Chapter 2. When signing a contract, read every sentence.
The background for the establishment of the International Undersea Station (IUS) is simple.
First, the level of marine pollution had reached a point where it could no longer be ignored. Previously, the marine ecosystem and the extinction of marine life were of no concern to capitalists in the pursuit of development and fishing. Now, most marine species have been designated as protected marine life. This means that even anchovies, which are now protected marine life, cannot be caught, processed, distributed, or stored.
In South Korea, which is surrounded by sea on three sides and has tidal flats, out of the 14,000 marine species that once lived, 4,000 have gone extinct, and only about 10,000 remain. Coastal development, land reclamation, marine pollution, overfishing, water pollution, and radiation have already destroyed the marine ecosystem. If further marine pollution occurs, it will directly affect human survival, which is why advanced countries have gathered to address this issue.
Second, a new home for humanity was needed. Only when humans reached a point where they could no longer consume seafood did they realize that space exploration, which only produced corpses and waste, was a money-eating monster. After the last three astronauts returned, each country officially abandoned space exploration. They finally gave up on the grand and despicable idea of terraforming Mars, abandoning Earth, and having a select few survive on a new planet. Instead, they poured all the money squeezed from their citizens into the development of the undersea station.
Oil drilling companies and marine resource development companies jumped into the IUS development. Humans, who are more adept at development than preservation, succeeded in building an undersea station in the middle of the Pacific Ocean by eight advanced countries. There were significant issues with the location selection, but I don't remember much as I was in elementary school at the time. Originally, it was supposed to be built in the Atlantic Ocean, but through a combination of factors such as earthquake-free locations, various rare earth elements, oil, and natural gas extraction, as well as lobbying and underwater wars, the first undersea station was built in the Pacific Ocean. Now, they are pouring money into the Atlantic to build the second undersea station.
Third, mining. No matter what reason is given, this is actually the first priority. The ocean is still a largely unexplored territory. It is a place where enormous amounts of marine and mineral resources are hidden. Oil, natural gas, rare earth elements, manganese nodules, and deep-sea water that has not yet been polluted. New information about the deep sea and deep-sea fish that have been found to be edible. Humans have not yet completely given up on surviving by consuming Earth's resources.
It might sound funny for me to say this given that I work at an undersea station, but I think the construction of the undersea station is highly contradictory. When they were dumping all the trash into the sea, they didn't care, but now that they need it, they are talking nonsense about returning to the ocean. It's absurd. The Earth's resources and life are almost depleted. The destruction of glaciers and the ozone layer, overfishing, and nuclear waste have completely destroyed the Earth's temperature system, creating a temperature difference of -40 to +45 degrees Celsius. Now, they can't withstand it and are trying to hide in the sea.
Those who oppose space exploration argue that accepting extinction is the natural way for a species living on Earth. I don't agree with that opinion, but I often feel regret about being pushed to the bottom of survival.
Unfortunately, I was born after 2000. Personally, I wish I had been born a little earlier. I wanted to live in an era where resources could be used freely, environmental issues were ignored, and sunscreen was unnecessary. Most people born in the 21st century are armed with skepticism and depression about life, but their survival instinct is much stronger than that of previous generations. They poured about 600 trillion in capital and labor into the ocean floor and finally built an undersea station in the North Pacific.
The North Pacific Undersea Station (NPIUS) is divided into four main levels. First, there is the artificial island, which is the 0th level, built on the continental shelf. Below that is the [1st Undersea Station], the [2nd Undersea Station] built at the epipelagic zone (-200m), the [3rd Undersea Station] built at the mesopelagic zone (-1000m), and the [4th Undersea Station] built at the bathypelagic zone (-3000m). The 5th level, the abyssopelagic zone (3000-6000m), is still under construction, so the station is currently composed of four levels. The undersea station where I work is the [4th Undersea Station], the last one completed at the bathypelagic zone (-3000m). A new dental clinic is being set up there, and I was selected as the dentist.
Priya, who had gathered several coral models on her desk, checked my passport and started to take out documents.
"Eight countries participated: South Korea (I shrugged), the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Japan, and China."
