The Little Mermaid's "Plea for Forgiveness"

Watching mermaids write is a truly magical experience.

The laboratory was quite quiet. Apart from breathing, the only sounds were the gurgling of water in the pool below the cage and the scratching of pens on paper.

Shen Huai'an lowered her head slightly, keeping the chain behind her neck ring taut. Sharp, shimmering silver-blue ear fins peeked out from her long white hair. From her angle, only a sliver of her high, straight nose could be seen, partially hidden by her long hair.

Its nose tip is snow-white, smooth, delicate, and almost transparent. It's like a comic book illustration.

This angle...

They're practically creatures from Western legends. Like elves.

“Miss Researcher,” he said, writing with difficulty, not forgetting to tease her, “your gaze is burning a hole through me.”

Yunhe blushed slightly at first, then immediately became furious: "Shut up, Subject S1! I'm just fulfilling my guardianship duties!"

Shen Huai'an was amused by her, coughing as he laughed. His tail, which had been drooping limply in the pool, dramatically slapped the surface a few times, splashing a small amount of water. Yun He noticed that the indicator light on his collar had turned blue—meaning that he was currently experiencing a kind of pleasant excitement, but it was still within a controllable range.

So she calmed down a little and walked quietly to the cage door.

The mermaid's claws were clearly not for writing. Because its "fingers" were too long, even a slight pressure while holding a pen would cause the sharp claws to cut its unscaled palms—though such minor injuries would heal quickly, they would certainly hurt. Moreover, it was wearing handcuffs—the research institute called them "protective restraint devices," but they were essentially no different.

Yunhe watched for a while as he meticulously drew some kind of two-dimensional diagram, stroke by stroke, like a child learning to write. Finally, she couldn't help but interject:

"Tell me, shall I write it for you?"

Shen Huai'an laughed again. At the same time, the gills behind his ear fins gently opened and closed.

This creature, which uses both gills and lungs, is clearly mocking her naivety with its entire respiratory system.

“Okay, Ms. Researcher.”

He spoke in the same tone as in his "human" days: "However, considering your drawing skills—why don't you come in and I'll teach you 'step by step'?"

The malicious and greasy tone instantly made Yunhe, a die-hard fan of good looks, "give in." She only briefly imagined "sitting on his tail, letting him hold her hand, whispering sweet nothings in her ear," and she almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

"You're taking my kindness for granted! Go ahead and keep drawing until the wee hours!" She pretended to be fierce, baring her teeth and brandishing her claws like a rabbit with its fur standing on end.

——————————

The administrative building in the central area of ​​the GI Institute.

Top floor. Office No. 1.

A huge screen filled an entire wall, displaying footage of large-scale protests by "environmentalists" from various countries.

What are they protesting? Probably how much rainforest has been cut down, how much exhaust fumes have been emitted, and how many plastic bags have piled up like mountains.

What are their demands? Perhaps they want to ban ordinary consumers from using chopsticks, plastic bags, and carbon-emission vehicles? And shut down all industries related to oil and charcoal?

“Useful Retards”.

The old man standing in front of the screen sneered and muttered to himself. He looked to be over sixty, but was actually close to eighty; and his identity was Xiao Lin, the director of the GI Research Institute, the most prestigious biological research institution in the entire Federation.

The young female researcher who had just barged in so abruptly was now standing not far behind him, silent. Xiao Lin knew she was incredibly nervous, even terrified—after all, given her low rank, she had no right to stand here.

However, he decided to give her some face.

"Xiao Yun, please sit down." The stern-faced old man gestured to the sofa beside him. A fawning smile appeared on Yun's wooden face as she nodded and bowed, thanking him as she sat down, the paper in her hand almost crumpled.

“The council has already rejected the proposal regarding S1 last time.” Xiao Lin’s attitude was very polite, almost inappropriately so: “Xiao Yun, we know what you’re worried about, but you should also know that S1 was never human from the beginning. It is a pure-blooded mermaid, and it is very dangerous.”

Yunhe forced a smile and said, "I...I know. Director, I've come here today because...there's something important I want to report to you."

With that, she handed him the crumpled piece of paper. Xiao Lin glanced at it casually, but the next second, his expression changed.

—"Temple location".

The four characters written in mermaid script indicate the address of the temple.

He glanced up at Yunhe again. The woman in front of him looked blank, her face bearing that cheap and repulsive fawning smile. Clearly, she couldn't understand mermaid language.

"Director, Director," she swallowed hard, explaining nervously, "This, this is Chen—"

She only uttered the consonant of the pinyin for "沉" (chen), then immediately changed her words as if biting her tongue: "--S1 wrote it in his own hand... I have reported to the security department about giving him the pen, please, please don't mind."

Xiao Lin smiled slightly, and beneath his thick, white eyebrows, his eagle-like eyes gleamed with golden light.

"Xiaoyun, what did S1 say to you before you came?"

He knew all of this. The surveillance cameras recorded every inch of the laboratory's footage and sound, and the head of security would regularly compile important information and report it to the council.

"He... he just said that I should give it to you..."

