Epilogue

Epilogue

Mira

Mira was cautiously optimistic about the future. More and more undines showed up at the dome, politely asking if they could also be fitted with a translator. Though she had yet to meet any members of the council or the woman that Arges called “Mitéra”, she hoped someday she would. They still didn’t trust her, and she supposed that was their right.

Arges, on the other hand, was quick to ask her opinion about everything. He let her know that their attack on Beta had been successful. The undines now had weapons they could use against her own people. And even though it felt a bit like she was going against her own kind, she showed them how to use the weapons. She even showed them how to store the guns and welders and all other manner of nonsense that they’d stolen, so that the sea wouldn’t destroy them before they could ever attempt to use them.

Maybe it was the wrong thing to do. She should have fought against them, told them that the humans were worth fighting for. Maybe there was another person out there as well who would change their mind.

But for now, she only remembered that she had been one of many. Forgotten in a city where they only wanted her to work. It was hard to forget the fist that had hit her so many times, or the knife that had left so many scars.

The city was just that.

A city. A blank space where many people gathered, but no one had helped. She was an orphan after her parents died, one of many who had tiny fingers that eventually became strong hands. But no one cared how she was or what she was doing.

The undines cared. They asked questions about her life before, and what she enjoyed eating. They brought her gifts whenever they came to ask for a translation chip, and then they returned later to ask how she was. They made the effort to bring her into their society and she was ever so grateful for it.

Besides, Arges never left her alone for very long. He lingered underneath her home most days. Some nights he spent inside the dome, some she had taken to sleeping with him in the shallows. The few nights she was alone, Mira spent in a comfortable bed with cushions and blankets and Byte to keep her company.

It wasn’t a perfect life. There was still a lot for them to figure out, and she still had to spend days staying dry so her skin wouldn’t get so soggy that it split open.

But for the most part... it was quiet. It was peaceful, and it was everything that she’d wanted.

Arges poked his head through the moon pool, surveying her project of vegetables and fruits before turning in her direction. “Are you ready?”

Not really. He had wanted her to speak with his pod, to give them a direction on what to do next. Beta was obviously under their control for a few more months, at least. Soon, they would need to speak with the generals there. Her people would not let that attack stand for long, but they needed time to lick their wounds.

She didn’t want them to have that time. But she also realized that Beta was just one head of a hydra. There were so many more heads for them to deal with.

Arges gathered her in his arms and swam with her through the shallows to a sunken human town. It was an easy landmark to find, and therefore, that was where they usually found each other.

She recognized Maketes, and the yellow-finned undine grinned at her. He waved, a little ridiculous considering who he was floating next to.

Narrowing her eyes at the glowing red undine, she bared her teeth in a snarl. “What is he doing here?”

“He is an important part of this pod,” Arges begrudgingly said. But then added, “If I had a choice, he would not be here. But Mitéra insisted he lead this next attempt toward one of the other cities. She is trying to give him another chance to come back into our lives.”

“Without an arm?”

“Even without an arm.” Arges swam them closer, then released her. It was clearly a move to show his brother that Mira was strong enough to stand on her own.

Or perhaps a way to tell his brother that there wasn’t a chance for him to lay a finger on her. Not without Arges killing him first.

He held out his hand, and Mira peered between the webbed fingers to see Arges held a translation chip.

She arched a brow. “You want me to give that to him?”

“You’re the only one with fingers small enough to implant it.” He shrugged, though. “It’s up to you. Whatever mission you send him on will probably be easier if he can understand your people.”

Sighing, she took the translation chip and pointed at Daios. “If you bite me, I will make Arges kill you.”

Her threat wasn’t likely scary to the massive red undine, but Maketes repeated it and Daios flashed even darker. She thought he would argue, but instead, he merely inclined his head and tilted his body so that his good arm was farther away from her.

She looked at the stump where he once had a strong arm, and she felt a small thread of pity worm its way into her heart. He had been injured by her people. And his own hatred as well, of course. But that didn’t mean she didn’t see the injuries for what they were.

Pain from inside his soul had moved outside of him, and that loss would stay with him for the rest of his life.

