The Abyss Stares Back The Deep

Huh! What was...?

'You've reached the Nektons, please leave a message.'

Will, it's Ken, I know what I saw sounds crazy...

it was so fast... faster than any fish. But I swear...

it was human!

My family are explorers. We have been for generations.

While others look up to the stars,

we know there are an infinite number of things that

shine in the darkness below.

There are things lurking in the seas that long ago vanished into myth.

My family are explorers.

And we explore The Deep!

'You have to come!

'Whatever it is that's down there, you need to see it!'

I tried to call back, but no answer.

I haven't heard from Ken in years,

but he's not the easily spooked kind.

I know that area.

There's no sinkhole, it's a gigantic kelp bed.

Found it.

-Oh, it WAS a kelp bed.

-And now it's died off.

Good job, climate change.

That's a blue hole.

Congratulations, Captain Obvious.

I mean, a new blue hole is unexplored territory.

A home of undiscovered ecosystems! Species found nowhere else on Earth!

Hmm. What is your brain doing?

Mysterious humans, living underwater?

There can only be one explanation.

You can't be serious, Ant.

Mermaids!

There's no such thing as mermaids!

I see something. Definitely some kind of boat.

Can you see Ken?

I see...

..Nereus?

When I heard Ken's message, I thought I'd help.

I was vaguely in the area.

What do you mean, "vaguely in the area"?

You heard a private phone call? How?

And where's Ken?

Safe, William.

I sent him home with some, er, associates.

Poor man needed a rest.

This sinkhole is far too precarious if what he saw is real.

Wow. That's a terrifying...

blur(!)

No, no, no, no, no, you can, you can see the human-ish shape!

-Uh-huh.

-But is it man? Or mer?

Have you got nitrogen on the brain?

OK, monsters of the deep? Sure.

But I am not going searching for mermaids.

That photo is proof of something down there,

but we won't know what until we look.

- Yes! Search party!

My third, no, second favourite type of party!

Before you dive, I'll need to see the Chronicle of the Deep.

There's a legend I half remember...

Ah, here, the hole in the sea that hides a mystery...

Not exactly specific.

Does it say anything about mermaids? That one looks like a tail.

Alas, no.

I think what it's saying is, "the abyss stares back".

Because mermaids traditionally live in very deep water, right?

In the abyss?

What is the obsession?

Do you want to be lured to a watery grave?

Because that's what mermaids do.

-Oh, so you admit they exist?

-Argh!

I've seen this page hundreds of times.

I could never figure out what the image was.

The kelp bed must have hidden it for 100 years.

400 years.

According to the Chronicle,

the last person went into the hole in the 1600s.

Wait, so you can read Lemurian?

I...make educated guesses.

-Can you guess what this says?

-Hmm.

The writer reports that the impossible dwells below

and vows never to return.

That. Is. Amazing!

You just don't get the concept of impending doom, do you?

Ready for the most awesome adventure, Jeffrey?

The kind of adventure where nobody goes too deep.

And where you stay...

..together.

Wow!

Those teeth.

That couldn't possibly be an Enchodus?

A sabre-toothed herring! They went extinct millions of years ago.

Congratulations, you've just discovered a Lazarus species.

A living fossil. Ha! I'm officially impressed.

Come on, let's go deeper.

Jeffrey, that's your species! Pseudanthias bicolor!

Huh! He shouldn't be in these waters.

Ha-ha! He likes you! Now play nice with your new friend.

He's a long way from home.

Hey! Come back!

Ant! Stop!

Wait! Please!

You're descending too quickly! Stop now!

What?

What happened? Ant?

I saw someone down there. Swimming faster than any human can!

Scales? Trident? Tail?

Mock all you want. It was about my size.

It looked like a kid.

A child? Alone down here?

Any ideas, keeper of secrets?

None. But there are no other dive boats for 100km.

I'm going back to the Aronnax for the Rover so we can explore deeper.

In the meantime, stay...

