Chapter 1: Sol Ildenson

#DeepOcean

    The sunlight that gently brushed over my body revealed how fast this morning had approached. What happened last night had left traces emphasizing the tremendous fun that had occurred. The scent of the man I’d picked up at the party made me grin slightly as I distractedly stared at the person lying next to me. His face was so alluring that if I had been born a woman, I would have easily fallen for him.

    It was a regret that I was not a woman.

    ‘I think you should stop pretending to be asleep, Dylan.’

    He froze.

    “I don’t have the time to spend all day lying around staring at you.” I looked at the person who couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. Finally, this playful one was, of course, busted. Did he think that I couldn’t see him smiling when I woke up and pretended to go back to sleep when I propped my chip up to stare at him?

    “You caught me.”

    “You are not very good at deceiving people.” I chuckled softly because I’d caught him. “You shouldn’t smile when I’m staring at you. Otherwise, I would know you weren’t sleeping.”

    “Anyone must have blushed when you stared at them.”

    “Hmmm?”

    “Especially me. I really am blushing hard.” He winked, reaching his hand to stroke the delicate cheeks that he had already kissed for a countless of times. His eyes glittered when I moved and the bathrobe that barely hung on my body slid down. “I think I need to have you one more time before we part.”

    “That’s too bad. I’m in a rush.”

    “I just need ten minutes.”

    “Your time was up since last night.” I said to head him off, pushing that handsome face away from me because he looked like he was trying to nuzzle my neck. His sultry lips planted kisses on me, pulling my gaze back to his. I bit my lip, eyeing the cunning man. “Don’t seduce me.”

    “Hmmph.”

    “Dylan.”

    “Just once.”

    “…”

    “And then I will let you go.” His raspy whisper sounded sexier than anything. His tongue ran along my fingers. His lips softly brushed my fingertips, but they were blazing, hotter than fire. He nibbled at my knuckles. Kisses were planted on the back of my hands and then on my lips.

    I closed my mouth at first, resisting this man who knew what I wanted. After a bit, I couldn’t resist my own desire any longer.

    The warm tip of his tongue entered my mouth, consuming the sweetness and transforming it into something soothing. I moaned as he softly bit my lips. He pressed his body closer as his hands started to naughtily work their way inside my bathrobe. I laughed, staring fearlessly straight into his eyes. I wrapped my arms around the neck of the man who was initiating the love play once again.

    I would like to mention something…

    Of all my past partners, Dylan was the best.

    “You had time for me at last, Sol. J”

    He was damn good at arousal.

    ………………

    Drops of clear water splashed in response to the motion of my new inboard cruiser, which I had just ordered last month. The cruiser came with a bedroom suited for a person like me who is always on the go. The sound of the motor did not really ruin today’s mood. I pushed up my sunglasses while raising my hand to shield myself from the afternoon sunlight.

    The clear seawater surface reflected the sunlight above. I smiled at the thought of where I was heading right now.

    The only place where I’m happier than when having sex with some guy.

    We call it ‘EDS’.

    Also known as the Sea Research Center.

    “Sol!” The voice sounded from the top of the water tank. I waved in response when I got closer. I swept my eyes over the massive place. Every part of it has been created so that it looked like it belonged to another world that, once you’ve entered, would be hard to leave. There was a pool and other recreational facilities.

    If this place was not situated in the middle of the sea, it would have been a tourist spot.

    Flinched!

    “Welcome back, sir.”

    “Thank you.” I replied with a smile to the staff member who was in charge of cleaning. He helped me get off the boat and prepare to take the boat back to the garage. He also helped me carry the stuff that I had traveled great distances to buy.

    I’d leave once a month to see if we needed anything. Though in actuality, I could have things delivered via helicopters, I preferred to experience the reality of the outside world.

    And also, to entertain myself a bit.

    “I hope there weren’t any problems.”

    “Of course, there were. You weren’t here, so there had to be problems.”

    “Oh!” I was surprised when I saw the man walking towards me with his arms crossed. His blue eyes told me that he was furious. I gave a little chuckle and shook my head. I couldn’t believe my eyes. “I didn’t expect you to be the first person I see. So, Eric, you can drag yourself out of the lab?”

