In November of 2024, Ivan Shrugs lost his job. Ivan had been working with MonoUnit for eight years, and he was under the impression that he was doing well with the company until September of 2024. On the 23rd of September, management announced a massive layoff. Ivan was a part of that massive layoff.

At first, he was fine. He didn’t much care for his job as a call rep at MonoUnit anyway. He had a decent amount in his savings, and his severance would hold him over for at least six months, maybe even a year if he was smart with his finances. He spent the first three months sleeping. He’d sleep a lot, sometimes for as much as twelve hours. He’d wake up when his mom and sisters were asleep, so he kind of had the house to himself. Kind of.

In those dark hours of the day, he would play games, watch movies, and browse the internet. It was during his browsing spurts that he stumbled across a metal detector on Mercari. The asking price was $45. It was a nice metal detector, at least in Ivan’s eyes. The beach was a quick eight-minute walk from his house, and there was plenty to comb through. He bought it within five minutes and got the shipping confirmation before sunrise. Less than a week later, the doorbell rang, and his phone alerted him that the metal detector had been delivered.

“Why did you buy a metal detector?” Asked Mom as he carefully cut the box open.

“To scan the beach, Ma, why else?”

“Why are you going to scan the beach?”

“Why not?”

She didn’t say anything after that, at least not right away. She walked into the kitchen for nothing and returned to the living room empty-handed. “Have you been applying for a job? You’ve been jobless for a while now.”

“Here and there,” he lied. Ivan’s focus remained on his box cutting.

She stood there as he opened the flaps for the box, then retreated into her room before the big reveal. That night, Ivan took his brand-new metal detector to the beach. The moon was fat and full, the stars twinkled like beautiful blinking eyes. The ocean ripped and roared as it reflected the night sky, and it couldn't have been a better night to scan the beach. Before he'd left, he'd considered bringing his AirPods, but he didn't, and that had been the right choice. The sound of the ocean on the beach and the whistle of the wind was relaxing, and therapeutic. He switched on his scanner and got to scanning.

On the first night, he didn't find much— some weird metal trinkets here and there, part of a necklace that may have had value at some point. Regardless, he stashed everything into his pants and jacket pockets. He told himself that he'd have to invest in a backpack and maybe a fanny pack tomorrow. He couldn't keep stuffing things into his pockets; at some point, he'd tear those pockets, and then he'd have to buy new pants.

He went to Sinclair's, a small shop that sold backpacks, purses, and fanny packs. He picked up a large backpack, a fanny pack, and a chest fanny pack because there was a buy one get one for half-off sale. As he was checking out, someone caught his eye. Standing off to the side of the store was someone who was probably around his age, maybe a little bit older. He too was looking at backpacks, and strapped to his right shoulder was a metal detector. Ivan wasn't one to introduce himself, but this man shared the same hobby he had...so he had to say hello.

"Nice metal detector," Ivan said through a bashful smirk. He thought he was blushing, but there was no way to tell.

The man peered at him from over his glasses, and then he smiled. He was a very friendly-looking individual. Big green eyes, nice teeth, and wavy brown hair that went down to his shoulders. He looked eccentric, but welcoming...if that was a thing. His name was Boris, and he was thirty-eight, just three years older than Ivan. He too had found a metal detector on Mercari, and had come to Sinclair's for storage. They exchanged phone numbers and Instagrams shook hands, and agreed to meet up that night to comb the beach. The cashier, a sixteen-year-old girl named Brooke, thought they were weird.

Ivan and Boris started combing the beach at 10 p.m. The moon wasn't as full, and there weren't as many stars, but Ivan didn't mind, because Boris was there. They talked about everything from previous jobs to previous love interests. What their families did, and where their acquaintances worked. Favorite movies (Clerks for Ivan, Donnie Darko for Boris), favorite shows (Family Guy for Ivan, South Park for Boris), and of course, favorite video games (Red Dead Redemption 2 for Ivan, The Last of Us 2 for Boris). Ivan thought they were like two peas in a pod...or whatever that saying was that his Mom had constantly said when he was growing up.

