Trouble in Águas Claras

New place. Ancient problems.

By Alexander Bird

Prologue

After unprecedented natural disasters, such as ancient volcanoes erupting across oceans simultaneously, storms of extraordinary magnitudes, intensified global warming pushing temperatures to an almost unbearable 147.2 degrees Fahrenheit, and the cataclysmic events of World War III, WWIII.1, WWIII.2, and all the neverending localized ethnic and religious bloodshed and armed conflicts over dwindling natural resources, a decision was made by people from the global elite and certain scientific communities: to seek refuge underwater.

A significant portion of humanity’s remnants dwelled in submerged habitats, shielded from the devastation plaguing the surface. It was hard to estimate the current human population since the beginning of WWIII, but conservative estimates suggested that no more than 12% of the population had survived, with less than 2% residing underwater.

Those who persisted in eking out an existence on land faced formidable challenges. Intense temperatures and perpetual storms made agriculture and the generation of electric power daunting tasks. Some underwater inhabitants believed that armed conflicts persisted on the surface. Yet, that seemed unlikely. In many areas, radiation had reached deadly levels, creating eerie and desolate landscapes. They were more likely to contend with the erratic weather rather than engage in conflicts with each other again.

Given these circumstances, it was not difficult to imagine that people on land would be inclined to seek refuge underwater. However, underwater colonies remained mostly hidden from those on land.

Trouble in Clear Waters

In one underwater colony, located in Águas Claras, where the significant challenges of agriculture, internet connectivity, and pisciculture seemed to have been overcome, a troubling situation began to emerge.

“It’s becoming increasingly difficult to measure maritime currents, and no underwater colony is helping,” complained a scientist.

“What?” his lazy coworker inquired.

“Take a look here,” the scientist gestured towards the radar. “We’ve detected a considerable amount of heavy ocean trash, possibly sunken ships, containers, and all sorts of debris heading in our direction. And all of this may collide with our colony in less than three months.”

Like many people in Águas Claras, no one ever thought trouble would appear. “What should we do?”

“We need to convene and discuss this with everyone to find a solution. But personally, I think instead of moving the trash, we should relocate ourselves from here… It’s easier given the amount of garbage.”

Despite their limited engineering resources, a consensus emerged to mobilize and relocate the entire colony to safer waters. Teams of engineers, scientists, and skilled workers collaborated tirelessly to carefully shift the massive underwater structures.

Still, what would happen if all that trash followed them to their new home? Faced with this possibility, they decided on a future mission.

Once safely settled in their new location, the multiracial colony — known as the Bluefins — should organize a team of volunteers and scientists to address the trash issue back in Aguas Claras. Their ambitious plan involved developing cutting-edge technology to retrieve, sort, and repurpose the debris. Instead of disposing the trash back into the ocean, they committed to transporting it to the land for proper disposal and recycling in Aguas Claras.

Many months later, the second mission commenced, and the initial volunteers made a startling discovery: there was something behind the dense mass of junk!

Another colony had cleverly utilized the heavy rubbish to disguise their actions, using it as cover to overtake the abandoned colony and establish themselves in the pristine waters of Águas Claras.

The other colony’s ingenious use of junk and trash to disguise their submarines was a testament to their resourcefulness and cunning strategy. To an observer from afar, their vessels appeared like nothing more than a scattered array of debris drifting in the ocean, camouflaged amidst the refuse that had accumulated over time.

Overall, the use of junk and trash to disguise their submarines allowed the colony to operate clandestinely, exploiting the unsuspecting nature of their targets while establishing themselves as a formidable force in the pristine waters of Águas Claras.

The volunteers grappled with the unsettling reality. “What do we do now? First, they do this to us. Then what? Piracy? Damn!”

“We need to bring this to everyone’s attention. We must find a solution together,” declared Rocco, one of the most courageous men in the entire Bluefin community.

Various theories circulated among them.

“They might be colluding with the surface!”

“Planning an invasion to plunder us!”

“They sought our precise location… And brought all that garbage with them! I don’t think we can overpower them.”

Águas Claras was a haven. Adapting to the new circumstances was no easy task, leaving the colony exhausted from the hard work and scarce resources.

