I wake up the next morning to the sound of my gyrorefractor alarm clock and its light projected on the ceiling. It is six thirty and, like every morning of the week, except Sunday, the day of rest for all Fossea workers, it is time to get up. The day is just beginning to appear behind my shutters. I would have stayed a few more seconds in my bed but the gyro now emits such a shrill whistle that I have no other solution than to obey it. As soon as it detects that we have placed our foot on the ground, it sends us a "hello, wake up" and turns off automatically. It is controlled remotely by the main Fossea station located inside the production site so as to wake up all workers at the same time.

I head towards my shower still sleepy. The hot water running over my head wakes me up completely. I grab my work outfit from my wardrobe, a gray jumpsuit, the same for everyone, not very sexy but rather practical for the work we do. I then go down to the kitchen for lunch. Nothing to prepare. A tray awaits us in front of the front door with always the same ingredients: tea or coffee, jam and rusks. Not very original but, at Fossea, we learn to be content with what we are given.

My lunch eaten, I go out and join the long line of workers heading towards the tube, a sort of train which rushes into a long glass cylinder which seems to disappear underwater and takes us to the factory. I quickly found Loïs, Tessie and Ségal by my side. Loïs tenderly takes my hand and, arriving at the station, we sit on a seat inside a carriage which quickly fills up with young people who seem as motivated as we are. We hear the doors close followed by the sound of an engine and the train starts towards the site.

A slightly oppressive feeling always invades me when we sink into the ocean where strange colors are reflected depending on the weather : gray when the sky threatens, very clear when the sun shines without a cloud. The walls of the carriage are transparent, so that it is not uncommon to see one or two schools of multicolored fish passing above us. Still tired, I lay my head on Loïs' shoulder and drift off into my thoughts.

No one is very talkative in the morning. Everyone is thinking about the day ahead, the repetitive and sometimes dangerous work. As for me, I work in the production area. It's not the worst. I look after vegetables grown in glass greenhouses, at a constant temperature of twenty-six degrees and in relatively dry air, which prevents most plant diseases. I have to prune, pick and sow all year round. There are about thirty of us, and everyone has a well-defined role.

The hardest part of the job is the heat. It envelops us like a trap as the day goes on, and what seemed simple and easy at the start becomes increasingly difficult as the day goes on. It's hard to breathe, your throat is dry and the slightest physical effort becomes an ordeal in this atmosphere. The only moment of respite is lunchtime, when we all meet up to eat in the canteen. On the menu: micro-algae, veggie steak, insect paste and more.

Tessie, for her part, works in the entomological sector (1), in a cave-like cricket farm. Boxes containing these orthopterans (2) are stacked on top of each other and fitted with a ventilation system. Tessie looks after the birthing room. Many of our diets are based on insects : in food flour, as an aperitif... It's a good substitute for meat and a good source of protein.

She turns to me. Her face has a whitish tint under the light of the lamps in the tube. It's quite funny, but I'm careful not to point it out. She's quite sensitive about her appearance.

— Are you eating lunch with me?

— Yes, I think I'll have my break at the same time as you today. What about you boys ?" I ask, turning to Loïs and Ségal. Will you have time to join us?

— Maybe, replies Loïs. His gaze fixed on the immensity of the ocean that surrounds us. You never know when you'll make it in our area.

He looks exhausted just thinking about his day. I try to cheer him up by snuggling up to him.

The most difficult job in Fossea is the diving sector...

When we arrive at our site, all the young people are placed in the different sectors and each of us spends about ten days testing them, one after the other. At the end of these tests, we're assigned to the area where we feel most comfortable. I guess for me, having done a lot of gardening with my father, I was drawn straight into vegetable production...

But what I found most insurmountable of all was diving. Incidentally, it's often the more athletic boys who end up there. The hardest thing for me wasn't wearing the heavy diving equipment or staying underwater for hours on end, but breathing into a regulator (3). I felt like I was suffocating, and although I was assured that this sensation would diminish over time, I could never get used to it. And even then, I was only descending a few meters, whereas those who, like Loïs, work in this position, dive hundreds of meters every day.

For them, there's no question of basic equipment with tanks and stabilizing jackets. Over the years, scientists have developed equipment specifically designed for very deep diving : special suits to withstand the temperature of the water for long hours, masks with integrated gas and a cartridge that regenerates the air you breathe. This eliminates the need for decompression stops (4). The ascent takes place naturally, without steps. You need at least that to cope with working at such depths. Loïs is busy extracting a gas, methane hydrate (5).

It was developed to replace the use of petroleum. The process is quite simple. All you have to do is decompress the hydrates (6) to recover the methane (7). On the face of it, nothing too complicated. Unfortunately, even if methane hydrate remains stable at high pressure and low temperature, its extraction is not without danger. All it often takes is a simple handling error, and deep-sea divers are much less precise than surface divers, or even an earthquake in the seabed to produce an explosion that is extremely deadly for anyone in its path. I always fear for Lois' life when he's working there, and I pray every day that nothing will happen to him.

— Be careful, I say to Loïs as we climb down the tube.

He gives me one of his beguiling smiles that melts my heart, as he places a kiss on my lips.

— Don't worry about me, and you take good care of your vegetables ! Good food is important for hard-working people like us ! he says, just to lighten the mood before we part.

I watch him walk away, hands in the pockets of his work clothes, in the company of Ségal. It's my turn to head for the production site.

And like every day for the past five years, we work interminably for hours on end, our bodies straining under the load of the efforts required. And when the day finally comes to an end, everyone gets back into the tube, exhausted, to return to the village for a moment's respite before yet another day that will tirelessly resemble all the others.

My eyes search the crowd for Lois' face. My heart beats faster, as it always does, until I finally catch sight of him. Here he comes, right in front of me, with Ségal. Tessie is already with them. I run over to them and throw myself into his arms.

— And easy, he says, catching me in the air, I'm here. I'm all right.

I feel stupid all of a sudden.

— I'm sorry, but I can't help it, I'm always afraid I won't see you coming, I say, as if to apologize.

— But don't worry! You're looking at the best diver in the business, he replies, winking at Segal.

— Exactly, adds the latter. Right after me! replies Ségal, clapping him on the hand.

A general burst of laughter ensues, but the boys' eyes reflect the fatigue and stress of those long days. Nobody talks too much about it, but everyone hopes to reach the age of twenty-six, when we'll all be able to return to our regions and see our families again. Because nothing is certain in Fossea...

(1) part of zoology that deals with insects.

(2) order of the insect class.

(3) mechanism enabling the diver to breathe the air contained in his diving tank at the pressure at which he is evolving.

(4) stops of a few minutes at a precise depth to reduce the amount of nitrogen and helium remaining in human tissues.

(5) icy structures containing the gas methane.

(6) compounds formed by the union of water and another substance.

(7) natural gas found in the subsoil of the oceans.

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Hello everyone.

I'm trying to introduce you to a bit of Manéa's world so that you can understand it a little better. There's not much action so far, but I thought it was important to set the scene first.

Let me know what you think.

In the next chapter, you'll find out a little about his life outside work. Hobbies are infrequent, but always good to have.

I look forward to your comments and don't forget to vote if you like as it encourages me immensely.😍

Lona.