Tom walked out of his room making sure the lanyard with his card was around his neck but tucked under his suit. He took a moment to study the map of the building located on the wall before going to the elevator and going down to the fourth floor and to the bar.
When he walked in he found the place was rather packed with people, some like him where totally human while others were midway through their transformation into merpeople. Some had to move around in wheelchairs since their legs had started to merge into a new tail while others were mid gender transformation. Some had very unnatural hair or eye colors now ranging from impossible black to someone with an actual rainbow of color but that was to be expected. Merfolk hair/eye color came in all types.
Along the back wall was a massive window looking out over the New Atlantis community below.
Tom walked over and looked down at the town he had dropped almost every penny he had ever made to join once he transformed into a merperson. He could make out mermaids and merman swimming through the city below the waves. He knew he could have risked going to one of the governments run transformation centers, but he had heard horror stories about those places even if most of those happened during the 1st weeks of the outbreak and most say it was better now.
“Care for a drink sir?” inquired a nearby bar keep as he worked behind the bar, like the worker in the lobby he was in a full biohazard suit making him look very out of place.
“A beer please.” Answered Tom
“I assume you are in phase 1?” inquired the bar keep
“Yes, why?” inquired Tom
“Well, some drinks have ingredients that merfolk can’t have and while we have beer and other drinks made from coral and plankton humans can’t drink that without getting sick.” explained the bar keeper as he poured a rather large beer from a tap.
“I get it.” Confirmed Tom as he pulled out his card to charge the drink to his room only to get waved off from the bar.
“This is a full-service center; you paid for everything already.” Explained the bar keep as Tom took his drink and walked to a nearby table and sat by the window looking down at the city of merfolk below. He could see that the community was growing and one of those places, one of the smaller ones given how much money he had when infected would be his.
“Tom?” came a familiar voice from his past as a figure walked up to him, dressed in the same stupid set up he was. However, on her the skintight suit looked good, the suit hugged her chest and her curves as her blondish brown hair reached her neck line.
“Lisa, long time no see.” Said Tom to his old high school girlfriend, the two of them had parted on good terms after their senior year of high school. Both were going to different universities on different sides of the nation and neither had wanted to do a long-distance relationship.
“So you got it too?” inquired Lisa as she sat down across from him.
“Yes, day 1. Should start seeing some changes tomorrow.” Explained Tom
“Same.” Confirmed Lisa, as Tom raised an eyebrow, Lisa looked better then he remembered but that could just be her being in better shape. The Mermaid virus did make people more beautiful but if she was telling the truth this was her all human.
“Well, we might as well have a couple of drinks and get to know each other again.” Offered Tom as Lisa laughed a bit as she got up, went to the bar only to come back with a couple more drinks.