The Secret World

This is the year 2300, and human technology has already progressed countless bounds. Powerful AIs, Hovercars, Virtual reality, you name it, they've got it. This is the age where human technology advances ever so rapidly, seemingly without end, The all-powerful AI era.

Kan had dreamed of the underwater world ever since he was young, imagining all the undiscovered creatures, roaming in the depth of the ocean, unfettered and free. How he wished to be like that, away from all the worries in humanity, just him, and the water.

Today, is the day where it all comes true. Kan clenched his credit card tight in his hands, the slightly sweaty hands expressing his excitement for what's to come. One of the top ten companies producing inventions that improve a human's lifestyle is releasing the artificial gills today, the type that allows even the weakest humans to breathe and swim underwater, unhindered by the need of basic human bodies where one have to breathe in oxygen in the air itself to survive.

Peering down at the magnificently blue ocean, where even the most colour-blind would exclaim in awe, Kan took a deep breath. Ever since the purification plan from 200 years ago, humans were forbidden to dump any sort of foreign items into the ocean, resulting in the ocean gradually returning to the form it was, almost 600 million years ago. Of course, there were those who didn't obey the rules, but they were sent off for execution. Kan shudders to even think of how this beautiful mass of blue world was so murky, stinky, and full of trash 200 years ago, comparable to sewer water.

He steadied himself, and braced himself for what's to come. He felt the sea breeze, gently stroking him; The bird calls, gradually calming him; and the ocean waves, as it rises up and down on the very cliff he stood on, calling out to him, inviting him, into the mysterious blue depths beyond.

"No more stalling," He muttered to himself, "It's time." With a great powerful leap, he dived, into the deep, mystifying, and stunning sea-world beyond.

It's been quite a few years, and Kan has resurfaced to stare at the sky in despair once again, adding another count to the numerous times that he had done so in the past several years. Was it all a lie? Is the underwater sea-world merely an old fisherman's myth? The ocean was empty, with not a single soul to be found, besides a few crustaceans, seashells, and dead corals. Where are the rich marine lives that were described so vividly in e-books? Or the great coral reef habitats that he had once seen on an antique paper book? He sacrificed everything for this, falling out with his friends, disappointing his family, selling his house, and giving away his beloved pet, all to pursue this one, simple dream of his. Will it all end in vain? Kan felt someone chopping onions nearby, even though he should be alone out here, as no one dared to venture this far out. Tears kept streaming down his face, mixing into the swirling ocean under his head. He gradually felt himself becoming dizzy, as the ocean swirled rapidly, akin to a great cyclone.

Wait, Swirling ocean? Cyclone? Kan gasped in surprise, eyes wide with shock, as he felt the ocean pulling down on him with great force, tearing away his artificial gills, filling his lungs and stomach with ice cold water, completely drowning out his cries of fear. Am I to die here, with nothing accomplished in my whole life? Fine then, let it be that way. I wonder, would anyone miss me? Kan's last breath of air was forced out of him, as he felt himself drowning, sinking, deeper and deeper, into the heartless embrace of the great ocean that he always loved.

"Ah?!" Kan jolted awoke, confused by the bright light shining on him. "Am I dead? If this the afterlife?" He slowly tried to sit upright, when suddenly a jolt of pain strikes him everywhere on his body, causing him to fall back down onto the bed, inducing even more agonising pain. His eyelids closed once again, falling unconscious.

An unknown amount of time had passed, when the door suddenly opened, and Kan muddle headedly heard someone walk in. The person sat down on his bed, and accompanying the sound of water splashing, was the feeling of a warm towel gently wiping his head, soothing his drowsiness even further. Just as Kan was about to fall into sleep once more, a cold, heavy, and damp towel was slapped onto his head, chilling him to the bones.

Kan shuddered at the sudden change in temperature, and his originally drowsy brain was shocked into function once more. He slowly strained his eye open, half because of the immense effort for him to move even a muscle and half because of the intense brightness that greeted him due to his eyes that were adjusted to seeing the dark depths of the ocean in the many years. What greeted him, was a friendly looking face of a young boy, smiling gently at him. However, if one looked closer, Kan could make out every detail that screams out the sentence: "He's not human!"

The boy's face was cover in tiny, soft, and transparent little scales, His flowy short hair a bright aqua blue. The boy's ears are slightly pointed, and his eyes as colourful as the corals photographed in antique paper books.

"Ah! You're awake?" The boy yelped in surprise and proceeded to ask with a smile on his face, "How're you feeling?"

"Ahhh… terrible, I guess." Kan replied, slightly dazed and spaced out.

"Well, yeah, that's a normal reaction, considering what you went through to arrive here." The boy said with an angelic smile. "Though It's been quite a while since a human stepped foot upon this land. Well, in your case, fell onto this land, Haha. The last humans to step foot on our kingdom was well over two thousand years ago, when they were so primal that there was no such thing as trash. Even since then, the humans advanced at a speed so quickly, it's like seeing a pig's life span, and how it fattened up so quickly. They kept dumping trash into our houses, and at first, it was tolerable. But even someone of the greatest patience couldn't tolerate a constant flow of litter gushing into their homes, right? So we chose a representative to go out and 'negotiate' with you humans, and successfully stopped that annoying as hell behaviour, while moving every single one of our kinsmen into this new kingdom that we found, with its only entry and exit being that giant whirlpool that you got caught up in." He chuckled gently. "By the way, my name's Noymularu, but my friends call me Nim."

"Human? What do you mean by that?" Kan confusedly asked, befuddled by this sudden onslaught of information, flabbergasted and unable to reorganise his thoughts.

"Oh, you don't know about us? It's only been two hundred years? Well, I guess your so-called government decided to hide our existence, well then. Figured so, those cowards. Anyways, introduction. Hi, my name is Noymularu, my friends call me Nim, and I am a rainbow trout sea folk." Nim smiled brightly as he waved his tail to show Kan.

"Sea… Folk?" Kan's pupils dilated in awe, amazed by what his five senses are telling him despite his brain's constant assault of alarms that it's not real. "Am I… dreaming?" Kan exerted all his strength to lift his arm up, and pinched his cheeks. "Ow!" Nope, no, definitely not a dream. He peered up at what could only be described as a mermaid from the fairy tales, only to see the boy smiling innocently at him.

"But then… Where am I?"