Poseidia (5 page)

“I’ll show you how
everything works,” Lily said. She walked into the bathroom and showed me how to pull up a computer panel hidden in the wall, which turned on a shower.

Actually, shower doesn’t begin to explain it.
The whole ceiling over the bathtub area changed and it… rained. I stepped in and a glass door slid out of the wall enclosing the tub area.
Too fancy for my blood. But still—wow!

The hot water heated my skin, bringing a rush of blood to the surface, and my muscles relaxed. Ever
y time the water hit my electroreceptors, a shiver ran throughout my body.

E
lectroreceptors? A psychic organ? What have I gotten myself into?
I ran my hand over the circular bumps. The texture was weird and every time anything touched them, a surge of electricity coursed along their lines.

After the
shower, I brushed my hair, and got a dress out of the bag. Out of the three she’d brought, I picked the pale pink one, and slipped it over my head. The deep V-neckline revealed my sternum and the hems hung below my knees. The collar was trimmed in opals and the standard braided gold thread.

This is
out of my league
.
They have to be fake opals—otherwise, this would’ve cost a fortune
.

Two pairs of shoes were in the bottom of the bag
. Both were simple sandals made of leather, but I chose the white ones and slipped my feet into them. Optimistic, I opened the bathroom door and stepped out a new person.

“Yes,” Lily beamed. “Everything seems to fit you well.”
Her cheerful demeanor eased my angst and I smiled back.

Well,
I still need underwear and a bra.

Curiosity mixed with excitement bubbled in my belly.
Angry at my own happiness, I pushed the feelings back down.

What is wrong with me?

Remember, I’m alive and not rotting at the bottom of the ocean.

But my baby is dead.

Remembering brought the grief to the surface. This new physiology was playing games with my feelings.

“Ok
ay, what now?” I asked.

“Follow me and I’ll show you to your quarters, where you’ll live.”
She’d said it again.

Where I’ll live?
Terror gripped me. The thought made it seem more permanent. The comforts of my own home called to me. Even though it was a rundown dump, it was my home.

Calm down. You can do this.

“We may have time for you to see a part of the city today, but tomorrow I’ll take you on a more extensive tour. You’ll get to meet a few of our people here and learn your way around.”

“Learn my way around the city? Then will I be free to wander around when I want to?” I
asked, scared at the thought of starting a new life.

“You’ll be given that freedom eventually, but for now someone must be with you at all times. It’s for your own safety.”

“Well then, I’m ready.” I cleared my throat, swallowing my disappointment.

S
he led the way out of my room, and I followed, carrying my bag. The hallway arched above us—it wasn’t square, as I expected. I hadn’t noticed in my escape attempt yesterday. The same strange iridescent seashell material coated the walls. The texture seemed to beg me to touch it as we walked.

What is wrong with me? Why do I want to touch everything
?

As if a magnet pulled my hand, I trailed my fingers along its surface, soaking up the cool feel of the mysterious shimmering material, and I smiled.
Until I caught myself being happy and scolded my foolish inclinations. I shook my head to get my thoughts right.

We came to the end of the hallway where it opened up into the same circular room I
saw yesterday. She led me to the first hallway on the right this time.

As we moved along,
bits of the city appeared, and against my will, I became entranced by its beauty.

I’m still here.
It’s not a dream
.

“What is this place called?” I asked.

“This city is Poseidia.”

“Hmm…
I’ve never heard of it,” I responded, racking my brain for any recollection of the name.

She led me down many hallways
, leading off to the right, then left, and right again. A maze of identical patterns, décor, and material were in each one. Finally, we rounded a corner and she announced, “Here it is.”

“My…
quarters?” The mere presence of the word on my tongue a betrayal to my humanity, if I had any left at all.

“Yes.” She placed her hand on the wall and a pocket door slid open.

I followed as she led me in, hiding behind her, afraid to look at it, afraid of the commitment, and of it closing in on me.
You can do this.

“Welcome to your new home,” she said
, a huge smile spreading across her face.

A
s I walked into the first room, my heart-rate increased, and a pang stabbed deep in my heart, remembering my old home, my human life. In all its failures, it had still been mine. I silently yearned to be home, in my own clothes.

