by Susan Lain
For the first time, Eliot had to accept the prospect that mythkin were more than animals barely aware of humans. Was it too far to think they were capable of rudimentary intelligence? Could they display that ability somehow? Through music perhaps?
"Have you ever tried letting the rainomalies land on you?" Eliot asked, wondering what, if anything, would happen if the rainomalies came into contact with human beings. He observed that decontamination showers shined in their absence between the lab and the test chamber. "Alek said that they're safe to touch."
Alessandra came to stand at Eliot's side by the window. "Yes, but skin is not conducive in creating music, so the rainomalies lose interest quickly. Considering they're only half here in this dimension, it's possible they're not even aware of us as anything other than surfaces to land on."
Eliot studied the stark woman's stubborn purse of lips, slight frown of delicate eyebrows, and curious but hard stare at the falling rain. "Do you think they're intelligent? The mythkin?"
Alessandra frowned and blinked. "Intelligence is hard to prove. Heck, we can't even prove it conclusively with humans. The IQ test, for example, is insufficient when it comes to depicting or measuring the manifestations of intelligence which are numerous and varied. Sentience, however…now that's another matter. Their awareness of us, or lack thereof, is inconclusive. So, they could be sentient. Nothing has disproved that hypothesis."
"Thus far," Alek remarked.
Eliot was perplexed by Alek's comments. He was the one who'd brought up the subject of mythkin sentience and intelligence with Eliot in the first place. Alek was clearly a supporter, so why pretend otherwise? A personal dislike of the good doctor? Seemed farfetched.
"Come on, Eliot. Time to move on," Alek proclaimed, his tone neutral again.
Eliot thanked Doctor Alduino for welcoming him and then followed Alek out of the lab.
*~*~*
"If the rainomalies were the fourth water mythkin discovered, what were the others?"
Alek blinked at Eliot's question, seemingly snapped out of his absentmindedness. Eliot had noticed that Alek had gone quiet after they'd left the lab. He seemed to be lost in thought. Eliot's quiet words brought him out of it.
"Oh sorry, uh…" Alek continued to walk but he appeared to be more focused on the matter at hand. "Yes, three others were observed before rainomalies. Tide demons were the first."
"Ah, tidal turbines and hydropower." Eliot knew these weren't widely used but they were a potential future energy source. "What are they like?"
"Predictable in their patterns but extremely dangerous." Alek strode on, his gaze aimed at the floor. Eliot could only hope the man knew where he was headed. "They are some of the largest mythkin we've discovered. Our tidal pools were far too small to accommodate more than one at a time. And they do not like being alone. They tend to move in…herds, I suppose is a good enough word."
"Like whales?"
Alek shrugged. "I guess. In any case, I can't show you one. We had to move their research into actual tidal pools. They tended to grow aware that their surroundings were simulated and then they blended into the water, vanishing. We had little choice in the matter."
"Why are they dangerous? Their size?"
"Yes, that too. Mostly they seem oblivious to smaller things, whether living organisms or inanimate objects, and simply wash over them. They probably aren't even aware of doing so. The pressure they create makes drowning a likelihood and a serious threat. Touching them isn't hazardous but they're overwhelming in sheer magnitude and potency, so…"
Eliot shivered. He wasn't afraid exactly, but he was nervous. If this visit to MERF had showed him anything, it was that he knew very little about mythkin, despite working for CEPA. Perhaps that explained his curiosity and desire to see these creatures firsthand.
"I wish I could see a tide demon. They sound…incredible."
Alek halted mid-step and regarded him. "I can show you a couple of images, if you'd like. Not a substitute for the real thing, of course, but better than nothing."
"Yes, please." Eliot had a rare inside peek into a world he barely knew of. Every chance he got to learn more, he'd take it. A nearby lab had a plaque that read W-03-H, and that seemed to be where Alek was leading him, so Eliot asked, "What's this one?"
"Wave wraiths. They're hazardous, depending on their mood. They could let you float on them, as if you were surfing, or they could toss and turn you like a ragdoll till your bones break. Exactly like real-life waves."
