That day, Ercole told Giulia that she didn't need to clean the lab, but she wanted to see her friends, so she didn't care what that clown told her, besides, it was HER routine. She was walking through the corridors in the direction of the E-3 laboratory, and since she didn't have to sweep, she was without her cart, which Giulia was grateful for because she hated carrying that thing.

When she got to the door, she swiped her card through the identifier and entered, just like every other time, only this time nothing was the same.

At first, she didn't know what was happening, what she saw left her in shock: Luca and Alberto were out of the pool, chained from the arms, legs, neck, waist, and tails; on a circular platform. They were leaning on their arms to stop from collapsing on the ground, and they were breathing heavily.

"Santa Ricotta," it left her lips without her wanting to say it.

Upon hearing her voice, both boys raised their heads, and that's when the reality of the matter hit Giulia, not only was there suffering in their eyes, they were also bleeding from the mouth.

It was red, just like hers.

Forgetting all fear, Giulia ran up to them, crouched down to be at their size, and acting on pure instinct, she took the chains and began to pull them with all her might, as if that could break them.

"G ... Giu ... Giulia." Luca managed to say.

"Don't worry guys! Don't gurry! I'm gonna get you out of here! I'm gonna get you out of here!" She answered frantically, seeing them displayed like this as if they were a circus attraction-

She couldn't allow it, she wasn't going to allow it, she had to get them out now! Giulia pulled the chains with more strength, and then she noticed that there were drops of blood scattered all over the floor; choking a cry, she looked up at his friend's chest. Luca had tiny holes all over his chest from where he was bleeding. She looked at Alberto and saw with horror that it was the same thing.

"Giulia," Alberto agonized.

The girl's heart was racing, and her mind couldn't find an answer to what was happening; who had put them in there?! Why were they doing that to them?!

"Giulia," Luca repeated.

"I'm letting you out! I'm letting you out! I'm letting you out!"

"Giulia ... hide," Alberto finished saying.

The girl looked up as if she didn't know what he was trying to tell her, and when she saw that two turquoise chairs were on one side of the platform, and in one of them rested the stun stick she had seen the first day she cleaned the lab.

She thought it was the hideous thing she had ever seen; they used it to hurt her friends.

She hated it; she wanted to go for it and break it in two, make sure it would never hurt anyone again. And she was about to do it, she got up, but Luca's hand grabbed her arm, she stopped and looked at him.

"Giulia ..." he grinned before continuing, "you need to get out of here ... now."

Before Giulia could respond, the door began to open; Luca released her and looked worriedly at the entrance, then back at his friend.

"Hide," Luca whispered; he sounded more worried about her than himself.

"Quick, quick, quick," Alberto whispered too.

"If you die or get caught, you won't be able to help them later," the rational part that remained inside her spoke, and as much as she hated to admit it, it was right.

Gritting her teeth to try to contain her anger, she ran to the other end and hid behind a machine, closing her eyes and fighting the urge to burst into tears.

The doors were fully open, followed by the sound of footsteps.

"Did you miss me?"

Giulia felt her heart stop, that voice- then a roar came it was animalistic and primitive.

"Of course you miss me!"

"Ercole ..."

Being very careful, Giulia poked her head out; the bastard was there, wearing a gray suit, and in his hand, the one not wounded, carried a bar of chocolate that he was eating. Ercole threw the candy on the chair and took the stick; Luca had an expression of fear, the fins on his head fell like the flippers he had for ears, and he shrugged while Alberto only narrowed his eyebrows and showed his teeth.

Giulia clenched both fists; she wanted to get out of there and beat Ercole, but she was at a disadvantage, and if that bastard came to find her-

It would be the end of all.

"You help them more if you wait; you help them more if you wait," she kept repeating herself; maybe she would believe it.

When Ercole was near them, Alberto let out a roar, the fins of his head and ears raised; Giulia had to admit that even she was scared, the stubborn but friendly boy she had come to know had disappeared, now she only saw a wild animal that would not hesitate to kill you.

"And even so, he isn't the monster here."

"Oh! You're soooooooo scary number one," Ercole mocked, raising both hands and moving the palms to the sides.