“We can’t risk negotiating with them. We must sink their colony ASAP. That’s evident. We need to find a way to do it efficiently. Eliminate all of them.”

Finally, Rocco decided to speak. “Okay. We can explore various plans. Seek refuge on land, and build weapons to fight them, but we also need scout units, and perhaps, diplomats — someone who can lie, deceive, bluff, read them well enough and bring all the information like a true spy. And we must do this quickly.”

So they did it. They chose someone whom no one ever listens to — a gambler, to whom many lost bets; a man with a million-dollar smile, someone who could be elected president if no one knew his past of lies, jokes, tricks, schemes and crazy adventures: Vince. Who would be better to take advantage of their adversaries than a charismatic trickster? Who better could understand other scammers than a scammer himself?

This time it was easy to find Vince. He was put in jail for getting involved in a fight over a clandestine poker match.

Rocco and Vince were both assigned to the mission. Everyone was afraid Vince could mess things up, so Rocco promised to go with him.

On the Verge of Conflict

They both received many instructions and spying gadgets from their own colony. However, as soon as they entered the mission submarine, Vince said, “We are not doing any of that. We will not use these gadgets. And instead of approaching them through here, from where we left that coral reef, we will approach them from there, the other side of the reef. So they won’t be certain we are the ones they fooled months ago.”

“This will take longer. We will have to circle the entire reef. Besides, that’s risky. We don’t know how good their radars are.”

“We go as far as we can to circle them, and we do this as fast as we can. Top speed. Then we stop, wait a few days, still far from them, and only then do we approach very, very slowly like we were just lost people begging for attention.”

“We should have discussed this with the others.”

“Too much opinion back there. We are the ones calling the shots here.”

“Fine. We’ll do it your way. No backup. No communication with the base. Nothing. Just waiting for the enemies’ questions. Man, this sounds awful. I don’t know how you can be so confident about this.”

“We will approach them with nothing to hide, just a small submarine carrying no kind of military stuff. It will be so unusual that they will listen to us. We will appeal to their curiosity.”

“OK. Until then, I will work on how to eject us from this sub in case things get bad.”

“Great.”

Despite the initial tension between the two, Rocco followed Vince’s plan thoroughly.

During their journey, they enjoyed each other’s company, fishing like the best of friends, taking sunbaths, speculating about the women in the other colony, and preparing for the questions their enemies would ask.

Finally, the significant day arrived. Their sub approached the enemy’s base. At first, they attempted communication using intentionally malfunctioning equipment, creating an impression of misery and a serious need for help.

“Stop your submarine. Identify yourself,” responded the enemy using the radio.

Vince, “I think we are lost. Can we pick up some supplies with you and leave?”

“Where do you come from?”

“Far north. Some people helped us, but our radar is failing, and we could use some help. We are not looking for trouble.”

“What are you guys up to, traveling alone in the ocean?”

“We want to get to know a little more about the sea and how things are going around this wet new world of ours.”

“It seems it isn’t going that well all by yourselves out there. Tell us what you need, and we will see if we can deliver it to you.”

“Vegetables, vitamins, a new capacitor. And… There is one more thing. We are diplomats… We want to discuss some politics face to face too.”

“What?”

“Pass it along your hierarchy; we are also here on a diplomatic mission. We’d love to speak with you guys personally too.”

Vince and Rocco waited for 35 minutes.

“We will receive you.” Announced the radio.

There was no eye contact from their enemies. Low light everywhere. It seemed like their enemies were accustomed to laying low, very low.

It was hard, very hard for Vince to read them. It was as if they had been living in scarcity, fear, and dealing with the losses of war for decades.

Every move Vince and Rocco made was observed with caution and readiness by the soldiers. Nothing would be a surprise to them. It was like entering a forest full of well-camouflaged, experienced snakes. These soldiers wouldn’t hesitate for even a split second to respond to any suspicions with military violence.

Some of the soldiers received an order and both Vince and Rocco found themselves handcuffed.

Vince, “There is no need for hostility. We are diplomats! If we don’t get back to our colony, this will be treated as a declaration of war.”

“The handcuffs stay,” The soldier stated.

So they met the general. “You can speak.”

