SAMUT PRAKAN, THAILAND
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They met Jonas in his own home there in Thailand.
More specifically, he walked through his own door and saw Zhang and Mac there after seeing the helicopter from the marinal research department.
"Now this is shaping up to be an eventful Tuesday evening," he remarked, hanging his hat up. "You know I like to make an entrance," Mac commented, walking up to him.
"Hell, Mac, after five years, just showing up is making an entrance," Jonas said.
"What? You're living above a bar? Really?"
"Figured it was the only way to get you to come visit," Jonas snorted. The two looked at each other in silence, before sniggers ripped from their throats as they laughed it out, hugging and patting each other on the back. "Jonas," Mac said once they pulled away, "allow me to introduce..."
It's an honor to meet you, Doctor Zhang," Jonas cuts him off as he greets the other male, flattering him before offering the two of them a beer.
"It's not a social call Jonas."
"You mean you didn't helicopter in just to say 'hi'? You wound me, Mac."
"We have a serious..." Mac started.
"Problem?" Jonas finished, "thought so. Just like you know, I don't dive anymore. Done being responsible for people, Mac."
"Mr. Taylor..."
"Hey, I mean no offense, Doctor Zhang," Jonas said, walking over to him with three beer bottles in his hands, "I mean, if there was three people on this planet that could get me back into the water, it's probably you two and Evelyn. But you can't." With the last sentence, he handed Zhang a beer.
"You're gonna tell me your problem, and I'll say no," he stated, "you're gonna offer me money. I'll still say no. You're gonna appeal to my better nature, and I'm gonna say no. Because I don't have one. So I say, why don't we sit down? We'll enjoy a couple of beers, and then we can get you on your way." He opened the other one in his hands, handing the opened one to the man and took the one with the cork still on it.
"Jonas."
A new voice spoke up, directing his attention to the newcomer standing directly in front of him. He didn't realise who it was at first, since she was wearing semi-rimmed glasses on her face and her hair was a totally different colour. He stared at her, raising an eyebrow. "Who the hell is this?" He asked, "I thought it was just the two of you?"
She sighed before taking off her glasses, "better now, idiot?" It had taken him a while, but his face soon contorted with the realisation, "...Eve...?" "Yeah," she said breatlessly, placing her glasses back to rest on her nose, "you...you gotta hear Mac out. It's really bad."
"This happened this morning," Mac placed his phone down on the coffee table in front of him and played the same audio he had shared with Evelyn, seeing the change of expression in Jonas' face as he heard his ex-wife's voice, leaning forward to show his interest. "It's Lori," Mac spoke gravely.
"Your ex-wife her crew are trapped below 11,000 metres," Zhang hooked him onto the plan, "I fear they may have encountered the same species you two did down there. I have divers with less experience willing to go. But I feel I owe it to my crew to give this rescue the best chance of success."
Jonas studied him, almost as if he wanted to believe that all of this was a lie, a trick to deceive him but then he locked eyes with Evelyn, spying a sort of genuine glimmer shining in them.
"Please..."
He locked eyes with the redhead once more, making his final decision.
...
The chopper's blades sliced through the air once more, landing on the helipad. Evelyn disembarked after Jonas, taking her first look at the exterior of Mana One, which had appeared a bit shabby and run down to be honest.
Two people were out there waiting for them, then instantly ran up to Mr. Zhang. "Sir, we've got a new problem," the female reported to him. "It's your daughter," the male added.
"She took a glider to try and save them," the female said again as the group made their way towards the elevator. "Why did you let her go?" Zhang questioned.
"Trust me, I didn't let her do anything," the female defended herself as they raced down the stairs, time ticking away from their fingers as they go. "I was sort of under the impression you're supposed to try to save people who are dying on the bottom of the ocean," the man interjected.
"Who's he?" Jonas suddenly asked. "I will like to know as well," Evelyn crossed her arms, having her duffle bag slung off her shoulder and onto her forearms due to the impact. "I'm the guy who paid for all this," the man snapped back.
Jonas only looked back while she looked on ahead, walking into the plain elevator. "You know, he looks heroic and he walks fast, but he's kind of got a negative attitude," the man behind them commented.
"Piss off," she whipped her head around to snap at him, "just be grateful we agreed to save your sorry asses." "Her too," the man added, earning a scoff from the redhead.
They piled into the elevator, watching as the doors converged, taking them to their respective area. "What's the window?" Jonas asked around.