    He rolled his eyes at me and sighed in his usual way to show that he was annoyed.

    “I have been waiting for you every day because you’ve been gone for almost a month.”

    “Just almost; meaning not yet a month.” I was amused, unlike Eric, who was overly serious. Eric was the head of the research team I owned, so it wasn’t strange to see his serious attitude all the time. Ho looked at me. Our eyes met, and his were strained with disapproval. This was why I had decided to scale down our relationship two years ago.

    No one wants to go crazy staying with a person who is serious all the time, right?

    “At least I came back.” I made an excuse so that this conversation could continue before tossing him a box of snacks that I remembered he liked. “Count this as my apology for my leave, so you can finally stop whining.”

    As Eric grabbed it, I took that opportunity to slip into the research center. But I guess it was too simplistic to think that a box of snacks would be able to get rid of him. The tall figure followed me, his steps were as fast as mine as I was trying to walk away from him. Still, he didn’t grab my arm. He wasn’t as forceful as before.

    He probably knew that was another reason for our breakup.

    “I’m worried about you. At least try to understand a little.”

    “But I’m obviously fine. Everything’s normal.” I shrugged. I wanted to show him that I was completely safe and sound. “Also, it isn’t like I haven’t vanished before. This was not the first time, and you know it.”

    “That was just two weeks. It was a month this time.”

    “You said ‘almost a month’ just now. No going back on your words.” The only thing I liked doing with him was bickering. Seeing his annoyed face made me feel successful at getting on someone’s nerves—even though I would be very irritated the next minute. “And please stop following me. Are you my shadow or something?”

    “I can do more than you think.”

    “Better keep it to yourself then, because I won’t argue with you too much today.” I softly patted his arm a few times to boost his spirits. “I think you’re overly stressed. Getting some rest would be good.”

    “Sol…!”

    “I will be getting some rest myself. I’m sore all over from driving the boat for more than half a day.”

    “Hey!”

    “I will see you as soon as possible tomorrow. See you at ten, in the Control Room. Bye.” I waved goodbye to him. I didn’t wait for him to say anything more and entered a room that was equipped with a sensor system. I signaled him to stop walking or else the security system would go off, and everybody would panic.

    This was my personal room, meaning only I could enter.

    Eric gritted his teeth tightly, watching me waving him good-bye until the door closed. I turned around with a sigh and shook my head.

    “A nag as always,” I mumbled, and took a step down the stairs. The research center was partly submerged, which was a series of observatories used for monitoring the creatures under the sea. My bedroom was one of these, but it was separated on a different floor, unconnected to the other rooms. I didn’t like to welcome anyone inside, and that was another reason why I had the sensor system.

    The only people who could enter were those who had been given my permission to do so. If I hadn’t, the intruders would be electrocuted, and the alarm would ring like a fire alarm.

    And it wouldn’t end well if somebody got a heart attack from such a trivial matter.

    “I’m back,” I mumbled softly to the empty room and swept my eyes across the world that I had created. The room was built from clear glass. I could see the darkness of the deep ocean and what was out there. I grinned at the sight of schools of fish swimming around. The room wasn’t so different from aquariums where one could see them up close.

    But no one would have ever imagined living among them.

    “Where are they?” I bit my lips, waiting in anticipation for the creatures that I wanted to see the most. As the underwater world was dark, the lights in my bedroom were the only spot that would attract predators. Thus, when this room was being built, extra-thick glass panes were used. They were thick enough that they likely wouldn’t even crack if anything were thrown at them.

    If you’d asked me why I had them built with extra thickness…

    Unfortunately, there were some underwater creatures that enjoyed beating against and biting at my room.

    “Huh, teasing me, are we?” I rolled my eyes when I thought of those rascals. The only thing that could lure the predators out were cries of fear or despair. I walked to the speakers which were connected to the underwater area outside, with a barrier in place. I used it to call for the thing that everyone tried to fight against.

    The attached sonar was used to send out the sounds of a whale calf, which was a delectable meal.

