Sphinxlike

12 years ago, May

Busan – Vinnic Clinic Center

The girl crossed the blue watermark.

Dozens of light covered the girl from the ceiling and the bottom of the tank, making sure not to miss any of her movement. The hems of her clothes swayed like fins and the two living creatures swam from both her sides. This huge place that looked as if it was separated from a part of the sea was the girl’s old playground and cradle.

The girl who had been swimming forward for a long time suddenly frowned and came up to the surface. Her drained hair stuck to her face like saggy seaweed from all the wetness.

“That’s cheating. Do it again.” The girl said to the fins that floated in front of her.

The inverted triangular fins hovered around the girl like a satellite. It was as if two small islands were moving. The silence within the water didn’t last long. The girl firmly shook her head.

“Don’t try lying. I have seen crescent shoving Half Moon in the back.”

With that, one of the two creatures that had been hiding themselves with their fins peeked out. It looked like a typical dolphin, but the difference was that it was larger, darker and had sharper fangs. The appearance of the one still hiding while pretending to be innocent wasn’t much different. Crescent was chubby with a simple personality, while Half Moon was thinner with a graceful personality. Crescent and Half Moon were the names given to the 2 by the girl not too long ago.

At the girl’s words Half Moon squeaked, exposing half of its face, while Crescent kept on feigning innocence. They had said they wanted to play a fair swimming contest, but seeing that they were about to lose decided to cheat. That was a cheap act against someone who didn’t even have any gills.

After a few seconds of closing their eyes and staying silent. Crescent who had been hiding under water came closer. He started poking the girl on the stomach with its mouth. Half Moon who had been watching soon joined in and also started poking the girl’s body. They both knew that the girl was particularly vulnerable against tickling.

The girl finally let out the laugh that she had been holding back.

“Alright. I’ll cut you some slack this time.”

Half Moon hit the surface of the water with its fins. It was something he often did when he was excited. Despite suddenly being sprayed with water, the girl smiled.

However the girl’s smile soon disappeared as Crescent gave a slight groan. The girl started stroking Crescent’s body a little at the sound of him groaning in pain.

“What’s wrong?”

Crescent groaned a few more times until the girl realised the cause and bit her lips in embarrassment. The girl’s gaze turned towards the machine attached on Crescent’s fin like a flea. The machine was put there by the center to his fins but even the girl didn’t know the reason why it was there.

The girl only knew 2 things for sure. One was that if you wished to remove that flea-like machine you needed the center’s permission. And the other was that it often gave Crescent and Half moon trouble. But there was nothing that could be done to fix it right away, and such a fact upsetted the girl.

“I know. But we can’t take it out, if we do we will get in trouble with the doctor.”

Crescent started swallowing his groans as a sign of giving up and twisted his body around. Oh how much she wished she could get rid of his pain. The girl stroked Crescent’s back as she felt regret. She stared intently at the square shaped machine that was the source of the problems. Wires coming out of it like antennas were embedded into Crescent’s smooth skin.

Perhaps she could take some of the wires out. If she took out just a small amount, even the doctors wouldn’t notice. They might just think that it slipped out as he was swimming. At that moment the girl made up her mind and slightly raised her hand.

“Then, just a little bit……“

“Haeryu-ya.”

At the sound of the door, the girl quickly pulled her hands away. Her heart was pounding as if she was caught doing something bad.

“Haeryu-ya. Seo Haeryu?”

The voice was getting closer and closer. Haeryu patted Crescent’s back with a sad expression. Before long, the thick glass door opened on both sides with a slight mechanical sound. A woman wearing a white robe appeared with the sound of squishy slippers.

“You bastard. I knew you would be here.”

Teacher Han said so as she looked up at the tank. Haeryu bowed her head as she floated in the water. She had seen the familiar face just an hour ago, but she had learned from a book that the more you greeted someone the better it was.

“Stop swimming and get out of there. You have an exam.”

“Yes……”

Haeryu answered disappointedly as she stroked Crescent and Half Moon’s back.

“I’ll be going to take a test.”

Even if she said that, they wouldn’t know what a test is. She remembers trying to explain to them what it was once but they didn’t seem to understand it. Haeryu came outside of the tank as she freed herself from the two creatures that kept on poking her body. She climbed the stairs, crossed the dark hallway, and slowly made her way down the stairs. Drops of water from her hair and body fell to the floor as she walked.

As soon as she came down the stairs, the teacher came up to her with a towel. It was actually more of a blanket than a towel. Haeryu stayed calm as she was wiped dry by teacher Han, and then quickly got dressed once she received her clothes. Everyone would usually become sensitive on the days of the test, so she tried her best to try and not disturb them. With that she meant the teachers that supervised the tests.

