Page 94 of Call of the Fathoms

Fortis assumed they could understand him, just as she could. He also assumed that no matter what he said, they would believe it a threat, as they should. But they did not know that he was going to die today, just as he did not know how she would kill him.

The soldiers pointed their laser weapons at him, ones he knew would sting if they fired. He wasn’t afraid of those, though. He had taken many of them to the chest and tail throughout his years. What he did fear, however, was the scientist who walked into the room with a handful of needles.

No, this wasn’t right. They weren’t supposed to kill him before she could.

“We won’t make the same mistake as last time. What I gave you should have incapacitated a whale,” the scientist grumbled before barking, “Make sure he can’t move.”

Multiple soldiers lifted the net out of the water and then pinned him down onto the floor with it. The net was nearly impossible to wriggle in now, although he tried. His fluke slapped against the floor and four more humans arranged themselves around the edge. There were at least ten of them holding him down now, perhaps more that he couldn’t see over his shoulder.

Eventually, he pretended to tire. Fortis let his fins flip to a dramatic final thwack and then heaved a giant breath as he laid quietly for the scientist to approach him. He had to believe in the vision, and trust that Alexia would be the one to kill him. He knew his end. He knew his future. And his future was her. It always had been and always would be.

The prick of the needle warned him that soon, he would feel the effects. If they gave him double what he had been given the last time, he wasn’t sure how awake he would be. The drug would eventually make it hard for him to be aware of his surroundings.

The drugs took over quickly. He wasn’t faking the way his muscles went lax and how even his breathing was. His mind was only barely aware that he was still in this room. He could see the white ceiling above him, and hear the murmurs of the humans surrounding him, but he wasn’t all that concerned about what they were saying.

“Just kill it and get it over with,” one of the soldiers said. “I don’t understand why you’d keep it alive. The beast is more trouble than it’s worth.”

The scientist sighed. “Because we cannot study them or harvest their organs if they are dead, you moron. The specimens need to be alive for as long as possible. Besides, Harlow wants to be present when this one dies, considering he took her favorite guard away from her. What would you do if you were in her position?”

Something slid underneath his body. Two metal arms that were strangely sturdy as he was lifted off the ground. The same soldier who had asked the question walked beside him as they moved, and that man grumbled under his breath, “I’d want the creature who nearly killed our most skilled soldier dead. That’s what I’d want.”

So there were intelligent achromos. Humans, he corrected himself, and then would have laughed if he had been able to do so. He’d always assumed the humans were stupid creatures, but one of them was actually able to make a joke that he found funny.

How interesting to discover such a thing when he was about to die.

Soon enough, what he saw melded into the vision he had seen from his wife. The white ceiling that rushed past him, the flickering of lights that he realized now weren’t lights turning off and on, rather that he was moving underneath them. Rows of lights that started and stopped as they moved through Tau.

The journey brought him closer to many more humans. There were gasps of shock as they realized who was being transported among them. Some of them hissed out words like, “Impossible. That one is too large! Surely it isn’t from the sea?”

So many voices that all overlapped with each other. Voices that he would bring with him to the grave and hoped that he would soon return to haunt.

He was wheeled into the room where he knew it would all end. Just as his wife had predicted and just as she had shared his future with him. He recognized the lights on the ceiling. He knew this place like he knew his own soul. How many times had he watched this very moment? Knowing the bright white lights above him would start to go blurry and how he would struggle to keep his eyes open?

A sense of peace blossomed in his chest. He had been waiting for this for so many years, now that it was here, he could let all of that fear and aching unknowing go. Soon she would arrive. Soon, he would be prepared for the end.

But there were details that he hadn’t expected. The sound of clanking metal as the scientists prepared themselves for the extraction of his organs and parts. The mutterings of the menand women who surrounded him, each of them speculating on the differences they would find within him, and what they were going to do with the organs.

“They are stronger, and far more capable of surviving under the water than us. What I want to know is how the pressure doesn’t affect them. Even deep-sea fish are incapable of coming up from the depths like the undines do.” The female voice was soothing and quiet, even though she spoke of things that no human had the right to understand.

“I think our own curiosity is not worth wasting all this time and effort. We know there are healing properties in their skin. We should be using this specimen to discover how they heal so much faster than us, and how we can adapt that knowledge so we don’t waste so many resources on creating more reborns.” This time it was a man’s voice, much harder and clipped.

He’d known the humans were experimenting on his people for a reason, but he hadn’t thought it was for this. They were so curious about his kind, they didn’t even realize that it should have been much easier for them to research what his people could do.

They could have just asked. All these years wasted, and all they’d had to do was work together. He had seen that it could work. Look at the village Mira and Arges had built. They could have been working together for years and the ocean they could have cultivated would have made so many happy, wealthy, healthy. All the things that these people wanted, but they were so bound and determined to do it on their own before they would ever deem it worthwhile to ask another for help.

He couldn’t wait for all of this to be over, but anxiety churned in his stomach. What if he had made a mistake? What if they were never able to do what he believed their people could do?

Anxiety spiked the longer he was alone with these people. His heart rates picked up, and he could hear the little blips ofwhatever monitor they had hooked him up to as it went faster. He couldn’t think of anything but the sound of his own rioting hearts. They knew he was nervous, and that was the biggest shame of his lifetime.

Breathing harder, he struggled to open his eyes. She should be here soon. She was meant to be here. Why wasn’t she?

“Ah, Harlow! You’ve arrived.” One of the male scientists said.

If the Original was here, surely that meant Alexia was too. Unless they had killed her. Unless they had decided that it wasn’t worth the risk to keep her around, and they could make another of her so easily. They didn’t care if she was gone.

But he did.

Damn it, he cared if she was gone and he could only just barely blink his eyes against the bleary light. He’d thought he was ready. He’d been at peace with what was happening, but he wanted to see her again.

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