge of the open door and look down again.

All I see is row upon row of teeth the size of four city blocks winding down in a Dante's inferno-type sequence, like looking into a demonic funhouse mirror.

And that isn't even the worse part.

A long slender tendril that would put a Kraken's tentacle to shame slithered up, and was just shy of wrapping itself around my ship, as it continued to ascend higher.

It must've initially tried to wrap itself around my ship but wasn't able to get a good grip.

The tendril oozed a sizzling hot looking gelatinous liquid, steam seeming to come out of all its pores as what appeared to be hundreds of sharp shark-like teeth wounded its way down the entire length to its massive body, where hundreds of more tentacle-like tendrils squirmed around in the black water.

You couldn't even tell where the water ended and where the monster's body began.

[PLEASE look away, I'm about to throw up!!]

[I think you just sent my dad into cardiac arrest! HELP!! What do I do!?]

[I think she sent ME into cardiac arrest!!]

[^^ Call an ambulance you fucking teaspoon!!!]

I look back down at the creature, examining every surface before hurriedly saying, "Where's the blue light?" Under my breath.

[💛You should be fine if you stay up there for a while.💛]

Leo's golden comments pops up next.

[💛It'll lose interest soon since it technically didn't find anything in the water and leave you alone. Good thing it seems like you attracted the only one nearby. Ideally, I would've preferred if you attracted none. But beggars can't be chooser.💛]

"Hold up!" I hold my hands up for emphasis after I slam my door shut with a resounding ring.

"You mean to tell me THERE'S MORE OF THOSE THINGS!?" I demand.

Leo doesn't answer me for a while as my chat went crazy and a subsection of them were trying to help someone dial 911. Apparently dialing the number wasn't hard, it was the social anxiety of talking to another person that was killing them, and the rest of my chat was walking them through what to say before someone actually got killed. By negligence.

I patiently waited for Leo's reply as I practically held my breath in anticipation.

The golden hue of a comment finally came through to the top of the pile.

[💛Mel...this planet is covered with them.💛]

My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"What the fuck is up with this planet!?" I whisper-yelled in a panic.

It seems like every day, no matter how long I've been here, earth-shattering news came to light.

What is up with Titan!?