Chapter Text
Water is the elixir of all life.
The Earth’s surface is 71% water covered, and the oceans of the earth hold approximately 96.5% of all the planet’s water. Water also exists in the air as water vapor, in rivers, in lakes that sometimes can go through an entire country or continent, in icecaps and glaciers that have existed since the first estimated ice age, in the ground as soil moisture and in aquifers hundreds of feet in hollow caverns, and even 60% of your own body is water.
The oceans provide 99% of the Earth’s living space. That said, there are at least 226,408 marine species that live in our 71% water covered planet, but there are most likely at least 750,000 marine species and possibly as many as 25 million species. We know of many common species, like the starfish, or the dolphin, or the shark and even the occasional eel or sting ray.
We found these species and recorded of their existence as we encountered them. We have come across them in the shallow waters of the tide, either picking them up or coming across them as they were beached. We have explored the epipelagic regions by swimming along the surface or delving into the water, and those who have dared to dive deeper to the mesopelagic layer have explored holding nothing but a camera and a flashlight. And most recently, we have sent down cameras and submarines to the bathypelagic and the abyssopelagic subdivisions, discovering the most foul and odd looking creatures who create their own food through chemosynthesis, the exact opposite of photosynthesis. Yet, we haven’t even begun to dive deeper.
To date, humans have explored less than 5% of the ocean. We have discovered these different species and subspecies of marine life, yet who really knows what could be down there? Millions of species have yet to be discovered and seen by human eyes. We make thousands of discoveries every day, and yet there are always questions to go unanswered.
The most often unanswered question is one we may never want to know, yet our curiosity pushes us to seek for answers, even if it may ruin our perception of who we are and what we are.
What is it really that lingers beneath the surface?
~~~~~
“Wait… what do you mean when you say that you’re transferring me?”
The woman behind the desk in front of him nodded, her wrinkled and aged hands coming from the armrests on her chair to settle down on the maple colored wood. She quietly cleared her throat before she looked up at Link. The atmosphere was slightly tense and heavy in the small office. It was quiet, except for the sound of the ticking clock behind the elder woman’s body. The room itself reeked of antiseptic and frigid, cold artificial air. The temperature and slight breeze coming down on the back of Link’s neck caused a shiver to run down his smaller and considerably thinner body. Long fingers tightened their hold on his white lab coat, small fingernails digging into the cotton sleeves and tugging slightly out of sheer nervous and anticipation for an answer.
“That would be correct, Dr. Neal. I’m so glad that you were able to read the memo I sent to you this morning,” Dr. Locklear said, her thin lips curving up into her own amused smirk, before one of her polished hands moved up to push her thin frames up the bridge of her nose.
Link continued to keep his blue-eyed stare on his boss, his lips parting slightly before they closed. They stretched as they pursed together, silently contemplating what to say in response. He knew that now was certainly not the time to scream and yell at your former professor, mentor, and boss of several years, no matter how confused or flabbergasted you were with him at the moment. Neither was it the time nor place to begin having a semi-mid-life crisis in the middle of your boss’s office. Panicking about what he was suddenly going to do if he was fired for rejecting the sudden order to transfer was not the best way to handle this situation, even if his subconscious was screaming for him to do it, even if that meant if he was going to definitely lose his perfectly comfortable job. More so, this was neither the time to faint and possibly injure yourself in front of your soon-to-be former boss.
“Dr. Locklear,” Link finally said after several tense moments of silence, “I assure you, there has to be some sort of mistake or typo. Why would you want to transfer me?” he began to ask, his hands moving going out in front of him to emphasize his point, his hands moving in awkward gestures and odd pointing to the printed piece of paper he had placed on the desk.
Dr. Locklear couldn’t help but chuckle softly, her voice high and clearly amused. She leaned forward a bit, moving to meet Link’s suddenly nervous and jittery gaze. “Dr. Neal, I assure you, this is no mistake or typo. I have chosen you out of all our capable scientists here to be transferred to a more… suitable and opportunistic location out on the west coast,” she explained, “I’m rather surprised at you, Dr. Neal. If I had been given this opportunity when I was your age, I would have been thrilled.”
Link sighed a bit, his shoulders deflating. “Dr. Locklear, with all due respect, I’m not entirely thrilled at the concept of being moved to the other side of the country, at what, the west coast?”
“Yes, the west coast, like I said.”
“You mean like California?”
“I’m glad you understand your geography, Dr. Neal,” Dr. Locklear smirked, clearly looking pleased with herself, “Yes, we’re relocating you to California. More specifically, your new position is in Los Angeles.”
