Chapter Text
Zer0 still remembers where they were when a merman was discovered, they were doing schoolwork when their roommates turned on the TV. The younger of the trio ran into their room to force them to watch the news and on the TV there it was, a merman.
The human half was lacerated due to the net, but the fish half was undamaged, it’s tail colors were hues of deep blue with a bright orange pattern that shimmered in the sun. There was Jewelry adorning the tail as well, a pearl piercing on the end of the tail and blunted fishhook wrappings, which showed evidence of at least basic sentience or possibly a culture. Zer0 was so wrapped up in their own thoughts that they didn’t notice the camera panning up to show an extremely human face. There were slightly exaggerated features that most likely played into where they lived. Large eyes and thin face and body type likely showed a more nocturnal fish that lived in small areas, due to the coloration it was likely poisonous. That theory was proved not seconds later by the fisher who brought the merman up complaining of a mucus-like film over the body. The station cut to a reporter behind a desk reading out her lines.
“In Indonesia a fisherman reported something large obstructing his nets, upon further investigation the man discovered what he thought was a man split in half. When pulling up the net, he discovered that it was not only a torso, but there was a fish tail attached. Sadly, the being has been reported as dead, but will be sent off to learn about it and if it may be a threat.” The women spared no expression as she spoke.
That moment spurred Zer0 into where they were today, interviewing for a job at the state aquarium. Both them and Gaige were trying out, for Salvador had already been accepted months ago, Zer0 was trying out for behavior handling while Gaige wished to work behind the scenes dealing with the mechanic aspects. They studied for years to be able to have this chance, but the main reason they both were applying was due to Salvador hearing a rumor about the aquarium having merpeople transfer over.
Since the discovery of merpeople many more have been found and studied and from that we learned that just like fish they all vary as well as human level intelligence and cultures. Zer0 hoped that by getting a career in training the mammals at the aquarium that they would see their intelligence and transfer them over to interact with the merpeople. Ever since they saw the first merman, there was something pulling them to study the merpeople, it was more than curiosity, but they couldn’t put their finger on it.
“Excuse me, Zer0 isn’t it?” The interviewer looked up at the person with a kind smile.
“Yes.”
“And you are applying for training and handling?” She looked through their application.
“Yes.”
“I see… You are extremely overqualified for this type of work that you are applying for. In any case I’d test your people skills and hire you, but a new position has opened, but I’m not allowed to explain it to you unless you sign this.” The women pulled a contract out of her desk and offered it to them.
“This is so that you don’t ‘spoil the surprise’ if you will. When I tell you about this offer you musn’t tell anyone about the specifics until we’ve made an official announcement.” Zer0 read over the document as the woman spoke. The contract seemed fairly simple and so they signed it.
“Thank you, I apologize for having you do that. We’ve recently come into a gift from the Nekrofateyo aquarium, four merpeople plus a new head for said section. After this interview he will be calling you and the others accepted to welcome you and break everything down.”
“Thank you.” The woman nodded and led him to another waiting room that only held three people compared to the packed one that they came in through.
Zer0 sat in the seat next to a woman tapping her leg. All four sat in comfortable silence until the door opened again and Gaige walked in.
“Z!” She excitably threw a thumbs up and sat across from them.
“I’m Lilith, that’s Tannis and over there is Kreig.” Lilith pointed at the other two people in the room.
“I’m Gaige.” Gaige nodded at Zer0.
“Zer0.”
“Like the number?”
Zer0 looked blankly at the woman, and she shrugged in return. Gaige looked like she was about to speak when the door burst open.
“Hey! You’re the new staff, right? C’mon in.” The man spun on his heel and briskly started to walk towards the dark hallway.
“And this is where we get murdered.” Gaige whispered as she stepped in front of Zer0.
“So, we have a scientist, a pretty face, a plumber, a guard dog, and trainer. Your jobs are pretty self-explanatory unless your dumb, which I assume you are.” The man droned on as Zer0 looked around at what they were working with, there was two large tanks with slightly smaller ones hidden from view. They suspected that was due to differences in natural environments. One tank was full of more deep-sea components as well as fish, while the other was a bright coral reef with large fish swimming around.
“So, we get the merpeople tomorrow and open in a week so you guys have that time to prepare, and if we have a good opening week we’ll be able to bring in more.” The man clapped his hands and walked into what they assumed was his office.
They all shared a look and a couple of choice words about the man before heading towards the tanks in the back. Gaige ran ahead to check out the tank pumps while Kreig stared at the fish themselves. Tannis and Lilith decided to attempt to find where they’ll be working. Zer0 found themselves climbing up to where the smaller pools were, most likely acclimation tanks to assist with the merpeople’s transition and medical testing. After skulking their way around and memorizing the lay out, they went out to find wherever Gaige had ended up when Tannis interrupted them.
“There you are. You know you are very difficult to find. Anyways me and you will be working together and so I wanted to inform you that you will do your work and I will do mine. Based off of our earlier interaction I assume his will be of no issue.” The women gave them an awkward smile.
“I do not think that/ will be an issue Tannis I/ will stay in my lane.” They were used to people being confused by their odd way off speaking, but the woman simply nodded and walked away, as she did such, they did hear the woman muttering something about interesting. And haikus.