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Cross Connection

Keeping it Real

By Dwayne O ConnorPublished about a year ago 11 min read
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Not many people give much thought to the setup of a large public aquarium. The patrons would possibly be bored to death to hear the science behind setting up such a large exhibit of living creatures. Fewer still would be aware of how much work goes into it and how many experts are involved.

Most people have their own private thoughts about the goings on of the aquarium. Some are looking for otherworldly beauty and wonder, some just look for stunning visuals, and some others come in for what they feel is a connection to something they feel is alien, intelligent, and strange.

Simone has always loved the sea. She has never been to an actual sea and never even been to a beach. She has lived her whole life in a huge, sprawling city with little or no access to even a decent-sized park. Only on special occasions would her mom and dad take her to the gigantic park in the central portion of the city. It was beautifully open and green with tons of life, most of it human though.

Simone was lucky enough once to win a raffle contest while her school was on a field trip to the city aquarium. Entry to the general aquarium was always free for kids aged 10-14 like Simone. Being twelve, she was in a perfect time to explore her wonder. The winner of the raffle got an all-access pass to see the special exhibits and behind the scenes with an expert marine biologist. Being the winner made Simone very happy, little did she know that this would be more than a life-changing experience, it would alter all that she knew about herself and the world.

Her first visit to the backstages of the aquarium was begun shortly after she arrived at her first tour. She had been to the aquarium several times and had seen every corner of the public exhibit but still looked around the aquarium as if it were her first visit. Wide-eyed and full of wonder. She was incredibly thrilled when the marine biologist came from behind the shark exhibit to collect Simone while there were about thirty students around her same age from another school on a tour at the same time. Everyone looked at Simone like she was a famous person when she, and only she was escorted to the back.

Jenny Nara was the lead marine biologist today and was very bubbly. Simone had a guide who seemed just as thrilled about marine life as she was. Simone immediately thought of a career in marine biology.

Jenny showed Simone the quick tour to get her used to the setup but when that was done she pulled Simone to the side for what she called a "serious conversation." Simone sat down in the chair next to a very messy desk that was covered in biological reference data and trinkets reflective of more of the same. Jenny even had a few figurines from the show "SpongeBob Squarepants." Simone was in heaven.

Jenny asked Simone how squeamish she was. She didn't want to accidentally break Simone's spirit in marine biology by her seeing something that could be considered horrific or cruel while she was there. She began to talk to Simone about blood and guts and feeding and loss of life as the daily occurrences of the aquarium. Simone took it seriously but reaffirmed her interest in marine biology with Jenny by letting her know that she has seen several documentaries and had spent time with the fish guy at the grocery store. Simone said nothing like that scares her. Jenny threw her hands up in joy and gave Simone a huge hug after asking her permission to do so, of course.

Simone's first few days of exploration went fantastically and she told as many of her friends and family about the happenings in great detail. Her mother had to continually ask Simone to pause because she felt nauseous at hearing the gore. It always made Simone and her dad erupt in laughter.

The next week, Simone entered the aquarium with incredible confidence and happiness and went to the back without waiting for Jenny as her escort. Instead, another scientist emerged from behind one of the large tanks saying, "Sorry, who are you, and why are you back here? the tours stop at the door that says Employees Only." Simone stepped back and said that she was supposed to be there. "Here is my special badge." Simone showed the skinny, sickly-looking man her badge, hanging from the link chain around her neck. "Oh," the man says, "Yes, I heard about this program. Jenny is out sick so you'll have to come back another day." He rushed Simone out the door and said for her to call first next time, "Bye!" Just as this little bit of craziness was playing out, another person came in through the door. A young lady dressed in a pantsuit. "Hi young lady, where are you headed to so early? You're Simone aren't you?" Simone smiled and said "yes, Jenny isn't here and so..." "That's right, Jenny isn't here so I'll be with you today. I'm Peggy, I'm the administrator of the aquarium." Simone was thrilled that she wasn't going to have to head back home on the bus. It was after the rush schedule and might take an hour before her bus got there. Peggy looked and realized what was happening immediately. "So what was Kevin showing you, anything of interest besides the door?" Kevin stuttered nervously and didn't have anything to offer except sweat on his brow. Peggy took Simone's hand and led her back to the offices.

Peggy was a bit annoyed with Kevin but understood some of his personality. The extreme scientist type with little or no tolerance for any human interaction or the graces of social norms. Nevertheless, Peggy saw fit to show Simone the sights and possibly set her up for a future scholarship if she met her expectations.

Simone was given the full indoctrination of the legal, business, and public affairs aspect of the aquarium. Of course, she was on the verge of falling asleep. She couldn't wait for Jenny's return. Simone went home tired and drained of all her youthful energy. When she got home she expressed part of what she had learned to her parents for about ten minutes before she fell asleep hard and without dinner.

