1 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:06,120 Speaker 1: As a former Navy EOD diver and demolition specialist, when 2 00:00:06,120 --> 00:00:09,320 there's a specific job for ordnance disposal and one of 3 00:00:09,359 --> 00:00:13,599 a handful of people called on. Fourteen years in the service, 4 00:00:14,039 --> 00:00:17,480 mostly underwater clearance and ordnance disposal in the Gulf and 5 00:00:17,519 --> 00:00:20,760 the Horn of Africa, I got out after a bad 6 00:00:20,879 --> 00:00:23,800 dive that took two of my teammates and left me 7 00:00:23,879 --> 00:00:28,000 with nightmares that still wake me tasting salt water and diesel. 8 00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:34,640 These days, I take private clearance contracts, ugly isolated jobs 9 00:00:34,920 --> 00:00:38,159 that most people won't touch, the kind where they send 10 00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:42,119 one man because it's cheaper than sending a team. I've 11 00:00:42,119 --> 00:00:45,920 been doing it for three years now, telling myself it's temporary. 12 00:00:47,439 --> 00:00:51,399 The contract came from a European preservation foundation working with 13 00:00:51,479 --> 00:00:56,479 the Estonian government. An abandoned eighteenth century monastery on the 14 00:00:56,479 --> 00:00:59,920 Baltic coast of the Soviets turned into a coastal defense 15 00:01:00,079 --> 00:01:03,920 bunker during the Cold War. Half the structure is flooded, 16 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:08,400 now slowly sinking back into the sea. My job was 17 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:13,120 straightforward on paper. Complete the final inventory of all remaining 18 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:17,239 equipment and hazardous materials, conduct a structural assessment of the 19 00:01:17,239 --> 00:01:21,239 flooded levels, and carry out controlled demolition of the critical 20 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:26,599 unstable sections so the site can be declared condemned. Ten 21 00:01:26,719 --> 00:01:30,640 days alone on a remote half submerged rock, with nothing 22 00:01:30,680 --> 00:01:34,280 but stone, sea water and my own head for company. 23 00:01:35,879 --> 00:01:41,200 After this, I was done one more job, and I'd 24 00:01:41,239 --> 00:01:45,000 retire unhappily to figure out how to live the rest 25 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:50,000 of my days. The supply boat's engine cut out with 26 00:01:50,079 --> 00:01:54,040 a catural cough, leaving only the slap of cold Baltic 27 00:01:54,079 --> 00:01:58,000 water against the concrete dock. I stepped off onto the 28 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:01,599 slick surface, boots, skidding slightly on a film of salt 29 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:05,599 and algae. The sky hung low and bruised, and the 30 00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:08,199 winds slie straight through my jacket like it had been 31 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:12,120 waiting for me. I hauled the heavy gear bags onto 32 00:02:12,159 --> 00:02:16,360 the landing one by one, the straps cutting into my shoulders. 33 00:02:17,039 --> 00:02:21,120 Ahead of me rose the half submerged monastery bunker complex, 34 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:26,159 rotting Gothic arches fused brutally with Soviet era blast doors, 35 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:31,240 freighted frescoes of saints peeling away under thick crusts of barnacles. 36 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:37,319 Seawater lid lazily at the lower steps, Patient, almost affectionate. 37 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:45,120 This was it, my last clearance, contract catalog, every flooded level, seal, 38 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:50,400 the critical breeches, demolition. No more of this hell, waking 39 00:02:50,520 --> 00:02:53,520 up in strange places, with my heart trying to punch 40 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:57,120 its way out of my ribs. My hands shook slightly 41 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:00,280 as I signed the handover papers. The boat captain trust 42 00:03:00,319 --> 00:03:04,759 at me. Out beyond the dark. The waves kept rolling in, 43 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:09,280 and for a second they sounded exactly like rotor blades 44 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:13,560 churning through the gulf night. I clenched my jaw until 45 00:03:13,599 --> 00:03:17,800 the memory retreated. The weight of my chest settled in 46 00:03:17,879 --> 00:03:21,080 like an old friend. I never asked a visit. It 47 00:03:21,159 --> 00:03:25,680 felt exactly like every other job I'd pushed through. I 48 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:29,439 dragged the last crate into the upper cloister, muscles burning. 49 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:34,560 The portable generator coughed once twice, then rattled to life 50 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:39,080 with a steady, mechanical hum. I moved methodically through the 51 00:03:39,159 --> 00:03:43,840 dryer upper floor, checklists clipped to my forearm, flashlight cutting 52 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:47,800 sharp white tunnels through the gloom. The air was thick 53 00:03:47,879 --> 00:03:53,120 with the smell of mildew and something fainter underneath, old incense, maybe, 54 00:03:53,759 --> 00:03:56,719 or just the ghost of centuries of prayer soaked into 55 00:03:56,759 --> 00:04:01,080 the stone. My boots echoed too loud, no matter how 56 00:04:01,159 --> 00:04:05,879 softly I tried to step. I noticed structural cracks running 57 00:04:05,919 --> 00:04:09,800 like lightning through the vaulted ceilings. I logged the rusted 58 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:14,199 remains of Soviet equipment, still bolted to the walls, whole 59 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:19,040 junction boxes, stripped wiring, a faded red star half peeled away, 60 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:24,800 all of it going to the demolition team's inventory standard procedure. 61 00:04:26,759 --> 00:04:30,120 My own breathing sounded obscenely loud in the empty corridors, 62 00:04:30,639 --> 00:04:35,680 each in hal scraping against the silence. In one particularly 63 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:41,279 flooded stairwell, the water sat perfectly still, black as obsidian glass. 64 00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:44,959 Even though the tide outside should have been pushing and pulling. 65 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:50,079 There were no ripples or movement, just that flat reflective 66 00:04:50,199 --> 00:04:54,519 surface staring back at me. I wrote it down anyway, 67 00:04:55,720 --> 00:05:01,439 sheltered micro event, no visible current. Pens scratched loudly against 68 00:05:01,439 --> 00:05:06,560 the waterproof paper. I kept walking, but the stillness followed me, 69 00:05:06,759 --> 00:05:14,759 like a held breath patient, unblinking, pressing gently against my spine. 