Kyungsoo is in the garden, admiring the progress of the potatoes, when Joonmyeon's voice sounds over the PA again.

"I've got some large blips showing up on radar again, I think our mermaids might be back." She announces. Kyungsoo does her best to stay calm and finish checking everything over here, before hastily decontaminating and walking briskly towards the control room.

Kyungsoo is surprised that she’s the first to arrive, though the others should be here shortly.

"Look here," Joonmyeon beckons her closer, pointing at the holo-screen, rotating the image. There're only four blips on there, which is odd. The last few times, they had travelled in a larger group.

"Have you set the camera up?" Kyungsoo asks, eager to find out if her mermaid is one of the ones out there.

"Yeah, but they're good at evading the camera angles. Now that they've figured out what they are, at least." Kyungsoo hums, wishing she could get a good look at them.

"Could I...? Could I go and take a look?" Joonmyeon looks at her, startled, but the corner of her lip gradually curls up.

"I mean, if you want to? I assume you've already finished your other duties for today."

"Yeah." Kyungsoo nods, excitement building in her at the prospect of seeing another mermaid up close.

"If you're willing to wait for Jongdae, then the answer is yes. I don't think she'd forgive either of us if I let you go without her."

"Ok, sure." Kyungsoo laughs, perching on the edge of one of the chairs around the table and hoping they don't get bored and leave before she turns up.

As luck would have it, Jongdae turns up just a few minutes later. Kyungsoo is almost hypnotised but the swirling movements of the blips on screen- are they circling the ship?- when Jongdae comes barrelling in, it makes both Joonmyeon and Kyungsoo jump.

"Are they still here!?" She almost yells, peering at the screen with wild eyes. She sags in relief at the sight of the little blue blips, still floating on the screen, and clutches at her camera again.

"Yes, they're still here. Kyungsoo wanted to go out and meet them, you game?" Joonmyeon asks.

"Am I ever." Jongdae nods. She holds out a hand to help Kyungsoo out of her seat, and pulls her up. Kyungsoo can't help but laugh at her enthusiasm, as they barrel out into the corridor.

"I was thinking if we go out there, we should use the air door. We can see if they come to the surface?" She says as she’s tugged along, "I wonder if they'll be curious enough about us to investigate."

"I'm sure they will be." Jongdae nods, "It's just a question of whether they can stand to be out of the water for any measure of time."

"If they don't surface, we can always go down to the lower entrance." Kyungsoo shrugs.

"That's true, but l'd like to try and get some good, clear pictures." Jongdae says, hitting the button to open the upper level door. It opens into another airlock, this one without a drainage system. The outer door opens, and instantly, curls of fog at their feet, pooling at the bottom of the small area like water. Kyungsoo takes in a shaky breath, and shares a look with Jongdae, who is still buzzing with excitement.

“Do you see anything?” Kyungsoo asks, peering out into the grey. Jongdae makes a disappointed noise, and moves a little closer to the edge, sitting down so that her legs dangle over the water. Kyungsoo sits next to her, adjusting her glasses as if that might help her to see through the thick fog better. It doesn't.

After twenty minutes of waiting in silence with no results, Kyungsoo is getting impatient.

“I don't think they'll surface.” Jongdae says, lower lip caught between her teeth and eyebrows drawn low in thought. “I doubt they can.” Kyungsoo hums in consideration.

“Do you want to go down to the water lock?”

“Maybe. I don't know. Let's wait-oh!” Jongdae grapples onto Kyungsoo's arm, pointing at something down below. Kyungsoo squints, trying to find what she's seen. A nebulous shadow appears, barely there at all, but getting bigger the more she watches. If Kyungsoo didn’t know any better, she would be terrified right now.

“That has to be them, right?” Jongdae whispers, voice high pitched in excitement. Kyungsoo grins, clinging back onto her friend and hardly able to keep from smiling.

They stay under the surface, but gradually their form becomes clear enough to discern as the merfolk, less than ten, maybe five or six, swimming slowly around their perch.