They found some great items too. A couple of watches, some silver, some gold...or some kind of gold. Ivan found a necklace with part of a pearl still attached, and Boris found a picture frame that had to have been from the early 1900s. Trinkets, trinkets, and more trinkets. By midnight, Ivan had filled up half his backpack with goodies. Boris had found a good amount of stuff too, and they'd decided to swap and trade items back at Boris's apartment. Then, just before 2 a.m., both metal detectors went on the fritz. They had found something big.

"Now," Boris said as he adjusted his glasses. "What do we have here?"

Ivan scanned and scanned, trying his best to gauge what they'd found. It was the largest item that they'd encountered, and the first thing to cross Ivan's mind was a piece of a ship; hell, it was the only thing that made sense. "Let us dig," the words practically fell out of his mouth.

So that's what they did. They dug and dug, each taking turns with the scanning, and just as the sun was coming up, they found a big metal hatch. It looked like a small doorway that they could fit in if they sucked in their guts. There was a single handle, and under it was something that looked like a strange keyhole. It didn't look like an ordinary keyhole, not to Ivan or Boris. It was a circle, and five upside-down triangles surrounded the circle.

"Well...that sucks," said Boris through scattered breaths. He was tired; sweat had accumulated on his brow, he was red in the cheeks, and the steam from his perspiration fogged his glasses.

Ivan didn't say anything. The strange little keyhole looked strangely familiar. He traced it with his fingers, pressed each upside-down triangle, and the circle, but nothing happened. Then he remembered one of the many trinkets he'd found. He snatched his backpack from the sand and unzipped it in a singular, frantic motion. He dumped everything out onto the sand and pawed through his findings.

"Wait...really?" Boris said as he combed through the trinkets with Ivan. "Do you really think you found the key for this??"

He did, Ivan was sure of it. He'd seen the strange trinket earlier in the night and figured it was just some trinket, something to further assess at a later time. He eventually found it and snatched it up, holding it up to the rising sun. It was a small brass-looking key, a circle in the middle with five upside-down triangles. Bingo!

"Well, don't keep me in suspense, Ivan! Unlock the door!!" Boris said; he could barely hide the glee.

Ivan took a deep breath and pressed the key into the slot. He could hear the crunch of sand between metal and brass. He turned the key until he heard the mechanics stop. Boris reached out and grabbed the handle, a grin spreading ear to ear when there was movement. He turned the handle, and together they lifted the metal door.

Darkness. Just an infinite pit of darkness. Ivan and Boris lowered their heads into the hole, but they couldn't hear or see anything. Silence came from that hole, silence and an infinite well of curiosities. Ivan snatched a handful of trinkets and tossed them in. They didn't clink or clatter off the sides, they didn't make a sound when they hit the bottom...if there was a bottom. They just fell into silence.

"Should we see what's down there?" Boris asked. There was no fear in his voice, only curiosity. A curiosity that both beachcombers shared.

Ivan nodded. What else did he have to lose? Boris’s eyes widened under his glasses, as he tilted his head for him to go first. Ivan sat on the edge and lowered his feet into the black hole. It was cold, a different kind of cold than he'd ever experienced. It didn't make him uncomfortable, not even close. If anything, it was inviting...comforting. He looked at Boris one more time, and then he pushed himself into the darkness.

He could hear Boris calling his name, but only for a second, and then his voice sounded a lifetime away. Ivan shrugged and fell into a darkness that was darker than anything he'd ever experienced. The hole didn't feel small at all. In fact, it felt massive. He couldn't see a thing around him. He couldn't even see the light from where he'd just come from. He thought he could feel himself screaming, he could feel it in his chest, but he couldn't hear a thing. He just fell, through a darkness that was darker than infinity. He didn't even know that Boris had gone in after him.

Ivan and Boris were never seen again. Authorities would find the hatch on the beach, but it was sealed shut. Ivan's trinket key that he'd found got pulled back into the ocean with all of the other trinkets. The only belongings that remained were two metal detectors.