70 00:05:15,279 --> 00:05:17,839 I set up camp in the old Monk's quarters above 71 00:05:17,879 --> 00:05:20,839 the waterline, the same way I had done a hundred 72 00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:25,959 times before in worse places. Every external door got checked 73 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:30,319 and double checked out of pure habit. The portable generator 74 00:05:30,439 --> 00:05:33,839 rattled to life in the corner, its steady mechanical hum 75 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:37,160 filling the stone room like a heartbeat I could control. 76 00:05:38,319 --> 00:05:40,800 I swallowed my meds with a swig of lukewarm water 77 00:05:40,879 --> 00:05:44,319 from my canteen, the pills catching slightly in my throat. 78 00:05:45,439 --> 00:05:48,959 Then I lay down on a thin camp mattress, staring 79 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:52,319 at the cracked vaulted ceiling, forcing my mind away from 80 00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:54,839 the gulf dive that still played on loop. When the 81 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:59,959 lights went out, the cold water rushing in two voices 82 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:04,279 that went quiet too fast. I clenched my jaw and 83 00:06:04,319 --> 00:06:10,680 pushed the memory back into its box. Not tonight. Sleep 84 00:06:10,839 --> 00:06:15,680 came in shallow fits. Around two AM. I jolted awake, 85 00:06:16,279 --> 00:06:20,959 heart already racing before my eyes even opened. The generator 86 00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:24,519 was still humming, but something else was in the room 87 00:06:24,560 --> 00:06:31,720 with me, very low, deliberate, dripping. Two drops paws, another 88 00:06:31,759 --> 00:06:37,240 two drops pause. I sat up, fast, sweeping the flashlight 89 00:06:37,279 --> 00:06:40,560 beam across the walls and floor. There were no wet 90 00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:44,000 patches on the stone, but the sound kept going anyway, 91 00:06:44,439 --> 00:06:48,319 steady and patient. It felt like it was matching up 92 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:51,519 my heart beat, rising as I tried to focus on 93 00:06:51,639 --> 00:06:54,600 hearing it falling. As I tried putting it out of 94 00:06:54,639 --> 00:06:59,480 my mind. I lay rigid in the sleeping bag, breath shallow, 95 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:02,839 whispering under my breath like a prayer. I didn't believe in, 96 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:08,279 just the old pipe settling the building, breathing nothing more. 97 00:07:10,360 --> 00:07:14,040 The quiet after each drop felt heavier than any combat 98 00:07:14,079 --> 00:07:18,160 silence I'd ever known, like the entire monastery was listening 99 00:07:18,519 --> 00:07:23,000 to see what I would do. Next morning came cold, 100 00:07:23,480 --> 00:07:26,600 I geared up for the mid level bunkers anyway, checking 101 00:07:26,639 --> 00:07:30,439 my flashlight and camera twice, telling myself this was still 102 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:36,720 just the job, just another checklist. I began the systematic 103 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:40,199 inventory of the mid level bunkers just after first light, 104 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:45,439 boots echoing down the long stone corridors. My camera clicked 105 00:07:45,439 --> 00:07:49,720 steadily as I photographed rusted Soviet machinery and faded to 106 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:54,680 villag warning signs. Everything going into the report before demolition. 107 00:07:56,240 --> 00:07:59,680 The barnacles were the first thing that I felt wrong. They 108 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:03,160 grew across the lower sections of the walls in unnervingly 109 00:08:03,399 --> 00:08:09,160 perfect geometric patterns, tight spirals and interlocking angles that looked 110 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:13,759 more like deliberate architecture than anything the sea should have made. 111 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:16,560 I tried to ignore them and stay on the checklist, 112 00:08:17,439 --> 00:08:22,519 but my eyes kept drifting back. While kneeling to measure 113 00:08:22,519 --> 00:08:28,639 a hairline crack near the water line, something happened. A cold, 114 00:08:28,879 --> 00:08:33,600 smooth sensation like heavy wet fabric rushed slowly across my 115 00:08:33,639 --> 00:08:36,840 gloved fingers, just under the surface of the shallow pool. 116 00:08:38,039 --> 00:08:42,759 It lingered for half a second, almost curious, Then withdrew, 117 00:08:44,480 --> 00:08:47,840 I yanked my hand back so hard I nearly lost balance, 118 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:52,399 heart hammering against my ribs like it wanted out. The 119 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:58,080 flashlight beams shook across the water. There was nothing there, 120 00:08:58,120 --> 00:09:05,039 just dark, still liquid reflecting my own distorted face, floating debris, 121 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:09,679 I said aloud, voice steadier than I felt. I logged 122 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:14,480 it anyway, the words scratchy and the waterproof paper possible 123 00:09:14,519 --> 00:09:19,600 seaweed or fabric fragment. The touch lingered on my skin 124 00:09:19,759 --> 00:09:24,159 long after I pulled away, Cold and far too intentional. 125 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:28,919 It stayed with me like a fingerprint I couldn't wipe off. 126 00:09:31,159 --> 00:09:34,519 By day three, the mid levels were finished, so I 127 00:09:34,559 --> 00:09:38,000 gave up with a heavier waterproof jacket and waded deeper 128 00:09:38,120 --> 00:09:42,000 into the flooded lower crips. The water came up to 129 00:09:42,039 --> 00:09:45,559 my thighs, almost immediately colder than the bolter, get any 130 00:09:45,639 --> 00:09:48,440 right to be this time of year, cold enough to 131 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:52,519 bite straight through the neoprene layers and settle into my bones. 