When Lilium posted her version of the mermaid AU (titled Mermaid Project), she mentioned that I'd talked to her about my own idea of it. Soon after, I decided I wanted to have a go at it and started writing my own version, thinking it was going to be a quick and simple horror oneshot.
4 years later, I was about 9k words into my long-overdue "oneshot" when I finally realised that I should probably split this up and at least post a bit of it first. Naturally, my mermaid AU is much darker and a lot more twisted than Lilium's. I'd advise you not to read this while you're eating. Especially if you're eating meat.
That said, the overall tone of the fic turned out to be less of the straight-up horror I'd originally intended and more bittersweet overall. My writing style *has* evolved a bit over the past 4 years, after all.
The name of this fic comes from one of the more unflattering names for mermaids. I first learned it from Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, actually. If you're familiar with the quote it comes from (or the movie itself, for that matter), you might be able to guess where I'm going with this :P
This is not a love story. Nor is it a tale where our heroes live happily ever after.
This is a story about hope and grief and sorrow; about darkness and despair and the eternal desire to reach towards the light.
This is a story about two people who are scarred in different yet similar ways, trying to find some form of healing by reaching for a common ground between them.
This is not a love story, but it is nonetheless a story about love.
This is a story about life, and finding comfort in each other amidst our often cruel world.
Disney movies would have you believe that mermaids are beautiful, kind creatures with melodic singing voices and gentle souls.
Of course, the more uncharitable portrayals of mermaids have them as harbingers of doom, luring sailors in with their alluring singing and outward beauty before drowning them and devouring them alive.
As soon as Agent Giorgio Bruno burst into Dr Sophie Anderson's hidden laboratory, it became immediately obvious which version of the mermaid legend the mad scientist had chosen to focus on when attempting to transform her captured test subjects into artificial mermaids.
He had read the dossiers of information compiled by the VSSE's intelligence officers regarding Dr Anderson's Mermaid Project, but nothing could have prepared him for the horrifying sight that greeted him.
Rows and rows of tanks filled with murky water, each containing misshapen beings that could no longer be called humans. The more fortunate ones were already long dead, reduced to bloated corpses floating lifelessly in the water.
But there were countless more who were still alive, yet essentially dead, reduced to nothing more than mindless beasts. They screeched and hissed at Giorgio as he entered the room, razor–sharp nails breaking the water's surface as they tried to reach out and attack him. Fortunately, he was safely out of range of the tanks.
A chill ran down Giorgio's spine as he observed the creatures before him. This was the sum of Dr Anderson's experiments: No successes; just test subjects deemed not good enough and left to die. There were extra bones sticking out of their bodies in places where they didn't belong, and their tails were tattered and rotting. Some of them even had scales growing on their faces and arms, leaving jagged scars at the edges where scales gave way to skin.
From their hostile behaviour and the madness in their eyes, Giorgio knew that there was no humanity left in them.
Taking a deep breath, he steeled himself and drew his gun.
His shots were clinical and precise. One shot for each mermaid, granting them a quick and almost painless death.
In his mind's eye, he cursed Dr Anderson a hundred times over, wishing he could bring her back to life and kill her all over again.
Just then, the faint sound of muffled sobbing caught his attention.
Cautiously, Giorgio made his way across the room, searching for the source.
It was another tank containing a mermaid, tucked away in a dusty corner of the room. Giorgio would have overlooked it if it hadn't been for the crying.
As he approached the tank, the mermaid shrank away from him, pressing itself against the glass on the other side of the tank.
Giorgio studied the mermaid for a moment. It had been a man once, and a rather handsome one at that. With its youthful appearance, long blonde hair and pale blue eyes, it didn't look like much of a threat.
Unlike the other mermaids, it appeared relatively normal, aside from the tail that had replaced its legs, the matching gill slits on both sides of its neck… and the massive scar stretching across its left cheek from just beneath its left eye.
And it was shrinking away in terror rather than trying to attack him.
Giorgio hesitated, then holstered his gun. Slowly, he approached the glass of the tank.
"It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you." He held up his hands placatingly, showing that he wasn't holding any weapons.
