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It still didn't feel right. Better, sure, but it still felt off.
The room was much, much warmer than the previous cell. The floor, covered in some kind of cheap but durable carpet, scratched against his scales. Dull, but present. The walls were painted in a darker blue, matching the gloomy atmosphere.
But Sebastian didn't really care.
His tail dragged across the floor as one of the hands reached out to press slightly down on the mattress shoved into one of the corners of the room. They clearly had to shove two of them together, the spot on the wall where the bed would usually be mounted now sporting a quick patch job. The paint still seemed wet, glistening in the low fluorescent light. It was softer than the shoddy setup he made for himself in the last room though.
That didn't stop Sebastian from settling down on the bed, resting his head on his folded arms. His tail curled around himself, contributing to the warmth of the room. There was a blanket and a pillow tossed to the corner, but it would have been the equivalent to draping a napkin over a shark. If he had more of those features....
The door behind him beeped, causing the giant sea snake to lift his head, fins perking up before the heavy metal even had a chance to slide open. They flattened down soon after, a low ominous growl coming out from deep inside his chest. The researcher only scoffed, continuing to walk inside.
"Stand down Z-13. Just because some of the higher ups decided to change some of your access to amenities does not mean they won't be taken away from you." The man continued forwards, the now open doorway revealing two guards. Sebastian scoffed, pulling himself to more of his true height.
"Can't do much with your two shadows over there. But I gotta ask doc, why the sudden hotel room? You trying to butter me up for some sort of crawfish boil?" A forced laugh rumbled out of his chest as the man approached, moving to drop a bunch of folded fabric onto a table. "Don't suppose that's the dry cleaning service either, is it?"
"Matter of fact, this is your new uniform." A hand jerked to point at the mess of grey and black now in a pile. "You will need to see if it fits before your next assignment."
"And that is... when, exactly?" Sebastian raised an eyebrow. "I only just got here."
"We are aware. And your next assignment is in... 2 hours." The man lifted his harm to check his watch, a small keycard now visible from his hip displaying part of a name. "Once you have settled in and are in uniform, you will be directed to any areas in need of repair. Your tools will be provided before the job, and will be returned afterwards."
The man continued to ramble on, pointing to different corners of the room, but Sebastian couldn't care less. His head lowered to rest on top of his arms, curling himself up into a small pile on top of the creaking mattresses. He could afford to relax his muscles... just for a moment.....
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.
.
Sebastian... didn't fit too well in the shirt, despite it's massive size.
The hissing of gas passing though the pipes under the grates in the floor alongside the hum of the heaters filled the hallways with a distinct type of noise. It melted together, almost turning soothing in its tone. Reminded him of those machines people used to keep their kids calm while sleeping.
Heh, as if the people down here were anything but children with wishful thinking.
The zipper on the front stayed open, the smaller arm on his left side pressed up against his body as he shuffled forwards down the hallway. It scratched against his scales, and the sleeve for his third arm was a clumsy afterthought, a sewn-on tube that bunched awkwardly at his shoulder. He already torn the back seam near his tail fin just by turning around in his new cell. Standard issue. Nothing here was built for anything but the standard human template.
The glass tubes stretched onwards, lights flickering as the last door opened into darkness. Sebastian sighed. Sure, use the one guy who's tall enough to change a lightbulb without a ladder. At least this wouldn't take too long.
After a bit of fumbling around with the tools on his belt, he emerged from the now illuminated room. A few LR-Ps in dull grey jumpsuits were now scrubbing at a coolant leak under the watchful eye of a guardsman. They didn’t look up as he entered. They never did. Distractions during work weren't taken lightly. One of the guards did though, the helm moving as he slithered further back down the hallway. A turn of his own head made the guard snap back into formation.
It would be only a few hours later when he finally got a break. If he would call it one.
The server rooms hummed with the low currents of electricity channeling through the wires, snaking across the floors and ceiling railings. Server racks filled the bulk of each room, processing data and numbers... or whatever else the scientists used down here. The internet probably didn't reach, that's for sure.
The last door slid open, and as he emerged into the room, a female voice cursed. HIs head turned, fins darting downwards before relaxing, watching as the woman fumbled to hide a lighter as she was crouched down in a corner.
"Hey, easy there beanpole. I'm no snitch." Sebastian chuckled, making his way over. "You got a spare?"
