Home / I Chose the Sea Over Them / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of I Chose the Sea Over Them: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

Silence fell the moment I pushed the door open.Katelyn Schiff instinctively stepped behind Sean Copley, twisting her sleeve between her fingers until her knuckles turned white.My gaze shifted to the papers on the table. Four withdrawal forms lay there, each signed a month ago.Sean gathered them up and spoke in a matter-of-fact tone.“What’s done is done. We can’t leave Katelyn here alone just for your sake. We’ll apply for the next round within six months at the latest, then come join you.”The others quickly chimed in.“Exactly. When have we ever really abandoned you?”“Just go ahead and secure your place. It’s not like you’re moving there permanently.”I watched them close ranks around Katelyn, my throat tightening.Katelyn bit her lip and looked at me timidly.“Please don’t be mad, Cora. I never wanted them to give up their spots…”Her eyes had already reddened, and her breathing quickened as though she were about to have an anxiety attack.Sean slipped an arm around

Chapter 2

The next day, I went to the Office of International Programs to submit the remaining paperwork. After getting my blood drawn, I noticed Katelyn had posted a new update on social media.In the photo, she wore my lab coat as Sean stood behind her, adjusting her safety goggles. Joel and Isaac gathered around the equipment, while Mitchell held up a welcome sign that read, [New Team Member.]Her caption read, [Thanks to everyone who willingly stayed for me. Now I know what it feels like to be someone’s unwavering choice.]Dozens of comments quickly appeared beneath the post.[Four geniuses giving up their exchange spots for her? She’s living out a romance novel.][Some people try to guilt-trip their friends into sacrificing their futures, only for those friends to choose someone more deserving.]Katelyn did not explain but responded with a pleading-face emoji instead.When I casually liked her post, the five-person group chat with Sean and the others erupted almost instantly.Joel:

Chapter 3

There was no cell service around the wave tank. My phone was still in the bag of presentation materials backstage, and my hard drive lay on the ground beside the tank.A loudspeaker overhead began counting down.“The wave-generation system will activate in ten minutes. All unauthorized personnel must leave the area immediately.”I rushed to the safety door and pounded on it with all my strength.“Open up!”No one answered from the other side. The footsteps had long since faded.I turned to look at the tank. It was designed to simulate ocean conditions and could generate waves as high as six and a half feet. The walls were smooth with nothing to grab onto, and only the maintenance platform in the distance rose above the water.But to reach the maintenance ladder from where I stood, I would have to run along the tank’s slippery edge.I had spent most of the previous night organizing my travel documents and had barely slept, leaving my legs weak and my hands shaking.I had bare

Chapter 4

When I woke up, the sharp smell of disinfectant stung my nostrils.I tried to move, but my chest felt as heavy as lead, and every breath sent a sharp pain through me.The doctor told me that my heart had stopped for nearly two minutes after I nearly drowned. I had developed aspiration pneumonia from inhaling a large amount of water from the tank.My knees were bruised, I had a hematoma at the back of my head, and I had abrasions all over my body.If help had arrived just a few minutes later, I would not have survived.The hospital room door stood slightly ajar, and Katelyn’s voice drifted in from the hallway.“I honestly had no idea they’d lock her inside… I just casually complained to my roommates that Cora seemed upset. I never thought they’d go that far.”She was crying, her breathing growing increasingly rapid as though she were on the verge of an anxiety attack.“It’s all my fault. If it weren’t for me, Cora wouldn’t have nearly…”Sean’s voice was barely above a whisper.

Chapter 5

By the fifth day of my hospital stay, I could get out of bed and walk around. But the inflammation in my lungs had not completely subsided, and I became short of breath after only a few steps.Katelyn brought me food every day and cried every time she came. Sean occasionally accompanied her, but he never stayed long.Joel and Isaac came by twice, but their conversations never strayed from lab matters. Mitchell was the most frequent visitor. Yet he spent his visits quietly peeling fruit.On the seventh day, Katelyn came again.“Cora, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you.”She sat beside my bed, her voice so gentle it sounded like she was soothing a child.“You remember the marine observation station at Blackreef Bay, right?”Of course I did. During our sophomore year, the five of us had built a small marine observation station at Blackreef Bay, behind the university.Calling it an observation station was a stretch. It was more like our secret hideout.I was the on

