Exploration

Slipping down into the aquarium was akin to her suddenly discovering heaven. From an acceptable yet empty home to a small, cramped box, to now this... It was a truly mind-opening experience for the newborn mermaid.

She felt... free. Far freer than she had ever been in her admittedly short and very limited life. She paused for a moment after entering into her new home, taking in all the new sights and smells.

She felt something brush past her, causing her to swirl as she tried to find the offender. A small fish darted away from her, and while she didn't know if it had been the one she was looking for, she didn't really care as she darted after it.

Unfortunately, despite being far faster and more agile than any land-dweller could ever hope to be in the water, she was still too inexperienced to catch such a slippery little thing. Ten minutes later, she was forced to give up her chase.

Dejected at not having been able to catch the small moving meal, she decided to go back to her earlier project: exploration.

There were hundreds, if not thousands, of diverse marine creatures swimming around the aquarium, and the space within was at least a thousand times bigger than her first home. The small corals at the bottom seemed especially attractive to her, and thus, she swam over to them.

She gently touched them, feeling them up curiously and even going so far as to take a small bite out of them, finding them to be rather crunchy. Not too bad, but since there were better options, she ignored them for the moment.

She swam all along the wide bottom, sniffing and looking around for anything interesting. There were plenty of unmoving creatures around, and since they lacked the ability to avoid her childish curiosity, quite a few of them ended up either missing a bite-sized piece of themselves, or even outright vanishing into her stomach.

After enjoying all the new and exciting tastes, the honorable title of being her favorite dish going to a sea cucumber, which she had quite enjoyed.

She let out a yawn, tired after hours of exploration. Although the aquarium came nowhere close to the size of an actual reef, or even a small beach, it was still quite big to the newborn mermaid, and it truly felt like a home now.

However, instead of going straight to sleep, a strange instinct within drove her to keep looking, to find a place she could truly call her own. She heeded this instinct, digging around the floor for something she liked.

She found it, eventually. A small cave surrounded by rocks and corals with an entrance that easily let her pass through, but not large enough for anything her instinct would deem threatening to do the same.

Within it was a soft layer of moss and algae, and she immediately loved it. She gently layered all the marine vegetation within into a soft bed, and after she was satisfied, she curled up on top of it.

Within moments, she was asleep, her dreams now much more diverse than her previous blank ones as she conjured up images of vast reefs and plentiful animals for her to eat and play with.

Just like the happily dreaming mermaid, Marcus was also extremely tired. Unfortunately for him, though, duty called, and he was far too professional and high-ranking to allow such a measly thing like regular sleep schedules to hold him back from completing his work.

Sighing, the man rested his knees on the table in front of him and put his face between his hands, rubbing his aching temples. His office was good, amazing even, but unfortunately, he was already starting to regret accepting the boss' offer.

Despite it having been less than a day since the mermaid's transfer, he was already practically drowning in work. Mails, paperwork, interviews, meetings, hiring people... There was just so much stuff that he needed to do, and unfortunately, he had no one to delegate the more trivial parts of it.

He allowed himself a minute or two of resting before forcing himself to once more pick up the pen and start signing. He'd been trying to find a balance for his budget, which was thankfully quite large.

Still, between hiring all the professionals he would need in the coming months, maintenance for the mermaid's aquarium, medical testing and procedures... It was tough work. Still, he'd prepared for his position well and he had plenty of prior experience, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

Two hours later, he finally finished the last of the important pieces of work he needed to do. Putting away his computer, he relaxed into his chair, finally allowing his mind to rest for the moment.

Idly, he turned his head to the side, staring at the small screen showcasing several different images. They all showed images of the aquarium's current situation, with fish and other animals going around and doing their own thing. However, he ignored those, instead focusing on one specific image.

It showed a young mermaid serenely sleeping over a pile of seaweed and corals, her tail occasionally jerking a bit, as though mimicking her usual swimming strokes. It was a cute sight, and while Marcus had little sympathy for mutants, even he found himself smiling slightly at the sight.

Blaming the child for the parent's mistakes had always been a human flaw, as could be seen through history. Marcus wasn't one of the most extreme mutant haters out there, but even he had to admit that it felt uncomfortable combining the image of this cute little sleeping mutant with his own image of savage, bloodthirsty mutants.

It was unfortunate that his job was to do exactly that. Transform cuteness into savagery, kindness into deadliness.

Oh well, he could deal with it. Ripping his eyes away from the screen, he decided that he could afford sleeping for half a dozen hours or more. Surely, the world wouldn't fall apart if he did, right?

After mulling over that question for a bit, he changed his mind. Grabbing some pills from a hidden pocket in his coat, he threw them down his throat. They tasted like crap, but at least they served to beat back the exhaustion.

Sighing with relief, he once more took out his laptop and began typing away, sending messages and mails as well as plenty of other things. He wanted to have everyone and everything prepared by the end of the week, which was only 3 days away.

The mermaid could take the time off during that time, he supposed, but he still wanted to at least be there for her. It wasn't really done out of concern for her, but more for the worry that she would pick up bad habits or forget his lessons.

After finishing making an extremely work-heavy schedule, he finally dragged himself over to the small bed in a nearby room and practically collapsed on it, barely remembering to take the time to set an alarm to wake him 8 hours later. Finally, he too slipped into dreamland, joining the mermaid as well as most everyone else in the compound.