“Well, we want to understand your strategy here. Why occupy this coral reef?”

“We found it abandoned. And we think it’s a great place.”

“Do you ever wonder why it was abandoned?”

“No idea.”

Vince couldn’t tell if the general was speaking the truth.

Rocco stepped forward and decided to be honest, “Well, our community used to be here. We thought all this trash, containers, and wrecked ships were ocean garbage coming in our direction. So we left. Is that why you guys hid yourselves behind all this trash? To rob this place from us?”

Vince nodded to his friend. That indeed needed to be said. There wasn’t much choice for them besides beginning such an important conversation with honesty.

“No. We only wanted to protect ourselves from other colonies and the land people.”

Vince bluffed, “So can we be friends?”

But the general was more direct than he had anticipated. “You guys want your place back?”

“We do.”

The general pondered for a few seconds, briefly discussing the situation with his colleagues in front of the arrived diplomats, then said, “I guess we can share the reef. Unite our forces. There is plenty of space here. We don’t want to repeat our recent apocalyptic history. It’s the first time we see diplomacy in decades. Other colonies usually don’t care about it. They would just send missiles, and that’s it. So we are willing to give your people a chance to coexist with us. Besides, there is so much we can learn by meeting different cultures.”

“Good to hear that. We will discuss this with our people.”

“But don’t take so long. Or we may also treat the delay as a sign of war.”

Rocco and Vince nodded respectfully.

“Should we trust him?” Rocco whispered to Vince as they were returning to their submarine.

“I don’t know.”

Tides of Unity

Rocco and Vince returned to the base, prepared to decide and vote on the next diplomatic steps alongside all the members of their group.

“We can prepare for the worst, okay. But what I’m about to say is very polemic. I think we should try to be friends with them. I think we should put some of our sons and daughters on the first submarines we send to them, seeking allegiance and our space back in the reef.”

No one agreed. Fathers and mothers screamed against Vince.

Vince insisted. “It’s possible that we can unite our forces with them. We just need to give them some of our trust. We will certainly work harder and fight better knowing what’s at risk if we come to that.”

“I agree,” Rocco said.

Everyone fell silent.

“We’ll do as Vince told us. It will work,” reinforced Rocco.

People voted and accepted Vince’s idea.

The young people, mostly teenagers, were surprisingly more anxious than afraid, clearly excited to see Águas Claras again, and the people they had never met before.

Everything went just fine upon their arrival. Many citizens of the colony occupying Águas Claras, the Azores, came out to greet them. The young people from both colonies were so excited and open to the possibility of meeting new people. For them, it felt like a vacation after a long time of facing difficulties.

So, with cunning, Vince found an opportunity to bring both colonies, the Bluefins and the Azores, closer together. He approached the smiling girls who were watching them enter the colony, especially those who couldn’t take their eyes off one of the young Bluefins, and said, “Peace goes both ways. It took a lot of courage for us to be here. I think you should join us on our walk and demonstrate your colony’s willingness for peace and alliance.”

A few days later, a couple formed by a brave Azores girl and a Bluefin boy announced their intention to get married. This was exciting for everyone! Both colonies accepted the marriage between the young couple, and that was sufficient to seal immediate peace between them.

“Who would have guessed? Many world wars. Many technologies were discovered. And to solve our differences and conflicts, we still use scouts, diplomats, and marriages. Would you call this progress?” Rocco asked Vince.

“Progress? Certainly not. But we must start from somewhere. I think we were lucky this time.”

Epilogue

At the marriage…

Rocco: “You don’t care about others’ opinions, but you can observe and calculate all of their actions, regardless of whether you’ve ever seen them before. And while everyone is celebrating peace, you are here reading philosophy. You are a strange fish.”

Vince: “I believe I started down the wrong path back then, during my time in school. I was just a kid, and I asked the teacher: ‘What can we do to make sure that war won’t take place here, underwater?’ The teacher said, ‘Well, our family’s investments are all here. We put all our differences aside, and we all worked really hard.’ So I said, ‘Well, I put no money here. And Johnny there just robbed my pencil.’”

Rocco: “What did the teacher do?”

Vince: “Nothing. She thought I was joking.”