Chris Columbus brought the settlers from the dying old world to this land.
A land abundant with resources, fertile ground, and safety.
He named this new world, which would be the origin of our glorious new era.
"Underrica"
- Prologue, History of Underrica
…
Esther woke up to the deafening national anthem, just like every other morning.
It wasn't that she wanted to wake up this early every day, but the music was loud enough to rouse even the deepest sleepers in the city.
"Damn song," Esther cursed, trying to muffle the sound with a pillow, but she knew it was futile. The song would play for another five rounds.
So, by the third round, she got out of bed and walked to the bathroom, muttering a string of curses.
She showered in three minutes, a record time by most city standards. This was likely due to the city council's water ration of two buckets per day. Esther never complained about this; she preferred to spend her time on other things.
As she was drying her hair, a clear, glass-like melody drifted up from downstairs, signaling that her father was awake.
Arthur Arryn was a man in his late forties with short blond hair (the same color as Esther's). He had a serious face, but his round-framed glasses softened his features. He was a scholar, a researcher, and a historian (as he constantly claimed). Esther always argued that no one could be all of those things expertly. She always thought of her father as more of an antique collector and ancient history enthusiast.
Even though she constantly argued with him, she also admired what he did. Her father knew more about ancient history than anyone else in this city, and she always tried to glean knowledge from him because the stories of the old world were so fascinating to her compared to what happened in the sunless world where they lived.
"Michael Jackson?" Esther asked as she descended the stairs connecting the first and second floors of the house.
Her father was standing in the kitchen, which was just a separate zone in the same room as the living room, the only room on the ground floor of the house. The space between the kitchen and the living room was divided by an antique sofa and a large bookcase crammed with books.
"This is Beethoven, and it's a completely different genre of music, my dear."
Esther smiled. She loved teasing her father in the morning the most.
"I know, I know. I can tell the difference between a guitar and a violin."
"This is the sound of a piano." her father replied as he flipped an egg in the pan. "It's called Moonlight Sonata."
Esther walked through the piles of books and various antiquities that blocked the way throughout the room like a labyrinth to sit at the dining table by the window, thinking that she would have to force her father to reorganize the room.
"Does it even matter what it's called when we don't have a single piano in Underrica?"
Arthur walked out of the kitchen and placed two plates on the table. He also carried two thick sheets of paper.
"That's exactly the point," he said, spreading the first sheet of paper on the table. "I think I've completed the blueprint for building the first piano in the sunless world"
Esther didn't even glance at it as she scooped eggs into her mouth.
"The first classical instrument of the new world?" Her father asked, his eyebrows furrowed, seeing his daughter's lack of reaction.
"You know the President won't allow something like this to be built."
Esther knew that a piano was a large instrument and that it would require a lot of wood to build. Unfortunately, wood was the most valuable resource in the new world, needed for building houses, ships, and various survival equipment. The President was the only one who could authorize its use for building anything, and that something had to do more than just play beautiful melodies.
"And what's that other one?" She pointed her fork at the other sheet of paper, which looked like an envelope her father was still holding under his arm.
"This?" Her father seemed to have completely forgotten about the paper, his surprise evident when she mentioned it. "Work stuff. It's not important."
Esther's disbelief was greater than when he'd unfolded blueprints for some newfangled musical instrument. "You have people who contact you for work?"
"That's rude, Esther. I'm not unemployed." He pointed his fork at her accusingly.
"But I thought you only worked at the museum?" Actually, it was more accurate to say he owned the only museum in the United States of Underrica, since he was the sole employee of the dusty, relic-filled building. And even though he constantly talked about its importance, how it was a place for future generations to learn about the past, besides her, no one else in town seemed to have the time to visit.
Arthur frowned, as if struggling for an answer. "Well, yes… but this is a request for outside consulting work, something like that."
"What kind of work?"
"As a specialist. They've asked me to provide information for an off-site survey."
Esther slammed her cutlery onto the table, startling her father.
"So, you're going out of the city!? When?" I might even get to go with him, She thought excitedly. Leaving Under-DC was something she longed to do whenever the opportunity arose. Plus, she might even get to help her father with his archaeological work.
"Where? Under-New York? New Iowa? Or somewhere on the East Coast?"
Esther stopped talking when she saw her father's troubled expression. "Is something wrong?"
