Chapter 36: Voice of Mercy
SLAM
Another day, another line of questioning, and another look of sheer hatred from the young blonde male as the heat lamps blare down on him once again. Nigel shook his head as he looked through the glass wall between him and his 'guest'. Erin looked sadly at Merrick. His complexion looks terrible -- there are red blotches along his body, his hair looks slightly bleached from the constant light, dark circles are appearing around his eyes from lack of sleep. He even looks thinner, probably both from the anxiety and only given one meager meal a day. Altogether, he looks downright unhealthy; even escorting him to the interrogation room was a bit difficult because he seems so weak.
"Almost two weeks now." Nigel said, "All he has to do is answer my questions, and he could be in bed with his boyfriend, glugging water to his heart's content." He huffed irritably as Merrick covered his mouth to cough violently.
"Mr Quinlan," Erin said as she turned to him, "This can't go on..."
"No." Nigel said as he stared down at the merman, "I know he's slowly dying. I know he's not going to be holding out for long."
"Then why keep going with this?" Erin said, shaking her head, "You're torturing him, and he's never going to talk."
"Ye of little faith, Miss Connaly," Nigel stated, "Survival Instincts are too strong. When we're at the breaking point, when we're teetering on the brink of death, we'll do anything to go on living..." Nigel narrowed his eyes as Merrick curled in the corner. He turned, and began walking, "It's only a matter of time... And he'll tell me everything I want to know about merfolk..."
"Suppose he doesn't though." Erin proposed, "Lets say his willpower is a lot stronger than you think. Say, no matter what you do to him, he'll refuse to tell you a single fact, right to the end." She asked, "What then?"
"Then that will be an unfortunate denouement." He said, plain and simple, "If he wants to die rather than make it easy for himself, that's up to him." He snapped his fingers, and Erin gave him a folder. He opened it, and overlooking the file with Belinda's pictures, "He loses everything, and I'll simply have to move down the line."
"I thought he said this one wasn't a mermaid, sir." Erin said.
"I'm not altogether convinced." Nigel replied, "Chances are, this woman really isn't a mermaid, but she's the only other lead I have if Merrick happens to fail our expectations."
"Yessir..." Erin said as she walked along side her superior.
"Anyway, any word from the labs about the samples we took of Merrick?"
"Yessir. From what the report says, most of the details are sketchy, but the chemical analyses are going well."
"Are they?" Nigel said as they turned a corner, "Well, let's see what they have for me."
~~~
Nigel and Erin walk into the lab, wearing goggles, lab coats, rubber gloves, and paper masks. He comes up to Dr Kaiser, who is comparing drops of blood from both the pouch from Merrick's human form, and the one from his true form.
"Dr Kaiser," Nigel called as he came up behind him, "What have you dug up?"
"Ah, Nigel," Kaiser said, "The blood is rather intriguing." The doctor typed on the keyboard, and brought up one screen that held Merrick's human blood, "This is the sample taken from him BEFORE rinsing him down. It appears as ordinary blood, but none of the machines are able to determine a Blood Type." He said calmly, "At best, all signs point to being closest to Type O. It also shows remarkable resistance to the antibiotics or harmful chemicals we've introduced to it. It almost presents the possibility that out little fish here is immune to any disease, if I may exaggerate."
"And the other sample?" Nigel asked. Kaiser typed and scrolled the computer, and brought up the make-up of Merrick's blood as a merman.
"It is definitely different from the previous sample. I have had it compared to that of human blood and blood taken from several species of fish -- a salmon, bass, tuna, barracuda, and a sturgeon. The cells from the merman's blood and the sea-fish blood share many attributes, yet not so much for the bass or salmon. In a way, one could describe it as a mixture of human and fish blood. Altogether, this is proving to be a most captivating venture..." Kaiser looked at Nigel with a very dark gleam in his eye, "You can imagine just how much this elevates my... Curiosity."
"He's not dead, YET, Doctor," Nigel said, "Depending on his own decision to cooperate, you MIGHT have your new pet project, very soon." Erin frowned as her insides churned from that statement, while Kaiser gave a smooth, wicked grin.
"Splendid. I shall keep my fingers crossed then." He said very softly.
"Anything else of note?"
"Other than the others studying their ends, I have noted that our guest has not needed to use the bathroom. Even with minimal essentials -- i.e. one meal a day -- not once has he requested to use a toilet."
"That IS different..." Nigel said, "So merfolk don't need to expel waste?"
"I believe so," Kaiser said, "I don't think anyone could hold it in otherwise within two weeks. Which leads me to believe that a merman's body absorbs EVERYTHING they take into their bodies."
"That's interesting. As you were." Nigel told him.
"With pleasure, sir."
Nigel and Erin walked over to the scientists who are analyzing the scales and membranes they had, "And how are things going on this end? Identify anything yet?"
"Unfortunately no, Mr Quinlan," A woman in a white coat said, "We're in the process of figuring out the genetic make-up of the scales, but it's very hard to make heads or tails with the small amount that we have."
"That's alright," Nigel said, "Have you pinpointed his species?"
"No. If he's based on any specific classification of fish, it could very well be undiscovered." She reported, "Some of the genes we analyzed have traces from the Arctic fauna, some of them suggest traces from the Pacific Ocean, not to mention the relation to his human-based body. Honestly, the best way to describe his genus is like a two-source web branching between subspecies of sea life with a loop of human DNA."
"How long do you think it'll take set everything in black and white?"
"We can't say for sure, sir," The scientist said, "It could take years to determine a species. Again, this might be easier if we had more samples to work with."
"Speaking of which, have the pieces you have showed any signs of transition?" Nigel asked. The scientist gave him an estranged look.
"I'm sorry?"
