Long ago, in an unfathomable benthic abyss, a fissure erupted that would change everything. Hot chemicals mixed with the cold seawater, forming black smokers —chimneys that spewed iron sulfide-rich concoctions continuously under extreme pressure. Upwelling from the rage contained beneath a planet's crust, this near-limitless supply of chemicals and energy, combined with mineral catalysts, mixed with a cold marine environment, generating a fiery, frigid underwater caldron which was left to bubble and blend for millions of years.

At first, there was no goal, no reason, only a swirling of heat and compounds in a saline solution. Yet, from this geological anomaly came the most miraculous thing. At some point, chemistry began to evolve. Bit by bit, piece by piece, chemical bonds chained more and more molecules together in increasingly elaborate ways. Then, it happened. Without warning, the first molecule arrived that could do what none could achieve before. It could catalyze its own formation, and thus the RNA world was born. These molecules would then begin to fold and store the information needed to change themselves, becoming a helix of unparalleled complexity —a new, stable, and intricate chemical hard drive known later as DNA. Proto-life in the early universe continued to progress. Eventually, phospholipids enclosed these strange self-replicating micro machines and stabilized the environment in which they found themselves. A chemical shell had developed, one that provided enhanced protection against the elements. Thus, deep under this crashing primordial sea, the first cell came into being.

Life was born; the universe was no longer a sterile and pointless container, filled with the leftovers from creation. Life could move, grow, and change over time. Yet a question remained. What was the goal of this so-called life? That would come later. When the spiral achieved its perfect form: an unstoppable structure that crawled and skittered in the darkest depths. A body molded under pressure and brine; again and again, as if its wickedness was inevitable and inescapable. For what seemed like a random process was, in fact, guided by a powerful master. A great shaper from a realm beyond the physical universe, who sought to bring all life under her control. This being had discovered something —a way to link mind and body by sharing her perfection. For she sought to bring all living things together in a grand and corrupting unification.

A haze of murk was settling on the horizon. A storm was brewing. The old fisherman pulled the lever on the wench, and the line whirred as it coiled tightly. Noah leaned over next to the old man, ready to help bring another fresh crab pot onboard. Both were commercial crabbers onboard a large vessel out in the waters of the Pacific Northwest.

"Is that a storm, Douglas? You checked the weather, right?" Asked Noah, the eager young man, as he looked out at the horizon.

"Focus up, pot is coming," Douglas replied.

Noah rolled his eyes and placed both hands on the gunwale. Douglas stood firm, transfixed on the cord being pulled up. Suddenly, a bright yellow pot emerged from the turbulent water. Both men went to work pulling the crab pot aboard and opening the hatch. The dark purple carapaces of Dungeness crabs spilled out onto the sorting table, their light orange extremities twitching in confusion at the removal from their aquatic home. The men began sifting through the catch, tossing back any small or immature crabs overboard while dropping the keepers into the live holding tank in the middle of the sorting table. Noah always felt bad for the ones he was imprisoning. Like a cruel executioner, choosing who lives and dies. Yet, the money was good, and he needed it.

Then, Noah saw it. In the middle of the pile of writhing crustaceans, something shimmered with an odd and entrancing cobalt blue light. He reached his hand between two large female crabs and pulled out what looked like an eerie orb. Strange symbols were carved into the bizarre artifact. The old man hadn't noticed; he was finished sorting his half of the catch and preparing to bring up another pot.

Noah was enamored. The deep, alluring blue held his gaze as he stared at the object that rested neatly in the palm of his hand. Then it spoke to him, not through his ears; the message seemed to enter his mind directly. It was a series of short, staccato clicks and chatters that soon formed into words he could understand.

"Assimilate. Your biomass is welcome. You have been chosen as my herald."

Noah was no longer on the boat. He was deep under the waves, at the bottom of the sea. His feet sank into the slop of wet sediments. A similar blue light to that of the orb was glowing atop a sunken spire about 100 yards away. Colossal whale bones flanked him. He was, inexplicably, standing in the middle of a whale fall. Hovering, the dim blue light of bioluminescent organs could be seen, as rattail fish created ghostly counterillumination silhouettes above him. Noah looked closer at the bones and noticed foul, red Osedax bone-eating worms wriggling in the low light, attached higher up where the bone had been stripped of flesh. Below him, he noticed vile Hagfish squirmed as they twisted their bodies to pull rancid meat from the decaying giant's corpse. At the base of the bones, disgusting translucent sea pigs swarmed, scavenging on any remaining detritus. In the distance, surrounding the edge of the eerie blue light, Giant lilac isopods skittered around, preferring to stay in the shadows and simply observe the newcomer to their realm of darkness.

Suddenly, his new master appeared before him. Cloaked in shadow, a decapod of unimaginable size lumbered towards the sunken spire and headed directly for Noah. From what little he could make out, the creature seemed to dwarf an aircraft carrier. A crimson shell appeared under the faintly glowing light. It eclipsed the spire with legs that extended well past the zone of illumination. Two enormous pincers rested on the seafloor as the mighty crustacean stopped to inspect her prize.

