As Above, So Below
- Location
- SEAsia
- Pronouns
- Thou
As Above, So Below
You had your own expectations for the dive. An imagining of of the sights and sounds you would witness and an anticipation of the emotions you'd expected to feel. And yet, you'd honestly forgotten just how loud and jarring Iron Tiger engines could be. The secondhand vibrations themselves disturbing the once-peaceful layer of dirt and silt that had settled onto the cavern floor.
Despite it all, your surroundings do not disappoint.
The cavernous, natural chamber you find yourself in is just large enough that the lights cannot pierced through them to reveal the solid walls you know to be there. If anything, the roiling clouds of disturbed particulate matter only serve to enhance the murky gloom, and your imagination tries to fill in the unseen with hidden dangers or unknown lifeforms just waiting out of sight. It is this irrational spike of primordial fear that drives you to check the newly installed gauges and meters, making sure that the modified seals hold and pressure remains within acceptable margins.
Reassured of the cockpit's structural integrity, and your safety, you squint behind the small porthole in front of you and into darkness ahead as your limbs find the controls. Slowly, the mecha rumbles forward. Slowly. Surely.
Even without looking at the map attached to the left of your console, you remember clearly the small circuitous route you need to take. A short jog around the cavern, to test maneuverability and control responsiveness in such an environment wholly different from dry land. Your short dive is the first manned test, the first of many more, should results prove positive. To ensure your safety should things go wrong, you'd even been equipped with diving gear and enough oxygen to get you to the surface with time to spare.
You had taken no more than 3 careful steps when you hear a muffled series of prolonged cracks echo through the small space in the cockpit.
Water is a good conductor of sound. The researchers and engineers who accompanied you to this dive, and who'd been responsible for initiating this series of tests had touted it as a feature they thought would be quite useful in an aquatically submerged environment. It would, they say, help somewhat with environmental awareness.
You also remembered that the cavern they'd chosen had been a slapdash affair of a mining expedition. Rushed to quickly exploit what few precious metals Guangchou had to offer, in a time when the world found itself aflame amidst a second great war. A mining mission done so carelessly, with no proper surveying beyond finding out if there was a deposit worth mining. And as such, the expedition had been unaware of how close said deposit was to an underground lake; one that could be… unleashed, if one dug deep enough. And they did.
It is also worth noting that the very special alloy the Iron Tigers were currently using for their hull and armor could also transmit sound quite easily.
As such, you were… environmentally aware… of the skeletal remains of drowned miners and staff as what little remained of their bones cracked and crumbled to join the dust swirling around you.
Deciding it would be better to concentrate on your mission, not least of which was for the sake of your mental well-being, you carefully monitor your console's various meters and data while paying attention for any signs of leaks of liquids or gases that the engineers had advised you to watch out for. Needless to say, you also made sure to mind your pathing. It was definitely a desire to conserve as much fuel and time as possible that you made sure to find the most efficient circular route possible.
Definitely not because you wanted to get our of there fast.
As you reached the general area of your starting point, you waste no time flicking the switch to the prototype signal transmitter built into the cockpit. With the envisioned environmental parameters as they were, it was decided that testing more powerful, and compact, communications equipment that could reach as deeply as possible underwater was required. Upon failure, a flare could instead be deployed from a modified rocket launcher attached to the Iron Tiger's structure.
As you wait for recovery, you can't help but look back into the dark gloom. The earlier spike of dread had slowly been replaced but a slowly suffusing melancholy, a feeling of sadness for the nameless souls that had met their demise down here in the dark. You had heard of the glorious tales of those who had fought and sacrificed their lives during the last great war. In fact, these series of tests had been done in preparation of presenting a proposal for a specialized variant, or at least modification, of the Iron Tiger frame specifically for retrieving the nation's lost naval vessels.
You can't help but imagine what would be found then. Fallen sailors still manning their stations. Lost souls in their final moments as the sea rose to claim them. Or perhaps discarded clothes and accessories lying about with their owners long gone due to the passage of time or the predations of aquatic flora and fauna. And yet those souls would be remembered. Speeches would be given in their honor. Monuments and edifices raised bearing their deeds and names.
But not these poor souls.
Soon enough, the recovery team arrives, accompanying the harness of hooks and winch designed to pull up the Iron Tiger. With a quick, practiced ease, you feel the mecha rising through the water, the team holding onto external grips on the IT frame. You had been concerned with the mecha's weight and whether a crane compact enough to fit into caverns could pull it up, but the engineers assured you that the crane and winch itself were modified from a mix of laufpanzer and Iron Tiger components. The crane arm itself was made largely from the Iron Tiger's leg assembly.
Eventually, you begin to see light beyond the porthole, signaling that you were nearing the surface. Despite that, you find your thoughts wandering back down to the depths. Briefly, while doing your circuit, you'd considered asking to switch with one of the backup pilots, unwilling to do any more dives. You find, however, that your reluctance had passed along with the brief bout of fear.
So much has changed in just a few decades. Suffering had slowly given way to prosperity and bounty. Many of the Great Leader's promises had been fulfilled, and more was yet to come. Despite that, there was still much uncertainty yet, for the future, for their neighbors. The New Dream may yet tear open new wounds.
And yet, so what?
You knew there would always be a price to pay. Everyone did. The souls in the depths did, too, no doubt. Perhaps not all were willing, perhaps many of those sacrificed were forced to. Perhaps they suffered as brutally as when they drowned in utter darkness. But it is a truth you must accept and endure, now as it was then, because it is worth it.
Because, here you are, a piece of Guangchou, alive and free.
…….
…..
…
The surface team greets you, bathed in the floodlights surrounding the dry cavern. The test, they tell you, was definitely a success. That you are alive and well, and dry, was proof enough of that. You are then told that wearing the diving gear would still be necessary for the subsequent tests, just to be safe and whatnot. In addition, they'd need to do thorough checks on the Iron Tiger and its systems, to make sure there were no damages or flaws from the dive. Meanwhile, the medical team checks on you.
Still, it doesn't take long for you to head back into the cockpit. The engineer helping you strap in helpfully briefs you once more on the next series of maneuvers and tasks you would be doing while submerged. It was unneeded, though, your mind felt clearer since coming up from the first dive, and you remember clearly your next tasks.
Perhaps it was the look in your eye, or the expression on your face, but the engineer asks you again, hesitantly, if you're sure about this, going back in. They all knew the sunken mine's history. It had only been chosen due to the close proximity to the Mingxiang commune and the absolute need for secrecy. Obviously, the mine's reputation for being cursed also served to ward off unwanted guests. That said, you nodded, you're going back in. Yes, you were sure.
And you were.
The clarity in your thoughts remained as the abyss welcomed you back. There was no fear left as the crane slowly lowered you. All that was left was the words you heard from the man in the television. These souls in the dark, they worked, and died, so they could live. So their families could live. So would you had things been slightly different. But that had changed. Guangchou had changed.
Like the Great Leader said, now… now you were working to thrive. For Guangchou to thrive.
And that… that made all the difference.
Note: Bleergh. Somehow the hardest parts to write are the beginnings and the endings. I was gonna end this humorously with the mc saying there were no leaks save for the one in his pants, but then it turned all serious in the end. Also, I want to say I meant it to be first person and vague so you, the reader, can pretend you're a citizen of guangchou piloting a Sea Tiger (working name) but honestly I was just too lazy to think up a name. As for the ending, if you think it sucks, blame @HeroCooky. He wrote Jungmin's speech. 👀
