Safety is for suckers - chapter 5

Calvin adjusted the controls of the Agena submersible, its dim cockpit illuminating his face with a soft, blue glow. Outside the reinforced glass, layers of dark water enveloped the small vessel, swallowing the fading light from the surface above. He gripped the joystick tightly as the storm roared above, whipping the ocean's surface into frothy chaos. Each lurch of the submersible echoed the turbulence until finally the vehicle was able to descend far enough down that the waves no longer mattered. The storm had been relentless and powerful as it had pounded the support ship into submission.

There was a quiet concern gnawing at him. Silvia had been down in the lab for too long without a check-in. Two routine safety checks had come and gone, the radio signals unacknowledged. Calvin had been fighting the panic that had settled in the pit of his stomach, if he let his mind wander it felt like time stretched into an eternity. Was she alright? Had something wreaked havoc on the lab? His anxiety sharpened his senses, every flicker of the control panel and the soft hum of the submarine growing louder in the otherwise deep-sea silence.

“We’ll monitor you down as deep as we can” the support ship radioed. 

“Copy that, let us know when Dr. Reed returns” he replied. In theory these systems were highly automated and didn't really need pilots or monitors. All of these procedures were for safety. Calvin kept that in the back of his head. trying not to imagine the worst case scenario. 

The submersible’s lights pierced through the inky water, illuminating the drifting marine life—the silhouettes of fish gliding effortlessly by, oblivious to the storm above. As Calvin descended deeper, near 700m the bioluminescent glow of a long ropy siphonophore jelly drifted gracefully by, momentarily distracting him from the urgency that clawed at his mind. He smiled fleetingly at the sight and turned on the video recorder, but it vanished slowly as he continued down— turning the recorder back off he felt he couldn't afford to think of anything else but returning to the lab and to Silvia. 

About two hours later Calvin looked at the depth gauge - 1500m. He’d lost radio contact a while ago with the support ship but the sealab’s automated systems pinged when he was within 500m of the station.  

He flipped a switch on the control panel, activating the intercom that connected him to the lab. “Silvia, come in, do you copy?” His breath caught in his throat as he awaited the sound of her voice. Static filled the cabin, and his heart sank. He tried again, his fingers trembling slightly. “Silvia, please respond. Is everything okay?.”

No response. The silence was heavy, like the pressure of the water surrounding him. The number of nightmare scenarios kept running through Calvin’s thoughts. As much as he hated the thought at least at this depth the pressure would make any catastrophic decompression nearly instant. A CO2 scrubber issue would be much more sinister. Even in the icy cold water he started sweating from worry.

As the submersible reached target depth, the running lights of the underwater lab came into view—its glow a beacon of hope in the pitch blackness. While he steered his approach he tried to inspect the lab structure. Seeing it in perfect shape ignited a mixture of relief and confusion in his mind. “Nothing imploded… thank God, hopefully just a communications issue.” he said to himself. 

He guided the craft down heading underneath the lab’s extended stilt supports towards the bright light of the moon pool opening. pausing under the glow from the moon pool he looked up and he saw thin reddish …seaweed? on the far edge of the opening. It was an odd sight, but he wasn't sure that it wasn't just a kind of seaweed or possibly just the caution tape on the opening coming off. 

Shifting the vessel from descent to ascent mode, there was a single proximity alert as the craft raised up. The warning abruptly stopped before the vehicle broke the water surface. A soft thud resonated as the docking clamps secured the vehicle within the protective moon pool of the lab. Calvin unsealed the hatch of the submersible, the cool water cascaded off the vehicle as he climbed out and stepped onto the lab's dock. The air was thick with the scent of salt and damp metal, the low hum of machinery echoing in the cramped space. Lights overhead were still on, nothing seemed amiss. He wasn’t worried, not yet, as he scanned the moon pool.  

"Silvia?" he called out, his voice firm yet tinged with an undercurrent of anxiety. The only response was the echo of his own voice bouncing back at him. He walked further into the habitat, the sound of his boots clanging on the metal floor accompanying him like an unwanted companion. Starting at the crew quarters Calvin scanned for any sign of Silvia. Her quarters inside looked normal, just a messy bed. He moved on to the galley. Finding the shelves out of order and all the cabinets open was strange. a few dirty cups in the sink.

