The back feels warm and soft. I wonder if itās because the cat is gentle, or if all cats are like this. Even when I first met it, it didnāt bite or scratch me when I brushed against its body. I had forgotten to let the cat out, but it seems someone took care of it. Shouldnāt we also give water to the animals? What does the cat eat? Does it eat mice?
What should the snake eat? Does the snake also eat mice? Do they both lap up and swallow water? Iāve never kept an animal before, so Iām at a loss. The only time Iāve seen what a snake eats was on an animal channel on TV, and even then, it was just hunting and eating mice in the wild.
Ae-young shone the flashlight around and then directed the light at the cat that had settled on my stomach. It seemed that Ae-young had carried or held the cat all this time.
"By any chance, do you know someone in Baekhodong who keeps a cat?"
Silence followed this question. Since everyone already knew about the cat, I thought it wouldnāt be a big deal to mention the snake as well.
"Or do you know someone who keeps a snake?"
"Snake? Is... is it venomous?"
Ji-hyuk, lying down, didnāt move. It was hard to answer. I couldnāt exactly ask the snake if it was venomous.
"Iām not sure. I picked it up from its cage when we escaped from the Baekhodong dormitory."
"Where is the snake now?"
I pointed to the bag beside me, but then realized it was too dark for anyone to see. After yawning, I said,
"In a small inner pocket of my bag."
"Have you been bitten?"
"No. ...Actually, Iām not sure. I wouldnāt know if it just brushed against me. If it had bitten me, wouldnāt I be dead already?"
"It might not be a neurotoxin. With hemotoxins, death can occur in as little as 20 minutes, but usually takes about 2 hours."
Shin Hae-ryang is quite skilled at making peopleās hearts race with just a few words. He managed to make me anxious in just a few seconds. Itās been more than 2 hours since we found the snake. Iāve been putting my hand in and out of the bag; I wonder if Iāve ever felt pain. I canāt remember. I was so distracted.
Iām so tired that even if I were to die from snake venom right now, I wouldnāt be able to do anything about it. In the darkness, a voice spoke. It was Yugeunās voice.
"What about the others?"
"Which others?"
"The people who took the central elevator. Henry, Jennifer, Ga-young, the Russians, the people who escaped using the escape boats, the people who left in the submarine, and the people from our research center."
"Theyāre either dead, alive, escaping, or captured by the cult, or captured and killed. We canāt afford to think about others in this situation."
Ae-young, who had been sitting quietly, stood up and arched her back like a cat, then laughed sarcastically.
"āWeā donāt have the luxury either. The injured."
"Even with a candy in your mouth, you can still talk!"
I gave the last piece of candy to the injured. When we first rested, Ae-young had taken out cups of fruit from the bag on her back, and with her charisma, everyone had nodded and agreed to eat whatever was shared from the bags. Now I understood why she had made us eat while climbing. We wouldnāt have been able to climb all these stairs on an empty stomach. She was like a professional stair climber.
We should be arriving at the second underwater base soon. I hoped Shin Hae-ryang would give a short speech. Weāve climbed well. Weāre almost at the second underwater base. Itās the result of everyoneās actions. Weāre more than halfway there. But he only said one word in the darkness.
"Letās go."
The hope that we were almost there enveloped my entire body. Soon, the second underwater base. Hang in there. Ji-hyuk scratched his head in the corner and put his arm around my shoulder.
...When we get out, I need to take a bath first. I need to throw away my clothes. Am I the only one whoās sensitive about hygiene? My hope for the future only lasted until the 30th step. After that, my heavy legs felt like they were glued to the stairs, and I didnāt want to climb anymore. I sighed dozens of times and then asked,
"How did they manage to build such a structure underwater? It canāt have been easy, right?"
"Money can make anything possible. Weāre sending humans to Mars, after all."
Shin Hae-ryang added in the darkness,
"This base is said to be a combination of impossible designs and the most advanced technologies humanity possesses. When the North Pacific underwater base was first built, all kinds of marine engineers and people whose jobs involved the word āmarineā flocked here. Architects, civil engineers, drillers, and so on. Theyāre probably now at the Atlantic underwater base. They say that all the concrete and rebar produced by the North Pacific countries over several decades were poured into this base."
