"The Poseidon Project" by B. W. Byers | CLANCYPASTA

[00:00:00] Day 1

[00:00:30] The Multi-Beam Sonar My depth is 8,487 meters below sea level. My job is to make sure that the Oceanos Elevator is properly welded and secured to Atlantis. That's what the new attraction is called. After the tragedy of June 2023, the world's deep-sea scientists wanted to assure us that the ocean isn't something to fear, but rather it's something to be conquered.

[00:00:56] So, Earth's greatest minds at NASA, ESA , CNSA , and RFSA , abandoned space as the final frontier. We all shifted our focus to the ocean. The plan is to open up a hotel at, quote, the bottom of the ocean, where people of all classes can go to enjoy.

[00:01:22] Of course, if you can't afford a ticket, you can always volunteer to work there for a week. Once your shift is over, you also get to enjoy all the amenities of Atlantis. Those of us who worked on the construction have been promised free entry for life as a gift of appreciation for our labor. Of course, me being a poor youper with welding experience, I jumped on that opportunity. I've always had a fascination with the ocean. I couldn't be more excited for this opportunity.

[00:01:51] I'll check back in tomorrow to fill you in on my day. Day 2. I started the welding job. Man, is it creepy out there. I never realized just how big anglerfish were until one suddenly appeared in front of me. God really did forget about the depths, didn't he? That's the only explanation I can give for just how ugly these things are. Anyways, I was only able to work for a couple hours due to the intense pressure.

[00:02:17] The corporation gave me a specialized armored suit they call 4 size. That's designed to keep me safe, but I was told that it can only handle the pressure for 5 hours at a time, so I should only work for 2 hours for my own health and well-being. The best part about this is that I'm on the clock 24-7 down here, and at $200 an hour, I'm not about to complain. The only oddities I've run into were strange creaking and groaning sounds.

[00:02:44] My boss told me it's just the oceanus and Atlantis itself shifting in the depths. That seems to check out. I have no idea what sounds a massive 1,520,000 square foot complex can make under 16,000 PSI. Other than that, it was just a completely boring day. I'm just glad they gave me an ethernet cable so I can watch Netflix. See you tomorrow! Day 3. Day 3.

[00:03:15] Something happened last night. I'm not sure how to explain it. In Triton, there are no windows. That would be a point of weakness on the vessel. There is a screen in here that has 4 smaller screens like 4 player Halo on the 360. Outside of Triton, there are 4 cameras. One bow, one stern, one port, and one starboard. It was the starboard camera that I took interest in. That's the camera that points at Atlantis.

[00:03:42] I swear I saw the lights on the outside of Atlantis flickering on and off. That's not supposed to happen because Atlantis hasn't been connected to the grid yet. That's the last part of my job. After I'm done welding, I'm supposed to connect the main power from Atlantis to Okeanos. They kept flickering in the same pattern. I've written it down as Morse code and I will also translate it.

[00:04:08] I see you and… And… And… You… See… Me… Thankfully, my higher-ups gave me a Morse code translation book. I've informed them of this strange message via the ethernet cable, but they assure me that I must be hallucinating. A common side effect of breathing Heliox, a mixture of helium and oxygen.

[00:04:36] They affirm to me that this is impossible because of the lack of power connection that I mentioned before. I'm not too sure, though. I've never hallucinated before, but this feels way too real. I think there's someone trying to communicate with me. I'm not sure why and I'm not sure how, but something is not right. Anyways, I got some welding to do. I'll check back in tomorrow. Day 4

[00:05:06] I didn't sleep well last night. The flickering lights kept me awake. I turned the screen off, but I could ever so slightly hear the flickering of breakers thrumming through the abyss. The pattern was the same, constantly ticking away, only stopping for a few seconds to start over. And then I heard a metallic thunk on the side of the triton. At first, I thought it was just another anglerfish running into the invading object.

[00:05:33] After all, I'm in their home, not them in mine. That happens from time to time, but not nearly this loud. The vibrations shook the capsule and nearly knocked me out of my bunk. I quickly turned the screens back on to see what could have caused such a commotion. Silently, I watched the cameras. The lights were still flickering in the same pattern. I watched the screens like an iPad addicted child, but saw nothing.