Arthur put his hands to his forehead, seemingly struggling with whether or not to tell her. "I don't think you can come with me on this one."
Esther's only response was a furrowed brow. "Why?"
Arthur moved his right hand from his forehead and began tapping rhythmically on the table, looking up at the ceiling.
He licked his lips before beginning, "I'm not sure if I should tell you…"
Esther stood up, grabbing her half-eaten plate, trying to feign indifference. "Oh, okay then."
"O…Okay then?" Arthur was stunned. This was unusual. This was far too unlike the persistent Esther. "Isn't that a little too easy?"
"Why are you talking like I'm some annoying, persistent brat?" Esther asked as she walked past her father towards the kitchen.
"Remember when you pestered me for a month to see the shipwreck at New Mexico Bay?" Arthur trailed off, hearing the rustle of paper from the kitchen. That's when he realized the envelope was no longer under his arm.
"Esther!!" Arthur yelled angrily as he walked towards the kitchen, but it was too late. Esther had already finished reading the letter. Her eyes widened at its contents.
"Undersea exploration!?" Esther exclaimed in disbelief as her father snatched the letter back. "And it's a request from the President himself!?"
Arthur clicked his tongue in annoyance, outmaneuvered by his daughter once again. "Yes, I'm also surprised that Cornelius decided to do something like this."
It was well known that for the past ten years, the President of the United States of Underrica, John Cornelius, had focused his policies on urban expansion by digging tunnels to increase living space and to find oil and iron ore resources. Part of this might have been to compete with the New Soviet Union, but that was likely the main reason he had never approved any other projects. Therefore, Esther was very surprised to learn that her president had authorized a project requiring vast resources like undersea exploration.
"What do they want? There shouldn't be anything useful under the sea, right?"
Her father shrugged instead of saying he didn't know. "Probably an oil field, or maybe an undersea mineral deposit?"
Esther touched her chin with her right thumb, a habit she had when thinking. "But undersea oil fields require a lot of steel to build drilling platforms, and even now our country only has two in New Alaska. And undersea mining requires divers, which requires oxygen, and that requires a surface base, which is overall more expensive than an oil rig..."
"And that means..." her father picked up the train of thought. Esther smiled, knowing that meant her father was no longer angry about the letter.
"Ancient ruins!!" Father and daughter finished the sentence with the same answer they both had in mind.
"I bet it's the wreck of the USS Iowa!" Esther spoke of the legendary first submarine that brought all the Underricans to this lightless land.
Arthur frowned. He never liked the idea that the USS Iowa actually existed. "But I think it's more likely to be some old underwater research base."
"Oh, Dad, that's such a boring imagination." Esther teased, seeing that her father was no longer angry, but it seemed she had made a mistake when her father frowned at her again.
"Don't try to sweet-talk me, Esther. I can't take you. The contents of that letter are confidential enough as it is. Besides, this is a government project, not a freelance job, and it's certainly not a vacation. Do you understand?"
Esther tried to put on a sad face to garner sympathy. "Can't you at least ask for me? After all, a deep-sea exploration project will definitely need a large ship. I'm sure they'll have room for the city's resident assistant archaeologist." She knew her father liked being called an archaeologist, so she didn't forget to slip it into the sentence.
"Fine, I'll ask for you," Arthur said, sighing in defeat.
Esther smiled sweetly as she hugged her father. "I love you the most!"
"Only right now," Arthur said, rolling his eyes. "Now hurry up and go to school, or you'll be late."
Esther pulled away from her father and grabbed her bag from the hook by the door.
"Don't worry, I'm always top of the class every year." She wasn't boasting. The knowledge she absorbed from her father and her constant love of reading made her smarter than the other children in her class.
And that was one of the reasons she was skipping school today.
The top-secret letter she stole from her father to read stated that there would be a secret meeting to discuss the details of this exploration mission at noon.
The top-secret letter she stole from her father stated that there would be a secret meeting at noon today to brief everyone on the details of this exploration mission.
So today, Esther had somewhere she needed to be.
…
Under DC is located in a massive cavern, approximately 2,000 square kilometers in size, with a current population of around 5,000 people. Most of these are immigrants from other cities in the United States of Underrica.
