Lin stepped back from the generator, satisfied at the device's happy humming. These things had been surprisingly easy to handle so far. Getting past the latex sharks had been the real challenge.

Convinced that the generator was operational, Lin started towards the room he'd come from. More than half of that room had been submerged as a result of the leaks, and the edges of the pool were dark, indicating deep water. Most parts were shallow enough for him to walk, thankfully. His ability to swim was embarrassingly weak.

As he let his gaze scan the pool, it slowly dawned on him that something was off. It was still. Too still.

… Hadn't there been a latex shark in this water earlier?

Yes. Yes, there had. The artificial fishes always had their fins above water, even when swimming in the deeper parts. They had proven to be a major obstacle so far. Where had this one gone?

His gaze gravitated to the dark water at the edges. Maybe it had gone underwater and moved to some different part of the facility.

Lin carefully dipped a toe in the shallow water. He retreated, waiting to see if something happened.

Nothing. No sharks swimming his way.

Despite the apparent absence of latex in the room, he still wasn't comfortable with the situation. Even so, he had to make it to the other side.

Better hurry, then.

He took a breath. Then he stepped into the shallow water and ran.

In the center of the pool, he stopped and spun around to see if there was anything coming for him. Still nothing.

He took a moment to compose himself. There was nothing. The shark was gone.

He resumed, albeit at a calmer pace. A narrow path of shallow water connected the center to the dry part of the room, where the entrance was located. On either side of that shallow path was deep water. If he fell in there, he'd be—

What was that?

He froze halfway. There was something in the deep water besides the path, swimming up to the surface.

Lin backed up. Even from there, he could tell that wasn't a regular shark.

The thing broke the surface. Not with a fin, but with a pair of sharp ears that poked out from underneath white hair. The remainder of the head followed, revealing an angular grey face much like the latex shark faces Lin had seen in pictures. Two light blue eyes looked right into his.

Lin froze as he and the head engaged in a staring contest. The latex shark looked surprised at first, then smirked.

Lin took another step back. He could make it back to the generators. This thing wouldn't follow him on dry land, would it?

The moment he moved, the latex moved as well. It rose to its full height of about ten feet, revealing a lean humanoid form with fins on its back, arms and tail.

It still kept its gaze on Lin.

Lin turned tail—only to see that the narrow way to the generator section was blocked off by another shark, its fin just rising above the water surface. He turned back to the enormous shark humanoid and hesitated.

The creature went underwater. And it headed for Lin.

Lin turned to the generator section. There were metal bars on the far wall. If he could jump over that deep water, he could reach those bars and—hopefully—drag himself to dry land. He had to try it.

Lin ran. He heard the splashing of water behind him coming closer. The creature was fast.

But so was he.

He sprinted to the edge. Then, with all the strength he could muster, he leaped towards the wall and reached for the bars.

He didn't make it.

His cry was cut short as he fell into the deep water.

He flailed about, trying to get some control, trying to get back to the shallow center—but to no avail. He reached for the water surface, as if he could grab ahold of it and pull himself up.

But the surface only went farther away as he sank deeper and deeper. The environment darkened.

Just before he passed out, he vaguely noticed a figure swimming towards him at high speed.

Something crawled up his throat, and Lin spat out a stream of water. His first instinct was to gasp for air, only to fall into a coughing fit. He felt a pressure on his chest, but it disappeared as soon as he awoke.

Through his fuzzy vision he noticed something above him. Something…grey.

He blinked.

The shark looked back. Its smug smirk was gone.

"Ah!" Lin cried out and jerked away, but the shark grabbed him and held him still. Lin froze.

The creature exhaled softly. It seemed…relieved? Why? And why had it saved him? No—why hadn't it transfurred him?

Lin slowly moved to stand, but the shark pressed a hand against his chest and pushed him down, wagging a finger. Then it carefully slid one arm under Lin's back and another under his legs, and slowly lifted him off the ground. Lin didn't move as the ten feet tall humanoid shark gently carried him back to the entrance and the chamber beyond.

The first thing Lin heard as they passed through the gate was a vigorous "Human!"

He turned his gaze to see Puro getting to his feet. "Human! You're back! And you made a friend! I told you they were friendly!"

"Yeah, you did," Lin admitted, still trembling a little as the shark held him. "Sorry."

"Sorry? For what?"

"For not believing you." Lin hadn't taken Puro's word for it when the masked wolf told him that latexes were harmless. Too disturbed by the pictures he'd seen and the reports he'd read, Lin wasn't exactly eager to make their acquaintance. Puro had respected that and had helped him avoid any confrontations on his way through the facility.

Still holding Lin like he was made of glass, the shark made its way over to Puro. Puro took a moment to inspect Lin's face up close, and he tilted his head. "Are you okay, human? You look…tired."

"It's nothing," Lin quietly said.

Puro glanced up at the shark's shaking head. It nodded to the nearby pool, then glanced down at Lin.

Puro paused. Then his white pinprick eyes grew into circles that filled his mask. "Human! Did you…!"

Lin sighed. "Okay, there might've been an accident…"

"You need to rest. Here." The dark latex carefully reached out and took Lin from the shark's arms. He sat down and placed Lin on his giant fluffy tail. "Sit here and relax."

"I—"

"Puro will take good care of you, human!" Puro proclaimed determinedly, squeezing his eyes shut and wagging his ears.

Lin sighed quietly. Under the gazes of Puro and this giant shark, he wasn't going anywhere for the time being. But maybe that was for the better. He was still feeling a bit woozy from the incident just now.

The shark sat down next to him and Puro with a smirk. Lin glanced up at it. At least he knew it was friendly, now.