    It was the sound of a little whale that had died last month due to a huge predator.

    In the beginning, the sound didn’t seem to be working, but after a moment I saw something.

    “There you are.” My grin widened as I saw something moving in the dark. The sound of the whale calf was raised to lure the enormous creature closer. At first glance, it was just a small shark circling around. After some time, the distance shortened, and its enormous body appeared before my eyes.

    The glittering black eyes stared at me while I carefully observed its teeth, which were lined up in multiple rows. I once thought that maybe this is the way sharks say hello, but it was just a natural characteristic of a predator.

    In front of me was the shark with the longest lifespan.

    The shark’s body was about ninety feet long, making it the number one predator in this entire ocean.

    “Hey,” I greeted it, my hands on the glass pane. My gaze lingered on it while my heartbeat quickened. I leaned my forehead against the glass pane like there was nothing between us. I breathed in, acknowledging the presence of both of us.

    It was the only thing that confirmed what I’d live for.

    “I’m back, Dy.”

    Living to die, obviously.

    ………………

    I was greeted with the faint smell of coffee from the grumpy man the next morning.

    Eric handed me a cup of coffee when I stepped out of my bedroom at precisely ten o’clock. Apparently, I had missed the appointment that I had made with him yesterday. The tall figure sighed when I smiled in response. There were no greetings at all, as if he was mute, a typical attitude that I hadn’t seen for almost a month.

    Not seeing it was better. No one wanted to be in a bad mood since morning.

    “When you weren’t here. Dy ate one of the whales that we have kept.”

    Flinch!

    “The head was in its belly. As for the tail…”

    “Soool!” Immediately after I opened the door to the Control Room, everyone there simultaneously called out the name of the owner of the research center who entered with their grouchy team leader. I almost dropped my coffee cup; it was a good thing I held it with both of my hands, so only a little drop of coffee spilled out. I raised my head to look at everyone who had filled the office up with decorations of some sort.

    My jaw dropped when I saw the “’Welcome Back” banner and the rainbow-colored party poppers they were setting off. I needed to brush some of the colorful confetti off my head or else I would have become a Christmas tree for them to play with.

    “Wow, you all threw a ‘Welcome Back’ party for me?”

    “You went away for so long. We missed you,” Jordan laughed. He was one of the staff members of my research team. His job was to control the monitors and to check the sonar for any movements. “When we knew that you were coming back, we barely even slept so we could quickly throw you a party.”

    “Or you guys were just looking for any reason to slack off,” Eric interrupted. “That’s what you guys are good at.”

    “That’s not true. We’ve been working,” Nashley pouted. She was the brain of this research center. “When you weren’t here, we were working hard. No one slacked off at all.”

    “I trust you all because I have been watching you through the surveillance cameras.”

    “!!!”

    “You didn’t forget that I can watch them on my phone, right? You set it up for me yourself.” I grinned while Nashley was dumbfounded. She must have forgotten that she had installed the surveillance camera application on my phone. No matter how far I traveled, I would know everything that happened, including those parties when I wasn’t here.

    But I would pretend that I knew nothing as compensation for them welcoming my return.

    “Anyway, thank you. I brought you all souvenirs. I will have Bernard hand them out later.”

    "Seeing you come back safely is good enough already.” Dr. Owen, the oldest member of the team, said warmly, bringing a sweet smile to my face. I sipped my coffee while looking at the monitoring screens, as well as other screens showing different data.

    One of the screens was for a camera that we had dropped deep into the sea. It was the spot where we had been conducting research.

    “Any progress?” I asked, staring at the coral reef hiding beyond our reach under the deep sea. “Did you follow my order about sending the U-4 down for inspection?”

    “We sent it already, Sol, but there has been a problem.”

    “Hmmm?”

    “Dylan chewed it to pieces before it even had a chance to land on the seabed,” Nashley said. She showed me a video clip of the big shark charging toward the equipment. Its razor-sharp teeth cut through every bit of solid steel, causing visible cracks on the camera. “He also destroyed the new submarine we’d sent to as a follow-up.”