“Joonmyeon, they're here, we have eyes on them.” Jongdae announces. Kyungsoo doesn't listen to the rest of the conversation, too intent on trying to find her mermaid. It's hard to make out any defining features through the mist and water. She pauses for a moment to consider her options; first is to stay here and see what she can see from up here, or she could slide into the water. It's not going to hurt her, it will just be cold, and she's confident that the merfolk mean her no harm as well. Well, that's settled; Kyungsoo begins to disrobe, removing her uniform jacket and trousers until she's only wearing her underclothes.

“Uh, Kyungsoo, what the are you doing?” Jongdae asks, reminding her of her presence with a hand around her wrist. She stops short, realising for a moment the absurdity of her actions, but still planning to go ahead with it.

“I'm just going for a swim.” She shrugs. Jongdae looks at her like she's gone insane.

“You don't have a breather. And you're going to freeze. Go down to the water lock you nutcase, I'll join you.” She stands up, using Kyungsoo as leverage. “I guess you just couldn't wait ten minutes to dive in with your fishy friend, huh?” Jongdae teases. “I like your bra, by the way.”

“Thanks.” Kyungsoo says dryly, looking down at the red lace number she's got on, “I got it on discount from Solb.”

“It's pretty, but I don’t think alien mer creatures will appreciate it. Now, let's get going, it won’t take long to get suited up.”

Kyungsoo picks up her clothing, a little embarrassed, and follows her back into the ship. She doesn't bother to dress herself, when it will only come off again in a few minutes anyway.

“Do you think that store even exists anymore?” Jongdae wonders. “If it doesn't, then I really missed out on buying cute bras while I could.”

“I don't know.” Kyungsoo muses, “I guess it could be? But, like, you know how fashion changes so quickly; maybe people don’t even wear bras like this anymore?”

“That’s a weird thought.” Jongdae wrinkles her nose, “what would they wear instead? Maybe they’ve invented some kind of anti-gravity -lifter. Wouldn’t that be amazing.”

“No more wires? No awkward clasps? Sounds like heaven.” Kyungsoo agrees with a laugh. They round the corner, still walking quickly, and Kyungsoo presses the button that opens the entrance to the waterlock. There’s no talking as they tug on their nanoskin suits, both of them too concentrated on what they’re about to do to carry a conversation.

Joonmyeon's voice sounds on the PA before they leave, warning them not to spend too long out there.

"We won't!" Jongdae promises, shooting finger guns at the camera in the corner, and provoking a tired sigh from their captain, before activating the drainage system. Kyungsoo shares a secretive smile with Jongdae before the water reaches their neck, and they put their breathers in their mouths. The door opens with an ominous sounding thunk that would have definitely scared off any wildlife before, but hopefully the mermaids are a bit braver now. Kyungsoo swims forwards, peering out into the foggy greyness in search of signs of movement. At first, there’s nothing, and Kyungsoo's heart  begins to sink- maybe they left after all? But surely Joonmyeon would have said something, if that were the case. Kyungsoo looks at Jongdae, uncertain. Their eyes meet for just a second, before Jongdae's pupils flick just slightly to the left of Kyungsoo's head. She swivels around just in time to see a dark shape moving towards her at an alarming speed, and she almost lets her breather drop out of in shock. She backpedals into Jongdae' who curls an arm around her protectively. But the mermaid- not Kyungsoo's- only looks at them both, getting a little too close for comfort. She trills a long note, not taking her large, pale eyes off them for a moment, and seconds later more mermaids seem to be appearing out of thin air. Or thin...water? Kyungsoo doesn't know. Jongdae is squeezing her arm so hard she might tear through the nanoskin suit, and making a slightly worrying high pitched noise, out of what Kyungsoo assumes is excitement. Kyungsoo stomach is suddenly full of butterflies of a different genus- of anxiety rather than anticipation.

