The Fairytale Zoo

The tunnel was clammy, lit dimly through glass windows. Expansive space spread out on the other side, slipping from jungle to rocky lake to open meadow with jarring regularity. A door at the end opened as a figure slipped through, bright orange hair creating a halo while lit from behind. Darkness resumed as the door shut. The teenager blinked, then moved forwards, eyes wide and roving. They approached a plaque which threw light upwards, providing information and artist’s impressions of the exhibit. Running a hand through cropped hair, they bent to read, and fished in their jumpsuit pocket for a slim device. A disproportionately loud clunk echoed as a silver locket slipped from the same pocket, bounced open on the concrete floor, and rocked to a stop, a miniature picture thrown from it. A few tourists moving slowly along the tunnel glanced their way. The teen swore quietly and plucked the picture up, then snatched the locket from the floor. They glanced at their younger self. Her grin was framed by long ginger curls, and she was being squeezed by an older woman. They placed it back in the locket, clicked it shut, and stuffed it back in the pocket, zipping it up. The plaque bore illustrations of wolfish humanoids. Their size was unclear as surroundings weren’t included. One was larger than the other, and there was clearly a male and a female- the illustrations were not discreet. The teenager typed notes onto the tablet, copying a few phrases. Their eyebrows creased together as they wrote ‘From unwanted foetal tissue’.

The next sign was by the lake. Sheer rock forming the opposite shore gave the impression it was extremely deep, and nothing could be seen on it except reflections. Again the ginger head dipped low to read. An ethereal creature stared up from the page with white-less eyes. It was captioned as a ‘Mermaid’, but looked… well, bad. They felt guilty for thinking it, for giving into first impressions based purely on aesthetic, but the unsettled feeling it’s stare gave remained. The black stare was accompanied by a flat slitted nose, pointed teeth bared in a wide mouth, and drooping whiskers. The body was somewhere between sea lion and eel, the fingers were outstretched to illustrate their webbing. A child banged on the glass further down and was hauled away by a chiding carer. Looking about, the teen realised most tourists had now left. They settled on the chill floor, half blocked from the exhibit by the plaque, and hidden in shadow beneath the light it threw up. Chin on one hand, they waited.

For some minutes, nothing changed. The grass swayed in rippling waves, insects dipped out of dappled shadows into the sunlight in the jungle area, and the lake between them stayed eerily still. Their green eyes flicked across the meadow, where nettles grew up into a hedge, which merged somehow with the sky. Something pushed the nettles aside. A door? Perhaps a door woven from nettles. Hands covered pale freckled face, muffling a gasp. The two wolf people approached through the grass. They fluidly moved from all fours to bipedal walking, and back again, disappearing beneath the grass occasionally. One made a lunge for the other, and then shot ahead. The human couldn’t hear through the glass, but they appeared to be laughing, or grinning. They watched as the one in front dodged this way and that, evading the other and leaving zigzagged tracks of flattened stalks.

A door opened, startling the human. Swiftly standing, they collided with the underside of the information board, and collapsed back down, rubbing their head. A lab coat entered, bright in the gloom. The woman wearing it was ushering robed officials in. The teen’s eyes widened as they saw her, and stood still, a patch of hair sticking up where they’d been rubbing it. The woman’s eyes settled on the teen, and gaped momentarily, then continued to speak to the guests distractedly. Taking their chance, the ginger figure swiftly retreated, hands pushed into their jumpsuit pockets, not even glancing at the gambolling wolves. They pushed open a door marked ‘Private’. A second door stood behind, a keypad lit up to the side. They bit their lip, pressed six buttons, and were shocked when a green light flashed. A thunk came from within the door.

A pressing downwards air current in the doorway separated the black corridor from the jungle beyond. They ducked through, and felt the heat and humidity close in. The noise hit next; chirping, buzzing, rustling, dripping. A more regular rhythmic noise approached from their left, but they didn’t notice until the peculiar person was standing at their elbow. They jumped, confused to have been caught so unawares. It- or he- stood at waist-height, bespectacled but otherwise completely alien. A transparency characterised his thin frame, like a famine survivor, though his skin was dark. The human had the distinct impression of being caught by a teacher, despite his diminutive size.

‘Charlie? When did you arrive?’ His voice was reed-like, but self-assured. Charlie’s mouth dropped open, but didn’t reply. They took in his too-long fingers clutching a clipboard and pencil, his spidery frame covered with a perfunctory-looking shirt and shorts.

‘I- who are you?’

‘Gerrid. You haven’t seen me since you were four.’

They nodded, eyes glazed. Vague memories surfaced and sank again before they could snatch them up and examine them.

‘You- work for my parents?’

‘With.’

‘Yes, with- you work with them?’

‘Indeed. We’ve just finished an exciting project using gene splicing which helps disprove previous assumptions on…’ he spoke for at least thirty seconds before registering their blank expression.

‘What’s gene splicing?’ Charlie asked.

The humanoid’s insect-like mouth frowned, and their bulging eyes narrowed slightly. Charlie shrank.

‘How old are you now?’

‘Fourteen.’

‘Hhmmph,’ the human noise finished in a subtle grasshopper-like chirp, albeit a judgemental one. ‘More than old enough, I should say. Parents like yours…Have you seen them yet?’

‘No, not really. I wanted to see what all this-’ Charlie gestured around.

‘Ah, been listening to the news, have we, young lady?’

‘Actually, I don’t see myself-’

The overgrown insect continued to drone, every bit the condescending academic.

‘Don’t know what they’re bloody on about. Politicians. They make laws, but don’t want the consequences. We solve their problems; they don’t like the solution.’

