After sixty-seven sessions of Curse of Strahd (read all about it here), it was time for a change. So into the wild we went...
My group is nearing the end of Hither, and along the way I've written summaries of each session ("What Just Happened?), along with interesting quotes from PCs/NPCs ("Certain Things Were Said"), and a list of new characters introduced that session ("Dramatis Personae").
My intention is to write the summaries from each five parts of the campaign in a different format. For the Witchlight Carnival, each summary was presented in verse (my own, no machine learning shortcuts!), using the the metre and rhyming structure of various Lewis Carrol poems.
I'd like to share my summaries/poems with you all here, for posterity, and in the hope you'll find them entertaining.
For reference, the players are:

• Holafina (a harengon paladin who has lost three inches of height)
• Skerrek (a kobold druid who has lost the ability to lie)
• Arix (an owlin monk who has lost all sense of direction and is always hungry)
• Jexim (a brash fairy who has lost his diary)
• Sylenos (a beatnik, slacker satyr employed by the Carnival

NOTE: Lewis Carroll was known to hide secret messages in his poems. I've done the same, revealing the campaign's big twist in one of the poems below. None of my players have picked up on it.

Part I: Welcome to the Witchlight

What Just Happened? (in the style of Jabberwocky)
’Twas twilight when the carnival
Did open wide two golden gates,
And those with tickets did arrive,
Seeking things they had misplaced.
One harengon of curious size,
A kobold with a slithy gait,
An owlet who possessed two eyes
As wide as Annam’s dinner plates.
Yet are we three or are we four?
Let’s add vibrations rarefied:
A Witchlight hand here to ensure
That every guest is Satyrs-fied!
Enter now and taste the sounds,
Feel these colours, smell those sights!
Kaleidoscopic fun abounds
This synaesthesiac’s delight!
Yet where’s the drama? Where’s the tension?
Certainly we’ve had a switch
(At least in here there is no mention
Of that cad von Zarovich).
Instead let’s race a giant snail,
Eat candied mushrooms by the pound,
Or listen to a gnome assail
The tightness of your mother’s gown.
Yet hark! A misadventure glum!
Those not heroes please give berth!
The best laid plans of love undone
By Tasha’s wild unruly mirth
These mirrored halls! This desperate task,
To find a luckless paramour
A sweet-toothed lass with porcine mask
That you could swear you’ve seen before…
’Twas twilight when the carnival
Did open wide two golden gates
And those with tickets did arrive,
Now guided by the wiles of fate.
Dramatis Personae
Arix Specklefoot, a sweet-toothed owlin
Holafina, a curiously short harengon
Skerrek Tirael, a slithy kobold
Sylenos, a cosmic satyr
Nicholas Midnight, elderly goblin ticketmaster at the Witchlight Carnival
Candlefoot, a mime and not by choice
Rubin Sugarwood, a lovesick halfling
Ween Sundapple, his laugh-sick paramour
Glorange Turple, a poetry gnome
Certain Things Were Said
“I am worried about your ability to sense vibrations that I cannot.” - Skerrek Tirael
“Tymore, goddess of good fortune! Look well upon Shellymoo this day!” - Holafina
“Hate to say it, man, but that gnome really insulted your mother.” - Sylenos
“Snacks?” - Arix Specklefoot

Part II: Lost and Found

What Just Happened? (In the style of The Walrus and the Carpenter )
"The time has come," the Satyr said,
"To talk of many things:
Of poems—and props—and Jeremy Plum—
Of crowns and pixie kings—
And why things here keep getting lost—
And what this pig-girl means."
"But wait a bit," the Owlin cried,
"Before our minds do meet,
For some of us are pretty spooked,
And I would like a treat!"
"No hurry!" said the Satyr,
And kicked up cloven feet.
The Owlin and the Kobold
Were walking close at hand,
They smiled like anything to see
The gates of Pixie Land.
"If we could only stay a while,”
They said, "it would be grand!"
The Satyr sighed so sulkily,
Because he thought that Plum
Had got no business to be there
When all was said and done.
(“It's rude of him," the Kobold said,
"To try and spoil our fun!")
"Oi, Satyr," said the pixie king,
"You've had a pleasant run!
Should you be getting back to work?”
But answer came there none
And this was scarcely odd, because
He had real beef with Plum.
Now Arix made a hamster friend
Who offered up some clues.
The others tried the riding-pug:
A pleasant thing to do!
(“The pug is fine," the Rabbit said,
"But he’s no Shellymoo.”)
"How nice of you to come!” said Plum,
"You all are oh-so kind!"
Puddlemud said nothing as
His teeth began to grind.
The Owlin and the Kobold cheered:
“That was our FAVORITE ride!”

“A wooden crown," fair Jexim said,
Is what we need to come
Our way along with golden paint
For some un-princely sum.”
The others stared, confused, and said:
“Now where did YOU come from?”

‘Twas then the party dared approach
The famous Mystery Mine
Where psychedelic spectacles
Broke the Satyr’s mind.
(“I really wish,” Zephixo sighed,
“You wouldn’t ride while high”).

Next Dirla pulled all kind of things
Out of his wagon/portal:
Bottles, bunnies, candlesticks,
A shining blade of vorpal
(Incidentally, there’s a word
That kind of rhymes with purple).
“If you put your mind to it
And searched for long enough,
Do you suppose," the party said,
"That you could find our stuff?"
"I doubt it," said dear Dirlagraun,
And gave a bitter huff.

Then he gave the Harengon
The greatest gift by far:
A copy of “Gnome On The Run”
And bid them au revoir
(Morgie would have laughed at that
While struggling with slash “R”).

“I do believe,” the Satyr said,
“That something is not right,
And think we ought to pay a call
To Messers Witch and Light.”
“I think we ought,” the Owlin said
“To first stop for a bite.”

But in their way old Thaco stood,
A clown grown grim and surly:
“Rabbit! Owlin! Pixie! Skink!
You aren’t allowed to be-“
The Fairy interrupted him:
“Wait, WHAT did you call me?”

Poor Thaco cried: “Things move too fast!
And have since my debut
In R-1: To the Aid of Falx
From Nineteen Eighty Two!
And if you’d seen what I have seen
Then you’d smoke bubbles, too!”

Finally he stepped aside,
At last the way was clear.
The Satyr ambled stealthily
With open eyes and ears
And pressed them to a wagon large
To see what he could hear.

"The time has come," Witch and Light said,
"To talk of things galore
Of prizes—plans—and kenku pests—
and ever so much more—
But first we’d better ask inside
Those spying at our door!”
Dramatis Personae
Jexim, a puzzled, puzzling fairy
Jeremy Plum, operator of the Pixie Kingdom and bestower of silly names
Biscuit, a talkative hamster
Pinecone, a riding-pug
Zephixo, dwarven inventor and mastermind behind the Mystery Mine
Ernest Wilde, middle-aged calliope master currently inhabiting the body of his pet monkey
Marigold, his button-collecting goblin assistant
Dirlagraun, a kindly but inefficient displacer beast, minder of lost children and property
Thaco, a bubble-smoking clown who is long past his prime
Certain Things Were Said
"Worried I was, with talk of missing supper." - Arix Specklefoot
"Could you not just purchase a new pair?" - Skerrek Tirael
"Not like this, man." - Sylenos
"If you'd see the things I've seen, you'd smoke a bubble pipe, too." - Thaco
"Is this it?" - Dirlagraun
"NO." - Everyone

Part III: On the Trail of the Kenku

What Just Happened? (In the style of The Hunting of the Snark)
"Where the heck is our stuff? We just want to know
This Harengon ain't getting bigger,
Arix has no idea of where to go
And lies send poor Skerrek a-quiver!"
"Would you get back to work?" Mister Light cried,
Twirling his cane with a smile,
"Otherwise find where this kenku pest hides;
She's cramping this carnival's style!"
"Well, that was a bust," said our heroes, conferring,
"Anyone got a suggestion?
If we need to pull strings to get back our things
Then there are some folk we should question."
"Time's an illusion, free will a delusion!"
Sylenos' mentor decreed,
"Get a contusion battling occlusions,
Or relax and have some of this…wait, what was I saying?"
Sylenos proclaimed: "A genius flawed!"
"A man/dragon ahead of his time."
Skerrek looked at his claws; Holafina at paws,
And the other two just rolled their eyes
"A centuar I'm not! I just made a bad trade
The "Cloppinton's" just serendipitous,
Now lend me your aid and you'll maybe persuade
These horsies to drop some significance."
Then they took to the skies on a dragonfly ride
(Holafina and Skerrek abreast),
When you're this high there's just nowhere to hide
(And to which Sylenos attests)
Now Skerrek honed on a runaway gnome
Who was fleeing the carnage with glee,
Holafina struck home and that's it for this poem
For the gnome was the kenku, you see.
Dramatis Personae
Mister Witch, a matter-of-fact elf, devoid of pretense
Mister Light, a flamboyant elf, luminous and coy
Burly, a philosophical, pumpkin-helmeted bugbear
Mandragon, a seeker of truth (and not much else)
Diana Cloppington, a centaur who is apparently not, operator of the Carousel
Northwind, a very forthcoming treant, operator of the Dragonfly Rides
Certain Things Were Said
"There’s something weird going on. For some reason everyone thinks I don’t do anything around the carnival." - Sylenos
"It's true, Miss Cloppinton! We've ALL lost things." - Arix Specklefoot
"Wait, when did we have biscuits?" - Jexim

