To Scuba Divers and Other Swimmers
All right, so after receiving a number of comments by people reading my opening chapters saying, "Are you sure this is right?" I figure I should ask some experts.
My question involves talking underwater. Is it possible? From my understanding, speech underwater is muffled and distorted, but not completely indecipherable. In addition, because of the lack of air, most of our hearing underwater is due to bone vibrations, much like how it sounds if you speak while holding your ears shut.
In my book, the character is capable of breathing underwater like a fish (it's a fantasy novel, so just go with "it's magic" for now.) In the first scene, she is exploring a sunken ship, and over the course of the scene, she does the following:
1. Mutters to herself
2. Talks to herself
3. Screams
4. Opens a magical door by imitating someone else's voice
The fourth one is obviously the most controversial, because it relies on something actually understanding what she's saying. But the magic on such doors is notoriously inaccurate, and easily bypassed by someone good at imitating voices. During the scene, I use the following description:
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She put her ear to the door, where the keyhole would be, and hoped she was lucky for once in her life. Firmly, she said, “Unlock.” A mild tick emanated from the door.
She grinned. Voice activation – the simplest and least accurate of weaves. For someone trained in impersonation, like her, the lock wouldn’t be much of an obstacle. Even underwater, with her voice muffled and distorted, she could break in via trial and error. She said ‘unlock’ again, in a different tone, and heard another tick. She continued to repeat herself, changing the inflection of her voice and listening to the door’s noises.
...
Minutes later, she imitated the voice of a man with a nasal tone, and the door responded with a satisfied ‘click’. She let out a triumphant laugh and turned the handle...
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So would this work? If not, is there any way she could get it to work? I had one person recommend having her put a glass tube to the door and sucking the air out so she was speaking in a small 'pocket' of air, but it seems unlikely that she would have such a tool readily available, much less be capable of sucking the water out considering she's swimming in the ocean.
Thanks to anyone who can provide help from personal experience with the water.
All right, so after receiving a number of comments by people reading my opening chapters saying, "Are you sure this is right?" I figure I should ask some experts.
My question involves talking underwater. Is it possible? From my understanding, speech underwater is muffled and distorted, but not completely indecipherable. In addition, because of the lack of air, most of our hearing underwater is due to bone vibrations, much like how it sounds if you speak while holding your ears shut.
In my book, the character is capable of breathing underwater like a fish (it's a fantasy novel, so just go with "it's magic" for now.) In the first scene, she is exploring a sunken ship, and over the course of the scene, she does the following:
1. Mutters to herself
2. Talks to herself
3. Screams
4. Opens a magical door by imitating someone else's voice
The fourth one is obviously the most controversial, because it relies on something actually understanding what she's saying. But the magic on such doors is notoriously inaccurate, and easily bypassed by someone good at imitating voices. During the scene, I use the following description:
-----------
She put her ear to the door, where the keyhole would be, and hoped she was lucky for once in her life. Firmly, she said, “Unlock.” A mild tick emanated from the door.
She grinned. Voice activation – the simplest and least accurate of weaves. For someone trained in impersonation, like her, the lock wouldn’t be much of an obstacle. Even underwater, with her voice muffled and distorted, she could break in via trial and error. She said ‘unlock’ again, in a different tone, and heard another tick. She continued to repeat herself, changing the inflection of her voice and listening to the door’s noises.
...
Minutes later, she imitated the voice of a man with a nasal tone, and the door responded with a satisfied ‘click’. She let out a triumphant laugh and turned the handle...
---------------
So would this work? If not, is there any way she could get it to work? I had one person recommend having her put a glass tube to the door and sucking the air out so she was speaking in a small 'pocket' of air, but it seems unlikely that she would have such a tool readily available, much less be capable of sucking the water out considering she's swimming in the ocean.
Thanks to anyone who can provide help from personal experience with the water.
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