Chapter Text
“One of you demonstrate. Now.”
Team Lead Ryoshu stood, bored as usual, in front of a large specimen transport container with a small barred window; though neither Faust nor Heathcliff nor Sinclair nor even Rodya could see inside. They were in the department half-jokingly referred to as the Aquarium, where Mermaids and similar sea life were contained, studied, and – when possible – extracted resources from. Ryoshu, who'd been unlucky enough to get promoted out of her Mermaid-hunting job into this training job, had assembled them all in the access chamber above a water-filled containment unit. They had just completed a one-hour orientation session and were now ready to see their first specimen.
“Right. Watch and learn, lads and lasses,” Heathcliff said, taking a step forward and cracking his knuckles. He opened the barred barrier of the little window. In the blink of an eye he saw an orange blur, then sharp fangs, then a spray of blood as the creature inside vaulted up and bit off most of his hand. He staggered backward.
“For fuck's sake – it bit me!”
“Sure did. Bleed out or hit the clinic, knucklehead.”
As Heathcliff cursed and stormed off, the rest listened to gruesome chewing sounds. Sinclair and Rodya looked at each other in concern as Ryoshu laughed and Faust didn't react. After a moment, Heathcliff's ring came flying out through the window and clattered onto the ground; Rodya pocketed it.
“Once again, idiots. It's SESH.”
Faust spoke up.
“Stun. Examine. Suppress. Hold.”
Ryoshu nodded.
“Show us.”
Faust went for the baton on her hip and flicked its switch, the end sparking to life. She confidently stepped forward, sticking the baton in through the window of the specimen transport container. There was a spark, a shriek, and a thud.
“The specimen is stunned.”
Faust opened the container door. They all leaned forward to see the creature; a Mermaid of an unknown Whale, lying awake but paralyzed, breathing heavily, exhibiting the classic signs of a confused Mermaid in distress. Some of Heathcliff's blood remained on her lips. She had long, messy ginger hair, yellow eyes – completely yellow, Faust noted, including the sclera. She pulled the twitching creature out; its legs had fused into a piscine tail, apparently some time ago, based on the thorough transformation. Faust examined; blue and green scales extending up to its midsection, which sported long gills on each side. Claw development on its hands; Faust opened the Mermaid's mouth – sharp teeth. Faust observed – it has most likely been a Mermaid for some time, perhaps ten years or longer, although some human features remained intact.
“The specimen has been examined on a preliminary basis; sharp teeth and claws but no apparent ink or other defenses have been observed. As a preventative measure, Faust will proceed with vocal suppression.”
Ryoshu nodded.
Faust took the suppressing collar from her belt loop and gingerly put it around the Mermaid's neck. It automatically tightened around its throat. The Mermaid's eyes widened – it wanted to move, to pull this thing from its neck. But it could barely even writhe.
“Suppressed. Team Lead Ryoshu, permission to transfer the specimen to its unit?”
“Go for it.”
Faust stepped toward the control panel and threw a lever, opening an access door into the floor to the water-filled containment unit below. Nobody helped her drag the Mermaid across the floor, and she unceremoniously dumped it into the containment unit and, with another throw of the lever, sealed it inside.
“Will she be OK in there?” Sinclair asked.
“Not she, stupid. It. I don't like to repeat myself. So listen for the last time: DEWS.”
“Don't... empathize with specimens,” Sinclair said.
“The Mermaid will recover from the paralytic baton in short time,” Faust clarified. “It's normal for there to be a brief period of adjustment during which time it will exhibit unpredictable, often aggressive, behavior. Due to this specimen belonging to an unknown Whale class, we will have to observe it carefully.”
Ryoshu didn't know why this apparent fresh new hire seemed to know the job backwards and forwards already, but she wasn't about to ask. It meant she wouldn't have to do as much explaining.
Ryoshu led them out and down the hall and down the stairs and down another hall to the specimen's observation chamber; a small room with one reinforced glass wall through which they saw the ginger-haired Mermaid begin to twitch to life as it floated.
“Faust. It's all yours, since you're a PART already. You two will get your own freaks to play with. C'mon.”
Sinclair and Rodya followed Ryoshu out.
Faust observed in silence, waiting for signs of activity. Her patience was rewarded as the Mermaid came to, immediately swimming toward the glass, gnashing its teeth, its eyes wild. In its fury it began bashing itself against the glass. Faust diligently recorded.
Aggressive behavior. Use caution. Observed biting an employee during transfer process.
Faust turned to the control panel and hit one of the buttons. A little hole in the containment unit wall opened up, discharging a green slurry of plankton, algae, and nutrient paste. The Mermaid sniffed it suspiciously before turning back and ramming the glass some more. Faust stepped forward for a closer look. The Mermaid stared at her, anger in its eyes, futilely attempting to bite her through the glass.
“Ah. Faust presumes you are carnivorous.”
Faust further observed that speech catches the specimen's attention. It momentarily stopped bashing itself against the glass and stared at her with its large, yellow eyes. It was unlikely that this Mermaid, Faust is careful to note, can hear or understand her. However...
“If you will permit a moment of candor, Faust would not object to it should it come out that you are capable of conversation. You could then tell Faust all about your feeding habits, your Whale, your predatory and defense characteristics, and other useful information.”
