Much as she was still ticked off at Khrystal, now that she had a mystery on her hands, Calistya was eager to bring her friend into it. If they could get back to getting along. And in order to do that, she had to find out what had set her friend off so badly. She needed to know why she’d gotten into such trouble. So the first order of business was to ask. Point blank.

Surprisingly, Khyrstal had thought it over, and had decided to spill the truth.

“I was never even supposed to make friends with you, Cal,” Khrystal admitted, her voice low. “The headmaster and them all told me to back off. Said I was a bad influence. Because of my grades or whatever.” She looked down. “And my attitude, getting in trouble all those times. They knew you were a good kid, and didn’t want you to get into it I guess.”

Her guilt lingered a moment, then her eyes flashed defiance as she leaned in conspiratorially and said, “They said next time they’d kick me out, but I don’t care anymore.”

Calistya’s eyes widened. She’d never suspected there was so much more to the story. Kick her out? “After all that, after they told you to stay away and the’d kick you out, you still wanted to be friends?”

“I know. Stupid, right?” She laughed. “I like you, Cal. We’re friends. I didn’t want to stop hanging out. And I wanted to tell them where they could stick it, but this last time, when we were in so much trouble…well, the headmaster told me if you got in any deeper it could cost you your place in school. I couldn’t let that happen. That’s why we can’t hang around with each other any more. I hope you understand.”

Calistya had heard enough. “Hey Khrys, how about you let me decide who I can hang around with, and what kind of danger I’m willing to face, school or whatever. We are friends, and that means a lot. Maybe I don’t care what they think. Maybe I’m not afraid of that stupid old headmaster. We’ll be friends in school, or we’ll be friends on the city-sweeper crew. Whatever. So you just stop worrying about that, okay?”

Khrystal looked as if a thousand pound weight were lifted off her narrow shoulders. She smiled, looking goofy in her crooked front teeth. The technos both laughed, and the stress was over.

“Now,” said Calistya, “if you’re ready for some real trouble, I’ve got something to show you.”

* * *

Shadows flickered beneath the city lights, struggling to stay at full-beam. They girls used that for cover, darting through quieter channels, their whispers drowned out by the hum of the pipeworks. Now that Calistya was aware of the school’s rules, she understood why her friend had been so reluctant to be seen with her. While she was certainly insulted by the fact that the administration seemed to be babying her, she was also keenly aware that they held all the power. If the technogirl pair were caught together, they’d never be allowed within a fathom of each other. Assuming they weren’t kicked out of school altogether.

It still seemed patently unfair, and particularly now, when Calistya was the one who was causing the trouble rather than the other way around. Still, she got a little thrill from that fact, and almost wished she could shout it from the reeftops. Just so all those idiots who ran the school would know who the real bad girl was.

She gestured for Khrystal to hurry, surging ahead with powerful strokes to escape the city’s watchful eyes. Once past the gates, they only need worry about the aquasentinels, but even they wouldn’t dare go where Calistya was taking her friend. The notion of being so bad gave her a rush, and she swam even faster, prompting her friend to call to her to slow up.

Calistya did so, slightly, then when she hit the range of that ridge she suddenly dove.

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“Wait,” came Khrystal’s voice, “I can’t keep up with you!”

But Calistya was on a tear. She wanted to get down there as soon as possible, get away from all the merfolk who were causing her such misery. Find that boy with her friend and ask him where he’d come from. She’d all but determined by now that he wasn’t from the city. He was too different. Too exotic. And his oxyquipment was like something she’d never seen. It’s couldn’t be natural, even if that was how it looked. She wanted a second opinion from her friend, though she couldn’t possibly know if he’d even be down there again.

They had reached the cusp of the dark.

“Wait!” Krystal screamed. “Where are you going Cal? Cal!”

“Wait, Cal! Show down!” Khrystal’s voice quivered over the ‘com, her strokes reversing direction. She wanted to believe her friend, to trust her like before—but the admonitions they’d drilled into her held her in place, whispering of dangers she couldn’t identify.

Calistya didn’t wait for her friend, plunging headlong until she was back in that glowing, eerie ink in which she’d found him. She heard her friend calling after her, and half-turned to go back, but just that moment Khrystal appeared.

“Screwed up your courage, did you?” Calistya said, laughing. Her voice was distorted from the breather.

“Are you crazy? The Deep is too dangerous? Did you come down here before?”

Calistya shushed her, then turned to head further down, looking for that chasm where she’d first seen the merboy.

Khrystal made sounds of protest, but followed her friend.

Calistya was surprised it was so far down. The first time, driven by impulse, she hadn’t paid much attention to how far down it really was. This time the journey felt endless, and she still couldn’t make out the chasm. She almost called out, but rejected the impulse. There might be other creatures down here. Not so friendly to swimmers lurking where they ought not be.

“You sure about this?” Khrystal said, her voice quivering.

“Yeah, I came down here before. It’s alright. Just a little way’s deeper.”

She didn’t actually know, but Khrystal’s nervousness made her feel guilty.

After a few more tens of meters, they arrived at that sweeping chasm, and the two technos stopped for a rest.

“What’s in there?” Khrystal whispered.

“Something incredible,” Calistya answered, “if it’s still there.”

She turned quickly and stared, hoping to catch a glimpse.

“Come on!”

Calistya started swimming again, powerful strokes putting her way ahead of the older girl. Khystal didn’t call out, though, but simply kept struggling to keep up. Cali knew she must be nervous. In truth Calistya was too. It wasn’t like that first time when everything was so new. Now it was familiar, and the hints of dangers on wall and below were making themselves known. Mermaids were far from invulnerable, particularly the young.

She got down to around where she’d seen the boy, and floating there a minute, she peered down to see if he’d emerge. Khrystal arrived a minute later, out of breath and full of bubbles.

“Okay already,” she breathed, “what was so all-fire exciting that you had to drag me all the way down here.” She looked around, as if sensing the same danger that Calistya was. It wasn’t an inviting place, that was for sure, particularly not the inky part below their fins.

The walls maintained their slight glow, from whatever embedded creatures might be stuck in there, but otherwise no light sources were obvious. And the whole place might’ve had a kind of eerie charm to it, if it weren’t for the danger.

“What then?” Khrystal hissed. “What’re we waiting for Cali?

Calistya waved her off, listening. She seemed to remember a whooshing sound just before the boy appeared last. She strained her ears, holding her breath. Was it? A faint whooshing sound seemed to rise up, but she couldn’t say if it was from out there or inside her own helmet, maybe the rushing of blood in her skull. Or perhaps nothing at all.

She waited some more. Looked around again. Even swam a little further into the black, prompting a gasp from her friend.

But eventually she swam back. It was no use. If the merboy was nearby, he wasn’t making himself known. Perhaps their sudden arrival had scared him off. Or perhaps he came from a traveling clan, one that was no longer in these parts.

But she didn’t think so. He seemed so at home, there in the darkness, as if he felt protected by it. Then, as if The Deep itself had swallowed him up, he vanished.

“Alright,” Calistya said, eyes cast downward, “Let’s go back.” She refused to use the word ‘home’, as if a residence for technos could ever really be a home.

They crossed the threshold and were grabbed roughly by the aquasentinels before they’d even come into the light. Their iron grip reminded her that any illusion of freedom was just that. The rules, the enforcers, the walls of the city itself, all kept her where they could control her, along with everybody else she knew. She fought back the urge to struggle, going limp instead so they had to work to drag her along.