Aquata Cove Ch. 34

"Yes, we met once at the Dream Waltz, you had convinced me to sleep with you one occation."

"Yeah... Yeah, I rememba now," Jamal said, nodding, "But chu saw Merrick nekkid on the couch, and you baled."

"And there is a reason for that. I had to go and report on the update." Erin answered before turning to Merrick, "I'm going to have to ask you to come with us, Merrick."

"What? Why?" Merrick said as he took a step back.

"We are in investigation of the welfare of the ocean. Any information we can find is for the benefit of the sea."

"But why do you need me?" Merrick asked.

"We know what you are, Merrick." She said. Merrick gasped, "As I said, any information you can provide can help us better the ocean."

"Naw, I don't like this," Jamal said, "He's staying."

"We have a warrant to conscript Mr Piscien to the Agency," One of the men said as he pulled out a paper. "We're not leaving without him."

Jamal took the paper and glanced at it. He shook his head, and shook his head, "No, I ain't buyin this." He said, "I wanna speak to whoeva's in charge."

"We've done research on the residencts here," The other guard said, "I'm sure you don't need reminding about your probation, Mr Michaels." He said to Jamal.

"What'chu say??" Jamal said.

"You are currently entering the last month of your probation from your conviction of drug possession."

"Hey! I didn't do it already! My brotha tricked me into-"

"That's irrelevant." The guard said, "If you interfere with official business, we will press charges, and you will be in violation of your probation."

"Awhh, so is like that, huh?" Jamal snarled darkly, "Aight, lemme tell you somethin, if you think I give two shits about-"

"Jamal, no!" Merrick said as turned around, "Please, stop." He said as he looked up at his friend.

"Merrick... You wanna go with them?"

"Jamal... Adam told me what would happen if you were to break the laws of the land..." He shook his head, "They... They just want my help..." He said hesitantly. Something in his head is telling him not to go with these humans, but he knows that if he doesn't Jamal will defend him on every ground... And from what these humans are saying, they'll lock him away just for helping.

"Merrick, you don't need to do this, man..." He said, "I don't trust these people."

"Jamal... Just... I'll be back soon..." He said. Merrick turned away, and faced Erin and the guards. "I'll go with you. Just leave these humans, the ones that live here be." He requested.

"We appreciate your cooperation." Erin said, "Just step this way." She said as Merrick followed them to the black van. Jamal breathed deeply, feeling a mixture of confusion, worry, and guilt as he watches the merman get escorted to the vehicle.

