Horizon's facilities on Mieni continued to function in much the way they always did, and with the uplifting of Cousteau, Bubblehead, and other marine life that came from deeper within the sea than just the upper zones of the ocean, they'd also found new ways in understanding things about the ocean and many of its mysteries. It was something that Horizon didn't fully expect in any case when they first started into the research that would lead to Animalia's development, but it did happen and much to Horizon's surprise offered new opportunities into researching the nature of life on Earth and its ecosystems, be it on land or from the sea or the air. Many Animalians had some understanding of the lives they lived before being uplifted and thus could relate facts, feelings, and information that prior would have only been speculated at by biologists.
Talking with Cousteau, Bubblehead, and other Animalians that were uplifted from creatures that either stayed in deep water or could dive down into deep water provided many of the same benefits in learning about the depths of the sea. This actually brought biologists and other scientists that had interest in deep sea exploration to Mieni to confer with Harold and Kirana regarding Horizon's projects with regard to uplifting deep sea animals as well as with the uplifted Animalians on how they compared life in the deep to life closer to the surface. With Cousteau being a Cuvier's Beaked Whale there was also the questions on how he adapted to the transitions between the surface and the deep and how he could transition between visual images and audio-images that came from his use of echolocation.
"It really is interesting," one of the visiting scientists commented, referring to Allura and the data Horizon had on hir.
"Yes... she really refers to herself as "we?" A bit... like Venom?" another scientist commented.
"We think that's the result how Anglerfish reproduce," Harold commented, "unlike sharks which will have internal fertilization with the male's claspers "injecting" his... seed... into the female and unlike fish like trout or salmon that will swim into shallow water with the female laying eggs and the male then fertilizing them as they're laid… the tiny male Angler essentially attaches himself to the female. In this... as you should know... Allura is actually a perfect hermaphrodite in that shi has both male and female parts, both the original female and the male mate."
"And some of that we also figure is one of the unforeseen effects of what the Animalia Virus does," another Horizon scientist commented to the visiting biologists, "though because so much of that gets into the realms of personality and psychology... we can't really test and predict what the Animalia Virus will do..."
The visiting scientists nodded and let the conversation move on. They really weren't there to discuss Animalian psychology, and while Allura's use of the word "we" in reference to hirself was interesting, it was something different. They were more there in relation to some of the deep sea exploration and looking at marine life from the ocean's depths.
"I'm sure it'll be something that will provide some of the psychologists and sociologists that have taken interest in Animalia as a concept," one of the other scientists commented, "though much of our interest is in some of the "fist hand accounts" on what life is like in the depths. In this your uplifting process provides opportunities that we have never thought possible before Animalia."
"It's a whole point of view perspective you're looking at," Cousteau commented from his seat to the two visiting biologists.
"Yes," nodded the first biologist, "it's an entirely new aspect of biology that without Animalia we never would have been able to look into. We can research animals in the wild but have been limited mostly to speculation on their behavior and what they need... what is going through their minds and how their interpretation of their senses is not what we've had before. It's something that could well help with regard to things in relation to bio-diversity and other things in relation to the ecosystem."
Cousteau nodded at that with Howard and the other Horizon scientist nodding as well.
"And you guys have worked with studying deep sea life?" Howard wondered.
"Yes," the first biologist nodded, "because in so many ways... life has its odd ways of working. Much of life depends on or relates to sunlight. It grows plants and plankton and animals eat those plants or plankton... and then other animals eat that plankton. The real puzzle with animals in the deep is how they fit in with that cycle. Sunlight doesn't penetrate deeply into the ocean and those in the deeper parts don't live in the zone... yet many animals still need food that would originate from the zones of the ocean that sunlight can reach."
"And some animals go from the deep to shallower depths to get to some of the things they may eat that more directly rely on sunlight for food and then return to the depths for the night," the second biologist added, "though for many in the Abyssal Zone, that's hard to do. Either the animal doesn't have the means to handle the differences in pressure or the source for life is different. Geologists that have studied the ocean depths have found areas near underwater fault lines where chemistry feeds microbial life which then feeds larger organisms. Things where chemistry rather than sunlight would be the source of life."
"And to some extent there are a great many deep sea animals that Horizon could uplift... more variants of the Angler Fish, what's called a "Flabby Whalefish," and others... but many are hard to find," Cousteau spoke, "I can still echolocate down there... and if a fish produces its own light, I can see where it's glowing... but..."
"At some point you do have to go up for air," the first biologist nodded in complete understanding.
"And with the small size of some of the fish species, it can be difficult," Cousteau commented, "at least with regards to finding and uplifting them... as we don't want the Animalia Virus to go so out of control that we uplift every vertebrate animal in the ocean and throw the entire ecosystem out of control... and neither do we want to do harm to the animals uplifted."
"Yes... I'm sure that's an issue," one of the biologists commented on, "and one we wouldn't want you to change, as it wouldn't benefit either of us."
This is actually what got Harold the most interested, as this presented some element of what had brought the biologists to Mieni and Project Aquatica: Abyssus. Horizon had various projects that worked along with various elements of Animalia. Sometimes it widened, as Horizon often found people willing to become Animalians nearly everywhere for varying reasons, but with some things the specific conversion/uplifting would be pretty limited. In this, since Cousteau, Bubblehead, and Allure had all been uplifted in the Pacific, Project Abyssus remained at Mieni where most of Animalia's research into the Animalia Virus's effect on fish had it's starting point.
"So... what is it that you're looking into?" Harold wondered after a moment, "as a lot of times... we've made requests for specific equipment and grants... it's been a bit rare to have you come to us first."
"Will it will relate to the sort of "point of view" perspective mentioned earlier," the first biologist commented, "We're trying to do some research for the EU with regard to the Black Scabbardfish. It is a deep water fish... though at times it will come to shallower water to feed during the night before going back down. The issue though is that the fish also periodically harvested by Spanish fisheries... and this isn't necessarily by itself bad, as the EU has tried to keep the fishing fleets regulated, but the fish often tend to have certain metals in their bodies that if ingested by people could be poisonous to them. Now some research would indicate that so long as the fish's liver is removed first there isn't a problem... but we want to make sure that the fish themselves are healthy... or if the fish are being poisoned themselves."
"If these metals are appearing because of pollution... we'd be able to inform others on the connection in order to save the species for both the ecosystem and Spain's fishing industry," the second biologist added, "if we can find that pollution is not a source... we might get some answers as to what is or may learn something about the species itself."
"Well... that could be interesting," Harold commented slowly, "and could well help with other projects as well."
"So you'll do it?" the first biologist asked with a smile.
"Yes," Harold nodded, "We may need some help in identifying the fish... to make sure we uplift the right species... but if we can get the time for the prep work... Horizon would be happy to help."
Cousteau nodded as well.