132 00:09:53,679 --> 00:09:56,360 The headlamp cut a narrow white tunnel through the water 133 00:09:56,919 --> 00:10:02,120 that was strangely clear, almost crystalline, revealing every crack in 134 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:08,960 the submerged stone steps. That was when I saw the strand. Pale, thin, 135 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:14,000 delicate things drifted lazily in the gentle current swaying like 136 00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:19,200 impossibly long seaweed caught an invisible tide. They caught the 137 00:10:19,279 --> 00:10:23,720 light with a faint, purlescent sheen. I took one careful 138 00:10:23,720 --> 00:10:27,080 step forward, and the beam brushed across the nearest cluster 139 00:10:28,559 --> 00:10:34,200 in perfect unison. The strands retracted, graceful, almost shy, pulling 140 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:36,960 back into the darker waters, as if they had never 141 00:10:37,039 --> 00:10:42,120 been disturbed. I stayed still for a long time, water 142 00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:48,120 lapping at my hips, unidentified organic matter, I muttered, voice 143 00:10:48,159 --> 00:10:54,600 echoing off the vaulted ceiling, possible invasive species. I locked 144 00:10:54,600 --> 00:10:58,519 it anyway, the words feeling small and ridiculous against the 145 00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:03,840 silence that followed. I kept moving, boots scraping over a 146 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:09,559 silk covered stone, but the strands didn't stay behind. They 147 00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:13,919 seemed to follow my path with quiet grace, drifting alongside me, 148 00:11:14,519 --> 00:11:17,600 just at the edge of the light, never quite touching, 149 00:11:18,039 --> 00:11:22,759 never quite retreating completely, like curious fingers trailing through the dark. 150 00:11:24,399 --> 00:11:27,480 I finally reached the next chamber and started rigging the 151 00:11:27,519 --> 00:11:31,320 portable pumps, refusing to let the job stall even for 152 00:11:31,360 --> 00:11:35,360 a second. The hoses snaked across the wet stone like 153 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:41,159 pale veins. The machines coughed once twice, then wrought to 154 00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:44,639 life with a mechanical growl that should have felt comforting. 155 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:49,240 At first, the water level dropped exactly as it was 156 00:11:49,279 --> 00:11:53,840 supposed to, inch by inch, revealing more of the barnacle, 157 00:11:53,919 --> 00:11:58,679 crusted walls and the faint outlines of frescoes bleeding into rust. 158 00:12:00,159 --> 00:12:06,240 Then it began rising again, not in chaotic surges, but 159 00:12:06,320 --> 00:12:12,200 in a slow, regular rhythm, one measured swell pause, another 160 00:12:12,279 --> 00:12:16,600 measured swell pause. The cadence hit me like a memory. 161 00:12:16,679 --> 00:12:20,480 I couldn't outrun the exact sound and feel of water 162 00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:24,679 flooding into a breached compartment, the way it had climbed 163 00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:29,720 so steadily that night in the gulf. My chest tightened hard, 164 00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:33,000 breath locking in my throat for a second that stretched 165 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:37,000 too long. My hands froze and the pump controls while 166 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:40,159 phantom pressure built behind my eyes, and the taste of 167 00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:43,679 diesel and salt water flooded my mouth. Even though the 168 00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:47,679 air here was only damp stone and mildew, The world 169 00:12:47,799 --> 00:12:50,879 narrowed to the rising line of water and the pounding 170 00:12:51,039 --> 00:12:55,039 in my ears. I forced my fingers to move again, 171 00:12:55,559 --> 00:13:00,639 jaw clenched until it ached. I'm not leaving this hard done, 172 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:05,039 I muttered through gritted teeth, the words barely audible over 173 00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:11,120 the pumps. I kept working, adjusting valves, checking connections, refusing 174 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:14,159 to step back, even as the water licked higher up 175 00:13:14,159 --> 00:13:20,159 my legs with that same patient, inevitable rhythm. The pumps 176 00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:25,320 weren't pushing anything away. If anything, they seemed to be 177 00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:33,039 drawing something closer. Later that same day, while working through 178 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:36,440 a debris filled side chapel, I pried open a rusted 179 00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:41,519 metal box, half buried under collapse shelving. Inside was stacked 180 00:13:41,600 --> 00:13:46,600 leather bound eighteenth century monastery volumes, mixed together with faded 181 00:13:46,639 --> 00:13:50,919 Soviet clipboards. The metal corners long seemed corrode it into 182 00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:55,440 orange lace. Most of the old pages were in faded script. 183 00:13:55,480 --> 00:13:59,840 I could barely decipher tight spidery handwriting that looked like 184 00:13:59,840 --> 00:14:03,919 an mix of allD Estonian and Latin. The inchord bled 185 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:07,000 in places where sea water had crept in over the decades. 186 00:14:08,440 --> 00:14:12,000 I flipped through them carefully, gloves leaving faint smears on 187 00:14:12,039 --> 00:14:16,600 the brittle paper. Tugged between the old volumes, I found 188 00:14:16,639 --> 00:14:21,039 a modern folder who was clearly left behind by researchers 189 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:26,960 or EU preservation students, a crisp plastic binder with scanned excerpts, 190 00:14:27,440 --> 00:14:32,679 English translations and typed notes. One seventeen ninety two entry 191 00:14:33,039 --> 00:14:38,320 had been carefully translated and highlighted. The monks had written 192 00:14:38,360 --> 00:14:42,879 in frantic, repeated lines about desperately sealing the lower cistern 193 00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:47,720 because of the quiet one in the deep. That quote 194 00:14:48,279 --> 00:14:53,200 must not be disturbed. Below the translation was a photocopy 195 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:58,279 of the crude ink drawing simple folded arches disappearing beneath 196 00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:01,320 wavy lines. They were of obviously meant to be water. 