{"sf1_id":805573,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Aquata Cove - Chapter 36","author":"Mirron Tenshi","words":5620,"posted_at":"2015-01-09T21:00:00.000Z","tags":["Gay","Gay love","Human","Romance","Story Progression","merman"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/805573-aquata-cove-chapter-36","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/805573","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=805573\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"Aquata CoveChapter 36: Voice of Mercy   SLAM Another day, another line of questioning, and another look\nof sheer hatred from the young blonde male as the heat lamps blare down on him\nonce again. Nigel shook his head as he looked through the glass wall between\nhim and his 'guest'. Erin looked sadly at Merrick. His complexion looks\nterrible - there are red blotches along his body, his hair looks slightly\nbleached from the constant light, dark circles are appearing around his eyes from\nlack of sleep. He even looks thinner, probably both from the anxiety and only\ngiven one meager meal a day. Altogether, he looks downright unhealthy; even\nescorting him to the interrogation room was a bit difficult because he seems so\nweak. \"Almost two weeks now.\" Nigel said, \"All he has to do is\nanswer my questions, and he could be in bed with his boyfriend, glugging water\nto his heart's content.\" He huffed irritably as Merrick covered his mouth to\ncough violently. \"Mr Quinlan,\" Erin said as she turned to him, \"This can't go\non...\" \"No.\" Nigel said as he stared down at the merman, \"I know\nhe's slowly dying. I know he's not going to be holding out for long.\" \"Then why keep going with this?\" Erin said, shaking her\nhead, \"You're torturing him, and he's never going to talk.\" \"Ye of little faith, Miss Connaly,\" Nigel stated, \"Survival\nInstincts are too strong. When we're at the breaking point, when we're\nteetering on the brink of death, we'll do anything to go on living...\" Nigel\nnarrowed his eyes as Merrick curled in the corner. He turned, and began\nwalking, \"It's only a matter of time... And he'll tell me everything I want to\nknow about merfolk...\" \"Suppose he doesn't though.\" Erin proposed, \"Lets say his\nwillpower is a lot stronger than you think. Say, no matter what you do to him,\nhe'll refuse to tell you a single fact, right to the end.\" She asked, \"What\nthen?\" \"Then that will be an unfortunate denouement.\" He said,\nplain and simple, \"If he wants to die rather than make it easy for himself,\nthat's up to him.\" He snapped his fingers, and Erin gave him a folder. He\nopened it, and overlooking the file with Belinda's pictures, \"He loses\neverything, and I'll simply have to move down the line.\" \"I thought he said this one wasn't a mermaid, sir.\" Erin\nsaid. \"I'm not altogether convinced.\" Nigel replied, \"Chances are,\nthis woman really isn't a mermaid, but she's the only other lead I have if\nMerrick happens to fail our expectations.\" \"Yessir...\" Erin said as she walked along side her superior. \"Anyway, any word from the labs about the samples we took of\nMerrick?\" \"Yessir. From what the report says, most of the details are\nsketchy, but the chemical analyses are going well.\" \"Are they?\" Nigel said as they turned a corner, \"Well, let's\nsee what they have for me.\"  ~~~  Nigel and Erin walk into the lab, wearing goggles, lab\ncoats, rubber gloves, and paper masks. He comes up to Dr Kaiser, who is\ncomparing drops of blood from both the pouch from Merrick's human form, and the\none from his true form.  \"Dr Kaiser,\" Nigel called as he came up behind him, \"What\nhave you dug up?\" \"Ah, Nigel,\" Kaiser said, \"The blood is rather intriguing.\"\nThe doctor typed on the keyboard, and brought up one screen that held Merrick's\nhuman blood, \"This is the sample taken from him BEFORE rinsing him down. It\nappears as ordinary blood, but none of the machines are able to determine a\nBlood Type.\" He said calmly, \"At best, all signs point to being closest to Type\nO. It also shows remarkable resistance to the antibiotics or harmful chemicals\nwe've introduced to it. It almost presents the possibility that our little fish\nhere is immune to any disease, if I may exaggerate.