Martine laughed behind gritted teeth. Seraphin's eyes widened, incredulous but smiling.

«Um... um, yes. Yes, I'm single»

«At your age?»

«I'm not old» Seraphin had to put a hand over his mouth

«No, I guess not»

«And this question was about...? I mean, um, this question had to do with...»

«With nothing» Sangreal smiled conspiratorially «But you should have seen your face».

Martine gave her brother a couple of resounding pats on the back of the neck, then leaned over and whispered something in his ear. Seraphin wasn’t the prudish type, but at that moment, he blushed a little.

«I think I want to work with them» Sangreal said, turning to the president.

Seras raised an eyebrow.

«Do you think so, darling?»

«I do»

«Don’t regret it, then».

With a tap of her fingers against a small golden square embedded in the desk, Seras caused a holographic screen to materialize in midair and a keyboard to be projected onto the surface. The background of her screen was what looked like a photomanipulation of the dark-skinned man she’d led arm in arm to the party, with a fishtail instead of legs, lying on the sand and winking.

Seraphin, aware of the solemnity of the moment, clenched his fists against his knees, gritted his teeth, and didn't laugh.

«So, shall we print this contract?» The president almost hummed, searching for a file among folders whose graphics were richly adorned, with swirls and flourishes imitating beaten metal, gold and silver, tentacles and leaves.

The sound of a printer starting up preceded the output of a series of sheets printed by a white parallelepiped: it was the contract.

«Nice shark, anyway» Martine said, pointing to the animal suspended in glycerin

«And it will be a nice one forever» the president replied cheerfully, in good spirit  «That which can live forever is not dead»

«And in strange eons, even death can die» Seraphin whispered, making his sister chuckle.

The contract was placed in front of Sangreal first.

«Read it carefully» Seras told him «From cover to cover. Let me know if there’s anything wrong».

The man took the papers and began to scan them, slowly, carefully.

«We have the ship» He said, raising his piercing blue eyes from the paper «Can’t we just lend it to them?»

«It’s still included in the budget» Seras explained kindly «If they use it, we can’t use it, so we lose money»

«You’re not coming, then?»

«Not every day, darling» 

«Hm» Sangreal went back to reading, but looked up shortly afterward «What are these eighty thousand euros for communication expenses? How exactly are you supposed to communicate?».

Seraphin blushed: he hadn’t written down those eighty thousand euros at all; the president was giving them more resources than they’d dared imagine, between the Coastal-class ship and the communication expenses.

«It's not to communicate with each other» Seras explained again, without any annoyance «But to communicate with the television networks, the internet, and the radio. We're talking about advertising costs, in a sense. You want a lot of people to see the documentary, right?»

«Oh, in that sense. Good. Forgive me, I didn't understand» The man immersed himself in his reading again.

Seraphin and Martine looked at each other, their gazes imbued with hidden meanings. It wasn't going badly. It was strange, yes, but it wasn't going badly. 

«That's fine by me, I don't think I have any questions» Sangreal said, handing the papers back to Seras, who in turn passed them to Seraphin.

«I've taken the liberty of making a couple of upgrades, modifications, and additions» The president explained «I can't have you taking the money and running away, obviously, so the contract will only be activated once your ship is more than twelve nautical miles away»

«Of course, that makes sense» Seraphin nodded

«Also, I've added some clauses to your insurance policy. Please read and understand them before signing».

Seraphin looked down at the contract. Wow. There were a lot of things he hadn't asked for there, but everything he'd budgeted for was there, so he couldn't complain. 

«Deep silence?» Marti asked, reading over his shoulder

«Where?»
«There» the researcher pointed to the page.

" The signatories to this agreement agree not to disclose images or GPS coordinates of the Regalecus glesne specimens, or the locations where they live and/or breed, on social media, blogs, unauthorized radio channels, or in written communications until the official documentary is published. Failure to do so will result in the immediate seizure of all electronic devices and the payment of a €25,000 fine. For convenience and universal understanding, this clause may be referred to as "Deep Silence." "

«This is a serious project» Seraphin realized with a mixture of fear and excitement «There's no room for spoilers»

«It's not... it's not the only strange thing...».

Before his sister could tell him, Seraphin's eyes fell precisely on the "incriminating" spot. And it was, indeed, a strange thing.

“The insurance covers physical damage, but not the loss of mental health and/or previous personality resulting from encounters with creatures believed to be legendary, nonexistent, and/or a living harbinger of seismic misfortune”

«It's because they're oarfish» Seraphin said, smiling «It’s a… I think it’s a reference to the fact that in ancient times, people believed they brought bad luck. That when an oarfish appears, it means an earthquake is coming. I think it’s just a joke, and…».

President Seras Alkahest’s face didn’t look like she thought it was a joke.

«I won’t pay you if you go crazy over what you encountered, understand?» She explained.

«Um, yes, but we won’t go crazy»

«Good. Don’t go crazy, because then you won’t get compensation for it»

«I don’t see why we should go crazy»

«You chose this risk»

«Out of… curiosity… has it ever happened before? I mean, do we have any basis for speculating that one could go crazy?».

Sangreal laughed, so bitterly that Seraphin’s blood ran cold. There was something in his expression… as if he had experienced it firsthand. As if the reason he acted so crazy sometimes was the regalecs, or something else he'd seen in the depths of the sea, something that had changed him forever. He was a man barely holding himself together. What was he hiding, behind that old-fashioned tie?

«Sangreal will take care of your sanity» Seras said, with absolute candor «Nothing permanent should happen to you. But if it does, the insurance won't cover the damage»

«I asked if it's ever... if it's ever happened before» Seraphin tried again, almost timidly «Sangreal? You seem to know something about it».

