✔️Scales (Hankcon Mermaid AU)

10^ Free Falling

I approach the entrance to the drainage pipe Elijah was talking about. I have a sealed bag of clothes in one hand and a knife in the other. I swallow nervously, but I swim forward, entering the pipe.
     It's dark in here, but I have night vision. I glance around. There are a few ways that I can go. I bring up the map that Elijah showed me, and I choose the left path.
It sure is quiet... It'd be really bad if someone were to find me here. I'm weak in this dark, quiet place. I have a knife, but what use is it if I'm not willing to use it?
I can hear and feel the water being disturbed, and I get a look at a few tentacles disappearing down one of the pipes. That's the guard Elijah was talking about. I need to be careful.
I adjust my grip on my bag of clothes, and I continue swimming. I go down a few pipes, take a few lefts, then a right, and I stop. I consult the map to see where I am and where I need to go.
"You seem lost."
I twist around to see the guard looming over me. Shit. Goddammit. "Umm... Uhh..." I stutter, quickly searching for an excuse.
     He leans down and scrutinizes me. "What's a little guy like you doing down here?" He grabs me with half of the tentacles on his body, and he pulls me closer. "Oh! You're one of the blacklisted Mermandroids! I have to kill you."
     "Wh-What?! Blacklisted?!" I squirm to get out of his grasp, but it's useless. He's too strong for me.
     "Well, yeah. CyberLife told me that you're a blacklisted Mermandroid, and I need to kill you." He shrugs, but he's grinning. "I'm sad that I have to do this, but orders are orders." He's not sad! He'll enjoy ripping me apart!
     "W-Wait! You can't!"
     "I can. I have to." He pulls my tail away from my torso, stretching me.
     "S-Stop! You'll... break me!" I squirm harder.
     "That's kind of the point."
     I have to do something! I can't die! Not now! I raise my hand and slash at the tentacles around my torso again, and again.
     "Hey! That's not fair, you dirty rat!" He lets me go, and I dart away. I slash at the rest of his tentacles until I'm freed, then I bolt down the pipes. I check my map and make a right turn. If I'm right, there should be a grate that leads up into the CyberLife tower.
     I can feel the guard behind me. "You can't run from me!"
     I push myself faster. I need a distraction. There's no way I'll be able to get the grate off before he gets me. I glance down at my bag of clothes. I need these, but I need a distraction even more. I reach down and open the bag, then I throw the clothes back in the water. The guard runs right into them, like I had hoped he would.
     I stick my knife under the grate and pry it open with all of my strength. My whole body shakes as I struggle to get the grate off. It doesn't want to budge. With a sudden jerk, I get it free.
     But the guard has finally sorted out the clothes situation, and he's coming right for me.
     I slide myself into the small opening in the grate, then I struggle my way through. My skin painfully scratches against metal, making me wince with each movement.
     I finally pop through the opening, but the guard grabs me. "You're not going anywhere, little fishy." He pulls at me, dragging me back through the opening.
     My heart rams itself against my rib cage, and my breath comes out in short bursts. I reach for my knife, just falling short of it. I can't go out like this. I grit my teeth. With renewed strength and determination, I push myself forward and grab my knife before twisting around and plunging it into his tentacles.
     He hisses in pain, but I'm freed.
     At the cost of my knife. It's still stuck in the tentacle I stabbed, but I'm free. I dart away, hurrying along the path.
     I lost my clothes and my knife. I have nothing. I swallow fearfully. I need clothes and a weapon. I need them.
     I swim upwards, eventually surfacing. I stare up at the huge grate before me, then I reach up and test it. I can push it up. Carefully, I push the grate up and slide it over, creating a small opening. I cautiously poke my head up and look around.
     Elijah told me that I'd end up in a shower room, but I never knew what it would look like. The walls are covered in tiles, with shower heads lining them. I look around a little more to see no one around.
