Original subtitles

If we stop to reflect on which era saw

the greatest technological acceleration

in history, many people's instinctive

answer would point to the present.

The 21st century, driven by the spread

of smartphones and the dizzying pace of

artificial intelligence development,

seems to be rapidly closing the gap

toward the much debated singularity.

Others, perhaps taking a more historical

view, would point to the 19th century

Industrial Revolution as the true

catalyst, since it was the period when

the infrastructure and dynamics of

modern society were laid down.

However, if we measure transformation

not just by its scope, but by the sheer

speed at which qualitative leaps

occurred, no period surpasses the years

of World War II. That conflict wasn't

merely a military clash, it was a matter

of existential survival, where falling

behind technologically meant a country's

outright destruction. This extreme

pressure completely reshaped the

relationship between the state and

scientific progress.

Under this backdrop of absolute urgency,

hypotheses and research that had

previously languished in theory received

unlimited state funding.

Drawn-out bureaucratic processes, budget

concerns, and institutional red tape

simply evaporated in the face of the

need to prevail. In just five or six

years, humanity witnessed unprecedented

disruption, cramming into half a decade

what would have taken entire generations

in peacetime.

>>

>> This brings us directly to the work I

want to present today, an analog horror

series centered on a secret project

carried out by the Empire of Japan

during World War II.

The Mirror Without Image by creator

Rapport Arabeus.

The story follows an unsettling project

that ended up buried in the depths of

the ocean after Japan's surrender. It

remained forgotten until 1995 when

exploration operations by the oil

corporation Blackwood brought its

submerged remains to light. But what

mystery did this development hold that

the Japanese Empire sought to erase at

any cost?

The plot kicks off with the official

announcement of an energy initiative led

by the oil company Blackwood focused on

drilling in Timor, a location with

particular historical weight having been

the site of brutal clashes between

Japanese and Australian troops during

World War II.

>> Located approximately

80

nautical miles northwest of Darwin,

the Timor prospect represents a unique

opportunity for long-term resource

development.

With projected extraction potential

exceeding initial estimates,

Blackwood Petroleum anticipates

substantial returns for strategic

partners.

>>

>> Our commitment to safety, transparency,

and engineering excellence ensures

that every phase of development

meets the highest international

standards.

>>

>> As exploration continues, Blackwood

Petroleum remains focused on unlocking

value while safeguarding

environmental integrity.

>>

>> It's worth noting the narrative

structure of this analog horror

production. The story is built by

weaving together contemporary 1995

footage with archival material from the

1940s.

The sequence then shifts to propaganda

footage from the Empire of Japan dated

1943, which extols science and

technology as the indispensable pillars

for guaranteeing military victory.

It's there that the recording reveals

the activities of the Imperial

Scientific Division focused on the study

of wave physics and dimensional

resonance.

What kind of creation was that research

actually aimed at?

Back in 1995, the recording once again

takes us to Blackwood's exploration work

off the coast of Timor. During sonar

monitoring, technicians detect an

electromagnetic anomaly in the signal

readings. What at first glance looked

like the outline of an underwater

mountain range turns out to be a vast

structure of artificial grid work, a

ruined metropolis submerged in the abyss

densely packed with buildings.

>> Hello.

Hello.

>>

>> It's at that moment that a detail as

grotesque as it is unsettling emerges.

From the shadows of that abyssal

settlement, a melody begins to spread.

The signal picks up the distorted echoes

of Kojo no Tsuki, the moon over the

ruined castle, the classic Japanese

piece composed in 1925.

The narrative jumps back in time again

to 1943 to reveal the origin of

the mystery. An intelligence report

leaked by a Chinese spy exposes

confidential files from a Japanese

military laboratory. The Empire wasn't

just theorizing, it was carrying out

experiments capable of altering the

fabric of space-time. Everything points

to a disturbing coincidence. Could that

sunken city be living proof of the place

where that abominable experiment was

unleashed?

To confirm the nature of the discovery,

Blackwood deploys an unmanned

exploration vehicle into the depths.

However, the abyssal structure turns out

to be far from what they expected.

Instead of the military science complex

they anticipated finding, the probe

transmits images of what appears

to be an ordinary residential area,

completely submerged and intact

underwater.

>> Mission's progress is abruptly disrupted

when an electromagnetic interference of

inexplicable origin begins blocking the

probe's signal, making remote tracking

impossible. Faced with this technical

blackout, the corporation makes the

risky decision to send a manned

expedition straight to the ocean floor.

>> This is absolutely brilliant.

I got the 22 running.

The battery is 100%.

That's good.

Look at that fluid.

I'm going to go down

with the center of the center.

They're looking at the back of it.

23 and 11.

The lights are 23% up there.

Battery is down.

>> Upon reaching the seabed, the team

witnesses an overwhelming sight. An

entire town submerged in pristine

condition with the eerie peculiarity

that every sign, placard, and visible

text appears reversed as if the

architecture itself were a mirror

reflection.