Link pointedly ignored the snarky and sarcastic answer, resisting the urge to roll his eyes in front of his boss. “What kind of position are we talking about? What would I even be doing?”
Dr. Locklear smiled. “I’m glad you asked,” she purred, pushing her desk chair back with a practiced ease, her hand moving down to the drawers down at her desk. She grabbed one of the silver handles and pulled it open, revealing an organized system of files and folders, each particularly ordered and carefully maintained. Long, wrinkled fingers pushed the tabs forward as she looked for the file, gray eyebrows furrowed before she smiled, a successful look coming to her face. She pulled out a tan file, placing it on her desk. She sat back up and opened it, revealing a small pile of printed emails and pictures of maps.
Link’s eyes roamed over the slightly thick booklet of papers, preventing himself from asking anything about how long this had been planned, and why she didn’t tell him beforehand. He pursed his lips slightly once more.
“There’s a study being conducted in Malibu that needs your kind of expertise. I’m very confident that you’re the best person for me to send for this job,” Dr. Locklear explained as she began to finger through the papers in the file, clearly looking for a specific sheet that was relevant to the conversation at hand.
Link couldn’t help but frown a bit, but the feeling of curiosity unwillingly rose in him, causing his mouth to open without thinking about it and stopping it. “A study? What kind of study? Is there going to be any sort of field work involved?”
Dr. Locklear nodded, pulling out a sheet and holding it up to read it before she held it out for Link to take. “You would be correct there, Dr. Neal. It’s a relatively simple assignment, but it could hold a lot of promise for you and your career,” she said, then began to explain. “The study is being conducted at El Matador Beach. A young graduate student by the name of Stevie Wynne Levine is conducting some research for her graduate thesis paper over at the University of California in Los Angeles. I believe it’s just an observational study. You know, stick by an area, collect data, research any abnormalities and record patterns and look for variances. You know, typical graduate stuff. You did something similar, if I recall correctly.”
Link stared at Dr. Locklear for a moment, momentarily in disbelief. He couldn’t help but scrunch up his nose, flinching slightly. “Wait,” he murmured, pushing up his glasses and letting out a humorless chuckle. “You’re telling me that you’re transferring me to help some grad student I don’t even know research her science project?”
“Charles, as cruel as you know I can be, you know I wouldn’t be sending someone like you across the country just to help a college student with their class project,” Dr. Locklear replied, rolling his eyes and shaking her head. She pushed a strand of graying hair back with a dainty finger, and Link’s blue eyes followed the motion out of impulse. “No, this project is being funded by the university as well as multiple reputable donors, including several private investors and institutions who are very interested in what the results this research might bring. And you know that because of this, this could bring you some serious new opportunities for you as well.”
The dark brunet clicked his tongue and exhaled heavily, eyes glancing off the side. He stood for a few more moments before he slowly brought his body forward, grabbing the back of one of the chairs in front of Dr. Locklear’s desk and sitting himself down. The piece of paper in his hand was gently folded once, and then twice, so that it would be small enough to fit into his pocket. He glanced down at the folded sheet of paper before he looked back up at his most trusted mentor.
A whirlwind of emotions was running through him.
Link was angry. It wasn’t the rage filled anger that he was occasionally filled with when a piece of equipment decided to suddenly stop working or when a student wrote a paper that was on a subject they had already gone over repeatedly in class. It wasn’t the disappointed or exasperated anger he felt when he didn’t get the results he was expecting or when he was stuck in the office filling out a lab report for an experiment that had failed for the last three hundred attempts.
It was an unfair kind of anger. One that he got when he saw a colleague get credit for an experimental design that he came up with in a meeting, or when he was uncredited in a work he put all his effort and energy into. It was the feeling of knowing that you didn’t get success when you knew that you had earned it, because you put all your hard work into it. It was one knowing that you invested your entire life into the field of your passion, one that you knew you were going to stay in for the rest of your life, but as long as you stayed in that field, you would never get credit for anything you ever did. It was the unfair sort of anger that he knew he shouldn’t be getting, but after being in your field for nearly ten years without anything to show for it.
Here he was, nearly thirty-five years old and counting, being told that he was going to be moved across the country for someone he didn’t even know. This someone he didn’t even know was a graduate student. He was being transferred somewhere for some younger girl who might not even have any idea what she was doing or how she was going to do it.
He knew that this wasn’t the way he thought he would finally be getting his fieldwork experience.