[00:06:00] The only thing that shook me from my trance was a deep gasping breath that I took. I had forgotten to breathe. Since I saw nothing, I turned the cameras back off. After I laid back down in my bunk, I heard the thunk again. Then another. Then another. And suddenly and without warning, the thunk turned into gentle tapping, tinking away just outside, positioned nearest my head.

[00:06:29] It was the same pattern as the lights. I see you. And can you see me? Whatever was out there was hell-bent on getting my attention. I didn't sleep all the way up to my welding shift. When it was time, I turned the screen back on, checked my surroundings, and suited up for the job.

[00:06:55] When I exited the airlock and made my way over to Okeanos, I closely observed my environment. I saw a bunch of little glowing white orbs. Anglerfish by the millions had surrounded me on all sides, their Esca blinking in unison. The same message that has been haunting me. That was when the creaking and groaning sounds from day two came back. Only this time, they were constant.

[00:07:23] These sounds were not the sound of metal shifting under pressure. These sounds were organic. On the arm of my four-size suit, there's a button for safety. When pushed, it sends out sonar waves that are designed to be unpleasant for any wildlife that may be down here. I pressed it. All the anglerfish stopped blinking. The groaning stopped. And I finished my job for the day. At this rate, I'll be down here for a full month.

[00:07:52] I'm not sure I can do this anymore. I informed my higher-ups about all that had happened today, and they promised me that all this was just in my head and due to natural causes. I'm not sure anymore. I'm gonna turn in for the night. Check back in tomorrow. Day five. I'm going into Atlantis today. My higher-ups have finally taken my concerns seriously. The captain has given me clearance to enter and reassess the electric work.

[00:08:22] Her working theory is that there's some fuses on the fritz or something. Another theory was that perhaps someone from the building crew is somehow stranded and trying to call me for help. That seemed unlikely, because Atlantis has been completed for two months now. I'm not so sure. I think one of the other foreign nations who are not on board with our project have been spying on us. When we first announced our coalition of nations, codenamed Oceania, there were many nations

[00:08:51] who were opposed to us. Israel, for example, made claims that this was an elaborate ruse to harm them. The Australian and New Zealand parliaments refused to join because they felt that this was not a priority that we ought to be focusing on while there was so much inner turmoil in their countries and ours. Needless to say, Oceania has its fair share of antagonists. I climbed aboard the high-pressure submarine nicknamed Polyphemus for its singular camera

[00:09:19] slash light rig, making it appear as though it only has one eye. The reason I needed to use Polyphemus was because the airlock to Atlantis was on the far side of the complex. That was the only way in or out for the construction crew at the time. Once Okeanos is secured, the intention is to weld the airlock shut. Once I was in Atlantis, I realized just how dark it was. There were no windows, only screens that were going to act as windows.

[00:09:49] That's what the lights and cameras are on the outside. It will give the patrons of Atlantis a live stream viewing of everything outside or even landscape options in the rooms if they're feeling claustrophobic. Atlantis was beautiful. It was designed to call to mind images of the Hellenistic period with some modern amenities. This place felt as if it was built for the king of the seas himself. I couldn't help but also feel just how unsettling it was.

[00:10:19] I'm 8,487 meters below sea level in what can only be described as a small city. Being in Triton, the four-size suit, and even being in Polyphemus felt natural. I have a frame of reference for that. We've had pressurized capsules, suits, and subs for a while now. Atlantis, however, felt wrong. I had an overwhelming sense that we were trespassing.

[00:10:46] I made my way through the labyrinth toward the breaker room. As we suspected, there was no power being pumped through to Atlantis. I didn't immediately inform the captain. She wouldn't notice if I spent some extra time exploring before getting back to Triton. I wanted to see all that Atlantis had to offer. At first, it seemed like your average Las Vegas hotel. Bougie as a king's palace. Then I went down to the second level.

[00:11:15] Suddenly, it wasn't the Ritz. It was still nice and all, but more like a Hyatt Place Hotel. I'd be more than happy to stay there. The third level, likewise, was a drop in living standards. Again, definitely not a bad place to stay, like a moderately above average Best Western. The fourth level, the workers' quarters were rough.

[00:11:39] A giant cavern of bunk beds that reached from floor to ceiling the length and width of Atlantis. Clearly, the promise of luxury to the workers was not going to be kept. The fifth level is the one I'm mostly concerned about. It's just a cavern. Other than the moon pool, it was barren. I made my way over to the moon pool to have a look and I saw it.