In addition to being a large cavern, the ceiling is also very high, requiring the government to install a massive number of glowing mushroom lamps on the stalactites and stalagmites protruding from the cavern walls. However, this doesn't provide enough light. They also have to install electric lamps, powered by coal, and torches that require a huge amount of labor to replace the fuel and keep them lit every morning. But it's a job the president has to specifically allocate funds for, on the grounds that the grand capital of the United States of Underrica shouldn't be shrouded in the same dimness as other border cities.
Most homes and buildings were constructed of wood, formed into simple rectangular shapes, and stacked haphazardly upon one another. Each house was connected by wooden bridges or natural limestone paths, while those perched on the second or third stories were linked by suspension bridges. It was a city utterly devoid of any organized urban planning.
The exception was the city center, where a massive stalagmite jutted from the ground. Carved into a symmetrical pentagon and hollowed out, it served as the central building for the United States government, including the presidential residence. The surrounding houses and buildings were arranged neatly around this stalagmite.
It was called the Pentagon, the heart of governance for the United States of Underrica, and Esther was walking directly towards it.
Her father's letter contained no details about the journey other than the fact that it would be an underwater exploration. The paper only mentioned the meeting point for the mission briefing and the exploration destination, and that meeting point was the pentagonal building in the city center.
Her father had never been summoned by the President before, let alone set foot in that building. It was said to be the most secure location in the lightless world. This made Esther determined to find out what her father's exploration mission was all about.
Esther walked through the massive crowds moving in opposite directions in the commercial district. Both sides of the street were filled with shops selling various goods, from fresh fish, vegetables, and mushrooms to ammunition and strange nautical equipment.
'If I'm going in there, I need a plan,' Esther thought to herself as she quickened her pace past the persistent merchants trying to foist anglerfish with still-blinking lamps upon her.
She abruptly changed course when she saw that the road ahead was jammed with barely moving carriages, meaning the morning traffic was extremely heavy. So, Esther climbed the rope ladder of a nearby building while deciding to use the cable car, which had a station conveniently close by.
She decided to get off at the nearby Arlington station, partly to avoid attracting attention, but actually, she had something essential for entering the Pentagon there.
She climbed down from the cable car and dropped cents into the fare box before climbing down from the station onto the wide plaza in front of the Arlington Museum, her father's workplace. Around the museum was a moss-covered lawn, part of the park surrounding the museum, and at this morning hour, it was almost deserted.
'As if anyone normally comes here,' Esther shook her head as she unlocked the wooden building, part of which leaned against a large stalagmite.
Esther's footsteps echoed against the marble tile as she walked into the reception hall. The first thing that greeted her was a stalagmite sculpture of Chris Columbus, the first president and founder of this Underrica.
Legend has it that Columbus arrived with the first settlers on the submarine USS Iowa, the only vessel to survive the war that brought down Old Underrica. However, this detail has never been clearly stated. Some say Columbus fled the war, while others claim he came from another country, like the old Soviet Union.
The most mysterious part of this legend is that no one has ever found the USS Iowa that Columbus used to travel to Underrica. Many believe it was heavily damaged upon arrival in the new world and was sunk after completing its mission. Yet, no one has ever discovered its wreckage.
"I will find your ship," Esther declared to the sculpture. Her voice echoed in the high-ceilinged hall, making it sound more powerful than it was. She often imagined it was like the rallying cry of an explorer before a major expedition.
And amidst that echo, Esther heard another sound from behind her.
"Do you want to be an explorer?" The voice was smooth and husky. Esther turned to face the speaker, who was standing at the museum's threshold, startled.
The owner of the voice was a young man in his late twenties. He had a sharp face with dull gray eyes and wavy hair. He wore a black vest with ripped jeans and a blood-red scarf around his neck.
Esther unconsciously stepped back. Something in the man's eyes made her feel a chill down her spine.
"Who are you? The museum isn't open yet."
The man looked at her silently without saying anything, as if assessing her. And that made her feel inexplicably uncomfortable.
"Holland," was what he said after those uncomfortable few seconds.
"H...huh?"
"My name is Holland. I'd like to see the museum." He glanced at the statue of Columbus.
Esther wasn't just surprised to have her first customer of the year, but she also felt an inexplicable fear of the young man in front of her, perhaps because of his death-like gaze.
"The museum isn't open yet. I'm sorry, but I'll have to ask you to come back at nine o'clock." Esther tried to end the conversation as quickly as possible as she turned her back on the stranger and walked towards the staff room.
