7 "We Ought to Lay Down Our Lives for the Brothers, Edi"

'Yankee' company had just stepped outside of the 'inner brink', and Edi could now see them, having their suits pressurized, checking all openings, seeing to that their oxygen supply was functioning properly. They had seen every defensive mechanism properly demonstrated by able men and women - the harpoons with regular and special ammunition, the electric shocking function on the knuckles of every suit, as well as the 'failsafe', which was a last resort that spilled out a predator repelling liquid. 'Alpha' company had now entered the bunker, and Edi was still sat at a small heap of sand, wondering about what in the world was going on.

A commander stood up in front of the remaining ones. "Listen, everyone. The two guardian teams are currently being deployed - they are the companies consisting of those with the most experience outside of the bubble. You who are here, are divided into three divisions, though four companies. The three divisions are 'hunters', which are companies 'Hotel' and 'Whiskey' - 'gatherers', which is company 'Echo', as well as you who are totally new to operating an atmospheric pressure suit - we can call you company 'Hopper', as this is all you will be doing - hopping around, familiarizing yourselves with your interface, and getting to know the mechanics and how to handle a suit", he proclaimed to all the people. 'Alpha' company stepped out of the bunker, and made ready to join 'Yankee' company in setting up a perimeter outside the outer brink, out in the actual ocean. "Get going into the bunker, 'Hotel' company!", he shouted.

Edi exhaled and calmed down at this news, he finally knew which company he was in. A woman came over and started talking to him. "Now, you must be a fellow 'Hopper', right? I sure haven't seen you around here before", she asked, and gestured that she would like to sit next to him. He nodded, while surprised - and she made a sand pile of her own, and sat down close to him. She took to resting her elbows on her knees, and supported her head on her hands, looking in awe at the wall of water in front of them, saying nothing. Edi looked over at her, and found she was quite thin, and had long, curly, ash brown hair. He tried saying something, and, finally, he did.

"W... Why are we doing this?", he asked her. "I thought I was in jail, then I thought I was in a rehab of some sort, but now we are going full underwater 'Iron Man' to fight sharks and monster squid and God knows what else... Like, what is going on?", he rambled on, immediately a bit flushed at his uncontrolled ramblings at someone he had just met.

She looked over at him, and giggled at his blushing cheeks after he was done talking. "Don't worry. First of all: Hi, I'm Runa", she said, shaking his sweaty hand. "I'm not totally sure, actually. I just started out on this program, as I grew up here. But you couldn't have, have you? You're not from here, right?", she asked.

"Oh, hi, I'm Edi", he said, still blushing. "No, I'm from somewhere else. 'Eggsvik' it's called - a long way away from here. I'm not even sure how I get there from here - or how I got here from there", he said. "Actually - where are we?", he kept asking - after all, he had someone mild-mannered with him who seemed open to answer every question posed to her.

"Well...", she paused. "What do I say to that? I haven't been outside of here ever, really. I grew up here by the brinks, in a shelter housing", she said, with a tension that had to be attached to some memory from long ago. She looked away from him, back at the inside of the bubble, which had to be at least two hundred meters tall.

Edi decided he would let her be. After all, he had so many questions she probably could not answer, at least he did not want to scare her away. She snapped out of her pensive state, and refocused on Edi again. "So, what is 'Edi' short for? Edmund or Edward or something?", she asked, gently.

Edi chuckled. "Eden, actually. I can't remember what it means", he responded. She smiled, as the commander made ready to speak again.

"Get on, 'Whiskey' company!", he shouted, and picked up a harpoon gun. He dismantled it in a couple of seconds, and began cleaning it's individual parts. "And remember to keep the safety on, or else you could impale or severely injure a fellow trooper", he reminded the more experienced ones.

Edi started having cold sweats, and began shaking uncontrollably for a second, as he imagined being face to face with a rabid shark at the bottom of the sea, wearing a diving suit that he probably could not move very fast in. "Is it hard to walk in a suit? Do you know?", he asked Runa.

"They are pretty alright, actually. We had an older model before. They made joints a bit hard to bend, and the helmets now are more spacious, and reinforced - or so I've heard, anyway. I have just made like three walks outside - ever", she said. "But you will be fine, we have the guarding companies with us. And the hunters will assist them if needed", she assured him.

"Get on, 'Echo' company! Find some good stuff for us, we need the vitamins!", the commander exclaimed, waving them towards the bunker. The other companies that had been dispatched, were now all walking outside the brink zones and the bubble. They had made a half circle right outside it to protect the other companies - the shielding perimeter was complete.

"Hoppers! Go get ready with the rest of 'Echo', they will show you the ropes", the commander said. Edi and Runa and the other 'hoppers' got up, and went back into the bunker. The 'hoppers' got the oldest and most worn-out equipment. There were some that looked different to the others, and Edi quickly assumed they were the older model. He hurried, and jumped into a beat-up one, but it was looking like the ones the others had gone out with. Runa got the last of the newer ones, and some unfortunate souls had to take the ones left, amongst them were the chill dude from before. He went "Oh man", and begrudgingly climbed into his suit, to Runa's and Edi's amusement.

Edi tried walking around inside the bunker, and noticed the one knee on it was making a clicking and snapping noise, as opposed to Runa's one. Another commander took a look, and concluded it was a small defect that would not slow him down or be a danger to him, it was just the hydraulics that made a slightly different sound than on the others. "Consider yourself lucky, you are wearing a thing that has kept the life of a former 'wearer', intact. It will surely serve you in the same fashion", he said, trying to increase Edi's esteem of the suit. A charming flaw, so to say. Edi was ok with this view, and wore it proudly, like a badge of honor, or remembrance. He had his helmet put on and sealed, Runa helped with one arm, the 'former engineer' from before helped with the other.

They all soon but stepped out of the musty bunker, and Edi felt more powerful than ever. He gladly took this feeling, and gave mobility, and a bit of freedom of movement and breath in return. The commander waved them towards the bubble, to the end of the brink zone inside. The water was completely still when just by it, and all the 'hoppers' grew in anxiousness and excitement.

"Check your coms, everyone!" the commander commanded, and finally he put on his helmet as well. "And step outside of the inner brink! Lift your harpoon arm in the air if you can hear me, over!" - and thirty-something aquatic 'Iron Men' lifted their right arms in the air.

"Wonderful. Onwards we go!", the commander cried.