His gut is telling him he's going to regret letting Merrick go off like this...

~~~

"So he came without a fuss, huh?" A man of his 60's said as he walked down the hall with the bodyguard that was at the beach. He wears square glasses for his eyes, his scalp glinted in the lamp lights of the hallway, wearing a formal business suit.

"Yes. He was reluctant at first, but once we stated the first measure, he stepped in and willingly came along.

"The one about Jamal Micheals' probation? And you didn't need to resort the warrant we had for their other roommate, Miss Umiyama?"

"No, sir," The guard reported as he opened the folder, containing the documents for Jamal's criminal record - which looked very clean except for what happened with him and his brother. He moved Jamal's file back, and looked at Yuri's file, which contained the report of her father's motorboat in restricted waters during an oil spill.

"Good. Glad we didn't need ALL the blackmail." He said nonchalant as they arrived at a door. "So that's the merman, eh..." He said. As he peered through the round window of the door, seeing the young blonde male sitting at a table, wearing a clean, white jumpsuit. The guard scoffed very slightly.

"Do you really think there's such things as merfolk, sir?"

"You've seen the evidence yourself, sport." The older man said, "The documentaries, and the bodies..."

"I'm still skeptical sir."

"Course you are..." The man said, "You've only been here a week." The man said, "Lets just hope this goes as smoothly... For his sake."

The guard blinked awkwardly, "Sir?" The man turned to him, with a grim look on his face.

"Let's just say we're running on rushed schedule..." With that cryptic remark, the man pushed the door open, and stepped in. Merrick looked up at the man as he entered. He pulled the chair on the other side of the table before sitting back down.

"Hello, Mr Piscien. Or would you prefer if I called you 'Merrick'?"

"My name is fine," The blonde replied, "And do I HAVE to wear this thing?" He plucked at his jumpsuit, "I'm not accustomed to this sort of... Material." He said.

"Rules and regulations, son. You'll get used to it" Merrick gave a scowl at that, "Now... Does Piscien mean anything, by any chance?" He asked. Merrick looked at him with a glance of friction.

"How do you even know of that word?" He asked. The man chuckled.

"We're getting ahead of ourselves. My name is Nigel Quinlan. I'm the head boss around here. And please, don't look at me like that," Nigel said with a smile, "I want to be your friend."

"So... You're in charge with helping the ocean?" Merrick asked. Nigel chuckled a huff, before putting on hand over the other, propping his elbows on the table, and putting his chin on his hands.

"In a matter of speaking."

"And what does THAT mean?"

"This facility in particular researches new and undiscovered animals of the ocean. We learn their biology, their anatomy, how they function, and how they influence the ocean."

"And what does that have to do with me?" Merrick asked.

"Heh heh heh." Nigel raised a brow, "Do you REALLY need to ask?" Merrick sighed, as Nigel reached into his coat, and withdrew three photographs. He laid them out for Merrick to see. One was of a beachhouse with a driftwood wall, with Adam carrying a naked Merrick over off the rock. The next one was Merrick laughing, wearing a white fishnet tanktop and white jersey shorts on a dock, and the third is of a blue and silver merman, laying down upon a rock over at Aquata Cove's waterfall, "We've been tracing you for a long time, Merrick."

Merrick stares at the three pictures - a cold heat played across his face as a dark chill fluttered about his body. His arms shook as he sat still, just looking at these photos. He glared up at Nigel with defensive eyes - there's only one thing he can perceive that could have taken these pictures, "Are you the government? Adam told me of you - you're the all-controlling power that humans bow to without choice. You group of humans do all you want without concern of the people."

"Hahahaha, not exactly, Merrick," Nigel said, "Agency of Oceanic Research-" A small beeping rang out from the man's coat, "Oh, excuse me," He took out his phone, and put it to his ear, "Yes?" Merrick focused in, but he can't detect a thing that device may be giving, "... Alright, that's good... Carry on." He closed his phone, and put it in his pocket.

"What was that?" Merrick asked.

"Just maintenance check, it's nothing," Nigel said, "Now, where was I?"

"You were laughing at me," Merrick said, "And you said you WEREN'T the government."

"Ah yes. You see, we're only a BRANCH of government, not the whole house. While the government as a whole runs the nation, branches like the AOR runs different areas, such as research, preservation of environment, etc, take priority over the fields we represent. You understand?"

"Bits and pieces." Merrick answered.

"That's fine. You don't need to, it's too much of a bloodsport anyway," Nigel dismissed, "Now, lemme tell you about myself. I studied in the field of Cryptozoology, in terms of the ocean. Know what that means?" Merrick shook his head, his eyes still locked onto Nigel's glasses, "Cryptozoology is the study of the existence of extremely rare, or otherwise mythical creatures. It's not exactly what you would call a successful business, so I also had to take up Marine Biology to get anywhere."

"Adam has told me about mythical creatures, but I don't know much of anything about them." He said. Nigel chuckled warmly.

"Heheheh, that's alright, that's alright, that's not what I want to ask you," Nigel scratched his chin, "Who's this Adam? You mention him a lot, is he your human escort?"

"No." Merrick said. He can't explain why, but he feels a growing lack of respect for this man, "He is my mate, what you humans would call my boyfriend."

"Really?" Nigel said as he raised a brow, "So merfolk mate with humans?"

"... Only a few, I imagine."

"Yes, of course," Nigel said.

"So why do you need me here?" Merrick asked, "The humans who brought me here told me I was to help with healing the ocean."

"Heh," Nigel put his hands down, "Yeah, but I brought you here for a different reason...

"Merrick, I would like to know all you can teach me about merfolk."

Merrick felt his heart jolt, his eyes widen slightly as he said that, "Why? Why do you want to learn about merfolk?"

"Well, our ocean is dying," Nigel said, "You should know that better than anyone, right?"

"I wouldn't say the sea is dying, but it can be better..."

"And we humans," Nigel said, "We are continually making progress, we make good relations with people of other nations, across the world. We trade goods and services, and make broader horizons for human society."

"Do you?" Merrick said, "Adam told me you humans are always at war with each other. You don't make friends with each other, you dominate other humans to connect. And as for the ocean - As I said, it's not exactly dying, but it's not in good shape either, at least not the waters that are connected to human settlements." Merrick said, "You humans are the ones hurting the sea."

"Hmph," Nigel gave a curt smile, "You got me there. But we learn from our mistakes, and we improve on where we messed up. Conflict and resolution is how we evolve and grow up."

"Alright, but why do you need me?" Merrick asked, "Despite your mistakes, you humans are already capable of such magnificent things in your world. You achieve and create things us merfolk can never even imagine."

"Well, Merrick, it comes down to a simple query: How do you think we get so far?" He asked. Merrick didn't answer, "Because we learn. The more we learn, the smarter we become. The smarter we are, we become more knowledgeable as to how and where to improve, make progress, create a brighter future. Do you understand, Merrick?"

"Why not leave the ocean be, then?" Merrick asked, "The sea is a whole other world on its own, and all you humans do is make it sick. If you're going to help it, then clean up your own messes, and stay away from it."

"I must say, I don't particularly care for your attitude, Merrick," Nigel said sternly, "I have done nothing to hurt you yet, have I?" Merrick took a deep breath, and exhaled, still leering coldly at Nigel, "Now if we were to create relations with merfolk, your kind can teach us how we may learn from our mistakes. We will learn much more about the ocean and how to care for it. But we need YOUR help, Merrick. YOU alone can help shape the future of both humans and merfolk alike." Merrick felt a surge of anger from this man's words. His eyes and his voice just don't match up.

"... No."

"No?" Nigel furrowed his brow. "You are not going to help us?"

"No, I am not." Merrick asked, "What you're saying would make sense, but that's not the reason you want me to teach you."

"Oh no?" Nigel said.

"Your eyes are looking at me like a meal," Merrick said, "You say you want to establish relations for merfolk and humans for the greater good, but I see only avarice and conceit behind those glasses. I don't know what motive you have, but I don't like or trust anything you have to say."

There came a pause where they just sat there and glared at each other for several minutes. "... You don't, huh?" Nigel said as he stood up from the chair, walked around the table, and leaned down, coming inches away from Merrick's face, both of them sending daggers to the other.

"Well, you can trust this, Piscien," Nigel began, "I don't have time to play around here. I have spent more years than you will ever know wrapped around your kind, and I did not wait this long for an ignorant fish to tell me 'No'."

"No." Merrick scowled.

"Hmph. You think you're funny, don't ya?" The old man said, "Well laugh at this then: If you don't cooperate with me, I will do whatever I see fit to get some answers."

"I'm not telling you one single thing." Merrick said, "And you will let me out of this place."

"Merrick..." Nigel said as he stood back up, and put held his hands behind his back casually, "I would still like to be your friend, but I have no problem on being the bad guy here," He said as he leered down, "You are not leaving anytime soon, so I-"

"What?!" Merrick stood up, making the chair behind him topple, "You CAN'T keep me here!"

"SO I SUGGEST," Nigel said, raising his voice, "You make this easy for yourself. You can teach me all you know to me and walk out free by the evening, or you can refuse to talk, and I can make your life a living hell."

"You're a monster." Merrick hissed.

"And you," Nigel said, "Are going nowhere."

