The Second Coast

Beyond the retention wall, the crew found a current flowing beneath a roof of concrete and stone. It opened into a submerged corridor with a second shoreline inside it: sand, broken posts and a line of pale shells arranged above the waterline.

The guide crew entered only far enough to establish that the corridor continued beyond their light. They did not claim the shore or retrieve the shells.

MOTHER proposed a permanent survey station. The crew answered that a place could be navigable without being available. The route remains open only during low pressure, when the water briefly reveals its second coast.