She stood quietly in front of the towering aquatic tank, an ant in front of the monstrous jellyfish held inside. It was to be an inspiration for her boss's new masterpiece, and so there she stood, prepared to take notes on every movement. It was much bigger than any jellyfish she had ever seen, and she had been to quite the number of aquariums and museums. Fossils of tigers, deer, and even the once-common squirrels... none of them compared to the beauty above her.

The jellyfish seemed to be pulsing with life as it slowly danced its way around the tank. Jennifer watched on, entranced by the artificial ripples and bubbles it made, as if it were singing her a song. A gigantic mass of brilliant pink contrasted with dark scarlet wrapped around its body, as if it were wearing a ribboned dress of cells and tissue.

"Jennifer, are you done yet? Hurry up!" A cacophonous noise suddenly ripped through the enchanting silence.

The girl sharply turned her head and cried, "Sorry, I'm coming!" With that, the new intern left the scene, the jellyfish still rhythmically moving behind her.

"What on Earth was taking you so long?" her manager impatiently asked, pushing up her glasses as she jerked Jennifer's notepad towards her.

Jennifer grimaced as the woman scrolled through the screen, and could only watch as her manager's face turned darker and darker. A sketch of the jellyfish itself. "What is this, still-life practice?" A drawing of a woman surrounded by jellyfish in the tank. "Boring, boring! He's asking for creativity here!" A cartoonish depiction of a jellyfish singing. "... have you been paying any attention? The work is centered around- '' And finally, when the woman flipped to the last drawing, she stopped screaming, simply staring at it in satisfaction. It was of a woman in a jellyfish-inspired dress, alone in the vast tank, with nothing around her but water.

Her manager tapped the notepad, and with a little nod, said, "As I was saying, centered around a human and the idea of the jellyfish. The dress, I like it. It's still too simple though, the rhetoric should be expanded upon, got it?"

Jennifer brightened up, and excitedly replied, "Got it! Thank you!"

With a smile, the manager then mentioned, "You'll be getting a first hand tour of some of his works tonight. There's a little room next to mine in the studio, you can work there."

"Thank you so much, really, for your time! Is there, uh, anything I should keep in mind?"

"Well," the woman mused, "Be polite and show them what a Hubra graduate is capable of. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity!"

"Of course! Thank you!"

The first thing Jennifer thought of when she stepped into the art gallery was simply one word: "unbelievable". Unbelievable was the size of each exhibition, casting long, dark shadows over the gleaming marble floor. There were bronze statues of modern representations of ancient centaurs, oil paintings of man and animal intertwined in a bloody, jaw vs. dagger fight, and even taxidermies of dogs and paper-mache humans stitched together. There was a fragile liberty in each of these works- daring to dream what biologists and historians could not, and satisfying child-like fascination with realistic, yet fantastical creatures.

"Incredible, aren't they?"

Jennifer jolted at the sudden voice, and upon seeing a man in the studio's uniform, immediately explained, "Oh my god, I'm sorry, I didn't notice you there!"

Upon hearing the nervousness in her voice, the man lightheartedly laughed.

"No problem! Actually, really, I should apologize for spooking you like that. The rest of the interns are further inside...," the man then gestured towards the end of the hallway. "Shall we?"

While she and the senior walked towards the rest of the group, Jennifer's heart pounded, intensely debating whether or not she should introduce herself first to him. But he didn't introduce himself (he will do that with the rest of the group, of course), so should she speak up? Or shouldn't she? Before she could convince herself of a choice, the two of them had already arrived.

There at the end of the hallway, was a group of five other interns. Some were smiling and some not, some dressed casual and others in gold twirled spider-silk, but regardless of their appearance, each person had a gleam of ambition and passion in their eyes. As the day went on, the tour guide continued pointing out and explaining increasingly impressive and intricate artworks. Jennifer wasn't sure if those analyses were truly the creator's intentions, or if they were the tour guide's vivid interpretations. Nevertheless, the interns chimed in, and so did Jennifer, laughing and loving the in-betweens of humans and animals, of art and science, and of reality and fantasy.

