Katie

I rub at my eyes. I can’t help the wave of sadness that washes over me. It’s only been about a week and a half and despite the fact that I’ve been away much longer, I’ve never missed Sophie so much in my life. I’ve never missed anyone this much in my life, including my father. Luna’s long locks tickle my nose and I react by wrapping my arms around her and burying my face into her hair. I feel her move, grab my hand, and squeeze. I know she’s scared too. The exhibit is supposed to open tomorrow and we’re supposed to be moved today.

“Are you okay,” I breathe the question into her hair. I feel her shift beside me as she rolls over. She stares at me with wide eyes that display her question clearly.

Are you?

“Yeah, as much as I can be. Do you think it will be nice? The tank I mean?” I’m hoping it will be the big one I saw before the procedure began, but I’m sure. Luna shrugs. She hugs me tightly and I squeeze back. “Thank you,” I whisper. “For everything. I wouldn’t be able to handle this without you.”

She offers me a small smile. ‘I am glad that you are here too. It is much easier to deal with all of this with a friend to support you.’

I nod. “So, when do you think they’re coming for us?”

Luna shrugs again. ‘Soon likely. They will want to get it done with, so they not have to worry about it.’

“I don’t think that would bother me,” I admit. “Would give us time to get used to it.”

Luna nods. ‘I guess so.’

I nudge her, deciding to change the subject. “I'm proud of you. You all but mastered the basics of sign language. It’s impressive that you’ve managed to do it in such a short time.” I jump when there’s a loud noise and one of the machines starts up. Two men appear on the platform and drop a rolled up net into the water. It’s clearly weighted because it drops like a rock towards us. I pull Luna up and swim up and out of the way. There’s a loud cranking sound as the ropes holding the net stretch in out along the bottom of the tank. Luna grips my arm tightly, her nails digging in slightly. I wince, but pull her a little closer. This is it; I just hope they won't be too rough about it. When the net reaches the ends of the tank, it’s pulled up so fast I barely have time to register it before my fin becomes tangled in it and I'm thrust to the surface, suspended above the water by the rough fronds. Luna tries to sit up, but loses her balance and falls into me. I twist, trying to gain purchase in the wobbly net. I feel a thin, cold loop of metal tighten around the base of my fin, seconds before I'm dragged to the edge. I bite my tongue to keep from crying out at the sharp pain in the base of my fin. It’s apparently really sensitive, and this kills. My eyes water. Another, much smaller net is thrown over me as the metal loop is removed from my tail. One of the men rolls me into the net, sealing me inside, and slings it over his shoulder. I can see the other man looping a catch pole* around Luna’s tail, getting ready to pull her to the edge too. A transport dolly waits at the bottom of the platform, a small tank sitting open on it. I’m dropped from the net into the cubed tank. The tank is very small and I have to curl my tail. My hip digs painfully into the glass, but the lid is clamped down before I have the chance to shift to a more comfortable position. I watch as the man hoists a small tank on top of mine. It’s empty, but a large hose solves that problem in minutes. Luna is then dumped inside and the lid is latched on. Poor Luna’s tank is slightly smaller than mine and she had the unfortunate luck of being dumped in upside down with no way of straightening herself out. Her face is twisted into a grimace and I know she’s in pain. I bang on the side of my tank, trying to attract their attention to Luna, hoping they’ll open the tank so she can move. The chain around my neck sparks to life, shocking me. I screech, I had forgotten how much it hurt. One of the men glares at me. I return the glare and point to Luna. He notices, frowns, and says something to the other man. A minute later, they are pulling off the lid and giving Luna’s tail a rough shove to move her into a more sideways position. The lid is then replaced. Luna flashes me a grateful look and I offer her a smile. A dark blanket is draped over the tanks. I can see okay in the dark thanks to the Mer genes, and can make out Luna, but she’s focused on curling as tight as she can in an effort to roll over. The trip takes a while and is very bumpy, leaving me sore and slightly ill.

Eventually we stop moving and the blanket is removed. We’re in a dark room with lots of machinery, not unlike in the other room. A massive wall extends up in front of us, a small platform opening near the top. A large staircase leads up to it. The men shift Luna’s tank, Hook thick straps and cables to it.

