- il y a 15 heures
Catégorie
🦄
Art et designTranscription
00:30He learned fast and performed it right back to me.
00:33Thrilled, I shot the whole thing and sent it to my professor to brag.
00:37He called me back screaming.
00:39You idiot! Didn't you notice the razor-sharp teeth?
00:42The long claws? The powerful tail? That's not a merge.
00:46It's more like a siren out of mythology.
00:48It could slice you open and rip your heart out without breaking a sweat.
00:52The only way a creature like that courts a mate is by hunting them down,
00:55dragging them somewhere no one will find them,
00:58and keeping them there until they're pregnant.
01:00Get out of there! Get out! Get out!
01:04But it was already too late.
01:06He was already swimming toward me.
01:09Oh yeah!
01:12Two months earlier, a new male had arrived at Emerald Atoll,
01:15settling alone on the far side of the island.
01:18Merfolk live in family groups,
01:19but young males often leave the pod they grew up in to seek mates and join new colonies.
01:23It promotes genetic diversity, a smart evolutionary strategy.
01:27The merfolk were soft-featured, almost doll-like.
01:30This one was all edges, looked like a fallen angel.
01:33His teeth were pointed, his claws significantly longer than any shallow-water mer's.
01:38Black hair, green eyes, a black gold tail roughly eight feet long.
01:42This was clearly a powerful, deep-sea mer who had left his pod and come to Emerald Atoll seeking a
01:47mate.
01:47I usually observed the merfolk through underwater cameras stationed around the island.
01:52But once, while boating near the atoll, I spotted him.
01:55I sent my drone after him and watched him cut through the waves,
01:58chasing down a marlin doing nearly 70 miles an hour.
02:01He caught it effortlessly, slicing the fish open with his claws.
02:05The blood drew sharks and orcas from the surrounding waters,
02:09but none of them dared approach him.
02:10Deep-sea mer were clearly the unchallenged apex predators of the ocean.
02:14When he drifted past my boat, I couldn't help staring.
02:17You're amazing!
02:18Of course, he couldn't understand me.
02:20After humans discovered this planet,
02:22there had been a brief surge of interest in merfolk research,
02:25but the excitement died down fast.
02:29Merfish intelligence was only slightly above orcas.
02:33They were omnivores, living mostly on kelp and seaweed,
02:37occasionally supplemented with crabs, oysters, and small fish.
02:40And there was zero chance of crossbreeding with humans.
02:44Most researchers moved on to studying beast folk.
02:47As for me, I'd originally studied beast folk, too.
02:50Isla. Isla. Isla!
02:54I have to attend a university conference and we'll probably be away for a week.
02:58Again?
02:59Yep.
03:00You're running out of time, Isla.
03:01Your graduate thesis deadline is fast approaching.
03:04But...
03:04You better have your topic settled by the time I get back.
03:06I believe you can do it.
03:08I'd been alone on Emerald Atoll for three months.
03:11If not for my cleaning drone and internet access,
03:14I'd have dropped out long ago.
03:16But after hearing me speak, the mer stopped.
03:19Those cold, piercing eyes locked onto me.
03:22A chill crawled up my spine,
03:24even though I was perfectly safe on the boat.
03:25He sliced off the choiceless cut from the marlin's back
03:28with one precise sweep of his claws
03:30and tossed it onto my deck.
03:31I'd just been fed by a mer.
03:33He was different from the others.
03:35He's smart and powerful.
03:37I could see my thesis writing.
03:38I might graduate early.
03:40If this mer could find a mate during mating season,
03:43he'd stay with the Emerald Atoll colony.
03:45By next spring,
03:46there could be two or three intelligent,
03:48powerful mer pups born,
03:49and I could study hybridization traits
03:51between different mer subspecies.
03:55I named the deep sea mer opal.
03:57His black gold tail shimmered
03:58like a black opal under moonlight,
04:00flashing with iridescent fire.
04:02Mating season lasted three months,
04:04but two months in,
04:05opal still hadn't found a mate.
04:07He hunted massive prey every day,
04:09often tossing the best cuts onto the dock,
04:11giving me a meal of fresh sashimi or pan-seared fish.
04:14He only ate the belly meat himself,
04:16discarding the rest.
04:17Before long,
04:18young males from the colony would slink over
04:21and drag away the leftovers
04:22to present to the females they were courting.
04:24He'd inadvertently helped several pairs get together.
04:27Merfolk were drawn to strength.
04:28A male who could bring down enormous prey
04:30easily won female attention.
04:32But this idiot fish had never once
04:33attended the underwater courtship dances.
04:36I consulted my professor,
04:37who said merfolk were social animals.
04:40Males typically left in groups of two or three brothers.
04:43A solitary mer had likely been separated by accident,
04:46or abandoned,
04:47forced to grow up alone.
04:48That would explain why this one was such an exceptional hunter.
04:52Without a family's protection,
04:54he'd had to become powerful to survive the ocean's dangers.
05:00It also meant he probably didn't know the courtship song or dance.
05:04Without performing the courtship ritual,
05:06none of the young females would even know he was available.
05:09Of course he didn't have a mate.
05:11Once mating season ended,
05:12Opal would leave Emerald Atoll with nothing to show for it.
05:15I could feel my thesis slipping away.
05:17I had to do something.
05:19It was just a song and a dance.
05:21I'd teach him myself.
05:23I pulled up recordings of merfolk courtship songs and waited at the dock.
05:27Opal arrived, dragging another massive tuna.
05:29The warm light softened his cold features.