It was a bit odd but reassuring. Clearly she’d had the munchies or some weird feast… maybe she just made herself sick. Following his logic Calvin walked to the med bay. Once again he found signs Silivia had been in here but no Silvia. 

“SILVIA!” he shouted. “Did you get sick?”. Moving on to the lab he found a lot of weird things. syringes and vials in the trash. There was a chair at the gene sequencer and the device had an orange flashing light. bending over the console and wiggling the mouse to wake up the monitor Calvin saw a warning message.

***********SERUM SUPPLY LOW***********

*****REPLACE CARTRIDGES*****

****use only SSN brand replacement cartridge**** 

“Okay, that's not good,” Calvins mind started to race. Why would the sequencer be out of serum? They rarely used the device. He had searched the entire sea lab now. With no sign of Silvia. Maybe something had happened? Did she get sick? He thought again. “Why use this thing, and why so much?” The only thing that came to him was half remembered medical training explaining how to use the sequencer to make venom specific antidotes. Some reef octopus can be poisonous. Maybe there was an accident.

“If she got sick I bet she’s in the bathroom” Calvin said. 

Down the hall from the galley was the main restroom. Before he even got to it he could see the green “vacant” sign above the handle. The only place left was her personal bunk’s wash room. So Calvin hurried to the crew quarters again.

He stood outside Silvia’s bathroom door, contemplating whether to open the door and check inside. “Hey, are you ok in there?”, he said, knocking on the door. But a knot formed in his gut as there wasn't an answer; he could grab an allen wrench and force the door open… but he couldn’t bear the thought of what he might see if the worst had happened.

Mustering his courage he grabbed the handle. If this was an emergency he needed every second he could spare. To his surprise the bathroom was open! Where was Silivia? His mind started spiralling. The lab is 2000m deep. There is literally no way out except the escape bathysphere and that was still docked to the moon pool.

“ummm…. Silvia?” Calvin said, turning around. Looking back into her empty bunk.

That’s when it hit him. The lab was equipped with surveillance cameras for security purposes, a kind of black box, and he had access to them. It was a great idea! Checking the footage could show him what she had been doing or at least where she had gone.

He hurried to the long corridor to an unassuming panel, Pulling out his keys he found a small round black key. Opening the panel he flipped a switch, A grid of screens flickered to life on the monitor. the screen flipped from various sections of the lab and back.

“Okay, how do I rewind?” Calvin said to himself. Seeing a double arrow he reflexively clicked it. Nothing changed on screen until he saw him and Dr. Reed on the monitor.

 “Shit! Alllright, when is this?” He spied the date and time at the bottom corner. It was four days ago. Calvin saw himself delivering an octopus to Silvia on the screen. He remembered her being weird that day and disappearing most that afternoon. finding the fast forward feature he sped up the footage watching himself and Dr Reed working at superspeed. Then his eye caught something. Silvia had gotten up and walked towards the edge of where the camera could see. Calvin slowed down the footage to 2x. and watched as she went past the moon pool. And then grabbed something from her locker. He followed her on the cameras as she returned to the lab. He noticed she didn't go back to her station but went over and was using the sequencer? Calvin played the video back at normal speed. He watched her typing something on the sequencer computer. He resumed playback at double speed again. Then seeming out of the blue the recording showed Silivia hit her leg with her fist.

“What?! what was that?” he murmured. Rewinding the footage he stopped and played it back. There was Silvia grabbing something from the sequencer. Calvin gasped when he saw it. She injected her leg. 

Captivated, he watched her sit for a moment then start to back her room, stumbling once. Keeping the camera feed on the crew quarters he fast forwarded again.

“Was that new octopus venomous?” He said watching the time on the screen quickly scrolling.

Suddenly her door opened on screen. The time was 4 hours later. Again at 2x speed he watched her head to the galley. She kept looking down under the table at something, then she was talking to Dr. Reed. Throughout the footage she seemed distracted. The camera footage was grainy but as Calvin watched her leave the galley on the screen her legs looked strangely pixelated.  

He continued watching, as the Silvia on screen was nearly waddling back to her bunk. “So you did get sick, was it from the octopus or from whatever was in that shot?” he said, speeding the footage up again. He saw himself come by her door. And continuing he watched Silvia emerge wearing sweatpants and looking a bit disheveled. Walking strangely she went to the lab. even at double speed it was obvious she was fidgety. She then got up and went straight to the med bay.  

