Mousey saves Fishy, Mousey good.
Ollie watched the little merman's blue hair fanning out in the water and couldn't help but reach out and ruffle it. The merman kept frowning, clearly tempted to lash out with his tail and fling the naughty hamster away, but he remembered it was these two who'd pulled him out—and so he forced himself to tolerate it.
"Stay put here and wait for us, okay? I'll be right back to take you with us."
Finn—small, slick-tailed and still trembling—instinctively grabbed Ollie's jacket. He was suddenly afraid the two strangers would leave and never come back.
Then he thought of the hole that had been holding him captive; even if they abandoned him here, he could find his own way out now that he'd escaped it.
Ollie didn't rush him. He waited until Finn had calmed down, then led Mason and Finn quickly out from under the stream.
Grace and Anna had been searching for a long time, returning to the same spot again and again. Their nerves were frayed—the pair hadn't seen Ollie or Mason at any of the places they passed.
"Grace, do you think something happened to them? We've walked past here a bunch of times and haven't seen them…"
Could they be in danger?
"They probably aren't…right? Let's do two more laps. If we still can't find them…we'll jump in the river and try to reload the checkpoint."
"Fine. Let's do that."
They were treating the whole thing like an immersive game anyway. In a dream there was no real pain or death—what was the difference from a save-enabled holo game?
Suddenly the creek gave a few soft ripples. Anna yanked Grace's hand and they darted back, hiding behind a big tree to peer out. They barely stuck their heads out, watching quietly—whatever popped up from the water better not be a monster.
If they had to reload, they'd rather choose the reset themselves than be smacked flat by some creature.
Ollie was out first. He turned and helped Mason up the bank; as soon as they were on shore, the water that should have soaked them seemed to evaporate—undoubtedly Finn's doing.
"Ollie! Are you guys okay? How did you get out of the water?"
When they saw the missing two, both women let out huge breaths and ran over.
Grace's eyes went straight to Ollie's hair. "What happened to your head? Did some monster chew on your skull? That's crossing the line!"
He looked like a kitten who'd been out on an adventure and come back with matted, knotted fur—innocently pathetic and impossible to clear up.
"It's fine. My hair was too long and it was blocking my view underwater, so I cut it myself. We're still in the dream. It'll be back when we leave."
Grace went mute. So Ollie really didn't keep any idol image at all. What a little creature indifferent to his looks.
Ollie finished the reset routine with the same blunt efficiency, and finally everything snapped back into place. When he opened his eyes it was already deep into the night; the chunk of time that had gone missing crept back into memory.
After lunch they'd followed the creek west and, by luck, found the legendary Moon Bay. Nestled between verdant ridges, the lake glittered like a clear jewel.
Perhaps the production team wanted to promote the location, because they'd left marker signs around and the crew had set up supplies for the guests to be able to sleep safely overnight.
They cleared leaves as best they could and made a small fire near the water. Mason took charge of grilling fish while the others helped.
Ollie thought quietly that Mason's cooking—though not spectacular—was at least better than what he'd managed. Tired from the day, Grace and Anna fell asleep back-to-back. Ollie stared at the lake, sensing something off. That same faint, cold feeling he'd noticed the night Shane had slipped out had returned.
The show claimed to be live-streamed for the whole stay, but to protect the cast's privacy, after 10 p.m. three of the guests have their cameras turned off; the remaining camera is placed somewhere that can still see the group. Ollie scoped out where the active camera would be and carefully edged out of its sight. He quickly vanished from view.
Mason had seen Ollie move but only noticed he'd gone to wash his hands and didn't pry further.
Using the hand-washing as cover, Ollie tested the lake's water. He felt nothing obvious—just that it was colder than during the day. A night-day temperature swing was normal enough, but his gut told him something else. After Mira showed up, Jenna had shadowed her, so only Ollie's little group was truly alone.
He felt sleep come on suddenly, an odd drowsiness that, looking back, was obviously unnatural.
Then all four of them fell asleep and were pulled into the dream Mira had woven.