05:31I knew he was dangerous,
05:33but merfolk had no recorded history of harming humans.
05:36I approached him slowly.
05:38Opal.
05:41Opal.
05:42That's the name I gave you.
05:43Merfolk could only produce simple tones.
05:46They had a basic language,
05:47but communicated through ultrasound.
05:50Their vocal anatomy didn't support complex human speech.
05:53Neither did their intelligence, for that matter.
05:55He opened his mouth.
05:56Opal.
05:57Clear, precise, perfectly pronounced.
06:00He could speak.
06:01Research on deep-sea mer was scarce.
06:04Perhaps some subspecies had this ability.
06:06My thesis was going to shake the entire field.
06:09Opal.
06:10I pointed at him,
06:11then pointed at myself.
06:13Isla.
06:14He immediately understood that Opal referred to him.
06:16Opal.
06:17And Isla, to me,
06:18Isla.
06:19Remarkably intelligent.
06:20I turned on the speaker I'd prepared.
06:23I'm going to teach you the courtship song.
06:25Once you learn it,
06:26you sing it for whichever mate you choose.
06:28He seemed confused,
06:29but I knew he wouldn't hurt me.
06:31Soon, the lilting melody of a merfolk courtship song
06:33floated from the speaker.
06:35I had to admit,
06:36merfolk singing was beautiful.
06:38The next instant,
06:39Opal's expression changed.
06:40He drove his claws through the speaker in one violent strike,
06:44threading it until the song went silent.
06:47I jumped back in terror and ran.
06:50Those claws would crack my skull just as easily.
06:52He saw me fleeing and lunged.
06:54I glanced back mid-sprint
06:56and saw he'd hauled himself onto the shore,
06:58floundering forward,
06:59trying to chase me.
07:01But on land,
07:01he was slow,
07:02nowhere near fast enough.
07:04Isla.
07:04Isla.
07:05His voice was plaintive,
07:06almost begging.
07:20Isla.
07:22Opal hovered 100 meters out,
07:25neither approaching nor leaving,
07:26just watching me.
07:27I might have overreacted yesterday.
07:30Research consistently showed merfolk were among the friendliest species known.
07:34He'd probably just been startled that the speaker could produce mersong.
07:37I waved him over.
07:38He drifted 10 meters closer,
07:40waited,
07:41and when I didn't run,
07:42cautiously closed another 10 meters.
07:45Several minutes passed before he was just a few meters away.
07:48You don't like the speaker?
07:49What if I teach you myself?
07:54Could he actually understand human speech?
07:56I'd been listening to the colony's courtship songs through underwater equipment for weeks.
08:01I knew them by heart.
08:02I sang the first line,
08:03ready to sprint the instant his claws came for my head the way they'd come for the speaker.
08:07When Opal heard me sing,
08:09his eyes lit up,
08:10he repeated the line back.
08:11I sang the full courtship song,
08:12and he echoed it perfectly.
08:14I'd expected to need a dozen repetitions,
08:16but he reproduced the entire song flawlessly on the first try.
08:19His eyes never left me.
08:20He didn't even blink.
08:21It made me uneasy.
08:22Opal, you're incredibly smart.
08:24When you meet a merm you fancy someday,
08:26you may sing this tune for her.
08:29Consider it tuition.
08:30That night, deep in sleep,
08:31I was jolted awake by a familiar melody.
08:33Furious,
08:34I threw open the window and locked eyes with Opal.
08:38Shut up!
08:38I snapped at him.
08:40The singing stopped.
08:40I finally got a good night's sleep.
08:43But days later,
08:44Opal still hadn't found a mate despite knowing the courtship song.
08:47Was I really going to have to teach him the dance team?
08:51I was a strong swimmer and certified diver.
08:54When I was a child,
08:55trips to Falassa were all the rage.
08:57My parents brought me here on vacation.
08:59After visiting the shallow water merfolk,
09:01the next day,
09:02we boarded a cruise ship to search for deep sea mer.
09:04But the waves were particularly rough that day,
09:07and I fell overboard.
09:09Over 10 days later,
09:11my parents found me unconscious on the shore,
09:13burning with fever.
09:14The fever wiped my memory of that entire period.
09:16The assumption was that a shallow water merfolk pod had rescued me.
09:19After that ordeal,
09:20once we returned to our home world,
09:22my parents enrolled me in swimming and diving lessons.
09:24I never imagined that years later I'd end up back on Falassa,
09:27and that those skills would actually prove useful.
09:29When you see a female you like,
09:31have you tried singing the courtship song for her?
09:33He nodded.
09:33I was furious.
09:35He'd already sung the courtship song and still got rejected.
09:37These females had no taste.
09:39Opal was the most stunning mer on Emerald Atoll.
09:41Do you know the courtship dance?
09:44He shook his head.
09:45Fine.
09:46For the sake of my thesis,
09:47I'd go all in.
09:48I turned,
09:49walked into the room,
09:50slipped on the silver imitation fishtail,
09:52and then dove into the sea.
09:54I mimicked the courtship dance movements,
09:56twirling through the sea.
09:57Opal's eyes grew brighter and brighter,
09:59unblinking,
10:00fixed on every movement.
10:01Light.
10:02That was the first word he'd said to me besides my name.
10:04Idiot.
10:04If he liked it,
10:05then he'd better learn it.
10:06I was counting on those mer pups next year.
10:08When the dance ended,
10:09he retracted his claws.
10:10Opal pulled me into a full embrace.