But th
is place was beautiful—it wouldn’t be so bad. I shook my head.

There it goes again, trying to talk me into
being happy.

My quarters were similar to the room in the Healing Center, only much bigger. The floors the same reddish clay
color with soft bumpy texture. The iridescent shell walls shimmered.

We entered a living
room, which had two white couches sitting along the walls. The material resembled a typical suede, but it felt cozy, baby-down soft.

In the middle of the room
resided a coffee table made of a white, cloudy hard material.
Some kind of quartz?
I’ve seen it done for countertops in fancy houses.
Must cost a small fortune.

The biggest wall was made of glass and the whole city was visible.
Wow
.

I shook my head again, and forced myself to hate it.
Sheesh, I couldn’t afford this kind of luxury back home.
“Is this all for me? My home? My quarters or whatever? All to myself? Do I have to pay rent? Because I know I can’t afford it.”

My skin itched and crawled with discomfort, a familiar feeling
, reminding me I was out of my element, in a place out of my socio-economic class.

“No rent. As I
’ve explained, we do not have a monetary system. We expect you to take care of the place, and contribute to our community. We’ll discover your role and your talents in time.”

The living room was immaculate and the walls were bare. Along the wall, parallel to the hallway
, sat a small table with two chairs. A kitchen was the only room missing.

I took a deep breath, let it out, and stared out th
e glass wall for a few minutes.

“
If you want to dim the glass for privacy, the panel controls a gas that fills it. If you press here a menu comes up.” Lily showed me a small computer screen, appearing when she waved her hand over it. Lily must have noticed my eyes glaze from information overload, so she changed subjects, and led me down a short hallway to the bedroom.

Another
glass wall ran parallel to the bed and looked out into the ocean, my view a giant aquarium. Hundreds, if not thousands, of fish of all sizes and colors, swam outside.

I
wanted to touch it, but I was afraid of what it would do. I didn’t know if it would react the same as the structure had the day before, in the garden. But this wall seemed to be more substantial, made of glass, the same as in the first room.

“
Is this… glass?” I asked with my hand poised to explore it.

“
It provides a barrier to the dome.”

The bottom of the ocean was visible several stories down. A pod of dolphins
swam in the distance and a small squid inched his way across the surface of the dome. “Where are we, really?”

“Far underneath the sea.
”

“How is that possible? Wouldn’t we die from the pressure?”

“Our physiology is made for this. Also, the dome we live under adjusts the atmosphere and pressure.”

I nodded, but
was unable to comprehend. The bedroom had the biggest bed I’d ever seen. The bedclothes were white with gold trim, and similar to the couch in texture.

A closet lin
ing the opposite wall was filled with clothing, their style. The high quality of the garments made me cringe
. Clothing made for a queen, not me.
I wasn’t a fancy person.

I
guess it could be worse—I could be dead
or still brainwashed and living with David.

The bathroom was a duplicate of the one in the Healing Center. The amount of jewels they used as decoration was insane.
She would say this is practical too, I bet.

“What’s with all the fake jewels? I noticed them in the bathroom
at the Healing Center.”

“They’re not fake. They’re all real, I assure you. Even the ones on me
.” She pointed to the swirling patterns around her face and shoulders.

“If those are all real
, they would cost a fortune. Without a monetary system, how could you afford them?”

“We don’t buy them. We find
them in the sea on sunken ships and bring them here. We have a whole building full of lost treasures.”

“Are you kidding me?”
This is too much.
I laughed.

“We have no use for
them, other than to admire their beauty.”

All the personal items I would need were stored in the bathroom
in a small closet by the door.

Lily
then showed me how to work the lighting in the whole place via another computer, sitting inside the wall by the front door. The walls were translucent and luminescent when the lights were on. When they were off, the walls resembled solid iridescent seashells.

A communication panel, and a menu for ordering essentials, was
also on the computer menu. Not being very computer literate to begin with, I wouldn’t remember most of what she showed me.

“I’m not sure I’m ready to see the city yet. I saw a lot yesterday. I kind
of want to get settled in, rest, and have some privacy.”

“I understand. How much
time do you think you’ll need?”