197 00:15:02,879 --> 00:15:07,120 The student's note in the margin simply read local superstition 198 00:15:07,320 --> 00:15:13,440 slash possible folklore reference. I stared at the translated page 199 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:16,799 for a long moment. A chill traced its way down 200 00:15:16,799 --> 00:15:20,320 my spine, the same feeling I used to get right 201 00:15:20,360 --> 00:15:25,480 before bad news crackled over the radio. I snapped photos 202 00:15:25,519 --> 00:15:29,039 of both the original pages and the translated excerpts anyway, 203 00:15:29,759 --> 00:15:32,919 close ups of the text and the drawing. It was 204 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:39,200 thorough documentation for the Foundation's records. Nothing more but the 205 00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:42,879 name stuck in my head like an unwonted radio call sign, 206 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:49,360 repeating quietly every time the silence stretched too long. Later 207 00:15:49,639 --> 00:15:52,919 that same afternoon, I slipped on my mask and dove 208 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:56,399 into a narrow, floody corridor to clear a blocked drain, 209 00:15:57,399 --> 00:15:59,840 the beam of my headlamp cutting through the cold water 210 00:16:00,039 --> 00:16:04,759 ahead of me. Under Water in the narrow corridor, the 211 00:16:04,799 --> 00:16:07,399 world narrowed to the cone of my head lamp and 212 00:16:07,480 --> 00:16:11,519 the slow swirl of silt around my fins. The passage 213 00:16:11,679 --> 00:16:15,320 was tighter than I expected, stone walls pressing close on 214 00:16:15,399 --> 00:16:18,919 both sides. As I worked my way toward the clogged drain, 215 00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:23,879 my light swept ahead and caught something massive and pale, 216 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:29,759 moving far below the deeper cistern. It undulated slowly, gracefully, 217 00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:33,320 like the trailing of hem of an enormous white robe, 218 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:37,720 or perhaps a wing made of smooth, heavy flesh. The 219 00:16:37,759 --> 00:16:42,000 motion was in a hurried, almost regal, disappearing into the 220 00:16:42,039 --> 00:16:45,799 black water. Before my mind could fully register the size 221 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:50,519 of it. I kicked hard for the surface, breaking through 222 00:16:50,559 --> 00:16:54,039 with a gasp that burned in my lungs. Cold air 223 00:16:54,159 --> 00:16:56,960 hit my face as I clung to the stone ledge, 224 00:16:57,240 --> 00:17:02,399 chest heaving. I didn't want to think about it, but 225 00:17:02,519 --> 00:17:06,400 it was almost like a large marine animal, possibly trapped 226 00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:10,559 inside the structure. My hands shook badly as I logged 227 00:17:10,559 --> 00:17:14,000 the sighting on the waterproof clipboard, the pens slipping against 228 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:18,079 the wet paper. I repeated the words twice, trying to 229 00:17:18,079 --> 00:17:22,480 make them stick. The image refused to leave my retinas. 230 00:17:23,119 --> 00:17:26,680 Even when I closed my eyes, I could still see 231 00:17:26,680 --> 00:17:33,920 that slow, pale undulation drifting through the dark. Back at 232 00:17:33,920 --> 00:17:36,200 camp that evening, I sat on the edge of the 233 00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:39,559 bed roll with the tablet balanced on my knees. The 234 00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:43,680 generator flickered in the corner, throwing unsteady yellow light across 235 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:47,000 the stone walls. I plugged in the helmet cam and 236 00:17:47,119 --> 00:17:51,279 hit play, the small screen glowing coldly in the dim room. 237 00:17:52,559 --> 00:17:56,200 The footage started normally, my gloved hands clearing the drain 238 00:17:56,680 --> 00:18:01,680 the narrow corridor walls sliding past. Then the moment came. 239 00:18:02,519 --> 00:18:06,720 The pale shape appeared far below, undulating with that same 240 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:12,720 slow grace. I watched it again, breath held, and realized 241 00:18:13,079 --> 00:18:16,240 the movement matched my own breathing from the dive exactly. 242 00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:20,880 Every rise and fall of that massive form sinked perfectly 243 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:25,039 with the audios inhale and exhal When I had breathed in, 244 00:18:25,319 --> 00:18:28,599 it had swirled when I had exhaled, it had settled, 245 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:35,359 not approximately exact. I killed the video and sat there 246 00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:40,480 in the flickering light, the tablet's screen going dark that night. 247 00:18:40,920 --> 00:18:45,200 The dripping returned, each slow drop landing in perfect time 248 00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:51,559 with my heart beat. Thump drip, thump, drip, echoing softly 249 00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:55,920 somewhere in the stone around me. My back pressed against 250 00:18:55,920 --> 00:19:00,559 the cold wall, knees drawn tight to my chest. Just 251 00:19:00,640 --> 00:19:05,480 finish the seals and get extracted, I whispered into the dark, voice, rough, 252 00:19:06,559 --> 00:19:11,799 I can still do this. I've pushed through worse. The 253 00:19:11,839 --> 00:19:15,200 words sounded small, The walls felt like they were listening, 254 00:19:15,640 --> 00:19:22,039 leaning in, absorbing every syllable with quiet, patient attention. I 255 00:19:22,119 --> 00:19:24,720 powered up the satellite phone to send my daily report, 256 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:28,759 needing to hear another human voice, even if it was 257 00:19:28,839 --> 00:19:33,519 just the automated confirmation tone. The satellite phone crackled a 258 00:19:33,599 --> 00:19:36,440 life in my hand, the small screen showing a wheat 259 00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:40,920 signal bar. I dialed the secure reporting line and waited 260 00:19:40,960 --> 00:19:46,160 for the connection. Thumb tapping nervously against the casing. Static 261 00:19:46,319 --> 00:19:50,799 answered first, wet sounding static that rolled like a distant surf. 262 00:19:52,160 --> 00:19:58,640 Then underneath it came the tones, slow mournful sounds threaded 263 00:19:58,640 --> 00:20:02,440 through the interface, almost like chanting made of water and 264 00:20:02,519 --> 00:20:07,839 grinding stone. Not words, exactly, but something rhythmic and ancient, 265 00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:13,359 rising and falling in long, liquid phrases. They carried a 266 00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:17,279 strange dignity, like a funeral hymn sung in a language 267 00:20:17,319 --> 00:20:22,559 the ocean had invented. I lowered the phone and stepped 268 00:20:22,559 --> 00:20:24,880 to the top of the stairs leading down to the 269 00:20:24,920 --> 00:20:29,400 flooded levels. When I shone my light downward, the water 270 00:20:29,519 --> 00:20:34,359 appeared higher than it had been that morning, clearer, almost luminous, 271 00:20:35,559 --> 00:20:40,119 the surface barely rippled it. Something large was obviously displacing 272 00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:44,480 it from beneath, creating a subtle, constant pressure that made 273 00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:49,119 the whole stair well feel alive. My heart started raising. 