Chapter Text
Kaveh groaned the moment he trudged into his half-dark, one-room rented flat and collapsed on his slightly moulding couch. His day had been astronomically dreadful even by his subpar standards — first, in a moment of utter fatigue, he’d split his one-dollar coffee over himself, thereby losing the only motivation to start his day well. Next, the miserly old boss at his current job had fired several of his colleagues cruelly without rhyme nor reason, blessing Kaveh with the perpetual feeling of walking on a tightrope, not knowing when he’d be next and losing his only form of meagre income. Lastly, the latest news regarding his favourite mythical being’s results in captivity was just the rotten cherry on top of a stinking, sludge of a mud cake a struggling advocate like Kaveh could hope to feast on.
Kaveh frowned as he shot a glare towards the condemned newspaper cutting lying innocently, almost mockingly, on his small and cracked coffee table. The distasteful headlines read: ‘BREAKTHROUGH: MERMAID SCALES FORTIFY MACHINERY.’ Kaveh could only shudder thinking about the terrible experiments the poor mermaid in captivity had to endure, ever since she was taken in by the government officials after being washed ashore onto a popular tourist beach with terrible wounds. Unfortunately, he was one of the few, or perhaps the only one who harboured pity for them: mermaids, or merpeople as a whole, were not rightly revered like the mythical beings they were, but rather classified as menaces of humanity. Humans and merpeople have long since been at odds ever since humans have taken to sailing the seas, which the merpeople likely viewed as a form of invasion (and let’s face it, who can blame them?), and had taken to attacking and eating seamen alive with no exceptions spared. While that was a valid concern for seamen and captains all around the world, Kaveh the suffering office worker could not be any less affected, and thus saw no need to be as hostile towards mermaids nor subscribe to the general sentiments of distaste and fear towards them.
Besides, they were only trying to survive and look out for their own kind. Just like any other living species.
It was a far-fetched dream of Kaveh to achieve a mutually beneficial and harmonious coexistence between people and merpeople. At the rate things were going, though, it seemed that humanity was doing its best to charge off towards the opposite direction instead.
If humanity could establish some form of understanding — which should be possible given the level of reasonable cognition on both parties — then there would be no need to prolong this endless war in the seas. For some reason, though, Kaveh seemed to be the only being that appreciated the logic behind this.
Still, Kaveh did not want to give up. Reading about the horribly detailed procedures the mermaid had so far been subjected to in a prior news article at a moment’s curiosity had made his stomach turn — it was no different from how the unfortunate slaves were treated back in the horror regime Mondstadt suffered, and Kaveh had reason to believe it was even worse, judging by how there were virtually no humane ethical issues on the table for discussion. The head scientist of the lucrative Fatui Corporations that owned the Lazzo Aquarium, an eccentric and frankly, terrifying-looking man by the name of Il Dottore had recently been veiled as the genius behind those excruciating experiments designed to exploit the mermaid; Kaveh was honestly surprised there had been no debased acts committed on the poor humanoid creature as of yet — or perhaps it simply hadn’t been reported. Kaveh really didn’t want to think about it.
As a last resort to obtain some grounds for his moral standpoint which was somehow a concerning deviation from the majority, Kaveh whipped out his phone, scouring through the thousands of comments under that particular recent headline, hoping the general consensus had shifted just a little upon knowing the further tortures the poor mythical creature was subjected to once more. The article boasted that a singular scale had successfully resisted the force of multiple artillery attacks as well as a small bomb, and were due to be tested against more vigorous impacts. Kaveh winced as his eyes roved over a coloured image of the poor mermaid accompanying the jaunty article. Her dirty green hair was straggly and crusted over with dried blood, hanging off her limp and defeated form where thick straps of black leather encircled, pinning her arms behind her back and leaving her brownish tail unguarded. From the picture, it was evident that several scales were missing, but the ends of the small stumps leaked blood, staining the woody brown sheen with a dark red. It was clear that nerves or flesh were attached to the scales to warrant that much bleeding, which caused Kaveh’s heart to ache just by looking at it.
