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Jayna swam towards the surface and the air she needed, but the dead weight of the robotic tuna dragged behind her, slowing her progress. She hadn’t descended so far that she was in danger of decompression sickness, but she couldn’t exert herself the way she needed to without overwhelming the merbreather.
She watched helplessly as both Pala and the third-place merman pulled ahead of her. There’s too much drag, she thought. She pulled the fish to her chest and held it tightly. The reduced drag helped, and she quickly made it to the surface.
Jayna filled her lungs with air and pushed herself as fast as she could, but with her arms wrapped tightly around the heavy fish to keep it from sinking she struggled to catch up.
Then she remembered the stream of bubbles that had escaped the fish when she’d speared it. These things must have a swim bladder that keeps them buoyant. If she could just reinflate it, that would make the fish much easier to handle.
She examined the fish closely and found a small button deep inside its mouth. This has to work, she thought, and pressed it.
The fish immediately sprang to life, bending her finger painfully as the robot’s programming kicked in and it struggled to get away from her. Fortunately, it was still secured in the net.
Jayna held on tightly, unwilling to let the fish get away. She wrapped the net rope around her right arm and wrist while she scrambled to grab her trident from off her back. The fish pulled hard, and Jayna found herself being dragged through the water while the rope bit into her arm.
After several long agonizing seconds, Jayna retrieved the trident from her back. She pulled on the net as hard as she could and jabbed the trident into the fish’s side. The thrashing stopped, and the water around her was instantly still.
Jayna wrapped the fish in her arms, rose to the surface, and did a quick assessment of the damage. Her hand and wrist were raw where the rope had dug into her flesh, but she was otherwise unscathed.
Unfortunately, her display showed that in the few dozen seconds it had been active, the reanimated robotic tuna had pulled her off course. She had fallen from third place to a position near the middle of the pack.
Frustration welled up inside her, and only the approach of a floating streamer drone kept her tears from falling. But stories of perseverance and determination always did well in the Myst, so even if she didn’t win, her dropper still might see a boost.
With a sigh, she attached the trident to her back and began the long slog back to the stadium. Come on, Aaramere. Time to finish strong and salvage what you can.
Almost as soon as she began swimming, a fresh wave of disappointment washed over her. While the Merathlon prize money wasn’t enough to make or break the employee purchase of the park, it certainly would have helped. Her feelings for Sid would be so much easier to deal with if he wasn’t her boss.
But she had blown her chance to win the Merathlon, just as she had failed to suppress her feelings for Sid. She had lost that fight when they clipped themselves together and pulled the chariot.
Remembering the way Sid had rigged the chariot gave her an idea. What if she hooked the net to her merbreather? That would take the pressure off her hands and allow her to swim more naturally. The ability to swim with both her arms and her tail might give her enough speed to make up three or four places.
As she had hoped, the hooks on the rope secured perfectly to the merbreather loops. As she secured the second hook, she had an even crazier idea, one she tried in vain to discard.
What if, with the net secured to her merbreather, she reanimated the robotic tuna?
For several long seconds she warred within herself, but the more she thought about it, the better the idea seemed. Letting the strong robotic fish pull her through the water would undoubtedly get her disqualified, but it would make an impression—and boost her dropper score in the process. The move was a huge risk, but if she was going to lose anyway, she might as well lose with style.
Jayna pulled the fish to her, making sure it was secured in the net and that the net was firmly attached to her merbreather. Then holding tightly to the rope with her uninjured hand, she shoved her other hand into the fish’s mouth and pressed the button.
She barely managed to keep herself from being slapped silly by the fish’s strong tail as it sprang to life. The tuna shot forward. The merbreather dug into her armpits.
Jayna held tight and added her own tail to propel herself. With each second, the gap between Jayna and the others closed. Pulling firmly on the ropes kept the fish moving in the right direction.
She splashed and thrashed through the water, pulled along by the strong robotic fish. She had no idea how long the fish’s power would last. At least it was now only swimming away from her and not returning to the fishing grounds.
The artificial sea shelf that marked the boundary of Manutai loomed ahead, and Jayna pulled sharply at the tuna, desperate to guide it to the shallow platform rather than below the wamo.
The fish pulled her past one mer after another. At last, she was within sight of both Merman Pala and the stadium. She lowered her head and swam for all she was worth, passing Pala just ahead of the finish line.
Before she could relax and savor her victory, the tuna looped around the lagoon at full speed and headed back out to sea.
Jayna strained at the ropes, trying to steer the fish back towards the stadium lagoon. Her arms screamed in pain and exhaustion, but she kept the fish moving in a broad circle that looped back into the lagoon.
As the robotic fish dragged her towards the finish line the second time, Kalani splashed after her and speared the fish with a trident. It immediately went still.
He scooped both Jayna and her fish out of the water and held her close. “Are you okay?”
Relief washed over her. She dropped her fish and wrapped her arms around Kalani’s neck. “I’m fine,” she said. Only then did she register the wild cheering of the crowd. “Who won?”
Kalani laughed. “I have no idea, you crazy girl. The judges are beside themselves trying to figure out if what you did was legal or not.”
