Chapter V: Freedom

After the mythical whale had dropped from the heavens into the Open Sea, the underwater world shone with a brilliance like never before. The waves it created had banished the clouds from the sky and the whale itself glowed with a magical energy. The ocean creatures were shocked at first but were transfixed by what they had seen.

The whale was disoriented after plunging into the ocean for the first time. It shifted from side to side and felt the water move around its fins. It looked down and saw that it had a huge, powerful tail. It gave it a flick and felt itself move effortlessly through the water. Then, it looked around and saw thousands of other creatures in the water. But instead of fear, the whale felt itself being pulled towards the bottom of the sea.

The clear sky and the luminescent glow of the whale meant that, for the first time, light shone all the way to the sea floor. The whale sank down and the other ocean creatures followed. What could this mythical creature want from the dark depths of the ocean where even shrimp struggled to survive?

Once it had plunged to the very deepest depths, it was surprised to discover a seabed of clear glass, under which one could make out the ruins of a world drowned long ago. Having noticed thousands of tiny shrimp, the whale couldn’t get rid of the feeling that he had returned home. Looking into the eyes of these miniature creatures, he saw the reflection of his own soul. Everything was so familiar and at the same time he had no recollection of ever being in such a place.

The whale felt an overwhelming wave of energy coursing through its body, forcing its way up and out of its great, cavernous mouth: “WAGMI!”, boomed the Whale. The cry was so powerful that the entire ocean seemed to vibrate with the force of the whale’s call.

“WAGMI!”, squeaked the shrimp. The power of the ancient, unifying spell was undimmed and a new order was established from that day forth. After thousands of years of silence, not a day passed where the magical word WAGMI didn’t echo across the ocean.

All boundaries were broken by chant. All the living creatures, 10000 shrimps, 500 fish, 100 dolphins, 30 sharks and the mythical whale all began to live together in a harmonious society.

In search of a new home, they decided to settle in the mysterious tower that protruded through the glass floor, Now unrecognizable beneath a thick coating of multi-coloured coral, the Fiat Citadel had taken on a new purpose, this time for good.

Thus, the Royal Reef was formed, a place where order always prevailed, where the strong helped the weak, where the wise shared their knowledge with the young, who in turn paid attention to every word with respect.

A new era had begun: mutual decentralised trade erased the previous boundaries of the habitats. Food stores spread from the seafloor to the surface of the Open Sea, allowing all its inhabitants to swim around freely. To protect themselves from foes, every Royal Reef resident was assigned a number that guaranteed its uniqueness and the population registry was replicated for everyone, which made it impossible to secretly edit it.

Only one question remained that continued to swirl around the Whale’s mind: what happened up there during the storm? The whale couldn’t figure it out on his own. He needed the help of the smartest creatures on the Royal Reef. The dolphins survived during the brutal times of the Open Sea by the power of their intellectual talents. When the whale came to them with his dilemma, they were only too happy to put their brains to work on something more meaningful than survival.

The dolphins immediately got to work studying the whale. They attached a CT scanner to its head and a lengthy, thorough examination of its brain began. The machines clicked and whirred and the dolphins rushed around taking notes. After receiving the scan results the dolphins struggled for a long time to explain what they saw. It was unlike anything they had ever seen. It seemed as if the brain consisted of five different, formerly independent parts. The dolphins carried out even more tests and saw that each of the five sections was divided into five smaller sections. The whale’s brain was remarkable. The whole memory section was comprised of 625 small elements that were firmly intertwined.

The dolphins finally worked out what had happened when the sharks worked together and called the process evolving. The other creatures on the reef learned that when five creatures from the same species stick together, they become greater than their individual parts and transform into another ocean being. The animals were excited but the dolphins discovered one drawback of the evolution: complete memory loss. This one factor had been keeping the species in their miserable state of being for centuries and stopped them from moving forwards. But now the secret was out and things would never be the same again.