Gray

The Trench

The scene comes with the intense beam of daylight, the calm moving waters sparkling all over, being picked on by seagulls. In the middle of the ocean water, the sunrays shun on the reflective metal surface of the submarine.

"1951 was when Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh descended to the Mariana Trench, in submarine Trieste. That was 1,073 years ago, wonder what changed in these floors over these years?", his partner switches the submarine to auto-mode before wiping the dust off the oval-shaped thick glass window.

"We'll find out sooner, if we ever find anything... new, do not show it to the public yet"

"Can I take charge of them if we find one?"

"Hmm... It depends, I won't allow it to be put in your hands if it were hostile as a hammerhead shark, son"

"So you're saying... I can keep one?", his eyes grew wide open.

Siegfried nods with a slight smile. "Only for a while, then we'll have to put it back to where it naturally belongs".

"Mmkay, cool", Albert closely observes the ocean-filled surface outside the durable window with awe, as if he were looking down from an airplane, only thinking about what there might be. It will take them an extra hour to dive deeper into the waters and the ocean floor. Siegfried Gray shifted his sight onto the underwater telescope and saw coral reefs being brushed by a roaming school of fish. "Look there's a shark!...a ghost shark?", Albert's terror flew away when the shark swam in another direction, fleeing from the submarine. He tugged an apple from the chunky hiking bag on his left and took a small bite before chewing.

The Challenger Deep is one of the deepest oceans in the world, located beneath the Western Pacific Ocean at the Southern end of the Mariana Trench. Challenger deep- Approximately 10,935 meters (35,876 feet) deep; The submarine is roughly 9,000 meters far from the deepest ocean floor as it continues to descend.
820 years ago when technological civilization boomed, humanity faced the first-ever destruction, bigger than Jupiter's smallest moon. The massive creature destroyed 1/3 of the earth, causing millions of deaths only in a year. After that, the Human Authorities united to prevent another terrific mass destruction like this, so they formed one organization to protect the world against big entities. The organization was officially licensed in the year 2238 when Siegfried wasn't even born yet, some thought the founder was originally his great great great great grandfather.
Until this day, the organization is as dedicated as ever, all because of Siegfried Gray's 30 years of duty- he is hard to not rely on.

"Alright, we are currently 7,000 meters from the deepest floor level. Time check, 1:55 pm", Siegfried kept the submarine to descend continuously by letting go of the controller with a sigh of relief.
Albert tries to keep his eyes shut and calm down, yet his curiosity about the deep darkness makes his mind wander around it.
The more he unconsciously thinks about it, the more skin-crawling it is- the unknown is always terrifying and always be, even for a boy like him who is fond of the underwater.
Leaning his head against the wall, his cold shivering arms wrapped around himself for warmth for a moment as he felt a soft warm cloth wrapped around him.

His dad pulls back to turn off half of the lights inside while the blue view of the main submarine window reflects on them. "I'll control the ship now myself, thank you", Siegfried gave the partner a small smile. The submarine is now descending slightly faster than before until it reaches 4,000 meters above floor level, the water visibility outside turns dark blue because of the lack of sunlight reaching such meters.

"How is the door back there?", Siegfried reminded. 

"Its tightly locked, no defects or whatsoever. Should I check?", His partner replied.