Behind them is a half-assed explosion. Or maybe it's just the walls caving in. Maybe it's the boom of the sea, eagerly chasing them in through a broken window. Maybe it's even their eardrums giving way.

And Jack's still wrenching at the controls. Even though he's being flung around and he can't tell right from left, let alone which way they have to go. Even after a rope snaps and lashes him and takes away his steering. Even though everything's movement and pain and confusion and a split second long. He made a choice, god fucking damnit. He made a choice and it's not allowed to fail, that's not how it's supposed to work, they're getting out, they're --

The bathysphere stops, very suddenly.

And now all he's aware of is a numbness and deep pain, the sense that he should move, and no sound except a ringing in his ears.