Alberto's roar faded away, but he didn't stop hissing nor take his eyes off Ercole.

"Yes, you are so tough, right?" He scoffed again as he got closer, "but your little buddy isn't, right?"

And without warning, he struck Luca with the stick.

ZAP!

Luca howled in pain as the electricity ran through his body; it was such an agonizing scream that Giulia couldn't take it anymore; she had to look away as tears began to roll down her face.

Alberto's aggressive expression disappeared, in just a few seconds, Ercole had managed to destroy it, now he was scared, he tried to get up to help Luca, but his chains prevented him.

Ercole smiled and took the stick from him; Luca stopped screaming as his entire body collapsed with a thud, his chest swelling and deflating in an attempt to breathe, then he spat blood.

Alberto let out desperate screams as he dragged his chains, trying to break them; the metallic sound they caused made Giulia's ears bleed, who clenched her fists tighter.

"Oh, don't worry, number one, there's plenty for you too."

ZAP!

Alberto's screams bounced off the walls; Giulia covered her ears with her hands and closed her eyes intensely.

"Stop it! Please stop it!" She never believed the day would come, but she was willing to beg Ercole to stop to save her friends.

Ercole took off the stick, and Alberto stopped screaming, only he did not fall unconscious but remained seated on his knees while breathing with difficulty; Ercole crouched a little so that they could see each other face to face.

"Not so tough now, are you?"

Alberto slowly raised his gaze; despite the pain he felt, he didn't soften his features; he looked at Ercole with hatred and showed him his fangs.

"A tough nut to crack," Ercole laughed, then he raised his wounded hand and put it a few inches from Alberto's mouth, "I bet you'd like another bite, right? Another piece of good Ercole Visconti, well, what are you waiting for?"

He waved his hand, Alberto followed it with his eyes.

"I dare you."

Giulia peaked again.

"Don't fall for it, please."

Alberto grimaced and threw his teeth into Ercole's hand.

ZAP!

Ercole beat the stick in Alberto's stomach, the amphibian's entire body shook; Giulia hid again and bit her lip to keep from crying out; it wasn't long before she felt the warm liquid run through her mouth.

After what seemed like an eternity, Ercole stopped torturing him; Alberto's body fell backward, struggling to breathe, and to make matters worse, he also spat blood; it all fell on his face, staining him as if it were a horrible face mask.

Ercole just smiled and stood up.

"Stupid sea monster."

When the screaming stopped, and all heard were the weak breaths of Luca and Alberto, Giulia stopped biting her lip, but it was already late, the liquid had slipped up to her chin, her throat ached from the scream that she had kept, and she couldn't cry anymore just because she had no tears left.

The doors opened again, but she didn't want to look out, not wanting to see that torture chamber.

Guido entered accompanied by Ciccio and two other workers; in his hands he carried a letter-size envelope, feeling nervous about what would happen when Ercole saw the results, but even he couldn't imagine the horror that awaited him.

His eyes went from one creature to the other both seemed to be on the brink of death.

"Ercole..." he said in an attempt to control himself; if he provoked him more, he would sentence those two to the grave. "What happened here?"

"Oh, I was just showing these two who's boss," he replied without giving much thought to the matter.

Guido handed the envelope to Ciccio, and almost running, he approached the creatures; he bent down to examine them, as he feared, they were making an effort to keep breathing.

"We need to put them back into the water," he said, but Ercole was too busy with his chocolate, "Ercole?"

"I'm not done with them."

Giulia clenched her fists again, one day she would kill that bastard for what he had done.

Guido sighed, trying not to explode.

"Ercole, they're dying; if we don't put them back into the pool, they will die, we haven't even scratched the surface of what these creatures have to teach us."

But that continued without caring for Ercole; Guido sighed and drew his secret weapon:

"If they die now, the whole project will be useless, we haven't done enough testing, and I'm sure our superiors won't like that."

That did seem to have an effect; Ercole's eyes widened as he turned to see Guido, although the scientist would have liked to show his firmness and anger, he preferred a neutral look as if the only thing that mattered to him was the project.