Eliot cringed. "Super."
After they'd entered, thanks to Alek's keycard and palm print identification, Eliot noticed how similar the two aquatic creature observation labs were, the rainomalies and water wraiths. Perhaps it had something to do with the energy source being the same both times: water.
"Here," Alek pointed at a screen close-by. "That's a tide demon."
Eliot hurried closer, practically stuffing his nose against the screen in his childlike curiosity and eagerness. The still image showed…something. "Wh-where…?"
"They're hard to see," Alek agreed. "They blend with water. We mostly just feel the force they exert. We have only a few images and video." Alek's fingertips traced a vague shape along the streams and surges. "See?"
Eliot squinted, trying his damndest. Then he saw it. Colossal, clear-colored, and luminous. A being that might have been the size of a whale but didn't resemble any ocean lifeform except for its streamlined shape and diminutive bioluminescence.
Eliot couldn't make out fins or scales, eyes or noses or mouths, nothing that he could latch onto for familiarity.
"It's…wondrous," he puffed out a breath, amazed. "What little of it I can discern."
Alek snorted. "That's what we all think. They're not photogenic. They're…shy."
With an astonished chuckle, Eliot ambled closer to the lab's floor-to-ceiling window. This time, however, this other test chamber was roughly the size of a large swimming pool, rectangular and lengthy. In the basin, water waved back and forth unceasingly, creating swathes of white wash.
Only…that wasn't all there was.
Eliot had to squint. But once he saw the water wraiths, he couldn't unsee them.
Like stringy ribbons made of foam and bubbles, the creatures stretched across the crests of waves, sliding from one to the next seamlessly. It was difficult to tell where one ended and another began, or if he was watching living beings or plain old water. They appeared white or translucent, and long and thin, as if they had no definable appendages or visage.
As he stared, wide-eyed, Eliot knew without a doubt the world was far more extraordinary than he'd thought.
Chapter Nine
"Do you study dirty energy mythkin here too, or are they too perilous?" Eliot asked after they left the lab and walked down the hall. He noticed Alek's long legs since he had trouble keeping up with the agent's strides. Noticed them, and then tried not to keep paying attention to the distraction of those rope-like limbs. They were here on official work business.
"Yes, of course we do." Alek sounded impatient and surly. Eliot puzzled what had brought on the souring of his mood. "They're easy to study. We know what to feed them in order to—"
The ground shook, tremors wracked the walls and flakes of plaster floated down from the ceiling like gray dust. Alarms blared and distant screams echoed in the empty hallways.
"What the hell was that?" Eliot asked in shock and horror. It felt like…an explosion.
Alek was already running. Eliot staggered after him. Even several steps behind, he noted that Alek had pulled out his gun. Eliot gasped. He hadn't even known Alek carried a weapon.
Another blast rocked the floor again, and Eliot stumbled against the wall.
Alek looked back over his shoulder at Elliott and faltered, surprising concern in his eyes.
Then he did something out of character. He rushed over to Eliot, rested a hand over his arm and squeezed gently. "Are you okay?"
This was the first time they had touched. Eliot
had imagined it many times but, when it actually happened, he didn't hear violins playing, no classical signs of eternal love. He did feel a drum beat, though, something sexual and primal in his chest and groin.
Eliot nodded, unable to find his voice, feeling weird and awkward.
With a frown of hesitation, Alek eventually nodded as well, released his hold and dashed back into a sprint. Eliot wondered if Alek had felt the heat and the tense connection between them too.
They came to the hallway where they'd been before, the one in front of the rainomaly lab.
Alessandra stood by the door, coughing, holding herself up with a hand against the wall.
"Doctor Alduino, are you alright?" Alek accosted her, grabbing her shoulder.
She winced. "Yes, yes. Debris in the lab…we had to evacuate." The enforced metal door to the lab was open. Water spilled onto the hallway floor. "The window shattered in places. Nothing major, though."