    Another video showed a small submarine. Its headlights shone above the seabed full of rocks and small fishes. However, it was crashed into not long after.

    The image showed shark bites of the same wicked creature.

    “We couldn’t recover them. The system was destroyed to the point where were unable to locate it.”

    “Before this, it almost ate one of the cleaning staff. When he tried to steer the boat away, it blocked him.” Thomas, Nashley’s assistant, showed me another clip from a different camera. It was a video of the huge shark circling around a boat. Inside the boat was a full-time staff member who I remembered that I just hired him last month.

    He was just a member of the cleaning staff. Not as important as the research team members.

    “He threatened to sue if we couldn’t ensure his safety.”

    “There is no safety working in the middle of the sea. Staying far away from the sea is the safest thing to do,” I mumbled. That threat made me shake my head. When I had interviewed him, he said that he could do it and he would work hard, but what was this? He had worked here for only a short while and he was already going to quit.

    He probably only cared for the money I’d offer to pay him.

    “Anything else I need to know?”

    “Dy has already eaten Emnet.”

    “What?” I frowned. “The whale that we took in for medical treatment?”

    “Yes. The head was in Dy’s stomach, the tail in Dylan’s mouth.” Nashley had a terrified face. Her words were what Eric had tried to tell me before he was interrupted. I quickly stopped them from turning on the surveillance camera at that time. I knew very well how it was going to be because this wasn’t the first time. “They seem to be targeting the whale calves in our aquaculture area. If we release them, there will likely be no hope for survival.”

    “What’s next then?”

    “What’s next…? …What is next?” Eric frowned at me. He looked at me, making everybody else immediately lower their eyes. “How could you say, ‘What’s next then?’ when they devastated the submarines, the equipment, our staff, and on top of that, are waiting intently for a chance to eat the whales in our care.”

    “But no one died. If that had happened, I would have heard you say that you’re sorry and that there was casualty during the mission.”

    “What about the dead whale?”

    “That was a natural matter. We couldn’t possibly have stopped them.”

    “So, there have to be casualties before you can acknowledge that they are dangerous.”

    “What do you suggest then? Did you forget that this is a center for research on the ecosystem of the deep sea?” I gave him a smirk, but everyone knew that I was starting an argument. “It means we need to study every subject as planned. Dylan and Dy are the main reason my father established this research center.”

    I turned on the monitoring screen showing the image of the shark brothers whose bodies were almost 90 feet long. They both had an enormous set of jaws. They also were approximately ten times bigger in size compared to other sharks. Their lifespan was longer than all of the staff combined. Not a soul on earth had expected them to reside here.

    They were megalodons. Sharks from millions of years ago that were supposed to be extinct already.

    “Without them, this research center would probably have been demolished with explosives already, and everyone, including you, would lose their jobs.” I made a gesture indicating the extent of what I could do. “But they are here, so it is my duty to carry on towards my father’s goal. Do you understand?”

    “…”

    “As for the submarines, do you think that even if we didn’t send the U-4, they wouldn’t destroy them? Apart from studying them, we must study what is deep under the sea. Do not forget our purpose, Eric.”

    “…”

    “And don’t say something to imply that we need to kill them again, because they are worth more than you.” My expression remained indifferent. I placed the coffee he had made for me on the table. The amiable mood in the room vanished immediately when we crossed swords. Eric was that kind of person—stubborn and hardheaded. He always claimed that caring for the monsters of the sea was not the right thing to do.

    Megalodons were supposed to die, not swimming around here.

    “Go back to work and don’t let me hear you run your mouth again.”

    Walking out of the room, I shook my head and lit a cigarette. A curl of white smoke rose up when I exhaled. I sat down on top of the tall water tank, the only place where nearly the entirety of the sea could be viewed best. When I was in a bad mood or feeling troubled, I came up, I would sit here watching the sea creatures, big and small, swimming round. They somewhat helped relieve my annoyance.

    If the bigger ones appeared, the smaller ones would hurriedly flee like they were snatched out of orbit.