The woman narrowed her eyes, looking him up and down before sighing and standing up to her full height. She was tall, even in Seb's new form, coming in just about three feet shorter than he was. Their jumpsuit was only slightly modified to accommodate their height, their tools and lighter hanging by their hip.
"... What's in it for me?"
His tail flinched, moving to curl around himself. Shit. He really didn't think that far.
"Well... you.. sure don't want a guard coming down and taking that off your hands now do you?"
Her eyes narrowed.
Sebastian forced a smile.
".... fine. Cant even get it to light right, so if you got..." Her voice trailed off as a clawed hand reached down, opening up to offer another lighter. Her hand reached out, hesitated for a moment, then took it gingerly. The cheap plastic tapped against both of their nails, the rapid turn of the flint wheel, and the familiar smell of... well, it wasn't a cigarette. She heaved in a few lungful's of the drug before offering the blunt to the giant fish. His larger arm shifted, moving to allow the third hand to grab and lift it to his lips.
... he missed this feeling. It was faint, weaker than what he remembered it being before, but it was there.
"... how did you get this down here, anyways?" Seb chuckled. "Doubt it was cheap."
"Let's just say I cashed in alot of favors. Have a few growing in the oxygen gardens. I usually check on it after my shift while down here-"
"HEY! NAOMI! ARE YOU GONNA STAY OUT THERE AND SMOKE?! I'M BOREEEEEED."
A voice, slightly tinged with static burst out from the side room, and the woman, probably named Naomi, groaned as she turned to walk back in. "Buddy, you know I'll come back, I just don't smoke in your room."
"Who were you even talking to? You don't share anything with most people... o- oh!" As Sebastian slithered in, a small CRT monitor flickered from a smiling face, to a slightly shocked expression. Even smaller bits to the side showed a paint program being opened. "You look... alot more interesting than her."
"Heh... I like the cut of your jib, kid." Sebastian chuckled, slithering up to the wire fence, grabbing onto it as he ignored the playful complaint from Naomi. "You got a name?"
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The metal doors hissed as they slid closed, the gurgle of saltwater lifting from the vents and continuing to slowly creep up the walls. The cold liquid pooled around Sebastian's tail, continuing up higher and higher before filling the room completely. The other doors groaned open, revealing the seabed.
And the mess of undersea cables and pipes. Sebastian would have been shocked they didn't have a massive power failure yet, but, what does he know.
"Alright." The earpiece that Sebastian was handed (or, moreso tossed from a distance) crackled with static. "Several transformers routing power through our power lines are damaged. Once you exit and the door closes behind you, head outside and swim to the middle of the area. Follow the green lights towards your destination. Do not stray into the darkness."
"Oh joy, we have a philosopher up in the ranks. Did they want to hire an engineer and only get a bunch of English majors?"
"Awfully confident for someone in your position, aren't we?"
"Well, you're just sitting on your butt on some office on the surface, and I actually do the hard work down here." Sebastian kept following the green trail of lights, entering a cave. "You afraid of getting your hands dirty?"
A sigh was heard from the other end as Sebastian swam forwards, gliding through the waters with ease. "Don't get cocky now. We have a few other engineers working on a few of the transformers that shorted out on us recently. And usually, they would be fine on their own, but..."
A click was heard, along with the muffled voices of a conversation swiftly cut off, Sebastian stilled at the exit of the cave tunnel, just as a beam of orange light passed by.
"Heads up, scanners are picking up more Vultus lifeforms heading towards your location. They think that Lucy's light is one of their own, and she's pinpointing to them where there's food. Technically not wrong, but, be careful."
"Ah great, another one came to join their buddy for the buffet. They couldn't just leave the hunting to only one of them?"
"Michael, keep focus on the task at hand. We do not pay you just to talk with others on the job."
"On it, boss man. Though it's kind of unfair you get to chat all you want and still get your paycheck at the end of the month. You even have your cat in the comms ro-"
"Zip it, or your paycheck is getting docked."
"... killjoy."
Sebastian let out a huff of amusement. It wasn't much, but the little quarrels between the staff were the one good form of entertainment down here. And making the others bicker was one way to turn the best live tv channel down below the waters to drama. Best one he can access at least.
The hum of the functional transformers faded as he slid into one of the small caves, just before another searchlight passed overhead. They groaned, almost like the old rusted submarines Urbanshade used to ferry prisoners down, a sound that vibrated through the water and down into his bones. One transformer, shining a small red light across the space, sat embedded within the stone.