Part IV: Through the Looking Glass

What Just Happened? (In the style of A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky)
Now hear the Kenku’s strange reply
(As Arix struggles to apply
Triage to these pixie guys)
Asking questions, getting nought
Set her on a different course:
High sabotage without remorse!
And what has got her so irate
Is what’s she trying to intimate:
Zybilna has been quiet of late!
Ignore the rest, and let’s take flight
To confront dear Witch and Light
(Surprisingly, they’re quite contrite)
To keep the carnival in motion
A tapestry of lies was woven:
A deal with the Hourglass Coven!
Who take from those who can’t afford
Entrance through the Witchlight’s doors
Miscellanea adored
So THAT’s who taken all your junk!
Time to find these Hourglass punks!
Which way to this Feywild dump?
But first we’ll make a brief aside
So Candlefoot can vocalise
His mermaid love (now legalised)
Now the pair can tie the knot
And while we’re passing time why not
Ride the fabled Bubble Pot?
Yet ere you all are translocated
(Everybody’s breath now bated)
Arix must be coronated!
The time of truth has come at last
Hesitation as you pass
Though the hallowed looking glass
Are you afraid to lose your minds?
What lies ahead? What lies behind?
What do you expect to find?
Will Skerrek ever fabricate?
Or Holafina emulate
A bunny’s median height and weight?
Shall Jexim’s memoirs find acclaim?
Can Monty locate Bobbitt Fane?
(…hang on, that’s a different game)
Does Arix ever find the door?
And will Sylennos flee the cause
To study unemployment law?
Dramatis Personae
Kettlesteam, a mischievous patron of Zybilna
Paleesha, a mellifluous mermaid, now reunited with Candlefoot
Certain Things Were Said
“Sylenos, perhaps in eight years you can come back and find your lost employment.” - Skerrek
“Ask me where the exit is.” - Arix Specklefoot
“Where is the exit?” - Mister Light
“I don’t know.” - Arix

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Hello, fellow OTs. I’m going through a hard transition right now and I just need some advice.. maybe words of encouragement. A couple months ago I quit my first job (School-based and daycares), which I was at for 1.5 years. I loved my coworkers and clients, but I had over an hour commute one way every day and 10-15 evals per week. I was drowning in paperwork and wanted to be closer to home in hopes to improve my work/ life balance. I discussed the amount of evals with my director multiple times over my employment, every so often they’d send another OT to help me, but not consistently. Fast forward- I quit this job and gave a month notice, left on great terms. I started a new pediatric job, literally minutes from my house. I was so excited to still be with pediatrics and so close to home… I hated it. I don’t want to go into too many specifics, but it was rough and I was very unhappy- I later heard from other therapists how bad it was working with that company (heads up would’ve been nice!! lol). I quit that job within the first month, and I felt terrible as I’ve never just given up that quickly and didn’t have another job lined up, but my mental health had to be my priority. In school I said I’d never work with pediatrics, only adults. Since being out of school I’ve only worked with peds and I LOVE peds, but this last job made me start reconsidering what I want to do. I don’t know what setting to try to go into from here, I’m terrified I’ll try another job and hate it, and I don’t want to go through that process again, I want to find somewhere I fit and stay. I’m currently not working, I’ve been doing CEUs online and looking for jobs, but I don’t know where to go. I don’t know if I’m burnt out, maybe depressed. Everyone in my life and the company I left was supportive and said if it isn’t the right fit, it isn’t. But I feel like a failure/ imposte I don’t even know!! Has anyone went through something similar to this? How did you cope/ get back to work, and did you change settings? If this was someone besides myself telling me this, I’d be able to come up with coping strategies, a game plan to get back on track, etc. but I’m tunnel visioned by my disappointment.

TLDR: Trying to figure out which scan tool from Autel or others can show cam desired versus actual on 3.6 Pentastar.
Following up on some major seevice work at 171k miles on 2014 Wrangler 3.6 / auto and need some advice please:
Changed plugs, coils, injectors, oil cooler (dorman aluminum version) timing set (Melling) and cam phasers with new control valves (Standard Motor Products).
I don’t do this for a living but am definitely on the serious side of amateur / hobbiest. I’ve probably rebuilt to spec several dozen engines ranging from 1970’s Jaguars through FJ40’s lots of GM products in 4,6,8 cylinders, light truck and commercial diesels and powerstroke Diesels. I’ve never had a failure to start, run, or last. I have and followed factory service manual for the JK Jeep. I should have been able to do this!
Startup was rough but after a few attempts at cranking she bled the injectors and fired right up. Idles smoothly. Oil pressure 91-95 PSI cold and 25-30 hot at idle. Battery and alternator voltage good (don’t recall exact value). Within a 1/4 mile I was in limp mode with traction control and check wngine lights on. All of the codes are P000a-d. “Camshaft Slow Response”. Engine runs smooth through 5000+ rpm, but shifts are limited to 4th gear. So I drive to work 18 miles each way. Next day the lights go off and everything is golden. After 3-4 restarts, limp mode is back and wont go away!
Factory service manual says oil change, then replace pcm. Nope, not at those $$. I want to know what is wrong! So I do a bit of parts cannon…. New cam position sensors, although the fault seems to be on all 4 randomly. JSCAN only says “at least one fault has been counted in this position recently”. New crank position sensor. New cam VVT Solenoids. No Changes.
Then I start tracing grounds from the solenoids and get some intermittent high resistance. Ive had weird groundingg problems before, and I realized that my battery cable terminal negative side isnt clamping well. I can lift it off the post. The harness is generally crunchy and shitty from 10 years in desert heat, so I decided to re-do them.
Pulled the entire wiring harness off the engine and yanked the battery cables out. Replaced them with 2awg and bolt-down terminals. Continuity checked every ground terminal pin to pin. No fails. Same on the power side.
Fun side note, the 2014 Factory Wiring diagram has a major typo in showing incorrect ground terminal locations!
So, put that all back, pulled valve covers again, checked timing marks against youtube. It all seems right. I did not pull the timing cover again. I did clean the bits of metal powder off the camshaft tone rings with paper towel and brake clean. Restart engine. Starts instantly. Cam rattle for about 1 second, perfectly smooth idle. Same codes within 45 seconds.
So, i need a scan tool. Factory service manual says to check desired versus actual cam and crank positions. My old scan tool was PC based AutoEnginuity, but I hate the PC aspect and the subscription lapsed about 8 years ago. So im looking at Autel, but overwhelmed by all the options with very little info.
Can anyone tell me what level of Autel can show that live position versus desired position? Should I look elsewhere?
Mechanically, can you tell me if it is possible to overtorque an oil control valve? I keep wondering if the cam phasers could be dragging because they might be too tight? But if you grab the cam with a wrench, it moves easily and moves the phaser, so the lock pins are seated.
Cost isn’t a huge concern, especially if I can find a tool with longevity, but I cant use it for work, so it wont pay back / trying to avoid the Snap-off-in-you van. I can go a long way into trying to squeeze another 150k miles out of this rig before I lay down for a new Jeep at $75k plus!
Thank you for any and all advice and ideas. Brainstorming will help and I’m grateful for it.

The India Electric Car Market was valued at USD 2.28 billion . in 2023, and the total India Electric Car Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 47.5% from 2024 to 2030, reaching nearly USD 34.63 billion . in 2030.

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I am not the OOP. The OOP is u/This_Musician7165 posting in TwoHotTakes
User account has since been deleted
Concluded as per OOP
2 updates - Medium
Original - 15th January 2024
Update in a comment - 16th January 2024
Final Update (Link no longer accessible)- 16th January 2024
​
My Step Dad purposefully ruined my $900 prom dress by washing it! Is there anything I can do such as take legal?
​
Edit: Sorry for some reason Reddit took my original post down. This is my first time using Reddit
’ve never posted on here, but I really need advice because I’m so distraught and have no clue what I should do I’m only 17 and don’t know if there’s any legal action I can take. So for a little background I live with my bio mom and her husband since my dad and mom separated and were never married. I originally lived with my dad since I was 2 he won custody during the custody battle. However he later lost custody of me after having a bad work accident that made him paralysed and he wouldn’t be able to take care of me but I still see him every weekend and the whole summer. I moved in with my mom and her husband and their two sons ,1 stepbrother and 1 half brother, when I was 10. And ever since then my stepdad basically directly and indirectly says that I’ve disrupted their lives by coming back into my mother’s life, because I’m an extra person they have to take care of.
I’ve been working since I was in 10th grade and saving up for my senior yeacollege since last year with the money from my job since my mom and her husband let me know that only my mom would only help me with the basics such as my graduation cap and gown, senior dues, and senior class photo. Anything else I would have to pay for myself such as prom.
I get paid about $400 every two weeks from my job which Ive been saving in full, and then making extra money doing nails about $100 a week plus tip which I use as my spending money. Since it’s my senior and last year of high school I’ve been wanting to go all out for prom so I set a $800 budget for my prom dress. My prom is in April and I wanted to get my prom dress early since most of the actual cute ones sell out quick. So I went prom dress shopping in December and found a beautiful dress that’s costed $890. It’s dark green with a long train with rhinestone imbedded into it with glitter in the dress.
When I first showed my mom and stepdad the dress they asked how much it was, which I told them the amount and my mom said that she wouldn’t be paying for a dress that expensive which I replied it’s okay because I have more than enough money saved up to buy it, and I’ll still have a lot of money left over (23k to be exact but only my mom knows that) mom said I could get the dress and that it was very pretty, however my stepdad said that it’s irresponsible and a waste of money and I should use it for better things like helping out the family and paying some of the bills. And get a dress cheaper that’s max $300. Mind you both his son’s own PS5 and multiple $200+ shoes.
Long story short my mom disagreed with him and I ended up getting the dress in the end and she even put $150 toward it.
However ever since then he constantly brings up that I help pay for things around the house since I have so much money to throw away but my mom always shuts it down saying that I work hard for my money to save it and I already help about with paying the Netflix, Amazon prime, and Hulu bills while my step brother (18) don’t pay anything.
Anyway last Saturday we got into a really big disagreement because my stepdad suggested I should help my step brother pay for his prom to which I responded with no. He later called me selfish and said that it’s not fair that I get an expensive outfit while he doesn’t. And I guess I said with in a snarky way I responded with that’s not my child or my problem. He later tried to complain to my mom and she said that I was right and that if anything he should pay for his own prom.
Well today when I woke up from a nap I noticed my prom dress was missing from my closet since it’s in the very front of my closet and looked around for it. I then asked my stepdad if he has seen it since my mother was at work. And he said he had, and in fact he was washing it, while giving me a condescending smile. I immediately ran downstairs and saw my dress being washed on the heavy duty cycle I immediately cancel it and it was ruined. Majority of my rhinestones came out and the glitter was washed out the whole dress had been mangled.
I took one look at it and then threw it a trash bag and left for my friends house with the dress. I texted my mom and sent her pictures but I’m currently at my friends house and laying on her bed. My friends parent hanged it outside to allow it to air dry so my stepdad can’t put the blame on them if the dried it in the dryer. What makes me know he did to spite me because he never washes clothes, cooks or anything since “he’s the man of the house so he shouldn’t have to”, so there was no viable reason he could have for washing it, even if it needed washing.
Is there anything I can do? I know neither of them can replace being they are tough financial situation? I’ll update you guys when mom gets home. So far my stepdad has called 2x but I haven’t answered him. And my mom’s at work and can’t receive calls.
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Comments
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Fancy_Association484
My heart hurts for you. Get him to admit it over text then file small claims court.