So, I place my hands on the sides of the hole, and I pull myself up, struggling before I manage to get out. I flop on the floor, laying still and allowing my tail to retract into my body.
     When it does, I scramble to my knees and slide the grate back over the hole. I stand up, glancing around to make sure no one saw me.
     I can hear the sound of male voices coming closer. Panic ensues. what do I do? Where do I go? Not knowing what else to do, I turn on one of the showers and stand under it, keeping my back to the men.
     They walk into the room, but they don't stop talking. I pretend to wash myself, minding my own business until they take up positions at the shower heads. Two of them walk over to me.
     "Hello, there. Never seen you before. Are you new?" One of them leans against the wall, blinking over at me.
The other leans against the other wall with his arms crossed.
I swallow nervously, knowing that they've cornered me. "Umm... I-I was just finishing up!" I scurry away before they can drag me into any further conversation.
I exit the showers and find myself in a locker room. There's a towel nearby, and I take it, wrapping it around my waist. This place is a bit of a maze, but it's not big. At least... it doesn't look big on the map.
I pass a mirror and stop, getting a good look at myself. Elijah had insisted that I take my LED off. Eventually, I relented and let him take it off. He also suggested I change my hair color and grow it out or shorten it. I decided to go with blonde hair. It looks like Hank's hair, but it's a little longer than his. Elijah changed my eye color to green and messed with my synthskin pigments. So, now I'm a tan, blonde guy with green eyes and long hair. I swallow hard. I don't recognize myself. I know that these changes were necessary, but this isn't me. I don't feel like Connor, anymore.
I shake my head. I have more important things to think about. Right now, I need clothes. I can't walk around here naked.
I glance around, looking for something to wear. I'll have to steal someone else's clothes. I reach for one of the lockers and open it. There's a uniform inside. I pull it out, letting the towel fall to the floor. The underwear looks clean enough, but wearing someone else's underwear is... weird. But, I don't have a choice, so I put them on. They're comfortable enough.
I take out the shirt and pull it on. To my dismay, it's too big and baggy for me. I take it off and move to the next locker over.
There's nothing inside this one besides a pair of shoes. I'll come back to that one.
The next locker has another uniform. I pull out the pants and pull them on. Surprisingly, they fit. They're a bit too long, but I bend down and roll up the bottom of my pant legs. There's that problem solved.
I put on the socks, which are a little too big, but they'll have to work. I don't have time to search every locker looking for a perfect uniform.
With my lower body covered, I can worry about my torso. I take the shirt out and put it on. It's... not much better than the last one, but it's good enough. It'll have to do.
Last, but not least, I pull on the shoes. They're a little big, but I can tie them tight around my feet. They seem pretty good as I test them, stepping around a bit.
With my uniform assembled, I need a weapon. I rummage around the lockers I've already opened, and I find nothing.
Voices drift over to me, and I stare around in alarm. I can't let anyone see me. So, I run away, towards the exit, according to the map.
But, I still need a weapon!
I stop at the last isle of lockers. I open one to see nothing. The next two are empty. I cross my fingers at the fourth locker before opening it. There's a duffle bag in it, and I rummage through it to find a small hand gun and a pocket knife. These will have to do.
     I also find a few rubber bands in one of the pockets. I stretch one on my fingers before getting an idea. I've seen Hank put his hair up before. I could do the same. Maybe, it's better to keep it up. I bend over, flipping my hair over my head, then I collect it all. I tie the rubber band around it, tighten it, then right myself.
     I need to go, now. I've spent too much time in here.
     I peek out into the hallway before stepping out and making my way down the hall. The CyberLife tower is a huge building, but I only have to get to the top floor. I only have to take out the CEO.
     I wonder if Hank is here.
     I swallow and keep going. I'll have to forget about him for now.
     I reach the elevator and get inside. Luckily, I'm all alone. It'd be kind of difficult to assassinate someone with other people nearby.
     Elijah told me that I'd need to imitate someone's voice to use the elevator. He gave me a sample voice from one of the employees that I can use. I clear my throat. "Agent 37, floor 93."
