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3 Nuclear Submarine Lockdown Horror Stories Animated · Dr. NoSleep Animations

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Talk to nicely. Are you seeing this? Wilson asked as
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: he pressed his headphones closer to his ears. We were
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: sitting in the claustrophobic, damp sonar room, searching for any
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: signs of movement out in the deep oceans surrounding us.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: A blip had appeared on our sonar, notifying us of
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: a rapidly moving object approaching from 15 nautical miles away.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: It was large, and based solely on its size alone,
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: I doubted it could be a living organism. On the
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: other hand, its speed was far too quick to be
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: an enemy or allied submarine. Silence fell upon the rest
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: of the crew as the mysterious object closed in on
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: our location. We were working on identifying it, trying to
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: figure out if it was worth waking our captain from
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: his well-earned slumber. The audio signature doesn't match anything I've
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: ever heard before. It's bizarre, Wilson said. Even though our
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: hydrophones marked the very peak of military hardware, able to
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: detect feeding shrimp off the bottom of the ocean miles away,
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: they couldn't recognize this noise. Wilson sat frozen in his chair,
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: desperately trying to put his three decades worth of experience
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: to the test. But it was to no avail. And
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: if Wilson couldn't figure it out, then no one could.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: It's getting closer, I mumbled. before reading out the object's
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: constantly changing location. How is this possible? It has to
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: be another submarine. Russian, maybe Japanese, Wilson suggested. Better hope
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: for the latter. We're not supposed to be in this region,
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: I responded. Our executive officer, Anderson, had already assessed the
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: situation and was worried enough to alert Captain Banks. We
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: needed his permission to initiate stealth protocols. given that we
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: hadn't the faintest idea what we were facing. Best case scenario,
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: it was a system malfunction. Worst case, an enemy vessel.
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: Even though full-out combat was unlikely, our presence in hostile
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: territory just might be enough to start an international incident.
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: Something's not right here. It's too large. I repeated. Though
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: the scans weren't always accurate, we estimated the object to
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: be 300 meters in length. almost twice as long as
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: our largest submarines. Can't be, Wilson insisted. Even the Typhoon-class
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: vessels aren't that big. But its size wasn't what worried
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: me the most, but rather the impossible depth and speed
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: it traveled at. We were pushing the boundaries at almost
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: 500 meters, but the detected object was moving at twice
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: our depth and three times our cruising speed. If I
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: didn't know better, I would have called it an impossible
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: feat The sound it produced was far too loud for
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: a stealth vessel, but obscure enough to avoid automatic detection.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: It was akin to a whale's mating call, but produced
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: a far deeper pitch, pulsating with a repeating rhythm. Paradoxically,
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: the sound appeared natural, yet all too foreign. Only when
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: I listened to it for a good 15 minutes did
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: I realize that it looped. Almost like a song played
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: on repeat, as if someone was sending a message desperate
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: to be read I don't like this, Wilson said. We
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: need to leave. Though his impulse to escape resonated with
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: the rest of us, it was a decision that could
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: only be made by Captain Banks himself. But for such
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: a decision to even be considered, we'd need the support
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: of an executive officer. Our officer without authority still seemed
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: unfazed by the approaching threat. I almost let out a
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: sigh of relief as I felt the submarine decelerate. The
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: engines fell silent and the lights dimmed. It was clear
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: that we'd been ordered to stop, if only to remain
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: undetectable from whatever was heading our way. Captain Banks entered
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: the sonar room shortly after, taking the XO to the
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: side to get briefed on the situation. Due to the
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: uncertain nature of the situation, the captain had decided to
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: stay put as we waited for the object to pass
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: beneath us. Regardless of what exactly it was, we couldn't
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: afford to take any risks and at the depth it
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: was traveling, we should have been in the clear. All
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: the while, I kept calling out the object's position, trying
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: to hide the fear building up within me. 2,000 meters,
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: I called out. The thing was moving closer, ascending from
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: the depths as it approached us. As it got closer,
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: the same bizarre rhythm increased in intensity. 1,500, I continued.
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: The thing was moving faster than any underwater vessel known
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: to man, Surpassing the quickest animals on the planet, despite
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: its terrifying size. One thousand. While it had moved to
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: shallower waters, it was still a couple of hundred meters
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: below us. There was still hope, albeit with a dangerously
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: narrow margin. Five hundred. That's when I noticed its speed changing.
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: To our collective horror, it started slowing down. Still moving
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: at impressive speeds, but seemingly affected by our presence. Three hundred.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: Whatever we were about to face, it knew where we were. 200.
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: Pearls of sweat formed on my forehead. In a few seconds,
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: it would be straight under us. The captain ordered all
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: personnel to report to their designated stations and to prepare
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: for a possible battle. 100. Then it halted directly beneath us,
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: just 100 meters deeper than our position. The crew fell silent,
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: and the audio wheat picked up suddenly ceased. If not
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: for our sonar readings confirming its location, it might as
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: well not have existed. A minute passed as we waited
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: for something to happen. I wondered if a preemptive attack
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: might have been our best shot at survival. But short
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: of dropping a ton of mines on the thing, we
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: had few means with which to fight something more than
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: twice our size. Then I wondered what it looked like.
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: But even with cameras on the underbelly of our vessel,
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: There wouldn't have been enough light to penetrate the darkness
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: at our current depth. We were essentially blind, except for
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: a dot on our radar, showing little more than the
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: size of our stalker. Five uncontrollable minutes passed, which felt
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: like an eternity. And there was nothing we could do,
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: except to wait for something, anything to happen. Then, as
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: abruptly as silence had fallen upon us, It was shattered
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: with an ungodly shriek originating from directly below us. With
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: the ungodly sound, we also detected sudden, rapid movement, shooting
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: up towards us at impossible speeds. Brace for impact! Captain
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: Banks let out, far too late for anyone to get
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: to safety. Loud alarms howled through our ship as it
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: violently shook from the impact. Those not firmly locked to
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: their seats were flung around by clothes inside a dryer.
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: With that single crash, half a dozen men had their
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: backs and necks broken. We detected another horrific shriek, breaking
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: its prior rhythm with constantly lowering pitch. With it, loud
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: clunks resonated through the room. A pressure wave shot through
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: our sector, popping our ears as it passed. Hold breach
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: in the control room, Wilson yelled. Before rushing to repair
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: the damage, we attempted to reach the crew further back
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: via radio, but with power intermittently cutting out and possible fatalities,
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: we had no way of assessing the situation. In a
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: state of shock, I could do little but wait for
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: orders and pray that my training kicked in. But orders
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: would not come, as the captain was lying unconscious in
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: a corner. Captain! Wilson called as he rushed to his aid.
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: Just from his awkward position, We could tell that the
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: captain had died on impact. Without Banks in charge, the
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: role fell to the executive officer. Wilson, Peterson, with me
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: to the control room. Henderson commanded with as much confidence
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: as he could muster. The control room was on the
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: same floor, a bit further back on the submarine. The
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: door was kept closed, but luckily it hadn't been locked
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: due to the crash. Wilson entered first, letting me follow
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: behind him. Henderson came in last only to assess the
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: damage before taking control of the rest of the ship.
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: While calling for backup was essential, stabilizing the vessel was
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: our main priority before making a swift escape to the surface.
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: Before us lay five crewmen, dead in three feet of water.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: Several beams shot into the room at high pressures, leaving
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: us with limited time to seal them off. Still, if
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: we were able to at least patch the damage up,
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: the control room would be left semi-functional. We stepped over
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: our dead friends, hurrying to fix the damage. Only then
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: did my training kick in, allowing us to quickly stop
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: the heavy flow of water. Peterson, you hearing this? Wilson asked,
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: once the last drop of water had entered the ship.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: I readied my ears, and just beneath the howling alarm,
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: we could hear the faint sound of metal settling under pressure.
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: Since we hadn't yet reached critical depths, I could only
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: assume that whatever had attacked us was holding on in
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: an attempt to crush us. How is it doing that?
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: I asked, not really expecting a response. I don't know,
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: but we better not stick around for an answer. Wilson
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: shot back as he tried to get the comms working. Hello,
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: do you copy? He asked as the radio came to
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: life in a static mess. This is leading petty officer
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: Ian Wilson reporting from the control room. Please respond. He
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: was trying to contact the crew at the torpedo room.
