The salt spray stung my face, but I barely registered it. My eyes were glued to the sonar screen, a chaotic mess of blips and static that was supposed to lead us to salvation. Or, more likely, our watery graves.
"Anything, Reyes?" Captain Colins' voice, crackling through the comms, was tight.
"Still nothing concrete, Captain. Just the usual… debris."
Debris. That's what we called the skeletons of skyscrapers that scraped the surface, what was left of coastal cities swallowed by the Rising.
Fifty years ago, the oceans had turned against us. The ice caps melted, the tides surged, and the Siren, that damned bio-engineered weapon, had turned on its creators. It amplified every storm, whipped the oceans into a frenzy, and drowned half the world.
Now, the remaining scraps of humanity clung to high ground or floated on patched-up warships like the Leviathan, our aging nuclear submarine. We were Navy, what little was left of it, tasked with the impossible: retrieving the "Trident," an artifact rumored to neutralize the Siren's power, hidden somewhere deep in Sector Seven, the most heavily ravaged zone.
The sonar pinged again, and I frowned. This wasn't wreckage. It was… organic. "Captain, I'm picking up a large mass, directly ahead. Bio-signature… unusual."
"Unusual how, Reyes? We talking Siren spawn?" He sounded distinctly unhappy. Siren spawn were monstrous creatures, twisted by the Siren's influence, guarding the deep sea. Not something you wanted to meet in a metal sardine can.
"I don't know, sir. It's… pulsing. And there's a strong energy reading emanating from its center."
Colins was silent for a beat. "Plot a course for it. Let's see what we're dealing with."
What followed was a slow, agonizing crawl through the inky blackness. The Leviathan creaked and groaned under the immense pressure, a metal whale sighing its last breaths. The closer we got, the stronger the energy readings became, until the whole sub vibrated with it.
Then, we saw it.
On the external camera feed, a colossal, pulsating sphere dominated the screen. It was made of what looked like flesh, but gleaming with an unnatural light. We were surrounded by the ruins of what used to be Miami, the submerged skyscrapers like skeletal fingers reaching for the monstrous orb.
"Holy shit," someone breathed over the comms, and I echoed the sentiment silently.
We deployed the retrieval team in armored diving suits. They were the best we had, grizzled veterans who had seen too much, their faces etched with the horrors of the new world. Their mission: breach the sphere, retrieve the Trident, and get the hell out of there.
Hours stretched into an eternity. The only sound was the hiss of static on the comms, punctuated by the occasional clipped report from the team leader, Commander Davies.
Then, Davies' voice, strained and distorted, broke through. "We're in… the interior is… indescribable. We found it. The Trident. It's… beautiful."
Beautiful? What was he on about?
"Davies, extract immediately. We need to get out of here," Colins ordered.
"Captain… I don't think we can leave. It… it wants us here. It feels… good."
A chill ran down my spine. Good? This monstrous thing was emanating pure dread, not good.
"Davies! That's an order!"
Silence.
Then, a low, guttural chuckle. "Sorry, Captain. We're home now."
The comms went dead.
Colins swore, slamming his fist on the console. "Reyes, what the hell is going on down there?"
I frantically scanned the sensors. The energy readings were spiking. Something was happening inside that sphere.
And then, it burst.
A wave of energy radiated outward, slamming into the Leviathan. Alarms blared. The lights flickered and died, plunging us into darkness. Panic erupted.
I fumbled for my emergency light, and in its feeble beam, I saw the horror. The crew was… changing. Their skin was becoming translucent, their eyes glowing with the same unnatural light as the sphere. They were smiling, blissful expressions on their faces.
"It's beautiful," one of them whispered, reaching for me. "Join us."
I scrambled back, horrified. The Siren wasn't just controlling the storms. It was… corrupting minds, turning people into extensions of itself.
I knew, with chilling certainty, that the Trident wasn't a weapon. It was a lure. The Siren wanted us. It wanted to expand its influence, to spread its twisted paradise.
I fled, stumbling through the chaos of the submarine. I had to warn the others, the small colonies clinging to life on the mountaintops. But as I reached the emergency escape hatch, I paused.
The atmosphere was saturated with the Siren's influence. It whispered promises of peace, of unity, of an end to suffering. It promised me a place in its beautiful, harmonious world.
And it sounded… tempting.
I looked back at the glowing figures, their faces serene. Was fighting this monster even worth it? Maybe… maybe they had found the real solution. Maybe surrendering was the only way to survive.
My hand hovered over the hatch release. The Siren's call was getting stronger, pulling me in, promising me… everything.
What do I do?