"I'm just thinking in your reputation Ercole; I don't want it ruined by a slip like this."

Ercole put his good hand to his chin and looked at the ground, after thinking for a few seconds, he looked back at Guido.

"You're right Guido; it isn't worth ruining so much for these things," he waved at Ciccio and the other workers, "put them in the water."

Guido sighed in relief and stepped back so the workers could do their job, they approached the amphibians and began to unleash them, the condition of the boys was so bad that it was clear they weren't going to fight back.

Giulia feels a little calmer.

"Maybe in the water, they will heal better," she prayed that this would be the case.

After unleashing them, each worker carried one boy to the pool then they threw the amphibians into the water. Giulia felt fire in her stomach at seeing her friends been thrown like garbage; now it was official, she hated everyone- she hated almost everyone in that dreadful place.

Guido sighed in relief when he saw they were both back in the pool; if his studies were correct, the water would allow them to heal their wounds faster, and their lungs could rest, although he was still worried that the damage Ercole had caused was irreparable.

Meanwhile, Ercole finished eating the chocolate and tossed the garbage on the ground.

"Well Guido, I think you had something to show me, right?" He asked, but the scientist had his eyes on the pool; Ercole got upset and tightened his eyebrows: "Guido!"

The mentioned blinked before turning to see him.

"What…? Oh yeah, Ciccio."

The blonde approached with the envelope, he gave it to Ercole, he opened it, inside were some X-rays taken from Luca and Alberto, but in the envelope, they were only as Number One and Number Two. Ercole took both out and began to go through them, but his eyebrows soon arched.

The X-rays were blurry, the ribs were showing but the organs were fuzzy, as if out of focus, and behind these, it looked like there was something else, but it was just as blurry.

"Guido, what is this?" Ercole asked, tapping the leaves with one hand.

Guido hid both hands in the pockets of his robe, looked down, and then back at Ercole; Giulia took the opportunity to lean out again, luckily Ercole was turning his back on her.

"Ercole, you have to understand that we have never seen life forms like these; they are capable of switching between two different breathing mechanisms; it's normal the X-rays aren't so clear."

That seemed to make Ercole thoughtful, he returned to see the papers with a more critical look. While Giulia ventured to sneak her head a little more, they were talking about Luca and Alberto, and she didn't want to miss any detail.

Big mistake.

Guido had his eyes on Ercole, but as soon as the redhead looked out, he saw her; the girl noticed and quickly hid again.

The scientist turned his head, that day wasn't going to be cleaning.

"She does care for them," Guido thought.

"I understand, Guido," Ercole finally answered, lowering the X-rays, "if we want to know how these things work, we need to open them."

Giulia felt her heart-stopping, as the words repeated in her head over and over again:

"We need to open them, we need to open them, we need to open them."

"No - no - no."

Guido opened his eyes but quickly regained his composure; he had to control his emotions, even though Ercole seemed to want to test his patience.

"Ercole, these creatures are unique, there's so much more we can learn from them alive; dissection could damage the organs."

"That's why we have two, Guido; if we screw it up once, we can repeat."

Giulia had always known Ercole as an idiot, but she never imagined him as a monster; now she saw him.

Meanwhile, Guido was just as surprised; how could Ercole be so indifferent to a matter like that? Didn't he realize the value those amphibians possessed? Killing them would be a waste, a crime.

"Ercole, we cannot kill these creatures," he clenched his teeth, he didn't know if it was a good idea to tell him; but he had to risk everything to save their lives, "I've done more experiments, and I have reasons to believe these creatures are intelligent, capable of language, and understanding emotions."

"Just like the Vietnamese, Guido, and we still kill them."

And that's when he lost all hope; Ercole wasn't going to listen to reasons, all he wanted was those two dead, and he wasn't stopping until he got his wish."

"Listen, I know what we can do," interrupted Ciccio; "Let's call the general so both of you can present your case, but the final decision will be up to him, and we will proceed according to his call."

Guido sighed in relief, maybe he could convince the general to stop the operation. For her part, Giulia no longer dared to look out, but she kept listening carefully to each word, trying to control her breathing, but with all the news she was hearing, it was almost impossible, she wouldn't feel at ease again until the safety of Luca, and Alberto was assured.