Eliot was flummoxed at her apparent calm when he caught up. Was this something MERF scientists trained for? It made sense—in a surreal sort of way. "Was there a bomb?" he asked, hating how his voice quivered. He fought to get his nerves under control.
Alessandra cursed in Italian and snarled. "Yes. But it didn't come from this level. We're seven floors below ground. We shouldn't have even felt that."
A man with a white lab coat and ginger seventies sideburns raced to them. "It was in the elevator one floor above us. There was writing on the wall. Green spray paint."
Alessandra and Alek exchanged knowing glances—and Eliot understood he was totally in the dark. Whatever was happening, everyone knew about it apart from him. Had there been a bombing before?
"Someone talk to me," Eliot urged, hands clenched, sweat popping out on his forehead.
Alek sighed. "TLA."
Alessandra nodded.
The acronym clearly meant a lot to them. Eliot continued to stare at Alek blankly. Somewhat irritably, Alek explained, "The Trans-phaser Liberation Army. Hell, they can't even use proper English."
Eliot blinked. The name rang a few bells. Hadn't he just heard about them on the news a few days ago? "Wait. You mean those people who believe the mythkin are being used as lab rats and experimented on?"
Alek threw his head back and growled in obvious frustration, running a hand through his thick head of hair. "People? They're ecoterrorists, pure and simple, and completely delusional."
Alessandra nodded wearily, leaning against the wall. "They've been staging incursions and attacks on MERF sites all over the country over the past six months. This is, what, the seventh?"
"Ninth," Alek corrected her through gritted teeth. "Remember, there was an armed assault on the Atlanta regional office last month?"
"Oh yes, I almost forgot." Alessandra coughed to clear her throat, straightened up and peered into the lab. "Well, back to work." She addressed a young female scientist standing close-by, looking rattled, her short brown hair mussed up. "Get a clean-up crew in here. And structural integrity has to be rechecked for long-term…" Her voice faded as she crossed the threshold and disappeared back into the lab. Eliot had to give it to her. She had the balls and stamina of a raging bull.
Alek lifted his chin toward the direction of the lobby. "We should speak with security. We might not be able to continue the tour today." He sounded apologetic and upset. Eliot pondered why, since Alek had made it clear he wasn't Eliot's biggest fan. Perhaps he liked showing off his place of business or expertise?
As usual, Alek didn't wait for Eliot to agree. He hustled down the corridor covered in dust and debris, and Eliot had no choice but to follow. The swift pace and the occasional jump, however, didn't stop Eliot from asking questions.
"Why are the TLA delusional?"
Alek grunted, shoving his gun back in his holster and then his hands in his pockets. "What they're suggesting is insane. Everyone knows the mythkin can move through solid matter. They are multidimensional creatures. We couldn't keep them against their will if we tried."
As they hurried along toward the lobby, Alek continued to grouse under his breath. For the first time, Eliot could relate. If that was what the TLA truly believed, they weren't being rational. It was a well-established public fact that the mythkin could become immaterial whenever they wished. They were as free as a lifeform could possibly be.
Of course, that fact didn't negate the possibility that they were being experimented on by MERF. But Eliot was pretty damn certain, even from what little he'd seen, that the notion was hogwash.
The lobby was full of people. This time no one was working at their stations. Small groups milled about, speaking in hushed, worried tones. A few tended to others wounded, thankfully with superficial scrapes and bruises. Eliot empathized. Some folks had their problems with CEPA too but they'd never seen bombings or armed attacks.
Eliot found an empty chair by a pillar and sat. Alek was speaking with a security guard, his hands on his hips, his stance aggressive and assertive. The guard kept nodding. It was clear who the boss was in that scenario.
Eliot had to ask himself what level of agent Alek really was.
"You can't forcibly imprison them here!"
Eliot started at the high-pitched scream. A young woman and a young man, both wearing lab coats, were dragged by security officers through the lobby toward the staircase next to the elevators. Eliot stared, his mouth gaping. Were these two responsible for the explosion?
