Sorry about the later update. The regular ulcer-inducing problems of technology. Have a great week!

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Suyin held the door as everyone exited the pre-dive meeting. Most briefings were in Ba's office, very little of the decor changed since she'd been manning it. It felt like a way to obtain his blessing, before everyone put their nerves to the test. Though, Suyin's own uneasiness stemmed from a cool night of little dialogue with Jonas or Meiying... who was somewhere sulking. However, Jonas was here now.

We needn't be this abrupt and cold with each other. Suyin determined, gathering courage. Difficult with everybody dressed more comfortably than she. Suyin was proud to put professionalism first but dress pants, blouse, and jacket weren't first pick on a drafty offshore rig. Regardless, she remembered when these moments would be tinted in a playful back and forth, as they layered sensation to combat the worry. She looked forward to it- so did Jonas. Maybe they could enjoy them again.

"Have a safe dive." Suyin offered before Jonas could escape the office. He merely lifted his eyebrows. "Don't build any sublevels without me."

Her goal wilted at his words.

"I am here to work same as you." Suyin lowered her voice, eyes fierce. He turned, shouldering the door to keep it open. "Good on you. But maybe sharing with the class can help us all do our jobs."

"The job of disagreeing." She huffed, stepping back. "This' why I didn't tell you."

"Cuse you know the answer." Jonas followed her in, closing them into Ba's office.

"We can't write Singer off." Suyin held her hands out, like they might help her explain. Jonas shrugged. "Sure we can. It's Zhang Oceanic!"

Oh, sooo simple! Her head hurt. "Jonas-"

"We know what's down there, what can happen." Jonas' voice lifting with intensity. Suyin felt the same irritation. "And we're prepared for it."

"Being prepared doesn't matter when people die!" Jonas' finger stabbed toward the windows. "I've pulled up enough bodies-"

"And go back, even when you could be one of them." Suyin pointed back, hitting his chest. A selflessness she adored, but that failed to surface amid the anger and frustration being tossed at each other. Would they even be fighting if she hadn't been pregnant? Had she not lost Hào Yáng? Did she... somehow deserve this discontent?

Suyin hung her head, mainly to scold her tears back. "I did not want to send you off this way."

Jonas eased for the door, albeit reluctantly. "I believe you. I'll see you when I get back"

Suyin looked up, finding courage once more. But he was gone. She took another minute, pulling everything in, collected neat and tidy by the time she reached the wide-open command center. Mac looked up with a generous smile, confirming links with Dive 1 and Dive 2.

"Descent looks good." Jess beat Jaxx to the punch; perhaps using a sweeter smile then necessary. "Today's Sector 19-"

"More rocky terrain means a better bet for the testing the suits." Jaxx finished off, rapidly going at her own keyboard. Suyin passed a look with DJ, hiding his amusement poorly behind his hand. She grabbed her comm from Mac, giving a smile to show all was well. It's the one I'll be using for Hillary.

"Uhhh..." Mac dragged out, glancing from the screen to Suyin. "Jonas... um..."

"Meiying!" Suyin and Jiuming exclaimed in the same instant, the young girl gingerly climbing out of the storage hatch.

"Oh boy." Jaxx let slip, while DJ kept his head down. Even so, Suyin felt like all eyes were on her. Was this how one controlled a dive?

Jiuming laughed after a second, while fury flushed up Suyin's neck, the image of her daughter cutting in and out as the sub continued down from Mana One. "Are you-

"-kidding me?!" Jonas growled with a sharp turn on her. Meiying spoke, but without a link, Suyin couldn't know what. Jonas glimpsed from Rigas to the camera. "Stop the dive."

"Now hold on." Jiuming cut in. "This could be a good experience-"

"This is NOT-" Suyin choked in her anger, pacing back from the monitors. "I can't even believe. Jonas, put her on!"

"Ya'know," Rigas attempted to mediate. "We were all 14 once- I did some stupid things, but..." she nodded with pride. "I learned a lot."

"Like respect for your parents." Jonas motioned for Meiying to sit behind him. "Mac, Dive 1 ascending back to-"

"You are only 10 meters from the thermal cline." Jaxx mentioned softly, eyes sideways at Suyin- in encouragement. Jess, perhaps content to stay on the sidelines, coughed. "Dive 1's O-2 levels weren't calculated for 4 people."

"They have the reserve tanks and it's a small sector." Jaxx refuted.

Suyin couldn't believe they were still arguing this! Hillary Driscoll was expecting to be linked in 20 minutes! She looked to Mac, who thankfully looked to be on her side.

"Oh," Jonas scoffed. "She packed her own suit."

"When?" Suyin about yelped.

"See," Jiuming gestured through the windows of their sub. "She's perfectly safe and prepared. Very responsible."

"You speak from experience?" Suyin hissed at him, brushing her hair back, though it hadn't moved.

"Mom," Meiying came through, likely on Jonas' comm. "I have-"

"Xiū sǐnǐ le！" Suyin exploded, pressing her own comm harder to her ear. Shame! She knows the importance of today. Why is this happening?!

"Tell Hillary we've had a delay with the launch." Mac was rationing to Jess. She cringed. "She'll only accept a 30-minute delay. Any success with the exosuits is going to affect her meetings over the next few days. What she and Singer are able to present."

"Dive 1's suits need to be tested." Jiuming insisted. "She comes back up, we lose a whole day's work."