The mermaids gather around the alien life forms, and chatter in high pitched bursts, back and forth. Feeling like she's on display, Kyungsoo squints, wishing she had worn her glasses out here, even though she deliberately left them behind for fear she would drop them and never see them again. She has a few spare pairs just in case, but she’d rather not risk it.

One mermaid pushes through the growing crowd a little forcefully, and Kyungsoo can't hold back the giddy happiness; she can tell even without seeing well that this is her mermaid. She holds still, not wanting to spook her, and the other creature- or maybe she should use 'person'? They aren't sure how to categorise them quite yet- is thinking the same thing. They drift closer, and the chatter of the other mermaids fades out of her consciousness as they lock eyes. It's almost like the mermaid is trying to communicate with her, like she's willing her to understand something. But Kyungsoo isn't getting it. It's silent for too long, the tension building before Jongdae breaks it with a small shove against her back, in the mermaids direction. Kyungsoo scowls behind her. Jongdae takes her breather out of to let Kyungsoo read her lips. 'Do something' she says, as if there's something she should be doing, other than observing. Kyungsoo rolls her eyes, and turns back to her mermaid, who is looking between them curiously. The chattering has stopped as well, and Kyungsoo gradually realises that all of them are staring now.

Her mermaid raises a hand, her long fingers hovering hesitantly in the chasm between them. Kyungsoo blinks, but otherwise doesn't move, and the mermaid seems to take this as permission; she reaches forward, placing one fingertip ever so gently on the breather, the central part that holds the main mechanism. It whirrs almost imperceptibly as it does its job, converting oxygen for her, and the mermaid seems to pick up on that. There’s a long moment wherein Kyungsoo thinks she’s going to try and take it from her, like she did before, but then she lowers her arm, moving closer instead.

Her eyes have Kyungsoo held captive, like she’s caught in a spell. This close, she can see that her irises are flecked with a myriad of different colours, an iridescence so subtle that in this light it appears almost white. opens, and she speaks again, but with words that Kyungsoo cannot understand. Kyungsoo’s eyebrows furrow, frustrated that there’s no way to communicate. The mermaid waits a long moment, giving Kyungsoo time to respond, but she just stares into her crystalline eyes in despair. What could she be asking of her? Or maybe she’s warning her. Or it might even just be a greeting- but there’s no way she can reproduce those clicking sounds, she’s almost certain of that. Not without hours of practicing in private, and even then it would only be a close approximation.

The mermaid speaks once more, just one word this time; two distinct syllables. Is it her name? Kyungsoo takes out her rebreather to try and say the name.

“Kai?” Kyungsoo tries, unintentionally making them flow together. Its difficult to say anything underwater, but it seems like it’s close enough; the mermaid makes a low humming sound, and doesn’t try to correct her.

Kyungsoo repeats the word a few times, trying to get closer to the way the mermaid said it. Kai makes a high pitch sound that ascends at the end, almost like a whistle, and her eyes close into thin crescents. Is this….funny to her? Kyungsoo flushes and fidgets with her hair, gathering it up and pulling it over her shoulder. The gesture catches the mermaid’s attention, and she mimics her, pulling her thick hair in front of her body as well. Kyungsoo flushes even harder, for a reason she doesn’t understand. All the training she had about intergalactic negotiations was either politically based, or ‘how to not be perceived as a threat’, and it was catered to planets that are already aware of space travel and foreign species. None of her lessons told her how to tell an alien life form that they’re cute. She twists her hair absently, suddenly unable to meet the mermaid’s eyes for more than a few seconds at a time. Jongdae is making a ruckus amongst the other mermaids; she doesn’t need words, her charismatic personality is making it easy for her enthusiasm to be understood.

Kyungsoo hums softly, and wishes she were able to be as forward as that. Drawing her focus back, Kai says her name again, then inclines her head towards Kyungsoo. Ah! She must be asking how to call her. She takes her rebreather out again,

“Kyungsoo.” she says, trying to ennunciate as clearly as she can. Kai doesn’t say anything back right away, but just when Kyungsoo is about to repeat herself, slower this time, Kai says it back perfectly.