~~~

*CLICK*

*CHINK*

Guards are snapping metal cuffs onto Merrick's wrists, and ankles. Nigel stands there as Merrick yanks at the chains, not able to walk or crawl more than a few feet in his plain white cell - a white corner sealed in a bulletproof sliding door, with two large transparent orbs.

"Now, one last time before I go," Nigel said as he looked down at the humanoid merman, "Will you teach me your culture, or not?"

"You will get NOTHING from me!" Merrick answered.

"You're making this harder than it needs to be," Nigel said, "You're not leaving, and no one is coming to get you." Merrick scowled hatefully at him, "Think about Adam." Merrick made to get at Nigel, but his chains snapped straight after a 10 inches, "He's going to come home, wondering where you are, and he will have no idea where you went off to."

"Shut up!" Merrick shouted, "He'll find me! My Adam WILL find me! He found me when I was dying in the Blood of the Earth, and he'll find me chained up here!"

"Then by all means," Nigel said, "Call him over," A curt smile appeared on his face, maybe he can get you to act like a good fish. Nigel turned around and walked out, with the guards following suit.

Merrick gritted his teeth as he yanked at the chains.

*Tck*

Suddenly, a bright light blared in his cell, "Ah!" Merrick closed his eyes and cringed. He grunted as the light felt... Hot. It feels just like sunlight. It feels nice right now, if a tad strong.

Is this how that man is going to coax answers out of him? Captured light? Merrick smirked at the thought. He'll have to do better than this...

~~~

Erin walks down the hall, carrying some files of paperwork. She sees Nigel walking out of a door, just as she reaches him, "Oh, Mr Quinlan. Where you successful?" She asked. Nigel paused for a second before answering.

"He'll need some persuading, so we're keeping him here for a while."

"What?" Erin blinked, "Sir, I... I thought we were taking him back to his home tonight."

"Yes, but I get the feeling that he'll warm up to cooperating if we give him sometime."

"... Yessir." Erin said, "Understood, sir."

"Nothing to worry about. Trust me, Miss Connaly."