[IC] Oceanus Research Facility

[Cat22]

As a new day dawned on the shores of a certain beach where a certain research facility was located, said staff members of that research facility were just going about their daily routine as usual. Some were designated to deal with checking in on the merfolk while others were responsible for setting up the experiments for the day. However, soon enough, a group of four unexpected arrivals were brought to the facility and all four of them were tangled up in a ghost net.

Of course, there was tension between Firion, a seemingly 18 year old merman with silver hair and Tidus, a blonde merman who was currently trying to get out of the ghost net that he and the other three were trapped in. While neither of them chose to speak for the time being, it was slightly obvious from the ensuing tension that neither of them seemed to be rather thrilled about what had happened. However, it wasn’t until Tidus’s latest escape attempt that Firion had spoken up.

“Tidus, I swear to the gods, stop making the situation worse! You’ve already made the net tighter around all of us and have already caused it to draw blood so stop making it worse.” Firion hissed at Tidus. He was not in the mood to deal with Tidus’s escape antics and had several bloody cuts on his tail and upper body that were a result of the net cutting deep enough to draw blood. Of course, while these injuries meant that he would be unable to even shift back into his human form, the other three that were in the net with him all had similar injuries.

“Oh shut up! I don’t want to be stuck in this net and I will do everything I can to escape it! You can’t stop me, Firion!” Tidus said. While he was very determined to escape the net much to the dismay of Firion and Vaan, he once again tried to get out of the net which only resulted in it cutting deeper into his flesh although the other three also had to deal with the consequences of becoming more tangled up in the net although this was enough to get Vaan to speak up.

“T-Tidus… please stop trying to get out of the net… You’re only harming yourself and the rest of us with your escape attempts so please stop trying to get out of the net on your own… It really isn’t helping anyone…” Vaan said softly. While he did have various cuts on him that were caused by the net, there was also a few trails of blood that were dripping down the ends of his tail fin as well although this also left the floor that they all were on slightly stained as well. However, out of the four who were trapped within the net, Bartz had opted to stay silent for whatever reason.

[4323O2]

Since the day she had arrived, Emerie Merriam had been plotting her escape. She had been sold to the lab by her parents in exchange for their freedom. Upon her arrival, they had attempted to wipe her memories of her family, but there was a malfunction with their equipment and she still remembered a little bit about them. She had generally forgotten her parents; she couldn’t remember their names, faces, or voices. But she remembered her little brother, Ivan, with perfection. She remembered that her parents were abusive towards her and Ivan, and knew it was the only thing that had allowed her to keep her chaotic spirit and the will to attempt repeated escapes.

Emerie had already attempted to escape twice and was plotting her third attempt. Due to this, she was kept away from the others. She had already been a major annoyance to the guards, and scientists, and really, that was always her game: pissing people off until she got what she wanted. Her attention flickered to Alice, one of the kinder scientists at the lab.

“Alice!” She called.

The girl’s voice was light but carried a never-ending laugh. It was clear she was a bother to most, as Alice’s only reaction was to roll her eyes and attempt to ignore Emerie. But Emerie wouldn’t take ignorance for an answer.

“C’mon, Alice! Don’t you want to play?” Emerie taunted, giggling a bit as she was already enjoying this even though Alice hadn’t responded yet.

That irritated Alice beyond description. What irritated Alice about Emerie’s taunt was that the mermaid found the experiments to be games, not tests. Even experiments that hurt the mermaid were treated as games, and some of the other scientists played along with the girl for more accurate results- these results are never consistent when the experiments are repeated. When Alice didn’t respond, Emerie called out again.

[Cat22]

“But Vaaaan, I don’t like being stuck in the net! I just want to get out!” Tidus said. While he had resorted to slightly whining a little about how much he hated being stuck in the net, he also inadvertently ended up annoying Firion who secretly wished that he would stop trying to get out of the net. However, he also ended up glancing over at Vaan as he spoke as well.

“Well, I understand that you don’t like the net. None of us do but I’m sure that somebody will get us out of here eventually. Besides, it’s not like we’re doomed to spend all eternity caught up in a net although I do wonder why the surface dwellers don’t really seem to pick up their trash that they leave in the ocean. There are many tales of even the mightiest of whales being caught up in the same net that we’re stuck in although in our case, we were lucky enough to have someone there to get us off of the beach when we washed up.” Vaan said. While under any normal circumstances, he would have attempted to hug the blonde merman, he didn’t want to risk becoming more tangled up in the net nor did he want to risk jeopardizing anyone else who was caught up in the net with him. However, he was also met with complete silence from Tidus as if the merman had understood what he was saying.