OOP: He’s not gonna admit I don’t think imma try to get audio but we also have cameras with audio imma try and use them when my mom gets off

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Rhodin265
I didn’t see this suggested, but since you’re paying for the streaming services, change your passwords and log out all devices. Giant toddlers don’t get their tanties rewarded with their stepkid’s Netflix.
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Fromashination
It would be a dastardly shame if Step Dad's favorite shoes were accidentally left on the porch in the snow all night.
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Update - 1 day later
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Edit 1:I don't know how to add updates so imma just add an edit but my mom and me just got off the phone and she's pissed and otw home. She's currently otw home so me and my friend and her dad are otw to my house and my mom said she was gonna call the cops as soon as she get off the phone so they may be there by the time I get there. We've taken pictures and the uncle (my mom brother) will be over there by 8 bc I contacted him while at work. I've listened to all your suggestions about withdrawing my money out of my account so I thinking and I talked to my dad about that as well and told me I can stay with him
Edit/Update 2:When I got home my friend stayed in the car while her dad walked me in, and my step dad was already gone. However police were at the house. As of now police said they can’t really arrest him because it’s not like he broke the law of stealing (I don’t know how to explain it basically this theft isn’t breaking the law bc he washed it and didn’t keep it) they suggested I can get a confession and get him to pay or take him to small claims court. Also the dress is non refundable if damaged so I can’t return it or anything. While explaining to my mom what happened I kinda fumbled my words and started crying and she hugged me as I cried. And she said that he’s gonna pay for this, this financial issue has actually been a on going disagreement and I think he just pulled the last straw bc she is PISSED. Also I talked to my uncle and he’s actually off work and over his way over here.
Him and my stepdad apparently have a rough history since my dad has had a smart mouth towards him in the past. While explaining to my uncle what happened he said that it would be alright and if anything he’ll buy back the dress before it sells out, so I’ll have my dress by prom but he does expect my step dad to pay me back one way or another so I’m basically probably gonna get my dress for free. Maybe that’s a little win. I’ll update more probably later tonight. But things seem to be good.
Edit: Also to clear up some confusion I pay the streaming service bills bc I really want to watch the shows on those services and my mom works hard but doesn’t make enough to have those services on top so I’ve offer to pay them so we could have them. She not a horrible “I’ll pick my husband over you” mother and she always defend me and he’s never pulled a stunt like this just tries to convince her to control my money and savings. And she’s never spent my saving either. I feel like thats why they always clash because he has a mindset of we have all these financial troubles and your daughter could solve them with her savings and you have access to them.
Edit/Update 4: Okay so my uncle came over and he and my mom had a little argument bc he blamed her for enabling my stepdads behaviour by not leaving him and thats why he felt comfortable to do what he did. And she argued back saying she always defended me against him and has never taken any of my money (which is true). We all talked about it a bit and she revealed that last night they had actually had a argument about paying off a car payment because she made a comment about how all these bills are taking a toll on her, and he made a comment about how it wouldn’t be that much of a toll if she used my savings and didn’t allow me to spend it on foolishness and she got mad and defensive bc he keeps bringing it up.
He also said that the $900 I spent could’ve payed off that car payment for the next 2 months. Btw he only know about my savings because he know how’s much I get paid and that I’ve been saving all of it. So we think that’s what triggered him to throw my dress in the washer.
My mom and stepdad has also been texting back and fourth and he admitted that he washed it to teach me a lesson that I shouldn’t spend that much money on a dress that can be destroyed that easily but he put the setting on heavy duty so he obviously intended to destroy it. My uncle has also offered to replace the dress so I don’t need to worry about not getting to wear my special dress. We called the boutique and explained it to them and they say they can order another dress although it won’t be there until Feb 23 which fine tbh.
My mother sent my step dad a long threatening message basically calling him out shes kinda heated rn so imma try and ask for a screenshot later. Her and my father also spoke and decided that it’d be best that I get my own bank account so that my step dad can’t use the excuse that she has access to my account so that’s also great. My mom and I had a talk about what gonna happen after this and she said shes not sure as of just yet bc it’s all a little too much for her bc she seriously contemplating leaving him, but i guess she don’t wanna actively discuss that right now. Also my stepdad is currently at a friends house. I’ll continue to update possibly may get one tomorrow. My friends parent are gonna keep the dress over their house and imma pick it up tomorrow to have as proof.
Edit:I apologise for not being to update since Reddit took down my post because of a “no walls text rule” that I was unaware of but it’s all good now
Edit/Update 5: My uncle has transferred me $1000 for my prom dress and I’m actually planning on using the money for replace the dress and buy new shoes. He’s very well off, which was one reason I contacted him in the first place.
So I plan on just calling the boutique and seeing if they can reorder it and I’ll just pick it up from there sometime in February. However my step-dad still must pay in some form, or at least we are trying to get him to. My uncle has called my other uncles and aunts (with my permission) to basically vent about the situation.
So majority of my mom side who all live in GA knows about what happened. I woke up to a lot of text about the situation given sympathy, as well as money to have for prom which have totalled to about $300. So this is great. My mom has also contacted my step-in-laws who then spread the news with pictures and I guess most of them are shocked as well other than his mother his is buying his claim that it’s just a dress and it was a accident despite evidence. I got a call from my step-dad sister sympathising for me.
And through conversations with I learned that my step-dad has also been asking a lot of his family to help him with his finances. Because for some reason the dude has bought so many things to pay off he can’t keep up with them.
My mom called my step-dad for answers which we recorded. And he’s basically trying to blame her bc if she didn’t piss him off last night then he wouldn’t have done it. And that he was trying to show me why I shouldn’t be irresponsible with money bc I guess he planned to lecture afterwards.
Also my mom has broken up with him bc he blamed her for caring more about me than him, which is weird. Which ensured in a argument with her saying “you think i care about her more than you, your gonna see just how much I do”
Also they’ve been on a rocky relationship since he can’t manage money and this was her breaking point.
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Comments
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TaffyAppl
Just saw this update!! Now that you have the text, please show the police as confession as destruction of property and/or take him to court to pay for it. It’s not fair to your uncle. Once you get your step dad to pay up, you can pay your uncle back. Girl Good luck!
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sherbear97124
What your step-dad did is called malicious mischief and is a crime. With the confessions and proof, there probably is a case. Just know that because of the monetary value, it's most likely just a misdemeanor charge. Regardless, you definitely have a small claims case against him. Sadly, by the sounds of his financial affairs, you'll be lucky if he ever pays, but it's still worth pursuing. Good luck!
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Update - same day later
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Edit/Update 6: Sorry to post on here Reddit keep telling me to try again later so sorry again
Okay so a lot of bs has transpired. Firstly we’ve place an order for my dress, and they are shipping it now and it should be at the boutique by Feb 23 so all that is taken care of. My SD and mom are officially broken up and my mom said she doesn’t now if she’ll move on with divorce proceedings yet bc everything is still fresh and lawyer are expensive and she can’t afford it rn.
Also they have a prenup so they don’t share assent and the house is my mother dad house she inherited (she had a different dad than all her siblings and all her siblings share a dad).
So my step father showed back up with his brother after a while and my step father decided to do and buy me a new dress from Macy that looks similar to dress in color and length but it’s very tacky and ugly. And look nothing like the original.
He then tried to apologise and said it wasn’t his intention to ruin the dress. he said that he was simply gonna wash it and say “see this is why you don’t buy things like this” and then he would’ve bought me another dress…. But that’s make absolutely no sense.
Also my uncle came back to my house after I texted him my step dad came back (he was at the store) and they got into a big argument where basically my uncle demanded to know why he destroyed the dress
And my step dad said he not gonna walk up in his house demanding shit, and my uncle called him a bitch. And then my SD said to call him a bitch again which he did and they ended up fighting. (My SD lost) he threatened to call the cops but we reminded him that he swung first
After that my step dad went on a tirade and cussed us out and left and took the dress with him.
We are actually planning on taking y’all advice and taking him to small claims court given the evidence and the damage. And hopefully we win. Also my SD is staying at his parents house currently.
Lastly for all curious about my brothers they are 15 (half) and 18 (step) .The 15 was at his girlfriend house since Friday so he wasn’t home for any of the commotion but did reach out to me today, I love him so much. And the 18 year basically sided with his dad so that all there is to say.
Also those who suggested changing the streaming’s passwords I have change them. And me and my mom are gonna get me my own bank account later today. Thank you guys for all the support I’ll continue to update as thing come and our plans of action and the verdict and all
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Comments
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I am not the OOP. Please do not harass the OOP.
Please remember the No Brigading Rule and to be civil in the comments

Welcome to the Reverse: 1999 Daily Questions Megathread!