\" \"And the other sample?\" Nigel asked. Kaiser typed and\nscrolled the computer, and brought up the make-up of Merrick's blood as a\nmerman. \"It is definitely different from the previous sample. I have\nhad it compared to that of human blood and blood taken from several species of\nfish - a salmon, bass, tuna, barracuda, and a sturgeon. The cells from the\nmerman's blood and the sea-fish blood share many attributes, yet not so much\nfor the bass or salmon. In a way, one could describe it as a mixture of human\nand fish blood. Altogether, this is proving to be a most captivating venture...\"\nKaiser looked at Nigel with a very dark gleam in his eye, \"You can imagine just\nhow much this elevates my... Curiosity.\" \"He's not dead, YET, Doctor,\" Nigel said, \"Depending on his\nown decision to cooperate, you MIGHT have your new pet project, very soon.\"\nErin frowned as her insides churned from that statement, while Kaiser gave a\nsmooth, wicked grin. \"Splendid. I shall keep my fingers crossed then.\" He said\nvery softly. \"Anything else of note?\" \"Other than the others studying their ends, I have noted\nthat our guest has not needed to use the bathroom. Even with minimal essentials\n- i.e. one meal a day - not once has he requested to use a toilet.\" \"That IS different...\" Nigel said, \"So merfolk don't need to\nexpel waste?\" \"I believe so,\" Kaiser said, \"I don't think anyone could\nhold it in otherwise within two weeks. Which leads me to believe that a\nmerman's body absorbs EVERYTHING they take into their bodies.\" \"That's interesting. As you were.\" Nigel told him. \"With pleasure, sir.\" Nigel and Erin walked over to the scientists who are\nanalyzing the scales and membranes they had, \"And how are things going on this\nend? Identify anything yet?\" \"Unfortunately no, Mr Quinlan,\" A woman in a white coat\nsaid, \"We're in the process of figuring out the genetic make-up of the scales,\nbut it's very hard to make heads or tails with the small amount that we have.\" \"That's alright,\" Nigel said, \"Have you pinpointed his\nspecies?\"\n\"No. If he's based on any specific classification of fish, it could very well\nbe undiscovered.\" She reported, \"Some of the genes we analyzed have traces from\nthe Arctic fauna, some of them suggest traces from the Pacific Ocean, not to\nmention the relation to his human-based body. Honestly, the best way to\ndescribe his genus is like a two-source web branching between subspecies of sea\nlife with a loop of human DNA.\" \"How long do you think it'll take set everything in black\nand white?\" \"We can't say for sure, sir,\" The scientist said, \"It could\ntake years to determine a species. Again, this might be easier if we had more\nsamples to work with.\" \"Speaking of which, have the pieces you have showed any\nsigns of transition?\" Nigel asked. The scientist gave him an estranged look. \"I'm sorry?\" \"We know he looks like a human being when he's dry, but he\nturns into a fish when he's soaked. Have any of the samples transformed that\nway?\" \"Oh, no they haven't,\" She said, \"Granted, it's probably\nbecause they're being preserved, or it could be once they're extracted from the\nmain body, they do not receive anymore nutrients. We're still not even sure\nwhere to begin on investigating how he can transform in the first place.\" \"I'll keep that in mind.\" Nigel said as he looked at his\nwatch, \"Think we have time for one more inspection...\" He turned and walked to\nthe young, male scientist working with a microscope, with a small glass of\ntwinkling fluid, \"What've ya got, Jacob? Anything good on the 'Mermaid Tears'?\" \"Well,\" The enthralled researcher began, \"The tears are\namazing to say the least,\" He says. He got up, and gestured for Nigel to look\ninto the microscope. He did so, closing one eye and peering the other into the\ndevice. \"The sparkling is actually a chemical reaction to any\nbacteria it comes into contact with,\" Jacob said, obviously excited about his\nsample, \"Not only does it sterilize any negative chemicals, it also has a\npurifying property to some of the harmful substances I've introduced to even\none spec of the tears.\" \"How so?\" Nigel said as he stood straight up. \"Well, look at it!