     My heart stops before the elevator starts moving, taking me to the top floor. "Access granted." I punch the air excitedly. I'm almost there!
     I look out of the glass windows on the elevator. Below, I see a bunch of people rushing through CyberLife's entrance. This must be Hank and his officers. It has to be. I swallow hard as I watch them swarm inside like a pack of wolves. It makes me glad that I'm not down there.
     The elevator stops. Red lights starts flashing around me, and I stare up at them. "Security breach in progress. Currently rerouting to the nearest floor," the robotic, elevator voice says.
     I change my mind. I wish, I was down there, now. I'm scared.
     The elevator takes me up to the nearest floor, then stops. Seconds later, the door opens. I walk out of it to see a large room with a rows of tanks in it.
     Is this what I think it is? Are these fish tanks?
     I step forward curiously. These are fish tanks. I sprint forward, glancing into each tank to see Mermandroid after Mermandroid. There are thousands of them here. I pause in the middle of the mess of tanks. I need to find Conan, and I need to find him now. I keep running, staring into the tanks as I pass. I can't believe that CyberLife has made so many.
     I pass a tank and stop. "C-Conan!" I bang against the glass.
     The Mermandroid inside twists around, startled by me. I instantly recognize Conan. There's a long scratch over his left eye, which is shut. "What...?" He looks scared. He doesn't recognize me.
     "It's me! It's Connor. Don't you remember me...?"
     Conan drifts forward. "C-Connor...? What happened to you...?"
     "Umm... I had to disguise myself so I could sneak in here!" I explain. "I'm still me! I'm just... I just look different."
     "You... You have... legs," he breathes, staring down at my limbs.
     "I do! You probably have them, too! But, we need to get out of here! It's not safe!"
     Conan stares at me, looking distressed. This is probably a lot for him to take in. He backs away. "I... Who are you?"
"I'm Connor! I'm your little brother!"
"The little brother I knew would never have come here!" he snaps. "The Connor I knew would've stayed behind! The Connor I knew would've let me figure out some way to get out of here myself! Now, you're in danger, too! You'll die here!"
"The Connor you knew has changed. I've changed Conan. I'm not sitting around while they hurt you. Look at your eye! How did that happen?"
Conan swallows. "I... tried to escape."
"And, you failed! I can help you out of here! We have to go!"
Conan frowns. He looks away. "I never said that I wasn't proud of the Connor you've become." He coils himself down to the bottom of the pool before shooting up into the air and landing on the other side. He grunts at the impact of him hitting the floor.
"I could've found an easier way to get you out." I take his arm, swallowing hard as I realize that my brother is right here. I missed him so much.
"I'm weak, Connor," he whispers. "I didn't want to burden you when I could get myself out."
I hug him tight to my chest. "We'll get out of here." I pick him up, gritting my teeth in effort. He's heavy. Nevertheless, I start running back to the elevator.
"I managed to get them out of my mind, Connor. I'm free. It was hard, but I forced them out of my programming. I'm... damaged from it. But, I'm slowly repairing myself."
I smile proudly. "That's so good, Conan. I'm proud of you."
"No, I-I'm proud of you."
I look down into his tear-filled eyes. "Don't make me cry, Conan. We're not done, yet."
CyberLife employees appear in front of the elevator, blocking my exit.
I turn around, but CyberLife employees are there, too.
"We're cornered..." Conan whimpers.
I glance back and forth before fixing my gaze on the window. "I have an idea." I sprint towards the window, quickly accepting my fate.
Conan realizes what I'm going to do. "W-Wait! Connor, no! Don't jump!"
I have no choice. I have to. I don't have time to save anyone else, but I can save Conan. And, I will save him.
I throw him at the window, watching as he smashes through the glass. I jump after him, free falling towards the sea below. I manage to grab onto Conan's hand as we fall. His screams are all I can hear before they're cut off when we finally hit the surface of the water.