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Calorogu Shark Media.
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Welcome to the Sirens Call a special Romance Weekly and
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Ghost Scary Stories crossover event. This is episode four, Rising Tide.
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The submersible Deep Current rockets through the underwater cave system,
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our engines straining against the water's resistance as we flee
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from creatures that shouldn't exist behind us. Through the rear
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facing cameras, I can see them, figures that move through
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the water with impossible grace, their forms shifting between human
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and something else entirely as they pursue us. There's another
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passenge ahead, Kai says, his hands steady on the controls
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despite the terror of our situation. It leads to a
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different section of the cave network. We might be able
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to lose them in the maze. The singing from our
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pursuers grows louder, more insistent, Even filtered through our speakers
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and the submersible's hull, It affects me, making my thoughts sluggish,
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my will pliable. I find myself wanting to stop running,
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to turn around and face whatever's following us. Don't listen,
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Kai WARN's noticing my expression, focus on my voice, on
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staying grounded in reality. How many of them are there
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too many? His jaw tightens as he navigates a narrow
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passage between jagged rock formations. Word spreads quickly among my
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people when something unusual is discovered. The euphemism isn't lost
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on me. I'm the unusual thing. They've discovered, a human
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who can hear sight song but resist it, making me
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either a threat or a prize. We emerge from the
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narrow passage into a larger cavern, our lights revealing multiple
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tunnels branching in different directions. Kai chooses one without hesitation,
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guiding us deeper into the labyrinthine cave system. You know
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these caves well, I observe, trying to keep my voice
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steady despite our circumstances. I've spent a lot of time
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here over the years. This place is significant to my people,
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sacred in a way, sacred. How Before he can answer,
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new movement appears on our sonar. More figures approaching from
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the tunnels we didn't take. They're coordinating, cutting off our
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escape routes with tactical precision. They're herding us. Kai realizes, grimly,
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driving us toward the main chamber. Is that bad? His
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expression tells me everything I need to know the main
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chamber is where they gather for important discussions, where they
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make decisions about threats to our people. We have no
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choice but to continue forward as the cave system funnels
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us toward whatever awaits in the main chamber. The tunnels
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grow wider, more ornate, their walls covered with the same
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flowing script we saw on the deep sea structures. The
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water here glows with a faint phosphorescence that doesn't come
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from any natural source. Finally, we emerge into a vast
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underwater cathedral, a cavern so large our lights can't reach
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the far walls. Bioluminescent formations cover the ceiling like stars,
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and the water itself seems to pulse with living light.
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Ancient structures rise from the cavern floor, their surfaces covered
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with the flowing script that seems to move in our
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peripheral vision. And we're not alone. Dozens of figures float
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in the water around us, Sirens in their true forms,
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beautiful and terrible and utterly inhuman. They watch us submersible
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with eyes that reflect light like a predator's, their forms
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shifting subtly as we move among them. Kai, a voice
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says through our speakers, not heard, but somehow transmitted directly
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into our minds. The words carry harmonics that resonate in
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my bones. Brother, you've been away from us too long.
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A figure glides closer to our viewport, a woman whose
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beauty is so perfect it's almost painful to look at.
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Her hair floats around her like dark water, and her
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eyes hold depths that speak of centuries of knowledge, both
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ancient and terrible. Nerida Kai responds, his voice tight with tension.
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I didn't expect to find you here when words spread
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that humans were investigating our waters, that one of them
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showed unusual resistance to our influence. I came to see
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for myself. Her gaze shifts to me, and I feel examined, catalogued, judged.
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She's quite remarkable, isn't she such strength of will, such potential.
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She's under my protection, Kai says firmly. Ne reader's laugh
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carries harmonics that make our hull vibrate your protection. Dear brother,
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you've forgotten your place, forgotten what you are. I know
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exactly what I am. Do you?
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Then?
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Why do you shelter a human? Why do you work
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to prevent us from reclaiming what was always ours? Through
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our speakers? I can hear other voices joining the conversation,
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not words, but tones, frequencies that create a complex musical dialogue.
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It's beautiful and terrifying, like being surrounded by a choir
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of angels that might decide to drag you to hell
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the disappearances, I find myself saying, my voice cutting through
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their ethereal conversation. You're responsible for the missing cruise. Narada's
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attention focuses on me with laser intensity. Ah, she speaks,
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and with such accusation in her voice. Twenty three people
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have vanished from ships in these waters, families aggrieving, searching
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for answers, and they have their answer, Narrada replies, moving
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closer to our viewport reclaimed what was always its own.
