Neville stepped forward slightly, activating his own holographic display. The data materialized in the air before him—charts, graphs, detailed breakdowns of productivity and resource allocation.

"Good day, everyone. I’ll be presenting the Xylos division’s progress metrics for Project Aegis..."

He fell into the familiar rhythm of presentation, his voice steady. The numbers told a positive story—increased efficiency, reduced overhead costs, improved employee satisfaction ratings. All things that reflected well on both the division and, by extension, Grayson’s leadership.

While Neville spoke, the various department heads listened with varying degrees of attention. Some nodded, telling their secretaries to take notes. Others looked bored, clearly waiting for their own segments to be relevant again.

Grayson looked like he would rather turn off the meeting entirely.

His gaze had become distant, unfocused in that particular way that suggested his mind was somewhere else entirely. One hand rested against his jaw, the other hand rested on the chair, his fingers drumming an idle pattern.

Is my report that uninteresting?

Neville wondered, his confidence wavering slightly. He had spent hours compiling this data, ensuring every detail was accurate and presentable.

Then their eyes met.

Grayson’s gaze instantly sharpened, focusing on Neville. It wasn’t the look of someone who was finally paying attention to the presentation. Neville tilted his head slightly, a silent question, but continued his presentation.

"...resulting in a 23% increase in output compared to Project Nevea, which..."

Grayson slowly raised one hand to cover his lips, his eyes never leaving Neville’s face. Then, abruptly, he turned away, his jaw tight.

What the hell? Neville’s mind raced. Did I do something wrong?

Neville felt the urge to ask Grayson, but forced it down. Now wasn’t the time. Not when he still couldn’t remember what had happened after the party. Not when there were a dozen holographic eyes potentially watching every micro-expression on his face.

He pushed forward, wrapping up his section with practiced professionalism. "...and that concludes the operational summary for Project Aegis. Are there any questions?"

Director Cox cleared his throat from his holographic display. "The efficiency increase—what’s the primary contributing factor?"

Neville opened his mouth to respond, but he noticed something was wrong.

His pheromones, which should have been completely masked by his suppressants, started leaking. It was faint, but in the enclosed office, it would be noticeable in no time.

No!

Panic clawed at his throat. Neville’s fingers trembled as he pulled up additional data on his display, trying to buy time while his mind scrambled for an explanation.

"I—" His voice came out strained. He cleared his throat. "I apologize. I’ve just realized there’s new information I forgot to include in the report. Information that’s crucial to accurately representing these numbers."

The department heads exchanged glances. A few looked annoyed at the interruption.

"How long will you need?" Director Hannel asked, his tone patient but firm.

Sweat beaded on his forehead despite the cool office temperature.

"I’ll need some time to compile it properly," Neville managed, hating how thin his voice sounded. "Perhaps we could gather—"

"Mr. Maxwell?" Director Cox cut in, looking to Grayson for the final decision.

Grayson’s eyes were fixed on Neville, taking in the sweat, the trembling hands, the barely controlled panic.

"We’ll postpone this section," Grayson said, his voice carrying the weight of finality. "Hope, see me after the meeting concludes."

Relief and dread warred in Neville’s chest.

"Understood, sir."

He barely heard the rest of the meeting. His heart hammered against his ribs as he tried to calculate his next moves.

Bryan shot him a concerned look as Neville edged toward the door, but Neville couldn’t deal with that right now. He smiled and slipped out of the office the moment Grayson’s attention returned to the meeting.

Bathroom. Neville thought of somewhere safe to deal with the leak.

Bryan was saying something, following him out, but Neville totally ignored him. His feet carried him down the hallway on autopilot, past the curious coworkers, past the break room.

Neville locked himself in a stall and finally allowed himself to panic.

’Shelly!’ he hissed mentally, pressing his palms against his eyes. ’What’s going on?’

There was a pause before Shelly materialized. She was yawning, her body glowing unusually bright.

Shelly squinted her googly eyes, and what looked like a digital manual appeared before her. She scrolled through it with one tentacle-like shell end.

[Host, the full moon is here.]

’Full moon?’ Neville’s mind scrambled to remember. He had been so focused on work that he had—

[Host, it’s your quest,] Shelly said, pursing her animated lips. [I already told you I don’t know much about it, but you just completely forgot about it and totally ignored the signs.]

’What signs?!’ Neville wanted to scream, but settled for furious mental shouting. ’You never said anything about signs!’

[The cravings? The restlessness at night?] Shelly listed them off with infuriating patience. [All classic pre-transformation symptoms.]

Neville slumped against the stall wall. He had attributed the cravings to increasing the variety of the food he makes. The restlessness to anxiety about the project.

’Fine,’ he bit out, knowing arguing was pointless. ’Just tell me what’s going on.’

He exited the stall, checking his appearance in the mirror. Pale, sweaty, eyes too wide behind his glasses. He looked like someone on the verge of a breakdown, which wasn’t far from the truth.

Neville turned on the faucet, splashing cool water on his face while trying to look natural. A couple of employees from accounting entered, chatting about some interdepartmental project.

Neville smiled and nodded, waiting for them to leave.

[Hmm...] Shelly’s voice hummed with concentration.

She seemed to be scanning not just her own manual but also the planet’s internet, her processing speed visible in the rapid flicker of her googly eyes.

[Host, you’re a mermaid, so you’re one of the fantasy beings or beastmen in the interstellar era that’s going to have their transformation tonight.]

Neville’s blood ran cold.

In all the Earth media he had consumed—books, movies, late-night TV shows watched with Hana—full moons and supernatural creatures were never a good combination.

Werewolves transformed, vampires went blood-crazy, and who knew what happened to mermaids?

’Please don’t tell me I’m going to sprout scales in the middle of the office suddenly.’

[Worse!] Shelly sounded too gleeful to be comforting. [You’re going to go into a full transformation! A proper mermaid transformation! Seven whole days or so—]

"WHAT?!"