Cora woke to see Mason's face hovering above hers. At first she thought she was dreaming, but something was off. Mason's generally cheerful smile was twisted into an ugly sneer, and she felt cold all over. Something stung her arm and she closed her eyes.
When she woke again, she heard whimpering. She stiffened as she realized that she wasn't in her pod, she wasn't in the lagoon. Her eyes focused on a large, sterile room. She was in Doctor Glasser's facility. She turned her head and saw Isla strapped to an operating table, her eyes wide with fear. Cora looked to the other side. Nerissa, Piper, Meredith and Catalina were all unconscious and bound to operating tables.
How did we get here? Cora thought with growing panic. For a moment she was hopeful that Doctor Glasser was just going to remove her tail earlier than they had planned, but why would all the other mermaids be there? She struggled against her own bonds, but they were unyielding.
"Cora?" Isla whispered, her voice trembling with fear. "What's going on?"
Just then a door opened and Mason walked in. Isla lifted her head and smiled with excitement.
"Mason! I'm so happy to see you! You must be here to save us!"
Isla looked relieved, but Cora narrowed her eyes. He didn't look like he was there to help them. He was carrying a tray of surgical instruments that he set on a small table at the front of the room.
"The fish girls awake," he said, snickering to himself. He glanced over at them with an almost evil smile. He seemed like a completely different person, but it wasn't just his expression that had changed.
"What happened to your foot?" Cora asked through gritted teeth.
Mason laughed, lifting a perfectly normal leg where the metal boot used to be. "That was one of my more brilliant ideas," he boasted. "I figured if I made myself more vulnerable, it'd be easier for you to trust me." He strode over and leered down at her. "And you ate it right up."
Cora tried to lunge at him, but her restraints held her to the table.
Mason smirked and walked to a corner where his crutch was resting. "This little gadget served its purpose as well," he remarked, "although it was horribly cumbersome." He pulled the crutch apart and held up a small camera. "This lovely device was able to record you swimming to the bottom of the lagoon and got all of your tragic secrets, which is very useful evidence."
Cora shook her head. "Why are you doing this?"
Mason set the camera on the table and turned to face her. "I'll let the doctor fill you in on all the gory details, but here's the general idea. You, Cora, and your cohorts here, are extremely valuable."
"To who? The military?"
Mason shrugged. "The military might pay a few thousand, but there are some other corporations that are willing to pay ridiculous amounts of money to find out how to make someone like you." He walked forward and stroked Cora's hair. She jerked her head away from him. "With that kind of money I can finally become the actor I was meant to be. No more dinner theatre, no more children's birthday parties, no more petty cons for my uncle. I can practically pay my way to the big screen!"
Cora glared at him. "I can't believe I actually thought you liked me."
Mason gave her a pitying look. "You are quite a beautiful creature, Cora." Then his face morphed into one of disgust. "But you have gills!"
Cora shook with anger. "Well, you're the one who kissed me!"
He raised an eyebrow. "Believe me, I've kissed far more repulsive girls for money."
Cora thrashed her tail so hard that her operating table nearly tipped over. Mason looked nonplussed and turned away.
"No more hiding, Cora," he said, picking up a syringe from the tray. "You're going to be famous. Although, you won't be able to enjoy the spotlight, because you'll probably be dead."
"Why?" Isla squeaked, her face pale with fear. She had been so quiet, Cora had forgotten she was awake.
Mason sauntered over to Isla and leaned casually on her operating table. "Because we're going to dissect all of you."
"No!" Isla cried, her body shaking uncontrollably.
"But first I have to sedate you again," Mason said, holding the syringe to Isla's arm. The young girl tried to resist, but she was so scared that she didn't put up much of a fight. Mason injected her with the sedative and her eyes rolled back into her head. Her golden tail flinched twice, and then she was still.
Mason retrieved another syringe from the tray and came towards Cora. "You're a lot stronger than I thought," he remarked. "Usually two doses of this stuff is enough to knock someone out for days."
Cora clenched her jaw. She knew she didn't stand a chance against him while she was strapped to the table, but she wasn't going to make it easy. He bent down over the crook of her arm and Cora was about to bash her head into his, but suddenly the door burst open and Mason sprang away from her. Cora looked over and saw something she never imagined would make her heart soar.
Standing in the doorway was the glorious sight of Jack Baker.