“Repeat that,” Talbot ordered with a snarl.

 

“E-early this morning… the facility collapsed,” the engineer replied.

 

Tabot’s nails dug into the table. He had spent over a billion dollars on that god-forsaken thing. Its entire purpose was to withstand the depth. 

 

“See… I seem to recall you telling me that even without power it would take several weeks to collapse, Mr. Jones,” he growled.

 

“Sir… as I advised you… the dome was not ready when you demanded we go ahead with it. If it had been completed then… that would have been the case,” Mr. Jones stuttered nervously. That at least made Talbot feel a little better, the man knew his place and the possible consequences. 

 

Still, it took significant willpower to resist strangling the man, breaking every bone in his body and tearing him apart with his teeth. Talbot leaned back and took a deep breath. His hands shaking out of his control. He reached for a glass and filled it with whisky.

 

“W-what of my mermaid,” he asked, his voice wavering embarrassingly before he downed the shot.

 

“Well… we’re not certain as… you did not allow us to put a tracking chip in it,” Mr. Jones replied. “B-but… we were able to recover some footage.”

 

Mr. Jones opened his laptop and hurriedly clicked away before turning it around. Talbot glared at the man with open contempt before focusing on the screen as Mr. Jones hit play.

 

Graining footage filled the screen, a static blur which cut into footage of the now-destroyed dome. The timestamp of the footage dated it as several days ago.

 

His mermaid swam through the water only to free Ms. Diaz as she swam out to meet her, flippers, goggles and nothing else. Perhaps it had been a little cruel to not leave her with any clothes. Right now though he was finding it hard to care over the pounding in his head.

 

“All is normal a few days ago… though it seems that they became quite close,” Mr. Jones said awkwardly. “Other footage shows them sleeping side by side for several nights. But really what is… strange…” 

 

Mr. Jones hit a button on the keyboard as the image changed. The date read early this morning. The footage was worse quality and he could even see the crack spreading across the glass dome. His mermaid was floating on her back at the surface.

 

Then after a few moments… a second mermaid did the same. This mermaid was smaller but almost identical in colouring. Still, he could recognize her face… the face of Ms. Diaz. The mermaid had given his boon away. Furry built inside him. How dare she! That was his! That was his only hope!

 

“The bodies, did you find the bodies?” He growled, the noise taking on an inhuman tone as he tried to control himself.

 

“N-no, Sir,” he murmured and clicked a button one last time. The screen was practically black, impossible to tell the quality. “This is one of the cameras used to guide the submarine when docking,” Mr. Jones explained. “Moments after the implosion… it captured this.”

 

Something blurred past the camera, he could recognize that shadow from a mile away. He had obsessed over her kind for years. Decades even. A mermaid was swimming in the open water at that depth, unharmed by the pressure.

 

The computer went flying off the desk before he was even aware he moved. Gone, his life’s work gone. Escaped from the inescapable. Fuck! Money burned, and his mermaid flushed down the toilet like a fish escaping into the sewers. 

 

Worse was Ms. Diaz had received a boon, and asked to be a mermaid of all things. How fucking stupid. Why not wish for freedom or power? No, she wanted a slimy tail and to hold her breath longer, ridiculous.

 

He had seen it coming, or at least he had considered the possibility. If she got a boon then he would have it on camera. He could offer a deal, immortality, hell, even a cure and he would release them. Simple. Yet the cameras had failed to work!

 

If he had their corpses at least he could potentially work with that. Except his mermaids had seemed unhindered by the pressure, this entire project was a waste based on a flawed number. He had some scientists to execute. The only thing that would quell the murderous rage building inside him, urging him to gnash and tear.

 

He pulled the drawer of his desk open, pulling the gun out of his harness before placing it inside with a thunk. He took another shot of whisky before standing and closing the computer.

 

“Come with me,” he ordered and stepped out of his office.

 

Mr. Jones obeyed. Talbot liked that. The way they eagerly marched to their deaths in the hope they would be spared or more. Talbot's men followed suit, he was ever more wary of them. The only people consistently around him. He saw their nervous twitches and moments of hesitations. Zealotry could only get one so far.

 

He led Mr. Jones through the Rig to the gardens. In the centre was his father’s prized fountain, one which depicted the scaly mermaid of his grandfather’s tales. Beautiful, half human, half fish, not whatever the hell he had found.

 

He knew his father was watching, he was always in this place. He stood in front of the statue taking a moment to appreciate its beauty, before he grabbed Mr. Jones by the collar and pushed him in.

 

His bad hand was unwilling to let him go but gravity did the rest. “No-no, please!”

 

Talbot smiled as he struggled in the water before he was violently pulled under. He did not return, moments later the water tinged red. Maybe his father would be sated for a little while at least.

 

He turned and headed back to his office. Stepping into the familiar space he poured another glass of whisky. Some of the tension was released from his body. Well, it wasn’t entirely his anymore, that was the problem.

 

All his plans dashed across the rocks. His mermaid at large. They could be anywhere by now. The ocean was a very big place and if depth didn’t matter… he only had one option. 

 

He walked past the aquarium to a large painting, yet another one of his father’s mermaid memorabilia. He pulled it, swinging it open to reveal a safe. Cliche he knew but he still appreciated the cleverness.

 

He entered the code, pressing his thumb to the scanner. The safe beeped and clicked open. He took the little jar, the only item inside the safe. Gently placing the jar on his desk he pulled out the mummified finger inside. His father’s human finger, the key to the vault.

 

He only had one option left out of desperation, no matter how sick it made him he needed his father's grimoire. Science had failed, his only option was to resort to forces beyond this world.