Out of all her experiences and trials that she experienced on the new reality of this Drowned World that she faced, this had been one of the most normal and calming. In a sense it reminded Carissa of a standard scientific conference despite the slightly altered attire of most of the individuals.

Scientists were as a breed in her experiences a fairly sociable group, she had personally experienced plenty of attempts of both men and women interested in either connecting with her research or on a more personal level.

This event was no different, a larger than average crowd of random strangers brought together for a single purpose and then divided into groups. Excited, scared or prepared for whatever presentation would take place.

Carissa had decided to try and ignore any attempts at talking to her, she would wait for Mike, Sherry and Chas along with the other man and woman she had met briefly before they had all been told to descend below the surface of the ocean.

The Ocean Gateway System is active once again.

There had been a decent chunk of time where it had been either turned off or rendered inoperable. For Carissa it was more than that, she had simply ignored the fact that it existed.

She had her bone weapon inside her system provided bag and her suit but her brain had simply skipped over them, even the suit had become an afterthought.

The only personal item which belonged to her, the shark tooth necklace she had remembered but it had personal and emotional relevance to her alone.

My brain.

They did something directly to my brain.

Either a form of hypnosis but if they were able to directly access her own genetic structure and simply turn off functions without compromising her immune system and the technological implants deep within her then altering her own perception of reality would be a simple affair.

‘Blessed. Blessed one. Survive and we will meet. Survive.’ came a whispering voice from just behind her ear.

Forcing herself not to flinch or spin around Carissa spoke aloud. She was certain that it was a woman who had just spoken but there had been something in her tone that made her feel uncomfortable. A wariness came over her and deep within her altered brain a trace of her genetic changes warned her of a predator, a direct possible threat.

Dangerous.

Wary.

‘I’m not interested. I’m waiting for friends.’ said Carissa. ‘Back off.’

‘...Good luck with your trials. He is watching over you...’ said the voice as it trailed off.

This time Carissa turned around to find the space behind her vacant except for a group of fellow suited candidates ten metres away from their current position. Several of them talked to each other and pointed towards her shaking their heads.

For all Carissa knew she had simply experienced a waking vision or another hallucination, she wouldn’t be surprised if she had simply been talking aloud to herself and her actions made others hesitate to do so.

Shaking her own head and letting her hair loosen out Carissa raised her own voice pointing at the group who had been clearly discussing her at least in her own opinion.

She’d had enough of being told to stand by herself inside an area filled with people who were conversing. If they thought she was mad then she would act so within reason.

‘Do you like what you’re looking at? You want to see the beautiful lady react when she talks to herself? Why don’t you come over here and talk directly to my face then? Cowards.’ said Carissa.

The large numbers of people around her in the open space began to withdraw further into their own groups. Several of them glanced in her direction but kept their gazes fast and shallow as though to avoid interacting with Carissa or paying her undue attention.

The sensation caused her to experience a mild wave of nausea, if they chose to treat her as a crazy woman who spoke aloud to herself then she’d choose to indulge them a little more.

‘I don’t care if he’s watching over me. I don’t even know who he is? Am I the only person here who wants to question this whole situation? Are the rest of you such passive sea slugs that you like to lay back and be eaten by a wandering crustacean? Weak. YOU HEAR ME? I’M CALLING YOU WEAK!’ began Carissa.

A migraine began to build up behind Carissa’s eyes as a watery series of words flowed directly in front of her field of vision. Her previous practice back in the wooden refuge had come in useful and she was able to shrug off the effect, holding onto the contents of the message while still keeping a decent awareness of her direct surroundings.

[Player-Candidate Number 5428119402.

-Do not provoke other candidates.

-This is your first warning. Further warnings will result in further punishment.]

I’m the only one who reacts with a sense of reality and sanity and the Ocean Gateway System decides to punish my actions.

The sound of approaching footsteps caused Carissa’s attention to come back to her position. Surrounding her was now a large area of pure silence, her actions had done far more than she had originally considered as most of the population of grey suited individuals interspersed with others in different styles of outfits had stopped talking and now looked in her direction.

For better or worse she had the direct attention of the people waiting here. Her position of isolation was going to be a position of strength or weakness depending on how her next few minutes ended up.

