The sound of creaking metal broke the silence of my cabin. It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence on the old oil rig I had been stationed at, but it still never failed to lift the hairs off my arms. _You would think they would at least modernize the structure of these ancient metal frames before sending us out here to repurpose them. Although, I suppose even the freshly built desalination plants have been falling under lately. What’s the point in refurbishing this old hunk of junk if it’s gonna collapse regardless. _

_ _We had been sent out here to start the operation of another desalination plant for the Atlantic. It was part of a worldwide initiative to create a “cheaper” source of fresh water. Personally I never subscribed to the idea of destroying the massive ocean ecosystems, but a source of income was a source of income.

Our job was to install and begin operation of the machines used to remove the salt from the oceans water. It was no easy task, considering that these abandoned rigs weren’t designed to have hulking machines attached to them years after their operation, but within five days we had already gotten one of the machines ready to the point that we could start it’s operation. All we were waiting for was confirmation from higher ups to begin.

I had received a relatively small, but significant job within the process. My responsibility lied with starting and controlling the operation of the desalination machines. So when the head honcho of our crew accessed the intercoms telling me to report to his quarter, I figured he had just been given the green light.

In a harsh staticy voice the captain spoke to the crew, “Jason report to my office IMMEDIATELY, again, I want you up here in five minutes or else I’ll throw you off this rig myself!” before the faint click of the intercom shutting off restored the silence of the room.

_Not a very polite way to ask but I guess someone told him his desalination machine was “smaller than average”. _A chuckle escaped my breath before leaving my quarters. The captains office wasn’t incredibly far away from where my cabin was, but it also wasn’t a leisurely walk. By far the quickest route was to cut through the cafeteria so I headed directly for it.

Upon entering, multiple sets of eyes immediately locked onto me. A few sets of laughter accompanied some not so sneaky whispers, but I payed them no mind. The room was mostly empty, aside from a few of the corner tables, and a seat taken by my buddy Hector whom I did acknowledge.

There was a very amused grin on his face as i approached him. “Mannn Leo seems pretty upset. You didn’t tell him his machines were the shitty knock offs did you.” He said trying to hide the amusement he got from imagining that.

“No I’ve got no clue what’s got his ass so flustered, but knowing him he probably is just looking for a reason to start everything early” I reply.

“Well yea, he probably needs an explanation on why the machine is running early so he doesn’t get chewed out by the higher ups” he said, chuckling to himself. “Why did you start the machine early anyways? Didn’t you say that it was “bad for the integrity of the device” or some stuff like that”

I failed to reply to him as a mixture of shock and confusion washed over my face. _What? The machine is operating?!? _A bolt of panic surged through my veins but I tried to hide it as I pressed for more information.

“What do you mean.. the machine started early?” I tried to calm ask.

“Are you trying to tell me that you didn’t do it? He asked, clearly not believing I didn’t already know. “You are the only guy on this whole rig who knows how to work one of those things.”

_He’s right. I am. So something is clearly wrong. I have to speak Leo and figure out what’s going on. _“I gotta go.” I muttered to Hector before running towards the exit. All I heard was the sound of his laughter as I quickly made my way out of the room and towards Leo’s office.

The distance wasn’t bad at all since I was running, only taking one to two minutes to reach his quarters. Upon knocking on the door Leo immediately opened it and snapped at me.

“Get inside right now you bloody idiot” he yelled while trying to maintain his cool, “Do you know exactly how much your little ballsy choice just cost me” but he was unable to hide the clear fluster that had taken over his face.

“Woah slow down Leo, what’s going on what happened?” I tried to ask

“The machine you dimwit! You started it early and went and broke the damned thing! Someone gave me the whole report on it. Poor kids first time out at sea and he thinks a monster is breaking our machinery.” He yelled, losing control of his frustration with every word.

“I didn’t start the machine. That wasn’t me.” I objected truthfully, but he didn’t seem to believe me in the slightest.

“Well this report by Clint says otherwise. Look at it,” he said tapping his finger on some papers in front of him. “He recorded that the machine had already reached way beyond the salt levels set for us to reach, and look!” This time he pulled out a picture from under the small pile of papers. “Look what happened to the machine just hours later!”

The photo contained what was clearly once the desalination device that was set up days prior, only now the bottom had been violently ripped off, presumably falling to the sea floor afterward. _That’s_.. _not_ _possible. Machine over exertion would only cause an engine failure if anything. This.. this wasn’t that at all. Something else destroyed the machine._

_ _Leo was continuing his lecture, “If you would have just waited for the green light this wouldn’t of happened. I hope you realize that this damage is coming out of your paycheck, maybe then you’ll learn to follow directions for once in your miserable little li-“ but I was done listening to him. I needed to look at the damage myself.

As I turned for the door Leo tried to shout for me to stay, but I ignored him. _Whatever causes this wasn’t natural. Maybe by looking at it myself I can try and determine the true cause of this. Although, what that could even be Im not sure. I’m not even sure I want to know at all. _

_ _By time I reached the deck where the machine was located a crowd had gathered to see for themselves. _I guess word travels fast in such a small contained space_. Fortunately people made room for me to get through, and what I saw was exactly what the picture had shown me. The bottom half of the machine had been completely severed off, leaving no remains behind. It was a unsettling sight. The thought that something was capable of doing this was terrifying.

_ It has to of been a giant squid, but that wouldn’t make sense. They are nearly extinct by now and there has never been a report of them attacking one of these facilities. And even if one had.. to do damage like this? It just didn’t seem possible. But what else could’ve done this?_

_ _As I stared at the crippled machine, losing myself in thought, a man from somewhere in the crowd started yelling.

“TH-THE WATER! LOOK! IN THE WATER!” he screamed, breaking my trance on the machine.

Everyone’s eyes immediately darted to the water and it didn’t take me long to figure out what he had seen. Not too far below the surface were two brightly glowing yellow eyes. Except they belonged to something massive. It’s eyes alone were the size of three men stacked on top of one another. Men began to scream in panic. Some froze in fear by edge of the water. But I was lost in my head.

_It was obvious now. This is what broke the desalination machine, and it was still here. Was it waiting for us to try and set up another one? Or was it planning something else entirely? There was no way to figure that out right now. _

__

Almost as if it had heard my questioning, the creature began to rise from the depths of the ocean. As it breached the surface of the water it sent waves crashing around itself. It’s size was beyond comprehension, and it just kept rising. It’s head soared past the old rig, only settling high above the already elevated structure.

The creature’s appearance was bizarre. It had the mouth of a whale, and it’s head extended backwards like some kind of science fantasy alien. It’s bright yellow eyes were located on the sides of its head, and it’s body was a deep green. Connected to its broad shoulders were arms both composed completely different. One boasted a giant claw, much like the crusher claw of a lobster. The other was a gathering of seemingly endless tentacles that dipped deep into the water below us.

As it looked down upon our comparatively minuscule oil rig, many man began to flee and scream and terror. And it was easy to see why. Tentacles from its arm began to rise from the water, enveloping the rig and crushing the steel beams that supported it. The sound of screeching metal overpowered that of the screams as the structure we stood on began to collapse into the water. It hadn’t even moved it’s gigantic claw.

No thoughts were able to form in my head, but what was there to even think of. What we were witnessing was beyond human comprehension. As I slide down the sinking rig to join my coworkers in the water I looked up at the towering creatures eyes. And although it’s eyes massive, it seemed to be staring back at me as I plummeted into the water below.