“How about
an hour or so? My body feels good, but my mind is exhausted. I have a lot to process and come to terms with and could use some time to decompress.”

“
I’ll be back in an hour. In the meantime, I’ll have some food and water sent up for you.” She left and I was alone in this giant room.

M
y beautiful prison.

The silence got to me quickly, so I went into the bedroom, and looked out the glass wall there. I imaged an escape from this place.

A knock brought me back to reality and I went to the door. As I approached, it opened, and a petite woman came in. She carried a tray filled with an assortment of fruit, bread, and other foods I couldn’t identify.

After s
he placed it on the table in the living area, I thanked her, but she didn’t say a word. Only smiled, and nodded her head, before leaving.

She must speak a different language or something.

After she left, I tried the door again, but it wouldn’t open for me.

T
he front door appeared to be the only exit so I went back to the bedroom and lay down, wanting to sort out my confusing feelings of happiness conflicting with defeat.

The sea creatures
swimming outside the glass wall in my bedroom distracted and hypnotized me, making my struggle to find ease even more difficult.

Didn’t Lily say something about how I can adjust the glass wall
for privacy? Because I need to block out these fish looking in at me—they’re giving me a complex.

I left the warmth of my bed and
searched every inch of the wall, looking for the computer panel. Finally, a small computer menu appeared, but it was in some strange language. I pressed a few random buttons and the glass wall slid open, disappearing into the other wall.
Crap, I didn’t mean to do that.

But still, h
ow did it go around corners? Anyway, I don’t care. The dome is open.
I slowly reached out to touch it, curiosity taking over my better judgment.

It must have sensed me, because as soon as my fingers got within an inch of it,
the gelatinous structure reached out for my hand. This time, it didn’t only engulf my limb—it pulled me through, and spat me out into the ocean.

B
efore I had time to blink, I fell through salty ocean water. The shock startled me and I gasped in a breath of seawater. Realizing my error, I then held what was left of my breath and tried to swim. My legs went numb and tingly, and when I tried to kick, they seemed fused and constricted. My arms flailed, trying to gain balance.

I
know I can swim.

What the heck
is wrong with me?

Drowning all over again, I relived every detail of sinking to my death.
I went into a complete panic attack. Still holding my breath, I turned and twisted my body to see why my legs felt so weird. The answer was startling. My legs had transformed into a long fish tail.

A mermaid’s tail?

I’m hallucinating
. If I was unsure before, I knew now.

No—
it feels real
. The ocean water, which should have been cold, felt warm and welcoming. Creatures swam everywhere.

Still holding
my breath, I realized too late, I’d blown my chance to start a new life.
Now I’m going to die at the bottom of the sea, again.

David will have won.

The darkness crept in as I struggled to move my unfamiliar body. But the more I moved, the quicker the black spots filled my vision.

I sank.

The sea floor welcomed me with a great puffy cloud of sand as my body hit the bottom.

The same
unrelenting darkness claimed me.

With no sense of how much time had passed, I opened my eyes. Disoriented, I lay on the bottom of the sea, regaining my senses.

Didn’t I just drown?

Yet, here I was
, awake again, looking up into the ocean. And feeling better with every breath I took.

Wait—breath?

How am I still alive?

No, it can’t be—I’m breathing in the ocean.

I sat up, a surge of panic
threatened.

I can breathe.

Okay. I’m alive—I think.

My mouth was open—the water came in, and went through the slits under my arms
, tickling my sides with a light current.

I closed my eyes and took a few deep-sea breaths, trusting in the process.
When I reopened them, I was calmer, shaky, but calm.

B
reathing under water. Am I a mutant of some sort? A mermaid? Is this why they are so weird? Are they all mermaids? Or mutant fish people?

This is no dream. I’m awake.

What else could I be? This tail—it’s beautiful.

Holy
crap.

I moved and found it easy to orient myself once the shock wore off.

I won’t ever drown again.

G
uess this isn’t so bad if I think about it that way.
I twisted again to have a better view of my tail. I had to stare at it, because I simply didn’t believe it. My tail was orange, but when I moved, at different angles it changed to gold.

Stay calm. Breathe. Relax
.