Chapter Text
The first thing that hits him is the smell. The acrid bitter smell of smoke forced him to open his eyes fast, his panicked brain demanding more information. His head pounded and the light stung his eyes, but he forced them to stay open.
He was strapped into a chair roller coaster style and not 2 feet to his left an inferno engulfed the tiny cabin. He patted down the bars holding him in place, desperately searching for the latch or button that kept him trapped. His wrist bumped the touchpad on the armbar and it flickered to life. The bright blue release button blinked up at him and he pressed it, desperation and heat making his hands slick. When it didn't activate the first couple of times, he punched it in frustration and the lock on the bars opened with a click.
Izuku pulled the bars up and away from him and stumbled out of the seat. His fingers brushed the fire extinguisher as he instinctively raised a hand to the heat. He snatched it up and looked it over for the directions. Thankfully this one was a simple point-and-shoot style extinguisher and the white foam put out the fire fast. Sparks still sputtered from the open fusebox and exposed wires, but thankfully whatever had been the fuel for the fire was burned away. He took a deep breath and regretted it almost immediately, coughing hard on what was left of the smoke.
Once he finally got his breath, he patted down his skin-tight suit. His left hand brushed something smooth and cool to the touch on his left thigh. He unclipped the device from his skintight suit and held it by the smooth white handle. It looked like some kind of futuristic tablet so he tapped it lightly like he did with the chair panel. Yellow words appeared on the cobalt blue background and he watched as it booted up in Emergency mode. The triangle in the middle of the loading screen twirled serenely and he muttered the name to himself.
"Alterra... Some kind of company?"
To his surprise a woman's voice echoed in his head, calmly and coldly addressing him.
"You have suffered minor head trauma. This is considered an optimal outcome."
He touched the side of his head and winced. A flash of memory came with the pain, the panel of the fusebox smacking him in the face right after he sat down in the chair. At least he got strapped in before that or else he might've gotten thrown around the life pod and died before the game even began.
Touching his ear, he found a tiny Bluetooth earbud. He took out the one and looked it over. The Alterra logo shone back up at him, light blue on the shiny black surface. It put it back in just in time for the device to finish booting up. It showed the fire extinguisher he had clipped onto his belt in the equipped section. He unclipped it again and trusting his instinct he tapped it against the tablet. Sure enough, a light shone from what he assumed was the camera and scanned it. The fire extinguisher dissolved into tiny particles and its icon reappeared in the inventory section. He tapped it and it reappeared, the particles reassembling themselves into his hand.
He put away the fire extinguisher again and strapped the tablet to his belt. The woman's voice began again, informing him in her calm and cold way.
"The PDA has rebooted in emergency mode with one directive: to keep you alive on an alien world."
This new information sent a jolt of alarm through him. Thoughts of a world of Xenomorphs plagued his mind and froze him in place. Panic engulfed him so hard that the woman's voice wishing him luck felt like a distant dream. He looked to the PDA and felt rather than heard his voice crack as he asked out loud, "Do Xenomorphs exist?"
The woman's voice chimed back in his ear and he felt the panic slip away as she spoke.
"There is no known lifeform named Xenomorph. Would you like to search under a different name?"
He rattled off the next few names he's heard over his time in Alien Isolation and felt his muscles relax as she denied each one's existence. Finally, he sighed and leaned up against the cool steel of the life pod and felt it shift slightly. Testing the pod, he rocked and felt the pod rock with him. He turned to the ladder and asked out loud again, "Is the atmosphere breathable?"
"Unknown. Lifepod 5's secondary systems have been severely damaged and are in need of repair. The repair tool can be found in the blueprints tab of the PDA. Please note that 80% of the Blueprint Database has been corrupted. Alterra apologises for the inconvience."
Izuku cursed and looked over the blueprint for the repair tool. Rubber, Sulfer, and Titanium. Was there any way he could get this while inside the pod? He began the search through the pod.
While he didn't find anything he could salvage safely, he was happy to find a couple of flares, bottles of water, and nutrient blocks that looked more akin to building blocks than the granola bars he was used to. He also took the time to check the solar batteries and the status screen. As he expected, pretty much everything was fucked except for the hull integrity which was OK. He sighed and looked up at the ladder that led out to the outside alien world. Would the Game Devs fuck over their players by making it impossible to leave the lifepod? Surely not...right?
He climbed up the ladder and hesitantly placed a hand on the hatch leading to the outside. The sky outside was a clear blue, mirroring the blue from his own world, mirroring reality. Something about that pushed him forward and out of the hatch.
Sure enough, the air was breathable and debatably easier to breathe than the smog gripped air of Musutafu. Unfortunately, the clear crisp air was fouled by Izukus voice after he registered the area around him.
"FUCK!!!"
Izuku knew there had to be a catch, there always was, wasn't there? The catch here was that there was nothing but water for miles around and the Aurora that he had dropped from was a hulking wreck, two miles away at the most. As if to pontificate on that, the lady piped up once more.
"The Aurora has suffered orbital hull failure. Cause: Unknown. Zero human life detected."
Izuku sighed and let out a quiet "Double Fuck".
He stared off at the Aurora for a long time before finally making a decision. Climbing down into the warm water, he began his long swim towards the crashed ship. After all, the salvage from the Aurora would be a great resource. He swam along the surface, trying not to think of what might be beneath the waves. It wasn't until he was almost touching the ship that the woman spoke up again.
"Lifeform readings in this region are sparse. The Aurora's radioactive fallout will have devastating effects on the alien ecosystem if not contained within the next 24 hours."
"RADIATION!?!?" He immediately started swimming back as the woman continued on.
"Warning: Closer Analysis on the local radiation readings suggests the Aurora's drive core will reach a critical state in two days. The drive core will reach a supercritical state in three days.
Izuku mentally made note of the time limit and swam harder, trying to get to a safer distance. He only got a few feet away before something that could only be described as a roar reverberated the water beneath him. It was so loud! Even though he swam with his head above the water, he could hear its shuddering call.
He fought the panic clawing up his throat and tried to swim away at a more measured pace, trying to match the waves. Whatever it was roared again, it's call a bit further away. He smiled softly and kept his pace, still matching the waves.
His smile was wiped away in a heartbeat as he was pulled under, the roar preceding the crunch of bone and tearing of skin.
He woke up in the simulation seat, gasping for air. He crawled out of the chair and sobbed with fear on the floor. As he lay there weeping, the monster's roar echoed through his head, making it's home in his future nightmares.