Everyone knew that was unacceptable. Jaxx gestured to her and DJ's worksites. "Both are running fine-"

"So we risk a child's life in them?" Suyin spat, contending with the quick swift the mood was taking.

"Is it different from everything else we do?"

"Jaxx." Mac warned her to back off.

"Suyin," Jonas came back on with a long sigh. "She's here now. She's... capable of watching the sub while we test the suits."

Suyin was flabbergasted- and didn't enjoy the feeling. They had remained clear on this, even while other topics put them in opposite corners. Where was the support, now that it was being tested? Suyin swallowed and lowered her voice. "Jonas, no."

"We can please Driscoll another day-"

"Jonas!" Suyin cut him off, the cap blowing from her self-control. "Bring my daughter back up NOW!"

The awkwardness was palpable now, linking the room and the subs despite the meters of separation. There was no response from either; and no one dared look up. Suyin stood alone. She stepped back, gaze on the vast ocean pressed against the glass of the deck. Looking for the space to breathe. The same blind panic that kept her from the controls of a sub... What was wrong with her?

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"This is bad." Meiying sagged against the seat. Jonas, his face stonewalling anything readable. He considered her. "You remember when you smuggled the depth charge to school? You just outdid yourself."

"Sister-" Uncle began over the comms, sticking to Mandarin to temper the situation freely. Sal and Rigas were absorbed in their controls while Jonas took the time to attend her seatbelt. Meiying huffed. "I can fasten it my-"

"Uh- INCOMING!"

They only just registered DJ's voice before Dive 1 was struck. Meiying screamed, grabbing for Jonas as he was thrown in the back. Blood rushed her temples as Dive 1 flipped, alarms drowning Rigas' yells for control to right them. "You see it, Jiuming!"

"What is it?!"

"Put thrusters in reverse!" Jonas ordered, pulling himself to the front, only to stop so every spin couldn't toss him again. Meiying closed her eyes, holding out until they righted, all sounds magnified to a terrifying degree. Uncle and Curtis- Mom's panic in her ear over Mac demanding confirmation. It ended with DJ's bewilderment. "Haiqi's tracker shows-"

"We noticed!" Jonas staggered back to his seat, gripping his controls. He reached back and Meiying understood, dropping the comm into his palm. Glued to the seat, she craned to see the screens over Sal's shoulder. Like a restless ghost, Haiqi emerged through the dark pixels! Sal choked, startled. "She's coming back."

Rigas spoke through gritted teeth, turning them fiercely. "How is she even-"

"Watch it!" Jonas grabbed their attention, pulling Dive 1 up to sharply avoid collision with Dive 2. A loud scrap rattled beneath Meiying's shoes. Rigas breathed a stressed laugh. "Sorry... don't worry Jaxx. I won't break your pretty toys."

"Anti-predatory tasers online." Sal reported.

"Jonas, follow!" Uncle's command came small through the comm. "She cannot penetrate the thermal cline."

"She couldn't escape Hainan either." Jonas pointed out, all his intent on the swirling water around them, as much an enemy as the megalodon. Meiying's eyes darted to the corners of the sub, suddenly suspecting leaks in everyone. No! Only what's in front of you.

Dive 1 lunged forward, making her clutch the back of Jonas' chair with both hands. Movement above showed her Haiqi's smooth, pale belly- until it disappeared. From view and the radar. Meiying's fear didn't travel away with it.

"Five meters to the cline." Sal continued, but from a thick throat. She was just as scared and it relieved Meiying somehow. Until Haiqi rammed them from behind, sending everything in a spiral again. Gravity became all too evident, the seatbelt cutting into her stomach. Jonas grunted to stay the sub upright this time. "Mac, hold on. Rigas, get some distance before she crushes us."

Controls moving in unison they dove, gaining speed toward the gray murk of the thermal cline. Was Dive 2 already there? Would they crash into them, approaching so fast. The anticipation Meiying had harbored for years all but disappeared in short, fearful breaths. She couldn't help flinching as Dive 1 plunged in. Her engines growled as they were completely enveloped in foggy, grainy soup. Had it always been so thick and compact? Meiying counted the seconds, their lights barely showing three feet ahead...

They broke through and Meiying's lungs released at the renewed space in front of the sub. Dive 2 pulled ahead to their left. Jonas looked back, eyes stressed. "You alright?"

Meiying nodded, hopefully hiding how rattled this made her.

"Dive 1, Dive 2, come in." Mac called out. None had a chance to answer as Sal stiffened. "Proximity alert."

"Haiqi?" Uncle guessed.

"I thought she couldn't-"

"Heat signature." Jonas groaned. "Just like last time."

"She's here." Sal looked from the monitor to the windows, as they all did. "And friends."

Rather than Haiqi, a darker and tougher, scarred body passed- no, kept pace with them. Dive 2 veered farther left, allowing space for the immoveable fish. Meiying swallowed at their pitiful reflection in its softball-sized eye. What was it thinking? What did it see them as?

"Unbelievable." Rigas coasted their submersible, letting the megalodon trail ahead. It seemed its body would never end, until the sub rocked with the swish of its extensive tail. Lance's voice came on in equal gawk. "Another on our side; definitely smaller."

"How have we never run into them before?" Rigas looked at Jonas for answers. Neither enjoyed operating on little information.

"They... have to be males." Mom's voice flattened out and Uncle joined her conclusion. "They're here to mate!"