>> There's something in the water.

Hello.

There's something in the water there.

There's something in the water in there.

What's that?

There's something in the water in there.

>> Come back.

What's in the next area?

What's in the next area?

>> There's something in there.

There's something in there.

>> What kind of room is this?

We're certain that something is in

there.

What comes to your mind on the way out?

>> There's something in there. There's

something in there.

There's something in there.

>> While inspecting the perimeter, one of

the divers, identified as crewman four,

hears a dry thud coming from inside the

building and decides to go in to

investigate the source of the noise.

Moments later, the live feed only

manages to capture an unsettling

human-like silhouette at the back of the

room before the signal cuts out and

crewman four vanishes without a trace.

>> There's something

There's something in the water in there.

>> The footage then cuts to an audio

recording of a confidential conversation

between an analyst from the Office of

Strategic Services, the American

intelligence agency that preceded the

CIA, and its first director, William

Donovan. In a global wartime context

where gathering secrets was vital, the

Office of Strategic Services operated a

network of infiltrators, among them a

key agent under the code name Swallow.

Swallow's reports warned of operational

anomalies at a site referred to simply

as the island. Everything suggested that

in that isolated territory, the Empire

of Japan was carrying out a top secret

scientific trial called Project Furiko.

This initiative consisted of a

Hirondo and who else?

Hirondo and a

civilian radio operator in Hiroshima.

Doesn't work for us.

He passed the information to a

commercial contact in Shanghai, who

passed it to Manila.

It came back to us by accident.

By accident.

It's not a disinformation operation.

These are two channels that have no

reason to intersect.

How many times has Hirondo been

active in the last 18

months?

Seven confirmed intercepts.

Two independent corroborations.

And how many of those led somewhere?

Three were inconclusive.

The Osaka facility.

That was corroborated by The Osaka

facility was empty.

Had been empty for 2

years.

Eight months of resources

for an empty building.

Weather is a factor. That's one instance

again.

Hirondo gives us something real enough

to act on. Just real enough.

And we walk into a room with nothing in

it.

That's not a source.

That's a leash.

What about the March intercept?

What about it?

Hirondo flags the Ube research line 6

months before we independently confirmed

it.

6 months early.

We didn't act.

We were slow.

If we had moved on that when he told us,

I remember.

Then you know he was right.

A compromised source doesn't hand you

something like that and wait for you to

do nothing with it.

Where is this is to take place?

We don't know.

There was no mention of coastal

installation, probably outside the main

island.

Possibly in the mandated territory.

There's a mention

There's a mention of operational depth.

That's the only geographical indicator.

Operational depth.

Yeah.

That could mean anything. A mine, a

bunker,

a defensive position behind the front.

One dimension

in the margin of the third page.

>> Finally, the footage returns to the

present day of 1995. This last

recording, however, doesn't come from

Blackwood's Expeditions, but from the

exploration archive of the HMAS Moresby,

a ship belonging to the Royal Australian

Navy.

Two divers make their way into the maze

of ruins to begin surveying the area. As

they advance, a growing sense of unease

overtakes the team, prompting one of the

expedition members to activate his

rangefinder to measure the exact

distance separating him from his

partner. The result is unsettling.

Despite standing face to face at the

same point in space, the readings from

both devices show radically different

figures.

Certain that the physical laws of the

environment have been altered, both

divers decide to abort the mission and

retreat. But at that very instant, the

same human-like silhouette that had been

recorded weeks earlier by the Blackwood

team emerges from the shadows, causing

Delta 2 to instantly dematerialize.

Desperate to locate his partner in the

abyssal darkness, Delta 1 spots the

outline of a diving suit in the

distance, and hoping he's found him,

tries to make contact.

>>

>> What about the shadow we saw?

Where did it

>>

>> Eight days later, Delta 2's beacon was

recovered and brought back aboard the

research vessel. The following day,

after his medical evaluation, he was

interviewed. Note that this man's face

and voice have been altered to protect

his identity. The interviewer explains

that he's not under arrest or anything

like that. He just wants to know what

happened. This guy named Matthew was

found roughly 300 m from his original

position with his oxygen supply sitting

at 78% and his camera stopped recording

on day six. Matthew responds that he

didn't perceive time that way, let alone

feel like days had passed. When asked if

he noticed anything strange, Matthew

mentions what we've already seen, the

distance discrepancy, the temporal

anomalies, the emergency siren, and the

initial encounter with those humanoids.

The interviewer presses for more details

on that last point, asking him to take

his time and describe them. Deeply

shaken, he explains that something

grabbed him, though it didn't feel like

an attack. It was more like being

carried in someone's arms, the way a

human holds a cat. When he regained

consciousness, the first thing he saw

were walls with impossible, nonsensical

geometry. He simply couldn't make out

where he was, let alone figure out which

way to go. There were only shadows

around him, people with skin burned

black as charcoal and structural

glitches like a corrupt photograph.

