Adelaide’s clit pulsed as she stood to follow Ravi, unable to tear her eyes from the writhing woman on display in the observation room until the last second. As they reentered the hall she found herself watching Ravi even closer than before. Was he aroused? Did you get used to this sort of thing after a while? He mostly just seemed amused at her reactions.
He was very attractive, and his dark curly hair definitely looked a bit styled. Maybe he was gay, and the men would be where he reacted more strongly.
For her part, Adelaide thought she was doing very well at hiding her own arousal, doing her best to convey shock and disgust. Disgust. That was right, this was not an okay place. No matter how many times Ravi used the word ‘consensual’, she was sure that they had to be crossing some lines here. They were probably way past the line of legality, let alone the line of decency. She had to pay attention to make sure she didn’t cross those lines herself. She didn’t want to be implicated in a huge scandal just because she took a well paying job. Ravi had made it clear that others had left very quickly upon learning the nature of this place, she could do the same as well.
“So, what do you think?”
Adelaide was pulled back to reality by Ravi’s question. They had entered another observation room, but this one…it was strange. It reminded her of her internship at the aquarium that she had taken near the end of her undergrad, when being a Biologist had seemed like an incredibly exciting job instead of a lifetime of drudgery as a slave to her mentor.
She quickly reminded herself that that had not been life as a Biologist, that was life as a grad student. Now she was a Real Biologist, and, incredibly, she seemed to be back at that wonderful internship that had solidified her dream.
What she saw was a giant tank. It was the size of the sort that aquariums have as their centerpieces, filled with coral and brightly colored fish, but this one was mostly dark, and when she got close to the glass and looked up, she couldn’t see much light filtering down.
“He’s used to dark depths, but he can survive in lower pressure environments. We try to keep it darker to keep him comfortable, though.”
She looked back at Ravi with her brows knit in a question. The dark tank seemed empty to her. Wait—no—a bioluminescent tentacle waved through the water, a rainbow of light flashing down it before it went dark again. “Is it a squid?” she asked, squinting her eyes to try to see.
“…Closer to an octopus. He sorta looks like a giant octopus to me, anyway. The biologists don’t like it when I say that, though, they say he’s a distant relative of both, completely new species, blah blah blah.”
“Giant octopus? Like, how big is giant?”
Ravi tapped on the glass in response. “Hey big fella, Adelaide wants to meet you!”
There was an immediate reaction to the disturbance, a flutter of light pulsing all over the massive creature. It was giant. And it certainly wasn’t an octopus. She tried to count the tentacles, frantically, but they were all moving, and she knew there were at least twenty. She gave up and tried to focus on watching the display. She saw how Ravi could see an octopus—it was a creature with a central body flanked by tentacles, but its head was less bulbous, and its eyes were…well, they weren’t the dumb staring ones of an octopus. It swam—well, almost flowed—effortlessly closer, apparently intrigued by the noisy humans. The eyes watched her, and it blinked at her. The eyes had lids! And they darted about intelligently, reminding her more of a human’s eyes.
“Is this…a mammal?” she asked, suddenly searching what she could see of it for a blowhole.
He shrugged. “I don’t think he’s been classified. He can breathe air, but he can get oxygen from water too.”
She gaped at him. “Live birth?”
“No…he’s kinda like a seahorse.” That confused her, and he must have been able to tell, so he continued. “You know, seahorse girls put the egg in the dude and he has the baby?”
“…You’re kind of right. How is it like that?”
“Well, he’s not really a he. He’s a both. A hermaphrodite. And he puts the egg and the sperm in a host animal.”
“That’s nothing like a seahorse.”
:”It is,” he insisted. “He’s the mom and the dad, and a human’s the dad but also the mom.”
She looked at him sharply. “…It’s the biological source of that injection? It breeds with humans?”
“Not with, in. And right now he’s only breeding with himself, which isn’t producing anything viable. We’re trying to find him a mate.”
“Where do you even find this creature?”