The footsteps grew louder and a large form, clearly tall enough to tower over the existing humans stopped in front of Carissa. A shadow formed behind her as an impossible light bloomed into existence behind the figure, partially blinding her vision and making it far harder for her to make out the full features of the individual.

‘Did you call me weak?’ came the voice.

Raising a hand above her eyes Carissa experienced the light behind the figure dim a little. The crowds of people surrounding her stopped all conversation, even murmured, and absolute silence reigned.

A pressure formed over her body and her heartbeat began to increase against her will. If she had experienced a threat before from an unknown figure earlier who had spoken to her as a predator this was on an entirely different scale.

The one who had called her blessed one had come across as a threat but not directed in her presence and not with an imminent sensation of violence.

‘I asked you a question candidate. Did you call me weak?’ came the voice again. This time the voice promised an undertone of action if a response wasn’t provided.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

With both hands above her eyes, Carissa was able to take in the figure before her. Carissa assumed the figure was male given the height, muscle mass and build but the clothing was harder to distinguish. Black and white skintight layers covered the body of the figure with a head that was more of an amalgamation of various types of sharks.

The eyes remained the same but the face gradually shifted itself into different forms until it settled on the face of a human with short cropped hair with a deep unhealed scar on the cheek.

Pale grey skin with red eyes and a mouth full of more sharpened teeth was closed when the figure took a step closer to her. Given the figure towered over her in both height and size Carissa refused to back down and let her own teeth show in response.

Her heartbeat increased even faster and she involuntary placed her other hand on her chest, gripping the grey suit material in an attempt to control her own heart rate and forcefully slow it.

‘No. You didn’t call me weak. Not you. I like you. You’re like me. Not entirely though...nothing a little home-made surgery won’t fix. Ah, I’ve done it again. We can’t interfere yet.’ said the man.

Water began to pool around his feet as the man flashed her a toothy smile, cocked his head to the side and promptly sank down into the floor, with a final wave of his hand the massive figure vanished from her sight only leaving a deep pool of water where he had once stood.

Her heart-rate hadn’t slowed even a little as Carissa gripped tighter with her hand, this wasn’t enough to cause her an anxiety attack but she recognised the signs. Her body was trying to sweat but the second any perspiration appeared on her skin the grey suit absorbed all traces of it.

A hand grabbed onto her shoulder causing Carissa to turn around and this time she raised a hand and twisting on her hip gave out a straight punch before it landed directly in the face of a person who she had had a meal with earlier. The man Direk had tried to move his body at the last movement and Carissa’s punch had landed on the side of his head rather than directly in his face.

Behind him she saw Mike struggling not to laugh with one tanned, calloused hand covering his mouth and Bonnie moving forward quickly to assist Direk in standing back onto his feet.

A look of sheer hatred passed over her face as she pointedly looking in Carissa’s direction.

Chas simply stared in her direction and smiled when he pointed at the deep pool of water that had been left behind her.

He swiftly walked past Carissa and plunged both of his hands deeper until he was up to the elbows of his robe and on both of his knees. He knelt down in supplication as the water rose into the air and began to be absorbed by the fabric of his clothing.

‘The mark of the gods is only left for those truly chosen. You are truly a blessed one. If only you disdain the evil uses of the old ways, you would easily find a sponsor amongst the Drowned Ones. Or you’re just lucky he wasn’t hungry. An interesting question to ask oneself when confronted by the true nature of the divine.’ said Chas.

Mike moved forward with relaxed arms on his side, there was no sign of his usual wooden weapon on his belt.

‘Direk, I told you to stay away from her. She needs to find her own path and way. I understand in a roomful of strangers a familiar face is always welcome but I advise a little bit more distance. Carissa, you need to try and breath through it. Your heart will pound in your chest for a little bit more but just breath as much as you can and it’ll pass. Do you need assistance?’ asked Mike as he gestured with his hands with palms facing up.

‘Ugly cow. She decided to go off on her own and do spirits know what in her spare time. How do we know she isn’t going to snap and attack any of us? Direk, you agree with me, don’t you?’ came the voice of Bonnie.

Walking past Mike, she lifted Direk to her feet keeping her distance from Carissa. The look on her creased face made little difference to Carissa’s emotions. The woman had made her opinions clear when they had shared a meal previously and she’d already experienced enough hatred directed at her back on her home world.

