{9 Years Before Leviathan’s Invasion}

[Somewhere Under The Atlantic Ocean]

A wandering lobster, scurries forward along the ocean floor.

Just ahead, a large, compacted group of the shellfish is devouring dead fish within a sunken cage.

The little lobster joins it’s species and begins munching on it’s own available chum.

Suddenly the cage holding the crustaceans raises the trapped group, up to the surface.

A lobstering boat slices through the blue, calm sea. Seagulls screech above, and they are following the shipping vessel in hopes of scrounging any source of food.

The single grunt of a girl is heard and a large hook goes soaring through the air, landing next to an orange bouye with a *PLOP*.

Man’s Voice: "Nice toss, Ichythis!

Now pull the rope tight, and slide it through the lift wheel! Kaylee is all ready up top to pull the trap in!"

The orange haired girl, Ichythis (9 years younger/16 y.o.) pulls the heavy duty fishing rope and runs it through a lifting wheel, hanging off the side of the boat.

Man’s Voice: "Okay, Kaylee!

Lift ’er up!"

The lift wheel begins to turn and starts retracting the fishing line back into the boat with a high pitched *ZIP* and from below, the lobster trap emerges.

A crane grabs the cage and brings it to the center of the ship and the caught victims from the cage fall into a large metal sorting area.

A pair of rubber gloved hands flip each individual catch over, checking for any eggs.

The first three are turned over revealing their visible egg sacks and all three get tossed back into the ocean.

After the fourth pregnant catch in a row, Ichythis’ sparkling red eyes fixate on the wriggling mother in her human grasp.

She is wearing an all blue rubber fishing suit with orange rubber gloves and boots.

Ichythis: "Aye Hugo... I’ve only been on these fishing charters to catch carp and tuna.

This is my first lobster trip.

More than half of these damn bugs are female, so why do we have to toss away almost half of our profits?

I mean I get it, it’s against the law, but why?"

Next to her is a sun tanned, heavy set, but still fit man, named Hugo. He has a thick mustache and he is wearing a yellow rubber fisherman suit with red rubber gloves while sorting the catch.

Hugo(chuckles): "They warned me you asked a lot of questions...

Well, to simply put it, we want more lobster to catch in the future, right?

If we killed those babies under their mums now, we would be killing potential future profit.

We as humans have already been the direct caused for several species extinctions, whether accidentally or without care. Those laws are in place to make sure we don’t make those drastic mistakes again."

Ichythis looks down at the struggling Mama Lobster and her unborn younglings.

Hugo notices the young woman pausing but he continues on with his own work.

Hugo: "Your brain really is somethin’ different, huh kiddo?

*Sighs*

Well lemme hear it while you at least do some work."

Ichythis finally tosses the pregnant lobster over her shoulder and it *PLOPS* back into the water.

She continues her work and finally sees a clean catch, sliding the soon to be eaten lobster into a hole to the edge of the sorting tub.

The little guy floats down and lands on top of all the other catches within the livewell.

The beady eyes of the shellfish look up from the darkness, and it sees a singular bright hole out of it’s reach.

Ichythis: "Why do us humans believe we have the higher authority to pick and choose which creatures live and die, based on our collective opinions?

The powerful men we work for, only see us as potential future profits like these water bugs.

Are we forced to live in this world, only to bring pleasures to those who have the higher authority, on which existences matter or not?

And not that I have a hard stance on the subject anyway, but I also find it perplexing how it’s logically against the law to kill these unborn prawn, because we as humans want the assurance of future pleasure and for all to enjoy, but it is legal to kill an unborn human baby, to secure one’s own self assurance..."

Hugo takes a second to process the wild comparison, finishes up on his share of sorting within the silver tub and then makes his way over to the lift wheel and the tossing hook.

Hugo: "Well kiddo, here’s a question, to your question..."

He starts swinging the hook in a circle above his head.