By the end of the tour, when Jennifer was ready to go home, she finally finished her thought.

"Unbelievable, was the inexplicable nature of humanity."

After that, Jennifer and the rest of the interns began to focus on their own mentored projects. They were probably all excited, at least Jennifer was, to help and actually contribute to the mind of the famous painter. Her project was titled "Jellyfish", and was going to be inspired by the mammoth, man-made jellyfish, Ethel. There were a few requirements: the piece had to involve a human, have a connection with Ethel, and had to be in a tank. After getting affirmation from her manager, Jennifer started to work on not only the dress, but the presentation of the piece. She had imagined "Jellyfish" as a statue of a woman in a tank, arms poised in a dance, her ribboned ballroom dress resembling that of a breathing jellyfish. After numerous sketches and papers torn from her notebook, crumpled ideas scattered about on the floor and her desk, she finally drew out the finished draft. Now, it was time to create it.

Holding her head high, Jennifer walked over to her manager's office, knocking before being let in. An attendant was there, and upon seeing her, offered: "Tea?"

Jennifer raised her hand, ready to deny the cup, but upon seeing the smile in the attendant's eyes, accepted it. "Thank you!" she said, sipping the hot, soothing Earl Grey. After casual greetings with her manager, she then submitted her sketch in satisfied spirits.

"Wonderful, Jennifer," her manager proudly said, "Now, I recommend you work on the dress. The team and I can help you along the way, and we'll do the statue of the woman. After that, of course, you'll still have to help us assemble!" She then winked over at Jennifer. "If you need anything else, feel free to do as you did just now, and just knock! I'll be here."

"Thank you! I just have one question, where can I find the supplies for the dress?"

"Oh my god, did I forget to tell you all along? You can find it in our storage room A-32, but if you want to find anything specific, just enter it into your screen, and a helper will send your request to your office!"

After thanking her once again, Jennifer returned to her working space. Throughout the next few months, the mannequin in her office became more and more adorned, as she sewed ribbons and layers onto the dress. Her schedule was repetitive yet fruitful. At the start of every week she would work on hand-sewing the dress or any other details, and by the end of the week, she would go to the mandatory meeting with her manager, drink tea, and happily chatted about her progress. Suggestions would arise, Jennifer would look forward to improving her dress, and when the helper delivered her materials with the consistent "Be-ep!", she knew the week would start again.

Like this, at the end of the tiring but worthwhile few months, Jennifer had finished her dress. And right on time too, as the one week break for all interns arrived. After that, it would be time for the assembly of their pieces.

It was well-known that the famous artist's pieces were always hand-crafted, as if he looked down upon the last centuries' worth of technological advancements. Of course, time was money, and his artworks were ever-the-more expensive. Presumably, he was happy to have the luxury of doing what he loved, and the people loved seeing perfect imperfection.

There was another thing that only the insiders knew about his pieces. Jennifer softly chuckled as she stared at her dress. Each human statue was created in the likeness of the designer, and so her dress, the beauty that it was, could perfectly fit on her. However, a sudden yell interrupted her thoughts.

"Excuse me, miss, the building is closing soon!" an attendant knocked on her door, as the lights in the studio began to dim. "You ought to be leaving early! It's break, y'know, practically everyone has already left!"

"Oh, alright, give me a bit of time to pack!"

With a "mhm" in response, the attendant left.

Jennifer sighed, and as she began to pack her notebook and pencils and everything else, her eyes trailed back onto the dress. Her creation. And like that, she suddenly had the urge to put it on, and like the woman in her sketch, to dance. She imagined the crowd around her as she twirled and spun in the tank, as they respected and loved her, as she did to Ethel. They clapped and cheered while her dress sparkled in the soft light through the water, like a jellyfish.