\" Jacob said with zeal, \"The way these\ntears eat into bacteria is as astounding a result as penicillin! It cleans and\npurifies dangerous chemicals, and leave it as simple water, like nothing\nhappened.\"  \"You think this could be some evolutionary tactic to clean\nthe pollution of the ocean around them?\" Erin asked out of curiosity. \"That could be so!\" Jacob said, \"If this is what merfolk cry\nof, then it may indicate a self-improvement on curing imperfection in the ocean\nwaters-\" Jacob put his hand up, \"If we can maybe... Replicate this... Maybe make a\nfew substitutions of the chemicals in place of the tears, we can possibly make\na vaccine or a whole new cleaning solution to help with water pollution.\"  \"Sounds like you're on a great track, Jacob.\" Nigel said. \"There's a problem though...\" Jacob said as he turned to his\nbeaker, \"Tears don't keep - well, normal tears, anyway. I don't have enough of\nit to try and make hypotheses on what acceptable substitutions can be made.\" \"Well, keep going, Jacob,\" Nigel said as he patted his\nshoulder, \"Work with what you got, and try to preserve what's left before you\nhead home.\" \"Yessir!\"  ~~~  Nigel and Erin walk down the hall, with Erin holding the\nfiles of the forensic reports on Merrick's samples. As they went, Erin caught a\nglimpse of Merrick's cell. Her heart gave a slight jolt of fear, as the blonde\nmale lay on the floor of the cell, chained up and motionless. Her eyes watered\nup for that one instant, before the wall blocked his view.  Nigel took off his glasses and rubbed his eyelids, \"Alright,\nMiss Connaly,\" He said with a groan, \"I'm heading home.\" He hander her the key\nto his office as he adjusted himself, \"Make sure the files are put in their\nplace before you lock up.\" \"Yessir.\" Erin said obediently before entering Nigel's\noffice to evaluate today's results. Once she sorted everything in their place,\nshe left the office, and locked it up.  Erin walked along the halls as usual, but her head could not\nignore that certain cell as she went. Her eyes caught the merman again. The\nunnerving part is that in the hour she just spent in Nigel's office, getting\neverything organized, Merrick hasn't moved an inch. With a glance of blue from\nMerrick's face, Erin looked away.  She brought a finger to her right eye, and wiped off a trace\nof moisture from the ridge. Collecting herself, Erin pushed herself forward\ndown the hall to make sure everyone at the lab is cleaning up their stations\nand putting all of the equipment away.  ~~~  Nigel exited the Agency building, and started walk to the\nparking lot. As he went, he felt that ugly tickle in his chest again. Grunted,\nhe put his hand into his coat pocket, and drew out a tissue.  Taking a deep breath, he pressed the tissue to his lips, and\nbegan gagging. \"U-Hrrgg-ahhhrrkk... HHHGGGRRRRkkkkhhhrrrkk!\" He coughed\nviolently into his tissue, clenching his eyes as his insides clenched from all\nthe hacking of his throat, even bending forward a little just from the sheer\nforce of the cough. After several minutes of coughing, Nigel finally managed to\ncompose himself, and straightened back up. His tired eyes looked scornfully at\nthe specs of blood and mucus from the moist tissue. His hand crushed the soft\npaper, and stashed it into his pocket. As he approached his car, he dug for the\nrattling orange bottle of pills. He popped the cap off, and tossed a few\ntablets into his mouth, prompting chewing them and swallowing them.  'No...' He thought as he inserted his key into the ignition,\n'Not yet... Not when I'm so damn close...'  ~~~  \"Mmmmnnnnnnnhhhhhh...\" Merrick whined as a twinkle came from\nhis eye, \"I'm... Fading...\" His eyes closed slowly and reopened. \"Adam...\" He\nmumbled, \"... Why didn't you protect me...\" His voice is hoarse, as his throat is\nso dry and scratchy. A sparkling tear dripped down his eyes as he lay there, too\nweak to even move. \"I'm so... Dehydrated...\" As Yuri would probably say, \"My body\nis... Fire...\" He mumbled, not to mention the hot metal on his wrists and ankles.\n\"Adam...\" He sniffled as his love came to his mind, \"Where are you...\" He sobbed. \"It's so hot... I can't...