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Miriam stared into brown eyes, the eyeliner in stark contrast to the pale face framed by wavy brown hair. A subtle glittery glow popped above the eyes, supported by rosy cheeks and a dark, all-business lipstick. She considered her reflection and wondered whether all the makeup meant that she’d sold out. Was this even Miriam Brooks anymore?
Macy stood behind her, biting her lower lip as she focused on her task of teasing Miriam’s hair. The studio had provided a dressing table, but not so much a room, and certainly not a makeup artist. No matter, Macy seemed capable enough.
“I look weird,” Miriam said to the stranger in the mirror.
Macy rolled her eyes. “Pssh. You look amazing. Like, seriously, Mir. I mean, I knew you were pretty, but wow.”
Maybe. A little. It seemed more important that she was smart. Strong. Capable. But Miriam supposed she could take pretty, too.
On the table, her phone buzzed. She glanced at the screen, already certain of what it would say.
Dad.
“Are you ever gonna answer him?” Macy asked.
Miriam tapped the decline button. “Eventually, probably.”
Skylar Brooks had gone almost two years after the death of Cornelius without trying to contact her. Now that she’d done the impossible, he suddenly wanted to reconnect. She’d managed to avoid it so far, but she knew that Tanner had already caved. It seemed like only a matter of time before Miriam and her father crossed paths, especially if she insisted on continuing this wild course that she’d been rocketed down since the discovery of not one, but two previously-unknown creatures. Most people wanted to focus on the kraken, but the mind-altering parasite interested her more.
“Knock, knock,” Tanner said from behind. “This came for you.”
Macy released Miriam’s hair long enough for her to turn around and reach for the bouquet of happy daffodils. No one had ever sent her flowers before. With apprehension and curiosity, Miriam shuffled the card out of the envelope. She smiled when she read the note and signature scrawled along the bottom.
“They’re from Tommy,” she said, setting the bouquet on the table in front of her. “He says to break a leg.”
“I don’t recommend it,” Tanner deadpanned, holding up one of his crutches. Just a few more weeks of the boot, the doctors said, and he’d be good as new.
A scrawny man with a headset and a clipboard strode towards them. “You’re on in five, Ms. Brooks.”
“Ok,” she said. Macy frantically went back to work, as Miriam wondered why the back of her head mattered at all.
The rest of the five minutes went by like a blur: Macy finishing with her hair, a young woman snaking microphone wires through Miriam’s shirt, then the clipboard man ushering her to the stage. Just offstage, the hulking cameras pointed towards a news desk, where two perfectly coifed anchors sat sipping coffee. They had teleprompters, but Miriam would have to think on her feet. She knew the gist of the interview, of course, but she didn’t get to read her lines from a screen.
Her stomach fluttered. Miriam regretted ever agreeing to an on-air interview, but Macy and Tanner both thought it would be good for her and for the venture they’d all agreed to start. Her first order of business would be to hire a front man, or maybe turn Macy into one. She had the looks and personality for it.
And then Miriam was in the chair, sitting next to a woman hiding behind layers of makeup, the illusion of which made her quite beautiful, indeed.
The made-up lady watched a light go red, then went straight to work. “Here with us now is Miriam Brooks, the hero who saved Cape Madre from a giant octopus! Some are calling her the world’s first micro-cryptozoologist. Welcome to the show, Ms. Brooks. May I call you Miriam?”
“Uh, sure,” Miriam replied.
“Great!” the anchor said. “So, you are being credited with the discovery of two new species. That must be very exciting.”
“Uh, yeah. It’s pretty neat.”
“The smaller of the two is a parasite that controls peoples’ minds? Is that right?”
“Um. Not exactly,” Miriam started. “It’s more complicated than that. It’s really about survival. The parasite infects other hosts and then compels those hosts to care for one another, and for the primary host. It’s all just evolution, really. The parasite trying to stay alive.”
“Uh huh,” the anchor replied, clearly not paying any attention to the response. “And they’ve named this parasite after you, is that right?”
Miriam could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks, grateful for the makeup that Macy had slathered onto her face. “I guess so, yeah. Diplomiriamus pseudopathaceum. It’s actually pretty closely related to some known parasites. This is just the first one to infect humans like this.”
“Very impressive.”
“Yeah. It’s pretty neat. It only affects males, actually. The brain chemistry of human females is inhospitable to it, so it just dies out. I think maybe it might be the root of the Greek myths of the sirens.”
Miriam could feel herself geeking out, but it felt more comfortable than awkwardly stammering through yes or no questions with diplomatic and public-friendly answers.
“Fascinating. And the other one? A giant octopus?”
Miriam nodded. “That’s right. It’s bigger than any we’ve known, of course. The specimen we obtained had been around a while. They live for a long time. Octopi in general are very smart, and we think that the size of this one made it particularly intelligent.”
“Are there more of them?”
“Almost certainly. We don’t know for sure, but it makes sense that there would be. We think they live deep underwater for the most part, hiding in a network of caverns under the ocean. Based on some paleontological evidence, there’s a strong possibility these things have been around for millions of years.”
The anchor’s false veneer of awe evaporated, quickly replaced by one of concern and sympathy. “And that’s the explanation for the remains of Hannah Huang that turned up in the waters of Nassau?”
“Right. I can’t really speak to the specifics, but we think she was dragged down into the caves, and just surfaced there in The Bahamas. They’re all connected.”
“Our condolences go out to the families of those affected by this creature,” the anchor responded. She twisted in her chair to face forward and away from Miriam, “Thank you, Miriam. Stay tuned after the break for this week’s weather!”
The light turned off. The anchorwoman sank in her seat, instantly turning back into a normal human being. “Thanks, Miriam. You did great.”
Miriam wasn’t so sure.
Backstage, Macy gave Miriam a warm hug. “Good job!”
“You didn’t mention the website,” Tanner said, wrapping his arm around Macy’s shoulder as she returned to his side. The coupling had begun, and, thus far, hadn’t caused too many disruptions to their trio.
“Dammit. I knew I would forget something,” Miriam said. She had completely forgotten to mention their hastily-constructed website. The plan to steal business away from Skylar Brooks wouldn’t work if no one knew that Miriam was available for hire.
Sometimes, she wondered whether it was the right path for her. To follow in the footsteps of someone she hated so much. But fighting that thing, learning about it, participating in the autopsy — all of it invigorated her in a way that she couldn’t deny.
Whether by choice or by happenstance, Miriam Brooks was a cryptozoologist to her core. She gave up trying to analyze it, fight it, or stop it. She decided to just embrace it. On her terms. With her own team.
She vowed to legitimize the entire profession.
Fighting monsters and finishing university.
No big deal, right?
