The waters outside the boat were calm.
Dr. Grant lounged on the deck overlooking the garden, lost in the fragile peace he had been so fortunate to enjoy.  Completely unaware of where about on the planet they were, he stared into the sky.
It was clear, all but for a patch of clouds to the east which seemed to be moving towards the boat, perhaps only hours away.

Moments passed as he reflected on his relationship with his wife, whom Charles had assured him would be alright.  Despite the hassle of being questioned by the law, she was free of any direct harm.

Those clouds seemed to be moving a little closer...

Indeed they were rain clouds, but there appeared to be land behind them.  The boat was heading towards an island.

"Hilo."

"-Oh, Charles,"  Dr. Grant was caught off guard.
"you have quite a knack for creeping up on old men.  I suppose you must have put that on your resume for the secret society."

"Hysterical, Thaddeus."  His tone was less than playful.
"The island off the starboard bow is the island of Hilo.  Also known as the big island of Hawaii.
Have you ever been?"

"No.  Not yet anyhow."  his tone brightened.

"Don't get your hopes up, doctor.  We won't be going ashore.  Our business is down below.  Way down."

The doctor shivered, even though the sun shone and the day was warm.
"Am I to join you in this adventure?"

"That is what I had in mind, yes."

"Judging by your tone, this is no sight seeing pleasure dive.  Why do you wish to bring a tired old soul like myself?"

"Like it or not you're a part of this game now.  As such, I think it wise for you to be aware of some of the other players.  We're going to be spending a lot of time in the sea, at least this turn you won't be entering with any bullets in your back."

"Indeed... "

"When you're ready, Thaddeus."

Charles motioned to the laboratory, indicating the place to meet when he was ready, then stepped off across the deck, leaving the doctor to his own thoughts.
Curiosity and apprehension battled in his head, and as a result, he found himself in the laboratory within the hour.

"You're right on time doctor."  greeted the eagle faced woman from before.

"It runs in the blood!"

"You have no idea." she spoke mysteriously.

"So what am I on time for, dear?

"Your shots, doctor."

"Of?"

"What we have here is a blood extracted from Miriam's child."
Dr. Grant's eyes widened in horror.

"Now, now, doctor," she reassured him, "this won't mutate you.  But what it will do is allow you entrance into the hidden world of the ocean.  This is a great privilege, one that not many people will ever get."

"Privilege... yeah..."

"Now hold out your arm."

He did as she asked.
She tied his arm off, and asked him to make a fist, while she drained some of his blood.
She took the vile out of the syringe attached to his arm, and gave it a slight shake, peering into it.
"You haven't been taking care of yourself very well, doctor."

"Thank you, mother."  he responded sarcastically.

"No matter.  Now turn around, and take your shirt off.  This one's going in your shoulder."

And with that, she injected him with the blood of the beast.


*                               *                                   *

Charles walked the doctor through the lower decks of the ship.  They came into the launch room of several small deep water crafts.  Jones was waiting for them, standing beside a low lying craft, with room enough for four people to sit.
The craft itself was shaped like a whale.  Angular and curved, the only propeller system the doctor could see lay under the 'fins' on either side of the craft.

"What do you call this piece of work?  I'll bet you had a whale of a time putting this one together!"

"You don't know how accurate your jibes are, doctor."  Jones seemed slightly amused.  "We call this one the Jonah craft, or just Jonah, if you prefer.  And yes, it was a 'whale' of a task to create. This craft creates relatively no waste, and moves through the water with the same principles as a porpoise.  The fins on the side move much like that of a whale, allowing us great speed with little mechanical propulsion.  As you can see, below the fins, and on the bottom of the craft are propellers, which are mostly for leaving the ship."

"Mr. Jones and I have been working on this ever since Miriam had her child.  It seems like an eon ago."
Charles reflected.

"Well, what are we waiting for?  I've got the blood of a beast and the heart of a senior, let's get down to business.  I ain't getting any younger!"

"You sure about that?"  Charles gave Dr. Grant an inquisitive look, raising one eyebrow and looking deep into him.

"Uh.."

"Ha ha, just pulling your leg." Charles sported a shit eating grin.
"But you are right.  Enough mucking about, let's go see what we can see."

So they got in, and dove down deep.