\" He can tell it's midnight - he can feel the moon up in the\nsky, and he can't even pray to the Sea Mother because he's not in the moon's\npresence.  \"I... I should have ran when I had the chance...\" He curled up\nwith what little strength he has, hearing the little clanks on the chain as he\nmoved. \"Adam...\" He whimpered, \"Please... Don't forget me... Please find me...\" Countless time went by in his cell, before suddenly, TCK Everything went black. Merrick made no noise or moves, still\nfeeling the oppressive heat lingering in the cell and haunting his skin.  He can hear a click from the glass door of his cell, before\nit opened. He doesn't bother to look, but he can also hear a subtle sloshing. \"Shhhh, careful...\" Came a whispering voice. After some\nthunking, there came a small, yet very bright white light - nothing like the\nheat lamps above, but a small lantern one might take for camping. Merrick can hear someone kneeling down, and felt the cuff of\nhis right wrist touch. \"Ah!\" Came a hushed hiss, \"Lets get these cuffs off.\nCareful, they're hot.\" A woman whispered. \"Alright, alright,\" Came a hushed male voice.  Merrick felt the familiar tinkering of his wrists, and a\nclick of metal. He gasped and whined as his bonds were opened, \"Eeeennnnnggg!\" \"Shhhh, it's ok, it's ok,\" Whispered the woman hurriedly.\nThe man who is with them undid the other wrist cuff, and then the ankles, \"Oh\nmy God...\" The woman muttered as her hands carefully slid under Merrick's hands,\ntaking a closer look at his wrist - both wrists are beet red and severely\nburned. She glanced to the side and noticed his ankles are in no better shape. \"Alright, bring the bucket...\" The woman said. The man grunted\nonce, and hauled a heavy cylinder over next to the woman. The woman unscrewed a\nbottle of cold water, and held it over Merrick's burnt wrist, before carefully\npouring onto it. \"HNNNG! MMGGGHHH!\" Merrick cringed and whined harshly as the\ncold water washed onto Merrick's arm. His hand became webbed as the woman\nslowly emptied the bottle onto him. Meanwhile, the man scooped up some ice\nwater from the bucket with a large cup, and poured it along Merrick's hip. The\nman watched in awe as Merrick's body immediately transformed, from red peach to\nblue.  \"Nnnnhhhh...\" Merrick moaned as he body absorbed the water\nthese two humans are administering to him, \"Why... Why are you doing this...?\" He\nasked as he weak eyes leered up at the half-illuminated face of the woman,\n\"Aren't you the one who brought me here?\" Erin sighed as she unscrewed another bottle, \"I'm so sorry...\nI was just following orders...\" She said as she turned the bottle along the\naquatic male. \"Who are you... Again?\" He asked. \"Erin,\" She said softly. \"Erin...\" Merrick's eyes teared up again as he felt his legs\nmeld together, feeling a huge amount of relief from the man's pouring ice-cube\nwater over him, \"Did you know...\" \"Hm?\" Erin paused with her water. \"Did you know... Did you know this man... This Nigel... Did you\nknow he was going to this to me?\" Merrick sobbed, \"Throwing me in here, left to\nburn on endless time...\" His eyes gave way to more tears, \"Mocking me and asking\nquestions about my kind, and then punish me when I refuse to answer...?\" \"...No\" Erin answered honestly, \"We were told you were going\nhome whether or not you agreed to follow through. Keeping you here was\nunexpected.\" Erin unsealed another water bottle, and held it for Merrick's\nmouth. Erin put her hand under Merrick's fishy head, and eased the bottle into\nhim. Merrick slowly nursed on the water bottle, more tears dripping from his\neyes.  The guard, who was pouring water on Merrick's tail, spotted\nthe profuse tears coming from his eyes. He took out a glass vial, and subtly\nheld it to the side of Merrick's eye. That scientist, Jacob, put out a request\nto all staff to carry a vial with them at all times, to be ready to collect any\ntears.  Erin sighed as she poured more water along Merrick's body.\nCuriosity brings her to wonder what he felt like... With Merrick still too weak to move, Erin slowly put her\nhand onto his side. It feels so weird... Like a real fish, but softer from the\nmuscles being laxed.  