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Inside the tank was a creature. It was not unlike a man, in ways that Josh’s mind clung to as he gazed upon it. The shape of its face, with almond eyes and a sloping nose, pinkened lips and eyebrows furrowed in fear. The build of its torso, pale and lightly muscled. The curl of its hair, strands shifting with every tilt of its head.
That was where the similarities to humans ended, and Josh found himself unconsciously stepping forward to examine where the creature’s humanity ended and its—otherness began.
The year is 1893. Unable to make ends meet on his Ohio farm, Joshua Dun travels to New York City in search of work, and comes across the Downtown Exhibition of Magical Artefacts – DEMA, as the locals call it. Josh is employed as security for the Exhibition by owner Nicolas Bourbaki, and resolves himself to guard the peculiar objects and specimens within its walls. Until he discovers the newest addition to the Exhibition: a merman in a cramped tank, hair and tail carnation pink. As he grows closer to the strange, alluring creature, Josh uncovers a secret in DEMA that could put them both in danger, and must choose between two worlds — and both could be the one to pull him under for good.