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: but none responded. Either they had perished during the first attack,
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: or the station had flooded beyond the point of usefulness.
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: Either way, with the monstrosity outside trying to crush the sub,
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: we had to fight back with any means possible. We
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: rushed back to the sonar room where Henderson had gathered
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: the remaining survivors. He had shared our train of thought
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: and had sent a team to assess and repair any
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: damage done to the torpedo tubes. What remained in the
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: rest of the submarine was a skeleton crew ready to
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: fix any hull breaches. As long as the creature is
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: latched onto us, we can't launch any torpedoes without risking
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: irreparable damage to the submarine, Wilson argued. Do you have
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: any other suggestions? Either we fight back or this monstrosity
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: pulls us down to the abyss, Henderson said. Do we
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: even know what the thing is, or what it looks like?
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: I asked, while simultaneously trying to come up with an
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: escape plan. We got some photos, can't tell you much,
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: except for the fact that it's biological, Henderson explained. Good,
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: Wilson chimed in. That means it can bleed. Wait a minute,
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: what if we don't arm the torpedoes? I suggested. The
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: impact might be enough to hurt the bastard. Probably won't
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: kill it, but might force it to let go, given
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: that it's hanging directly onto our torpedo port's. Henderson said.
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: It's the only chance we have. He nodded in agreement,
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: telling us to personally relay the information to the attack
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: crew in lieu of functioning comms. Wilson already stood ready
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: by the ladder, prepared to dive down into the bowels
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: of our submarine and fight whatever threat we faced. Help
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: isn't coming, Henderson explained, which means we have the luxury
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: of firing at will without being questioned by high command.
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: With that, we headed downstairs towards the torpedo bay. The
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: bow was filled with water that went waist high. Half
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: a dozen bodies littered the way. Most had been killed
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: by the creature's first impact, while others had been pinned
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: to the floor under various pieces of debris, forced to
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: drown in a few feet of water with no help
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: in sight. A handful of crewmen had gathered by the torpedoes.
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: They'd already sealed any leaks, but the water pumps would
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: need more attention before being functional. Still, The torpedo tubes
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: were above water, remaining operational. Disarm the torpedoes, I ordered.
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: Disarm them? We want to kill the bastard, one of
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: them responded. The torpedoes shoot out at 100 knots. While
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: it won't kill the creature, it might cause it to
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: let go instead of killing us all in the process,
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: I explained. The men glanced at each other, relieved that
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: their suicide mission had turned to one with a faint
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: glimmer of hope. They redirected their attention back at me,
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: nodded in agreement. before proceeding to disarm the torpedoes. It
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: would only take a minute, rendering them little more than
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: metal chunks to be shot at a creature strong enough
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: to crush us underneath its own weight. It was a
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: futile plan, but the only one we had. We rapidly
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: loaded up the six functioning torpedo tubes and prepared to fire.
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: We just had to pray that some of them would
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: hit the attacker at a reasonable speed, hopefully hard enough
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: to make it let go. Fire! Wilson demanded with a
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: raised hand. As demanded, the torpedo operators initiated a barrage
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: of non-explosive warheads. From the six loaded, only four were
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: to life, launching their content out into the dark ocean
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: before us. Most seemed to miss the mark, floating harmlessly
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: into the open waters. But a couple hit, each causing
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: the monstrosity to slip slightly off the submarine, letting out
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: agonized yells. It worked! Wilson let out. again at unparalleled
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: speeds the crew mounted the torpedo tubes once more even
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: doing most of the work manually it was an impressive
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: sight wilson ordered another barrage this time only loading up
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: the functional tubes four torpedoes were shot at the creature
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: it winced in pain finally letting go of our submarine
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: it shook as we fell free from its grasp but
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: we weren't yet free from danger We had to deter
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: the monster from attacking for a second time, but that
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: time with proper firepower. Prepare to fire live torpedoes, Wilson ordered.
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: Another barrage of four torpedoes were loaded, that time filled
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: with actual explosives. I called Henderson over the radio to
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: ask for exact locations, praying that the comms were back
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: up and running. With our own computers barely functional, we
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: had to rely on our fresh captain's instructions for a
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: successful hit. LOD James Peterson here. We've armed the torpedoes.
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: We need the thing's exact location to get a hit.
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: Do you copy? It's retreating into the deep, 50 meters
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: directly below our position. Fire at will, Henderson said on
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: the other end. I relayed the instructions and Wilson gave
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: permission to fire the load. A few seconds passed between
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: the torpedoes leaving the tubes before we had two confirmed impacts,
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: only noticed by shockwaves reverberating through the ship. It had
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: been a successful attack and our ship was finally free
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: of the monster's grasp. The crew let out a few
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: tired cheers, relieved to be alive, but horrified by the
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: loss of so many crewmen. Exhausted, we took the majority
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: of the crew back to Henderson, who'd moved his team
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: further back to the control room. But what greeted us
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: were not relieved faces, but ones filled with utter panic.
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: People were scrambling around, desperately trying to fix damage I
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: couldn't see. The nuclear reactor is severely damaged, Henderson said meekly.
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: If we don't fix it, we're going to suffer a
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: meltdown within the next few hours. With the nuclear reactor
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: located in the dead center of the submarine, we had
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: several access points. But with the reactor suffering a meltdown,
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: we couldn't safely enter from any of them. Running the
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: backup engine would keep the submarine running, but it wouldn't
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: buy us enough time to return to shore for emergency repairs.
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: We would have to deal with it ourselves or risk
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: the agonizing death of every man on board. Under normal circumstances,
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: its thick walls protected the crew from catastrophic radiation poisoning.
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: But during a meltdown, the released radiation would reach one
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: quarter of that measured after the incident at the Fukushima
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: power plant. How much time do we have? I asked.
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: Two hours, maybe less, Henderson said. So, we fixed the
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: damn thing, Wilson suggested. His statement froze us in place
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: for a moment. It was the most reasonable solution, but
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: it came at catastrophic sacrifice for the poor bastard who
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: took the task upon himself. Whoever goes inside the reactor
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: is going to die. You do realize this? Anderson asked.
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: And if no one goes, we all die. I'll do
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: it then, Anderson said, his face pale as a sheet. No,
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: you won't. This ship needs a captain. You're not allowed
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: to sacrifice yourself. Besides- I'm probably the only sucker left
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: on this boat alive that has actually dealt with nuclear
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: reactors up close, Wilson explained. There were no words needed.
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: We all knew Wilson had provided the only plausible solution.
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: Like the Marine he was, he was willing to give
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: his life if it meant the rest of us could live.
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: Either way, if nothing was done, we'd be killed by
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: radiation or by the monstrosity from the depths returning for seconds.
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: I escorted Wilson towards the nuclear reactor, ready to do
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: whatever I could as he attempted to repair the damage.
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: There were radiation shields aboard the sub, but they do
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: little to negate the massive dosage of radiation Wilson would
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: absorb as soon as he entered the reactor. It doesn't
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: have to be you, I argued as we got close,
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: knowing full well that no one else could repair the
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: damage before we suffered a total meltdown. He ignored me
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: and got suited up for the mission. While it wouldn't
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: save him, it might buy him a few extra minutes
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: to work on the reactor. I ain't got nothing to say.
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: I'm just doing my duty. No family to say goodbye to.
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: Nothing back on the mainland waiting for me. This was
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: always where I'd end up, kid. Just let me do
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: this one thing. Without further hesitation, Wilson entered the reactor room.
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: I stood outside, watching him through cameras placed on the inside.
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: They were meant to give a safe view of the
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: reactor to determine the damage before entering, but most of
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: the time, the disruption wasn't visible to the naked eye. Yet,
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: Wilson headed straight for the problem and set to work.
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: It would take about ten minutes for the symptoms to
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: set in, at which point death would follow shortly after.
