Who could have known that there was an entire labyrinth so far below the oceans that it connected landmasses together?

Coriander's place is cautious as he makes his way through the murky waters that linger ankle high, his eyes scanning the exposed pipes and faulty wiring that weaves up and over rusted metals of all shapes and sizes. Occasionally, steam hisses from above, coating the air in a thin layer of fog that causes his nose to wrinkle in disgust. Up ahead, Nuryuhr's physician Kanene wades ahead, walking along the path that runs parallel to the shallow water Coriander found himself in. He'd be right beside her, but his ears kept catching on the wires, forcing him to stoop far more than he anticipated.

Behind him, their newest resident Stryx kicks aside various bits of wayward trash that managed to float down along the bubbling current. Jack, another of Nuryuhr's, sidesteps each bit of flotsam that threatens to clip his legs if he stops paying attention for even a moment.

"Anything?" Coriander's voice is calm, but there's an underlying sense of dread that pools in his stomach. For once, their colony's researcher stayed behind, leaving them to their own devices to try and root out a solution for the problem at hand-- draining this damn ring.

He can see Kanene shake her head, but she does acknowledge him with a sigh as she ducks under another tower of pipes draped overhead. "Nothing. No sign of an input panel, or holoscreen UI." She pauses briefly, allowing Coriander to wade a little faster so he's walking side by side with her. She seems amused that, from her vantage on the path, they're almost seeing eye to eye. Her height unnerves him. "Are you sure we shouldn't just turn back, love? We don't know how far this thing goes…"

Stryx, from her position in the back, makes a noise of protest that causes Jack to startle slightly. "We are not turning back now, screw that. This already sucks, you really want to go back empty handed?"

Coriander's jaw tenses and his nose flares, dissipating a sound akin to a sigh as he pinches the bridge of it. "There has to be something, why else would that DPIP company try so hard to keep it hidden?" His ears flick and he regards the duo behind him, and Stryx knows better than to challenge whatever asinine decision he's made this time in the name of science. "All these pipes that are still working have to lead somewhere. A… A control room maybe, a furnace? Some sort of machine that's pumping this water through?" If it were a simple leak, then this whole place would be flooded to the brim, but only select parts of the pipes are deeper than the others-- usually those with cavernous openings, and paths that branched off in confusing patterns.

Kanene hums, her Belemoid accent audible even in the way she breathes. It's… oddly charming, and Coriander averts his gaze to study the walls further as another plume of steam hisses out from the ceiling above.

"Wait, Coriander… Look." Jack's voice piques up from the back of the train, and Coriander notices his arm pointing at a gap in the wall that leads off the path on the opposite side. The faintest glow can be seen, but from this angle it's hard to tell if it's just a trick of the light or not.

"Kanene? Should we investigate?" Coriander asks her, and she's already looking for a way to hop over before he gestures to his back. Stryx and Jack have already made headway in that direction. "I'll take your enthusiasm as a yes. Hop on, it's quicker that way."

Her smile is wide and earnest. "How kind of ya, darlin'." He avidly does not look at her again as she clambers onto his back, and once satisfied that she won't plummet into the water, he wades across the gap to the other side where Stryx and Jack have already pulled themselves up. Stryx shakes free, Jack gets soaked, and then she laughs through her nostrils before patting him rather firmly on the shoulder.

"How's that for a bath, eh?"

Oh, how Coriander wants to dunk her back into the runoff. Maybe she's secretly aquatic-- wouldn't that be something?

Kanene hops off with a small huff, landing on the metal pathway that groans in protest to the collective weight being piled on top of it. Coriander isn't much help, and it damn near buckles as he pulls himself up, shaking off his back legs to keep from slipping on the accumulating puddle below. "After you," he says to the trio, and Stryx is the one who takes the lead as she unceremoniously shoulders away anything hanging in their path.

Jack, on the other hand, pulls away wires and vines to make room for Kanene and Coriander to head through after her, and he dutifully takes up the end of their caravan again. Coriander can't help but wonder if he's relieved to be away from Stryx, or if he's nervous about what lies ahead of them. Before he can ask, Stryx lets out a distress call as her shoulder catches on a gnarled piece of metal jutting out from the narrow faux-alley way.

"Piece of shit metal ass--" her words devolve into a flurry of frustrated snorts and grumbles, most of which Coriander chooses to ignore as he watches Kanene trot to catch up with Stryx.

At first, Stryx protests, but Kanene manages to get her to sit down just long enough to take a quick look at the rather ugly cut marring her fur and skin. "Mm… I didn't bring any supplies with me, but now I'm wishing I had. As long as you don't get it damp at all, it should be just fine." She's not at all pleased, her claws tenderly bracing Stryx's shoulder to stop the bleeding before she looks back towards Coriander and Jack. "Go on ahead, will you? I'm going to see if I can find something to help staunch the wound until we head back."

Didn't he say he didn't want to separate at any point during their excursion? He has half the mind to remind Kanene, but her genuine concern for Stryx keeps Coriander's mouth shut as he nods, obeying her request to trail ahead with Jack not far behind.

"There's no way it'll get infected, right?" Jack questions, walking a step behind Coriander as they finally make their way out of earshot of the two left behind. "Right?"

"With the manner of things we've seen so far, between the jungle insects and mutated tark'ees, and all this trash…" Coriander's eyes narrow. "For her sake, I hope not. Who knows what might take shelter in her skin."

The two tsabhua walk in tense silence after that, chasing a light that seems hellbent on avoiding them.