Chapter Text
There was a new scientist in the lab.
Nicholas had fixated on him the moment he entered, wearing a white coat like all the other techs, but sporting a bright red shirt underneath. He stood out among the dull whites and blacks and grays that filled the space beyond the thick glass of Nicholas’s tank. Golden hair and round tinted glasses with eyes the same shade as the tropical seas Nicholas had once called home glittering behind them. He was a splash of color in an otherwise dull world.
Conrad didn’t bring in newbies very often. As far as Nicholas had managed to glean from conversations between lab techs that thought him too stupid to understand, his capture and existence was a heavily guarded secret. Doctor Conrad was convinced his discovery would change the world, but he wanted as much data as he could possibly get from his prized specimen before he made any announcements. Nicholas had lost track of time without the constant changing of the world around him, but by his estimate it had been at least a few years since Conrad had squirreled him away in this lab, never to see the light of day again.
Suffice to say, any change from boring concrete walls and endless experimentation was a welcome one.
So Nicholas watched as the newbie shadowed different people around the lab, learning the ropes. He messed with computers and talked to the men and women around him, always with a bright smile painted across his face. Most of the other techs were so grim and dour, Nicholas wasn’t sure he’d ever seen one with such open expressions. He didn't know what to make of it.
It seemed Nicholas was as fascinating to the newbie as the newbie was to Nicholas. Every time he approached the glass of Nicholas’s tank, his eyes sought Nicholas’s form. He kept watching as Nicholas swum slow laps, as he breached for air, as he hovered near the glass to watch the scientists bustle about the room beyond and bare his teeth at them. He liked to remind them he was dangerous from time to time, if only to see the timid ones squirm.
Newbie never flinched from him.
By the time the evening feeding rolled around, the newbie had spent a little time at every station. Nicholas was watching, twisted lazily onto his back near the top of the tank as his powerful tail propelled him through the water, when the big man of the lab himself approached the new guy. Newbie stammered under Conrad’s attention, his hand going up to rub at the back of his neck. For the first time, Nicholas realized that hand wasn’t a typical human hand, but instead some kind of prosthetic made out of teal-green metal. Nicholas flipped himself back over to breach, eyes focused on the glint of the laboratory lights off of that metallic hand. When Newbie followed Conrad back out the doorway to the left of the observation room, Nicholas angled himself back towards the wide platform at the top of his tank.
As he expected, not five minutes later, Doctor Conrad entered through the far door, a protective poncho over his clothing to save his precious lab coat from the water Nicholas liked to rain down on him when he was annoyed. Newbie followed, wearing his own poncho. Underneath the clear plastic, Nicholas realized that red shirt had some kind of stupid graphic on it: an image of a krill with the phrase "You're krilling it!" in bold letters underneath. Nicholas rolled his eyes as he swam closer.
Conrad stayed back, outside the waist-high clear barrier that indicated a safe distance from Nicholas. He’d learned the hard way what Nicholas could do with claws and teeth early on in his captivity. Nicholas only wished he’d gone for the throat back then.
He knew from experience that they’d fill him with tranquilizers long before he could reach that barrier, and none of the scientists ever crossed it any more. These humans had been smart enough not to underestimate him again. Unfortunately.
“There it is,” Conrad said, sweeping a hand out to indicate Nicholas.
Nicholas smiled at him, making sure to show off every single one of his razor-sharp teeth.
“Does he have a name?” Newbie asked.
He, huh? The humans didn’t usually refer to him as ‘he.’ The newbie kept getting more interesting.
“We just call it Subject PN5-H34, for the location where it was collected. For safety, do not pass through this gate unless it’s been tranquilized. It’s a very dangerous animal.”
Nicholas folded his arms on one of the concrete steps at the entrance to the tank. The human’s access area started with the dry space beyond the safety barrier, but from there, it entered into a series of shallow underwater platforms—one foot deep, three feet deep, and six feet deep—before the sudden drop off into the deepest portion of the tank. When Nicholas came up for feeding, he liked to spread his long body out in the six foot section and let his humanoid half float into the shallower waters. He never even approached the one foot platform anymore. Still, none of the humans braved crossing the safety wall.
“Daily feeding will be part of your duties. We do the morning feeding at exactly 6 a.m. and the evening feeding at exactly 6 p.m. We keep a skeleton crew on staff at night in case something goes wrong. They will handle the morning feeding. You’ll be doing this in the evenings before you leave for the day.” Conrad lifted a bucket that smelled of old fish onto the safety barrier, his nose wrinkled in disgust.
He gestured to the bucket without touching any of its contents. “Just toss it some fish. It’s not picky.”
Nicholas snorted through his blow hole. The only reason he wasn’t picky was because he either ate their terrible dead fish or he starved, and as often as he’d considered choosing that fate for himself when escape seemed impossible, last he’d heard Livio was also somewhere in this godforsaken lab. Nicholas could never leave him behind.
The newbie looked up in surprise. “Does he understand us?”
Conrad scoffed, “No. It may look like a human, but it’s not intelligent. At least, no more than any other orca. They’re smart creatures, of course, but nothing that could understand our language.”
The newbie looked doubtful, but he dutifully reached into the bucket and produced a fish. He didn’t flinch or give any indication that he found the job distasteful. He tossed the dead fish out in Nicholas’s direction. His aim turned out to be spot on, and it sank into the water directly in front of Nicholas’s nose. Nicholas snatched it with his teeth.
It tasted like it had been a mackerel once, but it had died days ago and been frozen at some point since, so it was hardly an appetizing meal. Nicholas made a show of ripping the flesh off its bones, gripping the carcass with his sharp black claws as he cleaved the meat with his fangs. Conrad’s mouth pinched. Nicholas had to keep himself from laughing.
“Easy enough, see? Now, I have business to attend to. Please finish up here and then you may clock out for the day.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” Newbie said, with the appropriate deference one would show a boss whom they respected. As soon as the doctor was out of sight, though, he turned to Nicholas and said, “He’s a little bit of an ass, huh?”
Nicholas couldn’t help the little laugh that time. He disguised it by taking a large bite out of the mackerel, but the newbie grinned behind the barrier anyways.
“I’m Vash, by the way.”
Nicholas threw the stripped-clean skeleton of the fish back at him in response, but that didn’t deter him. He just tossed Nicholas another fish.
“This place is interesting,” Newbie—Vash—continued. “They’re doing some cutting edge biological research here. But, I’m not sure I’m a fan of the way they keep and maintain some of their specimens. I really needed the job, though, and I guess beggars can’t be choosers.”
Was he going to ramble like this the whole time? Nicholas could foresee dinner becoming very annoying in the near future.
He took another threatening bite of his meal, but the sight of all of his teeth did nothing to deter the human, who kept chattering on about the lab and his day and how he’d ended up here.
“My brother got me this job, you know? I’m sure there’s a reason he wanted me to take it.”
Nicholas’s ears perked up. He’d been listening while he ate, half out of the water so he could hear better, and the mention of a brother caught his attention.
Vash seemed to notice. “My brother’s name is Nai,” he said, slow and clear, as if he was trying to talk to a child, “Do you have a brother?”
Yeah, that was enough. Nicholas rolled his eyes, flipped over his tail, and fled back into his tank. He made sure the hit the surface of the water extra hard on his way down, and was perversely satisfied at the loud splash and startled yelp he left in his wake.