Stolen Scales

Chapter 5

This time they are carrying a large glass tank filled with water, presumably from the sea, between them. The tank has no top, but there are handcuffs built into its top. Kyma slides further into the water and turns to flee the cave, only to find that iron bars are now blocking the exit of the cave. The bars are coming from not only the top of the cave, but the sides as well, leaving Kyma with no possible way to squeeze through. She starts to swim around the cave in a random path, trying to evade the men, but in her desperation, she enters the shallow waters and gets stuck there. They wade over and haul her up, before forcing her into the tank and clicking the cuffs into place before she can push herself out again. She looks down to see that the water reaches just past her waist, covering all her scales with only an inch or two of water covering her skin. As long as she keeps her tail in a position that is mildly awkward and uncomfortable, her entire tail will stay wet. Before they can roll her tank out of the room, they pull out an extra glass panel and slide it onto the top, ensuring that the open space is only enough for her upper half to fit through.

They roll her out of the cave and back into the hallway. They move towards the offshoot that leads towards the room with the stone slab and turn down it, but instead of going all the way down the hallway and into that room, they enter a nearer room. In the middle of this new room is a large tank the same size as the stone slab, but the walls of this tank are about three meters high, with about a meter of space in between its top and the ceiling. There is a ramp leading up to the top of the tank, and Kyma suspects that it is for them to roll her little carrying tank up to it so that the men can more easily get her into the water.

"What is this? What is that tank for?"

Dr. James walks into the room, every step oozing with smug confidence. "Little Kyma, that tank is for you to go in for your next test. It's full of freshwater. For this test, we want to see how you will react to freshwater." He raises a finger. "However, there is a catch. You can't have any seawater on you, as it will mess with our results."

He waves his hand at the men, and they uncuff Kyma before pulling her out of the tank. She hangs in the air between them until she is dry enough for her tail to begin to sting. Then they march up the ramp, carrying her between them. Once at the top, they resume the wait until not a single bead of water has been present on her for a period of several minutes. By this point, she is crying at the pain. They dump her unceremoniously into the tank, and the glass slides up to the ceiling, leaving only an inch of space at the very top for airflow. Kyma hovers at the surface for a couple minutes before swimming down to the bottom of the tank and then back up to the top, just to give herself something to do. After about an hour of her doing these laps, they beckon her back up to the surface of the tank. They pull her out of the water and situate her back into the carrying tank.

She looks up at the men and asks a question. "Am I done now?"

They don't utter a word in response, just carry her out the door and down the hallway, stopping two doors down. When they open the door to this new room, Kyma cranes her head to look around in both curiosity and apprehension. The majority of the room seems to be filled by a massive aquarium tank set into the floor. Directly in front of the door is a raised platform that slopes down to the water in its center. As far as Kyma can tell, the water continues on past the back wall. Dr. James follows them into the room and Kyma twists around to look at him.

"What am I here for? Is this another test?"

Dr. James gives her a nod of affirmation. "Little Kyma, this is a test to see if you can communicate with sea creatures in or out of the water. We'll be testing it three ways. When you're in the water with them, when you are in your carrying tank, and when you are not in either. Don't fret, we'll wet your tail when you ask us to. Now, let's start with you in the carrying tank.."