Without warning, the entire hospital

returned to normal, so he started

looking for his partner. The two met in

a hallway, and that's right when Delta 1

disappeared. After that, more deep ones,

as he calls them, meaning the human

shadows, began to show up. The rooms

grew larger and larger, giving the

impression that they went on forever, as

if the walls were constantly receding.

The shadows changed, too. The deeper

they went into the hospital, the less

human they looked. Their bodies warped

into impossible shapes,

>>

>> and a sound became increasingly

prominent, a sound Matthew describes as

breathing. On top of that, there were

massive, endless staircases with dark

hallways below them. He noticed

something huge lurking in one of those

corridors. His brain tried to make sense

of its shape, only to grow more and more

confused. Still, he realized it had a

face. That entity locked eyes with him

and started screaming.

His first instinct was to run without

looking back, until he opened his eyes

and found himself in the middle of the

city. The interviewer tells him there's

something he needs to show him,

explaining that during his medical

intake this morning, they found

something. Matthew asks what's happening

to his shadow. The interviewer admits

they don't know yet, showing us photos

taken of Matthew alongside his shadow,

which, as we can see, are completely

distorted.

>> We don't know yet.

We're going to stop there.

Thank you.

>>

>> Years later, on January 9th, 1995, the

CIA summoned the Bloodwood Oil Company.

Marcus, the agent in charge, ordered

them to freeze their drilling operations

in the Timor Sea, claiming they

interfered with US interests. The

executives flatly refused, pointing to

their contract with Australia, but

Marcus warned them that the Australian

Prime Minister would cancel the deal

within hours.

Tension escalated when Bloodwood

mentioned knowing about that hospital.

Exposed Marcus lost his cool and

threatened them. If they dropped a

single piece of equipment into those

waters, the Navy would step in with

military force. Despite the blunt

warning, the oil company decided to

ignore the order.

>> The United States Navy ship has

a position.

It will be on station in a few weeks.

This water isn't yours.

The structure isn't yours.

And anything you have floating above it

is in the way of an US global operation.

I think very carefully about what that

means.

>> In 1945, the most critical reel of the

conflict revealed the truth. Donovan

explained to President Truman that back

in 1942, the Japanese built Project Fugo

underneath Shima Hospital, a magnetic

resonance device being tested toward the

Indian Ocean. What's more, they planned

to mount a second unit on a super heavy

submarine to target Washington directly.

Facing this threat, Truman authorized

the use of the atomic bomb to destroy

Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

>> The design of the first of the four with

hangar bay of an I-400.

They want to put it on a submarine.

Yes, sir.

If that submarine positions itself in

the South Atlantic,

with aiming at Washington,

undetectable,

and then

we don't know.

That is the honest answer.

But the Nagasaki installation is

construction now.

It will not stay under construction

indefinitely.

Manhattan

can do it.

Princeton is in five weeks.

We're doomed.

Both sides

both sides

are doomed to the core.

>> That same month in 1995, ignoring the

CIA, a Bloodwood team descended into the

depths of the hospital in search of the

source. There, a clock frozen at exactly

8:15 would unlock the mystery.

Shima Hospital was ground zero of the

nuclear strike. The blast destroyed the

device mid-operation, tearing space-time

apart and trapping the victim's final

seconds of agony in an alternate

dimension guarded by terrifying

presences and charged shadows.

>> Hello?

Is someone there?

I think I Hello?

What the

What the is going on?

What the What the was that?

Hello?

What happened? Did you see that?

What the happened?

What the

I I think I I I saw something.

>>

>> I think he's gone.

I have one. You're here with me?

Yeah, uh yeah, I'm here.

Okay.

I think we can go back there.

There's There's nothing there.

What?

The The corridor we came through is um

it's gone now. I don't know.

Okay. Okay, unit one, I'm telling you to

stay calm, okay? I understand we can

work this out, okay?

We work the grid. Uh we find a

stairwell. What do you call it? The unit

one, okay?

130's dead. Okay. 130

is dead.

There's no grid. There's no survey line.

We have to get out.

Okay. Okay, John, I I agree.

We just go up, okay?

Any stairwell, any shaft, we just keep

going up, okay?

Yeah, sounds good.

>>

>> In my opinion, this analog horror brings

a really interesting and gripping visual

concept to the table. Beyond

just using the usual tropes of the

genre, actually being able to see these

entities and explore the submerged city

is honestly fantastic.

On top of that, I think it's great how

delicately and respectfully the story

handles the atomic bombings of Hiroshima

and Nagasaki to contextualize the origin

of the submerged city, especially

considering how well-crafted the

narrative is. Mixing historical events,

which I love, with parallel dimensions

is always a killer combination when a

story knows how to take itself

seriously. If you enjoyed this

breakdown, please leave a like. Don't

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support the channel. I don't just break

down existing stories, I share

my own original ones, too.

>>