The silence from being underwater started to calm us in a strange way, almost as if it was pushing us into a state of drowsiness. With just fifteen minutes left before we reached our destination, I noticed the signs of exhaustion that were clear on Julius and Noor's faces. Their eyes were growing heavy, and their breaths were slowing down, as if the weight of everything had begun to press on them.
"We can't sleep now," I said, breaking the silence. "Not with just a few minutes left before the most critical part of our journey to the surface. We need to talk about something, anything."
Julius suddenly perked up and said, "What if I tell you some jokes?" A wide smile spread across his face, but Noor and I responded with immediate rejection.
"No!" we chorused, our voices sharp enough to make Julius uneasy. His face fell, and for a moment, he looked like he might actually cry.
"Why not?" he mumbled dramatically.
"Julius, we all know you have the worst jokes in human history. Spare us the torment, please," I said, trying to soften the blow with a playful smile.
Julius pouted and crossed his arms, clearly offended but somewhat relieved that we weren't actually angry with him. Before he could respond, Noor suddenly spoke up after a period of silence.
"You two are a strange pair," she said with a light laugh. "It's nice to see my brother interacting with people. I haven't seen him joke around like this in a long time."
Her smile faded for a moment as she looked between us. "Since we need a topic to talk about, why don't we discuss our goals? You know, things we want to achieve, like skills or habits we'd like to develop." She turned to me with an expectant look. "Ali, why don't you start?"
I hesitated for a moment. "Well... I have one main goal," I said slowly, feeling their attention weighing on me. "I want to lead humanity into a new era of progress. A time when only the best survive."
The air in the compartment grew heavier. Julius and Noor exchanged uncomfortable glances, and the tension between us increased. Julius was the first to break the silence.
"That... is a tough path, Ali," he said cautiously. "Especially since you've never been someone who communicates with people. What made you decide on something like this?"
I sighed and leaned back against one of the tank's walls, overwhelmed by memories. "It's not that simple. Imagine being abandoned by your parents before you even knew them and being considered nothing but a burden. Then, even worse, being isolated at school, ridiculed by both students and teachers. When you're the poor, strange kid... people don't give you a chance."
Noor turned her gaze away, clearly uncomfortable since our situations are somewhat similar—we're all orphans. But Julius maintained his focus on me as he listened.
"For the longest time," I continued, "I told myself I didn't need anyone. That communication was overrated. But now... I see that I was wrong. I should have listened to your advice back then."
Julius laughed, but his voice sounded hollow. "Ali, please, no more apologies. You're making me uncomfortable."
I smiled. "Oh? Would you rather I hit you? Reject my apology and then insult me with that expression on your face?"
"Calm down, you fool," Julius replied, making a face as if he were feigning disgust. "All I mean is that you don't need to be formal with me. Your usual anger and sharp tongue are what make you... Ali, my friend and dear brother. Anyway, if you need help, I'm here. No questions asked."
Before I could respond, Noor spoke up suddenly. "We need to think about the survivors first, though. You know, before we start planning a new world or something like that."
Her words hit my mind like a slap. Of course. What was I saying? We were just lucky to still be alive after the disaster, and here I was, talking about ruling a new era. I looked at the others, realizing how ridiculous it was. The tsunami... it had wiped out almost everything. There might not even be a world left for us to rule.
"The tsunami..." I muttered. "It must have killed millions. Maybe even billions."
Julius nodded seriously. "Yes. We're not the only ones affected. The cities near the coast must have been destroyed immediately."
My thoughts raced, and fear began to engulf me. "What could cause a wave of that magnitude? Something that massive doesn't just happen... suddenly."
The silence that followed was suffocating. I felt my thoughts intertwining, trying to understand what had happened and what we had survived. "Why did this happen without the meteorological department knowing? Did they know and decide to hide it from us because they couldn't save anyone but themselves in this great disaster? Why did it happen on the date 2222/2/22 at the dawn of the Engagram civilization? Is it a cosmic phenomenon, or was it caused by human manipulation? Was it an experiment by the Fifth or Fourth Empire, and what was their goal if it was true? ...Ah, damn it, I have a million questions and no answers."
As I asked these questions in my head, the air felt very light, and my head throbbed from the lack of oxygen. I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I barely noticed when Noor reached out and took my hand.
"Ali, are you okay?" she asked gently, her concern evident in her voice.
I blinked, surprised by the warmth of her touch. Julius looked at her and laughed. "He's fine. When Ali is quiet like this, it just means he's overthinking. Give him a minute."
I realized I had worried her, and I held my head as if it were about to fall off from too many thoughts. I pulled my hand back and adjusted my sitting position. "I'm fine, just... thinking." Then I added apologetically, "Sorry for making you worry about me."
Then I returned to the more important matter. "According to my assistant, we have five minutes left. Get ready."
I continued, "I forgot to introduce you to my assistant. He's an excellent companion on land, sea, and air, equipped with the latest AI system that surpasses human capabilities in some areas. He is the sixteenth version in my lab, the most advanced of my robots. I named him 016. If you want to communicate with him, these glasses will allow you to see what he sees."
I pulled out four pairs of glasses from my backpack—two I was working on and two I had finished. As I explained the robot through a 3D model projected from my wrist watch, the shock was evident on their faces.
Julius commented, "Man, are you really from the twenty-third century? I always thought you were a genius ahead of your time, but you really amazed me!"
As Julius spoke, Noor was staring at the model with her eyes sparkling with passion. Surely, this was every child's dream to see such things. But it was so close to me. "Uh... please, move back a little if you don't mind." I tried to gently push her away, but she was too engrossed. It was a shock to me. How could a child ignore me like this? But then again, she's just a kid.