“Make sure it’s tight,” the one worker warns. “Dr. Auldon will have our heads if one of the tanks drops.” They check and double check before giving some sort of okay. Suddenly, the cables hoist Luna’s tank off mine and up into the air. Panic crosses her features as the tanks sways slightly. While hers is being lifted, the workers begin hooking up mine. Within minutes, the cables are pulling tight and my tank lurches as it’s pulled into the air. I squeeze my eyes shut until I hear a soft thud and my tank is back on solid ground. I open them again and glance around. While the platform looked small from below, it’s actually massive, and connects to a side room. A small forklift is driven out onto the platform and used to push our tanks into the tank behind the cement wall. At first I panic, wondering how they are going to let us out, when I realize there is a ledge below for the tanks to sit on. The cubed tanks fall in and hit the ledge with a jarring thud. I wince and twist, eager for them to release us. My hopes are dashed when the forklift drives back the way it came and a garage-like door closes, leaving us alone. I glance into the outer tank. It is bare and more like a large tube that a tank. The glass spirals up and continues past my line of sight. Maybe this is just a loading place and we’re meant to swim up and into the new tank. That doesn’t explain why they haven’t let us out. I squirm in the tank, my limbs starting to cramp. I glance over at Luna. She’s curled up in a very tiny ball and it doesn’t look like she should be able to with how long her tail is. It makes me wonder how small the tank she used to be kept in was. It seems like she’s used to being squashed into a tight space. I meet her gaze, which is full of sadness. I try to offer her a small smile, but she only turns her head and closes her eyes. I sigh and shift uncomfortably, trying to settle in.

After a while, I’m startled out of a daze by a slight hissing noise. The lid of my tank raises open a few centimeters, allowing water from the outside tank to seep in. The water develops a new sweeter and saltier taste to it. I glance over at Luna and judging by her reaction, it’s more like ocean water than the water in our tanks. She slips her fingers through the small opening, when withdraws them. She looks incredibly upset. Her tail moves, strikes the glass, but there’s not enough room for her to gather the force to attempt to break the glass. I watch her bow her head in defeat.

She probably thinks they’re trying to torment us more, but the second the tank opened a little, I figured out what they were doing. I tap on the side of the tank to get her attention, deciding to speak to her in sign language. She glances up at me.

‘It is okay,’ I tell her. ‘They are going to let us out. They are treating us like fish being introduced to a new home tank. You are supposed to keep the fish inside the bag or whatever that you got it in and put the back into the water to allow the fish to adjust to the temperature of the new tank. You then add some of the tank water to the bag for further adjustment, and then release the fish. They will let us out.’ I’m not sure if she understood every word, but I know I got my point across. She shrugs and hits the glass. I can tell they’ve never done this to her before and I don’t understand why they’re doing it now, but there isn't much I can do about it. I sigh and coil up again.

I take to boredly counting the scales on my tail. I get to three hundred forty seven before there’s another hissing noise and the lid to my tank opens all the way. I sigh with relief and stretch out, giving my fin a flick to propel me out of the small prison. I glance over to see that Luna’s is still raising up. She’s squirming, her body halfway out, in an attempt to squeeze through the rest of the way. I push up on the lid of her tank, helping it go a little faster so she can slip free.

‘Thank you,’ she says.

“Don’t mention it.” I tilt my head back to stare up the tunnel. “Do you think we are supposed to swim up there?”

Luna shrugs.

“Maybe we should check it out,” I suggest.

Luna hesitates and bites her top lip, then reluctantly nods in agreement. She follows me as I swim up through the tunnel. I was right, it leads to the new tank. The tunnel opens up at the bottom of the tank, off to the side. I swim out and gasp. The tank is huge. It isn’t the same on that I saw on the first day, but it is similar. It has a sort of hourglass shape, thinning in the middle and widening at the top and bottom. And now that I look closely, the top is a second floor with a wide hole to allow us access to it. The floor of the tank is coated in soft sand and growing pieces of coral. We actually have our own tiny reef. Fronds of kelp are sprouting up all over the place too. The tank is big, but void of any life. I look at Luna. Her jaw is hanging open as she stares with wide eyes. I smile, knowing that this will be good for her. I tap her on the shoulder before darting away.

“Tag,” I call. A grin splits her face and she darts after me.

We spend the next several hours chasing one another and playing a various assortment of childhood games. When we tire of tag, we race, play tic-tac-toe in the sand, and eventually start wrestling. The objective; to pin the other down. I maintain the upper hand for a while, but then Luna calls on some hidden reserves of strength and suddenly, in the blink of an eye, I find myself on my back against the sand, Luna overtop of me, smiling. She seems very pleased with herself.

“Mercy,” I say, falling limp. Luna’s grin broadens and she moves off me, and lies down beside me instead. “You know, we haven’t gone to the top level yet,” I say. “Want to go check it out?”

Luna shrugs and nods, sitting up once more. We swim up through the hole in the floor of the second level of the tank. It looks similar to the lower level, being covered in sand, coral, and kelp, but it also has a small cave that I'm assuming is for Luna and I to sleep in, and the top of the tank is open for us to surface if we so desire. Both comfort me; it will be nice to have some place private to sleep and I would really begin to miss the air if I was trapped underwater permanently. Looking up, I notice that there’s someone standing on the platform that overlooks the tank. I hesitate before swimming up, just below the skin of the water, for a closer look. When I see that it’s Jenny and that she appears to be alone, I surface.

