《Thalassophobia》


 Depth - 500m below sea level

    It was rapidly getting darker. Light which was so abundant up above was disappearing, and that scared Victor more then anything else. In the light, he felt safe from the open ocean. He could see all around his small submarine, that he unaffectionately named ''The Tin Can'', before he reached about 200m depth. Then he entered the twilight zone. Light had started to fizzle out at an increasing rate, soon to be gone entirely. All that would be left is the dim lights of The Tin Can; an insignificant speck in a very, very big ocean. Victor shivered, the cool interior of the sub wasn''t welcoming. He felt like prisoner. To be honest, that''s basically what he was. Not wanting to remember the land above, he turned and left the one and only small window in the sub. He hated this. The ''Phobia Correction Therapy'' he was forced to take was losing the little results it achieved in Victors mind, leaving just the trauma of the process mixed in with the fear of the surrounding waters. He was scared. Of the unknown beneath he was going to soon be among, The Tin Can which felt like it would collapse any second, the darkness rapidly closing in, everything he was leaving behind on the surface, and most of all; the ocean all around him. He wasn''t looking forward to tomorrow.


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Victor Lee, degree in electrical engineering and worked as a researcher for 13 years at V Research, was an assistant to the discovery made by Anna Brand and her team. Due to an executive decision, termination was aborted in exchange for allowing him to help progress Project Trench and gather samples. Reason given: ''He is a competent researcher who also has the knowledge of engineering to fix any complications that occur at an extended dive. His knowledge of the project is also incomplete due to him not directly being part of Anna Brand''s team. Better not waste good resources, especially when they are going to start dwindling to our estimate.'' Mission Length - 8 months. Estimate Chance Of Return - 2%.

 Depth - 1000m below sea level

    To try to calm his rising blood pressure, Victor sat upon a small metal chair. It was not very comfy but apart from the bed or the floor, his only choice. His hands reached into his pockets and removed the most high-tech thing within 100 kilometres, a small tablet with instructions on everything he would need to know for the next 8 months. It really is a bad sign that I don''t consider The Tin Can the most advanced thing, he idly thought to himself. Going through tab after tab he saw everything deemed important enough he should know about - overall a lot less than he wanted but more than he expected considering his, how to put it, rough recruitment process. A tab caught his eye. Simply labelled ''Mission Trench'', it held an overview of his goals in the depths. It had been drilled into him for weeks before he was welded shut into the sub, but he once again read it.


    Mission Trench - Collect samples from deep ocean trenches as well as their occupants. These samples shall be processed via the onboard analysis machine, and either contained and released back to the surface in Secure Buoyancy Capsules (SBCs) or returned into the ocean where found. A thorough record of all substances and results will be maintained, as well as a record of any and all unknown observations from samples or the trenches. Any assigned researcher is responsible for the close following of these instructions, as well as the maintenance of the Submarine and its equipment. If no samples are found within a 10-day period of first reaching the trench, or if 15 consecutive days without samples have passed, the submarine shall attempt to surface. Good luck.


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    It was a very lacklustre briefing. No mention of what they were looking for or why they had to look so far below the waves to find it. Victor could only sigh now; before the ''training'' he would''ve ground his teeth - now that frustration was replaced with tiredness and resignation. He knew that Anna had found something and that something was what had caused all this. If what he was searching for was the same thing she found, which wasn''t a very hard leap to make, he guessed that just maybe he''d get a few more answers. Another puzzle piece to try to fill in the gaps. But for now, he could only wait while the water buried him deeper and deeper.