Please use this thread to ask any general inquiries about Reverse: 1999. Also, kindly search keywords under this thread as your questions may have already been answered by other Timekeepers.
Community Guides

• General Community Guide (tierlists, teambuilding, puzzle solutions, etc.)
• Income/Saving Guide
• Prydwen (tierlists, guides, character info, etc.)

Cheat Sheets

• 6-star Psychubes
• 5-star Psychubes
• Investment Priority
• Farming Stages
• Resonance Builds, Resonance Costs
• Material Crafting Requirements

Tools

• Planner & Summon Tracker

Wiki Pages

• Reverse: 1999 EN Wiki
• GameKee CN Wiki
• HuiJi CN Wiki
• bilibili CN Wiki

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):
Q1. Should I re-roll?

• This depends on how much time you have to dedicate to re-rolling. In general, all three of the beginner banner characters are great, and you have options of doing shortelonger re-rolls, as per this guide.

Q2. Why is my answer incorrect in for the trail puzzle?

• Try to answer with proper letter casing - the answers are case-sensitive.

Q3. When is the daily reset?

• The game resets at 10:00 UTC, please refer to this timer.

Q4. Does pity transfer over to the next banner?

• Yes, pity should transfer over to the next banner of the same type.

Q5. How should I build my team?

• In general, teams consist of a single damage dealer that get supported by support-type characters, but there are many variations. We encourage you to take a look at some of the guides above!

Q6. Can I re-watch the cut-scenes/story?

• From the main screen/lobby, refer to the left icon below the Bank, go to Atlas, then go to the Story Review. This does not currently apply for event stories, unfortunately.

Q7. Are multiple copies of a certain character necessary?

• This will depend on a character-by-character basis. In general, however, there should not be a large importance on getting duplicate copies of a character.

Q8. When should I stop leveling characters?

• Please refer to the investment guide listed above.

Q9. What should I purchase in the Psychube Shop (Thought Elements/Thoughts in Eternity)?

• Do not buy the 5-star psychubes, as we will eventually get enough 6-stars.
• Prioritization order:

1. LF Polarization
2. Englighten I
3. Enlighten II

Q10. What should I prioritize in the Oneric Shop (Oneric Fluid)?

• Prioritization order:

1. Monthy Brief Cacophony
2. Crystal Casket
3. Permanent Brief Cacophony (or Moment of Dissonance to craft Brief Cacophony if needed)
4. Sonorous Knell

Misc Questions
M1. Are macros and auto-clickers allowed?

• No. They are against the game's terms of service; any usage will risk the potential of being banned.

​

Megathread Directory
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Hey guys,
Maybe we can start to make a collection of some tips and "nice to know" stuff to shorten up the waiting time 😉
Important: I know! Every information is already somewhere written down. So, actually, if you already read everything, than you won't find nothing new here.
Part 1: I start with multi floor settings: (Because I will use the S1 pro in several floors and I want to use the mopping option)
From Eufy FAQ (https://support.eufy.com/s/article/Navigating-Multi-Level-Cleaning-with-the-S1-Pro):
"Firstly, please manually move your S1 Pro robot to the desired area on a different floor. If the robot does not have a pre-existing map of this new area, it will automatically attempt to locate itself using its stored maps. Should the S1 Pro robot fail to locate itself using one of the stored maps, it will automatically initiate a new mapping process to create a new layout of the area before it begins its cleaning session.
In the case of mopping, the S1 Pro robot requires a slightly different approach. The robot will need to first complete the process of moistening its mopping pads and leave its Uniclean™ Station. Once this preparation step is done, you can then manually move the robot to the targeted area on another floor. By doing so, the S1 Pro robot is ready to start mopping the floor immediately.
Additionally, it is important to note that while the S1 Pro robot is capable of adapting to new environments, it cannot navigate stairs or move between floors on its own. Manual intervention is necessary to help the robot transition from one floor to another. With these simple steps, you can easily enjoy a clean home across multiple floors with minimal effort!"
From Kickstarter comment:
Thank you for your inquiry. Yes, the S1 Pro can be used for mopping on multiple floors, even without the presence of an Omni station on each floor. Here are a few points to consider:
In single sweep mode, the S1 Pro can support positioning, mapping, and cleaning. However, without a base station, it cannot return to charge when the battery is low.
In mopping mode, you would need to moisten the mop at the base station first. After that, you can manually take the robot to the second floor, where it will position itself, create a map, and start cleaning. Without a base station on that floor, the S1 Pro will not be able to return to the base to add water.
The built-in water tank of the S1 Pro can support mopping an area of up to 70 square meters on the low setting and up to 30 square meters on the high setting.
Currently, it is not possible to use one main unit with multiple base stations. Therefore, if you frequently use the device on multiple floors, it is recommended to purchase more than one S1 Pro. There is also a bundle available in our crowdfunding list that includes two units.
Part 2:
How does the filter of the dirt water container in the vacuum robot looks like. Important as well, it needs to be manually be cleaned. But, apparently the docking station reminds you to do so 😉
https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxkT62UU1d3svAvCXafFD0lxHr33leFBKd?si=DiMq8Hfr0sSjlAFF
Part 3:
Maybe for someone interesting as well:
How often you need to replace or clean the accessories (from the FAQ)
https://support.eufy.com/s/article/How-often-should-I-clean-or-replace-the-accessories-for-my-S1-Pro

Been playing for a few weeks, level..68 I think? I was initially a bow build, found a gatling gun and switched over because I wasn't doing enough damage, built up all my perks and such for heavy guns, got mutations, still feel weak. I haven't been able to get power armor yet but that's the only thing. I'm open to other builds I'm just not really sure what to do, I wanna be able to contribute to events instead of just ducking behind walls and tagging enemiesMy Fallout 76 character build https://nukesdragons.com/fallout-76/character?v=1&s=f125fa8&d=sq2s32sr2s61s82sa0pa0e60ek0c62cd0cu0ic4ii0ip2ir2id2a72a40s70am1a02ls2l71lu2&lp=xl0&m=524ehbad6&wp=w7 #Fallout76 #Fallout https://nukesdragons.com/fallout-76/character?v=1&s=f125fa8&d=sq2s32sr2s61s82sa0pa0e60ek0c62cd0cu0ic4ii0ip2ir2id2a72a40s70am1a02ls2l71lu2&lp=xl0&m=524ehbad6&wp=w7

I am hereby reposting a few words written by our valuable member, some of you might know him with the name IamGOTA or scrotum_sucker.
He cleared NEET in his very first attempt, his syllabus completion and tests taking plan was one of the best in my opinion, so all the 25 and 26tards, hear him out and take some notes.
If someone is gonna drop for 2025 and prepare from Do this. 1.Use a laptop or PC 2.Get a pendrive 3.Download all lectures from telegram 4.Make folders in this sequence Subject wise →Chapterwise→2 sections for dpp and lectures Eg:- Physics →U &D →Lecture.1
Don't use internet. Purely waste of time hoga. Buying batches like yakeen and completely following it wont be useful. Syllabus bhot late khatam karte hai vo (I have the perfect sequence and timetable to complete syllabus till November ) Rather take things in your hands watch 4 lectures daily at 1.5X each of PCMB.
Join a good offline test series Both allen and aakash are good but part tests of aakash are better and full syllabus of Allen are better Reason:- Allen test have 50-50 weightage for both 11th and 12th so ek saath dono padhna hoga in part tests.
Target batch use Karo very beneficial.
Make short notes and use good quality paper.
I didn't watched a single oneshot after completing syllabus purely relied on notes and shortnotes.
I have wasted a lot of my time on irrelevant books like DCP,Cengage,HCV, 3 coaching module, MS chauhan, VK jaiswal, N awasthi, Dr. Ali, Fingertips etc. last 6-8 months me sirf Pyq, dpp, dpyq and main pyq practice kiye hai.
Your MEDIOCRITY can be boosted if you give fcukton of tests. I myself have given 200+ test in last 2 years with 56 Full syllabus tests.
Focus on completing syllabus till November and start 1 fst per week then once March hits increase it to 2.
(Ignore the grammatical errors)

Hello, hello everyone!
I am looking to find a one on one PBP partner! Someone that is collaborative, social and passionate is ideal! I have a ton of campaign ideas in this noodle of mine and a few worlds in varied states of completion - however, none of them are fully complete (not without you of course! ;D )! So collaboration on some world building is quite welcome and might be needed. Below are a few campaign options that I have outside of the standard fantasy world campaigns (I have those too). Feel free to browse and see if you like any of them, if not thats cool too we can certainly discuss more fantasy bound worlds and games I have ideas for too! Ideally each of these will include some form of base building and faction management by the player so the stakes at higher levels just do not fall solely on the character if they live or die but those they have fostered relationships with and the goals they have achieved.