His large hands worked with a surprising delicacy, unscrewing the corroded panel. His smaller third arm, kept tucked in close to his body, held a light-stick, illuminating the nest of burnt wires and overloaded circuits. It was an easy enough fix, but Sebastian had to press himself against the rocky wall of the crevice, wincing as one of the lights from the enormous creatures crept closer, then pulled away. A clawed hand pressed to the communicator, static buzzing as he pressed down.
"Hey. What transformers are left?"
A noise of surprise rippled through the comms, one of them cursing loud enough for Sebastian to hiss in response. "Jesus fuck, your voice is deep as hell!"
"And my ears are now blown out, thanks to your loud as hell voice."
"Yeah, yeah, tell your complaints to the doctors, Z-13," a new voice on the comms shot back, a girl this time. "Michael, the loud one-" The man retorted, a mumble of words, "is by the eastern side, by the geothermal stripe. Nathan is by the entrance, and I'm up north. You're in a spot we have no one else at, so just.... fix anything around you."
"... it's Sebastian."
A pause could be heard across the channel, filled in only by a loud and mournful groan of the new searchlight, trying to communicate with the first.
"... Riiiight, okay, Sebastian." The hesitation in her voice was clear, as if she didn't believe he was just another person fucked over by her employer. "Like I said before, Michael and Nathan are by the east and south side, and I'm up north. So you're in the west quadrant. From our briefing, two or three should be down."
"Lovely insight, but this isn't rocket science. Wrong unexplored part of the universe here, so which ones? Where on this drenched underwater version of Mars or Jupiter are the damn-"
"Jesus fuck dude, look around you! One is by the oversized skull and one should be in the cave below it." Nathan silhouette, just barely visible against the dark rocks and metal across the chasm threw up his hands in frustration. "We all don't know everything about this place but it doesn't fucking mean that some uneducated bastard that got some second chance gets to be lazy while the real people do the hard work."
"Nat, calm the fuck down!"
"NO, CHERREL, I WILL NOT CALM THE FUCK DOWN!" A click on the other line cut off part of the words, apparently from Michael getting sick from the whining. Sebastian growled as the other continued. "We're just expected to work alongside some mutated criminal?! I didn't study for goddam years to be stuck doing this alongside murderer-"
"HEY. SMARTASS."
Sebastian's voice bitterly cut though the noise, silencing the two still in the voice coms. If HQ was still listening, they didn't butt in. "I studied for 4 years in a uni just like the rest of you for my engineering degree, and I'm no fucking murderer." The movements of the others in the distance stilled, slight movements betraying the fact they were trying to stare daggers over to him.
Nathan tried to spout up a retort.
He kept going.
"I don't care what you believe the news said on your fancy ass TVs. That wasn't me. I just got stuck down here because I didn't want to die. So if you think you have some magical truth bullet of facts and logic, kindly just shut up and do your job.... just.... shut. Shut up..."
The group fell silent afterwards, static from the com line dying out alongside it.
The silence that followed was thicker than the crushing water pressure high above them. Nathan, a dark smudge against the rock face, turned sharply back to his work. Cherrel just let out a slow, shaky breath over the comms.
"… focus on the repairs," she said, her voice tight. "We're on the clock."
Sebastian let out a hum of acknowledgement, the sound unheard by anyone else in the water. He turned his attention to the other transformers by the skull, the red warning lights pulsing weakly against the cold dark. The swim over was as quiet as can be, slipping past the lights that passed over with almost a bored look on his malformed face.
It was moreso self pity, if he would ever allow himself to feel that. If he even deserved to pity himself for anything that have happened.
Four years of study for this, he thought bitterly. To become the facility’s glorified handyman. The work continued on, mindlessly reconnecting wires until the red light flickered, died, and then glowed a steady, healthy green. One down.
A sudden, sharper groan echoed through the trench, vibrating everything within. It was closer. Much closer.
"We got movement folks," Michael's voice crackled through the comms once more, the earlier stubbornness gone, replaced by a tense alertness. "East side."
"Just keep your light down and your movements slow," Cherrel guided, her own hand torch clicking off to the side. "They're attracted to heat and sudden motion, just like HQ briefed us. You're by the exposed geothermal river, Michael. You're basically sitting on the buffet line."
"Thanks, that's real comforting," Michael shot back, but his whisper was strained. "Shouldn't those things have learned by now that the river isn't food?"
"The heat attracts food towards it, genius. Sebastian, hold your position," Cherrel's voice was becoming urgent. "Nathan, status?"