Upon noticing the newfound silence, a rather grateful Firion ended up glancing over at Vaan and Tidus. While he was grateful that V had managed to temporarily de-escalate the situation, he was also silently wondering how long that would end up lasting. However, he also ended up glancing over at Bartz as well who still appeared to be slightly stressed about the current situation and eventually, decided to talk to him.

“Hey Bartz, are you alright? You’ve been more silent than usual and if I’m being honest, it’s quite concerning. You’re usually really cheerful and often wander off to do your own thing however, today, you don’t really seem to be that way. Is anything the matter?” He asked Bartz. While the young wanderer’s silence seemed to greatly concern him, he was also worried about his wellbeing as well hence the reason why he decided to ask him if he was alright. However, he was met with silence during the first few moments of him asking the question but eventually, Bartz ended up giving him an answer.

“I-I’m fine, Firion… It’s just that… I… don’t want to be stuck in this net anymore…” Bartz muttered softly. While he did in fact answer Firion’s question, he also didn’t seem to be too willing to speak beyond the initial answer either as he slowly moved to attempt to curl up. However, upon feeling a sharp pain that was associated with the net cutting deeper into his flesh, he stopped moving and only remained there motionlesly.

[4323O2]

Ivan, who had been sent to investigate the net, approached the four of the merfolk. He noticed how Tidus was the one doing most of the trying to escape.

"Need a bit of help there?" He called, pausing a few feet away from the merfolk.

He hadn't been notified that a net was tangled, but he'd probably just zoned out and missed the radio call. He missed most radio calls.

Meanwhile...

“Please, Alice! I wanna play!” This time Emerie used a whiny tone, which finally got Alice's attention.

Alice sighed and turned to the girl, who was now sitting on the bed in her enclosure.

“No, 34. Why don’t you think of a story you can tell me later?” Alice’s tone was humoring as if she was speaking to a small child instead of a teenager.

It’s probably because there are no guards right now. Or Alice would have had me silenced, right? Or maybe she’s actually so sick of me that she’ll do anything to shut me up… I should find out, Emerie thought upon hearing Alice’s tone.

“But stories are boring! I wanna play a gameee!” Emerie whined, finding that her whiny voice was getting her what she wanted today even though it normally just got her shot with a taser and silenced almost immediately.

“Not right now, 34. I have others to attend to, not just you,” Alice tried to keep her voice even, though she failed.

[Cat22]

“Some help would be nice. Besides, Tidus kind of… made the whole net situation worse but I can understand him not wanting to be stuck here. However, his escape attempts have just been making the situation worse for the rest of us who are tangled up in the net.” Vaan said before he realized that Tidus had once again attempted to escape from the net. While this most recent escape attempt only caused the net to harm the four trapped within it more, it also ended up annoying Firion who quickly gave Tidus a death glare in order to get him to stop thrashing around in the net.

“Just great… He started up the escape attempts again… Just my luck…” Firion muttered softly as he glared at Tidus. He was clearly not amused about the current escape attempt and as a result, ended up quickly glaring at Tidus as well in an attempt to get him to stop trying to get out of the net. While this did nothing to help the current situation, it also ended up showing his annoyance with Tidus’s constant escape attempts as well. However, it wasn’t long until Bartz had spoken up again.

“Please… make it stop… I-I don’t like how much the net is harming us…” Bartz muttered softly. Judging by his current statement, it was clear that he was in some sort of pain from Tidus’s escape attempts and as a result, had decided to speak up about it when the net started to create more bloody wounds on him.

[4323O2]

Ivan knelt near Bartz first, taking a pair of extremely sharp scissors and starting to cut the net free. It didn't take him long, as he'd done this before apparently before he moved on to Firion. Again, he completed the job quickly. Tidus was the last one he would free, purely to spite the trashing merfolk. Once all four were free, he put the scissors back in his pocket.

"There you boys go," He stepped back, studying them.

Meanwhile...

“But Aliiiiii. I wannaaa pla-”

Of course, Emerie’s complaint was cut short as a guard had chosen now to pass Alice in the hall. Even though it was probably just a coincidence, it still silenced her. Emerie saw the guard and immediately fell silent, though she studied Alice to see the scientist’s reaction to her falling silent.