"This is important. It's necessary for my journey, and I don't have much time to prepare." These flatly spoken words stopped Esther in her tracks and she turned to face the stranger once more.
"Are you an explorer?"
The man, who called himself Holland, shrugged as if it wasn't important. "Just a former navy man, but now 'traveler' would be more fitting."
Esther had met people like this before, mostly around the docks. When long-distance ships carrying goods from Saipan or China docked, she would often go to the port with her father, looking for valuable antiques to buy for the museum. And while her father negotiated prices, she would often look for talkative sailors or travelers who were willing to share their travel stories. But most of the stories these talkative people told were often exaggerated tales closer to fairy tales.
She discovered that asking these kinds of questions to travelers who seemed reluctant to share their stories yielded more interesting tales, especially those with empty eyes as if they had seen the most terrifying things.
And the stories she heard were often just as terrifying: tales of giant sea monsters, unmanned warships that continued to sail on their own, or mundane things like food shortages on submarines where the crew resorted to cannibalism.
And the man in front of her seemed to be the latter type of traveler.
Esther began to weigh whether it would be more worthwhile to go to the Pentagon or to give this stranger a tour and ask him about his travels.
'But there are still two hours before Father comes here, and he won't go to the Pentagon until noon.' Esther's early awakening gave her more free time than she thought, and that helped her make up her mind.
Alright, but I'll tell you beforehand that I'm just an assistant archaeologist who takes care of this place. So, some of the information I give during the tour might be incorrect. I apologize in advance."
Holland shrugged again. This time, Esther began to think that his indifference was more akin to boredom.
"Then follow me this way." Esther began to lead the visitor into the exhibition area, which was carved into a large stalagmite behind the main hall, a wooden extension of the building. Esther opened the door to the first room, which had a brass plate with beautifully engraved letters that read 'Sunless World'.
"We'll start with the most basic part of the exhibition, but you can skip it if you want?" Esther opened the door to the room when Holland didn't answer.
Inside was a simple rectangular room. The walls were covered with topographical maps of the entire sunless world. In the center of the room was a long table with a model displaying the locations of cities and territories of various countries.
"As you probably already know, the sunless world is a network of massive interconnected caves. Currently, we still don't know the boundaries of these tunnels, including their depth. We only know that Alaska is the city at the westernmost edge of the map, and the Saipan Islands are the country at the easternmost edge." Esther pointed to two pins representing the two locations.
"The northernmost point is the New Soviet Union, and the southernmost is New Africa. This doesn't even include the numerous small countries and cities that aren't on the map. Frankly, all the maps we have are incomplete, and there are still many blank spaces waiting to be filled by explorers like you."
The entire time Esther was explaining the map, Holland only looked at the canvas on the table.
"Is there something wrong with the map, Mister Holland?"
Holland looked up at Esther for the first time since entering the room. His expression still seemed bored as he asked, "Is this a government map?"
Esther furrowed her brows in suspicion. Why do you want to know? "No, I started making this map when I was 14, gathering information from travelers who docked here."
Holland furrowed his brows in surprise, the first expression he had shown since entering the museum.
"How do you know that the Aztec Empire is south of Egypt?" he said, pointing to a blue pin on the table.
"Most travelers say that New Cairo is the only capital city in the southernmost part of the sunless world, which is true because the Aztec Empire doesn't have a capital. And according to the latest African exploration unit, they all agree that the Aztecs have started new colonies south of New Cairo. So I updated the map from the original government version."
"And how do you know that Saipan has 7 islands?"
Most travelers don't agree, but most say there are about 5-8 islands. So I estimated based on the size of the existing islands and the size of the surrounding cave halls. So it might not be accurate. I'm only 60-70 percent sure."
"And what about New Chernobyl?"
"I named it myself. Several Russian travelers mentioned a new mineral excavation site that forced the New Soviet Union to secretly establish a city to build a drilling platform there. But travelers who have sailed past also mentioned lights from an area where there shouldn't be a city. So it's reasonably credible."
After that, Holland continued to ask a long series of questions about the cities and territories on the map, which started to annoy Esther.
"Do you have any more questions?" Esther asked impatiently after about ten questions.
Holland looked like he wanted to ask more, but then changed his mind.
"No, not anymore. Take me to the next section."
The two then walked out of that room to the next section of the museum, which was the technology section of the sunless world.
