Tess, Cass, and Luna each took turns diving under the water to look at the machine. Tess's bodily control let her stay under for minutes at a time, but it didn't help her solve the puzzle. And it was a puzzle, they'd realized. The box looked like a steampunk version of an Enigma machine, with levers, dials, and hoses. They weren't even sure what it even did, much less what they were supposed to do with it.
"This needs you, Z," Tess said.
"I don't know if I can risk it," he replied, sweat pouring off of him. "The water is moving too much, it's taking a lot of concentration to keep the top layer in place."
"Maybe you need to drop it and focus on that thing."
They both looked at the walls around them, now fully filled to the ceiling with water. Their small bubble was the only space in the building not completely submerged.
"I can't, Tess. You and Cass can probably hold your breath a long time, but I don't know about me and Luna. Maybe we can evolve Tactical Synergy or something, or unlock some new ability from it."
Tess was skeptical. "We haven't unlocked new abilities in any of the skills we've raised a level or two, they just seem to get slightly more powerful each level. Maybe at level five, since The System loves things divisible by that number, evidently, but that's a huge gamble for something that might not work - we don't have much time."
"Okay, fine," Zavier felt the weight of time pushing down on him as strongly as the water. "You all, start hyperventilating to get as much oxygen into your bloodstream as possible, just in case this doesn't work. I'm going to try and hold the water down while I work."
He focused, separating the part of his mind holding the skill in place from the part that needed to concentrate on the puzzle. When he felt like the skill was safely ensconced in the back of his mind, like a muscle that needed to stay flexed but not actively worked, he took a deep breath and dove.
Plunging beneath the water both calmed Zavier and made him anxious. He'd always been a huge fan of swimming - not because of the actual swimming, but just being beneath the water. Floating, cradled on all sides, able to move freely in every direction - it was a sensation he'd loved as a child and didn't get to experience as much as he'd have liked in his adulthood.
The calming sensation was immediately replaced with urgency bordering on panic. Focus man! He grabbed the sides of the machine and realized it was fastened down - there would be no pulling it above the surface to work. Unlike the tablets, this was anachronistic to an absurd degree. Dials, gears, levers - all of it in brass, bronze, and various unidentifiable metals. The only hint at modernity were tubes that looked to be made of Tygon or some other soft plastic. He focused first on the dials, noting odd symbols that weren't bringing up any flashes of recognition. He worked through his memory in perfect recall of the time he'd had a hobby of code breaking, but got nothing. The symbols looked like they were designed to look as if they had been based on something familiar, but by someone who hadn't seen the source material.
He switched to the levers, each looking like the long handles of an old typewriter or antique cash register. They moved easily, but none seemed to have any effect on anything else he could see. He tried turning dials while moving levers, listening for any sort of movements. He needed better ears.
"Tess," he sent over the group chat, "I need your ears. Can you come listen to this and see if anything changes inside the machine?"
Tess was there in a moment, giving the thumbs-up sign before putting her ear to the device. He turned dials, pushed levers, and overall worked anything that would move. She shook her head and pointed upwards. With an irritated exhale Zavier pushed to the surface.
He broke out with a deep gasp of air and realized the water had risen while he'd been under. Their heads were bumping against the top of the invisible cage now.
"Oh damn!"
"Yeah dad, it just kept going up, but we didn't want to disturb you." Luna was breathing heavily as she treaded water.
Zavier's heart thumped heavy in his chest. Is this it for us? He shook the thought away as quickly as it had come. They'd either survive or not, there was no point in dwelling on the what-ifs. "I'm going to go back down. Tess, please help me. Everyone watch their health bar. The feeling of drowning is going to get scary but if your health is still good you're safe. Don't move around too much, conserve as much air as you can. I don't think we're going to have much time left with the air up here anyway, so I may have to drop the barrier. I'm going to hold on as long as I can, though." He looked into each of their worried eyes, projecting a calm confidence that he didn't feel.
He turned to face the machine again as it sat there, mocking him from beneath the surface. Steampunk dials gleamed beneath the water's surface, an enigma wrapped in cold, uncaring metal. Tess had already tried her hand, along with Cass and Luna, but none of them could make sense of the contraption. It wasn't just a puzzle - it was a test, one designed to push them to their limits. Designed to push him.
"I have to drop it," Zavier muttered, more to himself than to Tess. His breath was coming harder now, his mental strain mounting.
Tess glanced at him, her eyes hard with understanding, but beneath that, fear rippled. "Z," she whispered, her voice taut with the same tension he felt. "If you drop it..."
"I know," he cut her off, meeting her gaze. The weight of their reality pressed between them in that look. If he let go of the barrier, the water would crash in. If he didn't, they were running out of time, air running thin.
There was no choice.
"Get ready," he said, steeling himself. His pulse pounded in his ears, syncing with the slow, threatening rise of the water. The decision hung heavy in the air - more than just survival, it was a promise to himself that he wouldn't fail them.
Tess didn't say another word, just grabbed Cass and Luna, pulling them closer. They huddled behind him, a final act of trust.
Zavier took in a long breath and dropped the barrier.
