Yugeum looked at the cat for a moment, then took off her shoes, put her socks inside them, rolled up her sleeves, and folded up her pants. While I was bent over in the small pocket of my bag, looking at the snake, Kanu entered the room after knocking and picked up the cat walking around inside.
"Whose cat is this?"
"I don't know the owner."
"It's quite heavy. Our cat is much lighter. ... It's gentle and docile. Look, it stays still even when I touch it for the first time."
Barefoot, Kanu skillfully stroked the cat's face and chin. The cat was calmly letting him touch its body. ... It's amazing that it stays still even when a stranger touches it. I've always wanted to keep a pet, but I never could because of the lack of space at home. How intelligent are cats? Are they smart enough to understand this situation? What about the snake? Maybe Kanu is good with snakes too?
"Have you ever seen anyone keeping a snake in the submarine base?"
"No. Why a snake?"
"It's in the bag's pocket. I brought it out of a room in a hurry."
"Did you bring it because you were confident you could take care of it?"
Suddenly, my words were cut off. Uh, I shook my head and said:
"No. The water was rising, and I didn't even have time to think about it. I just wanted to save it and find its owner later."
"... It stays still even when I touch its paws. It doesn't bite."
Kanu was stroking the cat when he noticed my confusion and asked:
"Does the cat bite?"
I had touched the cat several times while taking out a towel or candy, but it never bit me. Yeah, it has small teeth, so it could bite. But then, what's the difference between a cat and a snake? It doesn't have venom, right? How many bacteria are in a cat's mouth? If it has as many as a human, which is about 100 million, it could easily kill me if it bit me.
I really don't know much about cats. I've seen many pictures of cats that my friends keep. Kanu stroked the cat and then handed it back to me.
"Cats do bite. ... You've never kept one, have you? Put it back in the bag before it hides. If it hides, you won't be able to find it."
I quickly took the cat and put it back in the bag, checking the zipper several times to make sure it was closed. Then, I carefully placed the bag on the floor. Stay still while I'm gone.
Next to me, Kim Gayoung took off her shoes and threw them into the corner, then tossed her socks beside them. She then started to stretch, twisting her body. I went out of the room to see how many people had gathered.
More people had gathered in the hallway than I expected. In fact, because of the previous conversation, I didn't expect anyone, so I thought two or more people would be a lot. There were five in total: Sam and James, of course, and three men I didn't know.
One of them, wearing a cap, was part of the group that had watched Eunhyeon speak earlier. The other two were new faces. ... They must have come from the upper floors. I don't know how many more people are on other floors. As I was about to speak to the three men with a smile, the one closest to me preemptively said:
"To be honest, I'm not very happy to meet you. Let's just cooperate with the escape and not pretend to know each other."
Clearly hostile. A man with very bad teeth said this. What did I do to deserve this? I was at a loss for words, my mouth still open. Rejection always hurts. But you have the right to reject me. I wiped the smile from my face and sighed.
"I don't find you pleasant either. But now we have a common goal, and we need to work together to achieve it. There's no reason for us to start off on the wrong foot. I don't know who you are, what you do, or how you think. But from now on, I will try to survive with you. ... I'm Park Muhyeon, the only dentist in this submarine base. Nice to meet you."
I extended my right hand. If you don't like it, don't shake it. I think no one can hurt me without my permission. What a strong statement. People can hurt each other just by breathing the same air. The man with the cap looked at my hand and face for a few seconds, then answered without shaking my hand.
"Logan."
It took a few seconds to realize he had said his name. As I nodded and tried to pull my hand back, the man next to him shook my hand and introduced himself.
"I'm Benjamin."
I nodded, having accidentally shaken hands with Benjamin. Then the man with the cap introduced himself and asked me a question.
"I'm Carter. Are you close with the women who came with you?"
Why are you asking about my relationship with them? Well, among the three, I had only met Eunhyeon and Gayoung today. I had seen Yugeum since my first day, but ... after a few hours of wandering together, my intimacy with them had already reached the level of a decade-long friendship. But they might not feel the same way. I might be the only one who thinks we're close.
I hesitated to say we were close, realizing I didn't know much about them objectively. How well do you need to know someone to be considered close? I answered with just the facts, letting Carter judge for himself.
"I've been here for five days."
The three men looked at each other, then turned their gaze to Eunhyeon, Yugeum, and Gayoung, who were just coming out of the room. The nine people gathered in a circle around Eunhyeon. As Gayoung stretched, Eunhyeon looked up from her pad and addressed the group.
"First, as I mentioned earlier, we plan to escape through the elevator that has stopped on the first floor. We have just blocked the area between the Underwater Pollution Center and the Deep Sea Biology Center with a barrier. I don't think anyone here wants to move to another research center. First, you need to swim to the small valve located in the corner of the first floor wall."
Eunhyeon showed a 3D map of the first floor on her pad, and when she selected the valve, several dozen drainage valves on the first floor turned green.
"Once you reach the valve, grab the handle and turn it all the way to the opposite direction to expose the covered drainage holes. The drainage holes are currently covered. When you turn the valve all the way, small holes about the size of a fingernail will appear on the floor, 3 meters away from the valve. That's the drainage hole. Once you remove the cover, don't go near the drainage hole; just move directly to the third floor."
Eunhyeon looked around at everyone's faces and asked:
"I will assign each of you a specific valve. You need to swim to that location and turn the valve. Any questions so far?"
Sam raised his hand. Eunhyeon nodded at him, and he asked:
"What if the valve doesn't turn or the drainage hole doesn't open?"
"Then just leave it and come back to the third floor. Any other questions?"
I raised my hand, and when Eunhyeon gave me a chance, I asked:
"Can I open other valves after I finish with mine?"
There are more than ten valves. It would be better to open as many as possible. Eunhyeon thought for a moment and answered:
"That would be good, but it might be difficult to find your assigned valve while swimming underwater. Once everyone here reaches the third floor, I will activate the automatic drainage system. How much water will be drained is unknown. We don't know if the drainage system will work properly in this situation. But if the water drains and we can use the elevator, it will be a great opportunity to escape. Let's all do our best."
I nodded at Eunhyeon's words and started to stretch to loosen up my body. I've been in the water before, but I haven't had to swim so clearly in a long time.
Eunhyeon walked around with Roaquer's pad, assigning each person a valve on the first floor. I was also assigned a valve, which was a bit far from here. It was the valve next to the wall of Room 120. I didn't know exactly where it was, but I checked the map on the pad to see where I should enter the water from the third floor to reach the valve most quickly and efficiently.
The water had already filled the entire second floor. Would it be dangerous to dive directly from the third floor to the first floor? ... It would be dangerous. I was more worried about what might be in the water than diving from a height of about 7 meters. I couldn't forget the pain and memory of the bed sliding and hitting my calf in the water. Wooden tables and office supplies were still floating on the surface. I'm not a good swimmer.
I only knew how to swim well enough not to drown, so all sorts of worries started to flood my mind as I looked at the dark blue water. I had to swim down about 6-7 meters and then swim back up. Do I have the stamina for that? Do I have the lung capacity to hold my breath for that distance? I wondered when the last time I swam more than 15 meters was. The conclusion was clear: I should have exercised more regularly.
When Yugeum asked if she could borrow my pad after checking the map, I gladly handed it over. Looking around, everyone with a pad had the first floor map open and was checking their assigned locations. Yugeum frowned as she looked at her assigned location on the map. I saw her waist submerged in the water and suddenly asked:
"Can I see where you're supposed to go?"
"Huh? Sure."
The distance was as far as mine. But if we choose the right spot to dive vertically from the third floor to the first floor, the distances we need to swim should be similar.