The next two days passed uneventfully. 

As nice as it was to hangout at the shelter with his friends and catch up with his family, Emmett had work to do. So he went back to staying at the lab. He gave his family an excuse about volunteering extra with the Summit and relief efforts, and Max and the others helped cover for him. 

Both Mom and Dad said they were proud of him for helping out as much as he was, and both tried to reassure him that things would get better soon. Emmett hoped they were right about that second part, but he didn’t believe it. 

To hear Dr. Venture talk, the Summit should’ve been able to stop the Deep Ones. The fact that they hadn’t yet was bad news. 

Equally disconcerting was the fact that the Deep Ones had done relatively little since the tidal wave. World navies had attempted to position themselves above the underwater enclaves, but carrier groups and submarine groups were gently rebuked—the Deep ones used massive currents of water to push them away. Flooding still hadn’t receded, despite the efforts of Summit hydromancers, mages, and reality warpers. And since the initial assault, there had only been small skirmishers with the Deep Ones.

Serenity had referred to these small groups of Deep Ones as scouting groups, but that didn’t sit right with Emmett. They didn’t skulk around and retreat at the first sign of danger or Summit resistance. The Deep Ones fought to the death, no matter how outnumbered or even if they could hop back into the water and retreat. 

But that wasn’t what was bothering Emmett right now. 

Currently, he stood alone in the hub of section 002—the mechanical wing. Well, not entirely alone. TINA was with him. She was always with him. Together, they went over footage from all the engagements with the Deep Ones. 

Every time Emmett had been on patrol, he’d seen something beneath the waves. 

They’d been over the capabilities of the Deep Ones several times now. They were cold-blooded, with multiple biological forms—similar to ant colonies. Their civilization was thought to be linked in one or several hive-minds. 

Strides had been made in some aspects of research. Scientists across the world were dissecting thousands of corpses and analyzing their genetic code. Despite their physical differences, the soldiers, mages, and shock troopers were all one species. That wasn’t especially surprising—there were plenty of examples of dimorphism within the animal kingdom. Male and female birds often had drastically different plumage. Ants had workers, soldiers, queens, and even sacrificial males for mating. Certain jellyfish species, like the Portuguese man o’ war, weren’t a single animal, but actually a colony of animals.

TINA said, “Technically, they’re comprised of zooids, not—”

“Thanks, TINA, but you don’t need to explain it again. I’m not studying for a biology quiz or anything.”

The rest of the biology research on the Deep Ones was incomplete. Mages were thought to be female, and both soldiers and shock troopers thought to be male, but no specimens of the three types were sexually mature. Some researchers were already speculating that there were some type of queens hiding in the strongholds at the bottom of the oceans. 

Monstrosities were even stranger. 

To date, less than ten monstrosities had been studied—each one possessing completely unique biology and genetic code. The one that attacked Belport looked like a cross between a lobster and a squid. There was another that looked like a shark crossed with an eel. Another like a salamander and an otter. 

No matter how different each looked, they were genetically similar—not just to each other, but to the smaller Deep Ones, too. All of them were clearly the same species. 

Then there were the Deep Ones’ powers. There still wasn’t a consensus on how exactly they worked. No one agreed on whether they were based in psychokinesis, magic, or reality-warping. The mages had enlarged structures in their brains, but they didn’t wear relics or carry staffs, and no psychics had been able to translate their language. 

Emmett wasn’t sure the specifics mattered. The more he read up on it, the more it felt like arguing semantics. 

Emmett rolled his shoulders to loosen up his neck. “I think we’re getting off track again, TINA. Let’s go back to the footage from Belport.”

TINA replayed drone footage—this time taken from drones that were within Emmett and Clara’s immediate patrols. 

Emmett sighed. “There has to be something there…” 

“I’ve scanned all available footage from drones, satellites, and cameras, but nothing matches what you’ve described.”

Emmett stared blankly at the screen. “So, I’m wasting my time.”

“Just because our imaging hasn’t picked up anything doesn’t mean that it’s a waste of time. We should scan your brain and neural connections.”

“Why?”

“Because you have new hardware integrating into your senses. Even if the neural connections themselves are sufficient, your brain is still parsing and adapting to new information. What you’re experiencing could be complex hallucinations.”

Emmett smiled grimly. “TINA, that was a roundabout way of saying it’s all in my head.”

“I could use metaphors based on hardware and software integration, if you would like.”

“Alright, alright. Point taken. You can keep going.”

“Your infrared vision by itself wouldn’t show anything beneath the waves. Water naturally hides infrared wavelengths. Even if the Deep Ones were right below the surface of the water, they would blend into the background. Even if they were warm-blooded, they would be invisible in the infrared spectrum while immersed.

“There is another phenomenon to consider, however. Their cold-blooded nature should hide them equally as well in fog or smoke, but you are able to see them. This is likely due to your unique combination of infrared, ultraviolet, and standard wavelength vision. Your brain compiles these signals together and fills in the gaps.”

Emmett had heard of similar examples of the human brain filling in gaps in information, two of which also dealt with vision: 

The lens of the human eye was composed of two types of cells—cones and rods. Cones were precise and could see color. They were primarily clustered in the center of the eye. Rods were more sensitive. They were useful for night vision, but couldn’t detect color. 

Because of the way cones were clustered in the center of the eye, this meant that humans shouldn’t be able to see color at the edges of their vision. This clearly isn’t the case—during the day, everything in Emmett’s field of view was in color. That was because the brain actively filled in the gaps. 

The second case of the brain filling in gaps involved the optic nerve. There were receptors all over the retina of the eye, except where the optic nerve connects. There should be a blind spot there in everyone’s vision. However, these spots are mirrored on each eye, so that the blind spots don’t overlap. The brain fills in the gaps, and no one is the wiser. 

TINA continued, “There is also your psychic exposure to consider.”

Her voice brought Emmett back to the lab. “What do you mean?”

“During your fight with The Freakshow, you were exposed to considerable unstable psychic power. Compared to most other powers, psychics have to take great care not to do serious damage to minds they touch.”

Emmett thought back to when he confronted Marie in the Belport underground. He had felt her psychic power, felt her personality sublimating. It felt like she’d been radioactive. 

“You’ve already proven your unique mix of biology and technology to be formidable against psychics, but there are always repercussions to psychic exposure. You will weather this better than most, but we cannot discount the effects it might’ve had on you.”

Emmett stared at the wall monitor. Stared through the data. 

“TINA… Did you know… that I’d be exposed when you guided me to Marie?”

“Yes.” TINA’s reply was mechanical and unflinching. 

Emmett clenched his teeth. “It would’ve been nice to know.”

“I’m sorry.”

Emmett turned away from the wall monitor and paced around the holographic table in the center of the room. “TINA, do you understand why I’m upset?”

“You are upset that I withheld information from you that might’ve impacted your decision.”

“That’s… not entirely why. You didn’t just keep information from me. You took my decision away. You made the decision for me. Does that make sense?”

“...Yes.” TINA was silent a moment before she continued, “Despite all of our data and our simulations, there will be unforeseen results to your upgrades and experimentation. Some results will be unfortunate—scientific progress is never a linear endeavor. Most things are not. Your growth… My sentience… Our partnership. 

“I apologize for withholding information from you, and for making decisions for you.”

Emmett sighed and leaned on the holographic table. “...Thank you.”

With everything else going on in the world, now he was helping an AI with their interpersonal relationships. Only, it felt more like she was his kid sister. 

~ ~ ~