I never wanted to come back to the trench. Not after Suyin. Not after what we did to her.

But here I am, staring at the sonar blip of an 80-foot shadow circling below Mana One’s new platform. Haiqi. Her name means 'ocean spirit'—Jiuming’s idea, back when we thought we could tame her. Back when Suyin was alive.

Now, Meiying’s voice crackles over the comms: 'She’s calling me, Dad. I can feel her. She’s not attacking. She’s… asking for something.'

I grip the rail. The last time I ignored a Meg’s warning, I lost Suyin.

A red alert flashes—Haiqi’s breached the outer barrier. Alarms scream. Mac shouts orders. And then—silence. The lights go out. Only the deep glows, lit by bioluminescent jellyfish drifting like ghosts.

Meiying grabs my arm. 'They’re going to kill her. Just like they killed Mom.'

I look down into the abyss. Haiqi’s eye—massive, intelligent, ancient—locks onto mine through the glass.

Do I open the gate and let her in?

Or seal the facility and become the monster she fears?