[ IP ] Project Mermaid

`` Dr. Undine, what is their purpose anyways?'' 
 
 Reyes pressed his hand against the capsule, letting his gloved fingers run down the slick coating. Inside, the results of ten years of research twitched with life, her eyes shaking with telltale signs of rem sleep. # 12 reminded him of his daughter, how she would toss and turn during the night. Bad dreams and all that. Sometimes it was hard to not see them as human, but looking at her, it was hard not to notice their—uniqueness. Around the knees, her legs fused into a single finned appendage. The color of her skin and hair added more evidence to their inhumanity. Soon enough, scales would form across her body as a protective plating—at least that's what Undine said. Not having been there long enough to see it for himself, Reyes gripped the sub-machine gun tighter as she shifted position in the capsule. He'd read the reports about the previous teams, and was grateful for their sacrifices. A healthy dose of whiskey at the end of the week helped keep him steady as well. 
 
 Coming in over the comms, static coughed into his ears until, clearing, he heard the sultry voice of his employer. `` The genetic modifications are necessary to make them better navigators. This one and her sisters will be the prototype members of the program. I take it you do n't have a problem with that, do you, Mr. Reyes?'' 
 
 When he first arrived, Reyes distanced himself from the company line concerning the test subjects. Undine told him and others in his training course that they were all things, property of Paracelsus LLC. These words clashed with his upbringing, coming from a small household of dedicated activists. Fair treatment arguments buzzed through his mind, but he had to wash his hands of such beliefs when he joined up. Behind him, another member of the cultivation squad lifted the lifeless remains of a prototype from the cracked shell of her capsule. 
 
 `` Thanks Doc, I have no idea what any of that means. Anyways, number 12 is still green status, moving on to the second row.'' 
 
 The bottom half of his hazmat suit slogged with every step as he moved through the swamp. It all looked so natural, but the team of bio-engineers behind Paracelsus crafted it all from scratch. Each object, a miracle to the untrained eye, was rendered mundane during Reyes' training. To him, a collection of microscopic machines working in tandem simulated the swamp, its muggy landscape perfect for the incubation process. Winged drones, flitting about like dragonflies, scanned the area as he moved to a new section of capsules. 
 
 Around a corner, more blue spheres rested on top of vine pedestals, each of them a self-contained world of enzymes, proteins, and a cocktail of hormones to alter those inside. He was n't sure if they'd ever been like him, and as much as Undine assured to the contrary, at night a worrisome feeling snagged in the pit of his stomach. If there was even a chance that these creatures were once human, the money would n't save his soul. Reyes was far from religious, but what he saw—the things that he'd done—no amount of prayer could wash it away. 
 
 Number 13 through 15 checked out, a small panel at the base of the sphere helping him understand their overall maturation and health. But as he came up to 16's capsule, his brow furrowed beneath the thin plastic mask of the hazmat suit. In front of him, viscous green fluid poured from the remnants of the shell, its plastic curved out like an exit wound. Snapping the safety catch on his gun, Reyes made a small circular sweep. This scenario was in the new protocols, though it assumed there would be more than two members in the chamber at the time. 
 
 “ Doc, one of'em is out of their capsule. Please advise. ” 
 
 “ Do you have sight of her? ” 
 
 Another pass of the surrounding area offered up nothing, and Reyes cursed the piss-poor design of his suit. Gunfire echoed off the walls, a sign that things just went from bad to worse. It was slow going to get back to the other aisle, and only a busted sub-machine gun remained of his peer. Picking it up, he collected what remained of the clip onto his belt and made for the door. Static filtered through his helmet, fracturing whatever remained of the situational protocol he trained for. 
 
 “ Shit. ” 
 
 The door out of the building was a five minute journey away, a distance made perilous by what lay between it and him. But he had to try. With each step, he felt his feet suck back down into the water and muck below. A flash of light and buzz of electricity alerted Reyes to one of the drones sinking into the swamp 20 feet ahead, and as he stared, a sound mixed into the static piped in over his comms. It was sweet sounding, the scent of fresh flowers on the wind, and with each step, it overtook the static til it was the sole thing he heard. Freezing, his legs resisted every thought to move. The voice in his head rolled like the tide; his eyelids began to sag, as if weighted down. Before they closed, he could see something slither around the edge of one of the capsules, moving along the water's surface. 
 
 Pain flooded in, but Reyes found himself unable to voice the anguish driving nails up his arm. Twisting his head, he could see the locks of blue tendrils shake and dance on her head. He did n't need to see it to know what she was doing. That too had been in the report, their gory details made fresh by his situation. She was eating his arm, devouring as much muscle as possible while her tendrils flayed his skin away like a banana peel. Screaming would have helped, but his voice only cracked and squeaked in shrill tones. Whatever she had done, he was helpless now. She picked her way across his body, all the while he grew more numb—understanding full well that the blood loss would kill him far before she was done. He should've never taken this job, guarding and tending to these things. Paracelsus made monsters, and he was too much a fool see it. 
 
 The concerns of a dead man would n't stop them; they'd get another team, add a few new protocols to adjust for such situations, and send a condolence settlement to his family. Whatever their purpose, these things were far from human. Before the darkness folded everything in, he saw her looking at him, her clear blue eyes showing signs of recognition. He'd always liked 16, she stroked her hair on occasion when he stopped by the capsule. Whenever the other members brought it up, Reyes said it was because she was shy. A damn shame, to die to something he confused for human.