1. Not so Solo Levelling Taking place in the modern day world people gain powers and abilities after portals to dungeons start appearing all over the place. So now these 'Knights' are the only line of defense against monsters that are getting increasingly harder. What will happen if and when these portals are dealt with? How will the world change and react to the new status quo? Lets find out together! (Note these powers can make people look like normal fantasy races.)
2. After the Solo Levelling Well if fighting the invasions of dungeon portal monsters and dealing with guild politics doesn't interest you lets explore what happens after these threats are dealt with. The world now safe from these monsters still has all of these super powered humans running about with nothing to do. That is until the Knight Battle League is announced! Now like the gladiators of old these powered individuals fight for the sport and amusement of all, without the whole death and dismemberment thing... normally.
3. Alien Invasion A little bit different than the prior options this one still takes place in the near future - aliens have claimed the world and have run things for the last 30 years. Its up to the human resistance to fight against these other worldly invaders and reclaim earth. Interestingly though with the arrival of the aliens and their experimentations on humanity new types of humans have been made as well as unusual psionic powers (Magic not completely just 5e psionics) are being wielded by humans all over. Just the tools for the resistance to use and push the invaders off Earth for good!

If any of the above interest you or if you have your own ideas please fill out the form below and lets get talking some DnD!
(Lastly do note that ERP is optional if you are into that kind of thing.)
https://forms.gle/bh9pe61uk7Pi9rqH7

Effect: Inverse the effect of surrounding jokers (immediate left and right)
Below is a list of how this joker would effect other jokers. I have bolded the changes to each effect to make it easier to see what is different.
I have italicized the effects that are only negative effects, I am not sure these effects should be included as a way to make this joker have downsides or not. On one hand its a cool idea because you need to manage the placement of this joker, but on the other hand this may be a very shallow complication to the gameplay of this joker and may not even be worthwhile. I would love to hear your opinions on this.
Also if there are (???) next to the effect I am unsure if this should be the inverted effect or not. The food items in particular I am unsure if they should get better over time instead of getting worse over time (and maybe if they do get better over time they should start as debuffs aka negative modifiers).
I will update this list with your ideas if they seem more cohesive or well thought out.
Also if anyone is interested in helping me turn this into a mod, please reach out. This idea is probably not going to leave my head until it gets implemented in some fashion. I have experience with coding and game development, but have never used love2d or looked into modding balatro)
Compatible Jokers (and new effect):

• All first page jokers would be negative mult or chips
• Half Joker(+20 mult if played hand contains 4+ cards)
• Joker Stencil (x1 mult for each filled Joker slot)
• Ceremonial Dagger (Generates a Joker to the right that costs the current mult to generate)???
• Banner (+30 chips for each discard used)
• Mystic Summit (+15 mult if no discards used)
• Raised Fist (Adds double the rank of the highest ranked card held as mult)???
• Abstract Joker (+3 mult for each empty Joker slot)
• Delayed Gratification ($2 per used discard)
• Pareidolia (No cards are considered face cards)
• Even Steven (Played cards with odd rank give +4 mult when scored)
• Odd Todd (Played cards with even rank give +31 chips)
• Scholar (Played aces give +20 mult and +4 chips when scored)??????????????
• Bussiness Card (Played non-face cards have a 1 in 2 chance to give $2 when scored)
• Ride the Bus (This Joker gains +1 mult per consecutive hand played with a scoring face card)
• Space Joker (1 in 4 chance to downgrade played poker hand)???
• Egg (Loses $3 of sell value at end of round)???
• Burglar (When blind is selected lose 3 hands and gain 3 discards)
• Blackboard (x3 mult if all cards held in hand are Diamonds or Hearts)
• Ice Cream (+100 chips +5 chips for every hand played)????????
• Blue Joker (+2 chips for every card used this round)
• Sixth Sense (If first hand of the round is a single 6, duplicate it and add it to hand)???
• Constellation (This Joker loses x0.1 mult for every time a planet card is used)???
• Hiker (Every played card permanently loses -5 Chips when scored)???
• Faceless Joker (Earn $5 when 3 or more non-face cards are discarded at the same time)
• Green Joker (-1 mult per hand played +1 mult per discard)
• Card Sharp (x3 mult if played poker hand has not already been played this round)
• Red Card (This Joker gains +3 mult when any booster pack is not skipped) [needs better wording]
• Vampire (Adds random enhancement to non-scoring cards in played hand)??????
• Hologram (This Joker gains x0.25 mult every time a playing card is removed from your deck)
• Vagabond (Create a tarot card if hand is played with $5 or more)
• Obelisk (This Joker gains x0.2 mult per consecutive hand played that is your most played hand) [probably too broken]
• Midas Mask (All played non-face cards become Gold cards when scored)
• Photograph (Last played face card gives x2 mult)???????
• Turtle Bean (+5 hand size increase by 1 every round)??????????????
• Erosion (+4 mult for each card above 52 in your full deck)
• Reserved Parking (Each non-face card held in hand has a 1 in 2 chance to give $1)
• Hallucination (1 in 2 chance to create a tarot card when any booster pack is skipped)
• Juggler (-1 hand size)
• Drunkard (-1 discard)
• Lucky Cat (This Joker gains x0.25 mult every time a lucky card is played and not triggered)??????
• Baseball card (Common and Rare Jokers each give x1.5 mult) [broken?]
• Trading Card (If first discard of round has only 1 card duplicate it and add it to hand)???
• Popcorn (+20 mult +4 mult per round played)????????
• Ramen (x2 mult gains x0.01 mult per card discarded)???????????
• Walkie Talkie (each played 10 or 4 gives +4 chips and +10 mult)???
• Castle (This Joker gains +3 chips per played [suit] card, suit changes every round)
• Smiley Face (Played non-face cards give +5 mult when scored)
• Campfire (This Joker gains x0.25 mult for each card bought, resets when Boss Blind is defeated)
• Acrobat (x3 mult on every hand besides the final hand)???
• Sock and Buskin (Retrigger all played non-face cards)
• Troubadour (-2 hand size, +1 hand each round)
• Certificate (When round begins add a random playing card with a random Enhancement to your hand)???
• Smeared Joker (Hearts and Spades count as the same suit. Diamonds and Clubs count as the same suit)???
• Throwback (x0.25 mult for each Blind selected this round)???
• Hanging Chad (Retrigger the Last card used in scoring 2 additional times)
• Glass Joker (This Joker gains x0.75 mult for every Glass Card played and not destroyed, loses x1.5 mult for every glass card destroyed)???
• Flower Pot (x3 mult if poker hand contains no suits) [I'm thinking all stone cards]???????
• Blueprint (Copies ability of Joker to Left) [This would be fun, but honestly confusing]?????
• Wee Joker (This Joker gains +8 Chips when each played 2 is not scored)???
• Merry Andy (-3 discards each round, +1 hand size)
• Oops! All 6s (Halves all listed probabilities (ex: 1 in 3 -> 1 in 6)
• Seeing Double (x2 mult if played hand does not have a scoring club card, but two still has at least two separate suits)??????
• Matador (Earn $8 upon completing boss blind without triggering its effects)???
• Hit the Road (This Joker gains x0.5 mult for every Jack in hand)
• Stuntman (-250 Chips, +2 hand size)???
• Brainstorm (Copies the ability of the Rightmost joker)???
• Shoot the Moon (Each played queen card gives +13 mult) [or maybe discard]???
• Driver's License (x3 mult if you have no enhanced cards in your full deck)
• Cartomancer (Create a tarot card when Blind is skipped)
• Astronomer (All Tarot cards and Arcana Packs in the shop are free)?????
• Burnt Joker (Upgrade the level of the first played poker hand each round) [broken?]??????
• Canio (This Joker gains x1 mult when a face card is added to your deck)???
• Triboulet (Held Kings and Queens each give x2 mult)???
• Yorick (This Joker gains x1 mult every 23 cards played)???
• Perkeo (Destroys 1 random consumable card in your possession at the end of the shop and generates a random planet, tarot, or spectral card)????????????????

Thank you for your time lol

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Before you comment, I know there's a megathread but I've already posted there a couple of times ever since coming back and I haven't gotten a single response from there. Only times I saw replies were whenever I would leech of a post that's related to my question and write a comment there.
Anyways quick backstory, I stopped playing a couple of years ago when Snakeman was still meta so I decided to start fresh and make a new account since my old account is hella outdated, and so is my knowledge of the game.
Now for my question: I did 10 multis in part 3 and got G5, which was the unit I wanted the most, along with other legends BUT I didn't pull 10th anni Shanks (side note I also did 10 multis in part 1 and got anni Ace xD). I also haven't gotten other legends that are considered top tiers like Zoro/Sanji, Nami and PSY Roger. However 10th anni Roger is the unit I wanted the most out of the 4 new units but besides PSY Momo, I don't think the banner is as good as part 3 based on what I've researched so far. In total I already dropped 1000 gems in this anni and currently I plan on staying f2p so I'm in need of some advice on what to do cause I'm genuinely torn. If I didn't pull G5 then I probably would've kept going 100%.
Thanks in advance!