"Well, that seems like the right way to proceed," Guido agreed.

Ercole just shrugged.

"Okay, after all, I'm done here," with that said he took his cane; "And call Spewlia to clean up this mess."

And having said that, he went to the exit accompanied by Guido and Ciccio. Giulia took the advantage to escape, luckily the other two workers were still in the pool, putting the neck chains on the boys, so neither of them noticed her presence."

The girl ran so fast that it didn't help her heart rate, she managed to pass the doors before they closed when she got out, she saw that the trio had gotten into a mini-car that was moving away, with Ciccio driving, Ercole as co-pilot and Guido in the back.

Giulia knew where they were going, the main control room, to decide the fate of her only two friends.

As they drove away, Guido looked at her, and their gazes met; she could see the same concern reflected in his eyes, everything he said in the lab was true; he also wanted to save them.

"Don't worry, I'll do whatever it takes to protect them," she thought he was saying that with his eyes.

Quickly the car turned in a corner, and they were out of sight while Giulia sped up her steps to follow them; she didn't want to miss anything that would happen next.

...

She arrived in the main control room shortly after, trying to appear calm and collected, but her heart hadn't returned to its normal rhythm, it was like a locomotive in overdrive.

She went to the stairs with a cloth in her hand, with which she would try to act normal if someone approached her; as soon as she set foot on the first step she stopped, from where she was standing, Giulia could see Guido and Ercole talking through the window.

Guido's arms were moving intensely, as he seemed to be speaking with great passion, while Ercole had his back pressed to the wall, arms crossed and a triumphant look.

Giulia didn't like the look of the situation, it seemed that things were not going well for Guido.

And in that, the scientist just stopped arguing and just looked ahead, Giulia supposed that there was a computer on the table; Ercole detached himself from the wall, looked ahead, and made a gesture of gratitude, then he looked at Guido as he patted him on the back.

The scientist lowered his arms and gazed in defeat.

"No."

After that, Ercole disappeared from her sight, and Guido slightly turned his eyes towards the staircase, their gazes met again, only this time Guido articulated something with his lips:

"I'm sorry."

And then, Giulia felt an emptiness inside her, one that she hoped never to feel again in her life.

...

That night, Massimo was preparing Trenette al Presto, some might say he had prepared the pasta too often, but since Giulia had been the same again, he felt so happy that he was willing to celebrate every night. In addition to that, she kept killing herself at work to support him, so a nice hot meal when she got home was a good reward.

He finished adding the last details when he heard the door open.

"Giulietta, welcome home."

But when he didn't get an answer he worried; even in her darker days, Giulia always announced her arrival; he turned off the oven and went to the door.

Her daughter was standing at the door, still holding her bag with one hand but it was lying on the ground; apart from Giulia's eyes being red, she had dark circles and was pale; she looked like she had seen a ghost.

"Giulietta..." whispered Massimo; he hadn't seen her this bad since...

Giulia closed the door, dropped her bag, and then she screamed from the depths of her soul, ran to her father, and hugged him, burying her head on his chest while bursting into tears.

Massimo knew that something bad happened to her, but he didn't want to force her, he would let her underbid, and when she was ready to talk, he would be there for her.

"Don't hold anything back dear."

He led her to the living room where they both sat down; Giulia kept crying and crying until Massimo lost track of time; after what seemed like hours, Giulia finally stopped, took a deep breath, regaining her composure.

"Better?" her father asked.

Giulia nodded with the head.

Massimo smiled and patted her on the back; Giulia sucked a snot and turned her head to see him.

"Dad?"

"Yes?"

Giulia took a deep breath, now that she had let it go, it was time to start her plan, she was not going to let Ercole win, of course not, Luca and Alberto were her friends, and she wasn't leaving them to fate.

"I need your help."

"Of course Giuletta, anything you need."

She couldn't beat around the bush, or brood over it; she had to be direct with what she was gonna ask:

"Dad, we must raid my work." And before her father could question her sanity, she added: "To save my friends."