10:12Carefully circling my waist,
10:14resting his head on my shoulder,
10:16his tail pressing close against mine.
10:19Like his love.
10:20Compared to my clumsy,
10:21slightly ridiculous imitation of a mer dance,
10:24Opal's was effortless and powerful,
10:26devastatingly beautiful.
10:27He sang something similar to the merfolk courtship song,
10:29but more ethereal,
10:30more haunting.
10:31Those impossible eyes held nothing but my reflection the entire time.
10:35Like a sailor bewitched by a siren,
10:37I found myself swimming toward him,
10:38wanting to dance with him.
10:39The moment my hand touched his,
10:41I snapped out of it.
10:42Dancing with a fish,
10:43I'd lost my mind.
10:44I turned and swam hard for shore.
10:45Behind me,
10:46Opal slowly lowered his hand,
10:48watching me leave in silence.
10:55I'd barely peeled off the wet tail when my professor called,
10:58and his furious voice erupted from my comm device.
11:01You idiot.
11:02You told me you found a deep sea mer.
11:04Didn't you notice the razor sharp teeth?
11:05The long claws?
11:07The powerful tail?
11:08That's not a mer.
11:09It's more like a siren out of mythology.
11:12It could slice you open and rip your heart out without breaking a sweat.
11:15The only way a creature like that courts a mate is by hunting them down,
11:19dragging them somewhere no one will find them,
11:21and keeping them there until they're pregnant.
11:24Get out of there!
11:25Get out!
11:27So my gut had been right all along.
11:29I'd always known Opal looked different from the merfolk.
11:31He wasn't a deep sea mer at all.
11:33He was a new species.
11:35An extremely dangerous new species,
11:37which meant the Emerald Atoll research station,
11:39with zero physical barriers,
11:41was a death trap.
11:42Until my professor secured funding and the station was reinforced,
11:45I had to leave immediately.
11:47I grabbed the essentials and launched my yacht.
11:49As the island shrank behind me,
11:51I let myself breathe.
11:53I hadn't said goodbye.
11:54That thought sat heavy in my chest.
11:56Whatever he was,
11:57he'd never actually hurt me.
12:00My professor called to make sure I'd gotten out.
12:03I'm well clear of the atroy!
12:04Thank God.
12:05I thought the worst you'd cost me was my academic reputation.
12:08I didn't expect I'd nearly have to attend your funeral.
12:11But I had no appetite for his jokes.
12:13My voice was shaking.
12:15It's here.
12:18Opal's black hair billows in the wind,
12:20his sleek tail cutting through the water like an arrow.
12:22He caught up in seconds.
12:24His expression was colder than anything I'd ever seen.
12:27I told myself it was fine.
12:29The hull was metal.
12:29I was safe.
12:31Then five pointed claws punched through the cabin wall.
12:34The metal tore apart like paper.
12:35I fell backward.
12:37The clumsiness on the dock had been an act.
12:39The moment he boarded,
12:41his tail split slowly into two human legs.
12:43He walked toward me step by step,
12:45like something out of a nightmare.
12:46Don't run.
12:47All that friendliness had been an act.
12:49From the day he appeared,
12:50he could have slaughtered me and the entire colony anytime he wanted.
12:54But he hadn't.
12:56Had it all been a game to him?
12:57The moment his prey tried to run,
12:59the mask came off.
13:00Don't leave.
13:02My Isla.
13:03And then his lips pressed against mine.
13:05He was kissing me.
13:07Why?
13:07He pushed a smooth, hard curl from his mouth into mine,
13:10his tongue forcing it to the back of my throat until I swallowed.
13:14Only then did he pull back,
13:15a satisfied smile spreading across his face.
13:18You can't escape now,
13:20my mate.
13:23The instant I swallowed the pearl,
13:25everything went black.
13:26Opal took me like prey.
13:28His tail reformed,
13:29and he held me against his chest as he shot through the ocean,
13:32heading somewhere unknown.
13:34My comm device lay abandoned on the deck,
13:35my professor's voice still coming through.
13:38What do you mean it's here?
13:39Isla, talk to me.
13:40A long silence.
13:41Then a sigh,
13:42and the sound of another call going out.
13:44Hello, is this planetary security?
13:46I woke up in iron shackles.
13:48I was inside a cave on some island.
13:50The only exit was submerged.
13:51Even if I could somehow dive through it,
13:53I'd face nothing but open ocean on the other side.
13:56A few meters away,
13:57he was slicing a massive fish into fillets with a poker face.
14:01Blood ran into the water.
14:02The metallic smell was everywhere.
14:04It looked like a scene from a slasher film.
14:06Was I next?
14:08He looked up.
14:09That cold expression was even more terrifying than before.
14:13Liar!
14:14You can't escape.
14:15Before, he'd only ever said a word or two at a time.
14:18Now he was speaking in full sentences.
14:20Fluent, precise.
14:21Like he'd know how to talk all along,
14:23and had simply chosen not to.
14:25An animal would just kill you.
14:26But something intelligent enough to take hostages
14:29was something you could reason with.
14:30What exactly did I lie about?
14:31His expression grew angrier.
14:34You courted me first.
14:36Me?
14:37I accepted.
14:38And you ran.
14:39You always lied to me.
14:41I'd sung the courtship song to him.
14:44Danced the courtship dance.
14:46From his perspective,
14:47I'd been proposing,
14:48and he had accepted.
14:50I softened my voice.
14:52This was all a misunderstanding.
14:55I'm a merfish researcher.
