The Little Angler sailed down the twilight zone.

It passed by sharks, squids and a huge shoal of bristlemouths. The latter was the most abundant vertebrate on Earth, yet they were hidden in these gloomy depths—except for their lambent displays. In fact, she knew that bioluminescence was the language of choice in these sunless realms—from the pinwheel flashes of an Atolla jelly's burglar alarm to the glowing lure of a sea devil.

Dea sat in meditative silence, letting the submersible journey on in autopilot mode. She was very much aware that two military vehicles were tailing her, keeping a safe distance.

Vehement opposition met the mere suggestion of her traveling alone to meet the Sea Witch. The explanation she issued out about how she learned of him on the Dark C-Net held water. What didn't was how she happened to swim into him on her way to land.

Dea had to fight tooth and nail to get Mora to allow her to go on her own in the Little Angler. He only acquiesced after she insisted that the Sea Witch would consider it an act of aggression if the military escorted her. This was not a time to be fighting amongst themselves.

"How much do you know of him, Mora?" she wondered out loud.

The merman appeared to regard Anuk as a shadowy figure with considerable intellect and resourcefulness—a "dissident aiding Callian exiles." The redeeming feature was how he was a vital cog in the nomads' story. The nomad communities could no longer safely resume their ancient migratory lifestyle with humans encroaching coastlines and sea routes. In fact Dea learned that in the recent past, there was an imminent refugee crisis in the region.

The nomads, working with Anuk, now had shelter and engaged in trade with a city-state further west. Hence, the Sea Witch was considered a necessary evil who hadn't caused any trouble to the state.

However, the state didn't seem to know Anuk was human—or that he was male. The "Sea Witch" was merely an entity that posed as a formidable wild card and happened to avert a mermanitarian crisis.

Dea thumped her flukes against the base of the seat. This state of affairs explained how they hadn't actively hunted him down for information. She intended to keep it that way.

The pressure increased as she drifted down to the midnight zone. Marine snow floated past the viewport. Dea's fingers twiddled at her wrist, though her chunky wristbands were missing. Her wardrobe of late consisted of smart casual wear with a black tail sheath.

It was extraordinary how fate made her retrace her journey to the deep when she thought she saw the last of Anuk. The prospect of meeting him stirred something in the void within. She gave her head a shake and leaned back, eyes fixed on the never-ending darkness.

The phantoms of the deep materialized. This time she spotted a spook fish, its emerald green eyes nestled inside a transparent dome of a head.

Next to demand her rapt attention was a fanfin anglerfish in action. The glowing bulb that protruded from its head lured an unwitting crustacean. The predator hovered motionless, its long, ethereal filaments shining silver in the illumination. Then it struck.

The hapless critter perished in an instant. Dea frowned and reverted to her brooding trance.

Time trickled by in a slipstream of blackness marked with ephemeral light bursts.

The AI alerted her back to attention, "Approaching destination."

She straightened up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

The gargantuan bulk of the mining station materialized ahead, contours hardly visible in sporadic pricks of light.

"What if he's not in," Dea muttered to herself. "What if he's in his land lair..."

Yet again, something stirred within—with more force than before. She gritted her teeth. It was like curbing a runaway impulse. She grabbed the joystick and maneuvered the Angler towards the side with the airlock. She found it within minutes.

As she drew near, the door started to open. They know I'm here.

The DSV glided in, and the decompression sequence initiated. She pulled in a breath while her steady heartbeat pulsed in the air. It was a stark contrast to the first time she entered the lair—when her whole form quaked like a frond of algae caught in a riptide.

The inner door finally hissed open, summoning a draught of water that sloshed against the Angler. The hangar lay ahead, its lights making her squint despite the dimness.

"Dea! What are you doing here?" Kelp's voice called out as the craft inched out of the airlock chamber.

Her eyes adjusted to reveal Kelp spyhopping in the water. Muda and Gog were leaning on two beams, watching silently. She detected more eyes trained on her.

Dea brought the DSV to a halt. "I need to meet Anuk."

They exchanged a look.

"We've tapped into some interesting stuff coming out of Calliathron," Gog drawled, belligerence dripping from her tone. "I don't think Anuk's interested in—"

Muda's ogi interrupted the slew of words.

"It's him," the burly merwoman said as she tapped her earpiece.

Apparently, she had enabled the loudspeaker since a nanosecond later, Anuk's voice popped out of the ogi, "Where is she?"

"We're still in the hangar," Muda replied. "Boss—"

"Take her to the workroom, Muda. A-3."

"Very well."

The call ended with a click. Gog's face openly exhibited her displeasure.

Dea plopped into the hangar's pool and broke into a sweeping dive.