“Ready to make history, baby?”
I looked over toward Sheila as she stood on the gangplank leading up to The Burger. I still couldn’t believe she named our research ship ‘The Burger’... emotional relevance be damned.
“It's not exactly history,” I corrected.
“Oh come on! If your survey is right, this trench might run even deeper than the Challenger Deep, and you’re gonna be the first person to explore it! How is that not exciting?”
“Might be deeper, we only have a limited amount of topological data. And even if it is deeper, we’re talking only a few hundred feet at most, it’s really not that im-”
Sheila silenced me with a kiss.
“Nerd.” She teased, and I found myself too flustered to reply. After five years of marriage, she still could leave me speechless with just a kiss. God… how did someone like me end up with a woman like that?
Then again, how did someone like me end up where I was in general? It was honestly a little overwhelming. Standing on the dock, getting ready to board that ship and join the ranks of Jacques Piccard and James Cameron (yes, that James Cameron) as one of the few people to take a manned submersible down to the deepest parts of the ocean. And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little scared too. Diving down that deep could easily be a one way trip if even the slightest thing went wrong. My submarine would be experiencing between 600 to 1100 atmospheres of pressure and while we’d tested it over and over again to make sure it would actually be up for the challenge, there was still a lingering iota of doubt in the back of my mind. All that needed to go wrong was one little thing, and that would be it for me.
The scariest part is that I probably wouldn’t even know what had happened… I’d simply be gone… and Sheila would be alone. The thought of that caused a momentary spike of panic in my chest that almost made me want to call this whole thing off.
Almost.
But, then I felt her hand close around mine. I looked up into her bright blue eyes, and saw her gentle smile.
“You’re gonna be okay, hun,” She promised. “You and your team have been running the numbers, right? It’s gonna go just fine!”
I nodded slowly.
“It’s gonna go fine…” I repeated, before she leaned in to kiss me, and gently pulled me by the wrist up onto the deck of the Burger.
She was probably right.
It probably would be fine.
Probably…
The trench I’d be exploring was a fairly recent discovery, located south of Greenland, in a vast stretch of water situated directly between Newfoundland and Iceland. It’d been uncovered during a topological survey in the area, and my team had taken an interest in investigating it further. At minimum, it was believed to descend to about 35,000 feet deep (over 10,000 meters), although the current theory was that it might have run even deeper. Determining the exact depth of the yet unnamed chasm was just one of the intents of our dive. The rest was studying the organisms that might be found down there, and how they might have differed from the ones found in other deep ocean trenches (some variation being expected given the isolated environment they were developing in.)
I had to admit, it would be exciting to see what new life might have developed in a place such as this, especially if it ran even deeper than our predictions… and that excitement was enough to make me chase the fear of the risks out of my mind, even if it was only briefly. While Sheila went to make sure we were ready to embark, I caught myself wandering out toward the rear of the ship where my submarine, The Tempura, waited for me. Did this submarine deserve a better name than The Tempura? Probably. But, this was my project, so I got to name it and since Burger was already taken, Tempura was the next best name I had. I liked to think that the subs namesake might approve… if she hadn’t died fifteen years ago. Shrimp don’t live very long.
As the ship began to depart, I caught myself reminiscing on how I’d ended up here… it really was all because of those damn shrimp, wasn’t it? Well… maybe not all because of the shrimp. But they were certainly part of it. Back when I was a lot younger, I never really gave much of a shit about anything at all. I guess I did have a thing for the ocean… the great, romantic vastness of it. The sense of adventure that it beckoned with. The endless mysteries that lay within its dark depths. I used to read about it all the time when I was a kid and I especially loved the classic adventures: Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, and Melville’s Moby Dick… but that love was just confined to my books. I didn’t really have any interest in actually going out and seeing the ocean. Hell, the idea of going to a beach and standing in the sun with my toes in the sand seemed miserable to me. I was happier (although calling myself happy might’ve been a little disingenuous) alone in my room, enjoying the company of books as opposed to people.
Then came the shrimp.
One of my online friends kept them as a hobby. He used to post pictures of his tanks all the time, and I always thought they looked kinda cool. He said that if I was interested in them, I should try keeping some for myself, and during a particularly bad bout of depression, I figured that maybe it might be worth a shot. So, I bought a cheap tank and some cheap decorations, bought myself some shrimp… and promptly watched them die over the next few weeks. That… that bothered me. I don’t know why but… it really bothered me. I’m still not entirely sure how to describe what it was that I was feeling. Guilt? Defeat? Shame? Here I was, trying to set up a habitat for these creatures just to have something to do to keep the suicidal ideation at bay, and I’d failed almost right out of the gate.
Was I just that bad? Was I just that much of a failure? Was this just going to go to shit just like everything else in my life did, because I was just such an abysmal piece of shit who barely deserved the life she had? Had I just not tried hard enough? Was I too apathetic? What had happened? What went wrong?
It bothered me.
It bothered me enough that I made up my mind to just dump the remaining shrimp down the toilet and toss everything. Forget about it. Move on. End of story. But… that wasn’t fair, was it? The shrimp didn’t all deserve to die just because I couldn’t be bothered, did they? Sure, they were just shrimp, but they were alive too, just like me. They deserved to be alive.
I owed it to them to try and keep them alive, didn’t I?
So… I didn’t dump the shrimp.
Instead, I started doing some reading. Started looking into what I was doing wrong and how to do it all better. I actually got really into it and a few months later, I had a nice planted tank. Looking back, it was amateur shit… but it made me happy. I’d even picked out names for my two favorite shrimp. Burger and Tempura. They’d been the last survivors of my original batch, and they were the ones I ended up caring about the most. Caring for Burger and Tempura gave me a purpose. It became an obsession… and that little obsession drove me to finally start turning my life around.
Like I said, shrimp don’t live for very long. Burger and Tempura were long dead by the time I graduated with a degree in Marine Biology. But they were the ones who inspired me to finally get my life in order. Hell, the shrimp were half the reason that I met Sheila. She was something of an aquarium fanatic too… we’d met on a forum, and gotten to talking. I found out that she just so happened to be studying Marine Biology at another school, and we bonded pretty quickly after that. After graduation, I moved to California to be with her and after that, the rest is history. She was my rock. She was the one who always pushed me to be the best possible version of myself… and I loved her more than I ever knew I could love someone.
A glance back at the shore, fading into the distance tore me out of my reminiscing, and I shifted my focus to the present, going over The Tempura to perform some quick checks. My colleagues and I would be checking and rechecking the submarine over the next two days as we made our way toward the dive spot. Considering the danger that descending that deep posed, I didn’t want to take a single unnecessary risk.
I had too much to live for, after all.
***
The day of the dive, I couldn’t notice how excited the rest of the crew seemed… well… Sheila’s usual crew seemed excited. I guess to them, this was just another research expedition, no different than the ones Sheila usually took this ship out on. Lately her research had been focused on the analysis and study of whale calls. Her recent voyages had involved following their pods, recording their calls and playing them back to see how the whales reacted. It was fascinating stuff, but my research was admittedly a lot different than that.
My obsession had drawn me to the denizens of the deep sea. I’d used The Burger for expeditions before, although none of them had been on quite the same scale as this one. Up until today, the most ambitious thing I’d done was send down unmanned submersibles with cameras. Those submersibles had typically returned. We had lost a few early on due to technical glitches, but the past few years had been blissfully uneventful. Logically, this dive would probably be uneventful as well. But it was still hard to get the jitters out of my head.
My team and I did the final checks necessary to make sure that The Tempura was good to go, before setting up the crane to begin lifting it up. In less than an hour, I’d be inside of that thing, descending to the darkest depths of the ocean.
It didn’t feel real.
I felt Sheila’s hand on my shoulder, and looked over at her.
“Moment of truth, huh?” She asked. She probably meant it to sound encouraging, but it just sounded ominous.
“Moment of truth…” I replied.
“You’re gonna be okay, honey. I know you will.”
She reached out to gently squeeze my hand and gave me a reassuring smile that I meekly returned.
“Yeah, it’s gonna be okay,” I agreed, although there was an element of a lie in it. Statistically, yes. It probably WOULD be okay. But there was that lingering anxiety in the back of my mind that just wouldn’t go away. I looked quietly out at the submarine before me and couldn’t shake the thought that it sort of looked like a giant coffin. Unconsciously, I found myself squeezing Sheila’s hand tighter than normal. She just held me close and pressed a kiss to the top of my head, before gently rubbing my back.
“You’ll be okay,” She promised.
“Dr. Jenner, we’re ready for you.” I heard one of my colleagues say.
Moment of truth.
I took one last look at Sheila, and gave her a quick kiss on the lips for luck. She smiled at me, and I smiled back anxiously at her before heading over toward the submarine.
The crew helped me enter the cockpit and get myself situated inside. The cockpit of the Tempura was fairly cramped and not particularly comfortable. Space and comfort aren’t really luxuries you can afford in a submarine like this. The instruments I needed took up a lot of space, leaving little room for me in there… and I am not a very big person.
Once I was inside, they sealed the hatch. Then the diagnostics checks began.
“Grayson, can you hear us in there?” I heard Sheila say through the radio.
“Loud and clear,” I replied.
“Great. We’ll keep in constant radio contact, just to monitor the signal. In the meanwhile, how’s everything looking in there?”