[00:12:09] The third level, the hole was lit up by what I assumed to be magma. Deep down in the pit, I saw hundreds of objects swaying in the heat vent. I couldn't make out exactly what they were, but I did notice that they were getting closer and closer to me. I began to panic, but something inside me was overpowering my will to flee.

[00:12:37] I was completely frozen in place, then I heard it. The voice. It wasn't audible like someone talking out loud. It was embedded into my brain, like an image and a sound at the same time. Orosi. And Arome Oras. I'm no scholar, but I know exactly what it meant.

[00:13:06] I see you. And can you see me? The objects were identifiable at this point. There were hundreds of men and women in four-side suits, identical to mine. They were attached at the base of their necks to writhing and wriggling tentacles that seemed to be puppeting them like marionettes. Every one of their helmet lights blinking the same Morse code in unison.

[00:13:37] They began to reach out to me. Their hands broke the surface tension of the moon pool. They were trying to reach me. I ran as fast as I could up the stairwell, through Atlantis, and back to Polyphemus. I piloted it back to Triton and locked myself in. I told my higher-ups what I saw. They dismissed me.

[00:14:00] They told me that they were sending an extraction team to have me brought back up to the surface for a psych evaluation. They said the logistics would take a few days to work out, and that I should stay put in Triton. I'm not taking this lying down. I'm getting to the bottom of this. Day six. I'm not sure what I've done. I went back.

[00:14:29] I don't even know why. The tugging in my gut and the message in my head coerced me into Polyphemus and lured me straight to the pit. On the way there, my heads-up display showed me several hundred anglerfish. They were all lined up like a great big tube for me to drive through. They were all facing inward and illuminating my path. A stray goblin shark led the way towards the abyss.

[00:14:57] As I approached the edge of the pit, all of the wildlife dispersed. I paused. The single light of Polyphemus illuminating the chasm. The gleam of the countless poor-sized suits reflected back to me. The low, orange glow of the inferno made them look like anthropomorphic charcoal briquettes. Simultaneously, they all turned to look at me, their lights flashing the same familiar message.

[00:15:27] I placed my finger on the light button and clicked out my answer. Yes, I can see you. The marionettes then drew close to me, but I had no willpower to retreat. They all grabbed Polyphemus and began to haul me down. Decomposing bodies of human and animal were suspended in place.

[00:15:53] I saw the wreckage of many Polyphemus subs implanted into the walls of the pit like a hive of wasps. The inferno drew closer, and I saw the beast. It was an amorphous configuration of trunks and tentacle. They shifted and congealed into a form that was more identifiable to the human mind.

[00:16:16] It was a vast and horrendous monster that appeared to be some unholy crotch of squid, woolly mammoth, anglerfish, and what I can only describe as the rancor from Star Wars. Its dreadful face was ringed by bioluminescent orbs. Its singular eye was milky and white, tusks and harpoon-like teeth jutted out of its titanic maw. What looked to be fur covered its entire form.

[00:16:46] Then it spoke to my mind. The beast. What dost thou seek, boy? I shall show thee. Me? What are you? I have gone by many names. Tiamat, Lotan, Yrmangandr, Igatursu, Draken, Makara, and Karibdis.

[00:17:14] But thou may know me as Leviathan. I am the oldest and most terrible creation of God. The one that hath been long forgotten. What do you want? To feed. The dots began to connect. Atlantis wasn't a bougie hotel for the ruling class. It was a temple.

[00:17:44] A place to bring sacrifices to this old God. Levels 4 and 5 were meant to house the offerings to Leviathan. Our governments weren't trying to expand the human race. They were seeking to appease the Chaos Dragon. Was it for power? Was it for glory? I have no idea. What do you want with me? To proclaim the gospel of my imminent return.

[00:18:13] To make straight the way for my coming. To be my prophet. Why me? Why not any of these? I refer to those who have been slain. Thou hast access. They tried to hide this from the world. They tried to limit my communication.

[00:18:37] However, due to an oversight, our dear incompetent governments overlooked you. They overlooked Reddit. They never should have given me access to the ethernet cable. They will be sorry. Leviathan cometh. Prepare ye the way of our Lord. Make thyself pure for the cleansing of holy consumption. Atlantis awaits us all.

[00:19:07] Atlantis awaits you. Atlantis awaits you.