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Humans venture too far from shore, too deep into our domain,
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and face the consequences. Those were innocent people, innocent Nerida's
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voice rises, and suddenly the water around us is filled
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with harmonies that speak of rage, of ancient grievances. Your
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species poisons our waters, strips our depths of life, treats
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the ocean as a dumping ground for your waste. Where
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is the innocence in that? I feel Kai's tension ratchet higher,
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beside me, Nerida enough. Not all humans are responsible for
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the actions of their species. No, then, perhaps we should
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be more selective in our judgments. Her gaze returns to me,
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appraising this one. For instance, She studies the ocean, seeks
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to understand it. Perhaps she could be educated instead of eliminated.
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The suggestion carries undertones that make my skin crawl. Whatever
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education Neareda has in mind, I suspect it would involve
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losing everything that makes me human. She returns to the surface.
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Chai states firmly tonight unharmed. Oh, my dear brother, Neareda says,
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her voice full of false sympathy. You truly have forgotten
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your place. You think you can simply leave, take your
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little human pet, and disappear Back to the surface world
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around us, the other sirens begin to move their forms,
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creating complex patterns in the water. Their voices join together
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in harmonies that make our instruments flicker and are hull
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grown under pressure that shouldn't exist at this depth. You've
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been living among humans too long, continues, playing at being
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one of them, forgetting the power that flows in your blood.
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It's time you remembered what you really are. The singing
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grows stronger, more complex. But this isn't the compelling melody
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I heard before. This is something else, something that speaks
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of authority and ancient law. I feel it affecting Kai,
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see him struggling against whatever influence his sister is exerting.
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You belong with us, Kai, Nerida says, her voice, becoming hypnotic, irresistible.
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You belong in the depths, hunting with your people, claiming
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what is ours by right. No, Kai gasps, fighting against
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her influence. I choose my own path choice, Nerida laughs,
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and the sound echoes through the cavern like breaking waves.
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You think you have choice? Yes, you think any of
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us do? We are what we are? Brother, predators, hunters,
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The ocean's will made manifest. The pressure on our submersible increases,
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not water pressure, but something else, something that makes our
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metal hull creak and our instruments fail. One by one.
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I realize, with growing horror that they're not just talking
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to us. They're demonstrating their power, showing us how easily
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they could crush our small vessel like an egg. Enough,
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I say, surprising myself with the strength in my voice.
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If you want to kill me, just do it. But
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stop torturing him. The singing pauses. Every siren in the
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cavern turns to look at me with expressions of surprise. Fascinating,
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Nerida murmurs, she has couraged this little human. Foolish but admirable, Marina, don't.
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Kai starts no. I continue, meeting Neroda's alien gaze through
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our viewport. I've heard enough. You're angry at humanity for
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polluting the oceans. Fine, I understand that anger, But murdering
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innocent people isn't justice, It's revenge, and trying to force
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Kai to participate in it is cruelty. Nereda's expression shifts,
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becoming more interested than hostile. You would lecture us about justice,
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about morality. Your species has shown no consideration for ours.
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Some humans, yes, but not all of us. Some of
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us dedicate our lives to understanding the ocean, to protecting it.
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Some of us prove it, Nerida interrupts, What prove that
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humans can be worthy of sharing our waters? Prove that
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your species deserves the mercy my brother seems to think
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you've earned. I look at Kai, seeing fear in his eyes,
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not for himself, but for me. Whatever test Narada has
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in mind, he knows it's dangerous. What kind of proof,
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I ask carefully, Nerida's smile is sharp, predatory. Tonight, the
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research vessel Northern Star will pass through our waters, forty
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seven souls aboard, returning from a geological survey. We had
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planned to greet them in the traditional manner. My blood
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runs cold. You're going to call them we are unless
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she pauses dramatically, Unless you can convince us they're worthy
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of life, that humanity has value beyond what we might
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harvest from them. That's not a test, it's blackmail. Call
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it what you will. The choice is yours and theirs.
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Around us, the other sirens begin to move again, their
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forms creating a slow, hypnotic dance in the glowing water.