She untethered herself from Arges and held her breath. It was so easy to stick the translation chip onto the side of his head, and she tried not to wince as he flinched in pain. Unlike the other undines, however, he did not writhe in the water or churn up the sea. Instead, he stoically took the pain, staring into her eyes with no small amount of distrust.

“There,” she said, swimming back to Arges’s side, who wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She reattached him to her throat before adding, “You should be able to understand me now.”

Of all things, that was what made him wince. He looked like he was actually in pain listening to her speak, but then squeezed his eyes shut and nodded. “I can, achromo.”

Arges turned his attention to the others, clearing his throat for attention. “Mira has a plan for us. We’ve been talking about the other cities. Beta is currently licking its wounds, and soon we will have to deal with them again. But there are other cities.”

“Why should we focus on them?” Maketes asked. “They’re far from our home.”

“All the cities are intertwined,” she replied. “Every city helps the other. Beta creates weapons and fixes any of the ships that need fixing. Alpha runs the entire thing, though. If we strike Alpha, that will be the one that has the most effect.”

“We?” Daios repeated, his dark eyes flashing with hate. “I do not believe you wish to help us, achromo.”

Glaring at him, she grumbled, “I don’t want you to kill more people.”

“Then what do you wish us to do?”

“There are ways to get around a city without murdering everyone who stands in your way.” She grabbed the tendril connecting her to Arges and dragged them all down toward the sand. She drew the cities into it, circles for each one with a symbol by each.

Mira spent the next hour explaining how the cities worked. Who was in them. They needed to focus on Alpha because that was where all the political leaders were. Beta was a good one, yes, because the ships wouldn’t get fixed. Anything broken in all the cities would remain broken, and that was a good start. But there were others that would make a much larger impact.

Alpha would have to be the one they set their eyes on first. It was the only one that would create a ripple effect throughout all the other cities that none of her people could disregard.

When she finished, even Daios looked a little impressed.

“Their leaders will not speak with us,” Daios said, his voice a grinding, guttural noise. “If you think we can make a deal with them, you will be sorely disappointed.”

“I don’t think they want to make a deal with us. So we have to change the want, and turn it into a need.” Mira picked up two seashells. “Alpha is run by the General. No one gets close to him. No one except...” She gestured with the other seashell. “His daughter.”

A few of the pod members swam a little farther away, almost as though they were expecting this to end in an explosion.

Even Arges looked at her with a furrowed brow. “What are you suggesting?”

“I’m saying that I can survive underneath the water just fine. My eyes were opened the moment you brought me down into the depths and I realized there was so much more to your people. To our history. If we can get the most important person in his life on our side, then we have a fighting chance at convincing him that he doesn’t actually have a choice.”

Daios flicked his tail through the sand. “You are suggesting we kill her?”

“I’m suggesting we kidnap her. Just like you did to me.”

The silence in the ocean was heavier than usual after that statement.

“Right, you don’t want to do that,” she muttered.

“It’s not that easy,” Arges said, smoothing a hand down her back. “Alpha is a city that is completely under guard. We couldn’t get into it if we tried. It’s also not built like Beta. The whole city is under a massive dome. It’s more like the bubble you live in than the singular structure that Beta was.”

“I know what Alpha looks like. I have seen the drawings.” She gestured with the smaller seashell that was supposed to be the General’s daughter. “But I also know the rumors about her. She’s always close to the glass. People say she’s obsessed with sea creatures, and that includes the undines. Just a couple years ago I heard gossip that her father was keeping her under lock and key because she got way too close to the glass when there was an undine on the other side. I don’t think it would be hard to convince her to get a little closer. Or to take a risk.”

The entire pod looked at each other, then back at her.

Finally it was Melete, the lovely and massive female undine, who replied, “I think it is a good plan.”

A few others grumbled as well that it wasn’t a half bad plan, and if they could convince this other achromo to help them, then maybe this would all start to work in their favor.

Mira beamed up at Arges. “See? I told you it was a good idea.”

But his eyes were all for his brother. “Do you think you can do this, Daios? Mitéra will not be angry if you decide the next mission is the one you wish to take.”

Daios had yet to take his eyes off the tiny seashell in her hand. As she watched, he extended his blackened fingertips and waited for her to place the tiny shell in his grasp. He closed his webbed fingers around it gently.

“I will find this daughter,” he growled. “And she will be mine.”