into the ABYSS: tablet two.

[Administrator]

What is this place....

It's so beautiful. I've never seen anything like this before...

Our modern society... it couldn't possibly capture this. No... this is absolutely ancient.

Ethereal... what's this... light?

_ ___ _____ __________ﺞ_________ _____ ___ _

Cabin of the Skyway
Research vessel

"Oi, Lola, what's the update on Carter? Seeing you took my spot and all," there was some hint of mild irritation in Rob's voice as the brown-haired man fixed his dark eyes on the back of his co-worker's blonde head. "Honestly, I'm more than capable of reading that thing." He readjusted his gaze so it was focused on the piece of string he had apparently managed to find tucked in a corner somewhere. It was now the subject of his amusement as he sat in the deck chair that was positioned near a wall of various gears and small steam pipes, his fingers working at the thread to make various patterns, though it was obvious the little action was quickly wearing away at his interest.

"Sorry. Just not really feeling up to translating 'the little bleepy-thing is about two inches from the big bleepy-thing' today, Rob," the woman replied, her bright green eyes never leaving the monitor she was current staring at. Her brow was furrowed, and her blue lips were pulled into a slight frown as she pushed a few of her matching blue highlights back so they were perched behind her ear. "Now that you mention it though..."

She absently groped for the small intercom that was located nearby, and placed the object to her lips as she pressed a button on the side. "Skyway to Seapath, Lola speaking, do you copy Carter? We're having some issues with our positioning system, I can't seem to lock on to your present position."

The woman paused for a moment, only faintly aware of the presence behind her as Rob stood up to inch closer to her chair, his own brown furrowed as he shook his long ponytail from its position on his shoulder. Only the faint crackling sound of static responded, and it was obvious that the few other individuals that were littered about the large research ship's cabin had purposely stopped whatever they were doing.

"Carter, please try to reset your positioning system. Can you give us an estimate of how close you are to the surface?" Lola spoke again. Again no answer.

Rob huffed, reaching over his female co-worker's shoulder to grab the intercom and place it close to his own lips. "Oi, Carter my man, in case you didn't understand that, that means we kind of want to hear from you. Like, I don't know, maybe describe the colours of the sea or something?"

Only the static replied.

Lola sighed, quickly running one of her hands through her hair. "Alright, I'm going to try and pick up on the sub's position manually. The sonar's hooked up right? Oh, why bother asking you, of course it is."

The woman seemed to be muttering primarily to herself as she heaved herself up from her seat, quickly fixing her attention on the various buttons and knobs that made up the primary sonar controls. "Rob, see if you can get in contact with shore. If this doesn't work I want to have a search squad available as soon as possible."

"You do realize we're going to look like total idiots if it turns out we just lost the signal because a Wailord swam between the sub and the boat, right?" Rob replied, trying to offer some humour, though a quick glare from the woman was enough to send him scurrying out of her way.

"Tch, Wailord. Yeah, I'm sure that's what happened," she muttered to herself, quickly turning the knob that adjusted the sonar's frequency. "Yeah, that makes so much sense..." She glanced over her shoulder, picking out a young, nervous looking man on the far side of the cabin and quickly barking a quick order in his direction.

"Mike! Keep your eyes on the position screen, I can't do everything at once."

"Y-yes!" the young man replied, hastily taking up his position. Satisfied, Lola returned to the adjusting the sonar's frequency.

_ ___ _____ __________ﺞ_________ _____ ___ _

Seapath
Ocean floor

Carter moaned loudly. His head was spinning, a dull throb absently pounding in the back of his mind as he slowly lifted himself off the floor. The steady streams of water were still evident, and the water had already ridden quite considerably. How he had managed to keep his nose and mouth from going underwater while he was out, he had no idea, but then... if he was going to die here, he would have preferred doing so while he had been unconscious rather than having the misfortune of dreading it beforehand.

He shakily got to his feet, staggering as he grabbed onto the control panel and raised a hand to his forehead and hissed sharply, pulling his palm away immediately to stare at the bright red liquid that had smeared on it. He hadn't really thought he'd gotten tossed around that much, but then, it was probably more than possible.

He suddenly seemed to realize something and quickly scrambled for the button that allowed him to speak through the intercom, his feet sending up large splashes as he scrambled through the rising seawater to slam his hand on the button. "Lola, Rob, there was an accident. Try and pick up on my position."

He waited for a moment, and no response came.

"Lola? Respond, there's been an accident, my controls are--"

The already dim lights flickered and abruptly shorted out, casting the submarine into the darkness of the ocean depths. The dull thrum that had shown the steam engines were still at work went quiet.

"--dead... No... come on, no! Dammit!"

He balled up his fist and pounded it into the control panel, feeling the thin metal covering that protected the multitude of gears beneath it give slightly with the impact. "Work! Just give me something!"

His mind was spinning. Water was rapidly flowing in, and depending on how much damage had been done, it was quite possible the sub posed the risk of collapsing in on him. With the power finally expired, he probably had maybe an hour of oxygen present, and that was only if he could even keep his head above the water for that long.

He glanced down at his feet, unable to see the surface of the water, but he felt it. It had started to creep up towards his shins at this point, almost like a creeping hand that was trying to find a grip to pull him down into it's suffocating depths. He had spent nearly his entire life exploring the mysteries of the sea... yet he never imagined that he might actually be claimed by it.

"I don't want to die here..." it was almost a faint whisper, his normally refined and collected position suddenly slouching into one of defeat. "Not alone... not at the bottom of the sea..."

He let himself fall against the control panel, crossing his arms under his chin as he pressed his face just mere inches from the dark, glass surface of the front shield of the sub. To him, it almost seemed as if lights were dancing in the distance, moving irregularly as if they were dancing in the waters far away. Just faint, bluish lights...

"Great... doomed, and going insane..." he muttered, yet unable to take his eyes away from the lights as they seemed to grow larger. A noise seemed to radiate from the depths, almost as if a song was traveling through the dark waters. Yet... it was strangely comforting. Was that what it was like to be insane? Comforting, despite the fact you realized you must be seeing things that weren't really there?

"I saw them... while I was out too, didn't I? Those lights..."

_ ___ _____ __________ﺞ_________ _____ ___ _

Unknown Source

"Sir, we just intercepted a message from Carter's ship. It seems they're sending out an SOS of sorts. They lost contact with Carter's sub," a male voice spoke.

"Is that so? Do we know what exactly Carter and his crew were doing out on the ocean?" the was a response, the voice seemingly tired with age as the dim lights overhead flickered, hardly shedding any light into the dark interior where the two shapes were stationed.

"Searching for the same thing we are. However, save for his initial reports of those pictures he managed to take a while ago, there's been no more publicized news on his progress. I don't think he's found anything yet."

"Heh, and he's currently missing you say?"

"Yes sir, from what I can gather from the message we intercepted. They're sending out for a search team from Abyss Island."

"Well then, just as well... we don't need any scientist interfering. Isn't that right, my dear?"

"Sir?"

"Not you," a dark shape shifted to place a gnarled hand on the reflective surface of what seemed to be some sort of tank. "My lovely Akina. She knows who it is that is meant to unlock the secrets of the lost city.... isn't that right, my love?"

A deep growl seemed to radiate from the water behind the tank walls, and a pair of bright, glowing blue eyes slid open in response, their surfaces glimmering with malice.

End tablet two.

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