Drowning

[A.N Should I change AI's name to something else? They pop up often in future.]

Just as everyone was admiring the scenery, a female voice suddenly rang in Natalie's ears.

"Panic mode initiated."

"Diagnostic complete. Due to unknown circumstances, the aircraft Aurora has crashed. Current standing directive: ensure user survival on this alien planet..."

"Who's talking?" Natalie instantly reacted, glancing around in alarm.

"Please don't be alarmed. I am Cortana," the voice calmly replied.

"Cortana?" Natalie blinked, confused. "Who is Cortana?"

"Starting from the 25th century, every citizen of NUSA is provided a government issued AI bracelet at age fifteen. It assists in work and life. I am the AI system embedded in that bracelet. My name is Cortana. Have you forgotten?"

"What the heck? There's such a thing exists?" Natalie was completely stunned.

This game just kept hitting players with surprises.

First, the scene felt unbelievably real. And now, there was an in-game AI assistant?

Natalie quickly looked down at her arm and sure enough, she was wearing a sleek, black bracelet on her right wrist. It fit perfectly, and has wierd lines etched across the surface. Inside, a faint shimmer pulsed beneath the casing.

"It's... real…" Natalie muttered. "This is way too high tech…"

The audience in her live chat was equally shocked.

"So this is the future? Everyone has intelligent AI assistants now?"

"I heard the AI is named Cortana!"

"The devs know what they're doing, making the setting be in the future!"

"25th century… That's like 400 years from now! No wonder the tech looks this advanced."

"Possible brain trauma detected. Initiating self diagnostic," Cortana spoke again.

A burst of purple light pulsed from the bracelet and scanned Natalie.

"Mild concussion detected. Other vitals are normal. Short term memory loss likely caused by shock. No need to worry."

"Uh, I don't have amnesia... I got Isekai'd here…" Natalie muttered. She nearly blurted it out instinctively, before remembering.

Right. She was playing a game, not actually being isekai'd. It just felt so real.

"To ensure users survival, please proceed to the escape pod and search for usable supplies."

"Also, observe the bottom right of your vision. This HUD represents your current physical status."

Natalie turned her gaze and saw four bars: Health, Hunger, Hydration, and Oxygen.

At last, she truly felt like she was in a game.

She stopped admiring the view and quickly headed back into the cabin. After rummaging around, she found a knife, a flashlight, a backpack, and a full diving suit in a storage locker. Unfortunately, there was no food or water.

"No consumables detected," Cortana commented. "To survive, I recommend the user begin fishing in the sea."

"The sea?!" Natalie's voice jumped an octave. "Are you serious?!"

She knew it was an underwater survival game, but when it actually came time to dive in, her scalp tingled. Her nerves spiked.

The realism of the game was off the charts. Jumping into the ocean felt just like the real thing.

Worse still…

"I don't know how to swim..." she said nervously. She's been a city girl her whole life, never even dipped her toes into ocean or even been swimming.

"The user need not worry. I can teach you how to swim," Cortana responded calmly. "For your own safety, please take action now."

Natalie and her audience were stunned.

"Wait, this AI can teach swimming?"

"Alright, I'll give it a shot," she muttered, gritting her teeth.

She suited up, diving suit and helmet secured, and opened the hatch beneath the escape pod.

She stared at the vast, shimmering blue below. With a deep breath, she leapt in.

SPLASH!

The game's haptic feedback system went into full effect. She felt her body fully immersed in the sea, wrapped in water pressure, and gently swaying in the current.

Surprisingly, the water was warmer than she expected.

Colorful reef formations appeared around her, with mushrooms and alien sea plants blooming across rocky ledges. Strange little fish, unlike anything from Earth, darted around her.

"Whoa, this ocean is gorgeous!"

"Feels like a National Geographic documentary!"

"That mushroom is purple! And look at that fish, it's shaped like a flying saucer!"

The audience was in awe.

"The user's luck is excellent. This area is a shallow reef, populated by small fish. Low probability of encountering predators," Cortana said reassuringly.

But Natalie didn't have time to appreciate the scenery.

Her face turned red as she held her breath, flailing her limbs without any sense of direction, her body was sinking fast.

The audience began to panic.

"Natalie! Breathe! It's a game, you can breathe!"

"You can talk too, don't forget!"

"Stay calm, Natalieu!"

Hearing the frantic comments in her earpiece, Natalie finally came to her senses.

"Huff... puff..." She gasped for air. "Holy crap, I almost suffocated... Damn!"

Even so, her body continued to sink until she hit the seabed.

"Oxygen levels dangerously low. Please surface immediately," Cortana warned.

Natalie looked at her HUD: the oxygen bar had dropped from 45 to 25.

"Float up? But I don't know how to float up!" she panicked.

"Follow the demonstration. Keep your torso and head level, and paddle with alternating arm strokes…"

As she spoke, the bracelet emitted a beam of ultraviolet light, projecting a hologram in front of her.

A human figure demonstrated the proper swimming posture.

"There's a visual tutorial?!"

"This AI even shows you how to swim? Is this game for real?!"

"This is legit next level technology!"

Natalie began mimicking the image. She kicked her legs and reached forward with her arms.

"Your arm is too high. Please lower it slightly."

"Raise your head during strokes to aid flotation."

Cortana's instructions came calmly and precisely, like a personal swimming coach.

"No way, this AI is really teaching her."

"As a swim coach myself, I can confirm, every instruction is correct!"

"I swim too, and everything she's saying checks out!"

"Are we seriously learning how to swim from a game?!"

"This is insane. Cortana teaches better than most real life coaches!"

"So Subnautica is also a swimming simulator?!"

"Props to the devs at New World, this isn't just a game, it's education!"

The live chat exploded with excitement.

But while Cortana was an amazing teacher, Natalie was a terrible student. She'd never swum before, and now had to learn it all on the spot, with her oxygen rapidly running out.

The more nervous she got, the more flustered she became. Her body flailed out of sync. Despite all the paddling, she couldn't surface, she just thrashed around in place.

Eventually, her oxygen hit zero.

Bloodshot warnings appeared on her screen. Her character started choking, struggling to breathe.

"It's over! I'm gonna die!!!"

As she cried out, her vision darkened until everything turned black.

"You are dead."

The four words appeared onscreen.

"..."

The chat exploded with laughter.

"Natalie, log off, that was so embarrassing!"

"Cortana did everything she could. You're just too noob!"

"The AI explained it ten times and you still didn't get it!"

"She was flopping around like a drowning toad!"

"You can't blame me!" Natalie whined. "The water resistance was insane! The oxygen ran out so fast! I've never swum before, how was I supposed to learn it in two minutes?!"

"You'll understand once you play it yourself. This game is hardcore!"

Yeah, that was the word, hardcore.

What kind of game expects you to learn swim or die trying?

Natalie clenched her fists and shouted, "Again! I'm starting over!"

She reloaded he latest save, returning to the moment just before she jumped into the ocean.

This time, she hesitated.

Looking down at the sea, she turned to Cortana and said, "Hey... how about you teach me up here first? I'll go in after I learn."

The chat was instantly delighted.

"Tsk tsk, Natalie, you scared?"

"It's just a game! You can't actually drown! Why so cautious?"

"You're playing it too safe!"

1319 Words.