Link also knew that he was scared. He was very scared. He was fearful of the sudden change of pace he knew that was going to happen. Here he was, in the prime of his career, and nearly out of his life, being sent across the country to a state he had only been to for pleasure. He knew what California was like, of course, but he had never anticipated moving there and living there. California seemed more like a place to go when you needed some time off work and needed a break from the people you were stuck with when you were assigned to a laboratory for three weeks at a time.
He had lived in North Carolina all his life. He had been born, raised, and had received his education all in the same state. Ever since he had earned his doctorate in marine biology, specifically that of zoology and environmental studies, he had been working at the same university, doing the same research, and spending his days at the same lakesides and same oceans at the edge of the country. Link had a personal, emotional, and nearly physical connection with his state. He knew it like the back of his hand, and he had no intended plans to move off to somewhere else.
He was scared because he didn’t want to leave North Carolina. If he left North Carolina, he knew that he would be homesick. He would feel it in his bones and in his gut. The wilderness and the lakes would call to him, haunt his dreams and thoughts. They would beckon him, teasing him and pleading for him to come back, because it almost seemed like that he couldn’t live without them. In Link’s mind, he couldn’t, and he liked to think that they wouldn’t be able to live without him.
The fear of having to deal with those thoughts scared him, and it was nearly enough to just flat out say ‘no’ to his boss and leave. He didn’t want to have to deal with those thoughts, because he knew that if it became too much, he would give in and head home. He would leave everything to go back to the place he loved, because he knew that no matter what, it would gratefully embrace him with open arms.
The idea of those thoughts even disappearing scared him, because if they went away, he was afraid he might not even miss North Carolina. He wanted to miss it, and crave being there. He knew that if he didn’t, there was no way he would ever go back. If he lost that emotional connection to the place he was born and had lived his whole life, he wouldn’t truly be ‘Link Neal’ anymore. What was a man without his name? Just a simple man. There was no way that Link would ever be ‘simple’.
In the cyclone of emotions he was feeling, his logic began to creep up on him. It began to poke and prod at him, pushing the intrusive, subjective thoughts out of his mind.
Link knew that an opportunity like this could change the course of his career. Dr. Locklear had even said so. She was an intelligent and brilliant woman, even if she was coming along in years. She was like a second mother to him, even though she knew that she could make him suffer if he even stepped one foot out of line. Dr. Locklear was still close, and he trusted her judgement.
She would never have given him this assignment if she thought that it wouldn’t help him somehow. She would have passed it along to some other graduate student, who he knew would be more than willing to take it and simply fly off to California. Somehow, she knew that this research would be worth more to him than to any other student here.
That meant something to Link, even if he knew that he wouldn’t say anything aloud to the woman sitting in front of him.
If this research project was successful, it could bring him new opportunities for work, and not only in California. He could work all over the country, gaining recognition for his expertise in his field. It sounded selfish and arrogant, even when he said it to himself in his mind, but he had been wanting and craving appreciation for the work he had done, he knew that he could be a little selfish. His work was important to him, and to want success is what every person wanted. It was only fair of him to ask for the same thing, even if it meant that he would have to go across the country to do it.
If that meant leaving behind everything he had come to know and love, and that’s what it took to become successful and finally be able to say that he had done something, then he was willing to do it. He would have to suck it up, be an adult, and just take the deal.
‘Besides,’ the little voice in the back of his mind said, ‘who knows what’s going to happen? You might end up liking it there. Take a chance. Live a little, Neal! What’s a little unknown, unplanned adventure to the other side of the country? It might build a little character.’
Link finally let out a sigh. If he was going to do this, he might as well attempt to enjoy it and look on the brighter side of things and attempt to be a little more optimistic. He had to admit that he was a little right. Maybe Los Angeles would build up character and he could become a better person and scientist because of it. That is, if he ended up getting into a team that was capable.
That was an issue and concern that could be dealt with later, though.
Link turned his attention to Dr. Locklear, her dark brown eyes focused and unwavering on Link as she patiently waited for a response. It was the same look she had given him when he was finally decided on what his major was going to be, after literally deliberating with his choices for the past several days before he had to declare a major to the university. She had given him the same patient but expectant look, as if she could read his mind and know what he was going to say. There was nothing he could ever say that would surprise her at this point. She claimed that he was an open book, that his face was entirely readable and open. Link didn’t really mind that, he thought that being open was always better and that it proved that he never had really anything to hide.
“Have you made your decision, Dr. Neal?” she asked softly.
