Ouroboros

Red Point Cove

     Coda-9994 hung vertically in the water, tail dangling beneath him, eyes shut. Despite his body's stillness, his mind raced with impossibilities. He dreamed that he swam through a vast, unending blue, Jim close at his side. He had no device, but called out to his human friend anyway, telling him all about the wondrous place. All things Jim had taught him, for he had never seen so much as a swimming fish in reality.

     He opened his eyes with a primal scream of rage. Why couldn't he see the ocean, or at least what remained of it? Because humans existed to tyrannize him, and though he existed because of their science, he was certain that the moment he had been born, they had already planned the day of his execution. Only, they were calling it something else. And he had committed no crime apart from being born a species other than Homo sapiens.

     Even the name they gave themselves reeked of selfishness. Homo sapiens. "Wise man." Yet they, in their infinite wisdom, had reduced him from a sentient being to a laboratory experiment. An object.

     His pulse quickened with rage. He bellowed at that cursed concrete wall and rammed his head into it. He knew it would do nothing, but it felt good to hurt sometimes. It released the pain from deep inside and let it be known in all its hideous glory.

     The hour was one in the morning. No one was there to hear his screams or behold his fury, and he was grateful. There were few things Coda hated more than an audience to his anger. Still, he hated nothing more than the walls surrounding him.

     When he cooled down a little, the whale swam over to his computer. The screen illuminated in response to his clicks. He opened his messaging application. One night, he had remotely installed spyware on several computers in the facility, mostly because it charmed him to see what the little dolphins stayed up late chattering about on their devices.

     What he noticed immediately was that the striped dolphins had been messaging up a storm. From what he knew, they had also been witness to some of the chaos that evening. New Ground Three and Four were talking to each other through the screen, which perplexed Coda, because he was fairly certain those two lived in the same tank.

     NG03: What do you think happened last night? I saw a guy in a mask run out the door. Officer Pitt was chasing the guy, but he had something stuck in his back. What's that sharp thing called?

     NG04: It's called a knife, you dumbass. Humans use them to cut their food and to kill each other.

     NG03: I'd believe it, with their flat, pathetic little teeth. Isn't Coda-9994 in that room? Maybe he could stop spying on our conversation and tell us what happened.

     That comment tickled him with amusement.

     - Damn it, you caught me! Anyway, I didn't see the whole thing. Pitt shot a woman who was running for the door, then the one in the mask jumped out and tried to help her.Then there were too many people in the way for me to see what was happening. –

    NG04: Aren't you forbidden to talk to us?

     - I can clear my conversation history. –

     NG04: You're more rebellious than you used to be. What's going on? Do you know something we don't? Seriously, something seems off.

     Coda-9994 hesitated. As much he wanted to tell someone, anyone what was happening, he knew that to do so would be perilous, both to him and to Jim.

     NG03: Was Dr. Morris out sick with fever chills?

     NG04: SHUT UP!