The Abyss Does Not Wait

  I cannot stop thinking about them.

  The Sentinels.

  I have seen predators. I have seen prey. But they were neither. They were something else.

  I do not know what they wanted. I do not know why they let me live. But I know one thing—they are not the last of their kind.

  There are others.

  And if I want to survive in this ocean, I need to be ready.

  I need to change.

  ---

  The abyss does not wait for the weak.

  I push forward, ignoring the soreness in my body. My wounds have started to close, but I am still not healed. My health has risen slightly.

  ? Condition: Recovering (58% Health)

  I need to train.

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  I cannot afford to stay the same.

  I need to be faster, stronger, smarter.

  The Shadowjaw nearly killed me. The Sentinels paralyzed me without touching me. If I do not adapt, I will die.

  And I am not ready to die.

  ---

  I begin with movement.

  The fight with the Shadowjaw forced me to push my speed to its limits, but I know I can be faster.

  I dart forward, then shift direction sharply. I repeat the motion again, testing my ability to turn, to twist without losing speed. The first few times, I overcorrect and lose momentum.

  But I adjust.

  I learn.

  I flick my tail at just the right moment, feeling the way the water moves around me. Soon, I am weaving through the currents smoothly, faster than before.

  [ Adaptation Progress: 7.2% ]

  My body remembers.

  Every fight, every close call, every moment of survival—it all shapes me.

  And I am growing.

  ---

  Next, I hunt.

  I have fed, but my hunger is returning. That is good. I need fuel to grow.

  I search for prey, using my senses more carefully this time. I don’t just listen—I analyze.

  I detect a small pulse in the water—erratic, weak. A wounded fish. Easy prey.

  I approach, but I do not attack immediately. I wait. I watch how it moves. I study.

  Then, I strike.

  Faster than before. More precise.

  My jaws close around its body, and this time, it does not even have time to struggle.

  I kill it instantly.

  [ Prey Consumed: Pale Sandfish ]

  [ +0.3 Adaptation Progress ]

  This is how I will survive.

  Not just by fighting.

  By learning.

  By becoming something greater.

  ---

  The next change comes unexpectedly.

  I am resting near the seafloor, letting my body absorb the energy from my hunt. The hunger has faded, and my wounds are nearly closed.

  Then, a pulse rolls through me.

  Not from the water.

  From inside.

  A sensation spreads across my skin, like a faint tingle, then a sharp static shock.

  I flinch.

  Then—

  [ New Trait Acquired: Bioelectrical Sensitivity ]

  What?

  A second pulse follows, fainter but clearer this time. I do not see anything different. I do not feel stronger.

  But when I focus, I sense something new.

  A faint hum in the water. A disturbance I have never felt before.

  I turn my head slightly. The sensation shifts. It is not touch. It is not sound.

  It is something else.

  I flick my tail experimentally. A ripple of energy moves through my body, faint but real.

  This is not a weapon. Not yet.

  This is awareness.

  A new way to see.

  I do not fully understand it yet.

  But I will.

  Because I am not done evolving.

  And the abyss is not done testing me.