Birth

There was a dull sensation of discomfort running through her. She felt... strange. Her body was numb, and yet, to her, it was akin to a million sensations going off at once.

Her eyes flutter open, not that she realized it. Instinctively, she shied away from the, to her, harsh light suddenly attacking her, not realizing that simply closing her eyes would help her.

Her brain struggled to take in all the new things. Her body felt new, the world around her felt new, and everything indeed was new to her.

After a few minutes, not that she understood the concept of time quite yet, she finally adjusted to the sudden light. Curiosity filled her as she began to look around, something that her stiff body barely allowed.

A sound drew her attention, something that quickly dispersed any previous thoughts her young mind had previously held. She attempted to reach the sound, since her still very blurry eyes couldn't help her navigate her way around alone.

A strange anxiousness filled her when she couldn't manage to move, her body still feeling weak and unresponsive. She struggled harder, flailing randomly in an attempt to reach her desired destination.

After a short struggle, she was able to succeed... Well, partially succeed. Her body still felt weak, but at least she felt as though she could control it better.

Abruptly, her search was ended early as she banged her head against something hard. She let out a small cry of both surprise and pain, quickly rearing back.

She blinked her eyes, her small hands automatically reaching to cradle her forehead. She whimpered in pain, her previous curiosity now gone, replaced with fear.

She wanted to ask questions, and yet, her mind wasn't yet experienced enough to even understand what a question was. A dilemma, truly.

Another sound came, this time a lot closer. She let out another whimper, quickly scurrying away from what she now perceived as a, her mind automatically associating it with pain now.

There was a small period of silence before the loudest sound she'd heard appeared, scaring her and causing her to curl up in a fetal position.

After a few moments, something strange began to happen. A dryness spread over her as something the something she'd been in began to go away, and even worse, she felt a burning sensation inside as she gasped.

Now, although her eyes were still blurry, she could for some reason see a lot better than before with the strange stuff gone. She saw movement, watching as a lot of things, for a lack of better knowledge, were running around, a lot of them crowding around her.

She let out another strangled gasp as the burning sensation got even worse, her eyes stinging harshly as she struggled with the strange and foreign sensation.

Meanwhile, as she was fighting for her life against something she couldn't even understand, the scientist team was in an uproar.

"Hurry up, idiots! Who had the great idea to drain the incubator!?" A woman yelled as everyone ran around in a panic. Marcus watched all of this with concerned eyes, his gaze switching between the scientists acting like headless chickens and the strange creature that resided within the incubator.

She was a small thing, not bigger than a 5-year old child. However, that wasn't what drew Marcus' attention. No, what really interested him was the mermaid tail attached at her hips, her legs being nowhere to be seen. Scales ran from her hands all the way to her elbows, sharp claws replacing her fingernails.

Honestly, Marcus didn't know what to say. The other two machine-born mutants had looked completely human, and yet, this one looked almost exactly like a mermaid for some reason.

As three scientists quickly fished said mermaid out of the incubator and quickly began running out of the room, Marcus took off after them. Apparently, the gills on both sides of her neck weren't just for show, as the newborn creature was already wheezing and crying, struggling against those holding her down with surprising efficiency.

Her tail smacked against the torso of one of the men holding her, knocking his breath out of him. The poor man could only grimace as he fought even harder to keep her pinned.

"Hurry, dump her in there!" One of the scientists yelled as they entered a room holding a large yet empty water tank. This had been the room designed for the newborn mutant, so Marcus had been told to avoid it for the time being, but as of right now, that order seemed a bit irrelevant.

One of the three men holding down the small yet strong mutant disengaged and quickly opened up the water tank by clicking a button off to the side. It was only now that Marcus chose to intervene, aiding the struggling men in throwing the quickly weakening mermaid into her tank.

Thankfully, they succeeded right at the cusp of time. The two men wheezed tiredly, sweat coloring their faces. The mermaid herself had fallen unconscious, but color was quickly returning to her face as she sunk down to the bottom of the tank.

"Alright, why exactly did we almost lose a successful mutant to such a dumb error?" Marcus asked a minute later, annoyance coloring his voice. The three eggheads grimaced, looking at each other as though trying to talk through their eyes alone.

"W-well, we... We thought she'd be fine? We thought she could breathe both air and water, despite her looks..." One of the said eggheads murmured, his eyes refusing to meet Marcus's.

Marcus let out a sigh, shaking his head before walking away, ignoring the three idiots who scurried to get behind him, looking almost ashamed.

When they returned to the incubation room, most of the regular scientists had dispersed to go do god knows what. Marcus honestly had no idea nor did he care what they did, as long as they didn't fuck up this bad.

"S-sir, welcome b-back! Did the mutant survive?" The scientist that had been with him back before this whole mess began asked, his eyes torn between worry, nervousness, and excitement. Marcus just nodded.

"Yes. No thanks to you, though. By the way, give me a list of everyone involved with the project. I want it in my office by tomorrow morning." Marcus nonchalantly said as he went off to collect the things he'd left behind during the rush to save the mutant.

"O-oh. Yes, sir... May I ask why?" The man asked as he followed Marcus, who just gave the man a blank look.

"I'm giving you all a misconduct and safety mismanagement strike." He simply said, ignoring the now stunned scientist as he picked up his things and went on his way.

Now that the mutant had survived, he needed to begin arranging things with his superiors and coworkers, and next, he needed to actually start doing his job: Training the mutant to be a good little puppet.

"W-wait, sir! It wasn't our fault, we just-" Marcus tuned out the man, ignoring his honestly over-the-top begging and instead went on his way, a small smirk hidden on his stern face.