She bends down to greet me. “I was wondering when the two of you would make your way up here,” she comments. “So what do you think?”

“It isn't what I expected,” I admit. “Certainly larger and nicer than I thought.”

Jenny shrugs. “You’re the star attraction. I’m sure you know how this works, the better you are and more attention you attract, the better things get for you. Nicer food, décor, possibly toys… you following me?”

“I get it,” I state. “Be a good little fish and put on a nice show.”

“Just trying to help. Are you hungry?”

“A little,” I admit. “Don’t suppose you brought anything other than capelin* did you?”

Jenny laughs. “Actually yes, I brought you a treat. How do clams and kelp sound?”

“Better than capelin,” I agree. I glance down to see Luna hovering near my fin, her curiosity clearly not great enough for her to risk sticking her head above the water. “Wait, does she get them too?”

Jenny nods, her expression turning solemn. “Suzie is going to eat a lot better now, don’t you worry. For a little while, she’s going to get a little more than you, seeing as she’s so skinny and way underweight. Don’t be jealous.”

“Of course not!” I reply. “I'm glad, it can’t be healthy for her to be like this.”

“No, it isn't,” Jenny agrees. “Do you think you can coax her up?”

“Yeah, I’ll get her, one second.” I dive back down and grasp Luna’s wrist. She seems hesitant. Not wanting to hold a full conversation with her in front of Jenny since she asked me not to reveal that, I attempt to reassure her with a single word. “Food.”

It does the trick and she allows me to pull her up. She shies away from Jenny though, clearly still nervous around people she doesn’t know. Jenny reaches into her metal pail and pulls out a clam. She holds it out towards Luna and gives it a little shake, clearly trying to tempt my friend. Not that she needs to, Luna’s eyes light up the second she saw the clam. Her nerves melt away, clearly trumped by her eagerness as she takes the clam. I watch her to learn how to open them. She turns it over in her hands and uses a fingernail to test the crack between the two shells. When she has no luck, Luna places her palms on either side of the clam and twists them violently in opposite directions. The shells twist enough for her to hook her nails underneath and snap the top shell clean off. She gulps down the meat eagerly. Jenny offers her another one and gives me one as well. I attempt to copy Luna’s technique and it takes me three tries to get it right. The clam is delicious, especially since it’s a change from the fish that has been the only thing given to me at every meal.

I receive a total to eight clams, while Luna is given eleven. Then Jenny gives us each two long strands of kelp. “Don’t eat the ones in the tank,” she warns. “They won’t like that.” Then she bids me goodnight and leaves us to finish our meal. I sink back down and lounge on the sand. Luna follows me down. Her body shudders in what appears to be a hiccup, and then she falls to the sand, hugging her stomach. She seems content.

“Good meal?” I ask. Luna nods, her eyes half-lidded. I squeeze her shoulder, trying to get her to wake up a little more. “So about tomorrow. The exhibit opens and I think there is going to be an awful lot of people.” Luna bites her upper lip and nods in agreement. “The scientists will be mad if we don’t make an appearance,” I continue. “And they’ll want us to show off a little too.” Again, Luna nods. She seems nervous and hesitant. I'm feeling the exact same way. “It’ll be okay though,” I attempt to reassure her. “We’ll get up early and play some games, pretend like they aren’t even there, okay? Maybe you can show me some of those underwater flips I’ve seen you do. Apparently doing flips underwater with a tail is more complicated than it looks because I can’t figure it out.”

Luna nods her head. ‘Yes, I can try and teach you if you want.”

I smooth back her hair. “We should get some sleep. Want to check out that cave? I know it’s manmade, but I think that’s its purpose and it’s probably cozy inside.”

Luna pauses to consider this. ‘I do not like the idea of being in a tight space,’ she admits finally.

I pull her up. “Well, let’s just check it out. It can't hurt to take a look. If you don’t like it, we’ll sleep out here,” I decide. Luna nods and follows me as I push the small kelp strands, the ones covering the cave entrance, aside and swim in. The cave is more spacious than it looks on the outside, and the water is warmer. I note the small heater hooked to one of the fake rock walls. Instead of sand, the floor of the cave is covered in small sprouts of growing seagrass that makes for an immensely soft bed. I poke around the walls of the cave, searching for a camera or microphone, or any other sort of recording device. I'm very thorough, but I find nothing. I turn to Luna. During my search, she curled up on the grass to wait and is now sound asleep. I glance around the cave once more. I'll ask Jenny about the possibility of cameras tomorrow, but for now I don’t want to wake Luna. I settle down beside her and rest my head on my arm. She shifts, rolls over, and buries her nose against my collarbone. I wrap an arm around her and close my eyes, mentally bracing myself for tomorrow.