"It'll be close," the female said from behind him. He turned to her, "who are you?" "I'm the one who designed all this," she said with a smug look.
"So my life's in your hands?" Both Jonas and Evelyn questioned in unison. "Pretty much. That a problem?" The woman smiled and instantly Evelyn knew she would become great friends with this person. They practically have the same attitude.
"You look like you might actually know what you're doing," Jonas said instead.
The doors opened once more as everyone else got out. But Zhang halted Jonas and Evelyn in their tracks from leaving, apologising to the others. "Mac, have Doctor Heller meet us in the medical bay," Zhang ordered, gaining looks of disgust from the two.
"Heller?" They asked in unison. "Did I not mention that?" Mac asked with a sheepish grin. "I'm not letting that son of a bitch touch me, I'll fucking break his hands," she shook her head, wanting to escape before the doors closed so she took her chance, jumping out before they did, leaving Jonas to curse behind the closed doors.
She grinned victoriously but almost a few seconds later, the doors opened again and with a yelp, she was yanked back inside.
...
Nothing was said while she was being checked up, only glares was exchanged as she bit the inner of her check to prevent a long string of curse words in different languages from rolling off her tongue.
Once finishing up, he did the same to Jonas. One look and Heller said, "he's in perfect shape. They both are."
"Just like the last time you examined me," Jonas spoke with spite. "I've been exercising and lifting weights to lose the excess fat I've put up for about a year, Heller," she spat at him, "of course I would be in perfect shape."
"Suyin took a glider 15 minutes ago," Mac reported coming into the medical bay, "she's planning on taking the Origin back up."
"Take us to the sub," Jonas ordered, standing up and ripping the cuff from the sphygmomanometer off his arm.
"We're not done here," Heller told him.
"Yeah, we are," Jonas fought back, "Lori's running out of air, and we're in international waters which means legally, I can beat the ever loving shit out of you. And get away with it."
"I'll gladly tag team him with you," Evelyn raised her arm, "so we can both beat the ever living shit out of him. And get away with it too."
"It's true," Mac agreed, "legally, I mean." He mumbled the last part.
"Jonas, you do know that this sub is rated for 12,000 metres, right?"
Mac led the two towards the sub with their bare necessities, explaining what was expected to happen while handing them ear pieces so they can communicate as the two made their way down the hatch, Evelyn pausing briefly to see the words 'Captain Bubbles' written in chalk on the metal, knowing that it was going to be washed away as soon as the vehicle drops into the salty sea. Yet, the sight had her lips quirking upright, Kids.
She then spotted a child out in front, manning the controls as though she was taught by a professional. "Hello, Skipper," Jonas addressed her as he fixed his stuff.
"You must be the crazy guy and lady," the girl turned her head to look at the two, earning a cock of an eyebrow from Evelyn. "Now, who called us that?" She asked the child, already knowing who one of the responses was going to be.
"My mom, Doctor Heller," the girl simply spoke. "Yeah, well, we're not crazy," Evelyn told her, "we've just seen things no one else has."
"That's the definition of crazy," the girl said, having a small giggle escape Jonas' lips which slightly surprised the other person in the same sub as him. "I didn't know Jonas Taylor was that capable of giggling," she gasped in complete mockery, "I've made a new discovery!"
"Piss off," he playfully told her, searching for the switch that turns on the backup power. The little flicked a switch as the hum of an engine starting filled their ears, having the two of them impressed with the child.
"I barely know you and yet I like you," Evelyn pointed finger guns at the child. "So where are your parents?" He asked.
"My mom's trying to bring our friends back from the bottom of the ocean," the child turned herself to kneel onto the chair to have her head visible as she spoke to the duo, "my dad's with a Pilates instructor in Taipei. Granddad says Mom needs to move on, but Mom says she needs more time because she was married to an a-hole."
"You know a lot," Evelyn chuckled at the thought. "Eight year olds hear everything," the girl said. Jonas and the girl shared a smile, before he asked if he could give what she's doing a try.
The girl pouted a bit before she moved off the chair, having Jonas sit in it instead, saying a little 'Bye' as she went to the ladder. "Hey Crazy one and Crazy two," she called to them, "is my mom gonna die?"
"Hey, kid," Evelyn asked her, "what's your name?" "Meiying," the girl softly replied. "Well, Meiying," she said, "we'll have Captain Bubbles and your mom back in no time."
"I promise," Jonas added with a nod. Meiying seemed satisfied with that response, resuming her climb out of the sub.
