Page 90 of Treasure of the Abyss

Macy grasped his wrist, lifted his hand, and pressed their palms together. “It would explain why we’re sosimilar.”

He bent his fingers over her fingertips. “And yet sodifferent.”

“Tell me more about the octopoids,” Macy said, shifting closer toJax.

“The octopoids were designed to possess heightened strength, speed, and reflexes. The regenerative capabilities of their cephalopod cousins were also enhanced, allowing them to heal from wounds at an accelerated rate, averaging eight-point-three times the speed of the natural human healing process. The IDC had intentions to use similarly modified beings in potential military scenarios, but the octopoids in this facility were used only to harvest halorium. They were designed to exhibit low fertility rates and a low occurrence of female chromosomes in the overall population, counterbalanced by a relatively short gestation period of seventeen weeks. The average life expectancy of octopoids is believed to be comparable to humans, though conclusive data has never beenobtained.”

“Our numbers dwindle because this is how they made us?” Jaxasked.

“It is no wonder there are so few females, and younglings are so rare,” Arkon said. “It is no blight on our people. It was designed into us from thebeginning.”

“But why?” Jax asked. He looked back at the screen, as though it would show him an answer he could understand. “Why were kraken…why wereoctopoidsmade with low fertility and fewfemales?”

“Those features were included as a means of population control,” the computer explained. “In order to save on space within the facility, it was more practical to allow the octopoids to reproduce naturally and keep the labor force populated. Low fertility and fewer females resulted in far more manageable and even populationgrowth.”

“So, we were not merely their slaves, they controlled our young, too? They…restricted our ability to continue our race?” Jax’s stomach twisted, and his muscles were tense; the wrongs had been committed hundreds of years before, but their effects had neverceased.

“We existed only to fulfill a specific purpose for them,” Arkon said. “And even after they were gone, we never broke out of their shadow. We exist, and nothing more. Even that has been threatened by the very beings who createdus.”

“Why did the humans leave this place?” Macy asked them. “No one in The Watch knows of it, or about any of you, so where else would they havegone?”

“They didn’t leave.” Jax met her gaze; the first hints of fear broke through herconfusion.

She turned her attention back to the screen. “Computer, what happened to the humans in thefacility?”

“Macy…” To his own ears, Jax’s tone was strange, sad,reluctant.

“Official records are incomplete. At the time of the incident, several IDC guardsmen reported that the octopoid population had gone into open revolt against the facility’s humaninhabitants.”

The screen changed. Jax had never seen images from the uprising — none of them had — but he knew it for what it wasimmediately.

Another set ofghosts.

A human male appeared in the projection. The room behind him had to be one of the cabins, just like the one Macy had chosen as a den. Droplets of water rolled down his face; he wiped at them absently with the back of his hand and smeared blood over his cheek from a cut near hiseye.

“This is Ensign Matherson of the Interstellar Defense Coalition, officer number three-two-seven-alpha-nine. If anyone is in range to pick up this transmission, this facility is being overrun.The—”

Frantic shouts echoed from the hallway behind him. He turned quickly, lifting a gun and pointing it toward the door. “We are being overrun by those…thosethingsthe scientists made. Those fucking octo-freaks or whatever the hell they call them. Word is they’ve already blown a hole in the side of the sub bay and floodedit.”

The human — Ensign Matherson — turned back toward whatever device had captured his image. “We have the few surviving civvies and scientists hunkering down in their cabins, but we don’t have the supplies to last long. We need immediate support and evacuation. Please, wene—”

He jumped as a series of booms erupted from thehallway.

Another human in the same clothes as Matherson entered the doorway. “They’re coming, Mathers! We gotta fallback!”

Matherson looked back at the recording device. “Send helpASAP!”

He ran into the hallway and glanced to his left. There was more shouting, and the two humans raised their weapons and fired, producing more of the booms, even louder now than before. Something hit the other human — it looked like a harpoon, to Jax — and the man fell, knocking Matherson to the floor face-first.

Before Matherson recovered, a large, dark figure leapt onto his back. Akraken.

The kraken wrapped his tentacles around Matherson’s wrists and yanked them apart, the gun clattering away. Matherson struggled to turn and face his opponent as the kraken reached for something beyond the doorframe. A moment later, its hand reappeared, clutching theharpoon.

Matherson screamed. His screams continued for many heartbeats as the kraken jabbed the harpoon into his back repeatedly, splattering himself withblood.

Macy’s hands flew up to cover hermouth.

More kraken moved past the doorway. Distant pops and screams echoed through thehall.

---