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Their voices join together in a harmony that speaks of anticipation,
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of hunger barely held in check. What exactly are you proposing,
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I ask, though I'm not sure I want to hear
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the answer. Simple, Neredor says, you come with us, experience
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what it means to hunt with sirens, to feel the
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power that flows through our songs. If after witnessing our
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true nature, you still believe humanity deserves protection, we'll consider
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sparing the ship. And if I refuse. Then forty seven
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humans die tonight, and we decide your fate. Later, Kai's
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hand covers mine, his touch sending warmth through me despite
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the cold terror of our situation. Marina, you can't trust her.
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Whatever she's planning, I have to try, I say quietly,
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those people I can't let them die because I was
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too afraid to act. This isn't fear, it's common sense.
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She's manipulating you, using your compassion against you. He's right,
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I know he is. But the thought of forty seven
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innocent people being lured to their deaths while I hide
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in the safety of this submersible is unbearable. I'll do it,
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I tell ne readA, but I want guarantees. If I
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come with you, witness your hunt, then you'll listen to
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what I have to say about humanity. Acceptable. Narrador agrees,
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though her smile suggests she knows something I don't, but understand.
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Once you leave the safety of your little metal shell,
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you'll be in our domain, subject to our rules. Are influence.
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The implications are clear. Outside the submersible, unprotected, I'll be
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vulnerable to their mental manipulation in ways I can't imagine.
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There has to be another way. Kai pleads Nerida, She's
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not like other humans. She can resist our songs, yes,
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but that doesn't make her immune to everything we can do.
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All the more reason for her to experience our power
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first hand. Nerida replies, how else can she make an
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informed judgment about humanity's worthiness. The other sirens have moved closer, now,
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surrounding our submersible completely. Their voices create a complex web
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of harmonies that make my thoughts feel thick, sluggish. I
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realize this is what the missing crews experienced in their
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final moments, this overwhelming, irresistible compulsion to surrender to forces
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beyond human comprehension. The diving suits, I say, suddenly turning
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to Kai. The submersible has atmospheric diving suits, environmental protection,
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internal air supply, communication systems. I could go out there
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but still have some protection. Kai's eyes widen as he
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understands what I'm suggesting. It's still incredibly dangerous. The suits
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will provide physical protection, but not mental, And if something
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goes wrong, then you'll be monitoring from here. If I
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get into serious trouble, you can intervene against dozens of sirens. Marina,
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even I have limits, but I can see he's considering it,
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weighing the risks against the Aldar natives around us. Neda
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and the other sirens wait with the patients of predators
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who know their prey has no real escape. Very well,
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Neroda says. Finally, your human ingenuity amuses me. Don the
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protective shell if it makes you feel safer, But understand,
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when the Northern Star appears on our sonar, the hunt
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begins with or without your participation. As if summoned by
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her words, new readings appear on our instruments, a surface
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vessel large and moving steadily through the waters above us,
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the Northern Star arriving right on schedule. Time to choose,
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Neroda says, her voice carrying harmonics that speak of anticipation
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and barely contained hunger. Will you witness the power of
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the depths? Or will you cower in your metal shell
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while others pay the price for your cowardice. I look
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at Kai one more time, seeing the fear and love
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and desperate hope in his sea green eyes. Then I
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begin the process of suiting up, knowing I'm about to
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leave the relative safety of human technology and enter a
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world where ancient powers hold sway above us. The Northern
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Star draws closer to waters that have claimed seven ships
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and twenty three lives, and somewhere in the depths below,
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predators older than human civilization prepare to hunt once more.
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The only question is whether I can find a way
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to save the innocent people aboard that ship, or if
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I'll become just another casualty of the war between land
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and sea. As I seal the atmospheric suit's helmet, no
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reader's laughter echoes through the water around us. Beautiful and
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terrible and full of promises. I pray I'll live to regret.
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A Siren's Call has been a production of calar Rogus
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Shark Media. Executive producers Mark Francis and John McDermott AI
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assistants may have been used in the series.
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The following is a paid presentation of the Happiness Experiment.
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Carl, I am so thrilled to be with you today,
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and I want to talk to you. I'm very intrigued
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by your whole career, but I want to understand first
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just a little background where you're from, and I want
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to understand how that little boy became the man that
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you are. So I know, I'm so happy. I'm so