The pulse pierced the deep-sea nursery reef. Mermaid Serena had blue blood flowing from her ear as the baby cried in her arms. Elder Maren ordered her to stop the array before the next pulse; if the owner refused, she was to stop his heart.
Serena grew legs and swam to the coastal party. In the empty aquarium hall, she sang a deadly note to Kane, dropping his heart rate to near death. She didn’t hold back out of compassion, because on Kane’s tablet she saw the live key rules: if he died, the array would automatically be handed over to Evelyn. Serena immediately rewrote the mission, turning Kane’s life into the key needed to deactivate the weapon.