Chapter 6

Three days after the research vessel left port, my pneumonia acted up again.The ship’s doctor said I had not fully recovered from nearly drowning, and the sudden drop in temperature at sea had caused the inflammation to flare up again. They put me on bed rest in the medical bay for observation.Beyond the window stretched an endless expanse of deep blue water, the swells moving slowly and silently across its surface. Unlike the violent waves in the wave tank that had threatened to swallow me whole, the ocean out here seemed to breathe.I stared at the shifting patches of light on the ceiling and was suddenly struck by the silence, as though the entire world had forgotten I existed. Strangely enough, the thought came as a relief.On the fifth day, my research advisor came to see me in the medical bay.His name was Henry Jarrell, a man in his early forties and the youngest chief scientist in the country’s deep-sea exploration field.He placed a project overview beside my pillo

Chapter 7

On the tenth day after the research vessel left port, my life had settled into an entirely new rhythm. Meanwhile, everything was unraveling beyond my sight.Sean was the first to realize something was amiss.That day, he went to the observation station at Blackreef Bay to help Katelyn familiarize herself with the equipment. When he entered the password, a system notification appeared on the screen.[The previous administrator has revoked all remote access permissions and erased all local data. Contact the new authorization holder to reinitialize the system.]Two years of tidal data, ocean current models, and underwater footage had been wiped clean.Katelyn stood beside him and asked cautiously, “Did she forget to leave the data behind?”Sean said nothing. After a long silence, he called the number of the phone I had switched off long ago.“The number you have dialed is unavailable.”That same day, Joel received an email from the Office of International Programs.[Cora Sherma

Chapter 8

Three days after the research vessel reached the overseas base, I completed all the required arrival formalities.The base stood on an island in the Northreach Ocean, surrounded by gray-blue waters. The wind always carried the sharp, salty scent of the sea.I completed registration and a medical screening, attended a security briefing, and finished with a three-hour equipment proficiency assessment. By the time I received my temporary communications device, it was already 1 a.m. local time.The device was an encrypted phone with only three preprogrammed numbers: Dad, Mom, and Henry. Calls were limited to twice a month, each lasting no more than fifteen minutes.I sat by the dormitory window, staring at the pitch-black sea as I made my first call.“Cora?”Mom’s voice trembled with emotion. She sounded as if she had been waiting by the phone for a long time.“Mom.”I had rehearsed so many things to say, but the moment I said that single word, my voice caught in my throat.Mom di

Chapter 9

Meanwhile, back home, Mom hung up the phone and spent the entire night sitting on the couch, unable to sleep.Early the next morning, she and Dad drove to the university.They first stopped at the hospital to obtain copies of all medical records and imaging scans from my hospitalization.The diagnoses and injuries were laid out in black and white: near-drowning and asphyxiation, cardiac arrest, aspiration pneumonia, bruised knees, and a hematoma at the back of my head.Next, they went to campus security and requested the access logs for the wave tank testing area from the day of the incident.The records showed that someone had manually locked the safety door from the outside twelve minutes before the farewell ceremony began. Forty-seven minutes passed before a security patrol officer unlocked the door with his access card.I had been trapped in six-and-a-half-foot artificial waves for forty-seven minutes.Armed with the evidence, Mom went straight to the university president’

Chapter 10

Eight years later, the deep-sea autonomous underwater vehicle we had helped develop completed its final sea trial at a depth of over 32,800 feet.The moment the vehicle broke the surface, the entire research vessel erupted in cheers.The live deep-sea footage streamed back to our screens, clear and steady. Without any human intervention, the vehicle had navigated around ocean trenches, rock faces, and sudden currents, returning with a complete set of exploration data.Henry stood beside me, his eyes glistening.“Welcome home, Cora.”As the coastline drew closer, I suddenly remembered the evening I had left port eight years ago.Back then, I had left with my suitcase in tow, my lungs still inflamed and every breath painful.I had believed that everyone had abandoned me. Only later did I realize I had not been left behind; I had simply taken a path no one else could ever walk in my place.After part of the project was declassified, I was invited back to my alma mater to attend it

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