‘I don’t like to be touched.’ said Carissa. ‘Or grabbed by a random man who I barely know. That includes you, Mike. Tolerating it doesn’t mean accepting it.’ said Carissa shaking her head.

She’d be better served ignoring the others and focusing on the immediate situation.

‘I’m fine. Ocean Gods rainfall, I’m fine. Just a little bit shocked that’s all. It’s my fault. Sometimes when you see someone you recognise and you’re surrounded by strangers...no. That was my fault. Sorry. Bonnie, you can let go of me now. Please.’ said Direk as he massaged the side of his face and stood to his feet.

He gently shook off Bonnie’s grip on his arm and turned towards Chas.

‘That...man. Was that one of them? Truly one of them?’ he asked gently.

The pool of water on the floor was entirely drained and the surface beneath didn’t show a single trace of excess moisture.

Chas simply nodded his head as he walked over to Mike and leaned into him, placing a hand on his shoulder and whispering directly into his ear.

The expression on Mike’s face shifted slightly. Carissa was able to tell that it was either revulsion or uncertainty. Either way the emotion was strange on the face of the man who kept his face usually certain and purposeful.

He nodded his head and stood there with Chas, reluctant to speak further.

Focusing, Carissa tried to draw upon the Ocean Gateway System in an attempt to further understand the situation before she saw a flicker in the eyes of Bonnie and Direk. Both of their faces clouded over slightly as she understood that they were receiving their own messages. The faces of Chas and Mike remained the same but they turned towards her with a more serious expression that she was used to.

Despite trying again, there was a gap between her ability to call upon the system and actually willing it into her own personal reality. A small tug on her mind was there but she remained unable to access it.

Instead, she turned her attention towards the other groups inside the Drowned Temple. The ceiling and walls had begun to glow with florescent lighting. She took notice of the figures in armour who stood in their own corners in the room, each one was dressed in similar weapons and equipment to those of their own grouping but distinct from the other groups.

Her eyes paid attention to the particular themes of the figures, they wore ocean themed gear, some were close to crustaceans whilst others were covered in various spines. None of them held weapons in preparedness but wore them on the sides in attached hilts.

The majority of the figures dressed akin to her own outfit made it easier to identify the differences between those who were meant to be player candidates and the armed soldiers or cultists who served the Ocean Gods.

None of the armed figures took any further movement or actions beyond standing and watching over the grey suited individuals in their own groups.

It was then that Carissa noticed the expression on both Chas and Mike’s face had darkened slightly, both of their faces had turned into frowned as they both at the same time bent one knee down to the floor and bowed their heads forwards.

A pain came into Carissa’s mind, not sharp enough to make her cry out but uncomfortable to be physically noticeable. A sound rang through the air, a low monotonous chanting with words which she was unable to identify in a language which was entirely familiar to her.

As she raised a hand to her temple to massage the painful headache a little a movement filled the entire room as every single grey suited player candidate and their minders flicked their heads before in turn as one bent their own knees onto the floor with a thud.

The grey materials of their suit dampening the sound of the slight impact as each one, with unfocused eyes clearly was in the process of viewing messages from the Ocean Gateway System which was presently restricted to Carrisa.

Several seconds later, the pain inside her head deepened as words forced themselves into her mind’s eye. Not made of flowing water but this time with a tint of florescent lighting surrounding them. Carissa read the message as she realised that she was the only player candidate standing except for the armed figures in their ocean sea creature style outfits.

[Player-Candidate Number 5428119402.

-An unknown Ocean God has answered your prayer with the following message.

Copy them. On your knees. Please Carissa. Only once.]

She had never been someone who was interested in following orders or being directed by others, taking her own initiative was her personal preference but she would listen this time, if only to stop the slowly increasing pain that was building inside her head.

Carissa refused to let herself drop and knelt down on one knee placing her hands to the side to steady her movements before kneeling on both knees. She kept her head and gaze paying attention to the crowd of grey suited player candidates who continued to show signs of a message being sent directly into their field of vision.

The chanting carried on until it began to rise in volume and the florescent lights turned off, leaving the entire room in complete darkness.

Unconscious flooded through Carissa as her hands felt water on the floor and she collapsed down onto her side as though a switch in her brain has been deactivated. The last sensation she experienced was the taste of warm water rising onto her face as it continued to rise.