The next day, Simone came in early and found Jenny in a frenzy. Simone tried to ask if she was ok and recovering from being off work sick but didn't get the chance. Jenny's eyes were sunken in, deep circles underneath. She was running around frantically. She told Simone, "Sorry honey, there's a bit of an emergency here right now. You just follow me and help me get this under control please." Simone nodded in agreement and tried to keep up after she set her backpack on the floor near the door.

Simone saw right away what was the matter, there was a stringy-looking material on the inside of some of the tanks. Some of the fish and other animals were ensnared by the stringy tentacles and clearly in distress. There seemed to be no sign of the origin. Jenny told Simone to make sure she didn't touch the tentacles or anything that looked like resin coming out of them.

Instead of fear, Simone showed an inherent interest in what was happening. What didn't make sense was the way Jenny was behaving. There didn't seem to be any reason for Jenny to be acting as if the world was coming apart. Simone just took it to mean that there was probably tons of work to be done to fix all of this.

Simone noticed that Jenny was grimacing from time to time and was seeming to protect her left arm. Simone asked Jenny if she was hurt and she just replied that it was nothing. Simone could definitely tell that it was not "nothing," Jenny was hurt and a trickle of blood in some places Jenny had just been. Soon after, Jenny fell to the floor and began to convulse. Simone yelled out for help and then pulled the fire alarm. She tried her best to support Jenny's head, as they had taught her in swimming class for anyone who was having a seizure. Jenny then passed out and Simone was left holding her seemingly unconscious body while they waited for someone to arrive.

While holding Jenny, still yelling out for someone to come to their aid, she saw something moving across the floor toward her. She couldn't see what it was and had to squint a bit to try to focus on it. As it got closer, it seemed to pick up speed and Simone began to fear that it was actually making a beeline directly toward her. It was the stringy tentacles she had seen on the tanks in the other part of the aquarium. Simone's fear began to grow and she could sense danger, so she tried her best to move Jenny away from the stuff.

As those strings got closer and closer Simone began to feel that she would not be able to get Jenny clear. She pulled Jenny by her shirt but she wasn't strong enough to get her clear. The tentacles immediately wrapped up Jenny's legs and progressed so fast that they made it past Jenny's torso and arms. Simone's eyes were wide and she yelled out in terror. Suddenly, the tentacles stopped short and unraveled like so many frayed wires and fell to the sides of Jenny's body. Just as this occurred, the tentacles began to retract and fell away into the darkness. Simone stopped cold and still called out for help but no one arrived.

From the rear of the aquarium room, Simone could hear what sounded like a choppy and somewhat mutilated voice. She saw what looked like a person begin to emerge from the back. They moved slowly and Simone called out again, "we need help over here." The silhouette kept moving forward slowly into the light, it was Kevin, he definitely didn't look like himself and Simone could see that he was covered with the thin tentacles but she could still see his face. His eyes were not his own and resembled those similar to octopus eyes. He opened his mouth to speak and it sounded like a horrible drowned voice with gurgles and drips.

Simone soon became overrun with fear and terror. She inadvertently dropped Jenny and started to back away and started to cry unwillingly but still backed away from the obviously infected Kevin. Just as Simone began to shut her eyes tight and crumple into a ball, she was grabbed up quickly by Jenny who had apparently shaken off her stupor. Behind her was Peggy, who pulled Simone up by her underarms and they all retreated to the back offices. Once there, Peggy tried to develop a plan to attack whatever it was overtaking their aquarium. Jenny, exasperated and obviously still in pain, said "this is all Kevin's fault, I'm sure he was experimenting again and now it's come to life, like some sort of aquatic Frankenstein. We have to get out of here and get help!" "Simone are you hurt, did it touch you in any way?" said Jenny. "No, I don't think so," said Simone, still in shock from what she saw.

Peggy said that she saw the creature or whatever it was stop its attack and start to retreat when Simone yelled. "What caused that?" It seemed to be affected by her voice. Jenny said that maybe it was because of her high pitch. Of course, a scientist would think this way. Jenny then said, "that's a great point to work on as soon as we can get the hell out of here." "right, Peggy said, I have these fire extinguishers and maybe we could shoot it at the thing and that might give us enough time to get outside and call 911." Both Simone and Jenny looked at Peggy and nodded in agreement. Just then, an explosive bursting open of the door happened, just powerful enough to throw all of them to the floor and rendered their plan useless. The tentacles moved in an incredibly quick manner and snatched Simone. Another set of tentacles wasn't far behind and came in with intent. The intent was to render Peggy and Jenny helpless. It bound them and barely allowed them to breathe. This seemed to Jenny that there was an obvious intelligence behind the mechanism of the tentacles.

monster
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About the Creator

Dwayne O Connor

Just a lover of literary expression no matter the genre. Spent too many years living a strange and extraordinary life not to eventually write about it and all the phenomenal beings I've encountered.

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