The mermaid fearfully peeked at Giorgio through the hands covering its face. It was still trembling, but its crying had died down somewhat.
Giorgio gave it a small, encouraging smile. "Can you understand me?"
After a moment's hesitation, it nodded.
"My name's Giorgio. Don't worry. I'm going to get you out of there."
The mermaid stared at him for a long moment. Slowly, it broke the surface of the water, leaving only its fish half submerged. With searching eyes, it examined Giorgio, as though looking for the slightest hint of malice or duplicity in his expression.
Giorgio forced himself not to tense up under the mermaid's scrutiny, meeting its eyes steadily and examining it in return.
Standing this close to the tank, he now saw that the scarring on the left half of the mermaid's face was matched by similar deep scars across the back of its hands and up the length of its left arm, stopping just below the shoulder.
They looked disturbingly similar to battle scars; the sort which Giorgio himself didn't have yet, but which he knew some of the older agents bore (albeit in much less visible places) from their years of battling terrorists, megalomaniacs, and Wild Dog.
In the mermaid's case, its scars looked like they'd been inflicted with something jagged and thin… as though someone had slashed at it with razor–sharp nails, scoring deep scratches into its face and arms in an attempt to rip it to shreds.
… No, not it. Him.
Though the mermaid bore the shape of a monster, its wary eyes and scarred form were just as human as Giorgio and his colleagues. He wasn't human, but he was still a person…
And he was a victim who still had a chance to be saved.
Report on Subject X
Subject X, for lack of a better name, is what appears to be a mermaid that Agent Bruno liberated from Dr Sophie Anderson's illegal laboratory (See Agent Bruno's mission report for details).
While Agent Bruno's mission was to shut down the laboratory and euthanise Dr Anderson's test subjects, he claims that Subject X is still sane and possesses some semblance of humanity. According to Agent Bruno, the mermaid, while mute, was able to comprehend and nonverbally respond to Agent Bruno's attempt to communicate with it.
Although the mermaid lacks the hostility displayed by its fellow creatures, we have been unable to adequately assess its state of mind yet. At present, Agent Bruno is the only person who can approach it without causing it to swim away in terror.
Nonetheless, since Agent Bruno has vouched for it, Subject X has been relocated to VSSE Headquarters for the time being. Owing to the urgency of the situation, we were faced with limited options for housing it. As such, the mermaid is currently living in a large, aquarium–like tank in the basement of Headquarters.
In spite of Agent Bruno's protests about keeping Subject X in such an isolated place, the basement is objectively the most suitable location for it at the moment. Aside from being one of the few rooms large enough to store its tank, the basement is the only room that adequately simulates the mermaid's previous surroundings, albeit with much better quality.
Prior to this, Subject X was kept in a small, grimy tank of murky water in a darkened basement laboratory. Assuming that it has lived in such conditions for most of its life, moving it to an overly bright area right now would be unwise as its vision would not be accustomed to the light, and it would risk being blinded as a result. While our basement is adequately dark for the mermaid, it is not as dimly lit as the laboratory and also has a small window to let in some light from outside, which will help the mermaid's eyes to begin adjusting to better lighting conditions.
Furthermore, as mentioned, Subject X is currently unaccustomed to and afraid of human contact. Housing it in a location with a larger volume of human traffic would simply overwhelm and terrify it. Given that the basement was mostly used for storage and archival purposes before it was cleared out for the mermaid, it is unlikely that the mermaid will be disturbed by unwanted visitors. Indeed, after our initial attempts at communicating with the mermaid seemed to frighten it, we decided to keep our distance for now. Currently, its only visitor is Agent Bruno, who it seems to have taken a liking to.
Although further observation on Subject X is needed, I would suggest allowing it to acclimatise to its surroundings for now. If Agent Bruno's presence succeeds in helping the mermaid grow more accustomed to human contact, we can then reassess the situation and study it further.
Report compiled by Officer Christy Ryan
Additional Notes:
– At present, we are unsure what Subject X eats. Though it might be assumed that it is able to consume human food since it was once human, its unique physiology might complicate matters. Unfortunately, Dr Anderson destroyed most of her notes before we could retrieve them, though Agent Bruno was able to salvage a small portion of them. Our scientists are currently working on deciphering these fragments, but it will take some time.
