The researchers stood outside of Davis' holding cell. Edmond couldn't show them the men they had lost, but he could show them the horror of what they had brought onto Davis. The man hadn't been the same since he had touched the water. They couldn't figure him out. Why couldn't they get Davis to calm down. It was as if every bit of sanity the man had was left behind in the ocean.

The researchers said nothing. Only one of them even bothered to look at Davis. The other, quieter one, only looked at the floor.

"You see what your research has brought onto my men?" Edmond scolded them as if they were children. He only hoped they had a heart enough to care. Davis had a wife. She would be devastated to see what was left of her husband.

"We can't get him proper treatment until we leave here. Which can only be done once you release that siren." Edmond told them. They would need a plan to get her out of the box and back into the water without the men coming to further harm. Who knew just how docile she really was.

"That won't help him." The researcher scoffed. He sounded half heartless as he shook his head.

Edmond didn't like the sound of that, "What do you mean?"

The researcher frowned then nodded toward Davis. "Can't you see? He has been kissed by a siren."

Edmond, Halcreek, and Willas all looked towards Davis. Kissed by a siren. His lips. They must have kept his lips after.

"I've never seen it before," The researcher said, "But I've read accounts. And from everything I have read, no one comes back from that. He belongs to the sea. To the beast that owns him now."

"We can save him." Halcreek stopped folding his arms, his hands balled into fists at his sides.

The researchers looked at each other and spoke softly in their native language.

"Hey!" Willas interrupted them. "Mind to share with the group?"

The main researcher they had been speaking to spoke up, "He says you are better off just tossing him into the sea."

Halcreek took a step forward before he was stopped by Edmond. He growled, "Better off tossing you into the sea!"

"There must be a way we can help him." Edmond spoke over them.

The researcher shook his head again, "I am telling you. That man doesn't even hear you. All he hears is her. Calling him back to her. She is all he sees now. He will do anything to get back to her. Even if it means killing you."

Edmond and Halcreek exchanged looks. The news was grave. But how true was it? They were only old accounts he had read. Maybe there was a chance Davis could be rehabilitated. They wouldn't be tossing their own man overboard.

Edmond looked to Davis. He writhed and jerked under his restraints. He cried out ever so often, but of course, no one knew what he was saying. Was he really too far gone. Edmond didn't want to believe it.

"How do they do it?" Edmond found himself wondering aloud. "How do they bewitch men like this?" It just wasn't fair. Using their loved ones against them. To the point they think they can reach out and hold them.

"That is what we mean to find out." The researcher told him. "How can we do that if we give her back to the sea? How can we learn anything without observation?"

Halcreek answered him, "They are creatures of the devil. And the devil is the king of lies and deception."

"Oh please." The researcher rolled his eyes, "Keep your gods and devils. This is science. They are flesh and bone just as we are. This is nothing more than their defense mechanism or hunting strategy. They need a way to protect themselves and a manner in which to feed."

"Flesh and bone that keeps us locked in purgatory?" Edmond reminded them of their predicament.

"I don't know how they control the fog." The researcher said unsure, "Or if they even control it at all. There isn't enough research. But from what I have read, either they bring the fog, or the fog brings them."

"Your idiocy brings them." Halcreek sneered. "I say just toss all three overboard. They can get real up close and personal for their research then."

"We need a safe and clean strategy for moving her." Edmond declared. "There is no telling how much damage she can do if we come into contact with her."

"Well, we can't just move the box itself." Willas sighed, "We would need equipment for that."

"So, we will have to open the box." Edmond didn't sound too happy about it, but knew it needed to be done. "How was it that you captured her?" Edmond asked the men.

"Tranquilizer." The researcher shrugged.

"Tranquilizers that you don't happen to have any more of, I assume." Edmond sighed.

Both men shook their heads as an answer.

"Well, a net is out of the question." Willas took that option right off the table, "They can shred them too easily."

"Imagine how easily they will shred us if we try to lift her." Halcreek said.

Edmond had a thought and turned to the researchers, "Can..." He thought about how to ask this without looking foolish, "Can she be reasoned with?"

The researchers both looked confused. Had they never even tried speaking with the creature? "You mean... does she talk?"

