“THE OCEAN IS warning us, Troy,” Frejean said as she read through the latest news about the disturbing phenomena occurring in the bodies of water.

They were in the living room of their friend’s home who just left for work. Sitting on the couch, their eyes and hands were busy on the devices they were holding, still trying to dig up something that can help them find the missing serceans.

“I know. If we can’t find Asceia and the others, I know something will happen. I can feel it to my bones, something big was about to happen.”

“What if the mermaids will come to land and kill us all?” Frejean put down her phone and leaned back while facing the ceiling.

“It could happen...given the wastes we threw at their home and the abduction of their kind. We’re all guilty of harming them. A lot of Filipinos will become collateral damage in that war.” Troy sighed and massaged his forehead. “I still don’t have answers---”

“Troy...stop looking for us.”

The voice of Asceia made the hairs on his nape and arms stand. He felt the cold brush on his skin that brought shivers to his spine. For a split second, he felt pain and discomfort that he never felt before. It was horrible as if he was on the brink of death. He was so scared.

“Did you hear that?” he immediately asked Frejean. “I felt something...”

“It’s Asceia! What did she mean---Oh my God!”

“Frejean! Run!”

“Don’t move!”

Troy felt like his soul jumped out of his body when the armed men came busting through their door. Everything was so fast that his instinct just took over his system, powered by an adrenaline rush, he just ran through the kitchen and jumped out of the window. But he froze and instantly raise his hands when the same armed men in black uniforms blocked him with guns pointing at his head.

One of them approached him and pulled his hands to his back. He felt the cold steel of cuffs wrapped around his wrists. They covered his mouth with duct tape and placed a black bag over his head. He was still breathing fine but he was surrounded by darkness. He wanted to resist or let himself be killed while trying to fight, but his body just won’t cooperate. In the back of his mind, he wanted to be caught too, for him, it might be the only way he can see Asceia again.

••°°••

“HIT IT NOW!” Rick commanded.

The scientists standing over the controls behind him pulled the lever down. Instantly, the lights on the helmets of the serceans glowed, causing this whirring sound of the machines working.

“Administering the serum,” the scientist in charge announced and pressed a button that activated the release of a red chemical compound from the vials and traveled through the IV tubing until it reached the veins of the serceans.

As the serum was introduced to their bloodstream, in a snap, the five serceans groaned in pain and started struggling, but no matter how hard they tried to free themselves from the restraints, still, they can’t destroy the straps. Until they ran out of energy and started shaking involuntarily. They all stared at the ceiling, at Mr. Santos and the board. The serum was continuously supplied to them. And the spiking brain activity of the serceans was monitored.

“Establishing mind link in three...two...one!”

Together, at the same time, the serceans stopped trembling and their vitals were stabilized. Their pupils were dilated.

“They’re yours, sir. They are finally connected.

Rick smiled and sighed in relief. He went nearer the test subjects and proceeded to his questions. “How many of you are there?”

“Thousands,” the serceans answered in unison, their voices were blending harmoniously, except for the gagged serceana that spoke through their minds.

“What weapons do you have against the humans?”

“We have the Sirenceans...they have the Voice of the Ocean.”

“How many Sirenceans are there?”

“One hundred and sixty-four.”

“Why did you send your kind to live among us?”

“To study the human race.”

“So you can kill us and take the land?”

“No...So we can learn from the humans and at the same time, make small changes that will stop them from bringing this world to its end.”

“That’s bullshit!” he hissed. “What else? What other weapons you all are hiding underwater?”

“The Song. When the time comes, the chosen one will sing, the land will be taken by the ocean and all of you will drown.”

“Let’s see about that.” He scoffed and glanced at the guard that was cleaning the pool of blood and called him. The guard immediately approached him. He took his shock baton, turned it on, and electrocuted one of the mermaids. And they all witnessed how all five test subjects screamed in pain. “Pain, the most powerful emotion that connects species...” Again, he threw his gaze to the scientist standing at the controls and nodded as a signal.

“Disengaging telepathic shield in three...two...one. Shield disengaged!”

With the small window of opportunity, Asceia used their linked minds to amplify his ability and contacted Troy, Frejean, and his family in the ocean. But it didn’t last long when she felt again the burning pain of electricity. This time, it didn’t just go through the five of them, but also to all of their kind across the Philippine Seas.

The serceans shrieked and struggled in pain. They all felt the electrocution that took their energy and strength. After a minute of torture that felt like forever, the electrocution stopped, but the pain remained in their system. They tried to connect back to their missing people, but the connection was again severed as the telepathic defense of the basement was activated and heightened.

°°••°°

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