Page 73 of Call of the Fathoms

“Enhanced strength, lung capacity, faster healing, less oxygen in my blood so I can withstand deeper waters, significant training on how to kill a man with my bare hands, and...” She waved up and down her body. “Obviously I am larger. There are likely more upgrades, but those are the least scientific ones. The rest would have to be explained by a geneticist.”

There was a large wall of silence that met her explanation. Clearly, no one knew how to deal with what they were now facing. That was to be expected, though.

She forged on ahead. “Fortis has convinced me that betraying Tau is the right thing to do. To be honest, I have been considering it for a long time. The medication they use to keep people like me in under control ensures that we do what they wish, but even that has been wearing off. Without leaving Tau, I likely would have been decommissioned long ago.”

“Decommissioned?” the big red one repeated.

“My kind are only good for what we were bred to do,” she replied. “The only reason I would be decommissioned is if I could no longer fulfill my duty in the way I was meant to. I was created to protect Original Harlow, just as many others of my kind were created for others. Years upon years of fixing genetics so that I was the perfect killing machine who was capable of doing everything she wanted. If I could not perform those functions, they would use my genetics to find the problem and then fix it in the next generation.”

The words were regurgitated from what she had been told her entire life. But they sounded so wrong now that she had space away from that place.

And maybe she should tell them. Maybe she should reveal that she wasn’t entirely without emotion. It was okay to so do here, amongst people who felt deeply.

She didn’t expect how hard it would be to open her mouth and say it, though.

“I did not care about my own future. There are... We call them reborns. They are clones of the Originals, used only to heal them whenever they need even the barest of bandaids. Those were the people I couldn’t stand to see mistreated as they were. I’ve watched them wake before. They speak. They have memories they shouldn’t have. And the Originals kill them while they are still alive because these clones aren’t real people to anyone in that city. I want to see that end.”

That was enough, apparently. The yellow undine lifted his fist in the air, pumping it in an eerily human movement. “So that means you are going to help us?”

“It means I want to help you. I don’t know how much help I’ll be, but I will try my best.”

The blonde woman wearing the droid—Anya, she reminded herself—grinned. “Oh, I think we’ll find plenty of use for you. All you have to do is keep up with us.”

“And that means?”

Suddenly, there were five people all talking over each other. Her training kicked in immediately, and she tracked all the words as best she could.

Ace was already speaking to a few of the droids that had rolled into the room. “Byte? I need you to get information to the waveriders and let them know we have details about Tau, and an informant who will be working with us.”

Anya walked over to the red undine—perhaps his name was Daios—and said, “Make sure you check all the weapons we took from Alpha. We modified all of them to fire underwater, right?”

The yellow undine was already talking with Arges. “If she can give us schematics or even just a login into the city, we can use the droids to map the interior. If we have to, attacking them will be easier than we originally thought.”

Through all the chaos, Fortis stared at her. Their eyes locked, and she knew without saying anything that he was afraid for his people.

“Fighting Tau will not be easy,” she interrupted. “I know you’ve been planning this for a long time, but that does not mean that you will succeed. This is a city that has run the entire ocean for centuries now. These people are the same ones who made all the mistakes long ago. They are not learning from others. They know every rebellion that has ever happened, every fight that has ever occurred, and they have unlimited resources at their beck and call. They are beyond dangerous. I don’t think you understand what you’re setting yourself up for.”

The mood in the room sobered. She hated that she had to be the person to pull their heads out of the clouds, but it was the truth. They were going to get themselves killed if they barged toward Tau with these few people.

“She’s right,” Fortis said. “I have seen their city and felt the power of their weapons. It is an impossible thing to attack them and expect that we will win.”

“Then why bring her here?” Arges asked, his eyes narrowing.

She wanted to ask the same question. He’d been so adamant that they needed her information, but why would he want that if he knew she could not help?

“Because I believe her information is vital. Because I know without question that she will be an asset we cannot lose. But there is only one way you win.” His eyes locked on hers again. “We need the waveriders. The depthstriders. We need everyone. Like my people were used in the fight on Alpha, I believe the depthstriders are the only people who can tear Tau apart.”

Arges grunted. “The depthstriders are not easily convinced. They only fought with us in Alpha because your people knew their own were being killed within that city and there was an opportunity to save some of them.”

“That is why I must bring her to the fathoms, as I told Mira before. They need to meet her.”

Alexia looked over at Mira to see her reaction. She wasn’t pleased, but there was a different light in her eye when she looked Alexia over. “Did you say your blood has less oxygen in it?”

“For pressure, yes.”

Mira sighed and turned her eyes up toward the ceiling. “All right. Well... Fuck me, this might just work.”

Thirty

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