To try to calm his rising blood pressure, Victor sat upon a small metal chair. It was not very comfy but apart from the bed or the floor, his only choice. His hands reached into his pockets and removed the most high-tech thing within 100 kilometres, a small tablet with instructions on everything he would need to know for the next 8 months. It really is a bad sign that I don't consider The Tin Can the most advanced thing, he idly thought to himself. Going through tab after tab he saw everything deemed important enough he should know about - overall a lot less than he wanted but more than he expected considering his, how to put it, rough recruitment process. A tab caught his eye. Simply labelled 'Mission Trench', it held an overview of his goals in the depths. It had been drilled into him for weeks before he was welded shut into the sub, but he once again read it.
Mission Trench - Collect samples from deep ocean trenches as well as their occupants. These samples shall be processed via the onboard analysis machine, and either contained and released back to the surface in Secure Buoyancy Capsules (SBCs) or returned into the ocean where found. A thorough record of all substances and results will be maintained, as well as a record of any and all unknown observations from samples or the trenches. Any assigned researcher is responsible for the close following of these instructions, as well as the maintenance of the Submarine and its equipment. If no samples are found within a 10-day period of first reaching the trench, or if 15 consecutive days without samples have passed, the submarine shall attempt to surface. Good luck.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
It was a very lacklustre briefing. No mention of what they were looking for or why they had to look so far below the waves to find it. Victor could only sigh now; before the 'training' he would've ground his teeth - now that frustration was replaced with tiredness and resignation. He knew that Anna had found something and that something was what had caused all this. If what he was searching for was the same thing she found, which wasn't a very hard leap to make, he guessed that just maybe he'd get a few more answers. Another puzzle piece to try to fill in the gaps. But for now, he could only wait while the water buried him deeper and deeper.