"You coming, Kelp?" Muda asked, turning towards the exit.

His features morphed to a troubled expression as Dea surfaced next to him. "Yep."

"Nope," Gog said before the merwoman could ask and shot Dea a disdainful glare.

"Okay, let's go then," Muda grunted and led the way.

Workroom A-3 reminded her of the "Cypod showroom" where she obtained the brain implant, but much smaller in size. White surfaces rose above the clear blue water and stood out against worn walls the shade of graphite. Metal parts, tools and equipment littered the space.

Muda swam to a table and leaned on it, arms crossed.

As Dea followed her in, she immediately noticed the dark metal walkway that hugged one wall and ended in an area elevated into a dry platform. A worktable dominated it, and a computer desk stood to one side.

In the corner was none other than her Cypod Terra X3, stationed on a charging pad. It sported scratches and dents. It was obviously brought there for repair. So he retrieved it from the Endera ship.

"Dea?" Kelp perched on a bench that peeked out of the water. "So it's come to this? War?"

She made no reply while her vacant gaze swept over the items on the table next to her.

"This is just madness," he went on. "Look—"

"I'm not here to have this conversation with you, Kelp," Dea said in a flat voice.

He fell silent, the worried look growing more pronounced.

"Where's Anuk?"

"He was getting some sleep when we detected you heading this way. He's a night squid. Probably showering now. He'd be here soon."

"Mm." She examined a box of strange pellets. "What's this?"

"That's the humans' ocean plastic—made into pellets," Kelp said.

She looked up sharply. "What?"

"Anuk has a bot to collect it. It can be used to manufacture things."

Before she could mull over the titbit of information, another thought rocketed up. "You knew...You knew I was the heir apparent."

Muda spoke up, "We didn't at first. Not when we first saw the footage of you after that cyclone. It was crazy seeing you laughing and clinging onto that dolphin in the high seas."

"We thought you could be a new exile." A chuckle burst out of Kelp. "But then the dolphins took you to the city, and it didn't chuck you back out."

"So how did you find out?" Dea asked, blasting them with her undivided attention.

"Boss was pretty taken by you." Kelp shrugged. "Equal amounts amused and impressed."

"He had a good laugh," Muda added.

"Also let slip 'not every day I see a beautiful mermaid adventuring in the high seas'—something to that effect."

Muda snorted, scratching her neck, where a coil of hair rested. "He said that?"

"He said it to me." Kelp grinned, though the mirth faded as fast as it appeared.

Dea grappled with the barrage of unwanted thoughts on her inner force field.

"Anyways," Kelp said, propping himself up in a leaning position, "Anuk had decided to do a background check on you. He has access to all kinds of info, after all. One thing led to another, and he actually figured it out. He still didn't let us know—kept it to himself. Until you showed up at our airlock, that is."

"What do you mean he has access to info?" she asked and gestured at large. "How is any of this possible? Did he just stumble on merpeople? Is that the start of this?"

"Anuk didn't stumble on merpeople. That's not where his story starts. His dad was an inventor and explorer known to many humans in Serendiva. He was the one who had stumbled on merpeople, like, four decades ago."

Muda nodded. "Abeykoon is their family name."

Dea stared at them for a prolonged moment. "Then what?"

"Why don't you just ask the boss?"

Before Dea could say anything, the door slid open with more force than necessary. Currents sloshed away with the motion.

Anuk swam in as deftly as any merman.

Emotions played a tug of war on his face as he set eyes on her. It was a change from the brusque, nonchalant manner she associated with him. He was strikingly clean-shaven now, and sopping wet hair glistened pitch black to match his gaze.

As their eyes locked, an involuntary jolt passed through her. It was akin to sea meeting land—a complex union that bonded and repelled. Her mind clenched against the unwelcome pressure that ratcheted up.

"Dea," he said softly, bass notes enfolding her name in his distinctive accent. "What are you doing here?"

Watching him bobbing before her, it was easy to believe he was a merman. Her gaze traveled down. Human legs tread the water to keep him afloat.

Her jaw tensed, and the walls within hardened like diamond.

Anuk's face adopted a cool mask as if he just realized for the first time that they had company.

"Can you leave us please?" His eyes flitted in the direction of Muda and Kelp before settling on Dea again.

The two exchanged a look. Then they filed out, Muda scratching her neck again. The door closed with a thud, and water slopped against it.

Anuk was the first to speak, "I find it hard to believe a queen sneaked down here in a sub with no one knowing."

"I'm here regarding an urgent matter." Dea's hand reached up to her head. "And about this thing in my scalp."

He watched her for a heartbeat. Then he beckoned her over to the platform peeking just above the water level.

Animal: Spook fish

https://youtu.be/RM9o4VnfHJU