She lowered her hand and her head rose above the water again. Henric turned around and marched towards the filter.

He opened a square door on the wall and looked at the panels in front of him. At the top was a timer labeled Cleaning Cycle. It read 2:39 and continued to count down.

So it is working! He thought happily. Her tank will be clean in no time.

Henric kept looking down the panel. A bunch of things were labeled and had lights next to them.

The light next to TANK CLEAN was bright green.

TANK EMPTY was red.

FILTRATION AREA CLEAR was orange.

SILVER FILTER CONDUCTORS was flashing green.

Conductors? He wondered. For What?

He started to hear a mechanical whirring sound and turned around. In the corner of each side of the tank there were thick silver poles with holes and lights down the side. Eve approached them with an odd curiosity, as if she had never seen them before. He watched her swim up to one, dazzled by the flashing lights. She reached out out to touch it and quickly snatched her hand away as if it had stung her.

Wait... no.

Henric looked at the panel again, looking at every label. "This, this can't be right. This, this huge machine, this should be the filter. What are those other things?" Henric began rambling to himself while running around the filter, trying to find something, anything that could help him. He looked down at Eve, who was still holding her hand. Small fish swam around her, unbothered. One unlucky fish also swam into the light pole, and as soon as it did, It jumped back awkwardly, until turning on it's side and floating upwards.

NO!

Henric ran back to the panel and looked at the timer. 0:39.

"No,no, no, no, NO!" Henric took his mallet and frantically started destroying the panel, beating through the frame and revealing the wiring behind it. Once the timer hit ten, it began to beep with each second, even though he had destroyed the screen.

9

"No!"

8

"Damn it!"

7...6...5

"Please!

4...3...2...

Henric's body seized up and a tingling sensation spread throughout his limbs. It got warmer and till it started to burn, and he realized he couldn't feel his arms. After the final beep a loud alarm blared once and the water started to bubble up. Henric tried to back away from the panel but everything turned black.

#

When Henric woke up, he couldn't move. Everything was blurry and out of focus. His head felt like he had bashed it in with his mallet, the pain was unbearable. Liquid filled his ears and he could hear his heartbeat ringing in his skull. Despite every ounce of his body screaming, he lifted his head and looked around. He couldn't see much because everything was blurry, but one thing was close enough for him to recognize. The ladder. He must've fallen off the tank. How was he alive?

He started seeing spots and closed his eyes for a second and took deep breaths.

For Christ's sake, it hurts to breathe.

He opened his eyes and looked down. His left leg we bent at an odd angle. His body was in so much pain he thought everything was broken, but he knew for sure his left leg was, he could see something jutting out of it. Seeing it made him gag and that movement alone made the world a scarlet blur.

Oh God. Focus on something else. Anything else.

Henric stared at the ceiling and thought about the sky. He thought about the sun, the clouds, the stars at night. He thought about the wind, the trees, and playing frisbee with his dad. He didn't even know if he would see him again.

Nearby, he started hearing a banging sound, getting closer and closer.

I'm hallucinating. Henric thought, trying to ignore the sound. I'm dying.

The banging continued to get closer and closer until it stopped at his side. He felt a piercingly cold metal slide under his legs and back and suddenly he was being lifted off the ground.

"AAAHHH!!!!" He saw a million colors as his body howled in agony. He was about black out again but he couldn't, he had to see what was carrying him. He looked up and saw a faceless figure, like a mannequin in a mall, but there was a white glow where eyes would normally be. Henric screamed and freaked out, causing the figure to stop moving. Henric thrashed around until the figure dropped him, and instantly regretted it. Landing on his leg again took all the strength and resistance he had left. When the robotic figure bent down towards him, he noticed something behind it.

The lights inside Eve's tank were off and the red emergency lights were on. The water level was lower than when he was on top of the tank. The glass was still dirty, so the filter thing hadn't worked. Squinting so his eyes could focus, Henric cold see it.

He could see her.

Eve was still and unmoving, her back leaning against the glass. Her head was bowed and she was being surrounded by dozens of tiny fish.

"Eve....no" He whispered.

The figure held his palm up to Henric's face and sprayed an odorless gas. Within seconds, Henric was fast asleep.