Until then, it seems that trial and error is the only choice we have, unless Subject X is able and willing to tell us what it eats. Since he is the only person whose presence the mermaid can tolerate, I have asked Agent Bruno to look into this and see if he is able to communicate with the mermaid on this matter.
So far, Agent Bruno reports that the mermaid is still too afraid to respond to his attempts at conversation, but it doesn't appear to be hungry or have any appetite yet. ~ Officer Christy Ryan
– Please refer to Subject X as "him" and not "it". While the mermaid has yet to communicate with us, he is a sentient being. Referring to him like a mere animal is both inappropriate and demeaning. ~ Agent Giorgio Bruno
Burnt fragment of Dr Sophie Anderson's private research notes
My Mermaid Project will transform the world of warfare forever. Just imagine… an army of unstoppable biological weapons, capable of ripping any living being to shreds.
The virus I developed changes the biological structure of the test subjects, enabling them to survive both above and below water for long periods. These "mermaids" are given the gift of gills on their neck to breathe underwater, while retaining their central respiratory system from their former human selves for breathing above water.
While underwater, the brain automatically shuts off signals from the mermaid's nose, preventing it from drowning by accidentally trying to breathe through the wrong respiratory channel.
However, while the transformation has been successful, I have thus far been unable to breed the ferocity these creatures need to become truly fearsome killing machines. The formula still needs to be tweaked further. Perhaps if I were to… (text illegible)
(Remainder of page missing)
2 weeks after the mermaid's arrival at VSSE Headquarters
VSSE Headquarters Basement
While Giorgio was somewhat of an enigma to his fellow agents, it was universally agreed that he was a loner who preferred to stay in the background, avoiding the company of others and keeping to himself. Alan and Wesley were the only agents who ever spent time with him outside of work, and even then, they still knew next to nothing about him from their limited interactions with him.
So when the mermaid chose to latch onto Giorgio as the only person he felt comfortable with, it came as a surprise to everyone, especially Giorgio himself.
Although the aloof and prickly agent was competent out in the field, his people skills had always been sorely lacking, both on and off duty. Given that he could barely interact normally with other people, Giorgio sincerely doubted that he was up to the task of befriending a terrified victim of human experimentation who had been isolated from regular society for almost his entire life.
Nonetheless, the mermaid was still frightened of everyone else, shrinking away and hiding in the corners of his tank whenever anyone entered the room.
He still wasn't responding to Giorgio's admittedly stilted attempts at conversation either, but at least he wasn't swimming away in terror when Giorgio spoke to him.
Given that the alternative was to let the mermaid languish in solitude instead, Giorgio had tentatively pushed aside his misgivings and began visiting him everyday. Fortunately for him, the VSSE was still mopping up the aftermath of his latest mission, so Giorgio had yet to be sent out on a new assignment, allowing him to remain at Headquarters and spend time with the mermaid.
Being that he was hardly a gifted conversationalist, Giorgio had decided that instead of trying to talk with the mermaid (itself an exercise in futility, given the mermaid's lack of response), he would simply talk at the mermaid. The mermaid could always swim away if he didn't wish to listen, after all.
As such, whenever he visited the mermaid, Giorgio would simply sit beside his tank and talk to him about whatever he could think of off the top of his head.
Somehow, although Giorgio had never been comfortable around other people, he found it surprisingly easy to talk to the mermaid. The mermaid certainly didn't seem to mind; throughout Giorgio's visits, he would peer tentatively over the top of the open tank, listening to Giorgio in a quiet yet intensely attentive manner. Time seemed to stand still in that room, and Giorgio often found that he'd spent hours just sitting beside the mermaid's tank without realising it.
At first, today seemed to be no different. Giorgio had headed down to the basement and greeted the mermaid, waiting a few moments in case the mermaid decided to respond. As always, he had acknowledged Giorgio's presence by surfacing from the water but had otherwise not responded.
