Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

  Y/N yawned and stretched their arms above their head.  Despite having done paperwork at a desk the whole day, they felt far more exhausted than if they'd collected samples on the field.

  With another yawn, probably a result of their body's ire towards paperwork, they start making their way towards the breakroom for caffeine.  Unfortunately, directly after closing their office door, Y/N remembers that they left their thermos in their office and has to turn back around.

  Opening the door proved that there were, in fact, downsides to being a marine biologist.  For example, there was currently a Very Large Blue Guy halfway through the relatively small floor vent, his torso and head alone larger than a grown man.

  And he looked at Y/N.  And Y/N looked at him.  And he looked at Y/N.  And Y/N looked at his hand, where a USB drive was pinched between his thumb and index finger.  And he looked at his hand, where a USB drive was pinched between his thumb and index finger.  And Y/N looked at him.  And he looked at Y/N.

  "Uh, hey-"

  "HELP!" Y/N screamed, slamming the door shut and running like they were trying to outrun a bullet, "HELP ME!"

  Y/N nearly slammed into their coworker, both barely able to skid to a stop in time.

  "Is there a leak?!"

  "No!  There was a big fucking blue thing in my office that looked like a person!"

  Looking only slightly less worried than before, their coworker asked, "Like, too big to be killed with a gun?"

  "It fits through the vent like an octopus." Y/N rambled, "It was an aquatic creature going through the vent with a human appearance and it made a human noise and that scared the shit out of me so I ran.  We're not safe, I'm telling the boss and we're leaving."

  "Okay, calm down." Y/N's coworker said, clearly far more scared than Y/N, "It looked human?  Was it a creature hunting you with a lure?"

  Paling, Y/N admitted, "I didn't think of it that way.  I just panicked and ran."

  "It's okay.  It's okay.  We're gonna be okay.  I'll go with you to tell the boss."

  //

  The boss doesn't believe either of them.

  "It's fine." the boss tries to say in a reassuring voice, "Submarine life isn't easy on anyone, alright?  Everyone who sees things won't be required to go out in the water until they stop seeing stuff.  But you can't claim you saw it to get out of work.  Alright?"

  "It was real ." Y/N hisses, "I saw it.  It had a false human half, which could be a lure- like an alligator snapping turtle's tongue.  I'm not calling it a mermaid.  We don't know what it is, how large it is, or what its diet is.   We could easily be in danger, and probably are."

  Still looking unsure, the boss asks, "You said it talked to you?"

  "I said I froze, it made a human-esc noise mimicking English, and I ran." Y/N glares, "We're not safe.  Whatever research we can get down here isn't worth it."

  "Y/N, this isn't a horror movie." The boss sighs. "I understand the psychological distress you're in is serious and real.  This is a genuine problem with a solution that's not just ‘ignore it’.  Please report other sightings and mention details, but continue with the schedule."

  "For the psych eval." Y/N confirms.

  "Yes, but also in case it is real.  I see that look on your face, it's not for research.  On the off-chance more people see it and it all lines up, we will be leaving.  Not because I think it's hunting humans, but because marine life getting on the ship is a massive safety hazard.  And no, if I'm the only other one who catches a glimpse of a large human-like figure, I will not be flying us out.  Hallucinations are not proof of anything but mental disturbance.  Jenna, can you please cover part of Y/N's planned expeditions?"

  "No." Y/N interrupts, trying to push away their self doubt, "You have to believe me.  I saw and heard it in my office."

  "I'll ask Mac if he's seen anything for you when he gets back." Y/N's coworker says, "And boss, I can cover it."

  "Alright.  Meeting over." the boss says, slapping their knees and standing up, "You can talk to me if there's any other concerns.  If it's about the fish-human, that's a thing you report on the computer, not talk to me about.  Y/N, you know how to fill out a report?"

  "Yes.  I'm sorry." Y/N grits out.

  Before Y/N can elaborate ‘Sorry you're an IDIOT’, their coworker bows their head slightly and says, "I'm also sorry.  Thank you for listening to us, boss."

  Y/N turns and leaves, heart pounding with righteous rage.  Their coworker, wringing her hands, follows.

  "I'll check your office while you fill out the report.  And I can help you rearrange the layout so the desk is closer to the door and there's something partially blocking the vent?  If there is something, you can escape easier."

  At the genuine concern in her voice, Y/N's shoulders slump.  They can't recall anything about the thing except for the general human-like features and the fact it looked like it was wearing clothes.  When they try to imagine the specifics, they draw a blank.  It does seem like a hallucination, in hindsight.

  Y/N, stopping and running their hands down their face, responds, "Okay.  I'm sorry, thank you."

  "It's no problem!"

Chapter Text

  Mac never comes back.  The timing worries everyone; the boss's casual remarks get sharper and shorter, Jennifer stands far away from the vents, and Y/N is a jumpier version of Jennifer who refuses to even go near the exit hatches.

  The boss glares at Y/N with tired eyes when they tell him the stepping stool by the vent in their office keeps inching itself away from the thing.  When the boss checks, there is no stool.  However, Y/N freaks out over it, even though it's later found in the supply room.  They scream about the paint stain on the specific stepping stool they always kept in their office and wanting to go to the surface.

  Y/N is given a different office and lower access to rooms and tools, mental health issues cited.  The problems continue the same as before.

  Jennifer bangs on the hatch door minutes after being pressured into leaving, sobbing and screaming into her radio about seeing a mermaid-like shadow in the watery distance.  When she gets inside, she shakes and bawls incoherently.  Y/N loses it right then and there, yelling in the boss's face to get them to the surface.