Comments (211):
Never thought their scales will be this durable – perhaps that’s how they always overpower the strong seamen despite the fact that they’re females. LOL
> Frfr they are carried by their biology. Talk about unfair fights
> Y’all just mad y’all will get owned by a mermaid
Yo, imagine if they managed to catch a fully grown merman. Logically their scales should be way stronger than the mermaids’. The lucky country is literally going to hold all the cards in future negotiations
> RIGHT?! Kinda scary to think about tbh. Whoever gets to a merman first will rule the world in warfare
> I mean, there’s been no sightings of any merman ever, though? I guess they’d be too OP if they exist. Or maybe there’s only one in existence which helps explain how they populate. Y’know, like queen bees that kind of hierarchy
> Yeah, that makes sense. Still, I think the merman will ultimately be handed over to the Fatui Corporations. They’re leading in that field, anyway, and the other countries won’t have the necessary equipment and smarts required to extricate the scales properly
> Ur right. Dottore’s a fucking genius, no one can top his expertise atp
Kaveh’s teeth ground unconsciously as rage licked at his heart. The ardent misogyny displayed coupled with sheer disregard for a living creature’s fate made him feel sick to the core. He tossed his phone aside, too incensed to continue reading any further. On top of the injustice in the world, the sad state of his finances further fuelled his overall sense of dispirits as he gazed dejectedly around the dingy apartment.
The room suddenly felt too stuffy – he really needed to cool off. Perhaps a walk would do him some good.
To stave off some of his unbridled anger, Kaveh slammed the peeling, plastic door of his one-room flat shut as he headed out, flinching a little as he heard the sound reverberate down the dingy corridor. Oh well, his neighbours were probably out anyway. He double-checked to make sure his door was still functional, before storming down the stairwell into the evening street.
Perhaps he’d take a breather by the sea, which was just a five minute’s walk away off the main road. When Kaveh was still in college back in his hometown, he’d found the sounds and smell of the nearby ocean effective in clearing his head whenever he had a particularly bad day, washing away all of his woes and stress like magic. Perhaps he was a pirate or something in his past life, to warrant such an affinity with the waves. Which was why when he was scoping out cheap one-roomed flats to rent, he’d latched onto his current flat with determination until he secured it, purely due to its convenient distance from a relatively unpolluted moana.
Kaveh increased his pace the moment the sandy terrain came into view, feeling his energy slowly returning as he took a big sniff of the salty sea spray. As usual, the beach was deserted; it was mostly visited by people who fished for recreation — the shortage of fishes in the general area was simply too unideal for the industrial landscape. People have surmised that it was because of the merpeople that caused the fish population in these particular waters to dwindle, and have happily added this obscure point onto their long list of obstinate excuses on why merpeople should not enjoy the same rights as humans.
Kaveh headed immediately for his favourite place: a conveniently-shaped rock, smoothed from erosion and the high tide, beneath a pair of arching palm trees. It was in a secluded corner too, such that Kaveh was assured of solitary even if there were others around. Kaveh enjoyed company, but sometimes, being by yourself could be just what the doctor ordered, especially when he was feeling overwhelmed. This particular spot worked wonders for his mental health more than the overpriced drugs sold at the town’s pharmacy ever could.
He brushed off bits of sand that had flown and settled onto the surface of the rock before sitting down. Occasionally, even before high tide and on a rainless day, he’d find the surface wet for some reason. Thankfully today was not one of those days.
The sounds of the gentle waves filled his ears, ebbing in a rhythmic pattern that immediately calmed his nerves. Kaveh shut his eyes, basking in the therapeutic ambience.
One bad thing about this almost idyllic arrangement was that it was not well equipped for him to take a nap. There wasn’t enough distance between the palm trees for him to hang up a hammock, and the rock could only to fit one sitting adult. Kaveh stifled a yawn as dusk slowly fell, reluctant to leave but knowing that he’d regret it if he were to fall asleep out here in the night wearing mere T-shirt and pants.
With a sigh, he stood up and stretched, taking his time to do so as he sorrowfully bid farewell to the ocean in his head. If only he could build a shack around here so he didn’t have to step back to the dreary town life. He’d already made designs as to how the shack should look like, taking into consideration specific factors such as tides and strong sea winds. But, just like his activism aspirations, it would likely remain as wistful thinking, for he did not have enough money to complete his final year at college and graduate with proper architectural qualifications; he couldn’t even take out any more loans until he’d paid off those he’d stacked up over the years.
Kaveh wanted to smack himself for so successfully dampening his mood with reality already even before he’d exited his safe haven. Life was so tough, man.
The Lazzo Aquariums came into view just on the left of his peripheral as he headed back. He immediately felt the embers of dissatisfaction sparking into life, dissipating his drowsiness. How despicable that he had to live in the same country and neighbourhood as this internationally recognised, reprehensible corporation. Kaveh stopped at a distance to glare sourly at its imposing build, wondering just how humanity could allow themselves to be so cruel towards perceived lesser creatures.