“Ahhh okay, why didn't she tell us something happened or at least that she wasn't feeling good?”

The med bay camera wasn't in the normal rotation. Calvin had to go into the menu to find it. Bringing up the footage he saw Silivia again. She was standing looking into a corner. The camera angle wasn't the best. Silvia grabbed something out of the cabinet and sat in a chair, and then pulled off her sweats and put her hands down her suit.

“Hmm?!” Calvin grunted as he slowed the playback down.

The camera didn't provide any details of what was happening on her front, but he could see the movement of her arms glide down her legs and her hips as well. There was tension in her body. “Oh fuck, really??” he thought. He could see the expression of pleasure on her face and the way her body moved. He felt a strange mixture of voyeuristic excitement and guilt as he watched her spreading something between her legs. He told himself that he was only watching to make sure that everything was okay, but deep down he knew that wasn't entirely true.

But as she sat still for a moment, he noticed something odd.

There were discolored patches on the insides of her legs. They were an obvious dark color, almost maroon. They seemed to be concentrated around her inner thighs and groin area. Calvin felt a sense of alarm, quickly stopping the playback. He could see that the discoloration seemed to spread farther down her legs. It was as if her skin was bruised, but the bruises were growing and moving together. Calvin felt a sense of unease, unsure of what he was seeing.

Resuming again he watched her pull up her sweatpants. And then it seemed as if nothing was amiss again. Her movements were natural. speeding up the playback Silivia worked for a couple hours and then went to dinner. He watched them eat and everything seemed normal. Calvin questioned what he’d seen earlier, maybe nothing was wrong at all. He remembered that before bed she had talked with him that night. He sped up the video of the galley until he saw himself washing dishes. And then sure enough there came Silvia into the galley to talk. Again he stopped the feed and scrutinized her image. Her swim top was stretched across her chest. Even as he went frame by frame watching her unzip the top it was clear that she didn't fit into it… but it was the same top from earlier in the day.  

“Somethings not right here,” He wondered. 

The cameras went dark as Calvin fast forwarded to the next morning. There he and Dr. Reed were working and loading the submersible. everything was flashing by quickly. He watched himself zoom by in and out of the frame. Then he saw himself head to Silvia’s bunk door. He saw her quick peck on his cheek. As he watched the footage, a heavy sigh escaped his lips. 

“Why didn’t I say anything?” he muttered to himself, the question echoing in the silence. He wished he had reacted differently, If only he could figure out what happened maybe he could try again.

The screen showed Silvia follow behind to the monitor station. She was still wearing sweats and a pair of socks covered her feet. Calvin watched the sub lower and Silvia on the monitor station. At this sped up speed it was hard to tell what was going on. Silivia had gotten up, gone to the restroom, waddled to her room and back to the station with her laptop in hand all in quick succession. Eventually she stood up. Calvin slowed down the footage. He hadn't noticed that she’d pulled off her sweats and socks while at such high replay.

“Okay so this was at handoff” Calvin noted, stretching his arms for a moment. “So far she seems fine. at least up to here.. So if she did use that device for an antivenom it must've worked. But then where the hell are you?” 

He watched at double speed again. He saw her start rifling through the cabinets in the galley. “Okay that explains the mess” he watched further. He saw her legs were totally discolored. and looked wet. The camera was too far away to make out her legs in detail. Eventually after going through each cabinet She turned to go down the hall, so Calvin switched to another camera. Her image grew larger in one of the hallway cams. Suddenly he stopped the playback, something caught his eye. On screen Silvia’s hair filled the view. backing up frame by frame Calvin looked at her face. Something looked different. 

“HUH? … No that's not possible” Calvin said dumbfounded.

Her left eye, its pupil… was it sideways? He played the footage frame by frame watching her slowly walk away from the camera. It wasn't a trick. In each frame both her pupils were horizontal. continuing to play back Her face was a smile walking by the camera. but she wasnt walking normally. This angle gave him the first clear look at her legs. They were discolored, bubbly with round protrusions, and even her feet looked discolored. It looked like she had tube legs as her knee only pushed out when she lifted a leg in stride.