The two left the restricted area and entered the white hallway that was upfront. The hallway without a single picture frame was so white that Haeryu would sometimes imagine all the lights going out. Even if it was dark without a single light coming in, it would not be too hard to navigate through it.

Her wet hair wetted her shoulder little by little, so Haeryu gathered her hair together and squeezed it. In the meantime Teacher Han often spoke to Haeryu. Asking how she was feeling, what she ate, and what she was thinking.

“You get wet every time. Do you like those Bunyips that much?”

While squeezing her hair, Haeryu responded bluntly.

“They are not Bunyips.”

Since the very beginning, Crescent and Half Moon were never addressed with their names. They were top secret experimental subjects created long before Haeryu was born, and at that time, the name given to them was Bunyip. According to the dictionary Haeryu once read, monsters that lived in or near water were called as such.

Monster. Monster. Monster. Haeryu, who was the only one in the center that could communicate with the bunyips, didn’t want to refer to them as such. There were so many different names in this world, yet they couldn’t figure out a better one to call them by? At least something better than monster.

Crescent and Half Moon were the names given to them after Haeryu thought as such. The one with a slender body was called crescent, and the one with a more plump body was called half moon. It seemed that Haeryu was the only one who knew and remembered that fact.

“Right. You named them right? That… What was it? Meadow and……”

“Crescent and half moon.”

“Yes, yes. Sorry. Grown-ups are good at forgetting.”

Even after Teacher Han’s apology, Haeryu showed a grumpy attitude. It was a lie. It wasn’t that she forgot because she was an adult, but that he didn’t remember from the beginning. The fact that things would be easily forgotten if the person didn’t care enough to remember it was something even the seven-year-old knew.

Nevertheless, they said what they had to say. Soon they would forget again, as always.

“Teacher.”

“Huh?”

“The machine on the fins of the children. Can’t you take it off?”

“Ah, that? uh……”

Teacher Han smiled embarrassedly. Haeryu knew the meaning of that smile very well.

“Don’t you think we should wait a bit more before taking them off? Why? Did the children ask you to release them?”

“It’s uncomfortable and painful.”

“That’s weird. I didn’t even press ‘Dalkag’ today.”

The teacher pretended to press something with her thumb. Watching the action, Haeryu’s face hardened. Dalkag, which looked like a cell phone, was a remote control that controlled the bunyips. Every time they pressed it Crescent and Half Moon would scream in agony. Even if the two were obedient, the button would still be pressed every time if the result was different from the wishes of the researchers.

They would keep on clicking, clicking until they got what they desired. That remote control was like burns to the bunyips.

“I’ll ask Dr. Seo when it’s okay to take them off. Don’t worry too much.”

Except she would forget this time too. Haeryu sighed to get rid of her frustration.

The two arrived in front of the sliding door at the end of the hallway. The teacher swiped a card on the machine on the wall, put her eye towards the lens, and pressed her fingerprint on the closed door to open it. Unlike the pure white hallway, the inside of the door was all black. Machines were attached to walls and tables like patterns, and even furniture including tables and chairs.

Haeryu took a watery step inside. Researchers passing by at the same time greeted the ocean currents.

“Haeryu, how are you?”

“Hello.”

Both the researcher sitting at the table and the one looking at the machine from afar welcome Haeryu. It was a warm sight that did not match the exams that would soon come.

“Did Haeryu arrive?”

Haeryu stopped in front of Dr. Seo. The man sitting in the chair slowly lowered his eyes and they made eye contact. This person was Munchan, someone who was like a grandfather or uncle to Haeryu, he was her legal guardian as well as a strict test supervisor.

“I see that your body is wet,It seems you went to the restricted area to play again.”

She was glad that it didn’t seem like he was blaming her. Instead of answering, Haeryu  patted her wet hair.

“Just be careful not to catch a cold. Understand?”

“Yes.”

“Now, we must go in.”

Dr. Seo pointed to the door next to him. Haeryu’s gaze followed him. There was another room beyond the door. That was the place Haeryu’s test would take place in. Inside the room with one wall made of glass, there were no chairs or desks, only a single strange machine stood there. As if that one thing in that room was enough.

Haeryu, who was moving step by step, slowly opened the door and went inside. In the middle of the gray room, a chair similar to the ones you would see at a dentist was quietly waiting for Haeryu. The chair, which had been lying in a straight position, stood upright as if waiting for Haeryu to sit down. Soon after, a tremendous noise from the machine filled the room, but Haeryu did not move. This was already a familiar sight for the child.

“May 2, 20XX. Vinnic Clinic Center Security Grade A. Classification BN-B-SOE-3. The 35th record begins.”