Perhaps it was the sudden surge of fury that had boiled his brain cells dead, because Kaveh felt a sudden impulse to kick at the accursed structure. However, the distant silhouettes of the guards patrolling its gated perimeters looked too imposing for Kaveh’s own liking, so he contented himself with a spit in the general direction towards the facility.
Apparently, the universe was aligned to make sure he did not get away with disrespecting the physical manifestation of immorality, because right when the spit was released from his lips, a well-dressed man happened to breach his personal space just in time by walking past him. Kaveh felt blood drain from his face.
The logo sewed onto the sleek, black suit was undoubtedly that of the aquarium’s.
It was as if the little glob of spit was travelling in slow-motion, happily arching into the air and landing perfectly on the centre of the logo itself. Normally, Kaveh would’ve felt awed at his bullseye aim, but it was unfortunately not an occasion worth celebrating.
The man stopped abruptly, and Kaveh’s dazed eyes watched in mesmerisation as a stern face turned to glare at him with a startling combination of turquoise and bronze irises. An uneven fringe of grey hair shifted over the left eye, somehow adding on to the overall unusual ethereality, which was completed with the smart-looking pair of silver-lined peridot headphones.
Pretty, Kaveh thought. Then, I’m pretty fucking screwed.
Although it was only whispered about, the higher-ups of the aquarium staff had been wrapped up in pretty nasty rumours in the past decade, all in the name of progress pursuit for the greater good, of course: dragging normal civilians who had been rumoured to come into contact with merpeople off the street for interrogations, torturing whoever they suspected of a merperson being in disguise as a human, silencing the media, and all the other usual bad stuff the higher authority or secret forces usually loved to abuse. In summary: they’re pretty damn ruthless. And scary. Especially when this one looked like the very image of what should’ve been a bodyguard to a government official rather than a data scientist or the like.
“I-I uhh!! I—” Kaveh stuttered, feeling his mouth go dry. What the hell was he going to do now? They wouldn’t drag him in for questioning, would they? Humanity generally viewed the merpeople with distaste, and to be caught spitting at the leading organisation specialising in capturing and domesticating them— by one of the staff working there no less— wasn’t this practically an unspoken declaration of protest, that he had suspicious reasons to be on the merpeople’s side rather than humanity’s? Inwardly, Kaveh’s mind started chanting prayers to the skies above because he’d really much rather suffer a low wage worker’s life than be subjected to unfair punishment for such a harmless — but sure as hell deserved — act of disrespect.
The man let out a low hum, glancing at the small wet patch on his chest before inclining his head over his shoulder. As Kaveh stood rooted, sweating profusely, he could almost see the cogs turning behind those calculative eyes as the handsome man put two and two together.
He should totally just run, shouldn’t he? This man was a total stranger to him, but the same could be said for the other. If he’d bolted, chances were the man wouldn’t be able to chase him down. He sneaked a glance at the street past the man’s shoulder — good, it was completely deserted, with no witnesses that could possibly indict him.
“Your courage is to be admired.”
If it weren’t for Kaveh’s prior confirmation that the street was empty, Kaveh might have mistaken that ominous phrase to come from a jeering passer-by ready to watch the drama unfold. Kaveh blinked, mouth agape, as he returned his gaze towards the high-ranking fellow who had apparently addressed him directly.
And he was… smiling?
No, actually, that looked more like a smirk. A self-satisfied smirk that seemed to threaten Kaveh’s rights to a torture-free life from a tyrannical, merpeople-obsessed organisation.
God, why must he be cursed with such rotten luck today?
It was merely a small quirk of the lips, but Kaveh could practically feel the carefully concealed amusement radiating from the other. “Ah, were you going to run?”
For some reason, the mildly condescending tone sent Kaveh’s heart pumping. Not in a positive or romantic manner, however. Kaveh’s day had already been so trashy, and being sneered at by some nefarious bastard working for Lazzo Aquariums was definitely the last straw.
“I’m not the one who should be running, when retribution finally kicks your asses,” Kaveh narrowed his eyes as he hissed, shooting a challenging glare towards the stranger, who slowly raised an unimpressed eyebrow at the hostile reaction. “Whatever your organisation is doing to the merpeople is horrendous and utterly deplorable. Frankly, I’m surprised that you aren’t even slightly ashamed of yourself.”