"Almost done!" Nathan's reply was tense. "Just need to—"
"Repair team, fallback to the main sector. Multiple, and I mean multiple Vultus lifeforms approaching. Evacuate to the doors as soon as possible."
The command from HQ shattered the group into a chaotic mess of motion.
Across the chasm, Nathan and Cherrel kicked off from the seabed. Sebastian sharply turned around, all but ready to call it a day, but the swarm of lights homing in onto the last member... it fueled a sinking pit in his stomach. And it was only growing.
"MICHAEL, GET TO COVER NOW!"
The light that was trailing just shy of the dark diving suit's boots illuminated the man for a brief moment, the shrill cry of the searchlight echoing across the space. Michael just barley managed to pull himself by the rocks into a small overhang, the harpoon like appendage from the creature's maw missing him by mere inches.
"Repair team, what's going on down there? Why aren't you heading-"
"He can't move!" Cherrel screamed into the microphone, all professionalism gone in the panic. "One is refusing to move from where they got him pinned down, oh fuck..."
Safety was the last thing on Sebastian's mind as his tail propelled him forwards through the water, grabbing onto one of the metal tower railings in a desperate attempt to pull himself even closer. And apparently, stupidly, safety wasn't one on Michael's either. He kicked off from the rocky wall, rocketing out sideways in a burst of frantic motion. His legs kicked, trying to aim for a gap in the lights, but a shriek betrayed his failure.
It was the worst thing he could have done.
The searchlight reacted instantly. The spears shooting out from the monster's jaws increased, Michael kicking as fast as he could as one hit the sand to his left, one to his right into the rocks... and one sinking into the flesh of his leg. His yell peaked the mic, making the speaker in everyone's ears to buzz along side it, only adding to the noise and panic.
Sebastian didn't move like a human. ̶H̶e̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶,̶ ̶a̶n̶y̶m̶o̶r̶e̶.̶
He moved like the deep-sea predator Urbanshade had made him, a streak of blue fabric and scales through the dark, ignoring Cherrel's shouts in his ear and HQ's cold repetition of the evacuation order. His world narrowed to the light, Michael's struggling, and the widening maw.
He crashed into Michael, wrapping his larger arms around the man's torso and turned violently. The barbed harpoon ripped itself out of the other man's leg, earning a cry of agony as the red blood started to stain the water around them as Sebastian continued on. The searchlight recoiled as if it were stabbed, its own light stuttering as its friends cried out in unison, aiming to illuminate the two in the deadly shade of orange.
"GO!" Sebastian roared into the comm, shoving the stunned, gasping Michael further into the space between his shoulders and neck. "MOVE YOUR ASSES!" His tail swung from side to side, quickly bringing the injured man closer and closer to the heavy doors back inside. Cherrel was already slamming at the doors as they slid ever so slowly open, the manual release lever already activated to her side, Nathan looking back at the horrors behind them.
The two of them crashed into the compartment, Seb's back tail fins getting painfully crushed as he twisted his body around the smaller, bleeding one in his arms. The two others swam in soon after them, the doors swiftly slamming shut after the passed the threshold. The water drained at an alarming speed, and as his grip loosened, Michael tumbled out of his hold.
His mask was ripped off, just in time for his stomach to let go of whatever meager rations he was granted for the day, panting soon afterwards. Cherrel made her way over, kneeling to help rub circles into his back, only looking up to Sebastian as the doors behind him slid open.
Nathan kept his eyes on Seb, pupils wide and breath scarcely held as a pair of medics brushed past him without a second thought, and a group of armed guards started to take the giant serpent away.
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.
.
“... heard he tore the spear out with his own teeth-”
“... saved that engineer’s life, dragged him back like a sack of potatoes-”
“... why’d a thing like that even bother?”
And then, the one that made his gills flare with annoyance:
“... Michael won’t shut up about him. Practically worships the ground he slithers on. Weird, isn’t it? You think he… likes it? Like, likes it likes it?”
Stupid. Juvenile. But in the pressure-cooker of the Blacksite, gossip was a prized currency.
Word apparently spread around fast in the blacksite. His rescue stunt was known by the entire evening maintenance team in a few hours, the entire team in two days, and by the end of the week, the only spot of peace in the entire goddam blacksite was in the server farms with Naomi and P.ai.nter when he wasn't tasked in more maintenance tasks. At least those two didn't keep up the chants of him being some sort of 'savior'.