"They're not animals! We have no right to treat them like they are!"
Both the guy and the girl were shouting at once, shrill and blatant. Eliot could only make out fragments of sentences. But he got the gist of it.
Surprisingly, it was Alek who slammed his fist on the nearest table, making everyone jump. The twosome stopped too, caught mid-sentence.
"Elvira, Felix, you're scientists. You know that is complete and utter bullshit. We're not confining a single damn mythkin here. They come and go, vanish and reappear, as they please. What is wrong with you?"
Eliot gulped. Irate Alek was…passionate, argumentative, and ablaze. It was like a magnetic force that drew Eliot's attention to the man whom he'd assumed was cold as ice.
The blonde, Elvira, hissed at Alek, her blue eyes full of hate as she struggled against the tight hold of the guard.
"What is wrong with you, Alek?" she shrieked. "They are not animals, you know that. Yet they come when they're called. Like Pavlov, his dogs and his bells. You think that's not coercion? You're luring them here—into a cage. You should be ashamed."
The culprits or coconspirators, Elvira and Felix, were escorted through a door to the stairs, and they vanished from sight. But their muffled clamoring could be heard for a while longer.
Eliot released a breath he'd been holding. Apparently, even in this scientific research facility, emotions ran high, occasionally with violent results.
The situation seemed to calm down after that. People wandered off, voices returning to normal levels. Security officers remained stationed at exits but they appeared less tense as well.
Alek joined Eliot and sat in a chair next to his. He rubbed a hand across his tired face with a sigh. "How are you faring?" he asked in a low voice.
Eliot swallowed and composed himself, his nervousness buried under the surface. "A little shaken, to be honest. Is this sort of thing, uh, normal around here?"
"Not normal, no, but not uncommon, either."
Alek's answer freaked Eliot out, but he tried not to show it. "What that girl said, it was true, wasn't it? You agree that the mythkin are sentient, perhaps even intelligent."
A tick appeared in the corner of Alek's eye. It was as loud as a shout to Eliot who knew he was right in his assessment. Alek leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, grimacing. Maybe the topic was one Alek was only willing to allude to but not delve deeper into, especially with a virtual stranger like Eliot, or at his workplace where anyone could overhear his opinions?
"It's a tough subject," Alek finally murm
ured, barely audible, and licked his lips. This time it was he who looked rattled. "There's so many levels, you see. Perception, awareness, intellect, sentience. At what level are the mythkin? I don't know. That's part of what we're trying to find out here."
Eliot frowned. "I'm not sure I understand." The odd and ill-timed compulsion to offer Alek solace and comfort made him cringe inwardly. He shifted on his seat and reined in his weird ideas. Only then did he realize he'd leaned into Alek. Geesh.
Alek chuckled. Yet it wasn't a joyous sound, but a perplexed one. "What is the nature of consciousness? Are we talking about biology or philosophy? Are we trying to define the very heart of existence?"
Eliot rolled his eyes. "Let's stick to the facts and what we can prove, shall we?"
Alek quirked an eyebrow at him. But his lopsided smile, there and gone, suggested he did appreciate Eliot's intervention in putting the conversation back on track to rationality. "Sentience is a simplistic way of illustrating consciousness, you understand. It is the ability to perceive, sense and comprehend the world around us."
Eliot's head spun. He wasn't used to thinking about such lofty, complicated things with equally complicated vocabularies. Perhaps it was easier to define climate models than the human spirit. "Awareness of the world, check."
"No," Alek denied. "Awareness is akin to sentience but does not require understanding of what one perceives. Every living thing, to an extent, is aware of their surroundings. Most just lack the intellectual capacity for cognitive processes to make sense of what they see, hear, or feel."
"Oh God." Eliot had a headache; his forehead felt feverish. He was having difficulty seeing the point of this discussion. Or lecture, as it sounded like.
"You've heard of the mirror test, surely?" Alek asked out of the blue.
Eliot nodded. "Sure. Who hasn't?"