14:56I thought you were a male mer
14:58who'd come to join the Emerald Attor colony
15:00but didn't know how to court.
15:02I was teaching you.
15:03His fist slammed into the cave wall,
15:05punching out a chunk of solid rock.
15:07I didn't want to imagine what would happen
15:09if that had been my skull.
15:10I should never have accepted that reassignment.
15:13Shut up.
15:16You wanted me to court those stupid, weak merfish.
15:19It took a long time for the rage to subside
15:20before he spoke again.
15:21His voice was calm,
15:22but with something unhinged underneath.
15:24It doesn't matter.
15:25Only stupid merfish court that way.
15:28My inherited instinct tells me this is how we do it.
15:31We take our mate and hide them away.
15:35Everything my professor said had been true.
15:37Why couldn't he have told me sooner?
15:39He pushed the raw fillets toward me.
15:42Eat.
15:42I was about to refuse
15:43when hunger slammed into me like a wall.
15:46I wanted that fish more than I'd ever wanted anything in my life.
15:49I devoured every last piece.
15:51He watched with a look of satisfaction,
15:54entirely unsurprised,
15:55as if he had known this would happen.
15:57After eating,
15:58an overwhelming drowsiness hit.
16:00I slept again.
16:02When I woke,
16:02he was slicing fish.
16:04I ate again.
16:05Days passed before the hunger and exhaustion finally faded.
16:09I demanded answers.
16:10What did you do to me?
16:11He took my hand
16:12and guided my fingers behind my ears.
16:14On each side,
16:15I felt openings,
16:16developing gills.
16:18My skin had changed too,
16:19smoother and slicker,
16:21like it was no longer meant for land.
16:22I could probably stay underwater for hours now.
16:25The pearl.
16:27Am I going to turn into a creature like you?
16:31Yes.
16:33You'll become a siren like me.
16:36You'll never go back to the human world.
16:38I was going to turn into one of them.
16:39Never see my family again.
16:41Trapped with this monster for the rest of my life.
16:44Monster,
16:44even if I'm not human anymore,
16:46I'll never be with you.
16:47I hate you.
16:49I'd rather spend my life with a pot of murphine.
16:52His jaw clenched,
16:53eyes went bright with fury.
16:55But underneath it,
16:56just for a second,
16:57I saw something break.
16:58Then I'll keep you chained here forever.
17:00You won't see another human.
17:02You won't even see a mur.
17:04From that day on,
17:05my body kept changing,
17:06more and more like a fish.
17:08The openings behind my ears
17:09grew from two to six within two weeks.
17:12I didn't say a single word to him.
17:14The chains were long enough
17:15that I could reach the cave entrance.
17:16I'd tried submerging my head
17:18and I could last hours now
17:20before I heard him coming back.
17:21If I could just get the shackles off,
17:23I could escape.
17:24Today he returned dragging only a small grouper.
17:26But his black gold tail bore a long gash.
17:29Iridescent scales fell away with every movement.
17:31He was injured.
17:32He didn't even have the strength to shift into legs.
17:37He just lay down and closed his eyes.
17:39I walked over and checked his breathing.
17:44Too bad I didn't die.
17:45You must be so disappointed.
17:48Obviously.
17:49I wish you'd drop dead.
17:51What happened to you?
17:52A pot of orcas.
17:55About 30 of them.
17:57Tried to take my territory.
17:59I won, of course.
18:01Just a scratch.
18:04Orcas.
18:05The oceans roaming fast.
18:0730 of them.
18:08And he won.
18:09I died a little inside.
18:10I truly provoked something terrifying.
18:13I kicked the grouper he brought into the water.
18:15I don't want grouper.
18:17I want salmon.
18:20Tomorrow?
18:21I want it today, you useless fish who can't even land a mate.
18:24Either let me go or go catch some right now.
18:29Tomorrow?
18:29I want it today, you useless fish who can't even land a mate.
18:33Either let me go or go catch some right now.
18:35He hauled himself up and swam back out through the entrance.
18:39After a long while, he returned with several salmon.
18:41The wound on his tail had turned white and waterlogged from the salt.
18:44Actually, I don't want salmon anymore.
18:46Too rich.
18:48I want something lighter.
18:49Sea bream.
18:50He dragged himself back out to catch sea bream.
18:52He brought the bream back.
18:54Before I could say another word, he collapsed.
18:57With his eyes closed, he looked completely harmless.
19:00The wound had gone raw from the seawater.
19:03I cleaned it.
19:04I sat beside him and closed my own eyes.
19:07I should hate him.
19:10I was floating in the ocean, but I knew I was dreaming.
19:13I turned back into a child.
19:14I saw another child about my age.
19:16Was I dreaming?
19:17I reached out to him.
19:19Please, help me.
19:21He swam toward me, and I saw that his lower half was a slender tail.
19:24A mare.
19:25He rescued me, set me on a reef, and caught food for me.
19:28A good myrrh.
19:28I wanted him to take me somewhere with people.
19:30I want to go home.
19:32My parents would be worried.
19:33But he couldn't understand me, so I taught him to speak.
19:35Word by word.
19:37He was smart.
19:38In just over ten days, we could communicate.
19:40I learned he wasn't a myrrh.
19:42He was a siren.
19:43Sirens were solitary.
19:44The unchallenged apex predators of the deep.
19:47Sirens never raised their young.
19:48From the moment a hatchling broke free of its egg, it faced the dangerous ocean alone.
19:52Only those who survived earned the name siren.
19:55I was very innocent as a child.
