Page 17 of Rupture

God. Margaret was mistaken if she believed Rose would have any influence over Thea. Now more than ever, Rose didn’t understand what she was doing here. Surely, she was more of a hindrance to Finn’s team than a help?

Her boots hit solidity.

“You can open your eyes now.” Amusement tinged Finn’s voice, but she ignored it.

She opened her eyes. They were on a large floating platform and she was alive, and in one piece, even if her heart felt like it was about to crack her ribcage. “We made it.”

“Did you doubt me?” Finn’s voice caressed her ear as he loosened the ropes that bound them together and then unclipped her harness.

“What? No, I just…”

On the far side of the platform, Luca grinned at her from where he was unpacking air tanks from the haul bag. He whistled and spun one finger in a descending circle, mimicking a fall from the skies.

“It’s a big drop. You did really well.” Liev, the dark-eyed one, smiled at her and proffered a hand to steady her as she stepped out of the rappel harness.

From above it had looked like the lights were on a raft, but now that she was here, she saw that the lighting was a ring of submerged lamps. They hung several feet deep around the platform, casting an ethereal light into the aquamarine water and illuminating the cave chamber. She peered over the edge, hoping for the reassuring sight of a rocky lake bed, something to ease her into this. But there was nothing, just the azure color of the water fading into dark nothingness.

Movement on the edges of the light caught her vision. Tapered worms writhing in concentric spirals.There are worms in the water.Okaaaay.She leaned back, pressing her teeth together, sucking in breaths that left a mineral taste in her mouth.

Focus on something else. Anything else.

The walls of the cavern emerged from the gloom as her eyes adjusted. Water dripped from overhead stalactites, jutting from the ceiling like prehistoric shark teeth. Some were as thick as a man’s waist, gray-white with passing time. Others were broken, their ragged edges truncated, or split apart into even more jagged points, their tips sharpened with age.

“Impressive, huh?” Finn coiled rope around his forearm.

“Yes.” She had to admit it was. Ocean diving was one thing, but this was a whole other world.

The platform jolted as Liev pulled a smaller, bright orange inflated raft close to the platform. Her heart leaped at the sight of the object nestled within.

MARV.

Grateful for something familiar, Rose dropped to her knees and ran her hands over her baby, checking for any damage sustained on the descent. She breathed a sigh of relief. MARV was undamaged.

“Fuck me, it’s a fucking snakebot.” Luca squatted beside her.

“This is MARV.” Rose kept her voice level. “Marine Autonomous Robotic Version IV. MARV is a robotic bio-hybrid. Biological DNA combined with nano tech.” She ran a hand along MARV’s metallic body. “I developed MARV to inspect subsea structures. It’s configuration has been augmented to create an autonomous robotic hybrid that can navigate hostile environments without risk to human life.”

Luca’s eyes widened. “This thing is part robot, part living organism?”

Rose bobbed her head and she allowed herself a small smile of pride. “MARV can think and adapt like a living creature, but with the durability and resilience of a machine. The neural network is modeled after the human brain, allowing it to process and analyze data in real-time. It can navigate through even the most treacherous underwater environments, collecting valuable data?—”

Luca let out a low whistle. “No offense, Doc, but our previous experience with any kind of robot or AI has been a total shitstorm.”

“MARV has been rigorously tested and refined over several years.” Rose fought to keep a smile on her face. “I have designed every aspect of MARV’s programming to ensure it operates within strict parameters. It’s a tool, a highly advanced one, but a tool nonetheless and perfectly safe.”

Luca shook his head, a skeptical chuckle escaping his lips as he boosted to his feet. He took a step back. “With alldue respect, keep it well away from me.” He shook his head. “And I’ll be keeping my eye on it. One wrong move and I won’t hesitate to take it out.”

Rose rubbed her neck with more force than was necessary. “Of all the?—”

A warm hand settled on her arm. “Don’t let him rile you.” Finn’s tone was even. “But what’s he’s talking about is the truth. We have run into a few problems in the past.”

“There are noproblemswith my design.”

Something glimmered in Finn’s eyes and then vanished. “Of course not.”

Needing distraction from her rising irritation, Rose reached into her backpack, pulled out the controls and woke MARV. The robot’s systems came online. Its slanted eyes glowed a brilliant white, casting an eerie light across the platform. It never got old seeing what she had created come to life.

“Liev, give me a hand.” Finn’s voice broke through her reverie. He slid into the water with a soft splash and swam behind MARV, his movements careful as he worked with Liev to maneuver the robot off the raft and into the water.

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