"Alright chuck," after countless silent minutes, Jones finally spoke.
"we're near the spot."

"And just what spot might that be?" questioned the doctor.

"This is where Miriam rescued me from the grip of the sea.  Coincidentally, its also where she was taken."

"So what exactly is it that we're supposed to find here?"

"The Madness."


"And the Madness is what, exactly?"

"Well, that's the trouble.  You must think of the Madness not as something tangible, but more like a god of sorts.  The ocean bends to it's will, and as humans and inhabitants of this planet, its in our best interest to understand what that will might be."

"So, you've talked with this Madness?"

"I wouldn't say that.  In fact, there aren't really words for it.  Like a god, if you open yourself to the idea and spirit of the Madness you can sense what it's conveying to you.  But none of it comes in words, only in ideas, thoughts, and feelings.  The best way to tell if it's imparting its consciousness on you is to judge the thoughts or emotions your experiencing.  You must know yourself enough to know when a thought isn't yours.  It takes time to define... But once you have it, you may not want it to stop."

"So how are we to come across this god?"

"I'm not sure that we will, Thaddeus, but we have to start somewhere."

Charles slid his chair back towards the tail of the craft.  As Dr. Grant was beside him, he leaned over and found the lever on the side of his seat, and followed suit.  Charles nodded to Jones, who flicked a switch and raised a divider between the two of them and the rest of the craft.

"Helmets on."  Charles ordered as he pulled his own over his head.
Again, Dr. Grant mimicked his movements.  Charles turned him around and attached his tank and fastened his hose, then performed the same on himself.

"Well, you dirty scottish prick, today's the first day of the rest of the end of your life!"

And Dr. Grant found himself speechless.


*                               *                                   *

The two swam through the murky depths wearing flashlights, looking into their surroundings, but always with the warm glow of the light from the Jonah craft behind them.  They came across a rock wall, running from the deep up to about 2 km from the surface.  Charles motioned for Dr. Grant to follow him downwards.  They went slowly, as the pressure from the sea made them weary, eventually coming upon an indent in the rock face.  Dr. Grant became excited and moved ahead of Charles, but stopped immediately as he found himself brushing against the body of a hammer head shark.

Charles put his hand up to Dr. Grant's body to tell him to stay, and shone his light down to illuminate the school of hammerheads.  Before they had entered the sea, the two had worked out a series of hand signals, and Charles moved his hands to tell Dr. Grant to remain calm and still.
After doing so, he produced a vile of red fluid from his wetsuit.
The doctor looked on in horror, even in the dark, he had a good idea of what was in that bottle.
Blood.

Charles opened it with ease, and let the blood flow into the water around them.
The sharks began to bang into each other in a ferocious frenzy, swimming and biting closely at the pair of humans, but never directly harming them.

Dr. Grant smelled the blood.  Even with his breathing apparatus on he could smell the same blood that had gone into his veins hours earlier.
The blood of the beast.
...but not quite.
He could smell it on his breath, but the blood in the ocean was different, lighter somehow, and he had the image of youth in his head.
Strong, hideous, and somehow, righteous.
Atlas.
But how?

Charles grabbed his arm.
Dr. Grant looked at him, and Charles nodded.  He tapped his finger to his own head, and the doctor nodded back at him.
The Madness.

The sharks slowed.
As if they had burned all their energy, like burning out after an incredible high.
Even the water stilled.
Until a massive force pushed the doctor up towards the light from the Jonah craft.
But not Charles.

Dr. Grant paused from shock. The Jonah craft blinked it's light once, checking to make sure the divers were alright.  Dr. Grant shone his light back, and flicked it on and off 3 times, the signal for more time.
He turned down and began swimming with all his strength.
He felt like he was intruding on a family meeting.
Like a scolding was taking place.

A shark brushed by him.  But not a hammerhead.  A shark with a great mouth, almost the size of a killer whale.
Without a second thought, Dr. Grant grabbed on to the back fin, conveniently shaped to allow him an easy grip.
The thought of an uneasy host flashed through his mind.
A picture of himself locked in a cozy room with a warm light followed.

He looked back for a second, and the glow from the Jonah craft was quickly fading out of sight, as the megamouth took him deeper
and deeper
and deeper.