274 00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:51,720 I slammed the phone off so hard the case and 275 00:20:51,799 --> 00:20:56,839 creaked the mournful tones still lingered in my ears, as 276 00:20:56,880 --> 00:20:59,440 if they had all the time in the world to 277 00:20:59,519 --> 00:21:11,680 wait for me to understand. The next morning, while placing 278 00:21:11,759 --> 00:21:15,599 explosive charges the seal one of the major breeches, my 279 00:21:15,640 --> 00:21:19,319 gloved fingers slipped on the damp casing. One of the 280 00:21:19,440 --> 00:21:23,000 charges slipped from my grip and disappeared into the dark 281 00:21:23,039 --> 00:21:29,279 water below with a soft final PLoP. I didn't hesitate long. 282 00:21:29,839 --> 00:21:32,920 The charge needed to be recovered, so I rigged my 283 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:36,440 mask with shaking hands, checked the regulator twice out of 284 00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:40,680 pure habit, and slipped back into the cold water. Before 285 00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:44,839 I could talk myself out of it, my headlamp cut 286 00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:47,960 a jittery beam through the mark. As I descended hard, 287 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:51,799 already hammering harder than it should, I swept the light 288 00:21:51,880 --> 00:21:55,839 across the submerged walls, desperate for the dull, metallic glint 289 00:21:56,079 --> 00:22:00,960 of the dropped charge. Then the beam caught something else. 290 00:22:02,359 --> 00:22:05,240 I thought my eyes were plain tricks and the low visibility, 291 00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:09,880 but as I drifted closer, the shapes refused to resolve 292 00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:16,759 into anything. Human minds were built to understand. Several enormous, jointed, 293 00:22:16,799 --> 00:22:20,359 pale limbs were folded against the stone in angles that 294 00:22:20,440 --> 00:22:24,519 made no sense. Ribs of the floody cathedral crossed with 295 00:22:24,559 --> 00:22:29,440 the segmented legs of some ancient crustacean, all made of soft, 296 00:22:29,799 --> 00:22:34,519 luminous flesh that glowed with its own faint, sickly moonlight. 297 00:22:35,720 --> 00:22:39,480 The joints bent in ways geometry should never allow, folding 298 00:22:39,559 --> 00:22:42,240 inward and outward at the same time, as if the 299 00:22:42,279 --> 00:22:48,359 limbs existed in more than one direction simultaneously. They did 300 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:53,000 not reach for me, didn't twitch or threaten. They simply 301 00:22:53,039 --> 00:22:57,279 existed there, with a kind of sorrowful patience, resting against 302 00:22:57,279 --> 00:23:00,480 the walls, like forgotten pillars holding up the weight of 303 00:23:00,559 --> 00:23:05,960 the entire Drone monastery for centuries. The sheer scale slammed 304 00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:09,240 into me like a pressure wave. My chest locked up, 305 00:23:09,640 --> 00:23:15,319 breath caught in the regulator. For one terrifying second, I 306 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:20,119 forgot how to exhale. Every survival instinct I'd honed over 307 00:23:20,240 --> 00:23:25,160 fourteen years screamed at me to get the hell out surface, run, 308 00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:29,119 swim for the boat, call for extraction, bury the whole 309 00:23:29,119 --> 00:23:33,000 goddamn sight if I had to. My body wanted to bolt. 310 00:23:33,319 --> 00:23:36,799 My mind was already halfway back to the dark, but 311 00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:41,400 my training kicked in harder. It's static, not a threat. 312 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:46,480 Recover the charge, finish the job. You don't leave ordinance behind. 313 00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:51,839 The old reflex clamped down like a vice. I forced 314 00:23:51,839 --> 00:23:55,480 myself to harver there another few seconds, eyes wide behind 315 00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:59,480 the mask, staring at those impossible joints, while every nerve 316 00:23:59,519 --> 00:24:02,039 in my body I screamed that this was wrong, This 317 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:06,400 was so damn wrong. I kicked hard for the surface, 318 00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:10,400 breaking through with a ragged, choking gasp that burned all 319 00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:13,920 the way down my throat. My hand shook so violently 320 00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:18,680 I could barely grip the stone ledge. For several long minutes, 321 00:24:19,319 --> 00:24:22,880 I just knelt there on the wet floor, dripping reaching 322 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:26,359 water and bial that I'd inhaled from the panic, Unable 323 00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:30,559 to form a single coherent thought. The image of those 324 00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:34,799 luminous limbs kept burning behind my eyes, like an afterimage 325 00:24:34,799 --> 00:24:38,680 from a hell Pardon me. Wanted to grab my gear 326 00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:43,599 and run for the boat. Right then, another part, the stubborn, 327 00:24:43,799 --> 00:24:48,079 broken part that always finished the mission, was already trying 328 00:24:48,079 --> 00:24:53,039 to rationalize it. I tried to push forward with a checklist, 329 00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:56,920 hands still trembling as I documented the next section of wool, 330 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:02,200 but the world shifted without warning. Even though I was 331 00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:06,640 standing in air. I suddenly felt under water pressure against 332 00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:10,359 my chest, cold liquid filling my mouth and nose, the 333 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:14,519 slow drag of the depth pulling at every limb. Memories 334 00:25:14,599 --> 00:25:17,680 of the dead divers I had recovered years ago flooded 335 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:22,839 in without marcy, pale faces behind cracked visors, limbs floating 336 00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:26,559 in that same weightless drift. The terrible quiet after the 337 00:25:26,599 --> 00:25:32,279 bubble stopped. Those images mixed seamlessly with a new sensation, 338 00:25:33,519 --> 00:25:38,160 something vast and ancient, cradling every sunken thin with careful, 339 00:25:38,519 --> 00:25:43,480 unending care. Tears started running down my face without me 340 00:25:43,599 --> 00:25:47,759 realizing why. They mixed with the damp already in my skin, 341 00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:52,880 warm against the stone cold air. The sorrow I felt 342 00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:58,480 wasn't mine alone. It almost felt parental, terrible in its tenderness, 343 00:25:59,039 --> 00:26:02,960 as if whatever weah below had been holding every lost soul, 344 00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:08,960 every forgotten wreckage, every ending for longer than humanity had existed. 