Kyungsoo is shocked. It must show on her face, because Kai whistles again. Kyungsoo is certain that that whistle is a happy sound, like laughter for a human. Kyungsoo giggles, caught up in the moment; Kai’s laughter makes her happy too. Kai leans closer, still whistle-laughing. She raises her hand again, and lightly touches Kyungsoo’s twisted up hair with a clipped sound.

“My hair?” Kyungsoo asks. She should really stop letting it loose in the water here, she’s running out of her conditioner at an alarming rate. Kai diligently repeats the whole thing back at her, and it takes a few more attempts for her to understand that it’s just ‘hair’ and not ‘my-hair’ together. Kyungsoo tries her best to say it in Kai’s language, but she’s sure it sounds garbled.

They continue to exchange words, pointing at different body parts and trying to remember what each one is. Just as Kyungsoo is interested in Kai’s tail and fins, Kai finds her legs fascinating. Neither of them touch each other more than the gentlest of grazes, to indicate what they’re referring to, but it’s obvious that both parties want to know more.

A little time passes, and Kyungsoo impulsively grabs Kai’s wrist, pulling her up to the surface so Kyungsoo doesn’t have to keep taking her rebreather in and out to talk. Kai seems surprised by her sudden actions, though less to do with Kyungsoo and more about being above water, albeit just her face. Have none of them ever been curious as to what lie beyond?

After pushing her hair away from her face, where its stuck, she takes a few gulps of the cool yet muggy, humid air. Kai appears reluctant to let any more than just her face out of the water, and keeps dipping back a few centimetres, to let it splash over her open eyes.

Kyungsoo tries to describe how they arrived here. She starts by pointing at their ship, then the foggy sky, then mimes their ship entering the atmosphere and landing. Kyungsoo isn’t sure exactly how much Kai comprehends, but she spends a contemplative moment staring upwards.

She blinks slowly, taking in the grey of the sky, while Kyungsoo watches her. This moment seems to stretch on forever- Kai catches her gaze once again, and suddenly Kyungsoo can’t breathe anymore, despite being surrounded by air.

What could she be thinking?

Even if she had known how to ask, she doesn’t get the chance to; a few moments later, Jongdae emerges beside them, interrupting the tranquil moment.

“I’m starting to get pruney even with the suit, I think we should head back in, ok?” She says, her eyes still glittering with excitement. Clearly, she doesn’t want to leave either, but Joonmyeon had asked them not to stay out too long anyway, so it’s probably for the better. Kyungsoo nods, and makes to follow her, but then remembers Kai. Aside from her, all the other mermaids have disappeared already.

“I’m going back inside our ship, but I’ll be back, I promise.” She points to the side of the ship to see if she understands. It doesn’t look like it, judging by the way she stares back at them blankly.

“C’mon.” Jongdae urges, “She’ll understand in a moment.”

“Ok, fine.” Kyungsoo reluctantly agrees, but feels bad all the same. They’ve returned before, she has no reason to believe they’ll suddenly vanish for good this time. Both of them dive, rebreathers in their mouths, and swim towards the water lock. It opens as they draw nearer and Kai, who had been keeping (very slow) pace with them, hesitates.

Kyungsoo turns around, wondering what’s wrong. As the door gives a low clunk and begins to descend, Kai says something else, but Kyungsoo still doesn’t understand anything. The airlock closes, and the water begins to noisily drain from the chamber, leaving both women a sopping bedraggled mess.

“Is it just me or did she seem sad to let you go?” Jongdae teases. Kyungsoo wrinkles her nose, and pushes her gently before wringing out her hair. But it’s sort of true, it didn’t look like she wanted to part so soon. The thought makes her happy somehow.

“Don’t attack me, I’ll report you!” Jongdae squawks, lightly kicking her .

“To who, Joonmyeon? She’ll just ask you what you did to deserve it.”