"This section is the one that cost a huge amount of money because we had to buy various parts from merchants. But the government donated some things to us, which are mostly broken weapons or parts of decommissioned submarines," Esther said as she opened the door to a large hall surrounded by various mechanical devices placed on display stands with nameplates underneath.
"This is a Mark 7 torpedo, which is the standard torpedo of the US military. But even though I say that, we have less than a hundred of them currently." That was a sad truth. Like most submarines in the sunless world, these technologies could not yet be recreated. Both the submarines and most of the weapons were legacies left by those who migrated to this land. There was no doubt about their high value in this land of water-filled cavern.
"Did you just guess that number?"
"A standard submarine we have can carry around 25-30 torpedoes per vessel. And when Columbus arrived in Underrica, he brought 5 submarines with him, with another 4 joining later. So, I estimated based on the ammunition capacity of 9 submarines, give or take a bit, plus the size of the transport compartment, and then subtracted the ships sunk in the two wars with the Soviets. Simply put, it's just an estimate." Submarines were Esther's biggest obsession. She even memorized the names of all the ships that the USS Iowa supposedly sank in battle.
"And this," Esther led Holland to a large wooden model of a battleship that sat in the middle of the room.
"This is the last battleship of the sunless world, the Yamato. Currently located in the Saipan archipelago, it's said to be a ship from the Old World, one of only two that arrived here and the only one that remains to this day. This ship is the sole reason Saipan has been able to resist Soviet invasion until now. Its cannons can sink destroyers and armored warships in a single direct hit, and its armor is so thick that ordinary cannons can't penetrate it. It's one of the reasons why Saipan is a major power in the Eastern Sea." Esther stopped talking when she saw Holland's expression.
It was the expression of someone who might be furious, yet at the same time, seemed to be grieving over something.
"Is something wrong?"
Holland turned around as if he had just heard her voice for the first time.
"It's nothing. Let's continue."
…
Esther showed Holland the exhibits on technology, the cultures of various countries, and deep-sea creatures (most of which were just pencil sketches by Esther herself). During this time, he asked one question about everything Esther showed him.
He asked about how to assemble a synthetic torpedo after Esther showed him a model she had made herself. He asked about the components of a submarine reactor engine. He asked about the hunting patterns of killer whales. He asked about the survival methods of the Inuit people in Alaska.
Although at first Esther was annoyed by this excessive questioning, after a while she found it felt good to share the knowledge she had accumulated with this first museum visitor in years. It made her feel like a real archaeologist and felt good to find someone who was interested in the past and the many stories that came with learning about it, unlike everyone she knew in Under-DC who just lived in the present and tried to survive day by day.
"Thank you so much for visiting our museum," Esther told Holland after they both returned to the statue of Columbus at the entrance hall.
"I should be the one thanking you. I've learned a lot of new things," Holland replied with the same indifferent and world-weary expression he had when he first arrived, before turning and walking back towards the exit.
"I hope it will be useful for your journey."
Holland didn't reply until he reached the exit, then spoke without turning back, "It's immensely useful."
Esther watched until the museum doors closed behind Holland before sighing tiredly.
"Dad's going to be surprised."
While thinking about that, she glanced at the clock.
And found that it was almost noon.
"Oh shit!"
She quickly ran into the staff room and rummaged through her father's drawers, before pulling out an employee ID card and a small photograph.
"Please let me make it in time," Esther stuffed everything into her school bag and hurried out of the museum.
…
The Pentagon is the center of Under-DC City, not just because it's located at the city's geographical center, but because the entire city was planned and built around this pentagonal building. Despite being the center, it's an area with very little foot traffic. This is partly because the surrounding area is occupied by government buildings, housing various ministries, including Construction, Exploration, the Diplomatic Corps, and, occupying the largest area, the Ministry of Security. These buildings take up so much space that the Pentagon is quite far from residential areas. One reason for this design might be to separate insiders from outsiders, a strategy for maintaining security and preventing information leaks, as well as infiltration by Soviet spies.
Because the route to the Pentagon wasn't a main thoroughfare, Esther didn't have to wait in line for the cable car. This allowed her to arrive at the front of the pentagonal building in just half an hour from the museum.
"Seems like I'm still on time," Esther murmured to herself as she stood in front of the Pentagon's entrance gate.
Her next problem was finding a way past security to get inside. She had a plan for that, although she wasn't sure it would work. But for her, this risk was worth taking.
