Tales From Talimara

The Submerged Society

If anything, the future gave us new and unusual ways of living. This is stuff out of science-fiction novels. Duh. In Jullia's case, though, this is reality. This is her story about her life in the Cryarian Hydrometropolis.

Hello there, and greetings from the far, far, incredibly-distant future! I'm Jullia Sentorene.

I wave to you, dear reader, if only you could see it. That's a lame greeting from where I come from. It's a specific one. Only the people in my district say that. Everyone still waves to each other when they say hello. It's as old as society itself. Definitely much older than this one, and we're already pretty darn old here. Welcome to Talimara! That's what we call the Nation of Brilliance. Why do we call it that? Every single community will have different reasons. Some traditionalists will say it was the heroics of the soldiers of the old world who fought during the Years of Chaos. Others will tell you that it was the brainiacs Kolar and Marca who built all of our technology all those centuries ago. Still others will say that it was the exploration and colonization of not only the rest of the Solar System, but many extrasolar planets as well! Oh yes. Talimarans were among the first to trek in the light of foreign suns. We built colonies out there, and eventually they turned into cities, which in turn became entire civilized worlds with new cultures, languages and customs.

But enough about all that. I'm a native of Earth, of Talimara, and I prefer to think that this place is brilliant because of a much simpler thing, and that is water.

You think I'm joking, don't you?! Don't be haughty. Many people in your time also thought that water was nothing special. But it was so scarce back then! Only a tiny bit of the planet's water was drinkable, for instance. But in my time we solved that problem, along with many other things. Problems and puzzles which in your time must have seemed to be hazards with apocalyptic potential but in my day and age are nothing more than trivial woes that we read about in the history books. Starvation. Poverty. Disease. Overpopulation. We stabilized the environment, lowered the sea level, seeded life on other planets and every child is born into a safe, happy and well-fed society.

So once the good-brained government geezers solved all the problems, we began to use our tech for fun. Development certainly can be fun! The ancient city planners who built Cryaria four thousand years ago couldn't have imagined that several hundred years in the future we would build underwater districts beneath the surface of the Great Lake. Imagine that! Colossal habitat domes, very similar to the ones built by the Colonists in the early years of the Interstellar Age, which are large enough to contain decently-tall skyscrapers. There are now so many of them beneath the Lake that Cryaria is divided into the Upper Metropolis, the Lower Metropolis and the Hydrometropolis. There are three underwater districts. I live in the Marina District. The other two are the Atlantic District and the Tidal District.

Marina District is an awesome place! This aquatic society is built a little like the Aquafront District is on the mainland. That part of Cryaria looks like the ultimate vacation spot, and countless people visit it every year. It is built right on the shoreline and extends on vast floating platforms about five miles out into the Lake. Houses and other things were built on them. There are aquaways to get around. You might call them waterslides and water tunnels.

That sounds jolly and nice. But down below the water in the Hydrometropolis, things are even better. We live under a bubble, and we travel around like they do in the Aquafront District. There is water everywhere. Marina District is partially flooded. We have domesticated the dolphin, and the children ride them along the lanes and the canals. Water tunnels link the skyscrapers, and the streets bob with rafts and canoes. We're a city in the water, we are. Many of us have been genetically modified so that our skin absorbs oxygen directly from the water. This means that we don't have to breathe like landwalkers do. We're free to roam about our watery world as we wish. The lower parts of the Marina District have neighborhoods that are entirely submerged. It's surreal down there. Families and children drift about and live as if they are on land. Since they can't speak underwater they communicate in the mindgate or through sign language. It's really pretty how they do it.

The "merpeople" culture that the Hydrometropolis has given rise to is appreciated by many, and I'd like to think me most of all. I don't know about you but I love going for swims after school ends during the day. Technically, I swim practically everywhere I go, but still. I have the honor of attending the Cryarian Lakeview Academy, a reckonable miniature city in its own right, the best under-university school in the Nation. Many of the famous landwalkers study there. Since it's by the shore, many of us from the Hydrometropolis swim up to the beaches, shake ourselves dry and head directly to class. I have a Cryarian mindgate uni-suit, see. Most of the day it's configured to my swimming suit, but once I touch the sand I change it to my schoolgoing clothes and there, I'm ready.

.....School materials are all waterproof now!

Now we don't call the people who live on the surface "landwalkers" in a mean way. We respect their way of life. In turn they call us various names. "Seaswimmer" is a common one; I've also heard of "waterdweller", "wavediver" and "living in the Lake." I've personally been nicknamed as a "fishfriend" by some friends at school, and even that is not mean. Whenever I go for swims I always dive. Many of the children, especially the younger ones, choose to stay on the surface and swim with the dolphins and the otters and more, admiring the unbelievable view of the city above them, the air pocket above that, the habitat dome above that, the lake above that, and the city on the shore above that!

But I choose to dive. Just like the Upper and Lower Metropolises, the Hydrometropolis has layers. The city that's in the air pocket and the underwater suburbs. On the dives down I often visit friends who live there. I occasionally babysit for the waterdwellers down there too. And whenever I dive I feel so alive and free-spirited. The water is great, and the sunlight that drifts down from above looks so beautiful. Now, when the sun sets powerful ambient light keeps the Hydrometropolis illuminated, otherwise the water would be pitch-black. It is strong enough that the landwalkers can see us from the surface. However, it can get scary sometimes down in the depths.

When I go swimming I sometimes follow the schools of teffunia fish and Cryarian gapers. Occasionally I swim with the larger ocean creatures, too. They're such peaceful animals. That's why I'm called a fishfriend. My nickname was given to me by a boy called Nimar. He's from the House of Felix, and he's been my best friend for many years. We met in Elementary School and he's waited on the shore for me to arrive for school every single day since I can remember. He's a sweet guy. I used to think he was in love with me once. Although he gave me the fishfriend name he sometimes calls me a mermaid, which in a way I am. He lives in the Gungrouth Escalade, in the Arts and Deco District. I enjoy visiting his house but he likes visiting the Hydrometropolis even more.

I know how unbelievable this must seem to you. I probably wouldn't believe it either, if I heard it from your point of view. I don't want you to feel jealous in any way. I told you about my world and time not because I was told to, but because I like telling people about me. If you want to tell others that'd be awesome. But don't tell them anything grand. Don't talk about me. I'm just one girl living in a huge world. Tell them about it. This is what humans will do in your future. If you know someone struggling with anything, let them read this letter. I love cheering people up.

That wasn't much of a farewell, I know. I've never been good at saying goodbye, but that's because I don't like to. Take care, reader! And I'll see you where the ocean's deepest!

Jullia Riley Sentorene

Cryarian Marina District, 241 A-TR