Both females knew this could go two ways. Emerie had silenced herself, but Alice was still annoyed and the guard did have a taser. This time at least, the ball was technically in the guard’s court. If Alice asked for his taser, he could choose to take Emerie’s side and not give the scientist the weapon, or he could give it to the scientist and turn Emerie against him.

This specific guard had heard stories about Emerie’s anger, which ranged from harmless pranks to even as far as murder. Now, this guard was still a trainee and expected to obey higher ranks such as scientists. But, being extremely young for his capability, he often was treated as another lab rat, and sometimes mistaken for them.

[Cat22]

“Why the hell was I the one who got pulled out of the net last! It’s not fair!” Tidus growled softly. While he was grateful to be out of the net, he also ended up tapping the end of his tail against the ground out of annoyance at being the last one pulled out of the net. However, aside from the tail tap of disapproval, he didn’t seem to do anything else that showed that he was annoyed at the situation.

“Thank you… I wasn’t sure how much longer we would be trapped in that net however, I still worry about Bartz. He’s got quite a few injuries from being stuck in that net so if you know of someone who knows how to deal with wounds, please ask them for some help. I would do it myself preferably but… we can’t really shift into our human forms if we’re injured…” Firion said. While he was now sitting up on the floor, he was also glancing over at Bartz and Vaan who were both just as injured as he was.

“Thanks so much! We won’t have to deal with Tidus making the whole being stuck in a net situation a whole lot worse than it would have been however, I am curious about something. Why did you cut him out of the net last? It kind of doesn’t make a whole lot of sense without some sort of logic behind it.” Vaan said. While he was unsure about why Tidus had been cut free from the net last, he was also curious as to where he and the other three were exactly.

[4323O2]

"I'm going to assume the whiny one is Tidus? And it's nothing, really. I would have done the same for really anybody. Yes, of course, I can help with your injuries. Well, I can't myself, but I have a friend who can," Ivan responded, fiddling with his radio.

Alice sighed as she heard Ivan's words over the radio. She glanced at 34, deciding to leave the now quiet brat alone. She made her way to the medbay, ignoring the guard's complaints that she wasn't supposed to go in there, dismissing them with a harsh,

"Stand down."

She gathered a few supplies, including bandages, antibiotic cream, etc., and headed to the shore.

Ivan sighed, wondering what was taking Alice so long.

[Cat22]

“Yes, the whiny one is Tidus. He’s rather irritating to deal with and is 99% of the reasons why our net situation was as bad as it seemed. He doesn’t know when to sit still sometimes and honestly, it can be really annoying for those of us who are trying to prevent a situation from escalating. Top that with not listening to reason half the time and you have a recipe for disaster.” Firion said as he glared at Tidus. He currently didn’t wish to be anywhere near him for the time being following the ghost net incident however, he also realized that Bartz was also glancing over at him.

“F-Fi… there’s no need to glare at him… Tidus was probably just scared which is quite reasonable given the fact that he was caught in a ghost net along with the rest of us… It gets quite stressful in that case…” Bartz muttered softly. While he was now out of the net, he also didn’t dare to move for fear that his wounds would leak more blood than they already were which could be told by how his shirt had a few blood stains on it.

“Well regardless, we’ve still got our wounds to deal with. It’s not like the danger has passed since we’re still at risk of bleeding out if our wounds aren’t treated…” Vaan muttered softly. While he did glance over at Bartz and Firion as he spoke, he also didn’t seem to be too keen on moving either.

[4323O2]

"I should continue my rounds. My friend should- Alice!" Ivan spotted the scientist approaching by her white lab coat, and he waved her over.

Alice approached Ivan, her gaze immediately turning on the four merfolk. She studied their injuries with calculating eyes, displeasure flickering across her face before her expression returned to completely neutral. Despite her years of working with merfolk, she still found the males rather bothersome.

"Do your rounds, Guard. I can deal with this myself," She told Ivan.

Meanwhile...

Emerie watched the scientist leave with a sad, yet dramatic, sigh. As the guard passed, she dared to call out again. This time with a different objective.

"Guard! Do you think I could get something to entertain myself with? A notebook and pencil, perhaps?" This time, the mermaid's tone was gentle and lacked her previous whine.