"Wait, what about the Philippines? Isn't the Philippines also adjacent to the North Pacific? I'm not very good at geography, but I think Mexico was too. And Taiwan and Hong Kong. Not all adjacent countries participated, huh?"
"The most important thing for participation is that only countries that can invest at least 1 trillion annually in undersea station development can participate."
"That's quite expensive."
...Did our country have that much money? 1 trillion, how much is that? Now that I think about it, I vaguely remember reading an article about how our country was falling behind other advanced countries because it was pouring more money into undersea stations than space exploration, which would delay both unmanned and manned space missions. Priya said sarcastically,
"Eight countries are participating, pooling their money and sharing the resources extracted from the ocean. There were a lot of underwater fights, but that's not something you or I need to know about."
She said she could enjoy watching the North Pacific mineral resource competition as an Indian and proudly showed me the documents she had brought.
"What are these documents?"
"They are about employment safety and application forms."
"Will NEP be responsible for my employment safety? Why?"
I had never heard of it. Please stop making up acronyms for organizations.
"It's derived from the Latin name for Poseidon, Neptūnus. In the past, a Japanese construction company delayed paying its employees for two months. The Japanese employees didn't do anything, but the Chinese employees who were working together caused a commotion. They said if they weren't going to be paid, they wouldn't build the structure and collapsed the elevator of the 2nd Undersea Station with a manned submersible. A Russian construction company tried to blow up the central elevator due to wage arrears. In a Korean construction company, a three-month strike occurred because there was no hazard pay and the salary was too low. In the United States, many Malaysian, Filipino, and Burmese people worked due to subcontracting, and there were several fatal accidents with no compensation. An Indonesian family member of a deceased worker committed a suicide bombing, destroying the deep-sea aquarium. There were many incidents during the construction of the undersea station. If I buy you a coffee later, I can tell you even more chaotic situations. Anyway, they thought they needed to do something to prevent people from dying for a few dollars and to ensure the completion of the undersea station, which cost hundreds of trillions."
"…So that's why NEP was created."
"Only lunatics can sustain continuous labor without any compensation. Adequate compensation is necessary. Everyone staying at the undersea station is a member, and if you sign up and sign the contract, even if you die tomorrow, you will receive more than 200 million in compensation. Even if the company goes bankrupt or the country collapses, your salary will be paid on the 1st of every month from the budget already received."
I started signing the documents immediately. Now I understand why they named it after Poseidon. They must manage the people living in the sea. As long as my salary is paid on time, I can work hard whether it's under Poseidon or a shark.
Priya smiled, amused by my actions. The salary contract was also at the back, and the detailed pages were over 40. I stared at the salary and vacation details. All medical treatments at the artificial island hospital were free. Ah, the hospital is connected to the undersea station. There was also a confidentiality agreement for personal information protection.
My interpreter is old and can't translate documents. Everything was in English. I started reading the contents carefully, and Priya said it didn't matter how long it took. I was grateful for her indifference. There must be many people like me. I slowly read through the contracts, cursing my poor English skills. After signing more documents than I ever have in my life, I handed them back to Priya.
"There are more detailed contents here. Read them."
I received a thin book. I was a bit surprised it wasn't electronic. When I flipped through a few pages, they were all in English. I'm going to go crazy. I can read it, but it will take a lot of time. A very long time.
"Isn't everything done with electronic signatures these days?"
Priya laughed.
"In this world, there are still people who don't have computers and want paper for storage."
I see. Eight countries participated. Priya showed me the company's signed copy and sent an electronic copy to my email. My phone alarm went off, indicating the email had arrived.
"Thank you. I appreciate your hard work."
"Thank you. Welcome to the undersea station."
I sighed and leaned back in my chair. I've taken care of the most urgent task of the day. Priya rummaged through a drawer and gave me a palm-sized electronic pad, which was blue. I noticed that Priya's desk also had a blue pad, but it was covered with cute dolphin stickers. I put the book and the pad in my bag, and Priya gave me an undersea station beginner's manual. It was also a paper book. When I opened it, it was all in English, but I nodded and put it in my bag. I need to buy the latest translation device as soon as I get my salary. I'm going to go crazy.