The guard can't help but feel a little guilty about taking\nthe copious tears, but the vial soon filled up, as Merrick was crying a lot.\nOnce it was full to the brim, the guard screwed the cap onto the small bottle,\nand stashed it into his pocket, with Merrick none the wiser. \"What the...\" Erin brought her hand up, and discovered that\nseveral small, semi-transparent scales clinging to her hand, \"Are you...\nShedding?\" \"What are you talking about?\" Merrick groaned. \"Look,\" Erin brought her hand to the small white light lamp,\nand showed Merrick, \"Some of your scales are coming off.\" \"...\" Merrick looked, and laid back down, \"What did you\nexpect?\" \"What?\" \"Nigel throws me in here, and bares harsh light on me for\ntwelve suns... No water, one portion of food for each sun...\" Merrick shook as his\ntail cringed, \"And now I'm falling apart...\" He whimpered. After a pause, he\nspoke again, \"I was once in this condition before... This human that lives with\nus... Her name is Yuri... She told me I was experiencing 'Dehydration'... When a body\nshuts down because it doesn't have enough water...\" He groaned as the guard\nstarted to pour more ice-cube water on his tail, over the dark ring at the base\nof his tailfin, \"This... This is so much worse than that...\" Erin wiped away a tear from her own eye. \"Please...\" Merrick\nmoaned. \"Hm?\" \"Erin...\" His weeping eyes looked up at her pleadingly, \"Is\nthere anyway to set me free?\" He asked. \"Please...\" He sniffled as he pleaded,\n\"I've been away from him for so long... I need my Adam back...\" He wept, \"He said\nhe would protect me from this fate...\" Erin put her hand over her eyes she felt\nherself start to weaken, \"Please... Can you let me go?\" \"I...\" Erin sobbed a little, and composed herself, \"I'm sorry,\nMerrick. I can't do that.\" \"Why not??\" Merrick asked desperately, \"This place is\nkilling me... My Adam-\" \"I'm sorry, Merrick.\" Erin said, \"If I were to break you out\nof here, I would be court marshaled for interfering and sabotage of top\npriority research funded by the government. Even being here right now, giving\nyou water is extremely risky for me.\" Merrick huffed, and laid himself back\ndown. After a silent pause, Erin brought out a couple of\nsandwiches from the Agency's cafeteria; PB\u0026J and small turkey club. She\nunwrapped the turkey sandwich, and offered it to the merman. Merrick took it,\nand bit into it - with this much water on and in him, some of his strength has\nreturned. He ate harshly into the sandwich as Erin unwrapped the other one. By\nthe time he had ate the last bite of the club, Erin had given him the PB\u0026J.\nOnce he wolfed down the other sandwich, Erin gave him another bottle of water\nto gulp down. \"So... Does Piscien REALLY mean anything?\" The guard asked.\nMerrick gave him a glare. \"... Just curious.\" He said with a nervous chuckle.\nErin rolled her eyes. \"It's just,\" She started, \"We have you listed as 'Merrick T.\nPiscien', and we're just wondering if it means anything at all, or if it's just\na random word.\" Merrick sighed as he reached down, and picked up another sealed\nbottle of water. \"... Piscien is my species...\" \"So...\" Erin said, \"You're a... Piscien Fish? Never heard of\nthat kind of fish before.\" \"No.\" Merrick replied, \"I mean, I am a Piscien merman. Us\nPisciens embody the traits of kinds of fish from the ocean.\" \"I... I'm not sure I understand.\" Erin said. \"There are three kinds of merfolk in the ocean,\" Merrick\nstated, \"And Piscien is one of those kinds.\" \"So, does that make it your last name, then? Merrick\nPiscien?\" \"No.\" Merrick replied, taking a drink, \"I have no idea why,\nbut you humans seem to insist on having more than one name. There was a time\nwhere my Adam had to list me with a second name, so he just used the word\nPiscien.\" Merrick looked at Erin's face, \"And that's all I'm going to say.\" \"Alright, thank you...\" Erin said, \"And we won't tell Nigel.\"\nShe said. Merrick nodded as the guard poured more icy water onto the merman.  They spend almost an hour of sponging Merrick with the\nwater, until time had ran out. Erin stashed all the empty water bottles into a\nbag, and the guard very carefully put the cuffs back onto his wrists. Erin\nknelt down, and stroked Merrick's shoulder. \"Look. I'm sorry I can't get you out of here,\" She started,\n\"But I'll do whatever I can to pull some strings and make things easier for\nyou.