Esther cleared her throat and walked straight towards the guard post in front of the Pentagon's iron fence, trying to appear as confident as possible.
At the post, two soldiers in green camouflage uniforms, holding standard army machine guns, were sitting and smoking. Both stood up when they saw Esther approaching.
"Stop right there, little girl." One of them held out his hand, signaling her to halt.
"I need to get inside. This is urgent," Esther tried to speak as smoothly and urgently as possible to convey the importance of the matter.
"Oh really? What business do you have at the Pentagon? I don't recall us having a children's tour today," the other guard said with a smirk.
Esther frowned. She truly hated it when people treated her like a child, even though she actually was one.
"I'm the assistant of Arthur Arryn, a scholar attending the top-secret meeting here. I don't think people of your level should know the details, but try asking your superiors if the meeting and the name Arthur Arryn mean anything to them." Esther showed the guards her father's museum ID card. This was the first bargaining chip in her hand. The information she gave was true, and even though she wasn't invited, confirming this information should give her enough credibility.
The two guards looked at each other uncertainly.
"Arthur Arryn arrived here just an hour ago, but he didn't mention anything about his assistant?"
Esther cursed inwardly. If she hadn't wasted time showing Holland around the museum, she would have arrived here before her father.
"Mister Arthur forgot some important information for the meeting, and it's my duty as his assistant to deliver it to him personally," Esther carefully adjusted her story to make it as believable as possible.
"Then give us the information. We'll deliver it to him ourselves," the first guard insisted, almost making Esther give up. But she wanted to try her last resort first.
"This information is top secret and needs to be reported directly to the President. I have been ordered not to let this information leak. You can escort me to confirm this, but if you still refuse to let me in, the President will definitely want to know why you prevented this crucial information from reaching him." Esther pressed, adding a threat, which was pure bluff. She didn't have any such crucial information, and frankly, she hadn't even planned what to do after getting past this point.
"Wait here." It worked. One of the guards walked back to use his radio to contact someone inside. After three minutes, he returned and opened the gate for Esther, pointing his gun as a gesture for her to lead the way.
Esther tried her best to contain her excitement as she led the guard towards the entrance of the giant white stalagmite known as the Pentagon.
Past the large, beautifully carved wooden doors depicting the Underrica national flag, was a large hall with a statue of Columbus in the center. Two branching paths led to hallways extending around the building. At the far end of the hall were several wooden doors, and in each corner of the room, spiral staircases led to the upper balconies. Each side of the balconies had marble pillars carved with patterns Esther didn't recognize.
Esther looked up at the ceiling and found it was also carved into a highly detailed map of a country.
"This way," the guard interrupted Esther's astonishment as he led her deeper into the hall and opened the leftmost wooden door.
Esther found herself in a long, white hallway lit by lamps along the way. The hallway was so long she could barely see the door at the other end.
Both sides of the corridor were lined with doors, and occasionally the corridor branched off into intersections that looked identical to the one she was currently walking down.
Esther followed the guard past numerous doors, trying to read the names on them. Most indicated the occupant's position or the room's purpose: radio room, storage room, supply depot, meeting room number 7, or 24, or 12. She'd lost count of how many meeting rooms they'd passed. After turning through five identical-looking corridors, she was certain she'd never find her way out alone without getting lost.
Occasionally, they would pass Pentagon personnel, but these people always hurried past, paying little attention to Esther and the guard.
Esther had imagined the inside of the Pentagon in many ways, but never as this maze of corridors and doors. She wondered how people worked here without getting lost.
After the eighth turn, they reached a staircase leading to an upper hallway that looked exactly like the one below.
Esther stopped paying attention to the signs on the doors, the maps, or the people around her. In fact, she had started counting sheep in her head to pass the time when the guard stopped in front of a door that looked no different from any other.
'Meeting Room 0' the sign on the door read.
Esther swallowed as the guard opened the door and gestured for her to enter.
Meeting Room Zero was a simple rectangular room, three times the size of the ground floor of Esther's house. Almost the entire room was occupied by a long, U-shaped wooden table surrounding a platform in the center. Behind the platform, a large board displayed a rough map of Underrica. About twenty people sat behind the wooden table, and Esther realized the man speaking heatedly on the platform was her father.
"I told you it's impossible. At that depth, there's no way anything could live. Let alone humans, not even a single fish could survive down there," her father explained exasperatedly.