345 00:26:10,960 --> 00:26:13,079 I wiped my eyes roughly with the back of my 346 00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:17,160 glove and kept writing. But the lines on the waterproof 347 00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:21,279 page began to look wrong. The straight, checkless marks curved 348 00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:25,519 and folded into the same impossible angles I had seen underwater, 349 00:26:26,279 --> 00:26:29,480 as if my own handwriting was trying to imitate those 350 00:26:29,559 --> 00:26:34,799 luminous limbs. I stared at the page until the pin 351 00:26:35,039 --> 00:26:40,880 slipped from my fingers. It felt like all forms of 352 00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:44,759 self autonomy faded. I was left with the resolve I'd 353 00:26:44,759 --> 00:26:49,960 built up over years of surface autopilot taking over. I 354 00:26:50,039 --> 00:26:54,839 doubled down hard. Every POMP I still had was dragged 355 00:26:54,839 --> 00:26:58,640 into the lower levels, hoses snaking across the flooded floors 356 00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:03,640 like pale intestines. I worked with mechanical fury, welding plates 357 00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:08,279 over breeches, setting charges, cranking valves until my shoulders burned. 358 00:27:09,119 --> 00:27:13,279 The generator outside screamed under the strain, but I kept pushing, 359 00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:18,039 refusing to slow down for even a second. Every time 360 00:27:18,079 --> 00:27:21,960 I activated another pomp, the presence grew more aware of me. 361 00:27:23,039 --> 00:27:25,319 I could feel it in the way the water changed, 362 00:27:26,039 --> 00:27:30,160 not chining, but listening. The stone walls themselves began to 363 00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:34,359 breathe in a slow, majestic rhythm, expanding and contracting with 364 00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:37,319 a depth that made the entire monastery feel like a 365 00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:44,559 single living long but not hostile, just overwhelmingly sad, as 366 00:27:44,599 --> 00:27:47,359 though the building itself mourned what I was trying to do. 367 00:27:48,799 --> 00:27:52,200 My hands wouldn't stop shaking. The welding torch jitted in 368 00:27:52,279 --> 00:27:56,720 my grip, throwing wild shadows across the dripping stone, but 369 00:27:56,799 --> 00:28:01,160 I refused the stop. I growled into the darkness between 370 00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:05,480 clenched teeth, voice roar and echoing off the vaults. My 371 00:28:05,559 --> 00:28:09,880 words of affirmation sounded pathetic, even to me, small and 372 00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:14,680 brittle against the vast, patient sadness pressing in from all sides. 373 00:28:16,640 --> 00:28:19,839 I couldn't face the deep chamber again, not after what 374 00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:23,720 I'd seen, so I told myself I'd finished the job 375 00:28:23,759 --> 00:28:27,759 from the opposite side, a narrow side passage i'd mapped earlier, 376 00:28:28,279 --> 00:28:31,240 one that stayed shallow and away from the main cistern, 377 00:28:32,200 --> 00:28:36,839 safer and contained. I'd set the last charges there, sealed 378 00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:40,599 the breech, and get the hell out. My hands were 379 00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:43,720 still shaking from the dive, but I forced them steady. 380 00:28:44,759 --> 00:28:50,079 This was still just one last job. I slipped back 381 00:28:50,119 --> 00:28:53,359 into the water with my mask and fins headlamp, cutting 382 00:28:53,359 --> 00:28:57,119 a wheat tunnel through the cold. The passage felt familiar 383 00:28:57,119 --> 00:29:01,680 at first, tight stone walls silt during under my kicks, 384 00:29:02,119 --> 00:29:04,359 I kept my eyes fixed on the crack I needed 385 00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:11,519 to weld. Then the water changed one moment I was 386 00:29:11,559 --> 00:29:15,440 swimming toward the ledge. The next there was no ledge 387 00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:24,319 behind me. It simply opened, no surface above me, only endless, 388 00:29:24,440 --> 00:29:30,359 liminal expanse of black water, stretching in every direction, perfectly still, 389 00:29:30,759 --> 00:29:35,079 perfectly clear. My head lamp beam kept going and going 390 00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:39,279 until it faded into nothing. There were no walls or 391 00:29:39,359 --> 00:29:44,319 ceilings around me, no way back, just infinite depth and 392 00:29:44,359 --> 00:29:50,599 the slow, heavy pressure of something ancient. Noticing me, I 393 00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:53,640 spun in panic, kicking hard for where the entrance should 394 00:29:53,640 --> 00:29:59,039 have been. Nothing. My breath roared loud in the regulator. 395 00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:01,480 I was fluing, voting in a place that had never 396 00:30:01,519 --> 00:30:05,079 been part of the monastery, a place the monastery had 397 00:30:05,079 --> 00:30:12,000 only pretended to contain. I looked back. The entity was 398 00:30:12,039 --> 00:30:16,680 already there. It filled the void like a drowned cathedral, 399 00:30:16,759 --> 00:30:23,359 given flesh, pale, impossible limbs unfolded in slow, majestic arcs, 400 00:30:23,640 --> 00:30:27,160 ribs and arches, and jointed columns of luminous soft tissue 401 00:30:27,359 --> 00:30:31,039 that should not bend the way it did. They cradled 402 00:30:31,079 --> 00:30:35,400 the darkness itself, and at the center, something like a 403 00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:39,920 throne or a cradle, or a weeping mother waited, vast 404 00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:48,440 and sorrowful and patient. It knew In that moment I 405 00:30:48,519 --> 00:30:52,640 understood with terrible clarity that this was what the old 406 00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:56,960 monks had secretly worshiped in their hidden rights, not saints 407 00:30:57,079 --> 00:31:02,319 or God. This the quiet one in the deep, and 408 00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:07,079 it knew exactly why I was here. The charges, the pomps, 409 00:31:07,119 --> 00:31:12,880 the seals, This was its last chance to save itself. 