Chapter 7
Seven
Proteus
It was strange to be awake. Even stranger to have companions such as a human clone and a droid who rarely seemed to stop talking.
Pilot was not kind to the woman. The droid's quips were clearly meant to be cutting, but she took them all in stride.
In fact, she just seemed happy to be awake and not back in that pod.
That was something he could agree with. Even being in the facility was too stifling for him after centuries of imprisonment.
Proteus made a point of going out into the ocean every time he had a chance so he could breathe.
This square wasn't big enough for him. He needed the entire ocean, the whole of it, to feel like he was still alive.
Swimming through the waters, free as he hadn't been in so many years, that was what mattered.
Hunting through the depths, feeling the goddess of the sea guiding him toward hunting grounds that would challenge him, make him stronger, that was what he had missed most during his imprisonment.
And now he could do it all and more if he wished.
Now, he had to return to the facility. The two of his companions were capable creatures, but he knew very well that they couldn't be left alone.
Pilot wasn't one he trusted all that much.
The droid had proven to be unhelpful so far.
And the woman? She was not one that he would trust as far as she could swim.
Which wasn't very far at all. He'd seen her watching the water with fear in her pale eyes. He was quite certain she didn't know how to swim at all.
Sticking his head up into the hatch, he watched her as she moved in front of the screens.
He had to compliment whoever had trained her, because she was wonderfully efficient.
Her attention was always on the work in front of her, and he could see her lips moving as she read.
Then she'd start typing, making sure that every single word was correct. She was quick, and she wanted to help.
What he didn't understand was why. There were a lot of reasons for her not to trust what was happening around her.
Even more reasons for her to refuse to help.
Perhaps it would even be safer for her in the long run to go back into that pod and pretend nothing was happening.
That was the gift she could give herself.
But she wasn't doing any of that. He needed to understand her reasoning.
Pulling himself out of the water, he ignored the rush of liquid that covered the floors immediately. The drains turned on, and the loud noise interrupted any secrecy he might have once had. He didn't even wince this time, though. Perhaps he was getting used to the overabundance of sound.
She spun around, her eyes wide until she realized it was him. And even then, she didn't relax.
"You're back," she said.
"I am. Are you disappointed?" He grinned, knowing his teeth were on full display.
Proteus so enjoyed the tiny shudder that ran through her at the sight of his teeth. He'd figured out very quickly that they made her uncomfortable, and they should. He was a predator who was watching her as though the tiny bones in her hands would pick his teeth clean very easily.
She turned back to the screens. But not before he saw her shudder with shock and fear.
"We've been deciphering the messages left by the droids.
They are not only hiding messages in binary code that only a human can read, but said messages are a riddle.
We're trying to understand what they meant, but someone went to extreme lengths to hide this place.
They didn't want the power turned back on. "
"And yet, we will make sure that the power is on. Or are you incapable of figuring this out?"
The last sentence was full of meaning that he knew she would hear. If she wasn't capable of it, then he would dispose of her. This was the only reason she was still alive, after all. He didn't need to keep her around for any other reason.
Her throat bobbed in a gulp before she nodded. "I believe we're working toward understanding their message."
Pilot clambered from the other side toward them, its metal legs clacking against certain keys as it went. The screens turned on to show an old video from the cavern where he wished to go. For a moment, he saw it in all its glory.
Massive tracks of water moved up and down the wall, levels and tiers of undines moving through them to head over to other rooms where they could speak with scientists and give their opinions of what they were researching.
Lights glimmered from the ceiling, and there were so many tanks of creatures that were being reviewed by the greatest minds in this realm, not just the humans who had discovered them.
In the blink of an eye, he was there again. He was a towering god who had made it nearly impossible for anyone to move around him without fear. He had been the terror that kept all of it moving.
Of course, there was also the wealthy man who had kept them paid. But that man had simpered at his feet, begging for an ounce of Proteus's attention, as all the humans should have done long ago.
Now, look at what he had.
A woman in a black suit that was so plastered to her skin he could see her heart beating in her stomach. A droid that had seen better days and was so rust-covered it was a marvel it could move at all. And an abandoned facility that couldn't even turn the locations on that he needed to be turned on.
Sighing, he waved to the screens. "Yes, I have seen this before, Pilot."
"Look closer. They made sure that the videos were encrypted, but now we can see the destruction was not by time. But by choice."
Proteus crawled forward, pulling himself toward the screens so he could watch the details.
And yes, the droid was right. They were turning off all the important pieces that had made that facility so great.
The tiny scientists were draining the tanks, destroying all the pieces of proof that they had been working on for years. Even the specimens were incinerated.
"Why would they do that?" he murmured, lifting a claw to tap against the screen. "It makes no sense for them to destroy everything they worked so hard on."
Pilot clicked a few more buttons, and the images disappeared. "I do not know. There are more encrypted videos, but it will take me a while to break through the passwords and codes that are preventing us from seeing them."
"Do that quickly, then."
"I will need to go into stasis to do so."
"I don't care, droid."
Pilot still hesitated, though. He was looking at the woman as though waiting for her permission, or... no.
Proteus picked the droid up, hanging him in the air like he had the first time he'd met it. "Are you worried about the safety of the clone?"
"I think the two of you are dangerous to leave alone.
I am not a maintenance droid. If this room is covered in blood, there is nothing I can do about it, and I need the servers to remain clean and pristine for us to continue our work.
" It didn't struggle this time. Limp in Proteus's hands, he had to wonder if this was a ploy.
The droid wanted all of Proteus's attention on him.
