“What we need to do, is talk about this,” Carla said, indicating her scales, “and this,” she said, indicating the room.

“First, I want to keep my initial talent hidden as a trump card,” I said. “I will tell them about the skin, which they are testing already, and it will at least mean they won’t keep putting bloody oxygen masks on me all the time.”

“Agreed,” Carla said.

“What talent?” Soph asked.

“I will tell you everything later, once we are away from this place. For now, just trust us.” Carla told her.

“I trust you,” She replied.

“Good enough,” I said. “Communications. We can pulse through the link. I don’t know if distance, anomalies, or anything else will affect that, but we can work with that for now. Do you know Morse Code?” Carla shook her head. “Neither do I, but we should learn. For now, one pulse for yes, two for no, and we can make some other simple ones that might be useful. We are about to go into a conversation with Lewis, and we need to be on the same page.”

“One long pulse will mean, “Shut the fuck up and let me talk,” Carla said.

“Sounds like a useful one,” I said. “The only one I remember is the emergency call for help, SOS, three short, three long, three short.”

Carla nodded.

“I thought we were going to talk about Car’s mutations?” Soph said.

“We will,” Carla said.

I nodded, “First, we need a backup plan.”

“That is you, Soph,” Carla said.

I looked at Carla. I didn’t know Sophia, so this was Carla’s show. After all, she is the evil, conniving witch.

“You want my family backing you,” Soph said.

“Just the law firm for now. I know how your folks feel about me. If things go south, Lewis will have your family lawyers crawling up his ass, and that is going to bring out things he doesn’t want brought to light. Don’t break the agreement over it, but give them enough so they can dig.” Carla had thought this through.

I added, “There is a provision in the agreement to allow you to seek legal advice on it. It is meant to be for before you sign, but I don’t recall that being specified. Showing them that agreement will give them more than enough ammunition to start digging. In fact, they could probably argue that we were coerced into signing.”

Carla was looking at me funny. “I didn’t think you were a lawyer?”

“I am not. I am a Civil Engineer. I deal with civil works contracts and contractors trying to slip extra costs past us. Your issues with her family aren’t going to be a problem? Is it the same-sex thing again?”

“No, her folks are fine with that,” Carla said.

“It is not because she is Samoan either,” Soph said.

“Soph had a few issues with some of her friends over that.”

“Ex-friends,” Soph said.

“Carla’s race being a factor never actually occurred to me.” I said, “I just assumed it was her personality.”

Soph exploded, “There is nothing wrong…”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Soph, Soph, settle down. This is Bob. He just says things bluntly. It is my personality. They think I am a bad influence on you. You don’t have to defend me against Bob. However, now that you have met him, if there is anyone you really want to offend, we can just send Bob their way. He is a man of many talents.”

“That is one talent I am always working to improve on,” I said. “Offending people usually makes them go away.”

“What about about your mutations, Bob? I don’t know what you have got after this recent debacle. Nothing physical?” Carla eyed me up and down.

“No, there is no second penis yet.”

Sophia gasped.

“You had better tone it down for Soph, Bob. I think meeting you has been more of a shock than my mutations.”

“I am a man of many talents.”

“But only one cock, apparently,” Carla jibbed.

“I’m the one that needs to tone it down, really?” I raised an eyebrow. “Your backup plan is good. I didn’t know about Sophia’s connections. My backup plan involved the doctor. She was very concerned about losing you. She put that concern above Lewis’ wants and made him toe the line. She knows I did something to save you and knows we have a connection. She is favourable toward us and was pretty upset she couldn’t seem to help you. If we can’t work with Lewis, we work with her, and she buffers Lewis for us. She is pretty interested in how I did what I did.”

“If all else fails, we have your ‘Get out of jail free’ card to play,” Carla said.

“Exactly.”

“OK, we have backup plans. Let's do your mutations first, as mine are complicated,” Carla said.

“Let me list my many Talents…”

“Just the mutations, please,” Carla interjected.

“Spoilsport. Ok, I picked up senses mostly. I think they are from the shark, but I need to research them. The two biggest are Hearing and Smell. There are massive increases there. The TV, for example, has been causing me problems since I turned it on. I practised tuning it out last night, but it is going to need a lot of work. The smell is the same. I am really glad of the contamination suits, which block people’s odour.” I looked at Carla, “You smell a bit like fish with the scales, but you also smell like you. I am looking forward to finding out what you smell like when you are aroused.”

Another gasp from Sophia.

“Right, tone it down, I remember. I have a smaller increase in my sight at night, but that will need testing. The other big thing is I seem to be able to sense electrical fields within one to two meters. It is very sensitive as I can sense the electrical fields in your leg there, especially when you move it. There is something bigger as well, like the earth's electrical field or something. I am going to need help to figure this one out, and I am hoping Lewis can do that.”

“You really did win the jackpot, didn’t you?”

“I put it down to you messaging me during church. The man/woman upstairs took pity on me.”

“I messaged Soph as well, so I hope that is the case.”

“This connection we have, I am not sure where that came from,” I said.

“I don’t think it is random,” Carla said. “I have been thinking about all the blood in the water, yours, mine, the sharks.”

“That is possible,” I said. “It might also be a way to get Soph a connection using your blood. This sharing essence seems like it could be quite powerful.”

“You are serious about me going through this, aren’t you,” Soph said to Carla.

“We will talk about it more. I think that within two years, everybody will have mutated at least once. If we can control it, your chances are much better. Bob’s the jackpot winner. I am very much less so, but we have learned from this.”

“Yes,” I said, “Don’t be a crazy bitch.”

Carla rolled her eyes.

“If Soph is a permanent part of this, I think we should try to have her mutate at the same anomaly we did,” I said.

“I am not leaving Car. Ever.” Sophia declared.

“Even to risk death, or worse, end up like that for the rest of your life?” I asked, pointing at Carla.

“She went crazy for me.” she turned to Carla, “Which I am going to yell at you for later.” Some emotions leaked out in Soph's words there. She was angry and afraid but committed. She was holding it together well. It spoke well of her.

“Please do,” Carla said. “I need you to yell at me.”

“Please keep your emotional shit to yourselves,” I said, spoiling the moment. “As far as I am concerned, she is in. If she can see her lover mutated and covered in fish scales and be prepared to risk the same to stay connected, she is sufficiently committed. As a bonus, she has put up with me quite well. Just remember, I need my space.”

“You won’t ever let us forget,” Carla said.

“This means trying to work with Lewis is even more important,” I said.

“Oh?” Soph asked.

“He controls access to the only anomaly currently in the country.”