“Whatever. Why is no one ever on my side? It’s not fair.” Jongdae pouts miserably as she peels off her nanoskin suit.

“You make it too easy.” Kyungsoo laughs. Jongdae mock-scowls at her.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. I got to hold a mer-baby and you didn’t, so who’s the real winner here?”

“Mer-baby?” Kyungsoo does a double take, “they had young ones with them?” She hadn’t noticed at all. Jongdae squints at her in disbelief.

“How the flying did you miss that? Oh wait- I know how. You were too busy being a useless fish-lesbian to-” Kyungsoo shoves her again before she can finish her sentence, mortified. Jongdae dissolves into giggles, “kidding, kidding! But seriously, they were adorable- I’m not surprised you didn’t see them at first ‘cause they carry them on their backs so they’re covered by hair most of the time.”

“That’s cool.” Kyungsoo agrees, peering over Jongdae’s shoulder to see the photographs with one eyebrow raised. The infant is held aloft by a mermaid who Kyungsoo has to assume is their mother, and she’s immediately jealous of Jongdae for having been able to hold them, because they’re adorable. Their head is disproportionately large, compared to its body, and their huge eyes are soulful and inquisitive. On some of the pictures, the baby’s delicate skin looks translucent, dark veins just barely visible.

“Whoa.” Kyungsoo breathes. Just being able to see one in a photo feels like a privilege.

“Right?” Jongdae enthuses, zooming in on one of the photos. “Such a pretty baby. I couldn’t figure out if it was her child, or if she was just carrying it. I don’t know how they raise young here, it might be one child one parent, or it could be group responsibility. I can’t wait to find out.”

“You think you’re going to be able to properly talk to them?” Kyungsoo’s eyes widen.

“Well, I’m no linguist, but I managed to communicate at least somewhat. And Joonmyeon has a lot of languages under her belt, so we might be able to rely on her to pick up on the languages side of things.” Jongdae shrugs.

“My mermaid told me her name is Kai.” Kyungsoo says as she begins to undress, “and she was able to copy things that I said pretty easily, maybe we don’t necessarily need to worry too much?”

“‘My mermaid’?” Jongdae teases, one eyebrow raised.

“Shut up.” Kyungsoo scowls, making Jongdae snort. She stops undressing, leaving her nanoskin suit covering up most of her body. Jongdae chews on her lip thoughtfully.

“Well, I’d rather make the effort anyway, wouldn’t you? It’s not really fair otherwise. Even if it’s difficult.”

“That’s true.” Kyungsoo hums. She feels the same way, she just has doubts about her abilities to pick up the language and retain it. You don’t need to talk to plants, after all. Languages are not exactly where her talents lie. That and doing all the other research that needs to be done will present a lot of challenges.

“Did you see how they were carrying the children?” Jongdae asks, flipping back a couple of photos, “they sort of tie it up with cords, look, and strap it to their backs. I can’t tell if it’s the same stuff their necklaces are made of, but it looks pretty similar to me.”

“That sounds kind of dangerous.”

“Oh, it’s all knotted up, like netting. They’re not strangling the infant, don’t worry.”

“Oh wow, is that one bald?!” Kyungsoo gasps, waving her finger in front of the screen to make her go back. When she swipes backwards, Kyungsoo can see that there’s more than one mermaid with completely hairless heads.

“Yeah. I think they might either be males, or they keep their heads shaven for better hydrodynamics? Maybe they’re like fighters or something. I’m not really sure. Ahh, there’s so much to find out!” She literally shivers with excitement, and Kyungsoo watches on fondly as she continues to make guesses about their clothing choices, the materials, and how their physiology works. The amount of information she’s compiling, she’ll be able to write at least two books on the subject, let alone just their usual reports.

“Well, I gotta go start archiving and analysing all these. I assume you still have work to do as well, so I guess I’ll see you later?”

“I guess so.” Kyungsoo hums, mind still running a thousand miles per hour.

