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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/googlyeyes93 on 2024-09-07 22:09:23+00:00.
It’s lonely out on the ocean. Especially at night, when the only light you have is from the stars and your own weak lights. The darkness comes in, oppressing everything and taking over like a scourge, nothing but pure black on a cloudy night. I thought I had seen the worst isolation the world could offer working at Palmer Station in the Antarctic. At least it wasn’t as cold out here at Point Nemo, I guess.
The furthest point on earth from any land in every single direction. Point Nemo might be one of the most remote locations on earth, with a population of zero. Most of the time, at least. There’s a small research rig out there, not quite as big as an oil platform but decent enough sized. I got an offer a couple of years back to go out there and do some studies on the ocean biology out there. Since Nemo is so remote, with relatively stagnant currents, there’s a surprising lack of biological life out there
Honestly, it was exciting just for the chance to say I’ve been to one of the most secluded places on earth. Getting to study the biome and sea life that was there though? Goddamn, I was over the moon. Ecstatic was the understatement of the damned century. I arrived on the platform, a couple of clicks away from the actual Point geographically, early in the morning. Clear skies were reflecting off gentle waves in every direction. The deep blue of the ocean here was beautiful, virtually unmarred by human intervention. If anything else, I got some time to read in relative solitude while I was off duty.
There were five of us at the station. An older guy called Flam was the lead researcher (I don’t know how he got the name, either). There were two assistant researchers- Shannon, a woman in her mid-30s, and Hap, a younger man with a specialty in deep-sea biology. The last person was a mechanic, Sandy, who made sure the everyday maintenance of the rig was maintained. I was the happiest bitch in the world stepping off the chopper and meeting everyone, getting the full tour of the base, including the rec room, gym, mess hall, three separate labs, and a surprisingly cozy library. Everyone was nice enough, though Flam was a little… neurotic to say the least.
Probably important to mention how this place was set up. If you’ve ever seen a free-floating oil rig it’s a lot like that, just without the ecological destruction. Think of it like a very large ship supported by pontoons, with some parts extending under the water with a larger building up top. What you would call the ground floor is the mess hall, rec room, and gym, with the labs on top and, the library nestled in the center of them. Our barracks were below sea level, extending a down with the maintenance area underneath housing generators, gas, etc. It was a nice place, all things considered. A cabin in the middle of the ocean, basically.
Settling in that first night was rough. Sleeping underwater essentially was a little terrifying, kind of claustrophobic, and completely fucking nauseating. Despite the large pontoons holding us up, the waves still rocked us, making me feel my welcome dinner warming up for an encore as I swayed. Sandy came walking through, going to the shared bathroom between our rooms.
“You alright, Ellie?” She asked, looking concerned. All I could do was shake my head, making the nausea take hold harder in the process. Oh god. She was watching while I puked into a trash can. Hell of a way to make new friends, Ellie. I was surprised when she walked over and grabbed my loose hair, holding it back and rubbing my back with her other hand, gently soothing me as I evacuated everything I ate today. “All good. Happens to everyone on the first day.”
”Please tell me it gets better.” I said, gasping for breath and only getting the stench of vomit back.
“Oh yeah, just need to adjust. Come on up to the deck and get some air though, it helps.” She led me up, walking single file on the narrow staircase. I bumped my shoulders countless times, unsteadied by the surf moving us. At one point I started falling back, losing my balance, and reaching out to steady myself but only swiped the empty wall. Suddenly her hand darted out, grabbing my forearm and steadying me. She pulled me back to the step, making sure I was upright before moving further, now holding onto my hand as guidance. Soon she was chuckling, “Hope you’re better above deck than you are below.”
”You and me both.” I gagged again just trying to talk, my head still spinning. The fresh salt air when we emerged from the outer door onto the wraparound platform was like opening a valve for me. I was taking in the deepest breaths I could, finally clearing out the vomit smell stuck in my nose. She leads me over to the platform railing, the dark night settling in around us. I was immediately distracted from my nausea by the beauty in the sky above.