'Together. We promise.'

No sign of any diver of any species.

I'm not making it up. You saw it, right, Jeffrey?

Jeffrey?

Jeffrey, where are you?

He's gone!

We have to go deeper to find him!

Not until your mother gets back with the Rover.

Please, Dad.

I'm sorry...

He's my best friend!

Kaiko, do you read me?

'Loud and clear!'

We're going a little deeper to find Jeffrey.

Yes!

'Keep your eyes peeled.

'Remember, the abyss stares back.'

Yeah, sure, man of mystery!

Jeffrey?

Jeffrey!

There! That was definitely human, but way faster!

No way. How?

I saw one too!

Huh! Now who's crazy?

BOTH: Wait for me here!

Dad? Fontaine?

Jeffrey? Where are you?

This is not the time to play hide and seek.

This diver is too fast.

You were an Olympic swimmer, Dad.

How is this person faster than you?

I'll ask them when I catch them.

Ant, Fontaine.

-We've found another one.

-One what?

Another Lemurian symbol.

Ah...guys?

I think my diver just disappeared.

On a scale of weird and creepy,

this place is rapidly going off the chart.

Ah, don't say that, Fontaine!

Jeffrey's alone out there.

Argh!

Wow! I saw the diver.

It was me - I mean, I was him. It was Ant!

I had an Ant to Ant encounter!

Two Ants? That sounds horrifying.

I mean it, Fontaine!

I'm back with the Rover -

and I don't like the sound of this other Ant.

Everyone up to the surface, now.

Ah, we've been down here too long.

Some of us more than others...

Argh. The same eyes, the same nose, ah, the same everything!

Do I have a twin? Am I adopted?

How's your vision?

Follow my finger with your eyes.

Maybe I'm a mermaid.

The rare two-legged kind.

How else could there be another Ant down there? What could this mean?

Is the other Ant asking his mer-family

exactly the same question at the mer-colony?

The abyss stares back.

I hate it when you're all mysterious.

Ooh, are you feeling nauseous? Cold? How's your vision?

No, no, and fine. They saw divers too. Fontaine's disappeared.

Why am I the crazy one?

Four words. Ant to Ant encounter.

Jeffrey! Huh, he's still down there!

Don't make me put you in a cage, little brother. Sit.

You mentioned a Lemurian symbol?

Ah. That explains why you're here.

You knew it was down there.

- Not at all. But I might be of help.

The same symbol you've found so many times before.

- What does it mean, finding it here?

That I don't know. But rest assured, it does have meaning.

But that symbol must be thousands of years old.

6,000, to be precise.

And you're saying whatever it was that freaked out those

-old explorers might still be down there?

-I don't care.

I'm not letting Jeffrey face sea monsters on his own.

None of us want that.

Exactly! Nektons, onwards!

Um, that's down.

Downwards!

I'll admit I was somewhat wrong about the divers...

Ha!

But you have to admit there's a massive chance that you're

just seeing things.

He swam up to me, Fontaine!

He was solid and looked exactly like me.

I never knew I was that good-looking! I mean, I suspected...

Definitely nitrogen on the brain.

Jeffrey!

And he's made some friends.

Not that I want to judge, but Jeffrey's friends are...

Super-friendly?

I was going for creepy.

Well, they sure seem to like him! They won't leave him alone.

The other me! Ah, look there!

Mom, go!

Stay right there, Jeffrey!

It can't be!

No, what? How?

Told ya.

Hey, come back!

Try to stay with him!

How does he swim so fast?

I have no idea! I've never seen anything like it!

Kaiko, stop! It's a dead end.

-That's...

-Impossible?

Where did he go?

There's no way out of here!

None of this makes sense. There must be another way out.

What's that? Look!

What!

-Impossible!

-Is that really...?

Will, say something to them... uh, us...

whoever they are!

What do we say to ourselves?

Someone just say something!

I got this! Hey, me, how's it going?

HIS VOICE ECHOES

What was that?