Yunhe stammered. But she was telling the truth.

"Alright." Xiao Lin was getting impatient. He briefly ended the conversation with this clueless subordinate:

"I understand, you can go back now."

In the following days, Shen Huai'an found a new way to "pass the time".

Yunhe sat in front of the computer, her head spinning from the lab report deadline and a jumble of messy data. From the cage, she could hear the rhythmic creaking and rattling of chains, and occasionally, the splashing sounds like a carp leaping out of water. She snapped impatiently:

"Ergou, stop making a scene! If you keep causing trouble, I'll put you in solitary confinement!"

Er Gou's aggrieved whimper immediately followed. It seemed to be trying to explain, but unfortunately, it didn't know any human vocalizations. The good news was that the annoying noise had finally stopped, and Shen Huai'an's voice came from the cage:

"Sorry, did I disturb you?"

Yunhe: "..."

Somewhat speechless, she got up and walked to the cage. There she saw Shen Huai'an, his hands braced against the cage walls, his tail struggling to get back into the water. "...What were you doing just now?"

“As you can see,” he said with a wry smile, “it’s prisoner fitness.”

Yun was speechless for a while before finally remembering what to say: "...Um, I told the old man...no, the director, that judging from his expression at the time, we would consider it."

"I know."

"He hasn't made a sound yet, what's going on—" "Click."

The door was opened from the outside.

Speak of the devil, and he appears. Xiao Lin walked in without warning, escorted by two fully armed, masked security personnel whose species were indistinguishable.

——————————

Three minutes later, the bewildered female researcher was "invited" out by several other security guards.

"Huai'an, huh?" Xiao Lin broke the silence with a smile, his tone even quite sincere: "How much do you remember about what happened forty-five days ago?"

Opposite him, the mermaid in the riot cage leaned languidly against the wall, looking utterly resentful of the human before him—even though his current predicament was entirely due to the man's personal decision and orders: "I don't know. But I don't think I've lost my memory."

Xiao Lin laughed heartily and clapped his hands: "Still joking? You're in good spirits!"

He then gazed at the unsettlingly beautiful creature before him, his eyes so gentle they could melt water: "Huai'an, I know the institute has let you down, but you're an expert in this field. You should know that alien species and humans cannot coexist, just as lions and tigers cannot live in human settlements. The principles are the same! So..."

“I understand, I fully understand.” Shen Huai’an interrupted his potentially long speech, speaking in a joking tone: “I request to be permanently removed from your precious land and return to the sea. Do you agree?”

"Well..." Xiao Lin seemed to have actually listened, and even considered it carefully before nodding hesitantly: "We will consider it, but for now, you'll have to stay for a while longer."

He chuckled, then got back to the main topic: "Now let's talk about that painting. What does the temple's address mean?"

Asking a question you already know the answer to.

The merman squinted and turned slightly to the side. In the backlight, his gleaming, ice-blue eyes were unusually eerie at first glance.

"I think you've personally confirmed its existence over these three days. Haven't you?"

The other person rejected your obvious question and gave you the middle finger.

[Image of a Q-sign in conjunction with an international friendship gesture.JPG] (Not actually a Q-sign)

"Not bad, not bad!" Xiao Lin laughed shamelessly a few times and praised, "It seems that your mind has not deteriorated at all, Huai'an. Very good. What conditions do you want to propose? Speak up."

Shen Huai'an slightly raised his hand, then shook the chain on his wrist, making a jarring rattling sound:

"It's very simple."

—I demand treatment that conforms to the ethics of scientific research.

I demand the most basic dignity, freedom, and health guarantees.

He spoke slowly, his voice hoarse:

"Release all the restrictions."

——————————

Yun and the laboratory at the other end of the corridor stayed for about twenty minutes.

She was chatting idly with her colleagues when, at the crucial moment of discussing "experiences in slacking off (in physics)," she was escorted back by security. Still basking in the afterglow of the gossip, she froze the moment she entered the room upon seeing the scene before her.

"Wait, what's going on?"

She exclaimed in surprise, as if she'd never seen anything like it before, and jogged closer to the cage. She looked the mermaid inside up and down, her tone a mixture of surprise and delight: "They released her so readily?"

"uh-huh."

Shen Huai'an casually leaned his upper body against the cage wall. That's right, "leaning" because the deliberately torturous short chain behind the neck ring had disappeared, along with the shackle closest to the tail fin.

In other words, Shen Huai'an has now been granted the most basic rights of "lying down and resting" and "moving his tail." Even though only two of the seven specially made chains have been removed, it's already a huge improvement!

"You've sold yourself?" Yunhe teased him deliberately. "Is the old man bewitched by your good looks?"

"Get lost." Shen Huai'an replied to her with a single, elegant word.

"Damn it, S1, you dare to insult me? You want to rebel, you bastard!"

Yunhe wasn't angry. She cleared her throat and then said seriously, "Anyway, congratulations, you won't be crippled now."

Yes. He won't be crippled anymore. For now.

Shen Huai'an yawned lazily.

He didn't respond further, but closed his eyes and fell asleep, feeling drowsy.