There were a decent amount of clouds covering the sky, but what wasn’t covered was some of the most amazing stargazing I had ever been privy to. Every single constellation was clearly definable beyond the clouds, with a full moon shining through, sending light in patches to reflect off the water. An infinite sea of stars in every direction. It was beautiful, something that’s only on par with seeing the Northern Lights in their full glory as far as I’ve seen. Even in the imposing dark out at Point Nemo, millions of points of light shone through.
“What’s that?” I said, noticing movement against the water. At first, it looked like the shadow from a cloud passing over, disturbing the stars below. Then a cloud moved from in front of the moon, casting bright light down in all directions. I could see clearly that it wasn’t a shadow, but a giant, walking through the ocean step by step. From the distance, it was… maybe five clicks out. Even then, I could make out its features of it clearly thanks to the size. It towered larger than a skyscraper, by my best estimate, each leg had water reaching up to around the knee. It honestly looked like it was going to break the clouds with its head, but it paid no mind as it whipped them away. “Oh my god.”
I was speechless. I don’t know if Sandy was too, but she was staring off into the distance alongside me. If she was shocked, nothing showed on her face, but there was the faintest of smiles hiding underneath.
“Your guess is as good as mine, science girl,” Sandy replied. I could see clearer now that more were walking behind it, heading to the west of us in a straight path. “We’ll need to go downstairs before the waves reach us, though. Sucks for this to happen on your first night.”
”What? You’ve seen this before?” I asked, still not tearing my eyes away. The giants were humanoid in build, just like massive versions of people. Their faces were a little more… odd. Eyes were larger than normal proportions, and there was a smile on their small mouths that looked like the head was deflating from the bottom like a balloon. Didn’t even realize I was shouting when I started talking to her again, gesturing at the goliaths wading by. “They’re… they’re massive. How is something this big physically possible? This completely disregards every single law of physics!”
”I just run the machines!” She shouted back. “Come on, let’s go inside before we get completely soaked.”
Oh god. Now I could see what she meant. Every step they took was sending waves our way, crashing into each other as rambling gaits tried to overtake each other. Sea foam was high in the air, and at one point while backing up to the door I swear I felt the water spray from overhead like a spring shower. Then Sandy pulled me back, still gawking at the behemoths as they walked away to whatever strange destination would host them. Barely getting the door closed, she braced her and me both against the wall, holding on.
”Uh. That’s forward.” I said, now looking her right in the eye as my hands pressed into the narrow wall behind her.
“Sorry. You’ll thank me.” She said, barely finishing the sentence before the entire base was hit hard, turning into a steep angle that sent me falling forward into her even more. Another wave hit, bouncing us briefly into the air as we braced ourselves, trying not to fall down the tight staircase. We tilted back, standing upright once more though swaying heavily, now back to a calmer sea. “Best to get back to our rooms before the next patch hits.”
We scurried back quickly, nausea coming back to me. I couldn’t tell if it was that or the contact we just had that was making me warm, blushing as we walked into the small hallway adjoining our rooms. I sat on my bunk, looking at her still standing in the doorway.
”What are those things?” I wanted a straight answer, though I don’t know if she had one. “Like… they were giants. I get that, but what the fuck did I just see?”
”Beats me. None of us have been able to figure it out.” She shrugged, leaning against the doorway now. “You’ll see a lot of weird shit out here. Don’t know if the others told you that upfront, but they’re a bunch of hardcore skeptics anyway.”
”So they’ve seen it too and didn’t think they should maybe tell the new girl about it? What if I was out there alone? I would’ve died!” I was almost screaming, now terrified at the proposition of spending six months here.
”Please, they try to tell me it’s a trick of the light and isolation. Hell, I thought maybe I was going crazy but you’ve helped me out big time here. I finally have a second witness.” She said, raising h...
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