The Deep Diving Ship had already passed through the Abyss Gate. Now, the Prime Material Plane had lost track of it—and according to the plan, it would lose track of it forever. The surface of the Abyss Gate returned to "calm" once more. Not the slightest trace remained of the ripples from moments ago upon that ink-black, mirror-smooth interface. In fact, the instant the Deep Diving Ship completely entered the gate, it had switched to a calm state in a highly unscientific manner. Clearly, this gate did not conform to any of the physical laws of the real world.
Only the information returned by the probes showed that the Abyss Gate was still releasing aftershocks from that "intrusion." The gate's activity had increased by roughly twenty percent over the past few minutes, and three Psionic Obelisks had overloaded and temporarily ceased functioning. But this activation had now been suppressed again. Everything was proceeding according to plan, and the teams of experts could relax slightly.
The information transmitted from the Deep Diving Ship had become intermittent, but since it had not yet moved far from the gate, it still maintained a tenuous connection to the Prime Material World. Its high-powered internal antennae continued to operate stubbornly. Though this method of communication was destined not to last until it could send back any useful information, at least for now, it could satisfy some of our curiosity about the Abyss's interior.
On the Holographic Projection, no matter the angle, there was nothing but roiling black mist, like storm whirlpools. The image was also shaking violently, making it seem as if the highly advanced Deep Diving Ship had become a crude ancient skiff, battling wind and waves in a pitch-black storm and in danger of capsizing at any moment. "Why has the image been