Jonas then readied the sub for diving, flipping switches to reduce the amount of unnecessary stuff like a buildup of heat and other things.
'Evolution, we are a go for dive.'
"Copy that, Mac," Evelyn have a thumbs up to the camera while Jonas turned on the screens to show the outside, commenting a 'Fancy' at the sight in front of him. It was night now, so it was rather dark.
The sub was lowered into the water, breaking the relatively calm surface of the ocean while a female robotic voice told them that the systems are a go for descent.
When the sub hadn't started moving, Evelyn turned to face Jonas in concern, eyebrows quirked when she's seeing him visibly hesitating, his hand taunt on the controller. "Jonas?" She asked, but he didn't answer, "it's okay if you don't want to drive. I-I can do it-"
He emitted a loud huff, tilting the controller forward, letting the Evolution plunge into the deep with a fast pace. Evelyn switched with him, she sat in the driver's seat while he returned to the back.
She could feel herself growing dizzy due to the pressure drop, a clawing feeling crawling into her chest and cutting off access to her airways.
'Evelyn, Jonas.'
"Tell that son of a bitch I'm not slowing down," she snapped.
'Suyin be advised. Evolution is now en route. Request you return to Mana One immediately.'
'Negative.' This woman was so stubborn, Evelyn couldn't help but roll her eyes, 'He can give up an escort on the way up.'
"Tell her to get out of the way, Mac," Evelyn inputted, "more people means more risk and she's in way over her head."
'Eve, you just told her yourself.'
She turned the chair to look at Jonas for a bit, then responded, "What?"
'The little green button on your intercom,' Mac explained, 'that's for single channel communication.'
"I'm still not taking back my words," she huffed.
The sub descended fast, slightly rattling the inside as the two switched places once more after he had managed to increase the battery percentage. The crawling feeling had her doubling over, struggling to catch her breath because every exhale came out as a raspy cough, droplets of blood becoming invisible on her palm.
She knew he was having the same issue.
"At this speed, I'm gonna have to divert the power from the heaters and shut down anything that could ice over," he said before beginning to flip switches, "call you from the other side."
Evelyn held onto the ladder, staring into the darkness in front of her. She knew she had to hold on else she'll pass out. Her ears were popping painfully and she wasn't even in the water.
She saw when he resumed contact with the dive control, hearing a shrill shriek escaping from Suyin's lips.
'Suyin, what's happening?'
'It's a huge squid. It's got the glider. Mac, it's crushing me. It's crushing me! I don't think the glider can take it!'
'It's not gonna hold.'
'Suyin, engage the pressure compensator.'
'Compensator will not engage.'
For a few moments, things had gotten quiet...
Too quiet.
Then...
'It's a shark. It's like 20, 25 metres.'
"It's a Megalodon," Jonas said with realisation.
'Impossible.'
Evelyn made her way up to him, glaring towards the camera as the two of them say in unison, "I'm so glad I'm not crazy."
At that moment, they emerged from the thermocline, spotting Suyin and the glider almost instantly. "Suyin, listen to me, okay?" She said, "Power down. The Meg is drawn to the light. Shut everything down and stay dark."
'Shutting off everything except comms.'
Her eyes trailed towards the sonar, spotting the giant shark as it circled back.
"It's circling back. Here it comes, Suyin," he warned.
Her lights stayed on.
"Suyin," Evelyn called, "there's no time. Turn off your lights."
"Turn them off now."
Her lights still stayed on.
'Mac, I have no control.'
"Hurry," she urged.
They saw that the glider was really struggling to turn off the lights. "Move aside," she pushed him away and started flipping switches to release flares to distract the giant shark from making Suyin a snack.
The Megalodon followed the flares as the Evolution continued to fire. "Now's your chance," Jonas barked, "blow your tanks."
'No, I can help you save the crew.'
"I love your stubbornness, Suyin. I really do," Evelyn said, "but your glider's damaged. There's nothing you can do. Blow your tanks now."
The two watched as she ascended towards the thermocline, flying through it. "Doctor Zhang," he spoke into his intercom, "your daughter's clear. We're heading for the Origin now."
The headlights spotted the hatch leading to the Origin, showing how banged up it was. The sub stopped, lowering itself down on top to connect the two hatches, engaging the air lock.
He then moved to the back once more, preparing to open the hatch while she stayed behind to assist however she could.
Water extraction complete.
He had managed to get the hatch to open, grinning at the survivors as he said, "tell me this isn't the world's best 'I told you so'."