Thereafter, Giorgio had taken his usual seat beside the mermaid's tank, having brought a chair down to the basement after deeming, on his first visit, that sitting on the floor made it too difficult to speak to or look at the mermaid. Like always, Giorgio was a bit awkward at first and unsure of what to say, but as he began speaking, the words seemed to simply flow out of him without him really needing to think.
However, this time, as Giorgio spoke, something unusual happened.
"Why… Are you here?" The mermaid's voice was hoarse and raspy, as though it hadn't been used for a long time.
Giorgio paused in the middle of reminiscing about an old mission that had gone off the rails in a spectacularly entertaining manner, turning to look at the mermaid in shock.
The mermaid was glancing at him with the same hesitant, slightly fearful expression that he'd been wearing since Giorgio first met him in the lab. But as Giorgio looked at him more closely, he saw something else reflected in his eyes: A hint of confusion that hadn't been there before.
"You can talk?!" Giorgio gaped at him.
"Ye…Yes." The mermaid coughed wetly, his voice cracking.
"Why didn't you say anything earlier? I thought…"
Here, Giorgio's thoughts faltered as he realised, to his embarrassment, that he had been treating a being that was fully capable of speaking as a silent sounding board to pour his heart out to.
"I'm sorry, I didn't realise… That is… I didn't think you minded listening to me talk. I meant no offence," he hurriedly apologised. "If you'd prefer to be alone, I can—"
"No!" The mermaid blurted out. Almost immediately, he shrank back, seeming ashamed of his sudden outburst. "I… I mean…"
"Hey, it's alright," Giorgio quickly said, giving him a small, reassuring smile in an attempt to calm him down. "I'm not leaving unless you want me to."
Seeing as Giorgio didn't exactly smile much on a regular basis, he was sure his expression came across as rather odd–looking. Nonetheless, the mermaid seemed to appreciate the sentiment, looking a bit less fearful.
"I… I just…" The mermaid stammered, tripping over his words. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and pulled himself further out of the water, resting his arms against the top of his tank as he used them to support his weight. As he did so, his powerful tail continued swishing through the water, from left to right and then back.
"I was… Afraid." As the mermaid spoke, his eyes darted around the room. What he was looking for, Giorgio couldn't say, but he could see that the skittish mermaid was almost as frightened as he'd been when Giorgio first found him.
"Hey, look at me," Giorgio coaxed gently. The mermaid swallowed hard, turning its trembling gaze to the agent.
"You're safe here, I promise. Nobody's going to hurt you. We just want to help."
"…Alright." The mermaid nodded, looking somewhat less panicked.
"When you say you were afraid… Do you mean you were afraid to speak?" Giorgio asked.
"…Yes. The last time I did… That was when I got these scars." Almost unconsciously, the mermaid ran his right hand up and down along the scar tissue on his left arm.
"What happened?"
Immediately, the mermaid shook his head violently.
"No! I can't… I'm sorry, I just… I can't talk about it right now."
Seeing the mermaid's obvious terror, Giorgio raised both his hands defensively.
"Hey, it's okay. I'm sorry for pushing you. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
Looking at the mermaid's shaking form, Giorgio cursed himself for his lack of tact, wishing that one of the other agents (except Agent Robert Baxter, that is) had been the one to find the mermaid instead.
Anybody else would have been a better choice for the mermaid to latch onto than him; at the very least, they'd probably do a better job of not accidentally frightening him every 2 minutes.
"Listen… Do you have a name?" Giorgio probed cautiously, searching for a (hopefully safer) change of topic.
There was a long moment of silence, and Giorgio almost thought the mermaid had lapsed back into its earlier display of selective mutism.
"…Evan." The hesitant whisper was so soft that Giorgio almost missed it. "That's my name… Evan. I'd almost forgotten it… Nobody's called me that for a long time."
"Well then, it's nice to meet you Evan," Giorgio responded gently. "I introduced myself when we first met, but in case you forgot, I'm Giorgio."
Evan nodded. "Yes, I remember. But… You still haven't answered my question. Why are you here? You've been visiting me everyday and staying to talk to me even though I don't respond. Aren't you tired of m– tired of this by now?"
"I'm here because I care about you," Giorgio replied, ignoring Evan's slip of the tongue. Though he wasn't used to comforting others, something about Evan made him feel almost protective, and finding the right words to say here seemed easier than usual.
