‘Liam. Welcome to Last Refuge. The place where I have been reborn. Don’t you love me now? I have taken a new form. I’m doing it. I’m actually realising my dream. I’ll become a true mermaid.’ said the woman as she stood there naked and proud.

  The man paused in disgust, bile rising up from his throat as he saw the abdominal scars that had mostly recovered on the body of the woman who had once been his wife. His love and his first serious girlfriend. She had been a brilliant woman once, or one of the most famous and despised woman on the planet of Belphus depending on your viewpoint.

  She’d called him and he answered, all the way on the drive to this isolated lighthouse in the middle of nowhere next to the ocean. He walked through a series of unlocked security gates and past barbed wire fences to the door where she’d been waiting for him in a pristine light blue dressing down.

  He’d almost thrown up on the doormat when she’d let her gown drop to the floor and showed off her naked form. He’d been married to her for five years, he knew her body, the scars and the minor self-inflicted cuts but this was worse. She was worse, far more than he had thought. Liam spoke without thinking as raw emotion flooded his mind.

  ‘Carissa. I don’t hear from you for months. Nobody else has even heard from you in at least a year and you call me out to this isolated lighthouse for a strip show? Last Refuge? This isn’t funny. Please, at least tell me that you’ve been taking your medication. We can fix your body. Cutting yourself doesn’t help anyone. Please. I thought we had gotten past this stage of your life. Don’t be like this. Please. I’ve received an invitation which extends to one other, from the main Park of Gaia. You always wanted to see nature, but we can both experience it without this….transformation.’ said the man.

  She was a tall woman, her hair a strong mix of natural brown and reds with a rare beauty verging on the edge of unnaturalness. She remained attractive as the day she had met him five years ago back in university.

  The man recognised the raw enthusiasm on her face when she had finished working on one of her scientific research projects. The scars on her body weren’t for show but the fact that she hadn’t even given them enough time to heal before calling him was reason enough for him to be concerned. Especially with her previous history of self-harm.

  ‘…Liam. You want to visit a massive botanical garden built inside an irradiated once desert. While I would have welcomed the chance once I’ve succeeded in my plans. I’ve done it. Genetically wise, I’m within a zero point two range of my control parameters but the real benefit is the technology incorporation. I managed to self-implant with a complete working success rate. Don’t you understand? Why the self-regulation alone, I can control the flow and temperature of water within two metres of my person. I don’t need the necessary body fat to survive. Granted the minor power drain means I need to consume a suitable number of calories but still aren’t you happy for me? I have become more. Medication? I was treated Liam. Don’t you dare turn on me. I am refreshed. Reborn. You succeeded in your plans, and I had mine. This is my dream Liam. You know this. Don’t you dare make this about my...personal issues. Research! I have the documents prepared! This could even be replicated. You could join me!’ said Carissa.

  ‘A beautiful, intelligent woman who was once brilliant. I still remember when we first met at the university, I got us both in trouble with that old professor for trying to talk to you. Do you remember the assignment of that first day? We were told to discuss about the nature of an abomination. I had heard about your early research papers submitted before you had even applied for the entrance exam. Pure brilliance. You assumed that I was interested in you for your looks and then I saw that you had hurt yourself, on purpose even. That’s what I know. I made a decision for us, for both of us to have the necessary capital to change the world. And you hated the attention it gave you, hated the publicity surrounding us and the blame which ensued. The hate, the arguments. I’m still listening, just...just talk with me about this in my car at least. Please. Just step away from your..Last Refuge for a little while at least. To view one of the Parks of Gaia is a once in a lifetime opportunity.’ said Liam.

  Carissa observed the expression on his face and for a moment pitied him. She had grown up largely home schooled by her oceangraphy research parents and an array of impromptu tutors who were close friends the or once colleagues of theirs. She had learnt more growing up than he ever had living inside his private family mansion and private education.