The Mermaid watched her mouth – Faust notes that its aggressive tendencies ceased when spoken to, even though the content of her words was likely lost on it. Faust would not, of course, anthropomorphize the specimen, even though it was once human. Nevertheless Faust makes a note for brevity's sake that the specimen becomes curious when spoken to.
The Mermaid opens its mouth, but not to display its teeth, Faust reasons. It is attempting to phonate, although for safety reasons its speech has been suppressed. But it appears – and Faust once again states on the record that she is not inferring any human-like activity on its part – as though it's thinking. Faust is unsure if the Mermaid is looking at her as prey or some other reason.
It then surprises Faust: it taps on the glass. TAPTAP tap tapTAP TAP taptapTAPTAPtaptap.
“Ah. Faust understands.”
Faust taps: TAPTAPTAP TAPtap tap TAPTAP TAPTAPTAP TAPTAP tap TAPtap TAP tapTAPTAPtap tapTAPtaptap tap tapTAP taptaptap tap tapTAP taptaptap taptapTAPtap tapTAP taptapTAP taptaptap TAP TAPtaptap tap TAP tap tapTAPtap TAPTAP taptap TAPtap tap taptaptap tapTAPTAP taptaptaptap taptap TAPtapTAPtap taptaptaptap TAPTAPtaptapTAPTAP taptap taptapTAPtap tapTAP TAPtap TAPtapTAPTAP TAPTAPtaptapTAPTAP TAPTAPTAP taptapTAPtap TAP taptaptaptap tap taptaptap tapTAPTAP taptap TAP TAPtapTAPtap taptaptaptap tap taptaptap TAPTAPTAP TAPtap TAP taptaptaptap tap TAPtapTAPtap TAPTAPTAP TAPtap TAP tapTAPtap TAPTAPTAP tapTAPtaptap tapTAPTAPtap tapTAP TAPtap tap tapTAPtaptap TAPtaptap taptap taptaptap tapTAPTAPtap tap TAPtap taptaptap tap taptaptap tapTAP TAPtap taptap TAPTAP tapTAP tapTAPtaptap tapTAPTAPtap tapTAPtap TAPTAPTAP TAP tap taptap TAPtap taptapTAPtap TAPTAPTAP tapTAPtap TAPtapTAPTAP TAPTAPTAP taptapTAP TAP TAPTAPTAP TAPtapTAPtap TAPTAPTAP TAPtap taptaptap taptapTAP TAPTAP tap tapTAPtapTAPtapTAP.
Faust turned her attention back to the controls. She felt the creature's gaze upon her.
Ah. So it's possible to manually adjust the nutrients to some extent. The Mermaid watched her fiddle with the dials; its tail twitched impatiently. At last, Faust hit the button again, and a similar blob to the first one was extruded from the same hole as before, although this one was reddish-brown; it reminded Faust somewhat of what is colloquially referred to as a sloppy joe. Even though Faust knows all, and carries herself with the confidence of one who has mastered art and science, she nevertheless felt an unwelcome pang of self-consciousness as the Mermaid looked at her with an expression which Faust can only interpret one way:
Are you fucking kidding me?
Faust didn't record that.
-
The work cafeteria, the new employees are relieved to discover, doesn't exclusively serve Mermaid-derived foods. Rodya, Sinclair, Faust, and Heathcliff sit together. For safety reasons, Heathcliff's entire arm had to be removed and his ring now hung from a chain around his neck.
“I like my specimen,” Sinclair said. He'd been assigned a Mermaid of the Azure Stone Whale. “I know we're not supposed to get attached or anything... but he's easy to be around.”
“Oh, it's a boy? Mine's kinda gross, but we seem to get along,” Rodya said. Her assigned Mermaid was from a Hecatoncheires Whale. It reminded Rodya of a sea urchin, covered in spikes. It seemed content to float there and bat around the plastic rings Rodya gave it to play with.
“All I got was a bloody lecture from the old bag in the clinic,” Heathcliff said as he popped a piece of fried fish in his mouth. “Ol' Red-Eyes did tell me about my sea-lass, though. Shouldn't be too tough to handle.”
“Even with just one arm?”
“As I figure it, the Director's just got one arm, yeah? It's a good sign.”
“It's unlikely that the Director's position is related to his lost arm,” Faust pointed out.
“Lass, how do you expect a working stiff to stay fuckin' positive with your attitude?”
“Faust is merely being candid; it would not behoove me to allow you to labor under false notions.”
Heathcliff sighed and turned his attention back to his fish and chips platter.
“Are you getting along with Miss Bitey?” Rodya asked. “You still got all your fingers, Fau?”
Faust showed Rodya her hands – all ten fingers present and accounted for.
“Faust presumes you mean the aggressive Mermaid. If one wished to be flippant, then one might say we're getting along swimmingly. Although one cannot reach a rapport as one would a fellow human, we nonetheless are approaching an understanding. So Faust has all reason to believe.”
“Ooh. Faust, you're an actual-factual genius, aren't you?”
“Correct.”
She thought: the Mermaid prefers to capture and kill live prey to eat, although it did reluctantly eat the meat slurry.
We are encouraged to arrange the Mermaids' habitats so that they may thrive. This is not for humane reasons: thriving Mermaids are easier to study and more readily submit to extraction. It must stand to reason, then, that Faust...
Faust looked at her colleagues and smiled coldly.
...might have to provide some unconventional enrichment.