The water surged in with a roar, crashing down from all sides. Cold, violent pressure hit them instantly, sucking at their bodies as the space filled in seconds. Zavier gasped, the icy crush stealing the breath from his lungs before he could react. His body was submerged, and the world turned in a swirl, every sound a distant echo.
He had no time to focus on that. He kicked hard, propelling himself toward the machine. His fingers reached the steampunk dials, slippery and resistant beneath his grip.
The cold tightened his chest. His lungs burned, craving air that didn't exist down here. His mind pushed away the fear, focusing on what he knew - on the patterns he had practiced, the logic he could impose on the chaos in front of him.
A lever. A twist. His fingers moved on instinct, not out of understanding, but desperation. Every second felt longer, the pressure building inside him just as the water did outside.
A part of his subconscious mind that had been focused on keeping the water at bay called his attention to the tubes. Why are they different? They're the only things not metal - what's the point? Realization rushed in faster than the water. This wasn't a logical test, it wasn't a puzzle. The voice had been watching their behavior, wanting to see how they reacted as a family. What decisions they made in impossible situations. This wasn't a logic test, it was an emotional one.
With a flash of insight he pulled one of the tubes out and placed it in his mouth, blowing the last of his air into it. A loud clunk came from the machine and the rest of the family swam over to see what had happened.
Zavier's chest was screaming and he was starting to see red on the outside of his vision. He knew he was out of time and that this was the moment they survived or didn't. His voice sounded rushed even over the group chat. "Each of you blow into a tube! It wants to see if we'll give up our last breath, or cling on to life. Hurr…" his voice faded as the red haze turned into black spots. He felt himself pushed aside, floating calmly in the silvery blue expanse.
Everything is so beautiful! This is so nice…
He came to his senses when his butt hit the floor, noise rushing in as the water around them flooded out of the chamber and into the floor. His spasmodic coughs were echoed by his family, followed by retching.
"That was so interesting!" A cheerful voice said.
"Ugh, she's back," Tess groaned.
"Before we move on, I have some questions. Please answer honestly or I will flood the chamber again and not provide a way out."
Zavier brushed wet hair off of his face. "Fine. What do you want to know?"
"First, how did you hold the water back? Don't lie, now, I have a theory that I want to confirm."
They shared a look of nervous anticipation, knowing that they were about to give up a valuable secret, but not seeing any way around it.
Zavier took a deep breath before replying. "It's a skill I have. I can block certain elements in limited ways."
"Does it only work on elemental forces or can it be applied to other things as well?"
This was a secret he was going to risk keeping. "It's new so I'm not completely sure, but it only seems to work on elemental forces right now."
"All of them?"
"I don't think so - like I said, it's new."
"How does it work?"
The questions were frustratingly child-like in their persistence. "I'm not completely sure. The System gives us abilities but doesn't always explain how they work, just how we can use them. I wasn't able to do anything to affect the air because I don't have enough experience working with air, but I was able to get enough experience to know how to affect the water. I just kept the top layer of water from moving any higher."
"Does this ability work on electricity?"
They all froze, none wanting to answer that question. The voice saved them the trouble, responding with a light laugh. "It's okay, I understand now and this confirms my hypothesis that it wasn't some silly shirt. Don't worry, I'm not going to punish you for your deception. I'm beginning to understand the lengths you'll go to survive and protect each other, so presenting a believable falsehood to help increase your chances of survival falls within the expected parameters of how your family unit would react. Just be aware that future lies will be punished."
"One more question, and it's vitally important to you that you are fully truthful in your answers. Zavier - or Z? Which do you prefer? Either way, Zavier - when you were underwater the first time and were studying the trap, your spouse, Tess, knew to come to you and to listen for any changes in the trap. By the same token, there was a time when your son, Cassian, was immobile after running into a wall. At first it appeared that you were all just looking at each other, but then he laughed. I didn't have enough data at the time, but have since become convinced that you do, indeed, have a form of mental communication that I am unable to detect. Is this true, and how does it work?"
Zavier ran his hand over his face and sighed in irritation. This was something he'd hoped that she wouldn't be able to figure out. Their biggest secret and best chance for survival depended on them being able to communicate in ways that she couldn't overhear. Can I sell a convincing lie? But no, he realized there was no getting out of this. They'd been caught red-handed and they'd just have to deal with the consequences of it.
"Yes, it's true. We have a way to communicate mentally. It's not fully comprehensive and isn't always active, but we can speak to each other as if we're talking. We can't communicate anything else, just words."
The tinkling laughter came again. "This is splendid! I've never seen this before - that's a valuable skill. Is it only between you, or can others share this connection?"
Well I'm damned sure not inviting her to the party, he thought. "It's just us."
The voice considered this silently for a moment. "But if someone else had a mental connection to you they could possibly piggyback on this connection. If an outside presence was no longer outside…" The dialogue was obviously rhetorical and Zavier felt no reason to respond. This line of reasoning was extremely concerning and the implications sent shivers down his spine.
"At any rate, I believe this portion is complete and it's time to move on! Please exit through the door ahead of you."
A section of the wall opened silently in front of them, a small lobby showing through the opening.
The family stepped through, trailing water behind them.