‘Isn’t- Wasn’t the problem experimenting on babies?’

‘Foetuses. Unwanted foetuses that they'd illegalised the abortion of. Artificial gestation became too good, but then you have an awful lot of foetuses that wouldn’t have naturally survived, or been terminated. Just there, waiting for a purpose. Someone needed to do something with them. The care homes weren't close to coping, still aren’t.’

‘Don’t some die in the process?’

‘Yes,’ Gerrid scratched his chin with his pencil, ‘My siblings included. It’s hardly savoury, but don’t I have life? I have a career-’

‘Sucking up to my mother,’ muttered Charlie.

‘I have professional respect, I am science advancing. Who can say that? Who else can-’

Something sandy-grey sprang from behind a tree trunk, flinging Gerrid into the air. He flew higher and further than seemed possible. As his body began to drop down again, delicate veiny wings unfolded from the base of his neck, sleekly flicking out of the top of his t-shirt. He hovered, re-orientating himself.

‘Lupa, when I tell Dr-’

Charlie didn’t hear further threats. They glimpsed the furry face before she grasped their hand with her paw, and loped off on her back legs, trailing Charlie along. A yip-yowling giggle came from between the tufty bear-like ears. Glancing back apologetically, Charlie followed as the jungle gave way to dull slate-grey pebbles lining the shore. The male wolf child squatted there on a rocky outcrop, looking in as high spirits as his friend.

‘Romy! Romy, look. I found- Charlie?’ She glanced back for confirmation. ‘Charlie! The doctors’ kid.’

She scrambled up the rock, little dark claws scrabbling and leaving scratches. Charlie struggled to follow, and heard her greet someone else. ‘Hey Ceia.’

Charlie panted and wiped away sweat. Atop the rock were the two wolf-children, facing the lake. Reaching them, Charlie looked about, and jumped as a silent figure below caught their eye. A few ripples encircled the person. Charlie struggled to connect their beauty to the unflattering portrait provided for tourists. Smoky-grey dappled fur covered her- probably a her- head and shoulders. She had understated seal-like ears, and whiskers which rippled as she sniffed towards them. The dark eyes weren’t blank, but deep, inky blue, and she blinked sleepily with exaggerated lashes. Her tail surfaced occasionally nearby, sinuously propelling her out of the water a little.

Charlie awkwardly tried to close their mouth. The woman- mermaid seemed too cliched- blinked slowly, listening to Lupa’s account of Charlie’s arrival.

‘I see.’ Ceia's voice was low, foreign. Sounds left her throat differently. ‘This is your first time here?’ She looked at Charlie, whose cheeks flushed hot.

‘Yes, I- Yeah.’

‘You live with your Aunt?’

Charlie nodded.

‘It must be nice to have family. Though I suppose we are one of sorts…’ Lupa began to chatter again, but trailed off as Ceia continued. ‘How much do you know about our- and your parents’- lives here?’

‘Not much,’ answered Charlie awkwardly, ‘Auntie Gwen thought the less we know the more people might leave us be.’

‘Quite.’ Ceia’s eyelids blinked slowly. ‘Experiments on foetuses who cannot consent are morally abhorrent. But here we are. We exist.’ She looked at her own webbed green-grey fingers, and Charlie tried to read the expression. Not quite disgust. More a bitter acceptance.

‘Do- would you leave? If you could?’ Perhaps they were free to leave. Perhaps not.

Lupa clapped her paws. ‘See! We should go on a field trip! Or a holiday, I’ve said this for years.’

A door slammed a distance away.

‘It’s a paradox, really,’ said Ceia, ‘This zoo may be insulting, it may put us on display to the nosy masses who have no comprehension of real sacrifice-’ she stopped herself and took a breath. ‘But it also protects us. And the habitats supply everything we need. Almost.’ She glanced towards the people approaching, and slinked sadly down into the dark.

‘Ignore Ceia, she feels a lot,’ advised Romy, with all the wisdom of a toddler.

‘Charlotte, what are you doing in the habitat? Where is your hair?’ The woman next to Gerrid instantly grabbed Charlie’s short locks.

‘Ow. It’s Charlie, Mum. Auntie Gwen hasn’t called me Charlotte since- well she’s never called me that.’ Even in their indignation, the word ‘Mum’ felt old, unused.

‘Well, Charlie, it’s time for dinner. Come on. Romulus, Lupa, shoo, there’s some fresh prey just released.’

The wolf children tore off on all fours, yipping.

Dinner was eaten silently. Laboratory equipment quietly whirred in the next room.

‘How- how is it legal here?’ Charlie tried to sound neutral, but felt childish. Both adults looked over their stereotypical black framed glasses, chewing.

‘I don’t think that should be your main concern,’ commented their mother. ‘It is legal,’ she added, seeing Charlie’s reaction.

‘You see-’ intervened their father as both bristled, ‘Genetic variation reached a dangerous threshold. Before you were born, ginger hair had disappeared. As had large chunks of Asian DNA heritage, and African. Racism and sexism applied to prenatal genetics is a dangerous mix.’

The spiel sounded well-rehearsed.

‘We made a choice. A radical one, but with potential to prevent humans reaching that threshold again. And yes, some of the more- commercial successes help generate income. They consent.’

‘But they didn’t consent when...’

‘Please, that’s impossible, so why argue for it? They have life. Extraordinary ones, rather than languishing in some care home waiting to become a labourer.’

‘But- shouldn’t they decide… Wait. You said ginger hair disappeared before I was born. Am I...?’’

‘Yes. You’re our genetic offspring. And you’re DNA was amended. So? We’re all experiments, in one way or another.’