“Green across the board so far,” I said, although I hadn’t finished running all my final checks yet. Ultimately, nothing was out of place.
This submarine was as good to go as it was going to get.
“I’m all good in here,” I said once I was done. “You can drop me when you’re ready.”
“You got it, honey. Let’s get you in the water, run one final round of tests and start lowering you down.”
A short while later, I felt the submarine begin to move as the crane lifted it off the deck and lowered it into the water. The Tempura honestly resembled its namesake in a way, being long and cigar shaped, only vertically oriented instead of horizontally oriented. We’d admittedly taken more than a few design cues from James Cameron’s Deepsea Challenger. Why fix what isn’t broken, after all?
Once I was in the water, a 1000 pound releasable ballast weight would cause the submarine to sink. Releasing that weight was also my ticket back to the surface, and I could either trigger it from inside the cockpit, or, in the event that the release failed for any reason, it would trigger automatically after roughly 12 hours of exposure to salt water.
Ideally, this would be the first of a number of dives I’d be undertaking… and if all went according to plan, the Tempura could be the first of many similar submarines that would allow other researchers to safely and effectively descend to extreme depths. If all went well, this could be a massive leap forward for researchers like me, allowing us to better explore the deepest depths of the Hadal Zone and learn all we could about the ecosystems down there via direct observation.
If all went well.
If.
Through the viewport, I watched as I was lowered into the ocean. A few of the other crew members had donned diving gear to escort me down, and after they did their final checks and I did mine, we were fully ready to go.
“All’s green across the board,” I said into the radio. “You can start my descent.”
“I hear you, honey,” Sheila replied. “We’re letting you go. Have fun down there.”
“Yeah, I’ll try…” I said quietly as finally, my submarine began its descent.
I took a deep breath, and told myself again that everything would go fine. We had checked everything on this submarine. We’d tested it rigorously. I wouldn’t have allowed myself to set foot inside of it if I hadn’t personally assured that it was safe. But anxiety never really goes away, does it? The crew couldn’t accompany me far. After only a few meters, they fell behind me as I sank deeper and deeper into the infinite, empty blue of the ocean. Soon after, the tether was released.
I was officially on my own.
“60 feet,” I heard Sheila say over the radio. “How are you doing in there?”
“Good,” I replied. “Doing… doing good.”
The submarine continued to descend. Through the viewport, I could see a few stray fish, but nothing particularly eye catching. I almost felt alone down there… almost…
“120 feet…” Sheila said.
“Still doing good,” I replied.
The descent continued, as the waters slowly grew darker and darker.
“400 feet…”
Everything around me just kept getting darker and darker. Only a fraction of the light from the sun ever reached these depths… and I’d be lying if I said that darkness didn’t feel a little… oppressive.
“800 feet… still feeling good?”
“Yeah, still feeling good…” I said, although it was a bit of a lie. If anything, I was second guessing all of this, but I wasn’t about to say that out loud.
“1000 feet… still good?”
“Still good…” I murmured. “I hear you loud and clear.”
Deeper… deeper… deeper.
“1500 feet…”
Three miles. I was three miles away from home. Three miles away from Sheila.
“2000 feet…”
Still a ways to go.
“3000 feet…”
By this point, it was fully dark outside of my cockpit. Outside, all I could see was inky darkness. Even the submarine’s lights didn’t really cut through it. And the kicker? Relatively speaking, I wasn’t that deep. Fishing trawlers reached deeper than this. Better to conserve power until I was at the bottom. My descent continued.
“6000 feet… still good?”
“Still good…”
The check ins were becoming less frequent. My descent still continued… deeper… deeper… deeper. By now, I’d entered the Hadal Zone. But there was still so much deeper o go.
“8000 feet…”
This was past the depths that most whales would dive to… and I still had a ways to go.
“10,000 feet.”
This was close to where the ocean floor usually bottomed out… and yet there was still so much further to go. No. I was really only a third of the way there. How long had it been?Not much had happened beyond my descent and a few sightings out of my viewport, but time had been passing. A glance at my watch confirmed it’d been almost an hour since I’d started to sink… and I knew I wasn’t even close to the bottom yet. The submarine continued to descend, sinking ever deeper as I dropped into an infinite darkness that few had ever dared to witness.
“15,000 feet.”
This check in came later than the others. At this point, Sheila and the crew must have figured that no news was good news, and they were right. I just continued to sink peacefully, down into the crushing depths of the ocean.
These were the depths that one might normally find deep sea fish… and yet I was going somewhere even deeper than that.
“20,000 feet…”
So close…
I continued to sink.
“25,000 feet.”
Soon… and finally…
“30,000 feet. You still doing alright, honey?”
“Yeah… yeah, I’m doing good,” I assured her. I was so close…
By this point, my real work had begun. I’d engaged the lights and begun documenting what little I could see using the on board cameras. Granted, there wasn’t much life at these depths and what little there was, was scarcely documented. Most of what was down here consisted of invertebrates and microscopic life that seemed to float past my viewport.
The light seemed to draw a few creatures in search of food. Small, hardy things that resembled shrimp.
“How’s it looking, Grayson?”
“Dark,” I said, half joking. “We’ve got some life… shrimp. They’re translucent. Can’t get a great look at them… but we’ll see what the cameras pick up.”
“They’ve recognized you as a friend,” Sheila said. I could almost see the smile on her lips as she said it.
“Yeah…” I replied, “Tempura sent them a message, told them I’d be down. How am I looking on depth?”
“35,000 feet… you seeing a bottom yet?”
“No… not that I would until I was there.”
“Damn… how deep does this go?”
“It can’t go that deep…” I murmured, although I really wasn’t so sure about that.
The submarine continued to sink…
36,000 feet…
37,000 feet…
38,000 feet… and then finally, just past the 39,000 foot mark, I finally saw solid ground below me.
Looking through my viewport, I could see a familiar dark brown diatomaceous sludge, covering the seafloor. Microscopic life, likely similar to what had been observed in other deep sea trenches, such as the Challenger Deep.
I needed to gather a sample.
As my submarine reached the bottom, I extended the mechanical arms, pressed flat against the surface of the Tempura, and opened the collection port near the bottom of the ship. Slowly, I sifted some of the sludge into the port. My disturbance of the seafloor kicked up a cloud of the microbial colony, and I could’ve sworn I saw something wiggling through the debris. A pale, white thing, perhaps some sort of sea cucumber? I hastily angled my submarines camera to try and catch a glimpse of it, before returning to my collection. Even in this forlorn place, there was still so much to see! And here I was… completely forgetting my fear as the excitement took hold of me! Few people had ever been down to these unfathomable depths… and yet here I was.
It didn’t feel real but it was! I had reached the deepest part of the ocean!
“How’s it going down there?” I heard Sheila ask. Her voice was a little garbled. The connection down here was faltering.
“It’s beautiful…” I said. “I can’t wait for you to see it!”
“I’ll bet…”
“I’m going to do a sweep of the area, see what samples I can gather,” I said. “What’s my time right now?”
“Three hours. You’ve got nine before your connection to the weight deteriorates and you start to ascend.”
“I’ll make the most of it,” I said. The plan was only to stay down there for six hours, and I didn’t want to push that limit. Life support would only last me for so long, and one little error was all it would take for the ungodly pressure down here to crush me.
I began to move the submarine. Mobility was limited. This thing wasn’t built to travel far. But I still had some limited movement. I recorded all that I could, filming the shrimp that investigated my light, and the things that slithered and crawled through the muck, likely feeding on the carpet of single celled organisms that populated these depths.
The first two hours were… well… I hesitate to call them uneventful, they were actually very fascinating, but little of note happened beyond my recording of a few specimens.
Midway through the third hour though, as I was reaching one of the rock walls of the abyss, I noticed something just above the edge of my viewport swimming away from the light. I could’ve sworn I saw slender, pale tentacles of some sort. Was that a squid? Were there squid down this deep? I wasn’t aware of any species of known squid who could reach these depths… but in this unknown place, what use was the known?
I moved my light and my camera to try and catch another glimpse of it, but whatever it was, it seemed to be gone. Maybe I’d see another one. I still had plenty of time.
“You made a noise. What’d you see?” Sheila asked.
“Something big… I think,” I said.
“Down there? Like a fish?”
“Squid. You wouldn’t find any vertebrates down this deep… the pressure would crush their bones.”
“Jeez…”
I didn’t reply to that, still searching for the thing I’d seen. I shone my light up along the walls of the chasm and angled my camera up as far as it would go. I could see a few volcanic vents, spewing dark clouds into the darkness, and more diatoms. But not much else. Strange invertebrates crawled along the walls. Small creatures, no bigger than an inch long. Related to isopods, perhaps? If I could collect one as a sample, I would have… although taking any of those back to the surface would surely kill them. They were built to live under the impossible pressure of these depths. Taking them to the surface would rip them apart.
I went back to my research, and it wasn’t long until I saw something in the darkness, just on the edge of where my flashlight reached. Trailing white tendrils, snaking their way through the darkness. My eyes narrowed as I moved the submarine forward, trying to catch whatever it was in the light. I saw the shape move, its body turning… I saw its tendrils unfurling. Whatever this was, it was big. It was almost as big as The Tempura… although it was also slender. If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve thought I was looking at some sort of floating debris, but this far down? No. And debris wouldn’t move like that.
This had to be a deepsea squid… or perhaps some other type of cephalopod? Something that preyed upon the various invertebrates down here, perhaps? It seemed to float, just out of sight for a bit, as I tried to get closer. I angled up my light to get a better look at it. The light seemed to shine through it, like some sort of ghost… but I did manage to get a look at it.
Although that look…
That single look made me freeze up.