\" Merrick nodded at that, feeling both disappointed and grateful to her.\nErin signed, \"I'm so sorry for this...\" With that, the guard picked up the empty bucket, and exited\nthe cell. He locked the door, and ignored the light switch. Erin walked along\nthe hall with the guard right behind her.  ~~~  Jacob snored softly as the light bulb inside his microscope\nflickered. A soft shove on his shoulder made him jolt a little. His head\nwhipped around, and realized one of the security guards is right beside him. \"Oh God...\" Jacob said as he stretched. He groaned as he\nadjusted his glasses, \"Mmmm... What time is it?\" He asked. \"A quarter past 2.\" The guard replied.  \"Shit...\" He moaned, \"I'm so getting written up for this...\" \"Ah, don't worry about it,\" The guard said, \"Slap of the\nwrist, like always. Just take it in stride.\"  Jacob moved up, and peeked inside his microscope. He sighed\nas he slumped back in his chair, \"Of course.\" \"What?\" \"That was the last of the tears I had,\" Jacob said as he\ntook the slide out of the microscope, and threw it into the Biohazard bin,\n\"It's been distilled for God knows how long, now it's useless.\"  \"Well, don't worry about that,\" The guard said as he dug in\nhis pocket. Jacob turned his head as he heard a clinking sound. He gasped as he\nsaw two vials side-by-side on the guard's hand, both filled with faintly\ntwinkling fluid. \"Where did you get these?!\" Jacob said as he plucked up the\ntwo vials, \"There's a lot of it!\" \"Mr Quinlan's assistant talked me into sneaking into the\nmerman's cell to give him some water. Poor thing was crying almost the whole\ntime. I snuck a vial, but he let Erin take some of his tears too while we were\nwatering him.\" \"Oh, you are a life saver!\" Jacob said as he hugged the\nguard, right before drawing another glass side. \"Whoa, you're not getting into it right now, are you??\" The\nguard asked. \"Yeah! The sooner I crack this stuff, the better!\" He said\nexcitedly. Jacob unscrewed the top of the vial, and took a small syringe, and\ntook out one drop of the tears. \"We gotta get home, Jac. You're pushing it enough as it is.\"\nThe guard said as Jacob carefully put the tear onto the glass slide. He grins\nexcitedly as the drop immediately began twinkling once on the bare glass.\n\"C'mon...\"  \"You go ahead, Daniel. I gotta keep on with this.\" Jacob\nsaid as he picked up a beaker with one of the other chemicals. \"You drive me crazy, you know that?\" Daniel put a hand onto\nthe scientist's black hair, feeling the old, stiff spray wearing off on it,\n\"You need a shower too...\" \"I'll clean up in the showers here before I go home. Just go\non.\" Jacob replied. Daniel sighed as he got up and put his hands on Jacob's\nshoulders. He rubbed them firmly for a while, before coming to a conclusion. \"I better get us a couple of Red Bulls.\" He said. He patted\nJacob on the shoulder, \"C'mere. I at least earned this.\" He turned Jacob's\nface, and pressed his lips on the other, and shared a momentary kiss. He kissed\nhim a few times before standing up, and approached the door. \"Get me an apple too, please?\" Jacob called without  \"Right, babe.\" Daniel said without turning and exiting the\nlab, and turning towards the deserted cafeteria to get those energy drinks.   -- The Next Morning --   \"The tank, huh?\" Nigel said as he looked at Erin from his\ndesk, with his assistant in the chair opposite him. \"The light bulbs burned out this morning, and we're out\nother heat bulbs,\" Erin reported, \"And besides, I think he might change his\nmind about... 'Helping' us, if we accommodate him.\" \"That's an interesting proposition, Miss Connaly.\" Nigel\nsaid, \"And if he would have kept his attitude under control, I might have even\nconsidered your suggestion.\" He said dismissively. \"What? Sir, think about it-\" \"Miss Connaly.\" Nigel turned his seat, and stood up, \"When a\ndog growls at you, simply because you're trying to train it, you don't reward\nit. You discipline it.