“Wha… why? what's going on with her legs? Why is she so calm about it.”  Calvin’s mind was racing at this mystery as he was trying to put the pieces together. Silvia must have had some accident and tried to self medicate with the sequencer. IS she having a reaction to that shot? but she was rubbing medicine on it. IS it a rash? Why doesn't she seem more concerned? Why didn't she tell anyone? Calvin had so many questions. he returned his attention to the screen.

Again Silvia went to the med bay. this time just typing a few things on the panel and grabbing a few items from a drawer. He noticed it seemed like she was having difficulty moving between rooms. Back to the lab she went. Calvin was getting better at switching between cameras.

“What the hell are you doing?” he whispered, as she made her way straight to the sequencer again. 

Calvin was aghast as she injected her ass not once but twice. “Again! What the FUCK! Are you doing this on purpose?” he nearly shouted, the question echoing in the empty room. A part of him, the rational part, screamed at the absurdity of it all, the blatant disregard for her own safety. But another part, a darker, hungrier part, was fixated on her body. 

He watched her go back to the galley and even in double play back she was clearly drinking a lot of water. Suddenly she seemed startled and saw her pick up the radio for check in. 

“Okay that is the last recorded check in there.” He mumbled as he tried to piece the timeline together; still he couldn't pull himself away. 

He watched her pull herself down the hall towards the moon pool with her arms. Her legs dragged behind and looked tapered to a point at the end. “What's happening to her legs?!” Calvin thought to himself as he tried to find a better angle. He let the footage play briefly until her legs were better in view. Calvin stopped the playback stunned. Silvia didn't have legs anymore. She had, what could only be described as, tentacles. What was once her legs curled unnaturally. Her legs had mutated into tentacles! “What the Fuck” was all Calvin could say.

The moon pool had several cameras. He switched to the one with the best view of Silvia. She flopped her legs into the water. He watched as her body changed. It was mesmerizing. Her face contorted and clearly in both pain and pleasure. He quickly put a hand in his pocket to adjust his manhood sticking to his leg as It grew. Calvin watched as her entire lower half was moving. He watched her grow two new large tentacles out the back of her ass. On the play back Silvia’s hips were bucking and Calvin saw her breasts growing. There was no audio but he could see her mouth “What the Fuck” as her suit tore. 

“Why did you do this to yourself?” Calvin questioned. He was feeling all out of sorts but at the same time he  was getting hard. 

Finally, her growth seemed to plateau. Silvia, clearly no longer entirely human, but a magnificent, terrifying spectacle. On the camera her four thick tentacles writhed and pulsed around her.  She stretched, a slow, sensual movement that showcased her newfound size and power. Her skin gleamed wet from the water as she pulled off the tatters of her suit. 

She stayed there for a while, Calvin watching the video barely blinking having never expected her nude. Silvia started to exit the pool. At first, she struggled, her tentacles flailing as she tried to find a way to move. Calvin watched, his breath caught in his throat, as he saw just how much her body had changed, or rather adapted. Her arms looked muscular and her breasts jiggled with each movement. Her tentacles flailed, seeking purchase on the slick metal floor. He watched, his heart pounding against his ribs, as she experimented, the tentacles contracting and extending, their suckers finding grip. Slowly, painstakingly, she began to move down the corridor.

On the crew quarters hallway camera he saw Silvia begin to use the front tentacles to pull herself along, gripping the walls and floors with surprising strength; followed by her rear tentacles. Clearly Silvia’s new form made it difficult for her to navigate the narrow, metal passageways. Calvins manhood throbbed hard as he watched her enter her bunk. The voyeuristic nature of it, the raw, unadulterated strangeness of the spectacle unfolding on the screen. Silvia was his colleague, a scientist. But the Silvia he was watching now was something different, something that existed outside the boundaries of societal norms. And in that transgression, in that voyeuristic glimpse into her secret transformation, he found a disturbing, undeniable allure. His pants felt suddenly too tight,

After fast forwarding again to the next day he saw her again head to the lab. The way she moved was hypnotic. The smooth, almost liquid flow of the tentacles, the unnatural articulation of her hips as she dragged her upper body along. It was an abomination, a grotesque violation of the human form, yet there was a disturbing elegance to it as he watched her navigate a tight corner, the tentacles flexing around the curve of the wall. 

Calvin slowed the footage back down to get a good look.