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: Just the act of opening the door had exposed me
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: to an unhealthy dose of radiation, but the sickness I'd
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: experienced would pass within days. while Wilson would decay within
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: the next couple of hours. Not a single word was
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: spoken as I watched Wilson slowly die. I just stared
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: as he worked, listening to the shrieking creature preparing for
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: its next attack. It was a race against time. One
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: Wilson would lose, but in the act, we might stand
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: a chance. Twenty minutes passed, at which point Wilson's hands
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: were visibly shaking. Our crew had shot out a few
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: more torpedoes, but they were running out, at which point
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: the creature would certainly attack again. Then without speaking a word,
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: Wilson took a step back from the reactor to observe it.
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: He stood there for a few seconds, making sure the
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: thing was working, before collapsing on the ground. The systems
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: were stabilizing, a fact noticed by Henderson, who gave the
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: order to start an emergency ascent. I wanted nothing more
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: than to rush to Wilson's aid and drag him out
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: of the reactor room. But even had I gotten him out,
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: he was already a dead man. Alas. My sorrow would
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: be interrupted by another violent shake of the submarine, undoubtedly
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: caused by our last torpedo. Alarms sounded throughout the vessel
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: once more, calling each crew member to their station for
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: our ascent. Without pause, I rushed to the control room,
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: where I found Henderson and his team scrambling to reach
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: the surface. We're getting the hell out of here, he
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: said as he saw me. Get to your station. In
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: the state our vessel was in, the rapid ascent might
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: just have killed every single crewman on board. Still, it
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: was a risk we had to take with the monster
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: still chasing us. With no torpedoes left, we had to
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: rely on speed we didn't have, and pray we could
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: outmaneuver the thing.' Four hundred meters!' one of the men
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: called out.' It' s getting closer!' another yelled.' Three hundred!' The
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: hull creaked from the rapidly dropping pressure, causing my ears
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: to pop once more.' Two hundred!' Something hit the submarine,
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: causing another hull breach.' It' s here!' Keep going, Henderson ordered.
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: It hadn't been able to grab a hold of us,
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: but the damage it caused with each hit was catastrophic. 100!
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: The rapid change in pressure wasn't only harmful to us,
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: but it affected the creature as well. It let out
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: a horrific, soul-shattering yell of agony. Still crashing into the submarine,
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: it ripped another hole in the hull, causing the turbines
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: to flood. If we didn't reach the surface immediately, we'd
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: sink back to the abyss. Then I saw sunlight, just
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: a few rays shining in from some of the newly
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: formed holes in the hull. We closed off the damaged
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: sections as best we could, hoping to remain buoyant until
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: help could arrive. The creature let out one final shriek,
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: but never surfaced alongside us. The damage it had sustained
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: was too much, causing it to flee back to the depths.
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: With the realization that we'd made it up alive. A
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: few of us ventured up to the topside to inspect
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: the true extent of the damage. Long holes had been
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: torn along the sides, with massive, grey teeth left behind
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: around the torpedo tubes. It dawned on me then that
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: we'd been stuck in the jaw of the ancient being.
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: It had tried to consume us, biting down on the
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: hard metal. The torpedoes had been just enough to rip
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: through the beast's flesh, tearing its teeth out. I do
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: not know what attacked us on that day, nor am
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: I planning a return to the ocean any time in
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: the future. Our submarine was quickly decommissioned following the attack,
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: with false claims that it had failed its sea trials,
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: a cover-up claiming no crew was lost that day. So,
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: I'm here to share the story, in respect of those
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: who were lost, and out of respect to Wilson, one
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: of many heroes who perished at sea. Also, it turns
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: out that most of you guys who watch me aren't
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: actually subscribed. So if you like the content and want
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: to support the channel, go ahead and hit the bell.
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: It's free and you can always change your mind later.
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: My old captain once told me a story about why
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: submarines were built without windows. He would explain that the
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: first underwater vessels were created with little glass panes. giving
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: an insight into the darkness of the ocean depths. A
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: world rid of light, never meant to be seen by
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: animals wandering on land. It's not the isolation that drives
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: a man mad, he'd claim, nor is it solitude. No,
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: what drives a man to the brink of insanity is
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: to stare into the heart of the sea. and pray
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: that nothing stares back. While it wasn't unusual for old
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: men at sea to tell tall tales, my captain was
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: on the loony end of the spectrum after one too
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: many years spent in a metal box. That's one of
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: the many reasons that each and every man has to
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: endure a long and rigorous psych evaluation before setting foot
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: on a submarine. Obviously, That was an aspect of the
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: job my captain hailed as pointless pseudoscience. I never believed
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: his stories, but they stuck with me. We had all
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: been well-versed in the functionality of military submarines. We knew
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: that windows provided a weakness to the structural integrity and
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: were hence never integrated into military-grade vessels. If I were
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: a better man, I would have said that my captain
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: knew that as well. As fate would have it, My
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: captain did meet his end at sea. He'd end his
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: own life by tying himself up in a metal chain
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: before jumping into the ocean in the darkness of night.
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: But the idea of men going mad at sea stayed
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: with me, a kind of madness only understood by those
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: living at sea. Men were never meant to venture that
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: deep into the abyss, a fact proven by the thousands
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: of lives ending at the bottom of the ocean. Whenever
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: I lay awake at night to the sound of our
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: submarine's hull settling under pressure, I'd hear my old captain's
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: words of warning not to stare into the abyss. Because
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: if you do end up staring into the darkness, only
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: horrors unfold when you pretend to be the one in control.
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: Our mission took place on the 7th of July, 2021.
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: A skeleton crew had been stationed aboard the USS Haddle
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: with a simple mission statement to remain underwater for 200
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: days without resurfacing. While the task wasn't a technological feat
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: with modern nuclear reactors, it proved a more logistical challenge.
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: Food supplies, mental stability during prolonged bouts without sunlight, and
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: fresh air. How long could we stay in the depths
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: before shattering our minds? Not many volunteered for such a mission,
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: but the pay was great, and we weren't expected to
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: face any real dangers during our tenure at sea. Essentially,
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: we were paid to practice, and most of us were
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: promised an honorable discharge following the mission's end. Alas, most
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: of our crew would never again feel the touch of
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: the sun upon their skin, nor let their lungs fill
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: with fresh air. They were fated to draw their last
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: breaths of recycled oxygen as darkness enveloped their last moments
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: on Earth. gone and forgotten by those still on shore.
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: I first realized something was wrong 117 days into the mission.
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: It was subtle at first, with decreasing banter among the crew,
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: less idle chatter. Those affected seemed to isolate themselves, rising
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: from bed only to work, never partaking in any leisurely activities.
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: With the change, Our weekly psyche vows were upped to
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: twice a week. I figured the isolation at the ocean's
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: depth was getting to them, but something about the situation
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: still seemed off. No one else seemed to talk about it,
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: but whether their silence came from fear of an early
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: mission ending, or because they didn't notice, I couldn't tell.
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: To most, it must have felt like a game of chicken,
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: with 50 marines rushing towards certain insanities. none were ready
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: to be first to admit it. After all, a bit
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: of ocean blues was certainly worth the promised prize, which
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: would only be granted if we completed the mission. Failure
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: meant we'd be sent back to our original stations, places
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: where we might even engage in active combat duty. As
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: a man who'd already been shot twice, it was an
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: experience I didn't long to repeat. I didn't long for
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: my bi-weekly sessions with a department shrink either. He was
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: a middle-aged man, clearly not built for the depths of
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: the ocean, but he seemed to power through it. Each
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: time we met, he'd pry into the deepest pits of
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: my mind, looking for any flaw or break in the
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: fabric of my thoughts. You seem nervous, Dr. Rikers half-stated, half-asked,
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: as he noticed me evading his gaze. I'm not a
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: fan of having my thoughts analyzed. I lied. Truth be told,
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: I didn't much care for psychology. I had approached our
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: initial meetings with a relatively nonchalant attitude. But something had
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: changed in the past two months. The atmosphere aboard the
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: USS Haddle was no longer the one I knew and loved.
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: Something darker had taken over. Even our fearless captain had
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: seemed to pull away from his official duties. Only showing
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: up when absolutely necessary. Listen, James. You can stay cold
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: for the next 80 days of the mission. You can
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: try to pretend like nothing has changed. But we both
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: know that would be a lie. I see it every day,
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: and so do you. Now, I can't force you to
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: talk about it, but are you really ready to look
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: me in the face and lie about what's going on
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: with the crew? I looked up at him. It wasn't.