\"\n\"Sir, with all due respect, that creature is dying in there. What good is it\ngoing to do us if he dies before you can get any information?\" \"Kaiser's been hinting that he wants a new body to examine.\nIf things go that way, we at least have an appealing autopsy to look forward\nto.\" \"Sir...\" Erin said, shaking her head, \"Are you really saying\nthis?\"  \"He's making his own bed, Miss Connaly.\" Nigel said sternly,\n\"If he starts answering any of my questions, then maybe I'll think about it.\nFor now, as long as he keeps giving me death-glares, he stays in the cell.\" \"Mr Quinlan.\" Erin said, \"What's the harm in just keeping\nhim in a tank?\" Nigel walked around his desk. Erin stood up herself, and looked\nhim in the eyes. \"Tell you what...\" Nigel said, \"If I get ANY information out\nof him, I don't care how, I'll consider it.\" There was a pause between the two\nof them. \"I'm waiting for a good reason, Miss Connaly.\" He said. Erin said\nnothing for the next minute. \"I didn't think so.\" Nigel said as he walked\naround her.  Erin huffed, and closed her eyes as her boss walked to the\ndoor of his office. Nigel picked up his walkie, and pressed his thumb onto the\nbutton, and brought it to his mouth. \"Piscien.\" Nigel froze in his tracks. The walkie buzzed lightly, before\nhe released the button, and turned around. \"Pardon?\" Erin turned herself\naround, and looked at him. \"Piscien.\" She repeated. Nigel put the walkie back onto his\nbelt, and walked back in. \"His last name?\" He asked. \"No. It's his species...\" She said, her stomach feeling a\npurge of reluctance. \"Go on...\" Nigel replied. \"He says there are three kinds of merfolk in the ocean - and\nhe's one of the Piscien merfolk.\" \"What are the other two?\" \"He wouldn't say,\" Erin answered, \"Only that Pisciens\nrepresent fish in the ocean.\"\n\"Just fish?\" Nigel asked. \"Yes. He said at one point, his boyfriend used the word\n'Piscien' as a surname. No one would suspect it meant something, right?\"  \"Of course...\" Nigel said, nodding, \"That makes sense...\" He\nlooked back up, and approached his assistant, \"See? Now we're talking...\" He pats\nher shoulder, and gave an encouraging smile, \"Good work... Erin.\"  Erin blinked at that. Nigel only calls his colleagues by\ntheir first name, \"Sir, I-\"  \"As I said before...\" Nigel continued, \"As much as I would\nlike to be his friend, I have no problem with playing the bad guy.\" Erin's insides churned, \"I- N-No, I-I\" \"Of course,\" Nigel said, \"It's hard to tell how long it's\nbeen since that tank's been used...\" Erin felt her face turn cold as he looked\ninto her eyes, \"I'm not even sure it's safe for a fish to stay in...\" Erin compressed her shaking, and convinced herself to nod,\n\"I'm... I'm sure it's good for use... Mr Quinlan, sir...\" \"Please,\" He said, \"Call me Nigel.\" \"Thank you... Nigel...\" Erin replied, every inch of her feeling\nlike icy ash. \"Anyway, I am a man of my word. He gets his tank... For now.\"\nHe said before turning around, and leaving his office. Erin bows her head down,\nand sighed. \"... I'm sorry, Merrick...\"  ~~~  The chains from Merrick's cuffs glinted in the low light -\nfor whatever reason, the humans here have not turned his lights back on. The\nwater from last night felt so good - almost like being born again, after how\nmuch heat he's endured. However, his skin is still glowing with a hot pink\ncolor, and he still feels the residual heat, scarred into his flesh. \"Mnnnnhhh...\" He moaned, \"Adam...\" He jerked his head up as he heard the lock of the celldoor\nclick. He tensed as he saw the guard from last night, and another guard come\ninto the white cell. \"Alright, lets go, Merrick.\" \"No,\" Merrick responded as his cuffs were removed, and his\narms held behind him, \"I'm not answering-\" \"Mr Quinlan isn't interrogating you today.\" Daniel said,\n\"You are being moved to a different cell.\" Merrick's stomach purged with fear as he was escorted\nreluctantly out of the cell. \"Please, not that other place!\" He said, \"They\nhave enough of my flesh! I'm not-\" \"We're not taking you to the laboratory either,\" Daniel\ncontinued, \"Mr Quinlan decided to place you into the tank.\" \"Wait! What's a tank?? I don't know what that is!