410 00:31:15,039 --> 00:31:18,880 The great limbs opened. They simply parted, like curtains of 411 00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:26,839 living moonlight, and my mind was pulled inside. The visions 412 00:31:26,920 --> 00:31:32,559 came in a flood, hallucinogenic, cosmic, biblical. I saw the 413 00:31:32,599 --> 00:31:36,519 monastery as it had been in seventeen ninety two, candlelight 414 00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:40,160 flickering across the same stone, monks and their knees before 415 00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:44,599 this presence, singing hymns of drowning and rebirth while the 416 00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:48,319 sea rose around them. I saw the Soviets arrive in 417 00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:52,759 nineteen forty five, the machines and their fear, and still 418 00:31:53,119 --> 00:31:58,200 the entity waited, unmoved, holding every secret they tried to bury. 419 00:31:59,480 --> 00:32:02,720 I saw my own life, the gulf dive, the two 420 00:32:02,759 --> 00:32:05,839 men whose names I still whispered in my sleep, their 421 00:32:05,839 --> 00:32:09,440 bodies drifting in the dark, just as gently as these 422 00:32:09,480 --> 00:32:13,440 limbs now held me. I felt a motherly love on 423 00:32:13,519 --> 00:32:17,119 a scale that made my chest ache. It was at 424 00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:20,440 the level of human tenderness, but on a scale that 425 00:32:20,559 --> 00:32:24,519 filled me to overflow. The love of an ocean for 426 00:32:24,720 --> 00:32:27,839 every wreck it had ever claimed, every soul it had 427 00:32:27,839 --> 00:32:32,519 ever cradled, every ending it had ever witnessed without judgment. 428 00:32:33,680 --> 00:32:37,279 It showed me futures. When the monastery was demolished and 429 00:32:37,319 --> 00:32:42,400 it was sealed forever beneath concrete and rubble, dying slowly alone, 430 00:32:43,599 --> 00:32:49,079 It showed me the alternative acceptance, release, the peace of 431 00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:53,799 simply being allowed to remain. The visions appealed to the 432 00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:57,279 deepest wound in me, the part that had spent fourteen 433 00:32:57,359 --> 00:33:01,799 years trying to seal every loss, every failure, every memory, 434 00:33:01,839 --> 00:33:07,000 behind steel and procedure. Here was something older than grief 435 00:33:07,400 --> 00:33:10,839 that offered to hold these things instead, to cradle them, 436 00:33:10,920 --> 00:33:14,680 the way it had cradled oceans and civilizations and the 437 00:33:14,759 --> 00:33:20,160 quiet deaths of divers. No one ever recovered, cosmic and 438 00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:25,359 biblical and intimate, all at once, the flood that never ended, 439 00:33:25,839 --> 00:33:29,119 the ark that was the sea itself, the God that 440 00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:32,880 did not demand worship but only asked to be seen. 441 00:33:34,400 --> 00:33:38,720 Tears streamed inside my mask. I was screaming without sound. 442 00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:42,720 My training still screamed at me to finish the seals. 443 00:33:43,160 --> 00:33:46,759 My mind screamed louder that something should never be witnessed, 444 00:33:48,480 --> 00:33:56,000 and yet here I was witnessing. In return, I hung 445 00:33:56,079 --> 00:33:59,720 there in the infinite water, tears and sea water, in 446 00:33:59,759 --> 00:34:04,319 this distinguishable the great pale limbs closing gently around the 447 00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:10,760 edges of my vision like a cradle. I came out 448 00:34:10,760 --> 00:34:14,480 of the visions, gasping, suddenly, back in the physical chamber, 449 00:34:14,760 --> 00:34:19,239 with water already surging up to my chest. Pure survival 450 00:34:19,239 --> 00:34:22,559 instincts slammed into me like a break a wave. I 451 00:34:22,639 --> 00:34:26,400 thrashed toward where the exit should have been, mask fogging badly, 452 00:34:26,840 --> 00:34:31,760 regulators screaming in my ear with every desperate breath. For 453 00:34:31,840 --> 00:34:34,960 the first time, I yelled it out loud, my voice 454 00:34:35,079 --> 00:34:39,360 roar and cracking even underwater. Get the hell out of 455 00:34:39,400 --> 00:34:42,159 my head. I'm not your damn priest. This is my 456 00:34:42,280 --> 00:34:45,400 last job. I'm supposed to seal this place and walk away. 457 00:34:47,119 --> 00:34:49,800 My hands shook so violently I could barely grip the 458 00:34:49,880 --> 00:34:54,719 last charges. I fumbled with the detonator, cursing myself between 459 00:34:54,760 --> 00:34:59,000 panicked breaths for ever taking this goddamn contract, for always 460 00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:01,760 having to finish things, for never being able to let 461 00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:06,800 anything stay open or unresolved. The entity didn't fight me, 462 00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:11,280 didn't lash out. It simply let the visions flicker at 463 00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:15,199 the edges of my mind, like gentle, insistent after images, 464 00:35:16,280 --> 00:35:19,440 the two men I lost in the gulf, drifting peacefully 465 00:35:19,920 --> 00:35:23,280 instead of sinking alone in the dark the years I 466 00:35:23,360 --> 00:35:27,559 spent sealing grief and failure behind steel doors and rigid besidure. 467 00:35:28,440 --> 00:35:31,920 Every time I tried to press the detonator button, those 468 00:35:31,960 --> 00:35:37,000 images pressed back, soft, patient, motherly, on a scale that 469 00:35:37,079 --> 00:35:40,239 made my chest ache with something far worse than fear. 470 00:35:42,599 --> 00:35:45,880 I almost did it. I almost set the charges and 471 00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:51,760 swam for my life, But my fingers froze. The stubborn, 472 00:35:51,920 --> 00:35:54,800 broken part to me that had always finished the mission, 473 00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:58,000 the part that had kept me diving long after I 474 00:35:58,039 --> 00:36:04,280 should have stopped, finally cracked wide open. I couldn't press 475 00:36:04,320 --> 00:36:09,039 the button. The detonator slipped from my numb hands and 476 00:36:09,239 --> 00:36:14,119 sank without a sound. The water was already at my neck. Now, 477 00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:20,199 for the first time in my adult life, I chose 478 00:36:20,280 --> 00:36:24,239 not to seal something away. The water climbed steadily to 479 00:36:24,320 --> 00:36:28,039 my chin, then my mouth. I fumbled for the surface 480 00:36:28,079 --> 00:36:30,920 with the last of my strength and held out as 481 00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:35,519 long as I could. The pale limbs opened one final time, 482 00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:41,480 not to trap me, but to cradle The chamber dissolved 483 00:36:41,519 --> 00:36:46,360 again into that liminal, infinite expanse of black water. But 484 00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:51,639 this time I didn't fight it. I let myself drift. 