  ‘Connections don’t build wonders. Second hand experiences don’t create miracles. Only those brave enough to dare to risk change can truly experience the world. Our planet is full of so many hidden secrets and horrors which nobody seems to acknowledge. I want to experience the oceans of Belphus first hand, without limits.

  A scientist who changed the face of our planet and enabled an environmental change that will enable us to carry on as a species. The woman that I loved, married, shared my life with decides to mutilate her own body through surgery out of some delusional sense of purpose and is standing in front of me naked. You need help Carissa. Serious treatment. I can help you. You called me for a reason, you know it as well.’ the man replied.

  Liam felt bile rise up from his stomach. The scars were mostly healed but still fresh enough that she must have cut herself a few days ago at most. She had obviously been through serious physical surgery. The sutures rose from her lower pelvic region up to her breasts.

  Another time, when they had been together the thought might have aroused him once all he wanted was to throw up the meagre contents of his breakfast. He didn’t know why she’d called him but he wished he’d never picked up her call.

  ‘Liam. Beloved. You listened to me before I made you money, and now you’re famous, rich and successful beyond your wildest dreams. Well, I don’t need you now. I’ll get my dream. Further alteration will have to wait until I’ve healed but I’ll do it Liam. Truly become a mermaid You don’t know how much I’ve had to work for it, the sacrifices I’ve made. The experiments.’ said Carissa.

  She gazed at the man with a fierce intensity in her eyes, if he had noticed her face, then the man called Liam would have noticed her open smile, teeth sharper and whiter than any human teeth have a right to be.

  Her self-improvement on her body had not only been related to surgery and technology. A little genetic altering had made further changes.

  ‘…Carrisa. If you ever thought that I loved you then please, come back with me. You have so much more brilliance to offer the world. Please. You’re not alone. Do you even know what you’ve done to your body? Are those scars even healed? We can find a facility, a ward to take you into just for recovery purposes. A second opinion from a medical doctor. Please. We can keep this private, between us. I’m going to enter the door. Please. Let me come in and take care of you. This isn’t too late to fix. Please Carissa.’ responded Liam.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  ‘Weakness and fear. I don’t know why I expected anything else from you. Leave Liam. I thought you might…no. I don’t need a companion who’s too scared of his own failings to join me. You were barely anything before you met me. A research assistant at most with a keen eye for business. I’ll grant you that. But you can get out right now. I’m going to rearm the security protocols just in case you get any funny ideas about trying to force me out. Not that I’ll be in this location much longer. The automated defences are going to be active, and I’ll be reborn into the embrace of the only goddess this sad little planet has known. The mother of our species.’ said Carissa.

  ‘Carissa…I have no clue of what you’re talking about. You disappear from my life and the world for a year and all traces of you evaporated. In the world outside they think you died. This brilliant, beautiful scientist who came up with the method of cleaning the waters of the world, free of pollution and human degradation. Granted, a portion of the population hates you but they’re poor. This...self-mutilation of your body. You don’t need to do it out of guilt. You forget Carissa, we were married for eight years. I know you. This is wrong. You know deep inside that you’re only hurting yourself out of anger.’ said Liam.

  The woman turned away from the man. Her nude body slightly glistening in the light of the room.

  ‘You’ll find that it doesn’t matter soon enough. I’ve been working on a book that will include all my post-research notes on the ocean cleaning technology. Enough to keep you in the public eye for a few more decades and with as many women as you want to sleep with.’ said Carrisa.

  ‘Carrisa…I didn’t want anyone else. You were my first and last. I’ll leave but others will find you, they’ll have traced my movements. You can’t hide forever. Please let me come inside and we can discuss this. Please.’ said Liam.

  ‘Too late. I need a few more treatments and then I’ll be ready. This prototype form can withstand far more than any base human. Field testing is my priority. Besides, I know you came here because you loved me once. I was prepared to share a new life with you. Nobody will find me. Unless….you wanted to transform yourself as well. Become more. Live with me forever in the waters of our world.’ said Carissa.