The next time the mermaids make a visit, Kyungsoo is caught up in her work, unable to get away from the plants that need her attention, so she’s forced to miss out on socialising with the natives. She’s not exactly sure when the highlight of this trip became meeting fish people, rather than tending to and researching the local flora that she came for, but she can’t deny that her priorities have shifted a little since she woke up. Who can blame her? Meeting real-life aliens that have never been exposed to off-planet culture is incredible. And she’s missing it; Baekhyun and Joonmyeon are probably out there right now, splashing around and having fun with them without her. She almost snips off a perfectly functioning potato flower head in her frustration, and she’s still in a bad mood when she joins Baekhyun and Joonmyeon, who have a whole new file of photographs for her to sift through while she eats her second meal of the day. Kyungsoo dismally scrolls through all of the photos on the camera screen, chewing pensively. A lot of them are similar to what she’s seen before, but there’s so many more of them now than before. Maybe even more than thirty of them. Kyungsoo doesn’t want to admit it, but she’s scanning all of the pictures for a glimpse of Kai. She doesn’t seem to be there.

“Kyungsoo, you should have seen her-” Baekhyun enthuses, shaking an embarrassed Joonmyeon’s shoulder while she protects her tea from spilling everywhere, “I knew she would pick it up quickly, but she was practically talking in full sentences after only a few hours. It was crazy!“

“I wish I could have seen it.” Kyungsoo grumbles, shovelling her re-hydrated space food into . While the plants are making progress, they’re still at least a few more days away from being edible.They still need a lot of attention. And why they had to have space potatoes, rather than space rice, was beyond her. American scientists, she figures.

“I knew you would say that, which is exactly why I took a bunch of videos for your viewing pleasure!” Baekhyun says, pulling the screen away from Kyungsoo and selecting a different folder for her to sift through. She presents it back to her with a flourish, and taps the screen. Kyungsoo squints at her for half a second before her attention is stolen by the happenings on the screen.

The camera wobbles and moves around, as though the user were unused to using the device. When the image settles, it’s clear that they’re below the surface of the water, the lense pointed towards the mass of native merfolk, who all seem increasingly curious about the visitors. Some of them cling to each other, chattering in their dolphin-like language. Joonmyeon treads water at the midpoint between the merfolk and the ship, and Baekhyun, looking back towards the camera nervously.

Baekhyun’s hand appears, eclipsing the majority of the screen to give Joonmyeon a thumbs up. Despite the rebreather in , it’s easy to tell that Joonmyeon is smiling back at her, her eyes curving into half moons as she returns the gesture.

The view jumps forward in time to a close-up position of Joonmyeon apparently communicating- sort of- with a mermaid. This one has similar long black hair to Kai, but her eyes appear deeper set in her face, and her skin paler. She wears no braided necklaces around her neck. Joonmyeon has removed her rebreather, though it is held aloft not far from her face, so that she can try to talk. Their leader’s face is one of intense concentration as she stares at the mermaid, watching the way she forms the sounds that make up her language. Joonmyeon tries out a few words, fudging the pronunciation a little- is the mermaid laughing? A high pitch whistle similar to Kai’s rings out across the water, echoed by a few other mermaids. A flurry of bubbling noises that are instantly recognisable to Kyungsoo as trying to laugh with a rebreather can only mean Baekhyun is laughing too. Joonmyeon sends the camera a reproachful glare, her face visibly red even in the dim lighting, before trying again.

The footage cuts away again, focusing instead on the antics of some smaller- younger?- mermaids, with shorter hair and more bashful temperaments. They dart in and out of the older merfolk, using them as shields, dashing out towards Baekhyun for a moment, before changing their minds and rushing back to safety. They’re so fast, the camera only captures a dark blur when they swim by. They peer out from behind the larger merfolk with wide eyes, watching both Baekhyun and Joonmyeon carefully-

“Kai was there?” Kyungsoo blurts out, pausing the video to get a better look. In the background, Kai is floating alongside the mermaids that Joonmyeon is talking to.