I had heard from the news that the underwater base had revitalized the shipbuilding and construction industries. The marine sector was booming, and many students were choosing marine engineering over aerospace engineering. I had chosen dentistry because it was a stable and lucrative profession, but... here I am, in an underwater base that might collapse. Life is unpredictable. A week ago, I never would have thought Iād be climbing these dark, unknown stairs to escape from cult members and armed men.
Letās trust in the advanced technologies. The experts must have prioritized safety when building it. If I were in charge, I would have provided housing for marine structure safety experts in the fourth underwater base, saying, āSince you said itās safe, live here.ā Something like that.
"What do you think will happen if the underwater base collapses?"
Ji-hyuk waited for Shin Hae-ryang to speak, but when it seemed his team leader was deep in thought and not planning to speak, he said,
"Weāll die. I doubt our bodies will even be found. The fish will probably eat everything."
Thatās true. As soon as Ji-hyuk finished speaking, I remembered a story about a four-day dive to find a body. Just as I was about to agree with his short-sighted view, Shin Hae-ryangās voice came from a few steps above.
"...The impact will be enormous. This was a project started after putting the Mars program and the Frontier Project on hold. Even the completion of the first Atlantic underwater base next year will be affected. The construction of the North Sea underwater base might not even start. ...But more concerning to me is the pollution of the North Pacific after the collapse. However, the experts will know better."
Oh, a long-term perspective. I wish I could watch TV and hear experts talk about the underwater base as if it were someone elseās problem. I reflected on my own anxiety about the fourth underwater base collapsing.
"Arenāt you worried about losing your job?"
A low laugh echoed. I couldnāt tell if it was Ji-hyuk or Shin Hae-ryang. I donāt understand why theyāre laughing.
"Mr. Mu-hyun, your job is probably far from being affected by the collapse of the underwater base."
"Thatās true, but... I donāt have enough money to start my own practice. If I could have, I wouldnāt be here."
"Is that so?"
"Indeed. If we survive and get out, what will we eat? Iāll have to think about whether I can continue working as an engineer. What about you, Team Leader?"
"I plan to take three months off and think about it."
We continued climbing the stairs. Ji-hyuk vented his frustrations about his job. He must not have been happy with his life in the underwater base. I learned that he majored in electrical and electronic engineering and was listing all the jobs he could switch to. I nodded. Iām a dentist, so I canāt switch jobs. From Ji-hyukās talk, it seemed he wouldnāt starve. It took me a while to realize that Ji-hyuk was expressing his anxiety through chatter.
When Ji-hyuk got tired of talking, the three of us fell silent. I recalled a question I used to ask children who came to the dental clinic and looked at the two adults.
"Do you know which animal has the most teeth? I used to ask this question to kids who came to the clinic. If they got it right, Iād give them a toothbrush. Even if they got it wrong, Iād still give them one."
"Sharks?"
"Wrong. Sharks only have about 300 teeth when you count them. What about you, Mr. Shin Hae-ryang?"
"Iām not sure. I was thinking of sharks too. Maybe whales?"
"The answer is... snails! They have over 10,000 teeth. They use the teeth on their tongues to lick fruits and leaves. We donāt lick fruits and leaves, so we need to brush our teeth diligently."
"Clap, clap, clap."
Ji-hyuk, with his arms around us, couldnāt clap, so he made a clapping sound with his mouth.
"Next question. ...Which animal has no teeth?"
"Are there animals without teeth?"
I nodded at Ji-hyukās question. Heās like a child. This was the most common question asked by elementary school students. Come to think of it, how old is Ji-hyuk?
"Yes. There are three of them. Teeth and claws are major weapons, but some animals can live without teeth."
"Is it the anteater?"
I almost stopped climbing the stairs in surprise. I had asked many questions, but this was the first time I got a correct answer. Usually, Iād ask a question while treating a patient, and by the time the treatment was over, the patient would have forgotten the question or given a wrong answer due to pain or screaming.
"Ding dong. Yes, one of them is the anteater."
"Anteaters donāt have teeth? Team Leader?"
Shin Hae-ryang answered with a sigh.
"Given the name, it seems like they only have a tongue."
"Right... They only have a tongue. No teeth. The other two?"
"Kangaroo?"
"Wrong."
"Elephant?"
"Wrong."
"Is it a panda?"
"No."
"Is it a sloth?"
"Right! Itās the sloth!"
The blue light from the necklace illuminated Ji-hyukās pleased face. He got one right. I want to give him a toothbrush or dental floss as a gift.