19:56Innocent in that way only children can be.
19:58The kind that cuts.
20:00So you don't have family or friends?
20:02You've always been alone?
20:04Not even a fish friend?
20:06Don't you get lonely?
20:09Lonely?
20:09What's lonely?
20:11Lonely is when there's no one to play with you.
20:14No one to talk to.
20:15No one who misses you.
20:17I didn't know what lonely was before.
20:20So I wasn't lonely.
20:23Now I will be.
20:24I'm sorry.
20:26After I go home-
20:27I'll come back every summer to play with you.
20:29I'll talk to you.
20:30And I'll miss you.
20:31Let's make a pinky promise.
20:33I swear.
20:34He copied my gesture solemnly, extending his little finger, careful not to nick me with
20:38his sharp oz and hooked it around mine.
20:40Cross your heart.
20:41We're best friends.
20:43I'll never forget you.
20:44Best friends.
20:45I'd planned to stay a few more days before having him take me home.
20:48But the sea wind and the monotonous diet made me sick.
20:51A fever set in.
20:53Everything blurred.
20:54His face went white.
20:55It's my fault.
20:56You don't belong in the sea.
20:58I'll take you somewhere with humans.
20:59They'll help you.
21:00He carried me on his thin back, racing through the ocean, trying to keep the waves from soaking
21:04my hair.
21:07When I'm better, I'll come back for you.
21:11Isla.
21:12I'll wait.
21:13He slipped back into the water.
21:15And only after people found me and carried me away did that small shape in the distance
21:19finally disappear.
21:21But I never kept my promise.
21:23I forgot all of it.
21:26If I hadn't been reassigned to my professor years later,
21:28I might never have returned to Thalassa in my life.
21:32And Opal had come to Emerald Atoll not for the merfolk.
21:35For me.
21:36And what had I done?
21:37I'd made him think I was courting him.
21:39He accepted.
21:41I ran.
21:42He thought I'd betrayed him twice.
21:44In his fury he took me.
21:48Liar.
21:49I hated you.
21:51You are a monster.
21:52I'd never be with you.
21:54Sirens heal with terrifying speed.
21:55Within hours, the vicious wound had closed.
21:57Opal opened his eyes and saw me still obediently shackled.
22:01Only then did he relax.
22:02Opal, you're awake.
22:04Does anything still hurt?
22:05Even if you've changed tactics and you're trying to soft me up,
22:08I won't let you go.
22:10Opal, you're awake.
22:12Does anything still hurt?
22:13Even if you've changed tactics and you're trying to soft me up,
22:15I won't let you go.
22:17I'd forgotten our promise.
22:19Everything on Emerald Atoll had been a misunderstanding.
22:22Liar.
22:23Don't think saying that will make me release you.
22:25My goal now wasn't escape.
22:27It was to comfort this poor fish who'd been let down for over a decade.
22:30I don't want to leave anymore.
22:31I'll stay here with you.
22:34Then you'll be my mate.
22:37Soon, here, we'll be growing an egg.
22:39Didn't you want to study my offspring?
22:42Isla, why not carry them yourself?
22:44I'm a human, you know?
22:46You swallowed my pearl.
22:47Your body has already been altered to carry Siren Young.
22:52Honestly, I wasn't entirely opposed to him.
22:55Interspecies marriage laws between beast folk and humans had already passed.
22:59Plenty of humans were into it.
23:00But carrying an egg was beyond anything I'd mentally prepared for.
23:03Can we just date first?
23:05A purely platonic relationship?
23:08I explained what platonic meant.
23:09He got angrier.
23:12You're lying again.
23:13I'll never believe you.
23:14But when I asked him to unlock the chains so I could swim, he agreed.
23:18Just as I thought.
23:19All bark, no bite.
23:21But impossible to convince.
23:23While Opal was out hunting,
23:24I dove into the water at the cave entrance
23:26and discovered small bioluminescent fish.
23:29I caught a few and snacked on them.
23:31When I surfaced, my body was burning.
23:34Especially there.
23:35I tried to deal with it for a long time, but the relief wouldn't come.
23:38Opal returned and saw the remaining bioluminescent fish.
23:43Merfish eat those during mating.
23:45You ate them?
23:46How was there something like that just swimming around?
23:48Humans really had studied this planet nowhere near enough.
23:51It kept getting worse.
23:51My face was burning.
23:53And not just from the effect.
23:54I couldn't believe I was about to say this.
23:56I reached out to Opal.
23:58Can you...
23:59Help me, Opal, please?
24:02He just stood there, looking like a kicked puppy
24:04despite being a creature that could kill 30 orcas.
24:07You always do this.
24:08You asked me first, then you took it back.
24:11Every single time.
24:12I pulled him closer by the wrist.
24:14I like you.
24:15I want you.
24:16Now.
24:16You really have to help me.
24:18I need you.
24:19He didn't move.
24:20His eyes were fixed on me.
24:22Wounded and wary.
24:23You're begging me now.
24:24But tomorrow you'll hate me again.
24:26I don't believe you.
24:27Those green eyes looked so lost.
24:29Like he was already bracing for me to disappear.
24:31So I kissed him first.
24:32He froze.
24:33Then his arms came around me so tight
24:35I thought my ribs would crack.
24:37He was gentle at first.
24:39Trembling even.
24:40Like he was afraid I'd break.
24:42Then not.
24:43By the end I was breathless.
24:44Clinging to him.
24:45Telling him that was enough.
24:47I couldn't take anymore.
