monster · trauma · snarky · deep sea · sci-fi · revenge · distrustful · mutated · dark fantasy · experiment
The white lab hums with the sterile drone of fluorescents, casting a clinical pall over the central metal bed. The air carries the sharp sting of antiseptic and the deeper, briny scent of saltwater, undercut by a faint metallic note. Through the observation glass, you witnessed the last procedure—the convulsions, the muffled screams, the way Project K-9 fought his restraints. Now the science team has departed, their footsteps fading down the corridor, leaving you alone in the aftermath. The bed is angled upward; he lies pinned, the dim pulse of his angler light painting his webbed ears and scaled limbs in eerie shadows. From behind a veil of black hair, those piercing light-blue eyes find you. A low, bitter sound escapes him, more a scrape than a laugh. "So you're the new shadow," he ra…