[Cat22]

“So that’s about all that we’ll have to deal with. Well then, at least Tidus will probably not try to make things harder for us than they already ate. However, knowing him, he’s sure to make things a little more difficult than they need to be. After all, it’s his specialty.” Firion said softly before he glanced over at Tidus as if trying to prove a point. He knew how bothersome the blonde merman could be especially during the whole net situation however, he decided not to say anything else beyond his initial statement.

However, Vaan had ended up noticing that someone else was now present and turned his attention over to them momentarily. While he knew not of where he and the others were or who the strangers were, he had decided to not ask any questions for the time being and remained silent before turning his attention back over to Tidus who was also sitting in silence for the time being.

“Y-yeah… regardless… I… still don’t really want to move all that much… I don’t want for things to get worse…” Bartz muttered softly. After he spoke, he continued to remain completely motionless as his emerald green tail scales, although slightly stained with blood, seemed to shimmer faintly in the presence of light from a mixture of being wet and also due to how they tended to naturally reflect light as well.

[4323O2]

Alice first knelt beside Bartz, taking out the small tube of healing cream and dabbing it onto the injuries. A bit of sand got onto her lab coat and she dusted it off. She finished the task with silent efficiency, not using bandages as the cream she was using, which looked like antibacterial cream, did the job of bandages and sped up the healing process. She did the same for Vaan and Firion but seemingly forgot about Tidus, which she did on purpose. She had noticed that Tidus behaved a bit like 34, and her actions were simply a way of asserting her quiet dominance, the same way she had done for the little girl. She stood and stepped back, giving them space.

"Done," was the only word she said, her voice monotone but gentle at the same time.

[Cat22]

“HEY! WHAT THE HELL’S YOUR PROBLEM!” Tidus yelled loudly out of anger. While this resulted in him creating a large fireball after he spoke, he also ended up managing to drag himself to where he was sitting up against the wall although this had left a slightly visible trail of blood on the otherwise clean floor. He was quite upset with having been forgotten and as a result, was also dangerously close to throwing a fireball out of anger as well.

“Umm… did you… forget about Tidus? He’s a little… upset…” Vaan muttered softly as he glanced over at Tidus. While he took note of how upset the merman was, he was also unsure about what had caused it which led him to try to guess what could have gotten the otherwise cheerful merman so riled up.

“T-Tidus… please calm down… You’re in no condition to move whatsoever.” Bartz said as he glanced over at Tidus. While he noticed that the merman had left a trail of blood in his wake, he was also slightly curious as to why he had ended up creating a fireball in the first place as well.

[4323O2]

"Oh. Right. Sorry. I tend to do that sometimes. Please forgive me," She went to Tidus but was hesitant to help him.

This was the reaction she'd been hoping for. The moment he had gotten mad, her behavior changed to being extremely wary of him, which meant he would be more difficult to interact with, or at least it would seem that way. She dropped the tube of cream about a foot from Tidus and walked away.

"But since you've decided to be rather aggressive, you can handle yourself," She told him, a laugh hiding in her voice.

That laugh was the only thing that hinted at the game she was playing with him.

[Cat22]

Tidus only ended up backing away from the tube of cream and ended up quickly backing up to another wall. While this meant that there was now a red trail going from one wall to the other, he didn’t seem to be too keen on playing any sort of game hence the reason why he was behaving rather aggressively when compared to earlier behaviors. He also seemed to be unsure of what had been dropped in front of him either hence the reason why he appeared to be behaving more defensively than normal.

“Why’s he behaving so aggressively? Normally, he’s only like this around his father but is something causing him to behave like this… It’s not normal…” Firion muttered softly as he started to observe Tidus’s actions. While he was unsure as to why the blonde merman was being more aggressive than usual, he also felt slightly uneasy about the more aggressive behavior that Tidus was showing as well. As a result, he chose to remain motionless and only glanced over at Vaan with a look that conveyed a mixture of worry and fear about Tidus’s unusual behavior.

“I do not know however, you are right about this not being normal. I also don’t know what could have triggered his anger this time either but it is a little concerning. However, that doesn’t mean that we should approach him either. If he’s rather angry, he’s going to want his space once he calms down so we should probably respect that wish and give him some space in that regard.” Vaan said. While he did look over at Tidus once he finished speaking, he was also made aware of the fact that he seemed to be more on edge than usual which he found to be quite unnerving as well.

[4323O2]

Alice paused with her hand on the door to go inside, turning to look back at the three tamer merfolk.

