Mr. Santos and the other elite people watched the operation from above or the Basement-1 of the building. Below, Rick Corpus oversaw their demonstration on their floor, Basement-2, that they have been preparing for months. His men brought three serceana and two serceano to the center of the big circular marking on the floor. They were all wearing hospital gowns and all of them exhibited the same characteristics: they showed no facial reactions and stoic faces; they were very compliant. With just one word from the doctors or scientists, they quickly respond with no question or hesitation---like a puppet. The armed men that brought them in arranged them around the circle, directly under Mr. Santos and the Board.

The doctors and scientists put earpieces to each sercean with varying colors of red, blue, yellow, green, and orange. They remained standing like a statue as the doctors and scientists left them and went back to their posts near their machines. On the other hand, after seeing everything was set, Rick Corpus signaled the guard stationed in Basement-1. The guard, a young lad, from the corner of the room got his signal and approached Mr. Santos and the Board bringing a plate full of small devices.

Mr. Diaz, like his four other elite guests, was given a small capsule-like device. He looked at it and asked, “what does this do?”

“That is a microphone, specialized to only work for their kind. The color of your microphone corresponds to the color of the earpiece they put on their ears. Okay, let’s try it. Press the button and speak a command,” Mr. Santos explained.

He nodded and smiled in excitement. He pressed the button and put the red device near his mouth. “Kill one of the guards.”

The serceana with the red earpiece moved out of the circle and walked towards the nearest armed personnel. The guard was shocked, he panicked and looked at the other guards. Though he didn’t utter anything, his actions were clearly asking for help. He was so pale and he started shaking. The next thing he knew was the serceana rushing towards him. Instinctively, he ran away and drew out his gun, but before he could shoot her, the serceana was already behind him and he cried as he felt its barbed stinger tear his flesh and impale him.

Mr. Diaz’s grin grew wider seeing how the serceana continuously and aggressively stabbed the back of a helpless guard. “Stop, that’s enough,” he said through the microphone when it became so messy. Blood covered the floor and bathe the body of the guard, and some of its flesh were scattered.

The others were also impressed. They grinned and imagined a lot of possibilities of what will happen if they will have one of these mermaids to guard them all day, every day. Those things, for sure will improve their power and grasp on control.

“You are now looking at the future soldiers of the Philippines. Soon, we will be able to replicate and transfer their abilities to our human soldiers. But for now, Herozoan Genetics gives you these mermaids as your protection as gratitude for your valuable contributions to this project. They are equipped with strength, quick healing ability, speed, and weapons. Each of you will have five mermaids of your choosing,” Mr. Santos said with pride and glanced at the only guard on their floor. “Diego will escort you to the chambers to pick the mermaids that you’d like. He will take care of it.”

As his guests left and went through the door led by the guard, he also made his way to the metal stairs on the corner of the wide room and walked down to the lowest floor, the Basement-2. The serceans they used for demonstration were commanded to clear out the area and head back to their chambers. And the first thing that caught his attention was the face of Rick Corpus approaching him painted with worry.

“What’s wrong, Rick?”

“Sir, the problems on the coasts are getting out of hand. Our boots on the ground can’t handle it anymore. The mermaids are cutting us out from the marine resources, it’s crippling the Philippines. This is their revenge. They’re attacking us now.”

“I’ve heard about that every day for the past months, Rick. They’re declaring war against us, but they’re not that powerful to stop our guns, bombs, and other weapons we have in our arsenal.”

“But the President knows, sir. He’s unhappy with these effects. He just called and he wants us to end it now.”

“Is the second phase of the study ready?”

“Yes sir, but it is not hundred percent guaranteed to meet our goal. We still haven’t tested it with the last test subject.”

“Can we do it now?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Okay good. I want this sped up.”

••°°••

MR. SANTOS WENT back up to Basement-1 and met his guests who had just come back from their chambers. “How was it?”

“It’s hard to choose. They all looked the same,” the man answered and chuckled. “But I bet they’re all the same when it comes to fighting.”

“Honestly, they’re fucking ugly when they’re in their mermaid form. I can’t stand watching their fangs and scales. You should have kept them off the water,” Mrs. Rodriguez said.

“We can’t, they will not survive the surgeries if they’re not in their original form.”

“What’s going to happen now?” asked Mr. Diaz as they watched the scientists, guards, and doctors below prepare for something again.

“We’ll give you the chance to witness Phase Two of our project. Whether this will be successful or not, still, you’ll see the beauty of these mermaid species as we tap into their mind.”

From above, they all watched how the doctors and scientists put reclining chairs in an aligned arrangement. The four chairs were occupied by two serceana and two sercean, all wearing hospital gowns. The test subjects were strapped to the chair even if they looked paralyzed. Black helmets were placed on their head with wires and cables directly connected to the big machine standing behind them.

“Why is she gagged?” one of the male guests asked after seeing a woman wearing a hospital gown walking towards the empty reclining chair escorted by five guards. She was tied too and wore a helmet.

“She’s the most dangerous and powerful among their kind,” Mr. Santos answered while staring at it with so much admiration. “See, we developed a more potent drug that allows us to control them through verbal communication. But it doesn’t work on her, none of our methods worked on her. She can also create deadly sound, that’s why she’s gagged.”

“How much for her?”

“Did you hear what he said, James? The drug doesn’t work on her.” Mrs. Rodriguez rolled her eyes.

“I will just contain her in a tank and display her in my home.”

“I’m afraid, I can’t sell her to you, Mr. Mendoza. She’s the only test subject we have so far. If we could obtain another species like her, I will offer it to you.”

“What happens now?”

“These five mermaids represent each of their families. They naturally communicate through telepathy. Now, what we are trying to do is to merge their minds and establish a strong link to all of them in the ocean. We are trying to reach out to the others.”