“She was. She was asking about you.” Joonmyeon watches Kyungsoo knowingly. “She seemed upset you weren’t available.” The marine botanist tries not to smile, but it makes her inexplicably happy that Kai wants to see her as much as she does. She’s the first member of the crew to learn a mermaid’s name.

“It was cute, really.” Baekhyun affirms, “but not as cute as these kids- look how adorable they are hiding behind their parents!” She continues to coo over the miniature creatures.

“Are they their parents?” Kyungsoo asks, pressing play again and watching the children play. She hopes they turn up next time as well, she’d love to meet them too.

“I don’t know, but they’re at least very familiar with them, so obviously they’re something. We can figure it out as we learn more.”

Kyungsoo is only paying attention with half a mind, more interested in catching glimpses of Kai on screen.

There’s another jump forward, and Kai’s face is filling almost the entire screen, but just for a few seconds- Baekhyun switches between filming whoever is speaking at the time. There’s another mermaid with them now, one with darker eyes and no hair. Joonmyeon seems to have a good grasp now already, although the words are very unnatural, coming from . It looks like its a struggle to make the sounds they use; throat clicking doesn’t come naturally to her. Joonmyeon furrowns her brow, concentrating intensely. She nods and turns to the camera, pointing upwards. They float with their heads just above the water, and just behind Joonmyeon, the mermaids’ eyes peer over the surface, blinking at them. Kai drifts closer, watching them in a way that is reminiscent of maybe a cat.

Joonmyeon pushes her hair out of her face,

“I think she’s saying that we’re welcome to visit them. I’m pretty sure it’s an invitation.” There’s a pause where Baekhyun must make some kind of gestural response, “I mean, I guess? It’s my first time trying to speak their language, there’s always a chance they’re saying we’re welcome to be eaten alive. But I don’t get that impression from them.”

“I don’t want to be eaten alive.”

“Neither do I.” Joonmyeon agrees. “I’ll try to say yes, but that we can’t leave right now.”

“Ok.” Baekhyun says, before they both duck back into the cold water. The three mermaids sink down with them, their hair fanning out behind them and drifting in the current. Baekhyun focuses on the mermaids’ faces as Joonmyeon relays her response.

It’s hard to read their faces, the way they express emotion is inhuman and unfamiliar. Kai’s pale eyes scrutinise Joonmyeon as she speaks, so still despite the gentle current. She has no eyebrows- what would a sea creature need eyebrows for? The subtle markings on her face, mottled shades of browns, are clearer when she’s not moving like this. She’s very beautiful.

Kyungsoo shakes her head, and rewinds the video to zoom in on Kai’s neck. The necklace she’s wearing definitely some kind of plant fiber, woven into something that resembles something between lace and very loose-weave fabric. Or maybe it’s knotted, like their baby carriers? It’s still a little blurry, Kyungsoo can’t quite make it out. It’s about the width of her hand, and very simple compared to the other mermaid’s necklace, which is much more interesting, as it looks more like a scarf than a necklace with tassels hanging down across her torso. It seems to graduate in colour, paler close to the mermaid’s head. Kyungsoo wonders if there’s a meaning to that. She hums.

“So we’ll be going on an excursion soon then, I assume?” She looks up at Joonmyeon, who is typing something with one hand while she finishes her tea. Their leader nods, and swallows.

“Yep. We only have three more months here, so I figure the sooner we get out there, the more data we can compile, the better. We don’t have to go into neo-stasis the moment we set off, we can continue to work on things for a week or so once we’ve left. We should be fine.”

Oh yeah. Kyungsoo had almost forgotten that their time here was so limited. She really needs to get her hands on some live samples, if she wants a good chance of getting any real data, rather than studying blurry photos of ‘maybe plant fibers’ in between pruning the potatoes.