"But it happened, Arthur. That's why we're here, to find answers." Esther turned to the speaker, who sat at the head of the table, and realized he was the current president of the United States of Underrica, John Cornelius.
"I'd like to know what makes you think that, Cornelius, because it makes no sense that…" Her father stopped mid-sentence when he noticed Esther for the first time, and that caused everyone in the meeting room to turn and look at her simultaneously.
"Uh, hi dad…" Esther couldn't think of anything else to say.
"What are you doing here?" Arthur looked bewildered to see his daughter in the Pentagon's top-secret meeting room.
"Who is this child?" John Cornelius frowned suspiciously as he asked her father.
"This child says she is your assistant, Mister Arthur, and she has top-secret information to deliver to you, sir," the guard said on Esther's behalf, who stood scratching her head awkwardly, having become the center of attention in the meeting room.
"She's an assistant at my museum. She's my daughter. But top-secret information? What… Wait a minute, this is your plan, isn't it?!" Arthur's suspicion turned to anger when he realized that Esther's stubbornness was behind her presence here.
"It's because you wouldn't let me go! Even though I've helped you with every exploration up until now!"
"This is not like the previous explorations! And this is not the time to talk about this!" Arthur said exasperatedly before turning to the president.
"I apologize. My daughter is quite stubborn and always go on expeditions with me, but I didn't think she would go this far this time."
John Cornelius waved his hand dismissively. "I like you. You have a real adventurous spirit, something rare in other children your age in this city. But your father is right. This expedition is too dangerous for a child like you to participate in. I hope you understand," he said gently to Esther.
"But I can be useful to this expedition! My knowledge is comparable to my father's, and I'm confident I can handle the hardships of the journey!" Esther tried to reason with him. And it was true that she was probably the second most knowledgeable scholar in the city, after her father.
"Stop being stubborn. A girl like you should focus on your studies. There's no place for you on this journey. Listen to your father and go home. We've wasted enough time." The large, burly man with a crew cut, a clear indication of his military background, who sat beside the president, spoke curtly, wanting to end the conversation and return to their meeting.
"Come on, Hector. There's no need to talk to a child like that," John chided the man sitting next to him.
"Stop being so soft, Cornelius. You understand how important and dangerous this journey is, and there's no room for children," the man named Hector replied to Cornelius without even looking at Esther.
"But…" Esther tried to reason, but Hector simply waved her off and ordered the guards,
"Take her away. She's of no use to us on this journey."
Esther lowered her head in disappointment as the guards gripped her shoulders, turning her towards the door.
Just then, a calm voice spoke up.
"But I think she will be important to us on this journey."
Everyone in the room turned to look at the owner of the voice, including Esther, who was most familiar with that world-weary tone.
"What do you mean, Captain Holland?" Hector asked the gray-haired man sitting on the other side of the table.
And that man looked exactly like the traveler with the blood-red scarf whom Esther had shown around the museum.
"I believe she is skilled enough as a scholar, archaeologist, and geographer to assist Mister Arthur on this journey." He still spoke in the same world-weary tone as he had at the museum, and that seemed to irritate those around him, especially Hector.
"You talk as if you know her. She's just a child!" Hector retorted, his voice filled with irritation.
"I visited her museum before coming here, Commander Hector. I must say, she knows the location of almost every city in the sunless world. She knows the history and culture of almost every civilization we are aware of. She even knows the workings of the submarine's engine mechanisms, including the weaponry your forces use. She correctly assembled a model of the synthetic torpedo you utilize. And I don't think even you know as much about naval war history as she does."
Hector and Esther both blushed, but one from anger at being insulted, while the other from embarrassment at being praised in front of the entire meeting room.
"You're thinking of taking a child on board, Holland!? That's pure madness!"
Holland's expression barely changed.
"You are the commander of the troops on board, while I am the captain of the submarine you will be using. Therefore, I have the right to choose my crew." He turned to Esther for the first time after finishing his sentence.
"Of course, it is entirely her decision whether she can handle the risks, dangers, and hardships that will arise during the journey. But I insist that she hear the details of this mission before making a decision."
The room fell silent after Holland finished speaking. Arthur's face was a mixture of confusion and disbelief. John Cornelius looked at Esther with astonishment, while Hector simply glared at Holland with animosity.