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: the first time anybody had openly spoken about the eeriness
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: surrounding our mission. We'd all tried so hard to deny it,
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: fearing that the mission would end if we so much
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: as mentioned it. And while I'd long since admitted defeat,
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: I couldn't be the one to When someone else finally
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: brought it up, I felt relieved. You worry about the
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: future of the mission, he said confidently. Well, let me
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: explain something to you. Talking about your thoughts won't force
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: us to resurface. But if you keep ignoring it until
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: you have a nervous break, I will be forced to
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: report that to high command. You are not the only
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: one feeling it, James. But I can't help you solve
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: the problems You choose to ignore. He'd never been one
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: to speak much. He rather listened, took notes, and gave
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: small comments as insights into my thought process. But hearing
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: him practically read my mind didn't frighten me. Instead, it
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: made me feel calmer. Up until that point, I hadn't
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: realized how desperately I needed to talk about what I'd seen.
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: I couldn't hold it in any longer. Quinn, I mumbled.
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: pausing as the words got stuck in my throat. Stephen Quinn?
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: Are you referring to the LPO from Section 3? He asked.
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: I nodded. Why don't you tell me what happened to him?
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: As if you don't already know, I argued. I know,
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: but I wasn't there. So, I'll ask again. Why don't
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: you tell me what happened? Unable to argue, I decided
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: to finally cut my baggage loose and tell Rikers what
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: had happened to the crew of Section 3. I'd been
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: reassigned to turbine maintenance a couple of weeks prior. Two
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: of the crewmen had suffered some pretty severe burns following
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: a malfunction that to this day hasn't been explained to us.
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: The steam would have blinded them if not for the
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: protective gear, but it did little for their torsos. We
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: all figured that was it, that we'd be forced to
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: return to the surface. but the doc determined that the
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: injuries weren't severe enough to call off the mission. But
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: it just didn't sit right with me, you know? I've
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: never seen such bizarre damage to any turbines. It wasn't
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: just wear and tear. It was something more. Sabotage. I
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: fixed the turbines alongside what remained of the crew at
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: the section, but they weren't happy about my presence. For
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: the entire week we spent on repairs, I don't think
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: a single person spoke more than half a sentence to
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: me They looked jaded, detached from reality. It's not the
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: first time I've seen sailors turn to autopilot, but this
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: was something else. Still, I performed my duty to the
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: best of my ability, but I couldn't get used to
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: the silence. Then during the second week, I started to
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: realize just how sick they looked. Not just pale faces
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: and heavy eyes. They looked hollowed out, empty. I'd find
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: them sitting on the floor for hours at a time,
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: never speaking a word. I asked if I could help them,
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: but they kept brushing me off. I'm honestly surprised the
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: mission kept going, considering the state of those men. I
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: don't know which shrink was supposed to evaluate them, but
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: they clearly weren't fit for duty. I kept reanalyzing the
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: turbine damage, certain of foul play. But before I could
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: get any actual answers... I found Quinn. It was a
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: late shift. Most of the sailors had gone to sleep,
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: leaving only a skeleton crew to maintain the turbines. The
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: guy sleeping in the hot rack above me was snoring
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: like a banshee, keeping me awake. And this absolute certainty
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: that I'd missed something just wouldn't leave my mind. So,
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: I got up to check the turbines once more, hoping
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: to find an entirely different rack free when I returned.
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: It was darker than usual. Some of the lights had
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: gone out, another problem needing to be fixed. I didn't
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: even realize something was wrong until I slipped on something wet,
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: falling face first to the floor. Only when I stood
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: back up did I realize my arms were covered in blood.
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: I thought I'd been hurt, but I quickly realized that
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: it wasn't my blood. I followed the blood around the
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: turbines to find three marines with their throats slit and
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: their stomachs cut open. They'd clearly been lying there for
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: a few hours, something I could tell from the decomposing
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: stench they emitted. Then I found Quinn sitting in a corner.
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: His hands were covered in blood, but whether he'd been
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: the one to inflict the damage or tried to help them,
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: I didn't know at the time. Since he didn't exactly
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: seem hostile towards me, I didn't think to defend myself.
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: I'd just confirmed the men's deaths before tending to Quinn.
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: As I checked him over, he started whispering to me.
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: His words were incomprehensible at first, but he kept repeating
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: the same phrase over and over again. I've looked into
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: the heart of the void. I know where it'll lead us,
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: he said, almost rhythmically, as if he were in a trance.
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: Quinn was taken away, distressed, but unharmed. It would only
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: be upon closer inspection that we realized Quinn had had
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: been the one to murder his friends. He had slit
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: them open and bitten chunks out of their innards. He
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: had become a monster. Our mission should have ended there,
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: but by the time the next morning rolled around, the
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: room had been cleared out and Quinn was nowhere to
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: be found. Most of our crew never even realized what
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: had happened, besides noticing some of the other crew missing.
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: But since the captain had essentially blocked off the control
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: room to all save a few members of his elite,
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: people figured they'd been transferred. But I knew the truth.
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: Why didn't you tell anyone? Dr. Rikers asked, breaking me
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: free from my trance. I wanted to, I mumbled. The
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: XO pulled me aside after it happened, warned me not
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: to speak openly about what I'd seen. threatened me with
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: a reassignment once we finally resurfaced very vaguely of course
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: but we both knew what he meant still you're telling
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: me now he continued asking yeah I suppose I am
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: I couldn't quite explain the impulse I had to tell
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: Rikers the truth but my gut was ordering me to
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: do so as if I knew he could help us
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: I'm glad you trusted me he said and you're right
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: Something is happening to the crew aboard this submarine. We
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: have to convince the captain to resurface. He doesn't seem
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: exactly interested in talking to the crew, I said. He's
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: been locked in the control room with his team for
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: the past three days. If he refuses to listen, there
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: are other options, Riker started. But we're gonna, we need...
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: He was cut off by a loud, metallic clank reverberating
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: through the ship. as if the hull had suddenly caved
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: in from the enormous pressure outside. Did you hear that?
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: I asked. He nodded, not able to respond before the
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: all-too-familiar sound of a bursting pipe echoed through the vessel.
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: Alarms started blaring, calling all men to their posts. Stay here,
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: I ordered, as I jumped out of my seat and
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: rushed in the direction of the sound. On the way,
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: I ran into another LPO working maintenance on the torpedo tubes.
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: a younger man by the name of Thompson. He seemed
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: relieved to see me, practically begging me to come with him.
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: What the hell happened? I asked. I don't fucking know.
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: I've tried reaching the navigation crew in the cockpit. We're
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: not getting through on any comms. He explained. The captain
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: is in there with them. The burst pipe was located
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: at the main engine in the back of the submarine.
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: Should it suffer a significant amount of damage, we'd be
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: at the full mercy of the ocean's vast depths. Two
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: other crewmen joined us by the time we reached the
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: door to the engine room. It had been closed off,
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: and to our luck, it was locked. Where is everyone?
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: I asked, expecting at least a dozen men to aid us.
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: They should have been here already. Half my team has
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: been missing for two days already, locked away in the
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: fucking control room, Thompson explained. We finally were able to
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: pry the door open, allowing three feet of water to
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: flow into the rest of the submarine. Within the engine room,
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: We found four sailors just standing there, staring at the
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: burst pipes shooting out water. Hey, what are you doing?
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: Thompson asked, more confused than angry. But they didn't respond.
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: They just stood there and stared, waiting for the room
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: to fill up and drown them. Move them out of
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: the way! I ordered as I went to work on
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: the breach. The damage wasn't too extensive, but it couldn't
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: be fully repaired without resurfacing. Still, we managed to stop
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: the leak. which would at least buy us some time.
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: As the last drop of water emerged from the busted pipe,
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: I felt my ears pop. Only then did it dawn
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: on me what had caused the damage, and why a
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: group of our crew had locked themselves inside the cockpit
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: and control room. We're diving, I said. What? Thompson asked.
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: They're trying to drown the sub, I explained. There going
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: to keep descending until the submarine breaks under the pressure.