\" \n~~~  Merrick blinked as he looked at this large, transparent\ncylinder, with a few plastic tubes and pumps built into it, right next to\nanother, equally large container, filled with water, with a large machine\nnestled between the two containers. One of the human scientists stood waiting\nby the large contraption; Merrick recognizes his dark-framed glasses, pale\nskin, and black smooth hair - it's that human who took some of his tears when\nhe was put through that lightning machine. He looked to his left, and spotted Erin in this larger room,\n\"Erin??\" She looked over at him, and gave a smile and wave. \"Hi... Merrick.\" \"E-Erin,\" Merrick tried to go to her, but the guard kept him\nin place, \"What's going on, what are they doing now??\"  \"It's... It's ok, Merrick...\" Erin walked up to Merrick, and put\nher hand on his shoulder, \"Trust me...\" Daniel can feel Merrick shaking as he nudged him to move\nforward. The other guard moved ahead, and unlocked a full-seal door to the\nempty tank. Merrick reluctantly moved closer to the opening until he was right\nup to it. He climbed up into the large glass container, and turned around as\nthe guard sealed him back in. \nThe blonde, naked male pressed his palms on the glass as Daniel walked to the\nscientist. Jacob worked the buttons, and a few knobs - all strange actions in\nMerrick's eyes. What could they be doing to him now? Jacob grunted as he tried to turn the wheel of the machine\nto enter the final activation for the machine, but having always being lacking\nin the muscle department, the rusty turner is proving to be a difficult feat.\nDaniel patted his shoulder, and Jacob moved aside. The guard turned the wheel\nwith a flex of his arms, clockwise four times.  Merrick gasped as he moved to the far end of the tank as the\nmachine roared into life. He fell onto the bottom as loud noises churned and\nstirred from outside the container. He whimpered as he can hear something\napproaching from the holed glass of the tank.  \"Filtering system working,\" Jacob said, \"It's a little loud\nthough.\" \"We'll get maintenance fix it up later,\" Said the other\nguard, \"Anyway, Fagfish should be happy now. Lets hope the bitching stops.\"\nWith that, he turned and exited the room.  Merrick shook as he felt the whole tank vibrate, before the\nlarge holes gushed forth water. He yelped as it splashed on his legs, knees,\nand chest, and gasped as he sees the wet portions turn blue. He looked at his\nsoaked hand as the webbed membranes formed between his fingers.  It took very little time for him to notice the water has\nreached to his stomach! His legs has already melded together to form his tail.  Erin, Jacob, and Daniel watched in awe as the water flowed\nand pumped into the tank, while the other tank from the opposite was being\ndepleted of its water. \"Any notes, Jacob?\" Erin asked, \"This is freshwater, isn't\nit? You think there is any repercussions from not using seawater?\" \"Hard to say right now,\" Jacob replied as the blue and\nsilver creature rose up as the water filled up the tank, \"If there is, we'll\nfind out soon enough.\" The three of them watched as Merrick loomed gracefully\nin the water - the tank is relatively small for something as long as Merrick. \"Alright, I'm gonna go make a report on this.\" Daniel said\nas he put his keys back on his belt, while Jacob also walked out.   ~~~ Merrick turned, and saw the human scientist, and the\nsecurity guard walk out from the glass door. He peered at them as they looked\nat each other outside.   Daniel and Jacob nuzzled each other affectionately, and gave\na hug. \"Try and come home tonight this time, Jac...\" Daniel said, \"I miss you.\" \"'Kay...\" Jacob said with a nod. The two of them kissed, and\nparted in opposite directions.  Merrick's throat rumbled sadly as his webbed hand moved\ndown, \"Adam...\" His eyes spotted his female ally, putting a hand onto the glass.\nMerrick swam down to her level. His mouth formed two familiar words as they\nlooked at each other. \"Yeah...\" Erin said, guilt racking her heart, \"Don't mention\nit...\"","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/802614-aquata-cove-chapter-35.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/809380-aquata-cove-chapter-37.json"}