Snorting, he dropped the creature to the floor and rolled his eyes. "I have no interest in bothering her. She still has use. You have my word she will be alive when you return from your stasis, Pilot."
The droid took that as good enough. It rolled up into a ball, wheeled itself into a corner, and then appeared to become a rock while it worked on decoding all the information they would need.
The problem was that left a strange silence in the room that was as awkward as it was eerie.
She had sat down in a chair that he hadn't realized was in this room.
But every time she leaned closer to look at a screen, it squeaked.
The sound grated on his nerves as much as the quiet.
Wasn't she going to say something? Anything?
Another creak of her leaning forward, peering at the screen and ignoring him. He hated that. How could she sit there and pretend a sea monster wasn't right behind her?
"You seem to have no fear," he murmured as he headed toward his own screen. If she wanted to be so apt at ignoring him, he could do the same thing. Proteus knew how to use these computers too.
"I don't know what I would be frightened of."
"That I kill you."
Wasn't that obvious? And she had been lying. She had plenty of fear. He could smell it on her at all times, it seemed. She was an incredibly flinchy creature who seemed to always be watching him out of the corner of her eye.
She shrugged. "I suppose there's not much to fear when you're not alive. I'd like to stay here and keep experiencing everything that other people get to experience. But at the end of the day, I know what I am."
"What are you?"
"A doll. A creation that was made to serve, and if I cannot serve, then it makes sense to remove me." She shook her head, still not looking at him, but at the screen in front of her. "I've never really been alive, anyway. It's hard to mourn a death when you've never actually lived."
That was... odd. And wrong.
Frowning, he turned away from his computer and shifted his tail close enough to spin her chair. She was forced to look at him, which was clearly uncomfortable for her. Her face turned red, and she stared at him with wide, insulted eyes.
"What?" she asked. "I'm working on what you asked me to work on. If you keep distracting me, then nothing will get done."
"Why do you believe you are not alive?"
"Because I am a clone."
"You are breathing, are you not? You can feel your heart beating in your chest. I watched you come back alive from that pod, and I know you had woken up before meeting me. You have existed for a very long time, woman. That does not make you less human."
She winced at his words. "But I am still a clone. Even you admit that, great sea god that you are. I am a copy of someone who once existed. Trust me, I never forget that she was here before me."
He was at a loss for words. Someone had failed this woman thoroughly. She did not understand that even if she was a copy, that didn't make her less of a person.
"You have experienced things she did not. You are not her." He frowned, knowing that he was botching this. "You deserve to live just as much as she did. You are a person all on your own, and saying that you aren't is denying the fact that you live and breathe right now."
She stared up at him, confused by what he was saying. "I hear your words, sea god. But you are wrong."
And then she tried to turn her chair back to the screen. Dismissing him.
Him.
Proteus snarled and forced her chair back toward him so quickly that her hair flew in front of her face. Those dark strands obscured his view of her flashing eyes for a brief moment before she glared up at him. "You are preventing my work from being completed," she said.
"This feels important. What kind of god would I be if I didn't remind you how mortal you are?"
He loomed above her, reaching forward with his elongated fingers to wrap them around her tiny throat.
It was so easy for him to lift her out of the chair by her neck.
She weighed next to nothing in his grip, although he could tell she was a solid woman who was likely not used to someone even thinking that.
"Humans are weak," he snarled, bringing her closer to the wide open maw of his mouth.
"You think because you have been living only in small spurts in this world that you are not alive?
If I snap your neck, you will stop breathing.
If I plunge my claws into your chest, that racing heart of yours will no longer beat.
If I tear into your flesh with my teeth, you will feel pain.
Trust me when I tell you, Ellie, you are very much alive.
Don't ask me to prove it to you in your final moments. "
As he dropped her back onto the chair, he watched her breathing hard and grabbing her throat. He'd likely made her sore with that, although he had been trying to be at least somewhat gentle.
But then, a small smile crossed her face. It was pretty. Innocent. One that he hadn't thought she would wear on her face after he had threatened to kill her.
"Thank you for reminding me that I am perhaps alive after all." Her fingers still ghosted over her neck.
It didn't feel quite right. Yes, she was agreeing to being alive, and that was progress.
But he had a feeling it was in response to pain, which wasn't healthy either.
He might be a terrifying god of the sea, but he wasn't heartless.
Proteus had always seen the humans as weaker than him. They were creatures to pity.
She was perhaps one of the most pitiful he had ever met.
Ellie leaned back in her chair and asked, "May I return to my work?"
"If you want to." But even that didn’t feel right. A strange voice in his head didn't want her to be forced to do anything. He needed her help, of course. She would do what he told her to do. But a part of him whispered that she was akin to him.
He had the sea to explore. Freedom whispered through the waves as they caressed through his gills and over his scales. He'd only had a few days out of his prison and already he felt better stretching his limbs. What did she have? A bigger box than the one she'd been in before.
"If you would like to be released from your work today, you can be." He cleared his throat. "I can work on something else while you are... resting."
Her face immediately paled. "You want me to return to my simulation?"
"No. I'm just saying if you want to do something other than this, you should." He waved a hand. "Do whatever you want."
The tension in her eased. "So you don't want me to go back to sleep?"
He gave her an odd look. “You are inconsequential to me. I do not care what you do.”
The relief that flowed through her body at his words made him feel worse, somehow.
But she nodded and turned back to the computer.
This time, he could see she wasn't working on the same code she'd been before.
She was doing something else, although he couldn't hazard a guess at what might entertain a woman like her.
At least she was keeping herself busy. The quiet clacks of her typing were better than the awkward silence of before.