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: We have to get to the captain now. What about
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: these guys?' he asked, gesturing to the catatonic marines sitting
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: on the floor.' Tie them up. They might try to
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: hurt themselves or the ship. We can't take any risks.'
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: Thompson and I left the two functional men behind to
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: secure the catatonic marines, making sure nothing else damaged the
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: engine room while we went to find a way into
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: the cockpit. We're going to face resistance if we get in,
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: Thompson said. Split up. Gather all the men you can.
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: I'll do the same. Since Rikers had mentioned a way
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: to resurface even without the captain, I went to collect
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: him first. Whether he had a man inside the control
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: room or other means to break through didn't matter. If
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: we had a chance to escape, I'd take it. But
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: before I could reach the doctor, I found him running
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: in my direction, joined by four crewmen. Figured we could
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: use some help, he said. They all looked worn down
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: on the brink of collapse, but at least they weren't catatonic,
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: meaning they had some usefulness left in them. So, what's
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: the plan? I asked. I've been authorized by High Command
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: to abort the mission, given a psychological decompensation of the
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: crew on board. Worst case scenario, if the captain won't cooperate,
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: we'll initiate remote control of the vessel. How? I just
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: need to make contact with the surface, but I can
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: only do that from the control room. Let's get there then.
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: As we made our way towards the door, we could
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: feel the increase in pressure. While we were kept safe
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: from the excessive weight of the ocean outside, with each
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: foot descended into its depth, the hull of the submarine
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: would endure stress beyond its structural integrity. Within the next hour,
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: we'd be crushed to death. The doors to the control room,
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: sonar room, and cockpit had all been sealed off. Within it,
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: they gathered maybe 20 men, including the captain himself. Thompson
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: joined us, accompanied by the XO, who seemed equally as worried.
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: He'd been working alongside a group of men, trying to
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: use explosives to enter the control room. In his hands,
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: he held a modified warhead. Its damaging capabilities had been
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: greatly reduced, too weak to damage the hull, but enough
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: to blow the hinges off the door.' Stay back, I'll
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: plan it,' Thompson said.' Let' s not risk our XO's life.'
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: If the captain is incapacitated, we need a new leader.'
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: We went to another room and waited for Thompson's signal.
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: Within a minute, he had the bomb set up, primed it,
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: and ran back towards us. He threw himself into the
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: room just as we closed the door, feeling the pressure
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: of the explosion within. It was exceptionally loud, and despite
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: the door's protection, we still felt the heat. Black smoke
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: poured out as we opened the door, clearing quickly, but
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: leaving behind a misty atmosphere. Let's go, Thompson ordered. We
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: rushed through the smoke, barging into the control room. While
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: we were ready for a fight, we all prayed not
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: having to wound or kill the men that had been
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: our friends and brothers only days prior. Something had broken
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: their minds, but it didn't mean they couldn't be fixed.
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: But what we met inside were not men prepared to fight,
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: but a horrific nightmare to drive us nearer to the
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: brink of insanity. What in God's name have they done?
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: Wreckers asked. Before us lay the mutilated corpses of a
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: dozen sailors. each of them with their throats cut and
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: various wounds to their abdomens and chests. The entirety of
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: the floor had been painted red in blood, with chunks
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: of guts strewn across it. We were frozen by the sight,
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: but the creaking of the breaking hull quickly brought us
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: back to attention. A time for mourning would come, but
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: first we had to act. We have to get to
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: the cockpit, Thompson said. I'll stick with the dock, try
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: to regain contact with the surface, I said. Once again,
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: We split up into two groups. Thompson quickly led the
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: charge up into the cockpit alongside the XO and a
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: handful of Marines, while the rest of us took care
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: of the control room. But no sooner had we entered
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: before three gunshots shot through the silence. Dr. Rikers fell
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: to the ground clutching his leg, while another sailor fell
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: dead from a gunshot wound to his head. The rest
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: of us dove for cover, none of us having had
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: access to the gun locker. All the while, the shots continued,
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: shooting wildly around the room. Rikers, are you okay? I
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: screamed over the hail of gunfire. I'm not sure. There's
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: a lot of blood. He said in shock, even through
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: his clothing. I could tell they hit his femoral artery.
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: If we didn't get him help quickly, he'd be dead
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: in minutes. The sound of bullets was quickly replaced by
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: the repeated clicks of an empty mag, pummeling the room
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: into an awkward silence. With that, we stormed inside, quickly
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: pinning the deluded man to the ground. There were three
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: other marines sitting around the room with various, self-inflicted wounds.
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: While they were in no condition to fight back, their
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: presence sent shivers down my spine. The void is waning.
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: It's time to join this. Look into its eyes. They
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: mumbled silently. I turned back to Rikers, whose face had
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: gone pale. sitting in a pool of his own blood.
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: It was clear he wasn't going to make it, a
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: fact he himself knew. Come on, Doc. We gotta fix
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: you up. Seven, three, orange. He mumbled in response. Dawn, sunrise. What?
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: I command, tell them. He tried to say, but his
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: voice was fading quickly. Seven, three, orange. His voice faded
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: for the last time, before his eyes went blank. Hey,
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: come on! I yelled. Fuck! 7-3 Orange Dawn Sunrise, one
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: of the men repeated. I got it. Go check on
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: Thompson and the XO. We'll grieve later. I climbed into
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: the small cockpit to find Thompson standing over our XO's
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: dead body. He'd been stabbed in the chest, perfectly aimed
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: between his ribs. In one of the chairs next to
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: them sat the captain, catatonic with a stab wound to
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: his neck. Blood was pouring down his torso, but he
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: didn't even seem to register the pain. I tried to
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: help him, but despite my efforts, the man would be
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: dead within minutes. The fuckers damaged the controls. We're stuck
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: down here, Thompson said. We're initiating remote control. As long
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: as they can get the comms up, we'll be fine. Well,
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: they better hurry. We're approaching a thousand meters of depth.
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: This thing wasn't built for that kind of pressure. We
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: gathered the remaining crew in the control room as we
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: awaited our fates. Each minute represented another few meters closer
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: to the abyss of the ocean. And the closer we got,
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: the more likely a total collapse of the submarine's hull became.
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: Only two dozen men remained, the rest either catatonic, murdered,
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: or dead by self-inflicted wounds. Other than deal with the
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: hull breaches, there was little we could do as the
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: comms were repaired. Then, As I expected the pressure to
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: finally kill us, the radio came back to life with
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: a static noise. This is USS Haddle. We're requesting immediate assistance.
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: Please respond. The radio operator yelled into the radio. We
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: hear you loud and clear, USS Haddle. We're initiating remote control.
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: Code 73 Orange Dawn Sunrise. Copy that. Without further questioning,
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: the team on the surface took control of the sub.
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: I almost fell to the ground as it halted in
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: its dive. quickly reversing directions towards the surface. All we
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: could do while we waited was to gather the remaining
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: survivors and treat the wounded. But as we got closer
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: to the surface, I didn't feel relieved to be leaving.
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: I felt sad, homesick. I thought the feeling would vanish
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: as I got back home, but it never did. Even
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: after three months on land, I just kept longing for
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: the darkness of the ocean depths. dreaming of its embrace.
• 47:49
  Speaker 1: Only now do I understand what these marines had seen
• 47:52
  Speaker 1: and felt down in the darkness. It's not something I
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: can explain. It's something I have to show you. Lucky
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: for me, I'm scheduled to board another sub in just
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: a few weeks. One filled with men, ignorant to the
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: beauty of the abyss. I am looking forward to showing
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: them what the sea can offer. This is UNSC Saturn.
• 48:19
  Speaker 1: We are the last known capital class vessel traversing these oceans.
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: If you can hear this, you are not alone. Lawrence
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: spoke into the speaker for the thousandth time. He uttered
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: those words with such an undying sense of hope and wonder,
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: as if there still might be other survivors remaining in
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: the ocean. It's currently the 19th of September, 2392. I
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: am speaking to you from the communications center aboard this vessel.
