"It's a shame, humans shouldn't throw their lives away like that..."

The submarine Princesa Isabel is on a routine mission in international waters. Although everything is calm on the outside, as the submarine is shrouded in blue immensity. Inside, the crew is agitated, trying to solve an electrical breakdown and an engine overload, without being able to send a distress signal on the radio.

The calm outside ends. An implosion shatters part of the shell. The whole area is compressed and the water invades the open cabins. The submarine begins to sink. The base receives the last message from the submersible, a distress call interrupted by the roar of the water at the bottom.

Rescue teams are immediately sent there. Nearby vessels are notified to help and rescue survivors. But the sea above is in a terrible storm. The location of the accident is not certain and the storm makes it impossible to search.

Two days have passed and the international media are commenting on the case. The sound of the implosion has been confirmed and an area has been determined by triangulation.

But the area is large and very deep, with tortuous valleys that make it difficult to recognize the wreckage by waves.

The search has been called off and the submarine is lodged on the edge of a cliff. Half of it has been destroyed and sharks are swimming nearby.

Remains of torn uniforms and damaged equipment are lying in the fine sand at the bottom of the sea.

~ ~ ~

A small submarine with an innovative design is approaching the place. Its circular hull with a transparent window gives the navigator a privileged view of the sea.

But its approach is not noticed, as it is camouflaged and very quiet. Its propulsion is nuclear-electric. It stops just a few meters away.

The lone observer of this submarine is in darkness, with the screens in front the only light. The panel has night vision and a zoom approach.

- It's a shame, humans shouldn't throw their lives away like this. - The lone observer comments.

As he stands there, the wrecked submarine is moving, threatening to fall from its peak into the even darker abyss in the depths of the Atlantic.

Inside the submarine there is still one survivor. The girl is dressed in her pressure-resistant diving suit and with her cabin almost completely filled with water, she prepares to escape.

Marina takes a deep breath, waiting to be completely submerged. Her short brown hair and tanned skin are covered by the mask. Her green eyes are closed in prayer. A rosary is wrapped around her wrist with the crucifix firmly held in her hand.

Finally the place is submerged and the cabin door can be opened with a little effort.

Marina leaves that tiny room behind. She passes the personal belongings of her colleagues, leans on the table and panel to reach the implosion site, where she sees the twisted irons.

The equipment she used to handle is now destroyed. With tears in her eyes, the girl sneaks through the hole in the hull, to an uncertain fate in the open ocean.

- Impossible! Is there really a survivor after two days in there? - The lone observer gets up from his chair, facing that fight for his life.

His hands trembled with anxiety as he watched her clumsily climb out of the small opening.

As Marina turns her body to get rid of the sharp edges of the twisted iron, the submarine moves, slipping a little, down the side of the peak on which it stands.

Alarmed, with tears streaming down her face, she tries to get out as quickly as possible. But she can't tear her clothes, that would be deadly. The oxygen cylinder is too big on her back, there's no good position to get out.

Again the damaged submarine moves, this time the rocking is continuous and it curves, sliding, quickly down the hill in a dive into the depths.

The observer is distressed, hoping that the diver will make it out.

But the girl is trapped. The cylinder on her back won't pass through the opening. The submarine continues its slow dive, taking Marina deeper than her suit can handle.

Desperately, she forces her body out - Please God! I don't want to die here! - she pleads internally, before dragging the cylinder through the fittings.

The air tank resists passage, becoming deeply scarred by the friction. She pulls her whole body out of the submarine and tries to swim upwards. But the force of the thrust drags her down, following the same fate as the destroyed submersible.

- Please! No! I don't want to die, Lord! - she begs as she swims with all her might and is still dragged down.

The observer feels shivers of compassion. Illuminated only by the panel lights, the male silhouette moves away for a second from that distressing sight.

- I can't go and save her... I'm sorry... - he says softly to himself.

Marina continues to struggle against the pressure. Her efforts are futile and every second she is sucked deeper. A few meters down, the pressure becomes greater and the imprint on the cylinder distorts.

The sound of the explosion brings the observer's eyes back to the diver.

The air pressure in the tank propels Marina away from the submarine. However, she goes out of control and ends up hitting something invisible.

Yes, the diver is thrown into the observer's view of the camouflaged submarine. With the impact, the submersible's external emergency lights come on. The camouflage falls apart.

Marina is blinded for a second by the bright lights that have so suddenly illuminated the deep, dark sea.

The diver finally realizes what she is dealing with. Her half-closed eyes see the male silhouette in the blue light of the internal equipment.

- Help! - her lips move inside the mask.

Her eyes welling with tears, she moves her hands along the transparent shell and brings her face closer.

- Not that one... Get up there! I can't help you! - the silhouette warns, pointing upwards several times.

Desperate and unable to hear, Marina starts beating her hands against the hull.

- Help! S.O.S. Help! - She begs and the observer reads her lips.

The diver can no longer breathe, the water invades her mask.

The observer finally comes out of the darkness. He brings his face closer, revealing his black hair, pale skin and large, expressive brown eyes.

His face is one of deep sadness, as if he were ready to cry. He shakes his head negatively several times and watches the disappointment on the diver's face.

Without hope, Marina uses her hands to propel herself upwards.

- She won't make it... - he whispers, his heart clenching as he remembers that sad look he received.

The observer watches her body rise until the tips of her feet disappear from view.

Marina has reached her limit. She suffocates, releasing her last bubbles of breath.

~ ~ ~

Inspired by the "San Juan" case, Argentina's lost submarine, even the location served as inspiration in the South Atlantic Ocean.