Ravi shrugged. “I’m not high enough in the food chain to know that. Maybe you’ll find out, being a biologist and all.”
She was still disgusted, but she was also finding herself intrigued. She wanted to know all she could about this animal, and she definitely wanted to talk to someone who knew more than Ravi. It was fascinating, and more than that…it was beautiful. It seemed to be doing a dance for them, waving its bright rainbow-lighted tentacles and blinking at Adelaide.
“I think he likes you.”
“It probably can’t even see me,” she rolled her eyes. “Can we go to the top of the tank and look down?”
Ravi grinned. “Sure. There’s a couple observation decks up there, and I think we’ll be able to see him with a subject if we wait long enough.”
She frowned at him. “So humans are really having intercourse with this animal?”
“It’s a biological need for him, and it’s really enjoyable. I’ve done it a couple times already.”
She stared. “What?”
“Taking a swim is the euphemism you’ll hear thrown around here a lot. Seriously, it’s great. If you stick around I’m sure you’ll do it too.”
Adelaide spent some time watching his face, trying to decide if he was making fun of her or not. He seemed serious, and more than that, casual about it.
“Listen, I know it might sound gross or weird or something, but it’s totally safe, fun, and you get a bonus for volunteering.”
“That animal is huge! It could kill someone!”
Ravi rolled his eyes. “That wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense for his offspring to survive. He’s gentle. Docile, even. He’s even an herbivore.”
“So are horses, but I wouldn’t have sex with one!”
“Calm down, Addy.” He saw her hackles raise, and he quickly powered through. “Sorry. Adelaide. But seriously, it’s not dangerous. Just watch him for a while, you’ll understand.”
She glared at him. Any attraction to him or lingering arousal from the observation of that poor woman had left her. He was obviously a jerk, and an insane one, at that.
But, she had to know more about this animal. It was absolutely fascinating. And maybe she’d get to watch Ravi embarrass himself with it sometime. Maybe if gave him a nice, withering disgusted look afterwards he would be knocked down a peg or two. “I want to go up and watch it, at least,” she said, her tone now collected. “I do want to know about it….her. Have you named her?”
“We call him Levi. It’s short for Leviathan.”
He was very attractive, and his dark curly hair definitely looked a bit styled. Maybe he was gay, and the men would be where he reacted more strongly.
For her part, Adelaide thought she was doing very well at hiding her own arousal, doing her best to convey shock and disgust. Disgust. That was right, this was not an okay place. No matter how many times Ravi used the word ‘consensual’, she was sure that they had to be crossing some lines here. They were probably way past the line of legality, let alone the line of decency. She had to pay attention to make sure she didn’t cross those lines herself. She didn’t want to be implicated in a huge scandal just because she took a well paying job. Ravi had made it clear that others had left very quickly upon learning the nature of this place, she could do the same as well.
“So, what do you think?”
Adelaide was pulled back to reality by Ravi’s question. They had entered another observation room, but this one…it was strange. It reminded her of her internship at the aquarium that she had taken near the end of her undergrad, when being a Biologist had seemed like an incredibly exciting job instead of a lifetime of drudgery as a slave to her mentor.
She quickly reminded herself that that had not been life as a Biologist, that was life as a grad student. Now she was a Real Biologist, and, incredibly, she seemed to be back at that wonderful internship that had solidified her dream.
What she saw was a giant tank. It was the size of the sort that aquariums have as their centerpieces, filled with coral and brightly colored fish, but this one was mostly dark, and when she got close to the glass and looked up, she couldn’t see much light filtering down.
“He’s used to dark depths, but he can survive in lower pressure environments. We try to keep it darker to keep him comfortable, though.”
She looked back at Ravi with her brows knit in a question. The dark tank seemed empty to her. Wait—no—a bioluminescent tentacle waved through the water, a rainbow of light flashing down it before it went dark again. “Is it a squid?” she asked, squinting her eyes to try to see.
“…Closer to an octopus. He sorta looks like a giant octopus to me, anyway. The biologists don’t like it when I say that, though, they say he’s a distant relative of both, completely new species, blah blah blah.”
