Jens was exhausted. The underwater trip in the Dolphin had stretched his nerves to the limit. Severin had pushed the submersible forward at full speed even though they could only see a few metres in front of them. The entire time, Jens imagined they were seconds away from being pulverized; a sunken barge would appear in front of them or a rip in the ocean floor would appear and his life would be over. Then, his efforts would be for nothing. Once they had made the surface, he could feel himself breathe again. Jens promised himself to avoid any future rides in the Dolphin as much as possible.

With despair and regret, Jens replayed the scene of Munro’s hair being dyed and hacked away. All he could do was stand and watch in fear as the girl had been terrorized. It had been completely unnecessary. Nothing could be gained from such a thing, unless you thought like Khai. His actions were becoming increasingly erratic and heartless.

In this scene, Jens is reacting to what he knows can sometimes lie on the ocean floor. In OurGlass, by 2052, many port cities like Halifax have seen their harbours become underwater junkyards. So much so that certain areas are nearly unnavigable.

Sinking boats and other man-made materials to create an artificial reef has been done in a number of places in our oceans, but the long-term effects are not entirely known. In one instance in the 1970’s, tires were placed underwater off the coast of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, to create Osborne Reef. The plan ultimately was declared an environmental disaster and the United States military was brought in to clean up the ocean floor. After the cleanup, the reef was recreated using concrete blocks called dolos instead.

Tires people? Really…