24:48He didn't stop until my body gave out completely.
24:52Next morning clear-headed
24:54I processed the fact that I'd slept with a fish.
24:56It had actually felt pretty good.
24:58I might genuinely be in love with Opal.
25:00When Opal saw me awake
25:01he handed me a knife made from shell.
25:03You hate me even more now, don't you?
25:05I forced you last night.
25:07I'd been on the bottom
25:07but I knew full well who'd been forcing whom.
25:10You must despise me.
25:11I've unlocked your chains.
25:13You can use this knife to fierce my heart.
25:15Then leave this place forever.
25:16Go back to the human world.
25:18And then what?
25:18He'd dissolve into sea foam?
25:20He was pure hearted and soft underneath it all.
25:22Playing at being a captor
25:23when he didn't have the constitution for it.
25:25I really like you.
25:27If you don't believe me
25:28let's do it again.
25:30So we did.
25:31Many, many times.
25:32In the cave at the bottom of the sea.
25:34But he still didn't believe me.
25:37He was convinced I was trying to lull him
25:39into dropping his guard so I could escape.
25:41I could only keep repeating that I loved him.
25:43That I'd take him to meet my parents.
25:45That I'd marry him.
25:46He just looked at me with sadness.
25:47You'd even lure me to the human world
25:49so they can capture me for research?
25:51Your thesis means that much to you?
25:52Enough to endure all this and seduce me?
25:54I had no way to defend myself.
25:56So I seduced him again.
25:57Easier than arguing.
25:58Until one day I couldn't stop vomiting.
26:00The color drained from my face.
26:01Opal panicked completely.
26:03Remembering the night over a decade ago
26:04when I'd nearly died of fever.
26:06I'll take you back to the humans right now.
26:08After this
26:08you'll never see me again.
26:10Didn't you say I'd become a siren like you?
26:12He kissed me with desperation.
26:14I lied.
26:14The pearl only changes a mate's body a little.
26:17Enough to adapt to prolong life at sea.
26:20Enough for your body to handle me.
26:21And to carry my egg.
26:22But you're still fundamentally human.
26:24I know you've wanted to leave this whole time.
26:27I imprisoned you.
26:28You hate me.
26:31Just like ten years ago
26:32Opal carried me on his back
26:33and tore through the ocean
26:34until I spotted Emerald Atoll's research station
26:37in the distance.
26:38The station had been renovated.
26:39It looked completely different from before.
26:41He set me down on the dock
26:42took one last long look at me
26:44and turned to leave.
26:45I called out to him.
26:46The next instant
26:46a metal trap crashed down from above
26:48caging a powerful siren inside.
26:50Who said you could leave?
26:52My test subject.
26:53So this was your plan all along?
26:55For your research and your thesis?
26:57You go as far as seducing me?
26:59All to capture me alive.
27:00You win.
27:03That's right.
27:04I was exactly the kind of person
27:05who'd do anything to graduate.
27:07After I discovered a new species
27:08my professor secured
27:09a massive research grant.
27:10The Emerald Atoll Station
27:11was expanded to several times
27:13its original size.
27:14Additional researchers were brought in
27:15and my professor took up
27:16permanent residence
27:17as Project Lead.
27:18He chewed me out
27:19beyond all recognition
27:20but had no choice
27:21except to clean up my mess.
27:22But the siren refused
27:23to cooperate with any experiments.
27:25He wouldn't eat.
27:26Wouldn't drink.
27:27Wouldn't speak.
27:28His aggression was extreme.
27:29The researchers couldn't collect
27:30so much as a blood sample
27:32or a strand of hair.
27:33Finally
27:34I went alone to the cage
27:35holding the siren.
27:37You'll die
27:38if you don't eat or drink.
27:40What a shame.
27:41You'll only have a siren corpse
27:43to study.
27:44In a few months
27:44we'll have a living siren.
27:46Right here.
27:49You're carrying my egg.
27:51It's your child too.
27:52Do you really hate sirens that much?
27:55Aren't sirens supposed to just
27:56dump their young in the ocean
27:58any don't way?
27:59Pretend you don't know.
28:02My blood,
28:03my hair,
28:04even my tail.
28:04Take whatever you want.
28:06But you cannot harm our child.
28:08Opal abandoned his hunger strike
28:09and cooperated fully
28:11with the research team.
28:12Intelligence tests,
28:13language assessments,
28:15blood samples,
28:16everything.
28:16Three months later,
28:17a paper emerged
28:18that shook the field.
28:19A new intelligent species
28:21had been discovered on Thalassa,
28:22the siren.
28:23A species with a humanoid upper body
28:25and a fish-like tail.
28:26Intelligence comparable to humans.
28:28Capable of understanding
28:29and speaking human language.
28:31With extraordinary physical resilience
28:33and immense strength.
28:34Everyone left Emerald Atoll to celebrate.
28:36Only I walked alone to the lab.
28:38The caged siren opened his eyes.
28:40No grief.
28:40No joy.
28:41You imprisoned me once.
28:42I imprisoned you once.
28:43We're even.
28:44So,
28:44debt paid.
28:45Can I go?
28:46Of course.
28:47Sirens are now recognized
28:48by the Interstellar Alliance
28:49as an intelligent species.
28:51You qualify for full legal personship,
28:53same as humans.
28:53You can marry anyone you want.
28:55Mr. Opal,
28:56you've never believed that I love you,
28:58but I'm going to propose anyway.
29:00I used some extreme meths
29:02to keep you here,
29:02but I learned them from you.
