Since the day she had arrived, Emerie Merriam had been plotting her escape. She had been sold to the lab by her parents in exchange for their freedom. Upon her arrival, they had attempted to wipe her memories of her family, but there was a malfunction with their equipment and she still remembered a little bit about them. She had generally forgotten her parents; she couldn’t remember their names, faces, or voices. But she remembered her little brother, Ivan, with perfection. She remembered that her parents were abusive towards her and Ivan, and knew it was the only thing that had allowed her to keep her chaotic spirit and the will to attempt repeated escapes.

Emerie had already attempted to escape twice and was plotting her third attempt. Due to this, she was kept away from the others. She had already been a major annoyance to the guards, and scientists, and really, that was always her game: pissing people off until she got what she wanted. Her attention flickered to Alice, one of the kinder scientists at the lab.

“Alice!” She called.

The girl’s voice was light but carried a never-ending laugh. It was clear she was a bother to most, as Alice’s only reaction was to roll her eyes and attempt to ignore Emerie. But Emerie wouldn’t take ignorance for an answer.

“C’mon, Alice! Don’t you want to play?” Emerie taunted, giggling a bit as she was already enjoying this even though Alice hadn’t responded yet.

That irritated Alice beyond description. What irritated Alice about Emerie’s taunt was that the mermaid found the experiments to be games, not tests. Even experiments that hurt the mermaid were treated as games, and some of the other scientists played along with the girl for more accurate results- these results are never consistent when the experiments are repeated. When Alice didn’t respond, Emerie called out again.