"I can't pretend to understand what you've been through, but I can see you've been badly hurt by your experiences. You're still afraid now… But you don't have to be. You're free, and you'll be safe here. The people here aren't like Dr Anderson. They want to help you. Can you be brave and try to trust them?"
Evan hesitated for a long moment before slowly nodding. "I… I'll try. I'm just… This is just… a lot to adjust to."
"I know it'll take time, but I believe in you. And I'll do what I can to help you along the way, alright?"
"…Thank you… Giorgio." For the first time since Giorgio had met him, Evan gave him a tiny smile. Though it was fleeting and barely there, the smile seemed to bring a new light to the mermaid's eyes, driving back the haunted shadows for just a brief moment.
Looking at him, Giorgio knew then that he would do whatever it took to see Evan smile again, no matter what.
Report on Evan (formerly designated Subject X)
As per Agent Bruno's report, the mermaid has broken his silence, revealing himself to be capable of speech. However, Evan is still traumatised by his experiences and is currently unwilling to shed light on them. Since Evan has already formed a bond with Agent Bruno, I have tasked him with coaxing Evan to open up and share his story in due time.
For now, since Evan is still getting used to human contact, we are currently limiting visits to short sessions with a maximum of two people aside from Agent Bruno, who still needs to be in the room for Evan to feel safe at the moment. Also, note that Evan is still easily startled by loud noises and sudden gestures at present, as Agent Keith Martin inadvertently discovered. (Note: Agent Martin is currently forbidden from visiting Evan until further notice.)
To facilitate ease of access for human visitors, we have installed a small platform with steps leading up to it beside Evan's tank, which will place anyone standing on it at eye–level with Evan when he surfaces. This should hopefully allow us to communicate more smoothly with Evan in the future.
Unfortunately, Evan was only able to tell us that Dr Anderson kept him fed with some sort of "strange meat". He also says that he was only fed once every few months, though that is likely far less than he should be eating and possibly responsible for his emaciated state.
For now, we are trying out a more varied diet to at least keep Evan from going hungry. I would suggest we start with a few types of cooked and raw meats to see if any of them bear a similarity to Evan's previous food source. I also recommend including some simple non–meat foods like bread to see if Evan is able to derive nutrition from them.
(Pre–emptive note: Please do not attempt to feed Evan junk food. If I catch any of you smartasses trying to be funny and scattering goldfish crackers or something into Evan's tank as "food", you'll be on tank cleaning duties all week.)
Report compiled by Officer Christy Ryan
Additional Notes:
– For the 500th time, Christy, I said I was sorry. It was an accident! ~ Agent Keith Martin
– Regardless of your intentions, you badly frightened Evan. It took Giorgio 3 hours to persuade him to stop cowering in one corner of his tank, and even then, he wouldn't speak for another day and a half. ~ Officer Christy Ryan
– Perhaps he should apologise to Mother Hen Giorgio instead. I'm surprised he didn't murder Keith on the spot! ~ Agent Wesley Lambert
– Maybe that's because Giorgio knew Robert would do it for him as soon as he heard about it. ~ Agent Alan Dunaway
– Would you two knock it off and stop trying to be funny? ~ Agent Giorgio Bruno
– All agents are reminded that these reports are not to be used as message boards. ~ VSSE Director
Notes:
1. Dr Sophie Anderson shares the same name as Rachel's ex-friend/university roommate from my Temporal Fates universe, but she's a different character in this AU. I figured it would be easier to just use her name than create another OC (I'm not very good with those, as you might be able to tell), especially since TF!Sophie is a jackass anyway. Also because The Little Mermaid was written by Hans Christian *Andersen*, and I thought it would be fitting. I know, spelling's slightly different, but I figured it was close enough anyway.
2. I know basements usually don't have windows. Let's just pretend that in this AU, the VSSE's Headquarters is located on top of a hill, so the basement window is in the hillside. Or something.
3. If you're wondering how Evan... ahem... uses the washroom, the answer is the same way that fish do. Hence Christy's "tank cleaning duties" remark.