Esther was overjoyed that someone recognized her abilities without dismissing her as a child. More importantly, she was given the opportunity to decide whether to participate in the country's top-secret exploration.
"What is the objective of the exploration?" Esther asked the question she was most curious about.
John Cornelius's expression suggested he was weighing whether or not to tell her.
"What I'm about to say is top secret and cannot be divulged. We absolutely cannot let the Soviets get this information. Do you understand?" he asked her.
Esther nodded firmly.
"Are you really going to tell her?" Hector asked incredulously.
"If she decides not to participate after hearing the details of the mission, we will send soldiers to keep an eye on her until the exploration is complete. Are you okay with that?" the president asked for confirmation. Esther nodded firmly again, while her father put his hand to his head with a resigned expression.
"Then let's continue. Our mission is deep-sea exploration. How familiar are you with the abyss?" Holland turned to ask Esther.
"It's a depth of more than 5,000 meters," Esther replied as if reciting from memory.
Holland nodded in satisfaction before continuing.
"We believe there is life in the abyss, and there's a high possibility that humans live there."
Esther was stunned by the information. "But that's..."
"Impossible. You sound just like your father," the president finished Esther's sentence before winking at Arthur.
"Because it really is impossible. Not to mention light or air, at that depth, even whales struggle to survive. If there were humans at that depth, they would be crushed by the pressure of the water." It seemed this was the point her father was arguing when Esther interrupted.
"Please hear me out before you decide on that," John Cornelius replied calmly before continuing, seeing that everyone in the room had fallen silent.
"At New Alaska, drilling deep beneath the ice sheet for new oil sources began under my orders. They drilled down 3,000 meters from ground level without finding anything, before trying to drill even deeper..."
Cornelius paused, placing both hands together on the table before continuing.
"When they reached a depth of 5,000 meters from the surface, their drilling machine malfunctioned. It stopped penetrating the ice. At first, they thought the drill was broken, so they pulled it up for inspection and found it was working perfectly. They then realized they had encountered a large cavity at a depth of 5,000 meters. So, they sent down a sonar scanner and discovered it wasn't a cavity, but the end of the ice sheet. And below that was a sea beneath the ice. At that time, they thought it was close to the cave floor, like the other points they had drilled, so they sent down a small, remotely operated submarine with a camera to check how much deeper the cave floor was... but they didn't find it. They didn't find the cave floor no matter how deep they went. Until, at a depth of 6,000 meters from the surface, which was the maximum depth the submarine could reach, they found something."
Everyone in the room was silent. Esther felt a strange mix of emotions within herself: curiosity, wonder, and one emotion that seeped up from the deepest part of her being – fear. Fear of something unknown and inexplicable. She believed everyone in the room felt the same while listening to the story of this mysterious discovery.
Fear of the unknown…
"Did they find anything?" Arthur asked impatiently.
John Cornelius cleared his throat awkwardly before continuing.
"Their camera didn't find anything. There's nothing at that depth but darkness."
"And then?" The president raised a hand to cut off her father's question as if to tell him to listen to the end first.
"It so happened that the camera on that ship had a sound recording system. When they brought it up for inspection, they thought it was a sound coming from the city. But when they listened carefully, they found that it was a sound they had never heard before."
The president picked up a square box about the size of a piece of paper that was on the table and took something out of it before dropping it into a large device with a funnel on top, which Esther knew was a tape player from reading a book introducing technology from the old world.
"This is that sound," the president said as he pressed the play button.
A clicking sound was heard, along with a scraping sound and a sound like chalk scraping on a blackboard. After that, it was silent, but Esther knew it was a sound from the submarine because the sound of bursting air bubbles intermittently interrupted.
There was no sound in the room except for the machine for about five minutes, but to Esther, it felt like hours. It was the longest and most suspenseful five minutes of her life.
"What did they find?" she whispered, barely audible even to herself.
And as if in answer to her question, she heard something. Something that wasn't the sound of water and bubbles.
Something that could never exist at that depth.
Esther felt the temperature in the room drop several degrees. When she looked at her father's face, she knew she was wearing the same expression.
Not an expression of joy.
Not even the look of surprised discovery.
It was the look of fear.
Because Esther was certain she had heard the sound currently emanating from the machine before.
To be precise, she had just heard it this morning.
The sound of a musical instrument that no longer existed in this sunless world.
But it was coming from the deepest point known to mankind.
The Sound of Piano's key playing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.