“Activate Sea-Vision.” Right after I finished the command, the band across my eyes became covered in a blue-green tint that bordered on aqua-colored.
Instantly, the creatures came into view. Gasping, my eyes bulged as I took them in. Animals with jaws nearly the size of their whole body filled my vision. Needle-like teeth curved upward in a slight bend to sharp points. Bulbous eyes lacking pupils rested just out of reach of the razor-sharp teeth. Some of them had elongated eel-shaped bodies, while others were thinly shaped resembling a home plate on a baseball field with a tail attached. A few of the animals seemed to have glistening scales so clear I could see their internal organs and ribs. Some could close their mouths, hiding their ferocious teeth, while others like the eel-shaped ones appeared unable to. All of them had skin that looked slimy and possibly gooey. I wished I could touch one and find out for sure.
I’d seen bioluminescence only once before on an immersion television in my biology class, but this was very different than that. Nothing truly beats experiencing something for yourself. I swam closer as the organisms continued to move in their slow swimming way, their fins moving furiously through the water, only propelling them forward slightly. One swam so close to me that I couldn’t resist reaching out and touching it. The skin of the SCUBAPS was thick around my fingers, but I could tell their body felt soft and squishy. Right after I touched it, the animal gave a burst of speed and fled from my reach. There was no way for me to tell what kind of marine species it was without a better inspection and species identification database. Although, if Dylan were here, I bet he could have identified it.
“What are these animals?” I rhetorically wondered aloud.
I was shocked when the A.I. responded, “Do you prefer the common name or the scientific names?”
“Common name, please.” Scientific names were too complicated and difficult for me to understand.
“One of the fish to your right is a hatchetfish; it is the one that is translucent. The one to the left without the protruding teeth, but abundance in light is a lanternfish. The terrifying eel-shaped one with teeth is a viperfish. Earlier there was an anglerfish, but it has since moved on.”
In the place of fear that would have probably enveloped myself pre-Oceania in a cocoon of panic, I felt awe. True, these animals looked like they belonged in a horror movie, but they were so content to move around in their world. None of them paid me any attention. Although it was probably because they couldn’t sense my presence based on the protections of the SCUBAPS. It was like I’d been plunged into an alien immersion movie without all of the fear and hatred.
It was incredible.
“I am sorry to interrupt, but we should continue our ascent to the surface. I suggest you instruct the Jet Propulsion 500 to medium power once more.”
“You’re right,” I replied reluctantly.
Jetting away, the animals zoomed past my view as I continued through the deep sea. Maintaining the Sea-Vision, I could witness other animals whizzing by in addition to the marine snow that continued to fall down just like the snow on land. Quietly, I observed my surroundings and tried to view as much as I could before it passed by my line of sight.
“What is your name?”
I blinked several times in shock. The computer A.I. was talking to me without me asking. That was different from our A.I.s on land. “My name is Allie.” Thinking it wasn’t too rude to ask, I added, “And what is your name?”
“I do not have an official name. I am simply Artificial Intelligence for the Self-Contained Underwater Breathing and Anti-Pressure Suit, or A.I. for SCUBAPS.”
“Oh, okay.” I really didn’t have much else to say to that. “How much longer until we reach the photic zone? I’d like to know when I can start seeing some animals I actually recognize. Not to mention to have some idea of where I’m going.”
In the deep sea, void of any sort of light other than bioluminescence, it was impossible to tell which way was up, down, or to the side. I had no way to orient myself in the water column and was completely at the mercy of the A.I. system in my suit.
The A.I. continued to talk with me to help pass the time. I asked more questions about Oceania and as many about the ocean as I could. It turned out the suit knew a lot of information.
Finally, about an hour after leaving behind the wonderfully unique creatures of the deep, I noticed a change in the area around me. Light seeped through the water that didn’t come from any of my external lights. “A.I., what depth are we at?”
“We are slightly less than 202 meters. We shall be entering the visible light from the sun, also known as the photic zone soon, which of course is named as such because it is the depth at which photosynthesis can take place.” I nodded, which was becoming my signature thing to do when someone explained science to me.
As the light continued to grow in intensity, I became more comfortable with the fact that I could see the animals around me. Reducing my speed to slow, I observed my surroundings. A large object loomed past me on my left, blocking out the rays of the sun. Craning my neck upwards, a sea turtle, about three and a half feet longer than me shocked the daylights out of me. Grinning widely inside my suit, I reached out to brush my fingers against its shell as it glided past. Surprisingly, it was leathery to the touch. He didn’t seem to mind as I watched him power-stroke past me through the haze into the blue beyond.
