“Start from the beginning,” Captain Warner says.
“Sir, I will state that we were all very experienced divers. I have been on many missions with these men. Several, including Shaun Hogan and Terrell Avery, I served within the Navy Seals. What happened at the bottom of Lake Superior was no fault because of our actions. No one could’ve predicted what happened down there. What we saw… It was unlike anything I have ever seen before,” I announce.
“Go on. Tell me what happened,” he says.
“Well, we had all been contracted to test out a new type of deep-sea diving suits for a private company. It was a suit that could allow us to withstand intense pressure and temperatures for long periods of time. It also didn’t need an oxygen tank. It could convert H2O into breathable oxygen. We were first going to test it on Lake Superior before trying it in deeper waters. Our ultimate goal was to reach the bottom of the Marianas Trench. I’m not so sure that’s a good idea anymore. Anyway, we had suited up and took a ship out to the middle of Lake Superior. There were 7 of us including Shaun Hogan and Terrell Avery.”
“We launched off above the deepest part of the lake and cautiously made our way down to the bottom. We were going to stay down there for a total of 4 hours to properly test the equipment. We made it down there okay. It was completely and utterly dark, but the equipment provided us with sufficient enough lighting. We began to explore the depths of the lake. There were several tools that our contractor wanted us to test. We had a high intensity cutting laser to test along with a mini torpedo. We were clear to start our first test. We had discovered a scrap of a sunk ship, so we decided it was perfect to test the high intensity cutting laser.”
“The test was a success. The laser-cut through the metal like a knife through butter. Next, we were going to test the torpedo. This is where things got strange. We had found what we thought was some type of deep seamount. We figured it was a perfect opportunity to test out the torpedo. It was Shaun Hogan who ran the test. He was close enough to the seamount to measure the impact and safe enough away to withstand the blast. The rest of us were far enough to measure the widespread effect.”
“The mission proceeded as planned. Hogan launched the torpedo at the seamount and it exploded on impact just as we assumed. However, what happened next no one could have foreseen. The great mound of land we had assumed was a seamount was something else entirely. Tentacle-like appendages shot out from the mass of land. One of them had snagged Hogan. We took evasive action and attempted to try another torpedo at whatever the fuck that thing is. Our torpedos had no effect on it but only seemed to piss it off. Whatever it was, it was massive. It crushed Hogan. There was nothing we could do to save him. He died within its grasp. We tried to retreat to the surface and it managed to snag Avery as well. I can still hear his screams as it dragged him to the bottom of the sea. For whatever reason, it remained down there as we made our way to the surface. We were lucky to escape. Whatever that thing is, I think we’re all better off if we leave it alone. If a creature like that lives at the bottom of Lake Superior, I can’t imagine what lives at the bottom of the Marianas Trench.”
The Captain stared at me for a long moment, stroking his beard before he spoke. “This is troubling news. We’ll conduct a full investigation. From what I’ve already seen from the footage, your story seems to line up. Until we know what we’re dealing with, I want to cease activity in Lake Superior. Thank you for your report. I’ll be in touch. You are not to tell anyone of this”
With that, the Captain got up and left. After I was released, I had to give the news to both Hogan and Avery’s families. I wasn’t allowed to give them the full story. I could only tell them that an accident happened that resulted in their deaths. It angered me to not be able to tell them the truth. It seems the government is determined to cover up what lies down at the bottom of Lake Superior. It’s safe to say I haven’t been diving since that day. I don’t know if I can ever go back into the water. I have seen some truly unbelievable things in the water, but nothing like that.
The End.
Remember, you’re never safe in the dark…
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