29:04Will you marry me?
29:05You don't want our child
29:06to be born out of wedlock,
29:07do you?
29:08Isla,
29:09you're proposing to me.
29:13When you said you liked me before,
29:15it was real.
29:17If I didn't love you,
29:18why would I sleep with you?
29:20Why would I carry your egg
29:21and actually want to keep it?
29:23We took your blood exactly once.
29:26The only purpose
29:26was to test
29:27which medications
29:28would work on you.
29:30Nobody's doing
29:30illegal research with it.
29:33If you hadn't gone
29:34and written yourself
29:34into some tragic drama,
29:36you convinced I hated you,
29:37ready to swim off
29:38and never come back,
29:38I would have taken you
29:39to meet my parents
29:40the next day.
29:41You'd apply for personhood yourself
29:42and we'd be married
29:43within a month.
29:44You idiot.
29:44You forced me to lock you up
29:46so you wouldn't leave.
29:48I'm an idiot too.
29:50I literally taught you
29:51courtship rituals
29:51and told you to use them
29:53on Murphic.
29:53When he just stood there frozen.
29:55Of course,
29:56if you don't like me anymore,
29:57if you still hate me,
30:00if you're gonna press charges,
30:01can you only press them
30:02against me?
30:03The next instant,
30:04Opal sealed my lips with his.
30:05I closed my eyes
30:06and kissed him back.
30:07A long time passed
30:08before he spoke.
30:08Isla,
30:10from the moment I met you,
30:11there hasn't been
30:12a single second
30:13I didn't love you.
30:14That flimsy cage
30:14could never have held me.
30:15If I'd wanted to leave,
30:16I would have left any time.
30:17The only reason I stayed
30:18was you.
30:19Even believing you hated me,
30:20even thinking I was nothing
30:21but your test subject,
30:22I loved you.
30:22The hunger strike
30:23was just to see you.
30:25You threatened me
30:26with our child
30:26and I still couldn't hate you.
30:29The egg hatched
30:30into a human child,
30:31dark hair,
30:32round ears.
30:34He had Opal's green eyes
30:35but aside from that,
30:36he looked nothing
30:37like a siren.
30:42Is this really our child?
30:44Did someone swap him out?
30:46The next instant,
30:48Opal casually tossed him
30:49into the bathtub.
30:50I wanted to murder him.
30:51What are you doing?
30:53What kind of father are you?
30:55But Finn rolled happily
30:56in the water.
30:57His legs fused
30:58into a golden tail
30:59and his ears shifted
31:00into pointed siren ears.
31:02Definitely our little fish
31:03after all.
31:05Good.
31:07We can throw him
31:08in the ocean
31:08to fend for himself now.
31:09My baby is going to be
31:11the happiest child
31:12in the world.
31:13He has loving parents
31:14and grandparents
31:15and he'll go to preschool
31:15and make tons of friends.
31:17You want me to throw him
31:18in the ocean?
31:19Do you have a death wish?
31:21We can throw him
31:21in the ocean
31:22to fend for himself now.
31:23My baby is going to be
31:25the happiest child
31:26in the world.
31:26He has loving parents
31:28and grandparents
31:28and he'll go to preschool
31:29and make tons of friends.
31:31You want me to throw him
31:32in the ocean?
31:33Do you have a death wish?
31:34But that's how I grew up.
31:35Never met my parents,
31:37let alone grandparents.
31:38Mon amour est toi, et tu n'as jamais eu reviendrai.
31:41J'ai attendu où nous avons dit qu'il y a plus de deux ans.
31:44Vous avez moi maintenant.
31:46Vous avez tout mon amour.
31:48Vous êtes déjà le plus heureux de la sire dans le monde.
31:51Alors aujourd'hui, nous allons laisser Fin avec tes parents.
31:54Il a été trop longtemps depuis que nous étions close.
31:56Je me souviens.
31:57Le lendemain, mon corps a douleur.
31:59C'est toujours un créateur de supernatur.
32:01C'est un créateur de me douleur.
32:04Le change de ma corps a douleur.
32:07Le change de ma corps a douleur.
32:08Je me souviens.
32:10Faint, iridescent lines running along mon forearms.
32:14Barely visible unless the light hit them just right.
32:17Scales.
32:18Or the ghost of scales.
32:19I could hold my breath underwater for 40 minutes now.
32:23My night vision had sharpened.
32:25Food tasted different.
32:27Blander on land, richer in the sea.
32:30Opal.
32:31You said the pearl would only change me a little.
32:37I said it would change you enough.
32:39Enough for what?
32:41I'm growing scales.
32:44They suit you.
32:45That's not the point.
32:46The pearl bonds us.
32:47Your body adapts to live where I live.
32:49It won't stop.
32:50So what's the endgame?
32:51Will I grow a tail?
32:52No.
32:53You'll never be a siren.
32:55But you won't be entirely human either.
32:58Something in between.
32:59Something new.
33:03Something new.
33:04Like Finn.
33:05Will it shorten my lifespan?
33:07No.
33:08It will lengthen it.
33:10How much?
33:14Enough to stay with me.
33:15I didn't ask how long Sirens lived.
33:18I wasn't sure I wanted to know.
33:20My parents arrived on the weekly supply shuttle.
33:23Mom burst into tears the moment she saw Finn.
33:27He's beautiful.
33:28He looks just like you, Isla.
33:30Wait till you see his other form.
33:32As if on cue, Finn's fata got fussy.
33:35Golden scales rippled across his lower half.
