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You suspect that there'll be more interesting findings deeper in the ice, so you fob off Celia for now, promising to return if there's space on the return trip. Who knows? There might be.
Marcel guides the submarine deeper through the channel. Gradually, the passage down opens wider and wider.
"We've made it," whispers Marcel in awe of the unfathomable depths that spread out beneath him.
Below there is only the endless night of the moon's waters.
Above Marcel, the ice forms stalactites as tall as skyscrapers. The cracks and craggy formations are even more chaotic than on the surface. A vast number of briny ice crystals have formed here. They look like upside-down frozen trees, sparkling and austere.
"Bring one of those in and we could patent it for U.E. fabricators," Sungura Kikwete says over the comms. "We could see these taking off as chandeliers, or new authentic merchandising. It could be lucrative."
"We've got footage of it," says Marcel. "There's no real scientific value in taking the ice formation now."