485 00:36:53,400 --> 00:36:58,000 I felt the endity's sorrowful, cosmic tenderness surround me completely. 486 00:36:59,159 --> 00:37:02,760 It was the same motherly love that had held entire oceans, 487 00:37:03,079 --> 00:37:08,079 forgotten civilizations. Eons of compassion were instilled in me. All 488 00:37:08,159 --> 00:37:11,800 at once. It knew exactly why I had come here, 489 00:37:12,519 --> 00:37:16,280 the charges, the seals, the need to finish one last job. 490 00:37:17,119 --> 00:37:19,280 It knew what I had done to myself for years, 491 00:37:19,880 --> 00:37:22,719 how I tried to wall off every grief and failure 492 00:37:22,800 --> 00:37:28,440 behind work. And in its quiet, majestic way, it offered 493 00:37:28,480 --> 00:37:31,960 me the one mercy I'd never been able to give anyone, 494 00:37:32,440 --> 00:37:40,599 including myself. Release from the need to contain everything. I 495 00:37:40,679 --> 00:37:43,880 closed my eyes until the water closed over my head. 496 00:37:44,639 --> 00:37:49,480 The last sound I made was my own, breathing, slow, deep, 497 00:37:50,119 --> 00:37:54,480 and finally sinking forever with the quiet one in the deep. 498 00:37:56,280 --> 00:38:01,480 I became the last monk, the new keeper willingly held. 499 00:38:05,199 --> 00:38:08,920 I woke up on the rocky shore outside the monastery complex, 500 00:38:09,400 --> 00:38:13,960 coughing up sea water onto cold, sharp pebbles. The sky 501 00:38:14,199 --> 00:38:18,840 was flat, lifeless gray of early morning. Small waves lapped 502 00:38:18,880 --> 00:38:22,800 gently a few meters away. My gear lay scattered around me, 503 00:38:23,320 --> 00:38:27,119 one boot missing, flash like, cracked, but somehow still working. 504 00:38:28,239 --> 00:38:30,960 No cuts or bruises or any marks of my skin 505 00:38:31,039 --> 00:38:34,719 at all, just a heavy taste of salt in my mouth, 506 00:38:35,320 --> 00:38:40,960 and a thick, dreamlike fog pressing behind my eyes. I 507 00:38:41,000 --> 00:38:45,519 sat up slowly, every muscle aching, and stared at the 508 00:38:45,599 --> 00:38:50,239 half submerged structure in the distance. It looked exactly as 509 00:38:50,280 --> 00:38:53,840 it had when I first stepped off the boat, Rotting 510 00:38:53,920 --> 00:38:59,079 Gothic arches fused with Soviet blast, doors, faded frescoes peeling 511 00:38:59,159 --> 00:39:05,119 under barnacle rust, seawater still licking lazily at the lower steps. 512 00:39:06,000 --> 00:39:09,760 Nothing were collapsed or even disturbed. There were no signs 513 00:39:09,760 --> 00:39:13,800 of flooding beyond the normal tideline, no debris from charges 514 00:39:14,039 --> 00:39:18,960 or scorch marks, no evidence that anything unnatural had happened 515 00:39:18,960 --> 00:39:24,440 at all. Was any of it real? The visions, the 516 00:39:24,480 --> 00:39:30,199 infinite black water, the pale, impossible limbs, that overwhelming motherly 517 00:39:30,360 --> 00:39:34,840 cosmic sorrow, It all felt too vivid to be a hallucination, 518 00:39:35,760 --> 00:39:40,559 yet too impossible to have actually occurred. My mind kept 519 00:39:40,599 --> 00:39:43,880 trying to do what it had always done, File it away, 520 00:39:44,360 --> 00:39:50,559 label it, contain it, stress, bad air, oxygen toxicity, just 521 00:39:50,599 --> 00:39:54,920 another trauma to seal with the memory of that gentle 522 00:39:55,280 --> 00:39:59,719 eternal cradle refused to be locked down. It lingered like 523 00:39:59,800 --> 00:40:05,440 water water against cold skin. For what felt like hours, 524 00:40:06,000 --> 00:40:09,519 I just sat on the rocks, watching the silent monastery. 525 00:40:11,199 --> 00:40:14,400 I had a decision to make. I could call in 526 00:40:14,559 --> 00:40:18,440 right now, report the job complete, tell them the inventory 527 00:40:18,559 --> 00:40:21,840 was finished, the critical breaches sealed as best as one 528 00:40:21,880 --> 00:40:26,880 man could manage, and recommend the demolition team proceed. No 529 00:40:26,960 --> 00:40:30,280 one would question it. The reason I was hand picked 530 00:40:30,320 --> 00:40:32,559 for the job was that I was highly trusted in 531 00:40:32,599 --> 00:40:36,800 this line of work. I'd get paid, the contract would close, 532 00:40:37,599 --> 00:40:40,840 and I could finally walk away, like I'd promised myself. 533 00:40:42,639 --> 00:40:47,239 Or I could go back inside, check the lower levels, 534 00:40:47,559 --> 00:40:50,639 see if the charges were still armed, see if the 535 00:40:50,719 --> 00:40:53,920 quiet one was still waiting down there in the dark. 536 00:40:55,480 --> 00:40:59,599 The thought made my stomach twist with raw fear. I 537 00:40:59,599 --> 00:41:02,760 couldn't tell if it was the strange God's mind tricks 538 00:41:02,840 --> 00:41:08,719 working or my steel resolve had finally broken. But in 539 00:41:08,760 --> 00:41:13,960 the end I chose the easier path. I powered up 540 00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:18,199 the satellite phone with wet, clumsy hands and made the call. 541 00:41:19,400 --> 00:41:22,159 My voice came out steadier than I felt as I 542 00:41:22,239 --> 00:41:28,280 told the coordinator the job was complete, sight prepped, final 543 00:41:28,320 --> 00:41:31,440 report would be followed by end of day. You can 544 00:41:31,559 --> 00:41:36,519 send freevach. I hung up before they could ask too 545 00:41:36,559 --> 00:41:41,840 many questions. As I sat there, watching the waves froll in, 546 00:41:42,960 --> 00:41:45,760 I kept thinking about what I might have left unchecked, 547 00:41:46,360 --> 00:41:49,199 About what I might have just condemned to silence beneath 548 00:41:49,280 --> 00:41:52,760 concrete and rubble, About whether I had appeased the only 549 00:41:52,840 --> 00:41:55,920 thing that had ever offered to hold my own broken 550 00:41:55,960 --> 00:42:00,760 pieces without asking me to seal them first, or if 551 00:42:00,760 --> 00:42:06,000 I'd just doomed the future to its true motives. But 552 00:42:06,119 --> 00:42:10,239 I was just one man, one tired, scarred man, who 553 00:42:10,320 --> 00:42:13,280 had spent his whole life trying to contain things. They 554 00:42:13,320 --> 00:42:17,039 were never meant to be contained. Some weights were simply 555 00:42:17,119 --> 00:42:23,079 too heavy, Some endings were never mine to decide. I 556 00:42:23,119 --> 00:42:27,159 stood up, slowly, gathered what gear I could carry, and 557 00:42:27,280 --> 00:42:32,840 started walking toward the pickup point. Behind me, the half 558 00:42:32,920 --> 00:42:40,239 submerged monastery waited in silence, beautiful, rotting and perhaps still 559 00:42:40,360 --> 00:42:45,800 quietly breathing. I didn't look back.