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: We're holding 5,000 sleeping souls, all waiting for a time
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: we can finally resurface. If you are out there, if
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: you are struggling, we can help. We have food, we
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: have cryotubes, and we have a self-sustaining biome. Please, if
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: anyone can hear this, respond. The last statement sounded less optimistic,
• 49:10
  Speaker 1: and more like a cry for help. Lawrence was the
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: last member of our crew even bothering to provide daily,
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: custom messages with the actual date and messages. of hope.
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: The rest of the crew would record a message on
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: their first day awake and let it play on loop
• 49:25
  Speaker 1: as protocol dictated. But Lawrence was different. Despite spending the
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: past century in a stasis wake cycle, he still believed
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: other survivors existed out there in the ocean. I admire
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: what you do, you know. I said, as I watched
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: him turn the radio off. If you admire me so much,
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: why don't you send out a couple of these messages?
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: He said sarcastically. I'm just not as outgoing as you,
• 49:52
  Speaker 1: I joked. We sat silently in the dark halls of
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: the communication center. The lights were dimmed to save power,
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: only turning on at full strength a few hours a
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: day to mimic sunlight. Though the UNSC Saturn had the
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: nuclear power to run uninterrupted for at least 500 years,
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: we weren't sure that would be enough before having to refuel.
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: And refueling meant resurfacing. A dangerous feat, to say the least.
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: Want to send Nemo out for a ride? Lawrence asked.
• 50:24
  Speaker 1: We're not supposed to. You know what they'd do if
• 50:27
  Speaker 1: they found out. Nemo, or Nautical Excavation and Motility Operator,
• 50:33
  Speaker 1: was a half-sentient, unmanned submarine used to scan our surroundings
• 50:37
  Speaker 1: without any risk to the capital ship. It had the
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: capabilities of diving to the deepest pits of the Mariana Trench,
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: as well as surviving on the surface for hours at
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: a time. Where humans were never meant to tread, Nemo
• 50:51
  Speaker 1: could investigate, regularly checking the atmospheric quality, as well as
• 50:55
  Speaker 1: searching for remnants of nautical life. Who's gonna tell him?
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: Half the crew on duty still haven't woken up from stasis,
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: Lawrence argued. And the captain? I asked. He will check
• 51:06
  Speaker 1: the logs. Yeah, when he's scheduled to wake up in
• 51:10
  Speaker 1: 22 years. He had a point. Any mistakes we made
• 51:13
  Speaker 1: today would first be punished by the time the captain
• 51:17
  Speaker 1: had his next shift. And after 257 years on board,
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: Lawrence was yet to be reprimanded for the many rules
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: he'd broken. Fine. Two hours, I ordered. Lawrence's face lit
• 51:29
  Speaker 1: up like that of a child on Christmas Eve. He
• 51:32
  Speaker 1: regularly broke protocol to send Nemo to the surface, an
• 51:36
  Speaker 1: event technically only scheduled to occur once per decade. Lawrence
• 51:41
  Speaker 1: still insisted on checking the surface once per shift. We
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: walked the narrow, long corridors towards the hangar bay, which
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: remained empty for months at the time. Only maintenance crew
• 51:52
  Speaker 1: dropped by a couple of times per year to run diagnostics.
• 51:56
  Speaker 1: Its purpose was mainly to hold escape pods in case
• 51:59
  Speaker 1: of an evacuation. Ironically enough, if we survived the sinking
• 52:04
  Speaker 1: of Saturn, we'd die just as quickly once reaching the surface.
• 52:09
  Speaker 1: NEMO could theoretically hold up to two people, yet its
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: internal pressure resistance had yet to be tested. Not to
• 52:17
  Speaker 1: mention the fact that it had no means of keeping
• 52:19
  Speaker 1: us safe from the dangers on the surface. All right, buddy,
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: let's get you back into the waters, Lawrence told the
• 52:26
  Speaker 1: drone as if it were his pet. Make me proud.
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: We lowered it gently into the pool. allowing it to
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: navigate its way outside alone. Once there, it rapidly started
• 52:37
  Speaker 1: ascending from 10,000 feet below to the surface, a journey
• 52:42
  Speaker 1: that would take no more than 20 minutes. I don't
• 52:44
  Speaker 1: get it, Lawrence. Why do you always insist on checking
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: the world above? Doesn't it hurt? What do you mean?
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: I mean, it's a constant reminder of what we lost.
• 52:56
  Speaker 1: Why do you constantly keep reminding yourself? I ask. I
• 53:00
  Speaker 1: don't remind myself of what we lost. I just remind
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: myself of what we're fighting to get back, he explained.
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: Nemo sent a live feed from its cameras, displaying little
• 53:11
  Speaker 1: more than darkness in the abyss below. Even if we
• 53:15
  Speaker 1: turned its powerful lights on, we'd be met with little
• 53:18
  Speaker 1: more than a lifeless abyss. Only, once it breached 3,000 feet,
• 53:23
  Speaker 1: might we get lucky enough to see light from the surface.
• 53:27
  Speaker 1: I looked around the hangar, wondering if the escape pods
• 53:30
  Speaker 1: would be able to hold all 5,000 souls within Saturn. Lawrence,
• 53:34
  Speaker 1: on the other hand, was fixated on the screen, showing
• 53:38
  Speaker 1: nothing more than darkness. I knew he was looking for
• 53:41
  Speaker 1: signs of marine life, but we all knew there was
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: none to be found. Lawrence just hadn't accepted that fact yet.
• 53:49
  Speaker 1: Before long, Nemo had caught the first rays of broken sunshine,
• 53:54
  Speaker 1: penetrating the shallow parts of the ocean, and as always,
• 53:58
  Speaker 1: A look of wonder appeared on his face. Yet, all
• 54:02
  Speaker 1: we could see during the ascent were bubbles and refracted light.
• 54:06
  Speaker 1: Then it breached the surface, wobbling in the ocean before
• 54:10
  Speaker 1: finally producing a clear picture. I didn't care to look,
• 54:15
  Speaker 1: yet I felt obliged to do so. We were a
• 54:18
  Speaker 1: hundred nautical miles from the coast, meaning we were left
• 54:21
  Speaker 1: with little more than murky waters around us. The sky
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: above was pitch black. and the sun shined brightly. Without
• 54:29
  Speaker 1: an atmosphere, there was nothing left to refract the light,
• 54:32
  Speaker 1: leaving us absent the brilliance of a blue sky. See? Nothing.
• 54:39
  Speaker 1: I let out with a sigh. The world is dead.
• 54:43
  Speaker 1: Let Nemo do his job, Lawrence interjected. The vessel would
• 54:48
  Speaker 1: make readings of the atmosphere and measure the radiation levels
• 54:51
  Speaker 1: coming from the sun. Once the numbers started coming in,
• 54:55
  Speaker 1: Lawrence let out a chuckle. Would you look at that,
• 54:59
  Speaker 1: he said. Oxygen levels are rising. Carbon dioxide levels are dropping.
• 55:05
  Speaker 1: His last statement caught my attention. For the past two centuries,
• 55:09
  Speaker 1: not once had our vessels detected a change in oxygen levels.
• 55:14
  Speaker 1: It wouldn't just spontaneously produce itself, which meant a living
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: organism had survived the extinction event. Check the numbers again,
• 55:22
  Speaker 1: I demanded. It's not a glitch. We've got oxygen. He
• 55:27
  Speaker 1: was right. The oxygen levels had risen by 0.1%, which
• 55:32
  Speaker 1: wasn't anywhere near enough to sustain human life. But it
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: was a start. We practically jumped from our seats, embracing
• 55:39
  Speaker 1: each other in joy and shock from our discovery. I
• 55:42
  Speaker 1: told you! Lawrence insisted. His undying high spirits had just
• 55:47
  Speaker 1: been confirmed, which would turn him into an insufferable optimist.