Sebastian was moving down the hall from yet another external repair run, hair still damp from the desalination shower, trying to ignore the lingering stares and hushed comments. The server rooms were mostly quiet, the path to them usually sparsely populated, but one painfully familiar voice was yapping away just around the bend, ruining the rare quiet with the venomous enthusiasm.
“... just moved, I’ve never seen anything move that fast in water, he just was there-”
Then Nathan’s voice, sharper. “It’s a predator, Michael, it saw easy prey. Simple animal instinct. Doesn’t change what it is.”
"I'm telling you though, that giant fish likes me! Like some sorta fucked up dolphin!"
“He has a name.” Sebastian muttered to himself, moving to go down a side hallway, but as he lifted his hand to open the door, the few words that carried down the hall made him go ridged.
"Do you really think a murderer suddenly grows a conscience? They faked his death for a reason. He’s Z-13 for a reason. He’s a monster. It’s not safe for us to be even assigned to work with him.”
Sebastian felt his hearing focus down to a point. He didn't see red, his view didn't shift. He simply slid forward, his massive body rounding the corner with a silence that was more terrifying than any other noise he could have created. As his shadow looked over Nathan and Michael, making them turn around, the color drained from their face. One let out a yelp and scrambled back, dropping a wrench that clattered to the metal floor with a resounding clang, as the other fell down, loosing hold of a cheap looking crutch.
“You’re loud.” Sebastian growled as he loomed over them, blocking the light from the hallway. His third eye was open wide, unblinking. “You have opinions. Let’s hear them.”
“I- I... he didn’t mean…”
“He meant every word,” Sebastian cut him off, his gaze locked onto Nathan. “Didn’t you? ‘Murderer.’ ‘Monster.’ You’ve been writing quite the little narrative in your head, Nathan. Sharing it with the class.”
Nathan’s gaze hardened. “... People have a right to know what they’re working with.”
“Oh, by all means,” Sebastian hissed, leaning in closer. The smell of artificial oxygen and salt filled the space, closing in on the three of them with every passing second. “ tell them. Tell everyone. Write it on the walls.” His voice dropped to a low whisper as he leaned in, towering over Nathan as Michael shuffled backwards. “But if you’re gonna tell someone, and try to have me put down like a sick dog for being ‘unpredictable’ or ‘a risk to morale’… do it. Get your evidence. Make your case. And know this.”
A hand reached down to slowly lift the wrench off the floor, effortlessly tossed up and caught again in his hold.
“I didn’t kill those people the news said I did. But I can make that true. It’s very, very easy for me to make that true now. Do you understand the difference, Nathan?”
Both men were shaking, Nathan nodding as he desperately tried to push his body against the cold wall. Michael’s mouth opened and closed, no sound coming out, his earlier praises dying in his throat, replaced by the primal understanding of what stood before him.
" .... and Michael...” he turned his head, the unblinking third eye fixing on the injured man, “you should be in medical, not gossiping in the hallways." A short pause, his voice lowering. ".... you lost your crutch.”
He used his tail to slide the abandoned crutch smoothly back within Michael’s reach. It was a motion of courtesy he didn't think he had left in him. Then, without another word, he turned and slithered away, the heavy sound of his scales on the grating fading slowly as he shifted further, further, further...
Only when he was in an old and dilapidated corner of the halls, the wrench that remained in his hands got thrown back down the hall with a frustrated roar, devolving into a mournful sob.
The silence that followed was deafening, broken only by the distant, rhythmic hum of the countless generators, air purifiers, and filters within the pipes. He didn't move for a long time, curled in the dark corner, the cold metal a relief against his heated scales. The fury that blurred his head had long burned out, leaving only ash and a hollow, familiar chill. Eventually, he pulled himself up.
The journey back to his quarters was a blur of indifferent walls and averted eyes. The door hissed shut behind him, sealing him back into the artificial warmth. Sebastian settled onto the mattresses, the springs complaining under his weight. The cheap carpet scratched against his scales. He looked over at the patched wall, down to the makeshift bed, over to the tiny blanket barely covering his chest....
... Sleep never found him that night.
The incident wasn’t reported. Fear, it turned out, was an effective dampener on any word of mouth. Nathan avoided him entirely after that meeting, his glares now replace with a new, profound terror. The ridicules rumors dried up overnight, replaced by a universal thought of avoidance and evasion.
He was still a monster in a room of humans, a prisoner in a new kind of cage with nicer carpet.