  The boss, trembling with a somewhat brave face, insists it's all psychological and does a solo expedition in Jennifer's place to prove it.

  It's tense for a while, the boss calmly describing the ocean floor while the two plead and argue that it's dangerous.  Out of sight, the boss notes something in the distance and identifies it as a sort of dead eel or scarf.

  The last thing the radio picks up is screaming.

  Jennifer and Y/N try for hours to override the system, but without the boss's keycard, the submarine isn't going anywhere.  And with a murderous human-eating fish out there, they have to acknowledge that their high-tech wetsuits won't stop sharp teeth.

  Besides, all the technology and electronics onboard aren't responding properly.  Including, regretfully, the emergency escape pods and random doors.  After a while of screaming at the unresponsive pods, Y/N leaves to beg the advanced coffee machine to make something.  Jennifer promises to try and override the pods by the time Y/N's back, and in turn, Y/N promises to get them some coffee.

  "I just wanted hot coffee." Y/N sobs, scooping powdered instant coffee in two glasses of lukewarm filtered water, "I just wanna go home."

  "Home, huh?"

  "Yes, home." Y/N growls at the deep voice, then freezes when they remember that the only other human onboard is a teenage girl who graduated everything early.

  And the English-speaking fish knows how to get into the submarine.

  Slowly, Y/N turns around to see a monsterish mermaid, choppy black hair falling around his broad shoulders.  A short female anglerfish's lure sits on his head, situated above his many eyes.  Two of his hands are clasped together, matching the sharp-toothed grin on his face, while a third arm is helping him stay propped upwards from the floor.  His tail extends far beyond the door, visibly wrapped in ropes and bags.

  The clothes and bags imply sentience and a level of understanding human culture.  The way he waits implies a hungerless sadism aimed towards a smaller animal he wants to play with.  The way his tail bends implies a horizontal tail fin, so it's unlikely his methods of land travel are great.

  (Y/N's biologist side tries to think of why a creature would need three arms and three eyes, wondering if they have three tips on their tailfin.  And with all the present details... this big guy could be a species of dolphin.  Y/N shoves the thoughts away.)

  Screaming would probably produce the same effect as stepping on a squeaky toy in front of a dog, and with layers of metal between each room and hall, it was a completely useless choice.  The size difference alone completely eliminated the possibility of Y/N winning in a one-on-one fight.

  But Y/N could lay down to die or fight back and risk dying.

  "Yeah, throw that coffee bean container at me, that'll be so effective." he drawls, not even trying to dodge, "Oh, a glass.  Splash damage but no shattering, so scary.  And the second glass, but nothing breaks still yet.  Shocker.  And now a pencil holder, with two pencils in it.  Oh, and that can of food.  Are you done yet?  No, the expendable has another can.  Of course.  Did you just throw the blender at me?  I'm not gonna lie, that actually kind of hurt."

  Y/N scrambles to grab their flashlight while the fish is glaring at the blender, aiming it towards the fish's face and turning it on.

  Squinting, the large guy asks, "What did you think that was gonna do, exactly?"

  Y/N notes that all three of his cyan eyes are responsive to light and dives towards the kitchen vent, fully ripping the rubber cover off and slipping through to a lower floor.  They read two door labels and sprint off towards the nearest escape pod room.

  Faintly, in the distance, Y/N hears the monster groan, "Oh come on.  Kid?"

  The lights shut off, leaving everything bathed in complete darkness.  Y/N knows the ship well enough to continue on without running into walls, only slowing to ensure they're not running into closed doors.

Chapter Text

  Y/N's fingers brush against a door.  Calmly, they rush off in the opposite direction, taking an alternate route involving another vent to their desired location.

  The submarine is poorly designed.  Reinforced doors are only in a handful of areas, the extensive vents lead to every single room, the vent covers don't fit right, and there are three rooms with exposed wires .

  Y/N had only realised they were on a deathtrap a week in, when it was too late to turn back.  They'd been expected to spend 3 more weeks and 5 months in anxiety hell, with no authority or power to leave the place.  It sucked.

  Y/N reaches towards the vent, realises it's uncovered, and throws themselves backwards.  In front of them is a slamming noise, followed by deep scratching and scraping.

  "Aw.  Hello, little expendable." the monster mockingly coos, the ironic anglerfish lure on his head giving the faintest hint on his whereabouts, "How are you doing today?"

  Y/N flicks Jennifer's flashlight to the concentrated setting that was intended to set things on fire, took out the part that would focus the flashlight into a laser, and turned it on.

//

  While Sebastian talks, Y/N clicks something on their weak flashlight and takes out a piece of it with a terrified look on their face.  They're not even trying to run, despite Sebastian's best efforts of making scary noises.

  He tilts his head, pondering on whether or not he should interrupt their harmless little task.  Maybe he'd disappear while it was still dark, leaving poor Y/N in terror and fear.  Let them run around a little more before he ate more dinner.  There were some fun things he wanted them to discover, after all.

  Sebastian proceeded to discover that whatever they did was very not harmless, and it was in fact Flash Beacon 2.0, Woe Upon Ye Sensitive Light Receptors.

  "MY EYES!" Sebastian shrieked at a pitch he didn't know he could reach, rearing back and hitting the corner with his hands over his face, "MY EYES!"

  With receding footsteps, Y/N screams, "VIDEO GAME BOSS ASS BEHAVIOUR!"

  "DO I LOOK LIKE BOWSER TO YOU?!" Sebastian screams back, blindly reaching forward for a fleshy stressball to turn into a splatter against the wall.