33:38A tail emerged.
33:40Thrashing.
33:41Mom screamed.
33:42Dad caught Finn before he hit the floor.
33:44Held him awkwardly.
33:46Examined the tail with the calm of a retired engineer.
33:50Flexible.
33:51Good muscle tone.
33:53You were like this as a baby?
33:56I don't know.
33:58No one was there.
33:59The room went quiet.
34:01Set Finn in the water basin I kept nearby for exactly these situations.
34:05Well, he won't be alone.
34:08Finn splashed happily, tail glinting gold.
34:11That night, Isla.
34:14Hmm?
34:14He must love you so much.
34:16I've never seen anyone so terrified of losing someone.
34:18He's dramatic.
34:19No, he's terrified you'll disappear.
34:22I won't.
34:22I know, sweetheart.
34:23Make sure he knows too.
34:26The research station expanded again after Opal Species was formally classified.
34:31My professor brought in a whole team of specialists.
34:34Marine biologists, linguists, geneticists.
34:38One of them caught my attention.
34:39Or Dr. Lina Hsu, a 28-year-old ocean acoustics researcher who'd graduated top of her class.
34:45She was specifically interested in siren vocalization.
34:48The frequencies Opal could produce that no mer could.
34:52The range is extraordinary in love.
34:55He can generate infrafound that affects the nervous system.
34:59That's likely the basis of the mythological siren song.
35:02It isn't magic.
35:03It's targeted neurological manipulating through sound waves.
35:07Comforting.
35:08Can I get a few more recording sessions with him?
35:12Can I get a few more recording sessions with him?
35:15Opal agreed easily.
35:17He'd been cooperative with the team since the day I proposed.
35:20But I noticed something.
35:21Every time Lina entered the room, Opal shifted his body between her and me.
35:25Subtle.
35:26Unconscious.
35:27Maybe.
35:28His nostrils flared slightly when she passed.
35:30One day, after Finn was asleep, Opal spoke.
35:33That woman.
35:35Lina?
35:35She smells wrong.
35:36Wrong how?
35:37She has siren scent on her.
35:38Old.
35:39Faded.
35:39But there.
35:40You're sure?
35:41I know what my own kind smells like, Isla.
35:43She touched a siren.
35:44And it wasn't me.
35:46I ran a background check the next morning.
35:49Lina Shu, born on Colony 7, PhD from Central University, published 12 papers on cetacean
35:55communication.
35:56Joined a deep sea expedition to Thalassa's southern hemisphere two years ago.
36:00Everything checked out.
36:02Spotless record.
36:03I pulled the expedition report, a routine survey mission.
36:06No incidents logged.
36:08No contact with unknown species.
36:10But the mission had lasted six months.
36:12And Lina had spent three weeks separated from the main team after a submersible malfunction.
36:18The official report said she survived on emergency rations until rescue arrived.
36:23Three weeks alone in the deep ocean.
36:25I brought this to Opal.
36:27That's when it happened.
36:28You can't know that three weeks in deep water, alone, when she came back alive, something
36:33kept her alive.
36:35That's when it happened.
36:36You can't know that three weeks in deep water, alone, when she came back alive, something
36:41kept her alive.
36:42That night, I couldn't sleep.
36:44I activated the dock cameras on a hunch.
36:462.47 a.m.
36:48Lina walked to the end of the dock, alone.
36:50She stood at the edge, looking out at the black water.
36:52Then she raised her hands to her lips and blew a sequence of notes.
36:56Low.
36:56Haunting.
36:57Not merfolk song.
36:58Something answered from the deep.
37:00A sound that made my bones ache, even through the camera's audio feed.
37:04And far below the surface, captured by the underwater sensors, a shape moved.
37:09Massive.
37:10Larger than Opal.
37:12Dark red.
37:14I showed Opal the footage at dawn.
37:16That's a siren.
37:17Male.
37:17Mature.
37:18Bigger than me.
37:19Bigger than you?
37:19I thought you were-
37:20I'm young.
37:21Sirens don't stop growing.
37:22That one is old.
37:23Maybe centuries.
37:24Centuries?
37:25Is he dangerous?
37:26Every siren is dangerous.
37:27But this one-
37:29He replayed the footage.
37:30He's not hunting.
37:31He's searching.
37:32For Lina?
37:33For his mate.
37:34She didn't stay with him.
37:36She left.
37:37Do you know what happens to a siren whose mate leaves?
37:40I remembered his words from long ago.
37:42The pearl was part of his life force.
37:44Given freely.
37:45Irreversible.
37:46You said it's worse than death.
37:48The bond screams.
37:49Every moment apart is agony.
37:51The instinct to find your mate overweighs everything else.
37:53Rational thought.
37:54Self-preservation.
37:55Eventually, even recognition of the mate themselves.
37:59They go feral.
38:01Hmm.
38:01How long does it take?
38:02Depends on the siren.
38:04Weeks.
38:04Months.
38:05For one that old and powerful.
38:06He's held on longer than any siren should be able to.
38:09But he's close to the edge.
38:11The next night, the underwater cameras caught him again.
38:13Closer this time.
38:14Close enough to see details.
38:16A massive siren.
38:17Easily ten feet of dark crimson tail.
38:19One eye clouded over.
38:20His claws were extended gouging trenches in the seafloor.
38:23But when Lena's melody drifted down from above, he went still, pressed his palm flat against
38:28the ocean floor, and stayed there, listening.
38:30Until the song ended, then the dark shape sank back into the abyss.
Commentaires