The beautiful thoughts got to Jennifer, and she took out one of her old discarded versions of the dress to put on. It was meant to be a replacement base, just in case she messed up. Even without any adornments or layers, this dress still resembled a jellyfish the way it floated as she moved around, a testimony to Jennifer's hard-work and skill. It was plain, but the plainness added something special to the dress that Jennifer couldn't describe. In any case, the velvet smoothness was soft and plush in her fingers. It's beautiful in its own way, Jennifer thought. I like it. She took off her coat and skirt, and put the dress on, slowly twirling in her office to comforting, jazzy tunes in her head.

Soon, she pushed her office door open, and after looking back and forth down the hallways, sneaked into the art gallery. With just lights near the floor of the wall, each massive artwork could just barely be made out in the darkness. The red of the blood in the paintings and the faces of the creatures and humans seemed to shine ever brighter, though, in the beauty of the shadows. Jennifer shivered a little, and after taking a deep breath and relaxing her shoulders, her fascination for the art began to outshine her fear of the dark.

There was no one in the gallery besides the girl in the dress and the artworks surrounding her. Jennifer began to hum a small melody, and once again, began to dance under the gaze of those still faces in the dark. As the songs in her head grew louder, and the love in her heart grew stronger, her steps on the marble floor became all the more frenzied, as she twirled and spun like she had never danced before. Out of breath, she laughed, thinking that she had gotten weaker than before. It was probably due to exercise, and without a second thought, Jennifer began to dance yet again, like it was life or death, and as the rhythms echoed to the sound of her footsteps, so too did one thought: "I'm alive."

And suddenly! Jennifer tripped, and her heart seemed to stop. Her eyes grew wide, her hands flailing about trying to reach anything to stop her fall. She grabbed something, but to her shock, it crumbled apart, and she crashed into the ground.

With some pain, Jennifer managed a grunt, and slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she looked at were her hands, and upon relaxing her fists, there it was- bits and pieces of paper mache. Oh god. Jennifer thought, as her worst fears came true. She had just destroyed one of the most prized pieces in the world. And as she looked up at the statue, her heart rapidly began beating again and her chest began painfully tightening. Her eyes widened in intense doubt and fear, as beads of sweat started to form on her forehead. What is that? What is that? Because in the statue, hidden behind the paper mache mask, there it was: a human skull.

She couldn't scream. She felt the darkness eating her flesh and creeping into her body. She felt the eyes of the paintings and statues behind her, quietly, patiently, watching her next move. They were going to kill her. The paper mache statue was made out of a human. They were going to kill her. She gasped for air, straining her throat as she tried her best to breathe. She couldn't scream.

And suddenly, before she could turn her head around, her vision went dark. The last thing she saw was the gleaming bone in the statue in front of her. The last thing she heard were heavy footsteps.

When Jennifer awoke, she slowly opened her eyes to ripples and gleaming lights above her. Her simple, velvet dress floated around her body, and she watched, entranced, as the translucent bubbles left her mouth and floated to the surface above. There were a multitude of different blurry noises in the background, and if she focused, she could make out different voices and whispers. She tried moving her arms and getting away from the noises, but her arms didn't move. Her body didn't move. Her body couldn't move!

The noises immediately quieted down, as she heard steps echoing behind her. Then, a thump to a microphone.

"Thank you for waiting, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the show. I would like to present my next masterpiece. In an enormous tank, this one represents a creature symbolizing beauty and tantalizing passion."

Jennifer then heard an abrupt clap.

And suddenly, she opened her mouth and shrieked as electricity coursed through her entire body, piercing through her skin, her flesh, her bone. Her eyes rolled back, and her body twisted in an inhumane nature as her feet were hoisted towards the surface, while her long hair trailed below, like tentacles. Her skin peeled away, charred and blistering, as the gleam in her eyes lifelessly drifted away. But the dress seemed unbothered, beautifully glistering and floating on her figure, like the body of a jellyfish.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, Jellyfish."