  ‘Goodbye Carrisa. I don’t honestly know how to respond to your state of mind. You’ve obviously made up your brilliant mind about this. If anyone on the planet could be successful it’d be you. You are truly unique, a genius, you rose above everyone else and literally changed our world. Changed mine. You always did have an amazing talent in you but not like this. Not with your body. Your...transformation. I’ll leave but you can call me. No. I’m going to call you. One last attempt to change your mind. I’ll call. Please, no testing. No. I changed my mind. Wait for me. I’ll join you but it’s going to take time to prepare. Will you wait for me Carissa?’

  ‘Goodbye Liam. I loved you. You always were a terrible liar. Goodbye my handsome man.’ said Carissa.

  Not turning around to watch her ex-husband and once business partner depart as she hit a button on the wall with the palm of her hand setting the main door to close and reactivating the security systems. Other devices reactivated but they had all been largely set to automatic function only, she was mostly past caring as this point.

  Thank you Liam. Thank you for coming for me one last time. I hope that you can become brave enough to follow after me so we can finally be together forever. All you have to do is let go of your family’s expectations of you. Let it all go.

  The doors would self-lock behind him and he’d never try to approach her without direct permission. He was weak that way in her mind. Her thinking may have been affected by the gene therapy which had sharpened her teeth and mind but she knew his behaviour both inside and out. He’d think and think before he took any final action. He had always been the hesitant one.

  A book title rose in her then. She had the thought as soon as Liam had left her. She watched him leave through a screen on the wall, hidden cameras tracking his movements as the security protection systems rearmed themselves once he walked past them.

  How much do you love the oceans? Thought Carissa to herself.

  A fitting title for her last span of time living as a human being living on the land. She picked up her fallen bathrobe and wrapped it around her nude form, tying it up as she walked. Her body still needed a little more time to adjust to the implants and she had always felt the cold, it was to be expected with the lack of moisture within the air.

  She’d need to work on the book to get it finished and a copy left behind when the hate groups finally came storming down the gates of her last refuge. Carissa would make sure that Liam got a copy of the book as well, the unabridged version, she may not have loved him now but she’d keep her promise.

  After all, without his intervention she would never have experienced an extreme push to finally transform herself into a true mermaid. The ocean was waiting for her entrance, all she needed was a little more time and the final test of a lifetime. A transformation into a being of higher beauty, a creature that would survive.

  Her body though would need a little more time to recover from the surgery as she had pushed herself a little bit when she’d sent the message to Liam to come to her hidden place. Her Last Refuge against an uncaring world.

  Carissa put out a hand to the smooth wall on her house. In order to survive under colder waters, she’d had to find a compromise for the lack of body fat that humans possessed and her sense of touch had worsened as a side effect.

  She passed her way through the structure that she had purchased, corridors and rooms empty and bare. Furniture removed and belongings that were casually tossed away without care nor concern. The emptiness of the house reflected her mind, minimal and uncaring.

  The purchase of the property had been a good choice, she had made sure that it was done privately without alerting those actively hostile to her for her supposed sins against the environment and the sanctity of the oceans of Belpus. There had been those who had supported her works though but they had just been as extreme in truth.

  ‘Protest groups, insane cultists worshipping an imaginary goddess of water. I’m not a goddess. Science kills gods. We made them mundane to reveal the truth of the universe. A single drop of water holds the power of creation but faith in a deity achieved nothing.’ said Carissa aloud.

  For a strange moment she expected a reply, months of near complete isolation had made her talk to herself far more than before. When nothing happened she sighed and decided to recheck the security systems that she had reinstated and chose to set them all to automatic. Liam would likely return, or he might even be prepared to enter the house when she left.

  An aching pain within her nearly caused Carissa to double over as she finished her remote checks and threw the control on the floor before breaking it underneath her hardened foot. Her white dressing grown loosened a little as she tightened the soft belt and went to look for a painkiller in one of her many empty bathrooms. She had all of them fully stocked just in case.