Link inhaled before he nodded, looking into her eyes. She raised an eyebrow in question, before he opened his mouth to speak.
“When do I need to be there?” he asked.
A genuine, full smile made its way to Dr. Locklear’s face, and her entire body seemed to relax the second those words left Link’s mouth. She smiled and pulled out another file from her desk drawer. Instead of opening it, she slid it over to Link and let him pick it up, his eyes curiously running over the paper before he looked back at her. “You have a week to make the necessary arrangements with wherever you’re living now. I’m going to be giving you the rest of the week off to pack your stuff up and have it ready to be sent to wherever you choose to live.”
Link raised an eyebrow. “A week? That’s it? What if I don’t have the money to get my ticket or to move out of my apartment?” he asked, his concerns immediately going to not being able to move. His thoughts also went to his dog, wondering how he was going to be able to bring her across the country comfortably without having to drive across the country. He was fairly sure that he wouldn’t have to drive, and he was desperately hoping he wouldn’t have to. The mere idea of driving by himself across the country made him nervous and unenthusiastic. Well, he wouldn’t be entirely alone. He would have Jade with him, but he knew that she hated being in the car. With having to drive across the country, that meant driving for at least eight to ten hours a day.
Link didn’t want to do that, and he knew Jade wouldn’t be up for that either.
“Don’t worry about that. In order to ensure that you are able to make it to California on time for the start of Ms. Levine’s research, the university will be taking care of all of your expenses,” Dr. Locklear explained, “We’ll be providing you airfare, to, and from, if you wish to come back after the project, as well as rent for your new place of residence for as long as you continue to stay there and work. We will also make sure that you are compensated for your work, so you will still receive your weekly payment, along with a bonus for working with Ms. Levine.”
He thought he had to be dreaming. All of his expenses were getting covered? No matter where he decided to live and what he decided to do, they had to pay for it. Link immediately felt relief wash over him. Living had become rather expensive lately, as a few months ago, his landlord had decided to spring an increase in rent onto him, forcing Link to live on a new budget to be able to pay his bills and buy food to take care of himself.
Now, he was basically getting spoiled because he was going across the country to work. Additionally, he was still getting paid and he was getting an added-on bonus to his paycheck. Link felt like he could have passed out from happiness, but he kept it together externally.
Link gave Dr. Locklear a pleasant and thankful smile. “That’s so thoughtful of them and you. I really appreciate it,” he said.
“It is our pleasure, Dr. Neal. We know that you are the best person to send for this job, as I had said previously. We know that your experience, expertise, and knowledge will benefit Ms. Levine as well as the University of California in Los Angeles along with their investors and stakeholders. I know that you will be an excellent representative for UNC and our marine biology program that we have here,” she replied.
Link smiled and he nodded, before he pushed the chair back and stood up. “Thank you for the opportunity, Dr. Locklear,” he murmured, watching as she stood up herself and walked around her desk to stand in front of him, staring up at him as he talked. He held out his hand.
Dr. Locklear watched it for a moment before he grabbed it, gripping it and shaking it before she quickly pulled Link in. The younger man let out a small yelp and gasp, before he realized that he was being hugged by Dr. Locklear.
He was frozen for a moment, his arms and body not knowing how to react before he was wrapping his arms around her, hugging her back.
Dr. Locklear hugged her brightest student and colleague tightly, sighing softly. “I know you’re going to do something great, Link. Just promise me that you’ll know when that opportunity arises and you’ll grab it by the reigns and take control,” she whispered fiercely, grabbing the back of his white lab coat and squeezing.
Link blinked before he was nodding, furrowing his eyebrows in concentration. “I promise I won’t let you down,” he replied softly.
“You better not, boy,” she hissed, before her face softened and she leaned back and took ahold of his cheeks into her hands. “You can do this.”
Link nodded again, closing his eyes before he smiled. “Like I said, I won’t let you down.”
Dr. Locklear smiled and patted his cheek, before she pulled away and turned, walking back around her desk and sitting down in the chair. “Good. Now, that’s all, Dr. Neal. I suggest you get home as quick as you can so you can start the preparations for your move to California.”
Link’s smiled widened before he turned, walking over to her office door and grabbing the door knob. He took one more glance at her, before he waved with his free hand. “See you around, Dr. Locklear,” he said, before he opened the door and walked out, gently closing it behind him and heading down the hallway.
Dr. Locklear watched Link as he walked away and his footsteps faded as he headed to his own office to gather his things. She hummed and leaned back in her chair.
“Don’t break your promise, Link.”