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At 6.03pm March 6, 2033 intolerable pressures in the Challenger Deep, acting through uncounted centuries, caused a tenth of an inch slippage along two fault planes crossing the Marianas Trench-and a hairline crack appeared in Molly's plasteel dome.A solid bar of water knifesliced through seven levels, destroying a hundred compartments in one instant.Molly screamed.Steel tore like paper.Fourteen thousand men, women and children mixed their atoms with the sea in the first chaotic shock. Water tight doors closed, pressures equalized, some compartments still kept air.
Noone was left on Molly, except Whale, who was the contact at this point of the sanctuary trail.
It was into Molly that the mazecar took them.