One Kick Girl — Chapter 44: "Echo Depths"
The elevator to the Bureau's Deepwave Division smelled like wet socks and burnt circuits.
Raon stood with her arms crossed, dripping saltwater on the floor.
Beside her, Shion adjusted her diving headset, muttering into a holo-console.
> "Raon, I have calibrated the submersible resonance field for deep-sea acoustics." "Uh-huh." "You're not listening again." "I heard you. You calibrated the snack field for… tuna acoustics?" "Resonance field." "Close enough."
The elevator dinged open. A massive tank awaited — a glass sphere half-filled with glowing blue liquid. Inside floated the Bureau's latest invention: the Aqua Resonance Pod, labeled with a caution sign that read "DO NOT KICK."
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1. The Launch
Technicians saluted nervously.
> "Agents Raon and Shion! The sub is ready! Please refrain from any—" Raon kicked the side of the sphere lightly.
BOOM.
The entire tank vibrated.
Every fish in the observation tank next door turned upside down.
Shion sighed, rubbing her temples.
> "We haven't even left the station yet."
"Tested stability," Raon replied calmly. "You're welcome."
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2. Descent Into Dumbness
Minutes later, the two floated inside the pod as it plunged beneath the waves.
Outside, the world turned dark blue. Massive coral towers rose like skyscrapers.
Shion's monitors flickered with data lines.
> "We're reaching 3,000 meters. Pressure stable. No anomalies yet." Raon slurped from her portable noodle cup.
> "Did you bring that?" "It's field-approved. Instant morale boost."
"Where did you even plug that heater in—wait, is that connected to the engine!?" Raon shrugged. "Efficient use of power."
The sub lurched suddenly. A loud whump echoed through the hull.
> "...Did you just blow a fuse with ramen?" "Possibly."
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3. Deep-Sea Anomaly
As Shion scrambled to reboot the systems, the main screen flickered — showing something faint moving in the abyss below.
A pulsing light.
A rhythmic thrum.
Almost like… a heartbeat.
> "That's it," Shion whispered. "The Echo Core." Raon squinted. "Looks like a disco ball."
> "It's radiating low-frequency energy in perfect harmonic intervals. Like it's… singing." "Maybe it's lonely."
The sub trembled again — the water vibrating with sound.
A distorted voice came through the comms:
> "Ra—on… Sha—on… Reso—nance… must… continue…"
Raon frowned. "Did the sea just pronounce my name?"
> "That's impossible," Shion murmured. "It's replicating Bureau comm patterns."
Then, as if offended by science itself, the Echo Core opened an eye.
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4. Undersea Chaos
The pod alarm blared.
> WARNING: UNKNOWN SENTIENT RESONANCE ENTITY DETECTED. SUGGESTED RESPONSE: DO NOT ENGAGE.
Raon cracked her knuckles. "Engaging."
Shion shouted, "NO—!"
Raon kicked the hull open.
Water rushed in. The pod imploded, then reformed — the energy of Raon's kick warping reality into a bubble of breathable air.
Now they were standing under the sea, surrounded by glowing jellyfish and ancient machinery.
Raon adjusted her hoodie like nothing happened.
> "See? Works fine." "Raon, you just violated ten laws of physics!" "Yeah, but we skipped the paperwork."
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5. The Siren of Static
From the abyss rose a new form — elegant, alien, and eerily melodic.
A feminine voice rippled through the water:
> "I am ECHO-3, fragment of the primal frequency… reborn from silence."
Shion froze. "It's another Echo construct!" Raon tilted her head. "So… fish ghost?"
> "You disrupted the harmony. Now, the ocean will sing your requiem." "Cool," Raon said. "You got Wi-Fi down here?"
Shion facepalmed.
ECHO-3 raised her hands — the water forming into sharp spirals of sound energy.
> "Prepare for the Dissonant Tide."
Raon sighed, cracking her neck. "Here we go again."
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6. Kick Pre-Show
Shion, tightening her Resonance Gauntlet, muttered:
> "Try not to shatter the seafloor this time." "I'll keep it local."
"Define local." "Half the ocean."
Before Shion could respond, Raon kicked once.
The ocean parted for a split second — light refracting like a camera lens — before rushing back with a thunderous boom.
ECHO-3 blocked it effortlessly, smirking.
> "Your rhythm is imperfect."
Raon grinned faintly. "Then let's remix."
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