No one knew the creek's bottom hid an undercurrent that funneled into Moon Bay, and wherever the water flowed, Mira could sense what happened along it. Mira hadn't come in body form—only as a soul—and she was a powerful divine beast, so Finn hadn't noticed her. Quinn hadn't even had time to get in the water before Grace yanked him away, so he couldn't sense anything either.
Ollie woke first. He glanced at Mason and, thankfully, the darkness kept them from being seen if Finn suddenly appeared in human-like form. He moved quickly, grabbed the camera, and sent a message to production: they needed to suspend the live feed. He didn't waste time checking whether anyone had noticed; he just shut the gear off.
There was no other option. Finn would be coming up soon. Anything captured on the stream would leak.
One by one the others stirred, stunned by the late-hour sky.
Mason was the first to fully come around. He moved and Finn's gossamer cloth slid to the ground. Mason scooped it up and then clutched the four pearls in his palm.
"Holy—finally back. I thought we were done for."
Grace slapped her own face to wake up, breathless and disoriented. Then a woman in a black robe stepped out of the trees—dressed in an old-fashioned gown, hair in a high ponytail, and carrying a sword.
"You—who are you? Why are you here?"
Grace put Anna behind her. Terrified, she still didn't try to run.
Anna blinked awake last of all and saw the blade's cold reflection.
Anna: …
"Did the production buy us some kind of accidental-death insurance?" Grace whispered. "Is this for real? Why is everything happening?"
Ollie scrolled and replied to half a dozen messages before glancing up. "You're early. Anyway, don't worry about that right now. Don't arrest Shane until after tomorrow's live; if it goes public it'll be messy. For now we have a different problem you'll need to handle."
Captain Harper's face stayed hard. "What is it?"
Ollie: "…Captain, be normal. You're kind of freaking me out."
Captain Harper: "Oh."
She hadn't planned to reveal herself, but since Ollie had shut the feed and messaged her, she stepped out. There were a lot of civilians here; she wanted to keep Precinct One's mystique and her own lone-wolf image.
Ollie sighed and waded into the lake to pull Finn out.
The clouds above thinned and moonlight poured over the water and rocks. Moon Bay's cliffs contained reflective crystals that made the whole scene shimmer. Finn's tail was covered with a gossamer cloth—one of those mer-veil pieces—and he'd even been trapped here before he was old enough to take human form.
Grace and Anna reacted the same way Mason had when he'd first seen a merfolk: stunned. Merfolk were supposed to be legends.
"Captain, his name is Finn. He's the son of the clan head of the mer-folk who were sealed under Moon Bay over two hundred years ago. That seal looks like some kind of transmutation array. You should send someone to investigate. I'm handing him over to you. Take him to the Supernatural Affairs Bureau—if he can't adapt to human life, send him to Northridge."
Captain Harper's sword blinked away as she relaxed her grip. She stepped forward to take Finn, but Finn resisted the sudden stranger.
He clung to Ollie's jacket, his voice a mix of anger and betrayal. "You said you were taking me to see Lady Mira! Did you lie to me?!"
"Put me back! I'll find Lady Mira myself!"
His meaty tail—plump like a stuffed chicken wing—had surprising strength. Ollie nearly lost his grip.
"No, I didn't lie. Mira is busy here, and I'm in the middle of a live-streamed show. If you come with me you'll be seen by a lot of people. You're merfolk—everything about you is rare. If humans find out you exist—"
Finn: "!!!"
Finn: "I don't want that. I want to go with this sister. Little hamster, you better keep your word. If you lie I'll curse you!"
Finn's phone only connected to monster-related networks—his spirit power sustained it—so he genuinely didn't understand human media.
Captain Harper finally held the little merman. He was light in her arms, more like a squirmy kitten than a person. She prepared to leave and, over her shoulder, asked the three standing nearby, "Do you want your memories wiped?"
Normally a confidentiality agreement would be the first option, but Captain Harper had checked out the show a bit beforehand. She'd noticed the young man who was clearly not on good terms with Ollie, and decided in Finn's interest she'd put his welfare first.
"Sign a confidentiality agreement. After the live ends I'll take them to see him," Ollie said, pulling Anna closer. "Captain, I think she's got potential—can you help find a teacher for her?"
—
[Author's note and afterword omitted.]