"You came all the way here just to tell me that, didn't you?" Lori's unamused voice was audible and Evelyn let out a sigh of relief.
She's okay...
He leant forward to help her up, pulling her through the vent and handing her over to Evelyn, who initially had a smug smirk on her face, but it cracked under seeing the blood and something protruding into her skin. "Yeah, that doesn't look good," she winced, her attention shifted upon hearing the sonar beeping and the symbol to represent the Megalodon was returning.
"She's coming."
"If that thing hits us while we're still attached..." Lori started.
"Then we're all gonna die," Jonas finished, returning to help the other two. The Wall came up next, but the shark was getting closer to the sub. There was no way they could make it out in time. "Jonas..." Evelyn said with an alarmed tone.
"We're not going to make it, Toshi hurry!" Wall warned. Toshi surprised everyone by closing up the hatch, the same thing Jonas had done five yeara ago, and the two subs separated, shaking the Evolution. Evelyn's head hit the back of the chair, but she was still conscious enough to see the shark being knocked back by the sudden shock wave the separation created.
History was repeating itself as she realised what he was trying to do. "Toshi!" She yelled. Sure she hadn't known the dude for long, but their mission was to save everyone.
The Origin's lights turned on, directing the shark's attention towards it. They could only watch in utter hopelessness as the shark tore its jaws into it, causing an underwater explosion, releasing a torrent of red hot flames towards the thermocline.
The sub was quiet, no one knowing what to say or do.
'Come in Evolution. Jonas, Evelyn, come in. Are you all okay?'
Nobody could answer, they were too paralyzed with distress at the recent events. Wall shoved a hand into his pocket and pulled out a note, appearing heartbroken as he realised who put the note there, opening it up.
'Doctor Heller has vitals on Lori and The Wall, but we don't have Toshi. Is Toshi okay?'
Evelyn asked for the note, seeing as it was written in Chinese and deciphered it easily, tears coming to her eyes.
'Jonas, Eve, is Toshi okay?'
The four nervously glanced at each other, drowning in the silence.
They made it back to the surface safe and sound, Lori being carried in a gurney because of her injuries. Evelyn gave Wall the note back, which he shoved into Doctor Zhang's hands.
Suyin made her way up to Jonas while Evelyn gave her an apologetic look, feeling guilty as she walked past. She could hear the two of them talking in the back, Suyin accusing the both of them for negligence and Jonas snapping at her.
Tears started freely flowing from her eyes as her steps quickened into the elevator, nit wanting to talk to anyone at the moment.
She needed time for herself, time to process what the hell just happened.
History truly repeats itself.
...
"How is she?"
She found herself accompanying as he visited his ex-wife in the medical bay. She hadn't slept a wink since that night, and it had badly impacted her, since she was falling asleep on herself.
Heller walked over to them, "well, the puncture just missed her liver. She lost a lot of blood. But she's stable."
"T-That's good," Evelyn heaved out, giving room for the impending silence between the three to push through, before Jonas turned to leave, her following afterwards.
"Jonas. Evelyn."
They simultaneously craned their heads back to look at the medic expectantly. "I'm sorry," the man apologised, "I was wrong."
"You save Lori," Jonas started, "we can call it even."
"Also," Heller stopped him again, pointing with his eyes towards the female with them, "please ensure she gets enough rest. She looks like her knees are going to give out and she's going to pass out anytime soon."
"Will do," was his only response as the two of them left.
He decided to stop by her room first to carry out the doctor's orders, even though both were quite reluctant to follow them.
"I-I can't sleep, Jonas," she spoke, "not after the hell we've been through. My mind wouldn't be at peace." "What was done was done," he calmly told her, "there's no going back on that. We did what we could."
"Yeah, but if only I acted quicker with helping Lori out, then Toshi wouldn't have-"
She cuts herself off when tears pricked her eyes, her breaths shuddered as she hugged herself. He opened his arms and she instantly flew into them, sobbing her eyes out for the first time in five years.
He moved towards the bed, having them both sit on the covers. He didn't say anything, but stayed there for the duration of her cries, patting her kindly as he made her lay her head on his thigh. After an hour, her breathing slowly evened out as exhaustion crept upon her, her cheeks puffed up and lightly flushed red, her chest expanding and contracting.
He exhaled, gently lifting her off his lap to take off her shoes and tucked her into bed. He removed a couple of hair strands on her face, as well as her glasses, then faltered a bit. He then leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, leaving the room afterwards.
...
