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“Well, you are sponsoring a Swim with the Mermaids Day here at Kingdom of Tangaroa. There are volunteer mers from the park and several community pods, and the Manutai Mer-school is providing tails for the children to use.”
Sid grinned. “Hey, that’s perfect. It’s a hands-on, in-person service. Excellent visuals. And like you said, it’s truly a service and not something that could be done with bots and drones. And that would explain why you’re not changing. But what did you mean when you said I…”
The color drained from Sid’s face as he realized the role he was being asked to take. “Wait, you want me to be a mermaid?”
Jayna shrugged, trying to feign indifference. “Mermaid or merman. It’s up to you—whichever you prefer.”
The panic in Sid’s eyes was not reassuring. Jayna had really hoped he would be willing to take on the role. She forced a grin and raised an eyebrow, daring Sid to meet the challenge.
He drew in a deep breath, and a steely resolve replaced the panic on his face. His eyes locked on Jayna’s, and it felt like he was gazing deep into her soul. They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, and a warm, burning feeling flooded through her chest.
At last, his mouth quirked up at the corner. “Then I guess I’ll be a merman.”
Chapter 16
If Sid was going to be a merman, then he was going to wear a merbreather. He knew it was overkill for lounging poolside and talking to children, but the technology fascinated him. So, he asked his mertenders to fit him with one.
He had used scuba gear before, and the merbreather was easy for him to learn. The trick was remembering to keep his breath circulating in the closed system that ran through the decorative collar and oversized shoulder pads rather than blow it out in a stream of bubbles.
The tail, on the other hand, was an entirely new experience. He had expected to be given a simple fabric tail, or maybe one of the fancy ones made of decorative silicone. But his mertenders had brought him a bionic show tail.
The thought of wrapping his legs in a sheath of synthetic porpoise flesh was well outside his comfort zone, and he seriously considered asking for something different.
But his pride finally overcame his squeamishness. Jayna wore a bionic tail, and he’d likely never hear the end of it if he refused. The desire to prove himself to her was irrational, but he was determined to throw himself into the role and play it for all he was worth.
His mertenders helped him into the exomuscular prosthetic, and the sensation of warm synthetic muscles clinging to his legs and pulsing gently against his skin gave him second thoughts. But before he could change his mind, they began helping him into the decorative outer tail. It was black with gold and red highlights, and once it was in place, his mertenders gave him a quick inspection.
“Everything looks good, Mr. Hayes. Give it a try.”
“Thanks.” Sid eased himself into the staging pool, drew in a deep, calming breath, and then pushed away from the edge.
But as he tried to swim, he struggled to coordinate his movements to get any real power from the tail. Instead of helping him swim, it felt like a weight dragging his legs down. It took a lot of effort to convince both his feet to kick at once, rather than alternate as they would with flippers. But as he slowly, methodically worked through the motions, the tail began to respond. Soon he could feel the synthetic muscles synchronize their movements with his own, and he moved towards the edge of the pool much more quickly than expected.
He managed to stop without damaging himself or his mer-gear, but he hoped he figured out the tail before he made a fool of himself in front of half of Manutai.
He never would have agreed to do something like this if he’d known what would be involved. Jayna had been right to keep the event details from him. The fact that Emmaline had enthusiastically endorsed the idea made him question her judgment.
Had it been a mistake to drop out of the Cerulean Order’s project? He hoped that decision wouldn’t reflect negatively on him.
The sight of Jayna swimming towards him with a huge grin on her face drove all thoughts of the Order and their project from his mind. She had swapped out her merbreather and sleek emerald-green athletic tail for her frilly, glittery, turquoise tail and matching seashell bikini top.
“Not bad, but don’t just swim with your legs. Instead, put those abs of yours to work and swim with your core. Imagine you’re a dolphin. Like this.”
Sid watched with new appreciation as Jayna moved gracefully through the water. She surfaced on the other side of the pool and motioned for him to join her.
He did his best to imitate Jayna’s technique, and while he wasn’t anywhere near as graceful, he could tell an immediate difference in both his power and control.
He took several turns around the pool and his confidence increased with every lap.
When he finally surfaced near Jayna, she grinned broadly and clapped. “Look at you—you’re a natural!”
He shook his head and smiled at her enthusiasm. “Thanks, Jayna. I had a good teacher.”
She raised an eyebrow and shook her head. “That’s my human name.” She pointed at the edge of the pool and said “On land, I’m Jayna. In the water, I’m Mermaid Aaramere.”
“Ah, yes. Mermaid Aaramere.” Sid had finally worked his way through the background information Emmaline had prepared for him which included a detailed section on the culture that had developed among mermaids and the adoption of mersonas. “My apologies to you and your pod for this unfortunate breach of protocol.” He would have bowed, if he could figure out how to do that while wearing a mertail and holding to the side of the pool.
The surprise on Jayna’s face made Sid’s heart dance. She recovered quickly and gave him a wry smile. “You’ve done your homework. Apology accepted. Does this mean you have also adopted a mersona for yourself?”