Inside the lab Silvia headed straight to the sequencer again. This time, she didn’t hesitate. She typed some commands into the computer and then, with practiced ease, extended one of her tentacles. Using the remaining three for balance she injected the tip of the appendage with another dose.

Calvin’s heart hammered in his chest. He gripped the edge of the desk. “I don't get it. What are you… Are you trying to become an octopus on purpose?!” he wondered. a small icon on the screen flashed. The lab camera had audio. Calvin quickly pressed the button and the sound came across an old built in speaker. 

He watched, transfixed, as her four tentacles began to shift. A faint shiver ran down their length, and then, impossibly, they began to divide. A seam seemed to appear, running from base to tip, unzipping to reveal another tentacle. The other three tentacles followed suit, each line widening, separating with a slick, almost wet sound. From the original four, eight writhing appendages emerged, long and thick, pulsating with a life of their own. On the monitor, Calvin watched in stunned horror as Silvia became something altogether other than who he had previously known. She was no longer merely Silvia, she was now a Scylla.

A low sigh escaped Silvia’s lips on the screen. Her back arched slightly, and the eight tentacles moved with a newfound energy, weaving and flexing around her. She tilted her head back, exposing the smooth curve of her throat, and Calvin could see it – a faint flush on her cheeks, a subtle widening of her unique eyes. She was aroused. There was no mistaking it. The way she moved, the almost eager twitch of her tentacles.

Silvia raised one of her tentacles, the smooth, mottled flesh contrasting with the warmth of her skin, and began to knead the soft swell of her breast. Tipped with sensitive suckers, they pressed and circled, teasing her nipple into a hard peak. Calvin leaned in and looked closer as it seemed the nipple itself puckered. 

On the screen, Silvia’s tentacle actions became bolder, more deliberate. Now two of her tentacles cupped her breasts, squeezing and lifting, the motions frankly sexual. Silvia's head was tilted back, eyes closed, her expression a mixture of intense focus and surrender.

Her movements became more erratic. One of the tentacles slithered upwards, finding its way under her webbed hood between her tentacles. Calvin couldn’t see it parting the delicate folds of her vulva on camera. She whimpered, a broken, guttural sound that sent shivers down Calvin's spine even through the distorted audio of the security footage. The tentacle slid inside her pussy, probing, filling her. Calvin figured where that tentacle went as her body arched, her tentacles splayed, and she began to rhythmically writhe, her entire form trembling with raw sensation. Calvin swallowed hard, feeling an undeniable tension build within him. He adjusted himself again, trying to hide it. But it was no use. He was fully erect now, his manhood straining against his pants.

SPLASSSHHHH

Calvin jumped at the sound. He turned around and stared down the corridor startled by the sudden loud noise.

He saw Silvia’s smiling face. There was something about her that seemed not only strangely beautiful but also...dangerous. Her upper body remained largely human, albeit subtly altered. She appeared strong, her arms looked ripped. Her breasts, full and high, with a dark contrasting areolas tipped with two individual suckers. But as odd as that was, it was the lower half that commanded his attention. Her tentacles, a mesmerizing tapestry of skin tones, marrons, and pale white, rippled with effortless grace as she propelled herself forward. The suckers on her tentacles plopped softly against the metal floor, a sound both alien and strangely intimate.

Calvin's mouth went dry. His erection pulsed, a frantic counterpoint to the icy grip of fear tightening in his chest. He wanted to run, but his legs felt rooted to the spot. The corridor was narrow, and she was between him and the exit. As well as his realization that this sea lab was located deep underwater, where could he even go.

Silvia's face, framed by strands of her damp hair, held an expression he couldn't quite decipher. There was a knowing glint in her piercing eyes; their horizontal pupils staring directly into Calvin, a confidence that bordered on predatory. She stopped a few feet away, her tentacles curling slightly, testing the air. Her pussy on display from between her front most tentacles. 

"Calvin," she purred, her voice deeper, resonating with a commanding tone. It sent shivers down his spine, a mixture of terror and anticipation.

He swallowed hard. "Silvia… are you… okay?" The question sounded pathetically weak, even to his own ears.

A slow, deliberate smile spread across her lips, revealing teeth that seemed just a fraction sharper than before. "More than okay, Calvin." Her gaze dropped to the obvious bulge in his trousers. "And it seems you are… excited."