"Yes." Edmond nodded

"We know they speak." The researcher told him, "They are insanely intelligent beings. But it would be like trying to speak to someone in Latin. You can speak, but that doesn't mean she will understand you."

"I've heard them speak English." Edmond reasoned.

"No." The researcher corrected him, "You heard what you wanted to hear. That is how their power works."

"We have to try." Edmond decided. "We can try to communicate. To let her know we mean her no harm and that we mean to return her to her family."

The five men entered the cargo hold and returned to the box. Edmond felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. What if he was fooled again? He didn't want to feel that knife in his heart anymore.

The researchers removed the cloth from the box. One of them did a simple knock on the wood.

They heard a similar knock in return.

"Well," The researcher waved his hand toward the box. "Say your piece."

Edmond stepped forward and placed his hand on the box near the hole at the top. "Can you hear me?"

"Daddy?" Emmalien's small voice called out from within.

Edmond took a step back. He couldn't. Not again. "You're not my daughter." He tried his best to focus and keep his mind clear. "I know you aren't."

"Please let me out." Emmalien pleaded softly. "It's so dark in here. I'm scared of the dark."

"We..." Edmond fought to keep his resolve. This wasn't his baby, "We want to help you. We want to let you out of the box. To return you to your family."

"Help me, Daddy." She continued her charade.

"You're not her." Edmond was saying more to himself than to her. He knew this wasn't his daughter. But why did it feel like it was? Why did this tug at his heart so strongly.

"Do you miss me?" She asked sadly, "Are you taking care of mommy?"

Edmond felt tears welling in his eyes. His throat became tight, his heart ached. He rested his hand on the box again, "Yes, baby." He answered, feeling heavy, "I'm taking care of mommy. We both miss you very much."

"Captain." Halcreek approached him and rested a hand on his shoulder. "That's not Emmalien."

He knew that! Edmond knew that already! He shook his head vigorously. He rubbed his eyes to rid them of their tears. He knew this wasn't Emmalien. He just wanted it so badly to be her.

"I miss Benji, too." Emmalien pouted from behind the wood.

"Benji?" Edmond looked up. Their dog. She remembered the large fluffy poodle she used to curl up with when they read her stories. How? How was any of this possible? Edmond looked to the researchers, "She... knows about our dog..."

"It's fascinating," The researcher looked utterly excited, "They can either read minds or memories... or they project our memories back to us somehow! Do they speak to you in English? They speak to me in my mother tongue! They knew the playground I used to play at as a child!"

"Yeah," Halcreek rolled his eyes. "I bet they are great kissers, too."

"This is a phenomenal concept." The researcher didn't take too kindly to Halcreek's quip.

Halcreek gave the box a solid slap, "Come on! You want us to help you or not?" After a few moments of silence, Halcreek responded with, "Look, sweetheart, that isn't going to work on me. I had a nasty divorce, and I don't want anything to do with women until the day I die. So, let's just focus on the topic at hand. We help you; you help us."

"You'll help me, Daddy?" Emmalien was back to speaking to her father.

"Yes, baby." Edmond simply couldn't help himself. He felt like he was going crazy. This had to be his daughter. Maybe a piece of Emmalien's spirit existed somehow within this siren. Maybe sirens had a way of being a conduit for the dead. Maybe he was really speaking to Emmalien in these moments. His actual baby girl was wrapped up in the scaly skin of a mermaid. It sounded crazy, but what if?

"I want to go home." Emmalien told him. "Can we go home now?"

"Yes!" Edmond rested his forehead on her box. He felt like he was talking through Emmalien's coffin again. Back when he begged her to come back to him back then, there was no response. But now, "Yes, we can go home. That's what we all want, baby. We all want to go home."

"You'll come with me?" Emmalien spoke just on the other side of the wood, so close he could feel her voice echo off the wood. "I'm scared to go alone."

Come with her? What did she mean? To join her in the ocean? Was that possible? Could he have a life with his daughter again?

"Hold my hand, Daddy..." Her small, delicate hand reached from the box again.

Before anyone could stop him, Edmond reached up to grasp her hand into his. It was warm and soft. She clutched his fingers.

The men around him jumped to his rescue only to find that nothing happened. She was simply holding his hand.

"Let's go home, Daddy." She begged him softly, "Together."