    The long fins that appeared above the water served as a warning that no one could leave this place. If anyone tried to step outside…

    They would suffer the most unfortunate death.

    ‘We must give them love, son. They are pitiful.’

    ‘Will they hurt us?’

    ‘If we don’t hurt them, they won’t do anything.’

    ‘…’

    ‘You must love them like you love your own life, Sol.’

    The white smoke spread out when I blew it away. Fragmented memories poured through my head. They reminded me of how I was bound. Many times, I wanted to dissolve the research team and run far away, but after a few minutes, I would realize that I could not do that.

    The souls of my dead parents would likely weep.

    They would likely be disappointed if I were to abandon the last thing which they had left for me.

    “Dad wouldn’t be able to take it if I left them,” I murmured and took a drag of the cigarette, pumping the nicotine into my lungs and then exhaling. I caught the older megalodon’s eyes. Dy was a bit bigger than Dylan. His fin had a notch that had occurred due to an indiscriminate attack of his two years ago. He had destroyed a cargo ship ferrying methamphetamines across the sea.

    The ship had been abandoned under the sea. As for the people…

    They had died scattered throughout the sea.

    You might be able to imagine how depressing it was. Limbs were everywhere when we reached the scene. We meant to offer them help, but we failed in the end. When the police came to investigate, we needed to keep things quiet.

    We couldn’t tell them that megalodons had killed them.

    Though I was almost a hundred percent sure that they wouldn’t believe our words, there were those that had an interest in this matter.

    I surely wouldn’t let that kind of accident happen one more time.

    Plop!

    I threw a silver coin down into the sea to catch Dy’s attention before he swam away. He must have been hungry, judging by his fidgety actions. I glanced about and found what had drawn him around here.

    A whale calf that we had been rearing had been separated from its mother two months ago. To protect it from being eaten, we had built a huge pool surrounded by the strongest possible wire mesh fence to prevent the brothers from destroying it in order to enter and feed. At the very least, we needed to wait for the whale to grow a little and then, we might release it somewhere else.

    However, as long as it could make a sound, it would still be a scrumptious meal for the killing machines.

    “Poor thing.” I sighed over the sight of the big fish which was trying to bash against the walkway so he could get in here. Actually, there was a pool that was connected to the sea. It was used to keep injured sharks for medical treatment. Some were captured to be studied in order to develop new medicines. Once in a while, however, we would let them come in.

    No one would want to be scared to death seeing Dy or Dylan slip in.

    “Oh, Sol, what are you doing sitting there?”

    Ack!

    “You are going to fall. Please come down!” I gave Bernard a wave. He was cleaning the walkway not that far from where Dy was swimming. He shielded the sunlight with his hands so he could see me sitting on the highest spot of the research center. It was almost as tall as our signal tower.

    “I was thinking of jumping in and having a swim.”

    “Huh?!?”

    “I want to swim for a bit.” I shouted to him, pointing my fingers at the pool below. It was the pool we used for catching sharks. The security light was red, so it was currently closed. “Do you want to go for a swim with me, Bernard?”

    “Oh my! That’s not a good idea. I’m not good at swimming.”

    “Hmmph.”

    “You’ll be dragged off and eaten by the sharks swimming alone, Sol. Woah!”

    Splash!

    “Bernard!” I had almost laughed at his teasing words, but instead, my eyes went wide when he fell down into the sea due to Dy’s powerful blow. The sound of the water splashing was enough to grab the attention of the dangerous creature. It took in the sight of the person who wasn’t skilled at swimming. He struggled to make his way out of the water, but his clothes and his weight were not of any help in saving his own life.

    He became a still, excellent target.

    “Damn it!” I cursed, jumping into the pool below. I hurriedly swam up to the walkway to get to Bernard. I raced against the shark’s speed and bit my hand so blood would drip out. I held my breath and squeezed the cut so blood would spatter down into the sea. The smell of blood would confuse the shark. I leaped down into the sea again from the other side in the hope that Dy would follow the bait.

    But I’d forgotten that, aside from Dy, there was another one that was also ready to attack.

    Fin rose above the water, indicating that Dylan was heading straight toward me.