Once more, I gazed out into the sea, hoping to see some more animals before the light faded altogether. Before I could catch my eye on anything, the whining sound returned as the floor, seats, and the front console flickered into visibility. However, the viewing area from the sides and front remained the same.
Powerful lights illuminated the dark sea surrounding us. I started to witness fish I’d only ever seen on immersion television specials or a school program. I never dreamed I would actually see these things in real life. Many of the creatures appeared to be frightened by our lights, staying just beyond their reach. Of the ones that didn’t seem to mind, I had a fantastic time watching them. Fluid-filled eyes ballooned out so far they appeared as if they were going to pop out at any second. A scarlet-scaled fish startled me as it swam by with needle pointed fangs. As I paid more attention, I began to notice most of the fish were some sort of red or brown color. The others tended to be see-through. Out of all the fish, some of them had big mouths, while others were simply small and eel-like.
“Hungry?”
The sudden question jolted me back into the pod and away from the undersea world. “A bit, not too much.”
“Well, if you want, I have an energy bar and some water stashed here in the storage box.” Dylan opened up a compartment between his knees and took out two canteens along with two healthy-looking bars wrapped in what resembled cling-wrap.
“Thank you.” I took what he offered me and opened up the energy bar to take a bite. Its taste was hard to place, but not bad.
“You’re welcome. We’ll be at the city in about thirty minutes.”
“Okay.” I swallowed my food then asked, “Can I ask you some questions about Oceania? I’m kinda curious about it now.”
“Sure, go ahead, although, I might not know everything.” Dylan let out a short laugh as he pulled off the cap to his canteen to take a sip.
“How many people live there?”
Dylan re-capped his canteen and wiped his lips with the back of his hand. “I’m not sure what the exact number is, but I think it’s somewhere around four million.”
“Four million?” I exclaimed, my mind thoroughly blown. “How can that many people live underwater?”
“Actually, we have enough room for ten million, I’m told. Is four million large for a city on land?”
Taken aback, I shook my head slightly to clear my boggled mind and replied, “Well, no, but it is around an average city on land.” Trying to get Dylan back to answering my questions, I asked, “How does that work? I mean, isn’t it super crowded?”
“No, there’s actually a lot of space. Oceania is pretty big. Everyone lives in high-rise apartments. No one family has a house of their own. Do people still live in houses on land? Do you live in a house?”
“Yes, people still live in houses, even though I don’t. I live in a big city on land called Chicago, so my mom and I live in an apartment there, but my grandmother has her own house out here in California.”
“I’ve heard of Chicago before. It’s one of the largest cities in the United States, right?”
“Well, it used to be…I guess it was when Oceania was made, but now it’s only one of the top twenty largest. It has about eleven million people living there now.”
“Wow! Do they not have houses there?”
“Not inside the city anymore. They were bulldozed to make high rises decades ago. Besides, to own a single house in the city would cost a quadrillion dollars. As it is, most people that live in the city proper are multi-trillionaires.”
“Whoa, I guess a whole lot has changed. Can I ask you some more questions about land?”
“Okay.”
“How many people are there in the land world?” Dylan twisted around in his seat so he could see me better.
“Uh…” I tried to remember the number I’d heard sometime earlier this year. “I think it's somewhere near fourteen billion.”
Dylan’s eyes bulged like the fishes’ outside. “Wow, that’s extreme. If the land world grew that fast, either The Great Plague wasn’t as bad as I was told or you must still not have limits on families.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Well, in Oceania, each family is only allowed to have one or two children.”
“What happens if people have more?”
“They’re severely fined. There are a few families with three or more kids, but it’s extremely rare.”
“So, are you an only child then?”
“Yeah, what about you?”
“Same here. Sometimes, I wish I had a sibling.”
“I have a friend who’s like a sister. She’s pretty cool. Both our parents work in the same lab, so we grew up together from a young age.” Dylan took a break to finish his water.
“Are seamobiles the only way to get from the beach to Oceania and back?”
“Yes, they are. Are you having regrets about coming?”
“Oh, no, definitely not! This trip itself is absolutely amazing,” I quickly replied, afraid of him turning around and me not getting a chance to see the city. “I just have to return before dark or Gran will worry about me again.”
“No problem. I won’t forget to take you back. In fact…” Dylan opened a pouch on his wet suit and pulled out a small communicator. “I’ll make a note on my c-com two hours before sunset to remind us to return.”
“Thank you.” Two hours would give me plenty of time to bike home before nightfall.
I continued to peer around for the next few minutes until the fish and invertebrates decreased in numbers, as