Sangreal stood up. He was almost monolithic, and to Seraphin it seemed like he himself was an ominous omen: after all, he also resembled an oarfish, long and red, ornate, with eyes that seemed made to see into the depths of the abyss.

«The ocean is not a place for the faint of heart» He said «Mine broke down there»

«Ah»

«But yours is an important mission. I trust we can work together without too many hitches»

«Of course».

Marti and Seraphin finished reading the contract: there was nothing else particularly absurd.

«Are you signing?» Seras asked, pushing two fountain pens toward them

«Of course» Seraphin replie «In fact, we wanted to thank you for this honor. We never, ever expected so much enthusiasm for the project, and we can't wait to get started».

When he and Martine had signed the contracts, Seras took their fingerprints by having them press their right index fingers against a smooth, luminous blue cube.

«I'm for electronic signatures» She clarified

«Yes, we've done that in the past» Marti replied «To have the data in case the physical version of the contract is destroyed, and it's not demonstrable whether something, like the signature, was falsified or is genuine»

«Exactly. Now I'll digitize the contracts and upload everything to the cloud. I'll email you the rest of the contracts, and you can have them signed by the other researchers on the morning the ship is ready to set sail. They don't need to affix electronic signatures; they're just ancillary staff, though they're obviously under contract. You'll be the one to vouch for them»

«Fantastic» Seraphin smiled charmingly «You've really thought of everything, President»

«Good. Now I have work to do, my dears. See you on departure day! Sangreal, please, escort them out»

«Do I have to climb all the stairs?» the man asked, his eyes wide

«Come on, it'll do you good»

«I'll walk them to the end of the corridor»

«Do as you wish, darling. It's not like I can force you» Seras's smile turned devilish «Actually, I can, but you know I don't need to, love».

Sangreal stroked his beard and nodded slowly.

Seraphin retrieved his cup of coffee from the desk. He had his dream contract and was fine without seeing the rich men threatening each other.

«It was a pleasure, President. Until the day of departure! I wish you all the best»

«Have a nice day» Marti added

«To you» the woman replied. Once the conversation was over, her attention seemed to be drifting to other matters: as the trio left, she was no longer looking at them.
The door closed behind them. Sangreal buttoned his jacket again with uncertain hands, focused.

«You look tired» Seraphin said gently «Are you okay?»

«I’m fine»

«If you don’t want to, you don’t have to come with us, that’s okay. We know the way»

«Seras asked me to do it. I will»

«Are you afraid of her?» Seraphin wondered, glancing at him sideways «Or is it loyalty?»

«She’s lucky to have a friend like you»

«Lucky? You don’t… know me yet» the red-haired man replied, expressionless.

Seraphin smiled.

«I know you were kind enough to bring me coffee, you care about protecting species other than your own, and you’re coming with us even though you’re obviously tired, because a friend asked you to. I may be wrong, but you seem like a good person, Sangreal».

To Seraphin’s surprise, Sangreal blushed.

Seeing the pale skin on his face flush was a delicious sensation. Seraphin felt like he was a child who suddenly discovers he can do a cool magic trick and wants to do it again and again.
The trio began walking.

«It's time to honor your efforts, this coffee is the perfect temperature» The researcher raised his glass as if making a toast and confessed «I feel like I've already had it. It's the dream of a lifetime to be able to work on such a huge project, where I can learn about and protect the regaleco, my favorite fish. Ah, I'm thrilled!».

The Alkahest Tower coffee had a roast that lingered on the tongue after every sip, leaving a slightly burnt aftertaste. He knew Martine wouldn't like it, but for him, it was one of the many positive aspects of the day.

«Is your dream to study?» Sangreal asked, teasing him a little.

Seraphin laughed.  «Yeah. I've basically been doing this for over ten years just to get here, and for what? So I can study some more»

«You study too much»

«I want to say that Martine is in a similar situation: she has a master's degree».

Martine raised her fingers in a victory gesture.

«I've never met anyone like you» Sangreal said slowly

«Like us?» Marti raised her eyebrows «Researchers passionate about their profession? I hope we're not the only ones»

«You want the same thing, don't you?» Seraphin asked

«The sea is my home» Sangreal stated seriously «The oarfish are like brothers. It's natural that I want to defend them».

Seraphin took the last sip of his coffee. «I don't live on the sea yet, though I imagine I'll have the chance when we embark. And it would be wonderful to build a good relationship with the oarfish. But already now it's... it's hard not to want to know more, isn't it? Down there, a different, incredible world... if you think about it, while the horrors of the Gray Age raged on the mainland, the Pseudoliparis searched for food in the dark waters of the Mariana Trench, unaware of anything, as if nothing was happening. As the first panorme sank its roots into the earth, there were jellyfish that defied death and turned back into children. It's a world that began and is moving forward without us, and the more I see of these creatures that live on planet Earth with me, the more I fall in love with them».

They were at the end of the corridor. Seraphin closed his fingers around the empty, still warm glass. He was a little emotional, but he didn't want to take up his interlocutor's time with a long speech about all the things he loved about his job, so he concluded with:

«In the end, if you love something, you want to know it and protect it, right?»

«Love… yes, I suppose so»

«Just think, by the time we’ve finished the corridor, you’re already talking about love» Martine teased.

Her brother laughed, placing a hand on the researcher’s shoulder and pulling her into a half-embrace. «You can always talk about love, woe betide you if you don’t bring it with you. Isn’t that right, Sangreal?».

The red-haired man didn’t look happy.

He was far from prone to exaggerated expressions and grand gestures, but there was something in the tightness of his jaw, a pain in his eyes, that told Seraphin he’d somehow touched a sore spot.

He had to change the subject.