But if her brother wasn't around, I would have pushed her away like shooing an insect off my body. Wait, where was her brother all this time? I turned to Julius and saw him making gestures of indifference, as if saying he wasn't present. Then Julius turned back to me, giving me a thumbs-up as if saying, "Take the opportunity to get closer to her."
I made a face showing that I refused. "No, no, no! Aren't you supposed to move your sister away before I get annoyed?" But he showed me a face full of relief, as if it was okay.
Ah, how stupid of me! And suddenly, we collided with something...
Actually, it was nothing. We reached the surface. I ordered them to prepare for the next task. Each of us moved to the side of the tank and moved all the food and other things. The purpose of this operation was to try to direct the exit opening downward, so that air wouldn't escape when opening the tank.
When we finished, Julius prepared to exit and secure the tank with the help of 016, while each of us got ready to open the hatch and enter the water. We started changing our clothes. My body was yellowed from too much exposure to the sun, and extremely thin, almost like a zombie. As for Julius, when he removed his jacket, it began to sag with the bending of his muscles. His body was like that of a warrior, toned with slightly tanned skin, and he liked to train in the sunlight.
As for his sister, she was frankly strange. She was delicate at her extremities, like her hands or legs, and very pale with some pink at the joints. What struck me was that she was 10 years old! Isn't that right? But her chest was larger than the average for girls her age. There was something odd when she started removing her shirt.
Maybe I was exaggerating in my observation, as signs of embarrassment were clear on her. But unexpectedly, I noticed a strip of bandages falling from her lower back, extending a few meters on the ground beside her foot. I understood that she was trying to hide their size from others.
At that moment, memories flooded my mind of when some students used to bully me back in middle school. I thought she might be suffering too, as a girl who could have faced some harassment from those jerks.
My thoughts were interrupted by the assistant's message, informing me that it had scanned the area and found no marine creatures threatening our lives. We counted to three: "One, two, three!" and then opened the hatch.
"Kyaaaaaaaaaa!" Noor screamed in horror at the gruesome sight.
It was a shock. As soon as we opened the tank, we were met with a scene that struck terror into every creature's breath. Hands, legs, limbs, eyes, and faces were crushed, with reddish water around the floating debris, and some wreckage scattered around us. My heart began to race, and I felt a bit of exhilaration.
I turned to Julius with a strange, hysterical laugh. Yes, I had some psychological disorders from my childhood, like sadism and enjoying the sight of living creatures being torn apart. But Julius hit me and then shouted loudly, "Not now, Ali, please! Not now! Get a hold of yourself!"
After this ordeal, I regained my composure and shouted at my watch, "016, you damned robot! Didn't I tell you to check for dangers around us? Did you get damaged somewhere in your damned circuitry?"
016 responded, "Lord Ali, I have already scanned all body patterns around us, and there are no neural messages or vibrations indicating the presence of living creatures."
Julius patted my arm, saying, "Ali, he's not at fault. He can't understand that this is a disgusting sight. Even if he could, he wouldn't be able to change the result. He's just a robot."
Suddenly, 016 replied, "Sorry, Mr. Julius. Although I may appear to you like any other robot, this is an insult to me. I am one of the latest models created by Lord Ali and Miss Emilia, and you could say I am the first of my kind in the whole world. I can understand and analyze human emotions better than they can, but I struggle to explain emotions in mathematical equations. Other than that, you could say I am the first of my kind in various fields..."
Despite that, everything around me seemed blurry. I was overwhelmed with terror. Was it possible that my darker side had awakened after so much exhaustion and attempts to get rid of it? Julius grabbed me and said, "It's okay, I'm with you now."
I began to relax a bit, and the terror faded from my features. I remembered how Julius played a role in concealing my sadism. Then I recalled that 016 was created after my recovery, so he didn't know about my psychological illness. "Ah, shut up for a moment. I get it, alright. I'm sorry for my outburst." I apologized while thinking logically about 016's explanation.
"Programming error, please repeat what you said, Lord Ali. Did you apologize, or did the water block the message?"
"Yes, I really did apologize. Is that strange?"
016 replied, "This is the first time I've heard that word, and now it will enter Lord Ali's lexicon, so I was surprised."
Julius laughed loudly, "Haha, even the robot is surprised! Haha."
"Mr. Julius, I have a name that I value because Lord Ali gave it to me. Could you please use it?"
To Julius's shock, he said, "Really... you're strange. You join conversations on your own and you really have consciousness. I don't feel like I'm talking to a robot."
"Anyway, I'll start the procedure. I hope we can work together smoothly, 016."
"Understood, Mr. Julius," 016 replied.
After Julius dived, I turned to Noor. She was overwhelmed with fear, her face pale, staring at the water filled with red masses of meat from various creatures. I realized she was just an ordinary girl. She couldn't get used to these sights quickly like her strong brother or me, the madman.
I tried to touch her, and as soon as I did, she collapsed to the ground, and the tank began to shake. I realized her legs couldn't support her, let alone swim with them. I held her close, and she immediately started crying.
She couldn't handle it. I hugged her tighter until she calmed down, then decided to take on her task instead. It was good that the water was stable, so the raft wouldn't drift away. I decided to leave her in the tank and leave my watch with her so I could contact her through 016 if something happened while I finished the task.
We started the procedure, which was going smoothly until the water began to churn and hit some wreckage. This caused the tank's balance to falter, and the worst scenario occurred: the tank tipped over and began losing air and sinking downward.
I shouted at the top of my lungs, "Noor, get out of there, it's dangerous! Noooor!"...