She reached down and picked up a deep sea suit. "What about these? There are three of them."
Fred smirked, his anger momentarily subsided. "But that won't help unless we have…" He paused and walked over toward Stanley. "Get up," he commanded.
Stanley quickly got up as Fred tore the cushion up from the seat. "Helmets," he exclaimed picking up two of them.
After checking the suits, Fred found them to be in perfect order with no tears and full air tanks. It was too good to be true until they put them on. Stanley was short in his and Fred's suit was tight around the waist. For some peculiar reason Eleanor's suit fit just fine.
"Everyone seal their helmets tight. The tanks seem full so we should have more than a couple hours of air but we may have to tread water for a bit. There should be an exit in the Little Eden Plaza not far from here."
"How do you know?"
Fred pulled out a map from his back pocket. "Some guy went and mapped the place then sold it to the big guys for cash… kept his name on it though."
Eleanor looked at the corner of the map and saw the name: Atlas's Atlas. She thought it sounded stupid but did not say so.
After they had sealed their helmets, Fred got to work disabling the safe-guard. Eleanor tapped on his shoulder and motioned for him to move. She then reached into the control box and ripped a bunch of wires out causing the door to open flooding the compartment.
The water lapped against the innards of the bathysphere as the air leaked into the water logged structure surrounding it. The three companions left their haven to tread the lost city.
For the most part the going was slow. Schools of fish swarmed past them in multitudes. Eleanor put her hands out and the fish scattered around her only to rejoin once they had past. She giggled in merriment and was sincerely enjoying herself.
Meanwhile, Stanley remained just as nervous as ever. He kept crouching and looking behind himself thinking an attack was imminent. Not seeing where he was going he took a misstep and his foot glanced off something. He looked down so see the silt uncovering a female woman who had been unfortunate enough to be present when the place flooded. Stanley's shriek fell silent through the water. He ran over to Fred and clung to him until he was shoved off. In all truth the woman probably could have used the company anyway.
Fred was not enjoying himself at all-mostly because of Stanley's lack of balls. Still the place was quiet, too quiet and it was getting to him. But a few minutes later they had reached Little Eden Plaza where their exit lay. Both antechamber doors where wide open and sea life came and went at their leisure. Fred turned to Eleanor then Stanley and gestured for them to follow.
What little sense of security they felt inside Siren's Alley was stripped away by the vastness of the canopy of waster that enveloped them. Sea life was more scattered but also more abundant where it existed. Bright colored choral covered everything even the scattered garbage and excess that lay about the ocean floor.
The group tread softly through the ecosystem. Their multiple footprints in the sand were instantly was away by the current. A school of catfish could be seen ahead gleaning of the algae that had collected on an unfortunate corpse. As they passed by, Fred stared at the scene, thinking it interesting, while Eleanor turned her head in disgust. Stanley went to take a closer look but was startled when a shark came out of nowhere and had his own feast. Stanley fell backward and heard a popping noise. He checked himself over but found nothing. He got to his feet and rejoined the others.
As he walked up, Eleanor was the first too notice the problem. She got Fred's attention and alerted him as well. They both pointed toward Stanley but he shrugged because he did not understand. Fred walked over and bent Stanley over. He unhooked Stanley's tank from his back and showed him the hole through which air was rapidly escaping. Stanley started running but Fred and Eleanor stopped him.
Fred knew they had to act fast or Stanley would suffocate but he had no idea how to fix the air tank. Eleanor felt the same way but she also saw the solution. On Fred's tank was a second air valve for emergencies such as this. She quickly unscrewed the air hose from Stanley's broken tank and fastened it to Fred's tank. She motioned for Stanley to breathe normally and he finally calmed down. Fred, though, hated his life and these circumstances.
Five minutes later they arrived at another antechamber that seemed to be fully functioning. Stanley did not want to think about this. He had left his past behind. He was a new man but his past kept coming back. He looked back wishing to go an alternate route but knew it was suicide. His averted eyes came to grips with reality as he read the sign above the antechamber: Welcome to Dionysus Park.