“So when are we going?” Kyungsoo asks, the pad of her finger hovering over the still image of Kai. She doesn’t want to admit that another major reason for going would be to meet Kai again. And the other mermaids too, of course, but….Kai is special to her. Dangerously so. She bites her lip. Maybe it’s best not to get too attached, but Kyungsoo was never very good at listening to logic. That’s why she’s here, and not on earth, where her teachers said she should focus on something more attainable.

“Once everyone has slept a cycle. Jongdae’s already asleep, and I’m getting tired too. You should sleep soon as well, both of you.” Joonmyeon gestures between Kyungsoo and Baekhyun with her mug. “I know what you lot are all like, you’ll stay up for three straight days if I don’t keep an eye on you.”

Baekhyun grins and salutes, to Joonmyeon’s chagrin. “Yes ma’am. I’ll be heading off for a kip once I’ve sorted all this out.”

“And I’ll go sleep once I’ve done a final check of the garden.” Kyungsoo agrees, making no move to get up just yet. Instead, she watches Kai’s big eyes for a little longer.

Its early in their routine when all of them file into the waterlock chamber, lining up and standing to attention so Joonmyeon can give them a formal rundown of their mission. For the records. Kyungsoo is still sleepy, and her hair is a mess, but its going to be tied up for the excursion, so it could be worse.

She hadn’t been able to sleep particularly well last cycle. Once she had thought enough about Kai, and meeting more mermaids- the exciting part- she had begun to think more about the mission itself. Swimming out into the abyss. The unknown. That had set her nerves on edge and as a result, meant she only got four hours of sleep.

“The goal is to reach the merfolks settlement, gather data without being intrusive, and then leave.” Joonmyeon informs them, her iHolo shimmering in one hand. “We can’t take more than three meals each, so our time is limited; if we get too far away from the ship, we may have to turn back without any results. Hopefully it won’t come to that, but we don’t know how far mermaids can travel yet. We also don’t know the depth of their settlement, so we’re taking precautions and wearing heavier duty gear.”

“This is a lot of unknowns.” Jongdae comments. Kyungsoo agrees. This time they won’t have a cable that connects them to the ship. Joonmyeon sighs through her nose.

“Yes, but this whole mission is a risk. All we can do is minimise. Any questions?”

Baekhyun raises her hand- “that aren’t about how soon we can facilitate planet wide bathymetrics with the MBES machine.” Baekhyun lowers her hand, sulky. No one else makes a move to ask anything. Joonmyeon nods. “Good. Let’s get suited up then.”

Jongdae and Baekhyun playfully fight over who gets which nanosuit- which is baffling, because they’re all identical. They stop elbowing each other only when Joonmyeon reprimands them with a short glare. With practiced ease, they slip on their nanoskins, followed by the the deep sea gear, and waterproof rucksacks with food, then gather around the entrance to the waterlock.

“Everyone remember to switch your radios on,” Joonmyeon reminds her crew, before pulling her helmet over her head The excited nerves that have been fluttering in Kyungsoo’s stomach for hours take on new life, and Kyungsoo wonders if it’s safe to vomit inside her helmet. Jongdae, next to her, brushes her gloved hand across her own, a sign of reassurance.

Baekhyun presses the door button, and the drainage system chugs to life, water pooling at their feet and rising higher until the pressure equals out.

The last clunk of the machinery always goes right through her, and she winces. The murky grey view of the ocean, paler near the surface, stretches out before them. Will they find anything? If they come across any predatory creatures, will their suits protect them? Will they be able to rendezvous with the merfolk? Kyungsoo clenches her fist and inhales.

“Let’s go girls.” Joonmyeon announces, leading the way outside the ship.

hello it is i, eleri, back from an educational hiatus and 'ready' to go into the 'real world' after i 'graduate'. thank u for being patient while i finished my degree, but i am finally back with another update! as usual i cant promise timely updates bc i have a lot of things going on and im not the most productive person anyway, but i hope you enjoy when i /do/ update hehe
thank u to indi and laura for helping me with this chapter!
leave a comment if you enjoyed!

also i cant tel if he formatting is off? im sorry if its unreadable