Hugo: "...’Even if that were the case, and 99.9% of humanity is being used, so the entitled 0.01% can live a more comfortable life... who really cares about their approval anyway?"

He chucks the hook and it perfectly hits a floating orange bouye.

Ichythis, once again, gets distracted from her job, stares at her coworker with a raised eyebrow, and scowls him.

Ichythis: "What do you mean, ’who cares’? 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Doesn’t it anger you at all, to think someone might be taking advantage of all your hard work, while they just sit on their ass or do whatever they so please?

Wouldn’t you want the entitled snobs of this world, who only see workers as dollar signs, to get a little dose of lower class reality?"

Hugo pulls the rope tight and feeds the rope through the wheeled lift.

He shouts towards the upper deck.

Hugo: "BRING ’ER UP KAYLEE!!"

The fisherman watches as the rope is pulled in and he looks back at Ichythis.

Hugo: "To be honest Ichy, it really doesn’t bother me because I’d be working either way, and no, I don’t wish ill fate onto others. Even towards those who want to see me fail.

Focusing on the failures of others, only secures your own failure in the end."

The next lobster trap breaches the surface, with a cage full of "potential profits" and the ocean water drains out before being raised above the deck.

Hugo: "Usually these types of lobster charters take weeks, sometimes months, and most men with a family only see their loved ones when they return, but the Borgia Family has been very kind to me.

And as you know, this job pays pretty damn well too, not just because we’re only a three person crew."

Ichythis throws the last legal catch down the hole into the livewell below while listening to the veteran lobsterman.

Hugo: "I’m usually only out here 4 days at a time, and I get to see my kids every week.

To me, their opinions are worth more than any monetary value."

The trap slightly hangs above the sorting tub in front on the lobstering woman and Hugo opens the latch, dropping the wriggling red ocean creatures and the cage shakes the rest out.

Hugo: "With that being said, let me ask you, Ichythis, who’s views and opinions, really matters to you?"

The orange haired young woman looks up at the captains quarters.

From the window, safely inside, a breathtaking woman, with curly sky blue hair and matching red eyes as Ichythis, is controlling the crane, moving the current trap.

Hugo: "I don’t dare dabble in the mobster syndicate, and it sometimes worries me solely knowing I’m working on a boat for one, but I heard what happened to your Pops."

Ichythis narrows her eyes.

Hugo: "With him falling so deep into a gambling debt, mysteriously ’commiting suicide’, and leaving you two beautiful girls to work one of the world’s most deadliest jobs."

He chuckles and pulls out a locket from underneath his rubber suit. He opens it up, exposing two pictures.

One of a young man in his early 20’s on the left half and a picture of a smiling little girl hugging a happy Hugo from behind on the right half of the keepsake.

Hugo: "I have a little girl back home, and I would never even dare let her on this dangerous deck, but you girls are clearly...you two are clearly ’different’."

The strong man closes his locket and returns it back underneath his protective gear.

He stands on his side of the sorting tub and starts grabbing more lobsters to inspect.

His efficiency and speed is clearly more advanced than the younger coworker, quickly tossing the illegal catches back overboard and sliding the legal ones into the livewell hole.

A floating seagull in the water takes off to join the flock following the humans.

Hugo: "Imma be real, when the two of you showed up to the docks yesterday, I thought I was being tricked by Don Borgia, but after seeing how well you work as a dockhand, Ichythis..."

He looks up at the young woman in the Captain’s chair, controlling the dangerous machinery.

Hugo: "...Along with your sister up there being a pure navigator prodigy, as well as being able to quickly pick up how to operate the Pot Hauler, I’ll be a man and admit when I am embarrassingly wrong."

Ichythis takes a second to process the man’s apology but quickly gets back to work.

The man let’s out a giggle and the woman shoots a look.

Ichythis: "What’s so funny?"

Hugo: "Well I was just thinking, the two of you are a perfect pair.

Everything, including your names...

The Fish and the Wharf.

Haha!"