• 55:51
  Speaker 1: But I couldn't help but smile. It was a day
• 55:54
  Speaker 1: to celebrate, if only the rest of the crew had
• 55:57
  Speaker 1: been awake to share in the good news. All right,
• 56:00
  Speaker 1: bring Nemo back down. This time, Lawrence was more than
• 56:04
  Speaker 1: happy to oblige. As the drone made its descent, we
• 56:08
  Speaker 1: couldn't help but ramble about what could have possibly produced
• 56:11
  Speaker 1: such vast amounts of oxygen. But our celebrations were cut
• 56:15
  Speaker 1: short as Nemo once again reached the depths of the
• 56:18
  Speaker 1: Midnight Zone and turned on its lights. Did you just
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: do that? I asked. Lawrence shook his head. Nemo had
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: some autonomy over its own decisions, but turning on the
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: light was one decision that could only be made in
• 56:32
  Speaker 1: the presence of movement in the depths. Short of debris
• 56:36
  Speaker 1: sinking towards the abyss, we'd not once detected any sort
• 56:40
  Speaker 1: of movement. Yet there it was. We glued our eyes
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: to the screen, looking for any sign of movement.' What
• 56:47
  Speaker 1: is that?' I asked as I noticed tiny dots lighting
• 56:51
  Speaker 1: up in the distance. The drone moved closer to the movement.
• 56:55
  Speaker 1: One dot turned to two, then three. Before long, a
• 57:00
  Speaker 1: thousand blue lights lit up all around it. At first
• 57:03
  Speaker 1: they appeared as long seaweed covered in illuminating blisters. But
• 57:08
  Speaker 1: once we got closer, we noticed limbs, legs, eyes, and teeth.
• 57:13
  Speaker 1: There were bulges within the plants holding humanoid shapes. And
• 57:16
  Speaker 1: the more we inspected the extremities, the more we realized
• 57:20
  Speaker 1: that they were human parts. Shock put me on autopilot.
• 57:24
  Speaker 1: I got up and picked up a radio. What are
• 57:27
  Speaker 1: you doing? Lawrence asked. I'm alerting a crisis team. I explained. No, wait.
• 57:33
  Speaker 1: We need to bring one of them down to us
• 57:34
  Speaker 1: with the drone. It could change everything. Are you insane?
• 57:39
  Speaker 1: Bringing organic matter on board without alerting a senior officer?
• 57:43
  Speaker 1: I am calling the team. Each crisis team was manned
• 57:46
  Speaker 1: by an executive officer. Two section chiefs with five LPOs each.
• 57:52
  Speaker 1: They were resting in specialized, albeit risky cryopods, able to
• 57:57
  Speaker 1: wake and respond within an hour. I typed in the code,
• 58:00
  Speaker 1: which caused a soft alarm to echo throughout the hangar bay.
• 58:04
  Speaker 1: We'll bring them on board only when we've alerted the XO. Fine,
• 58:10
  Speaker 1: Lawrence said, clearly disappointed. We spent the next hour just
• 58:14
  Speaker 1: staring at the bizarre beings. We counted two to five
• 58:18
  Speaker 1: humanoid shapes within each plant, all seemingly asleep. I couldn't
• 58:23
  Speaker 1: decide whether they were a strange step in evolution, or
• 58:26
  Speaker 1: if the plants had consumed the corpses of dead sailors.
• 58:30
  Speaker 1: But before we had time to contemplate, a team of
• 58:33
  Speaker 1: armed men, accompanied by the executive officer, Ramirez, rushed into
• 58:38
  Speaker 1: the hangar. Once the area had been secured, the XO
• 58:41
  Speaker 1: approached us with a stern look on his face.' You
• 58:44
  Speaker 1: mind telling me why the hell you brought us out
• 58:46
  Speaker 1: of stasis?' he asked.' We found something,' Lawrence just said
• 58:50
  Speaker 1: as he gestured towards the screen. You sent out the
• 58:53
  Speaker 1: drone outside of a scheduled mission? Ramirez asked, his eyes
• 58:57
  Speaker 1: filling with rage. You can court-martial me later. Look at
• 59:00
  Speaker 1: the screen. As soon as he laid eyes upon the
• 59:03
  Speaker 1: grotesque sight, his look turned to one of shock, then confusion,
• 59:08
  Speaker 1: and finally fear. Is that what I think it is?
• 59:12
  Speaker 1: He asked. We could only nod in agreement. It wasn't
• 59:16
  Speaker 1: something we could explain, nor could we state with absolute
• 59:20
  Speaker 1: certainty that it was a positive discovery. Something about the
• 59:24
  Speaker 1: creatures felt off, as if the best course of action
• 59:28
  Speaker 1: would be to turn around and never question what we'd seen.
• 59:32
  Speaker 1: But protocol was clear. Any evidence of biological life must
• 59:36
  Speaker 1: be explored by a senior officer. Cut two of them down.
• 59:40
  Speaker 1: Bring them inside. Contained, Ramirez ordered. While the orders worried me,
• 59:46
  Speaker 1: Lawrence seemed ecstatic. He set to work, allowing Nemo to
• 59:51
  Speaker 1: detach two of the humanoids, storing them within its own body.
• 59:55
  Speaker 1: Once safely contained, the drone continued its descent quickly reaching
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 1: the hangar. Once inside, a group of men in hazmat
• 1:00:04
  Speaker 1: suits approached the drone for extraction, carefully moving the organic
• 1:00:08
  Speaker 1: matter into a sealed transport capsule. From there, we were
• 1:00:13
  Speaker 1: heading straight for the laboratories. We remained in the observational
• 1:00:17
  Speaker 1: area behind protective glass as the biologists went to work
• 1:00:21
  Speaker 1: on the discovery. One of the humanoids would be dissected immediately.
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 1: while the other would be frozen for safekeeping. Dr. Liebgott
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 1: would lead the autopsy, a man old enough to remember
• 1:00:33
  Speaker 1: life on a living planet. His experience in marine biology
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 1: stood unmatched. He swiftly went to work without asking too
• 1:00:41
  Speaker 1: many questions. He seemed just as excited as Lawrence, as
• 1:00:45
  Speaker 1: he cut through the seaweed-like skin, revealing green, hard muscle
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 1: fibers below. While it looked human, it had been integrated
• 1:00:53
  Speaker 1: into the plant, only... Once he'd cut open what we
• 1:00:56
  Speaker 1: presumed to be the chest cavity, did he stop to
• 1:00:59
  Speaker 1: admire the creature? Bizarre, he mumbled. No lungs, no heart.
• 1:01:05
  Speaker 1: It's just filled with the same fibers it has on
• 1:01:07
  Speaker 1: the outside. Keep going, Ramirez insisted. Before Liebgott could cut
• 1:01:14
  Speaker 1: any deeper, the body twitched ever so slightly. Did you
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 1: see that? Liebgott asked. Then one of the eyes of
• 1:01:21
  Speaker 1: the humanoid shot open, darting around the room in a panic.
• 1:01:25
  Speaker 1: It's alive, Lawrence mumbled, almost gleefully. We better. Liebgott tried
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 1: to get out, but before he had the chance to react,
• 1:01:33
  Speaker 1: the body started squirming violently around. Some of the cut
• 1:01:37
  Speaker 1: fibers shot up like tendrils, wrapping themselves around Liebgott's arm.
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 1: His assistants tried to help him, but ended up entangled
• 1:01:45
  Speaker 1: in the mess themselves. They screamed as the tendons snapped
• 1:01:48
  Speaker 1: their arms and legs, pulling hard enough to tear through
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 1: veins and arteries. The entire autopsy team had gotten entangled
• 1:01:55
  Speaker 1: in the mess, their blood mixing with the fibers, which
• 1:01:59
  Speaker 1: appeared to feed on the broken flesh. But rather than
• 1:02:02
  Speaker 1: helping the dying scientists, Ramirez ordered his team to seal
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 1: off the lab. Put the section on lockdown. Alert the
• 1:02:09
  Speaker 1: team dealing with the second subject. We need to get
• 1:02:11
  Speaker 1: rid of it. Without questioning orders, the LPOs locked the
• 1:02:16
  Speaker 1: laboratory down. I would have been upset. if not for
• 1:02:19
  Speaker 1: the fact that the entire autopsy team had been killed
• 1:02:22
  Speaker 1: by the time Ramirez even had the chance to finish
• 1:02:25
  Speaker 1: uttering his orders. But even with the labs secured, there
• 1:02:29
  Speaker 1: was a second monstrosity about to be stored. I can't
• 1:02:32
  Speaker 1: get a hold of them, one of the sailors said.