He could feel his heart pounding in his throat. The moment the words left his mouth, Kaveh found himself wishing he could chase after them and shove them back down his throat. Shit, he’d gotten too emotional again. This wasn’t the first time it happened — more often than not Kaveh had had to spend the night in the college’s infirmary for possessing a little too smart of a mouth over the work and moral ethics of his peers, seniors or professors. Still, he’d never really learnt his lesson after all those years, because he was too stubborn and it simply felt wrong to not speak up in defence of the vulnerable. Being a bystander was definitely not how how Kaveh operated, and he would never back down when faced with a direct confrontation, regardless of his opponent’s standing.
The man fell silent, longer than Kaveh wanted it to be. But it was too late to back out now. Kaveh was sure he’d sealed his fate in some way through his sheer stubbornness to get his point across. He subconsciously tensed his body for a fight.
“You seem to harbour a strong reaction with regards to merpeople.” It was a statement, spoken in a firm, dry voice.
“Yeah, so what? Now you’re going to charge me in court for having a morally sound opinion?”
“I assure you I do not have that much free time to file a lawsuit. I am, however, interested in what more you have to say about the matter. After all, it is rare to come across such people like you.”
The connotations of the words spoken were so neutral Kaveh couldn’t quite tell if he was being disrespected or not. Still, he allowed his brashness to take over.
“What are you—”
“I will be quite a willing audience to your sentiments on that matter. Although,” the man took a quick glance of his silver watch. “Now is simply too inconvenient of an hour for me to engage in such a discussion. One page, prose format: write down every single one of your views on the issue of merpeople, as well as your feelings towards Lazzo, if you feel like it. Turn it in by hand tomorrow at my office — I will be available any time from 8am to 5pm. I will not entertain after office hours, so be mindful of that.”
Without waiting for Kaveh to reply, the man started walking again. However, he paused abruptly after taking a few steps, fiddling with something in his breast pocket, then turned to hold it out to Kaveh.
Kaveh’s body seemed to move on autopilot. His fingers pinched the smooth texture of the rectangular name card.
The man’s teal and bronze eyes met his crimson ones again with a piercing, unreadable look. Then, without another word, he turned and strode away.
Kaveh was left staring after the back of the stranger, which grew smaller and smaller before disappearing off the corner of the street. It was a few minutes later before he was conscious of the fact that his jaw was dropped open.
*
…HE’S THE WHAT???
Kaveh was vaguely aware of his body freezing up as he peered at the sleek black name card, at the silver letterings stamped neatly along the bottom right. Was he perhaps so sleep deprived that he’d started hallucinating words?
He rubbed his eyes vigorously, then snatched up the small, offensive card before bringing it under the lampshade to check again. There was a crease spreading across the middle of the card from how hard he gripped it. No, there was no mistake.
「Alhaitham 彡
Head Director of Containment Unit」
Kaveh, a mere low-end citizen, had just spoken (read: ranted) to one of the few head directors of Lazzo Aquariums. Who happened to be the one and only man who directly oversees the handling and containment of the sole captive mermaid in the entire world. The man who arguably possessed the greatest importance and clearance in the field of merpeople research.
Kaveh wanted to punch something. Preferably that man’s stupidly hot face. Or himself. He was definitely being played with, wasn't he? This was probably an elaborate trap, only capable of being formed in the most sadistic of minds. If he were to foolishly dance into the man’s hands and actually show up at their territory unguarded, what was stopping the organisation from just snatching him up and throwing him into one of their underground prisons which were more likely than not in existence? The more he thought about it, the more Kaveh was convinced that this invitation was a one way’s ticket to hell.
It was a mercy that the man had not insisted on getting Kaveh’s contact details. At least it was only a one-way divulge. Kaveh could stay uncontacted and hidden, away from the dangerous arena where politicians, diplomats and scientists play, where he was clearly not skilled or sharp enough to navigate safely in.
…But if I back down like this, wouldn’t I just be another of those cowards who refuse to speak up?
When life simply refuses to give you lemons no matter how hard you try, you grab the only available one it deigns to toss you with, even if it is shrivelled up and mouldy and would likely get you sent to the ER. Kaveh could not afford to be picky if he truly wants to make a change in the world.
And… if fate were to condemn him into a future of captivity and suffering, then, well, at least there’s nobody around who will miss him.
With his jaw set, Kaveh grabbed a pen and his university’s notepad, and began to write.