“Giant octopus? Like, how big is giant?”
Ravi tapped on the glass in response. “Hey big fella, Adelaide wants to meet you!”
There was an immediate reaction to the disturbance, a flutter of light pulsing all over the massive creature. It was giant. And it certainly wasn’t an octopus. She tried to count the tentacles, frantically, but they were all moving, and she knew there were at least twenty. She gave up and tried to focus on watching the display. She saw how Ravi could see an octopus—it was a creature with a central body flanked by tentacles, but its head was less bulbous, and its eyes were…well, they weren’t the dumb staring ones of an octopus. It swam—well, almost flowed—effortlessly closer, apparently intrigued by the noisy humans. The eyes watched her, and it blinked at her. The eyes had lids! And they darted about intelligently, reminding her more of a human’s eyes.
“Is this…a mammal?” she asked, suddenly searching what she could see of it for a blowhole.
He shrugged. “I don’t think he’s been classified. He can breathe air, but he can get oxygen from water too.”
She gaped at him. “Live birth?”
“No…he’s kinda like a seahorse.” That confused her, and he must have been able to tell, so he continued. “You know, seahorse girls put the egg in the dude and he has the baby?”
“…You’re kind of right. How is it like that?”
“Well, he’s not really a he. He’s a both. A hermaphrodite. And he puts the egg and the sperm in a host animal.”
“That’s nothing like a seahorse.”
:”It is,” he insisted. “He’s the mom and the dad, and a human’s the dad but also the mom.”
She looked at him sharply. “…It’s the biological source of that injection? It breeds with humans?”
“Not with, in. And right now he’s only breeding with himself, which isn’t producing anything viable. We’re trying to find him a mate.”
“Where do you even find this creature?”
Ravi shrugged. “I’m not high enough in the food chain to know that. Maybe you’ll find out, being a biologist and all.”
She was still disgusted, but she was also finding herself intrigued. She wanted to know all she could about this animal, and she definitely wanted to talk to someone who knew more than Ravi. It was fascinating, and more than that…it was beautiful. It seemed to be doing a dance for them, waving its bright rainbow-lighted tentacles and blinking at Adelaide.
“I think he likes you.”
“It probably can’t even see me,” she rolled her eyes. “Can we go to the top of the tank and look down?”
Ravi grinned. “Sure. There’s a couple observation decks up there, and I think we’ll be able to see him with a subject if we wait long enough.”
She frowned at him. “So humans are really having intercourse with this animal?”
“It’s a biological need for him, and it’s really enjoyable. I’ve done it a couple times already.”
She stared. “What?”
“Taking a swim is the euphemism you’ll hear thrown around here a lot. Seriously, it’s great. If you stick around I’m sure you’ll do it too.”
Adelaide spent some time watching his face, trying to decide if he was making fun of her or not. He seemed serious, and more than that, casual about it.
“Listen, I know it might sound gross or weird or something, but it’s totally safe, fun, and you get a bonus for volunteering.”
“That animal is huge! It could kill someone!”
Ravi rolled his eyes. “That wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense for his offspring to survive. He’s gentle. Docile, even. He’s even an herbivore.”
“So are horses, but I wouldn’t have sex with one!”
“Calm down, Addy.” He saw her hackles raise, and he quickly powered through. “Sorry. Adelaide. But seriously, it’s not dangerous. Just watch him for a while, you’ll understand.”
She glared at him. Any attraction to him or lingering arousal from the observation of that poor woman had left her. He was obviously a jerk, and an insane one, at that.
But, she had to know more about this animal. It was absolutely fascinating. And maybe she’d get to watch Ravi embarrass himself with it sometime. Maybe if gave him a nice, withering disgusted look afterwards he would be knocked down a peg or two. “I want to go up and watch it, at least,” she said, her tone now collected. “I do want to know about it….her. Have you named her?”
“We call him Levi. It’s short for Leviathan.”