This things slender tendrils certainly resembled a cephalopod of some sort, but the rest of it… the rest of it looked like something else entirely. Its body was thin, emaciated and translucent, yet despite that it still had characteristics that almost seemed… human. It wasn’t human! Not by any stretch of imagination, but the resemblance was there. It almost reminded me of an exhibit I’d seen in a museum once, depicting a preserved, fully removed human nervous system. I could see a similar shape in its translucent body. Its head seemed almost human as well… albeit with no eyes, and a lamprey like mouth I could only describe as fleshy yet crablike.
Still, despite having no eyes I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was looking at me. And that was when I felt something hit the submarine.
I felt a sudden jolt of panic in my chest. For a moment, I thought that the pressure had started to crush me, but no… no, everything was still fine. Something had just hit me. But what? It didn’t take long before I got my answer.
Another pale creature floated past my viewport, swirling gracefully in the cold dark waters. I watched it for a moment with wide eyes, before noticing its ‘head’ turning slightly toward me. Then, almost instantly, it launched itself at the submarine, darting toward me with blinding speed.
I heard a distinct THUD as its body collided with me, and I could see its pale tendrils pressing against the viewport, twisting and writhing violently. It was trying to attack me. The first creature that I’d seen lunged as well, pounding on my submarine with another THUD. And moments later, I could hear more impacts against the hull. There were more of them… and they did not like having me down there.
“What’s going on?” Sheila asked.
“Somebody doesn’t like me…” I said. “One of the animals down here… some kind of squid, it’s just started attacking the hull.”
“How bad is the damage?”
“Not sure… could be nothing, could be-”
I felt the submarine shake as I tried to move it. The thrusters that pushed me forward weren't responding. Had something gotten caught in it? One of the creatures perhaps?
“Grayson?!” Sheila asked.
“Lost propulsion…” I said. “Fuck… I can’t move.”
“Then drop the weight and come up!”
“No, it’s fine, there’s no other damage, I can still use the port and starboard thrusters to-”
“Grayson!”
I paused. There was genuine panic in her voice… enough to make me realize that even if these things stood little chance of actually breaching the hull, taking the risk would be a fatal mistake.
“I’m on my way up…” I finally said, before reaching out to disengage the ballast weights.
Immediately, I felt myself beginning to rise, although the tentacles clinging to my viewport didn’t disappear.
“We’ve got you…” Sheila said. “Rising up to 38,000 feet.”
The submarine continued to rise, but the creatures clinging to me went nowhere. In fact… I was sure I could see more of them. More pale shapes coming up through the darkness, and these ones filled me with dread. I thought I had been looking at some sort of eerie undiscovered life. But seeing what was coming up toward me now… I knew that I was looking at so much more. The creatures swimming up toward me through the darkness carried weapons… makeshift stone spears and daggers. Primitive tools… but tools all the same.
Signs that these were more than just undiscovered animals.
Much. Much more.
The word: ‘Mermaids’ crossed through my mind, but these were something far different than the ones I’d heard of in folklore. These looked like they’d swam out of the depths of hell itself. Boneless pale tendrils reached for me… and they were getting closer. The pale shapes reached my submarine as I rose higher. I kept praying to whatever God may be listening that the dropping pressure would force them off. The air in a submarine is pressurized, so during normal operation, there should have been no danger of decompression sickness for me.
For them… well… normally I’d feel a little guilty about subjecting an undiscovered species of deep sea mermaids to the horrors of the Bends. But given my circumstances, I didn’t have a lot of other options.
They didn’t let go, though.
They should have. But they didn’t.
What were these things?
I saw a splayed hand press against my viewport. Or… it somewhat resembled a hand. It had suckers on it, like a tentacle and the ‘fingers’ curled open like tentacles. The creature crawled over my viewport, clinging to The Tempura as it rose, and I could see the folds of its crablike mouth opening and pressing against the glass. I could see some sort of bile rising up through its translucent throat, before it secreted it all over my viewport. Was it trying to digest me? Was that how these things fed? How strong were its stomach acids? Were they strong enough to-
The window cracked.
My heart skipped a beat.
“No… no, no no…”
“Grayson, what’s wrong?!”
“They cracked the window… S-Sheila they… oh God… oh fuck, they just…”
“THEY DID WHAT?”
“It’s secreting some sort of enzyme… it’s on the window, it’s… FUCK… I’m gonna die… I’m gonna die… I’m gonna die…”
“You’re not gonna die, baby! Just… just keep ascending, okay? You’re at 30,000 feet… just keep going…”
I nodded, and kept on rising, although the question of whether or not the rest of the creatures were trying to digest the other parts of my submarine floated through my mind. How much damage could The Tempura take before it imploded? How much longer did I have? The submarine still continued to rise… 25,000 feet… almost halfway home… almost… almost.
The creature outside of my viewport slithered along the glass, searching for a better area to try and digest. Past him, I noticed a few of his companions dropping off. Maybe the change in pressure finally was getting to them?
From the corner of my eye, I suddenly noticed a flashing light. A warning. The hydraulics on one of the Tempura’s arms were shot… what else was damaged?
I checked my oxygen levels. 32%.
I should’ve had at least 14 hours of air. I’d only been down there for about 6 hours… I shouldn’t have been this low.
31%.
No… no, no, no, no… they’d damaged the air tanks!
30%.
29%
“20,000 feet!” Sheila said. “You still with me, baby?”
“Y-yeah…” I said. I didn’t mention my air situation. I didn’t need to worry her further.
The submarine continued its ascent.
15,000 feet.
24%. I was running out of time.
The creatures still clung to the Tempura. How had the pressure change not killed them yet? My oxygen was dropping faster than before. I was hemorrhaging air. Another crack formed across my viewport. I let out a little, involuntary gasp before trying to force myself to stop hyperventilating.
“Grayson, what was that?”
“I-it’s fine…” I stammered, “It’s fine!”
“Grayson what the hell is going on down there?!”
“They’re still on the submarine… they’re still…” I paused, looking at my oxygen levels. “19%...”
“19% of what? Grayson what’s going on!”
I paused.
18%.
“Air… I’m… I’m losing air…”
“That’s fine, you’re going to make it!” She said, although I heard her voice cracking a little. “You’re gonna make it!”
I didn’t answer.
12,000 feet.
11,000 feet…
My oxygen level continued to drop.
15%.
14%.
12%.
9,000 feet.
The creatures still clung to me, as the submarine continued to rise. The one on my viewport was still there, slowly crawling along the glass again. I stared into its eyeless face and swore I was looking at the face of my killer.
7,000 feet…
Oxygen had dropped to 9%. It dropped to 8% before I even got to 6,000 feet. I was going to die here…
The viewport cracked again and I squeezed my eyes shut. The submarine rocked. I was sure one of the thrusters had been damaged. My ascent slowed.
“Grayson, what’s going on?”
“I’m sorry Sheila…”
Another crack spread across my viewport.
“I’m… I’m not making it back up…”
“YES YOU ARE!”
“I’m sorry…” The tears started to come as the reality of my death became clearer and clearer… this was it.
“YOU’RE COMING BACK UP, YOU HEAR ME! GODDAMNIT, I’LL BRING YOU BACK UP!”
“I love you…”
That creatures face pressed against the glass. It vomited more of its stomach acid onto the cracked glass, and I wondered if this might finally be what broke it. Part of me hoped it would be… the one good thing about dying this deep was that at least I’d die quickly. My suffering would be over. Then, the creature suddenly pulled back, twisting and writhing violently. I saw other shapes moving past it in the water, other ‘mermaids’ that had been clinging to the submarine.
Something was agitating them.
Something was scaring them off.
Then I heard it, over the radio… whale songs.
“What the hell…?”
“Grayson, are you still there?!”
“I… they’re finally breaking off. Sheila, what did you do?”
“I’m broadcasting some of the orca recordings we’ve been using. Are they still clinging to you?”
“No! They’re backing off! I… whatever you’re doing, keep doing it!”
The submarine kept rising.
5,000 feet.
4,000 feet.
4% oxygen.
I could still do this, right?
The submarine continued to rise.
3%.
3,000 feet.
2,000 feet.
2%.
1,000 feet… so close… I was so close…
I could almost see the surface through my viewport, rushing up toward me. I tried not to breathe. Tried not to move. All I did was hope.
500 feet.
I closed my eyes.
“Grayson we have your signal, we’re coming to pick you up!”
Sheila’s voice sounded so far away as my submarine finally breached the surface of the water… and with the last of my strength, I pulled the emergency release on the hatch, and threw it open, taking in lungful after lungful of fresh salty air.
I didn’t dare so much as touch the water beneath me… but I was topside again, and in the distance, I could see The Burger!
“We see you!” Sheila said, “We’ve got you baby… we’ve got you…”
“I see you too…” I said through the tears. “Thank you… thank you…” I didn’t have any words left in me after that.
As soon as I was back on the ship, I collapsed into Sheila’s arms, breaking down into tears as I clung to her, terrified that at any moment, some sort of unspoken other shoe would drop and I’d lose her all over again.
“Shh… it’s alright baby… I’ve got you… you’re safe… you’re safe…” I felt her fingers running through my air and I knew that what she said was true.
I was home.
I was safe.
***
I left my colleagues to review the data that the Tempura gathered during its short expedition. As far as I know, they haven’t published anything. I have a few ideas as to why, but I’ll keep those to myself. Let’s just say that some people would rather this information not become public.
I have a feeling that the Tempura may not be diving again for some time, if ever. I will confess that I do consider that a bit of a shame. Despite everything… I would consider it a success. It endured far more stressful conditions than I had expected, and from what I heard, required fewer repairs than I’d thought it would. But, even if it was approved for another dive, it wouldn’t be me piloting it. No. I will never be setting foot inside of that machine again, nor will I ever be returning to what my colleagues have been quietly referring to as ‘The Jenner Trench’.
I can’t.
Every night, I wake up crying after dreaming of pale shapes outside of my cracked viewport, clinging to Sheila and sobbing. I can’t put myself in that situation again.
I can’t.
Instead, I think I’m going to spend the next few years on solid ground. There’s a teaching position available at a local university. I think that might be the best place for me right now. Who knows, maybe I can help some other deadbeat discover a passion for marine biology.
After everything, my love for the sea remains unchanged… I’m just a little more wary of it, these days.

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