Southline Eight fell thirty meters below the surface before Captain Ota stopped measuring depth as sinking.
Water remained above, below, and through the ship.
The bridge stayed dry.
The hull had lost sea, not air.
Sunlight narrowed overhead. Fish crossed compartments without touching machinery. A current pushed the ship east while no water pressed against most plates.
Carriage Ten began sliding toward the bow.
Its wheels remained buried in deck steel. The deck itself moved beneath them as the carriage followed its absent station.
Peta evacuated all sixty passengers to two aft cargo lanes under separate ship and carriage requests. She left the green cake box under Seat 18 because its owner chose body before property.
The sleeping child woke when ocean light vanished overhead. Peta showed him fish crossing the dry bulkhead and did not call the ship underwater. A passenger with the broken ankle kept the current splint while deck angle changed beneath her.
