1 CHAPTER 1: UNEXPECTED PROBLEMS

18-year-old Daniel Slater was on his way to work. He was already looking forward to getting home, seeing his sister Suzy, and asking her how her day at school was. Being orphans, Daniel had taken a very protective role over Suzy. Especially ever since he figured out she had autism. Suzy, his seven-year-old sister, was diagnosed with severe autism at just four years old. Suzy, while being very smart and curious, has never really fit in with the rest of her class. Part of her autism causes her to be mute and very antisocial.

Life underwater proved to be quite uneventful in nature. Everything was practically the same day to day. They got food from the same place, had the same repairman fix their equipment, and said hi to the same people everyday. Everybody went through the motions; they just existed. Nobody complained because they were all grateful to be alive. Nothing out of the ordinary happened; one day all of that would change…

Suzy doesn't understand the daily routine of the underwater life. One day when Daniel went to work, she went exploring. Little did she know that this was going to be the worst mistake of her life. There was a barrier about 200 feet below the surface and no one went past it. But Suzy wanted to see the sun. She had heard about it from her older classmates, and she wished to see it. So as soon as her brother left for work, she found her way down to the pods. Once she entered the pod, the GPS automatically set for the shore. The trip took hours. As she got close to shore, she realized she didn't know how to land the pod. Everything happened so fast. She crashed into the beach, and her head slammed against the side of the pod. Knocked out cold, Suzy slumped in her chair.