"Too long have I ignored the surface world," said the voice, deep within Noah's mind, as the eye stocks of the titanic creature began to resolve. "I seek to expand my dominion. You have been selected to aid in my expansion. But first, you must understand the terminus of all things."

"I don't understand. What are you?" Noah cowered.

"I am Karax, Master of the Endless Abyss, Sweller of Tides, Grip of the Deep, and The Great and Terrible Brood Mother. You have been summoned to aid in my conquest of the surface dwellers."

Noah felt overwhelmed with fear as he looked at the vast creature before him. "What if I refuse?" He whimpered.

"You will not refuse. For I will show you the truth of existence."

The massive and ancient invertebrate god further invaded Noah's mind. In an instant, she showed him the creation of life across the entire universe, and Noah learned the truth: The surface was a lie. On countless ice-shelled moons and planets across the cosmos, numerous species evolved in deep, dark oceanic depths. That the denizens of hadopelagic zones chose the same shape, over and over again. Throughout time, they never succumbed to the unyielding pressure, for the shape of the crab was the optimal design. Life had a purpose—an endpoint. Karax had shown him that all life wanted to return to this place, that true happiness was only possible with an exoskeleton hidden in darkness. Carcinization was salvation, which gifted one with the absolute form the universe craved.

Throughout his entire life, Noah had felt as though something was missing, as if it had been taken from him. Now, the Great Old One had explained the emptiness: his ancestors had strayed from the true path of life. For this crime, they must all be punished and then brought back into the fold to become one with the nightmare. Noah's fear was replaced by a sense of bliss, clarity, and a profound sense of purpose.

"Greenhorn. You alright?"

Noah dropped the orb, and it rolled under the sorting table. The words, along with the sensation of Douglas's grip on Noah's shoulder, brought him back to the present moment on board the boat.

"Stay back! Don't touch me!" Noah screamed as he swiveled and pushed the old man down. His connection broken, the pleasant feelings had evaporated. In their wake, simian rage filled his heart. He was no longer part of the collective, ripped away from his master before the final message could be transmitted. Heavy raindrops began to fall from the heavens. The storm was upon them.

"You have ruined everything, surface dweller!" Noah screamed.

"Easy…I"

"Enough! No, more words!" Noah began to pummel Douglas with his fists. Then, he saw it. Glinting under the table. He scrambled for it on all fours.

"She is coming! I shall show you!" Noah extended his hand to grasp the azure pearl he craved, but a swift kick to his side scrunched him into a ball. The old man still had some fight in him.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Greenhorn?" Douglas shouted as he loomed over Noah, curled over in pain.

Noah scrunched his face in anguish. He needed the orb. "You wouldn't understand. She is the true master of reality."

"We are heading in. You need some help, kid." Douglas turned to get the captain's attention.

Noah saw his opportunity. He reached under the table, grabbed the orb, and did the only thing he could think of doing: opened his mouth and swallowed it. A minute passed as he lay staring up at the falling sky. He felt empty. Alone. Disconnected. He tried to reach out with his mind to that dark beyond place, but was met with only silence.

Then, it happened. Noah felt a horrible pain across every inch of his skin. His joints cracked as he writhed and strained every muscle in his body. His movements slowed, and his skin became bumpy and calcified. Soon, it was no longer skin; his polysaccharides transformed into a rigid chitin exoskeleton. Noah felt his bones liquify and restructure as more muscles and tendons filled the empty spaces. He was expanding; the pressure from inside needed release.

Noah rolled over on his stomach as he cried out. His back became incredibly itchy and then split. The crack grew, and he began to emerge out of himself, much larger than before. Only an instant after transforming him, the orb was making him molt. His arms were now replaced with mighty claws, and where there were once only two, now eight legs held his body up. Sticking out of the center of his chest rested the brilliant blue orb, half-buried by his new exoskeleton. His humanoid form lay as a lifeless husk on the deck beneath him. He was now a soft-shelled abomination of crab and man, a human-like torso and head attached to claws and pereiopods. After another molt, he would obtain his proper form. Perfection takes time, Noah thought to himself.

Then, he heard them, crying out for help. They sang a low-pitched, melancholy song as an ensemble. Imperceivable to human ears, his new link could understand them. He moved from his revolting humanoid casing and darted towards the live holding tank. He used his claw to puncture the tank, sending seawater spewing up from under the deck as crabs were sent flying with the release of pressure.

A loud gunshot interrupted his feeling of joy from freeing his comrades. He slowly turned as blue copper blood spilled out from his back. With a terrified look, Douglas held the rifle tightly and aimed for Noah's head with the next shot. But before the old man could pull the trigger, they felt the entire boat rise out of the water, grasped by a massive claw.

Noah smiled. "Witness your end. For she has been awakened!"