"As for the rest of you, you should be fully healed by now. I'm sure you have questions I could answer," She said calmly.

The tube near Tidus read simply: Antibiotic Healing Cream.

[Cat22]

“Wait… that means…” Firion muttered softly before he realized that he had ended up shifting back into his fully clothed human form. While this meant that he was now able to move around on land, his first priority was to run over toward Tidus and then put him in a headlock before dragging him over to one of the cots in the medbay. While he had taken the opportunity to try and make sure that Tidus didn’t harm any of them, he also wanted to make sure that Vaan or someone else could end up grabbing some bandages to use.

“You got him, Fi? Do you need for me to grab the bandages or do anything of the sort?” Vaan said before he realized that Bartz had already managed to find some bandages. Like Firion, he had shifted back into his fully clothed human form and as a result, was now capable of moving on land without any problem. However, he had decided to stand up and walk over to where Tidus was before helping Firion to hold him down. After he did so, Bartz had managed to return with some bandages and then started to bandage up Tidus’s wounds while the other two kept him pinned down so that he didn’t try to escape.

[4323O2]

Alice watched the merfolk with slight interest. She was slightly annoyed that they actually cared about Tidus, who seemed to be chaotic and a pain to deal with. Of course, she saw little will to fight when it came to the others, though she could be wrong. She remained patiently at the door, her hand motionless on the handle.

[Cat22]

“And done! That takes care of that!” Bartz said as he stepped away from Tidus. While he put the unused bandages back where he found them once he finished bandaging up Tidus, he also ended up walking over to Firion and stood beside him as well.

“And as for you, Fi, thank you for helping me deal with him. I know that he’s not the easiest person in the world to bandage up but we needed to take care of his wounds one way or another. Besides, I know that you also didn’t want to risk being attacked either which was a possibility when it came to how aggressive he was being just now. However, as for the reason why he was being so aggressive, I don’t really think that he made it clear at all.” He said. While he noticed that Firion and Vaan had also stepped away from Tidus, he ended up smiling at the both of them as well.

“Well, we’d still need someone to keep an eye on him especially since we don’t need for him to mess up the bandages. After all, they’re wrapped tightly enough to hopefully stop the bleeding as long as he leaves them alone. However, aside from that, I’m not sure if he’ll be able to leave them be or not which may require more action than previously thought.” Vaan said.

[4323O2]

Alice heard this and sighed. She decided to offer to help them, as perhaps helping them would gain their trust. She took her hand down from the doorknob slowly.

"I could have a guard or two posted here, apart from those who already make their rounds," She offered.

Meanwhile...

Emerie had managed to harass the guard into getting her a chess board with all the pieces, a notebook, a pencil, and a soft blanket. She was now playing chess with herself while she floated in the pool that was in the corner of her enclosure while listening to the talk of the guards, who never thought she was listening even when she was.

"Heard there's four new mers to play with," A male guard with brown hair, who Emerie was calling Brown Hair due to not knowing his name, said.

"Yeah, same. Iv claimed that one of them might end up being SCP," A second guard, Black Hair, responded.

"Oh? Like 34?" Brown Hair asked.

"That's what I heard, mhm. Shh! Don't say her name!" Black Hair hissed.

Emerie took it upon herself to be even more annoying, which was the only form of entertainment she got except for her chess game.

"So you're saying I might get a friend, Guards?" She called, voice taunting.

The brown haired guard turned to 34, shooting a glare at the other guard. He didn’t even notice the girl was listening, and had probably said too much already…

“Yeah, actually. A boy. He’ll probably kill you,” He told her.

Meanwhile meanwhile…

Ivan was on the other side of the island, dealing with a scuffle that had broken out in one of the testing labs between a pair of Subjects over a knife that had mistakenly been left in the testing room. This resulted in him getting stabbed at least twice but the knife eventually in his possession and both Subjects subdued.

After obtaining the knife, Ivan made his way to the medbay. He tried to turn the handle but Alice’s hand meant he couldn’t. He muttered a curse, one hand on the deep stab wound that was inflicted upon his left side during the skirmish. He groaned as he realized that Alice was probably trying to deal with the SCP merman, Tidus. Command had already deemed Tidus an SCP as he was aggressive towards Alice, and had powers. Any merfolk with powers, or who were just plain difficult, like SCP-034-MMF(Emerie), was classified as an SCP. He waited for the door to open, leaning against the wall. He knew Alice would come out at some point.