Let's get in and take a closer look!

-Don't! We can't touch the other Rover!

-Why not?

There's only one explanation...

Mind is open. Listening.

Time travel.

I take it all back. Bring on the mer-colony.

-I want to believe.

-We're seeing our future selves.

If we touch them, the whole space-time continuum could collapse!

No... "The abyss stares back". That was the clue.

It's not time travel. It's like a mirror. I saw me.

-Jeffrey saw Jeffrey.

-And the divers were us?

Back up a few brain cells. There were more than two Jeffreys.

-And we all saw them.

-No more half-truths, Nereus.

Is there anything else the Chronicle says about this place?

Nothing more than I've told you.

Perhaps it's worth mentioning that the other Rover now looks alive?

Actually, I don't want to see that.

Can't we just turn off all the lights and pretend it's not there?

-Ha! That's it! You're a genius, Ant!

-Which one?

Turn off the lights, Mum. Trust me.

I hope you know what you're doing, Ant.

Wait. Make sure you keep watching.

Three, two, one!

No way!

Wow! Thaumoctopus mimicus.

The mimic octopus, but not the one we know.

An entirely new subspecies.

Much more advanced than anything else on Earth. Remarkable.

So, they've been down here, evolving for thousands of years?

The normal mimic octopuses work alone, right?

And can only copy animal shapes.

But these are working together, in low light.

They must have developed this behaviour

as extreme camouflage to hide from predators.

This must be their lair.

FONTAINE SHUDDERS

I really hate that word, "lair".

-Hunting ground, perhaps?

-Not helping!

OK, as much as I'm enjoying the feeling of thousands

of beady eyes watching us...

Let's get out of here, slowly.

OK, must have taken a wrong turn.

No. That dead end wasn't there before.

Another dead end. How many is that now?

Try another tunnel!

Kaiko, might I suggest you gun the engines?

Hold on tight.

-Look out!

-Whoa!

-Whoa!

-Reverse. Quickly!

-On it.

Can rocks do that?

The mimicry isn't a defence mechanism, it's predatory.

They've herded us here.

We are the prey.

So, we're...trapped?

They can't get to us inside the Rover. We're safe.

Or not.

This is incredible!

-Ant, not the time for fish gazing!

-Technically, they're cephalopods.

Technically, they're trying to eat us!

By pretending to be rocks! Ha! How amazing is that?

It won't hold for much longer.

Everyone, put on your scuba masks.

Argh! Mum, do the electrics still work?

-They do for now. Why?

-The lights.

Of course.

We'll only have a few seconds to escape when the lights come back on.

That's all I need.

They're moving back.

-Now!

-That way!

-I see it.

-Another wall.

-Not again!

Jeffrey?

Go!

Oh, yeah!

Jeffrey, tell me you lost your friends?

That a boy!

World Oceans Authority, this is the Nektons. Copy.

Yes, we discovered a new blue hole.

Sending coordinates now.

Protected zone, no access, definitely no diving.

Except to replant the kelp bed.

I quite agree. No-one should ever encounter what's down there.

Do you mean the octopus or the Lemurian symbol?

Erm...perhaps both.

You are in big trouble, Mr, swimming off alone like that!

Ah, I can't stay mad at you.

Ah! Hey! Off! I'm not your dinner!

Urgh!

It's OK, I've got you.

Wait, how do I know for sure you're the real Jeffrey?

I knew it was you. Good boy!

Now, let's go home.

As always, Nektons, a pleasure.

Wait. If the Lemurian symbol is 6,000 years old,

does that mean they had submersibles?

That would be very advanced technology.

Maybe the Lemurians were just very skilled at holding their breath?

Like mermaids?

Technically, we didn't disprove mermaids.

The sea is deep and full of secrets.

You're a very frustrating guy, you know that?

Wait, Nereus, are you saying mermaids exist?

Excellent question! Until next time...

That's not an answer!

Not even close to an answer!

I know!