• 1:02:35
  Speaker 1: Then get to their position and assist them, and maintain
• 1:02:38
  Speaker 1: radio contact, Ramirez said firmly. The creature inside the lab
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 1: had grown to three times its size. with tendrils of
• 1:02:46
  Speaker 1: green fibers stretching up the walls, prying at the ventilation shafts.
• 1:02:52
  Speaker 1: Though they were a dead end, it proved that the
• 1:02:54
  Speaker 1: creature had some sort of intelligence, enough to seek out
• 1:02:58
  Speaker 1: an escape route. We decided to sterilize the lab with
• 1:03:02
  Speaker 1: gamma radiation, killing any biological lifeforms inside. But before we'd
• 1:03:07
  Speaker 1: get the chance to initiate the protocol, the radio sounded.
• 1:03:11
  Speaker 1: The LPO sent to investigate the second team called back
• 1:03:14
  Speaker 1: in a panic, He let out in a shock. It
• 1:03:18
  Speaker 1: ripped them apart. I don't know where it went. I need...
• 1:03:22
  Speaker 1: A short yelp followed by silence. Another man killed by
• 1:03:25
  Speaker 1: whatever we'd willingly brought on board. Lawrence, sterilize the room.
• 1:03:29
  Speaker 1: Kill that thing. It might be trapped now, but it's
• 1:03:32
  Speaker 1: only a matter of time before it figures a way
• 1:03:34
  Speaker 1: to get out. Ramirez said. The rest of you, follow me.
• 1:03:38
  Speaker 1: We're taking this son of a bitch out. I grabbed
• 1:03:41
  Speaker 1: a rifle and followed his lead. Not even sure if
• 1:03:44
  Speaker 1: ballistic weapons could take the creature out, We did have
• 1:03:47
  Speaker 1: more powerful weapons stored, but using anything stronger than primitive
• 1:03:50
  Speaker 1: ballistic weapons might damage the hull. Hence, they were forbidden.
• 1:03:56
  Speaker 1: We rushed towards the last known location of the dead LPO.
• 1:04:00
  Speaker 1: The team responsible for bringing the creature to the biological
• 1:04:03
  Speaker 1: holding facility never made it there. A fact easily proven
• 1:04:07
  Speaker 1: as we came across pools of blood. The creature, on
• 1:04:11
  Speaker 1: the other hand, was nowhere to be found. We'd locked
• 1:04:15
  Speaker 1: down the section, which meant it couldn't have accessed any
• 1:04:18
  Speaker 1: larger section of the ship. Track any movement within the sector,
• 1:04:22
  Speaker 1: Ramirez said. Each sector was equipped with a security station
• 1:04:26
  Speaker 1: from which we could measure any movement and lock down
• 1:04:29
  Speaker 1: individual rooms or halls. Once there, I sat down to
• 1:04:33
  Speaker 1: check for any signs of life, but apart from us
• 1:04:37
  Speaker 1: and Lawrence still at the laboratories, the section was clear.
• 1:04:41
  Speaker 1: Where the hell is it? Ramirez asked. An alarm sounded
• 1:04:45
  Speaker 1: with a critical warning message popping up on her screen. Warning,
• 1:04:49
  Speaker 1: cryopod failure. All technicians report to the cryo bay immediately.
• 1:04:53
  Speaker 1: It hit me then that we'd locked down the sector
• 1:04:56
  Speaker 1: too late. The creature had already made its way deeper
• 1:04:59
  Speaker 1: into the ship by the time we'd sealed everything off.
• 1:05:02
  Speaker 1: It had reached the cryo bay, which meant it had
• 1:05:05
  Speaker 1: thousands of victims to feast on. Oh god, we're too late,
• 1:05:10
  Speaker 1: was all I could utter. We need to go to
• 1:05:12
  Speaker 1: the armory. We need better weapons, Ramirez said. And sink
• 1:05:16
  Speaker 1: the sub? I interjected. Either we kill that thing with
• 1:05:20
  Speaker 1: any means necessary, or we lose every single person on
• 1:05:23
  Speaker 1: board this vessel. We are beyond protocol, and that is
• 1:05:26
  Speaker 1: an order. He was right. We either died being consumed
• 1:05:30
  Speaker 1: by that monstrosity, or risked drowning ourselves. But only one
• 1:05:35
  Speaker 1: of these options gave us a sliver of hope. I
• 1:05:38
  Speaker 1: decided to call Lawrence to give him a heads up. Lawrence,
• 1:05:41
  Speaker 1: can you hear me? I asked over the radio. I'm sorry.
• 1:05:45
  Speaker 1: He mumbled back. What do you mean? What's going on?
• 1:05:48
  Speaker 1: I couldn't kill it. I just couldn't. It got out.
• 1:05:52
  Speaker 1: In the background, I could hear the distinct sound of
• 1:05:55
  Speaker 1: flesh being torn apart. Lawrence, are you hurt? It got me,
• 1:06:00
  Speaker 1: he said, his voice getting weaker with each uttered word. No, no, no,
• 1:06:04
  Speaker 1: come on, fight back! I yelled back. Silence. Lawrence was dead.
• 1:06:11
  Speaker 1: A fact I didn't need to confirm. But if that
• 1:06:14
  Speaker 1: thing had escaped the lab, we had no direct path
• 1:06:17
  Speaker 1: to the armory. I rushed to alert Ramirez, but by
• 1:06:22
  Speaker 1: the time I reached him, I heard gunshots echo through
• 1:06:24
  Speaker 1: the halls. There it is! One of the sailors yelled.
• 1:06:28
  Speaker 1: The bullets shredded through the aquatic flesh, but did little
• 1:06:31
  Speaker 1: to slow the creature down. It jumped from marine to marine,
• 1:06:35
  Speaker 1: cutting them down with little effort. Someone called for a retreat,
• 1:06:39
  Speaker 1: but in the chaos, I couldn't figure out who it was.
• 1:06:42
  Speaker 1: I kept firing as I ran for my life, leaving
• 1:06:45
  Speaker 1: the fallen to fend for themselves. Ramirez took up a
• 1:06:49
  Speaker 1: defensive position outside the communication station, covering for me as
• 1:06:53
  Speaker 1: I ran inside. As he tried to enter himself, the
• 1:06:57
  Speaker 1: creature grabbed onto him. I took his hands and tried
• 1:07:00
  Speaker 1: to pull him free, but the creature swiftly gutted him.
• 1:07:03
  Speaker 1: Let me go. Save yourself. He coughed up as his
• 1:07:07
  Speaker 1: lungs filled with blood. He shoved himself free, grabbing onto
• 1:07:10
  Speaker 1: a pistol, firing off a few rounds as he was
• 1:07:13
  Speaker 1: dragged away. I sealed the door, knowing it would slow
• 1:07:17
  Speaker 1: it down at best. Only when I dared to slow
• 1:07:20
  Speaker 1: down did I realize a large chunk of my leg
• 1:07:23
  Speaker 1: was missing. I was bleeding out, slowly but certainly. Like
• 1:07:28
  Speaker 1: the rest of the crew, I would be dead within
• 1:07:30
  Speaker 1: the hour. So here I am, trapped in the darkness
• 1:07:34
  Speaker 1: of the communication station, sending out a custom message like
• 1:07:38
  Speaker 1: Lawrence always did. Unfortunately, this message is not one of
• 1:07:43
  Speaker 1: hope and salvation. You will find no sanctuary here, no safety,
• 1:07:48
  Speaker 1: no chance for survival. No. This is a warning to
• 1:07:51
  Speaker 1: stay away. If you detect the UNSC Saturn in the
• 1:07:55
  Speaker 1: depths of the ocean, don't try to help us. Don't
• 1:07:59
  Speaker 1: scavenge for supplies. If you see us, turn around and leave.
• 1:08:03
  Speaker 1: Don't let the infestation spread. This will be my last transmission.
• 1:08:08
  Speaker 1: Current date is 20th of September, 2392. May God have
• 1:08:13
  Speaker 1: mercy on you all. Thanks for watching. Be sure to
• 1:08:18
  Speaker 1: subscribe and smash that like button to get notified every
• 1:08:20
  Speaker 1: time I upload a new video. You can also check
• 1:08:23
  Speaker 1: out some more of my animated horror stories right here.