'Stacio Mara'

By Peter Devonald and Luke Losey

In a futuristic world, a strange, genetic mutation attempts to gain ascendancy. The only thing stopping the transition is Shanika, a strong but emotionally fragile woman who slips in and out of the slipstream - a portal to all of life.

A bomb explodes at a restaurant. A fish writhes on the floor. Special Forces smash down a hotel door. Jarod calmly gets in a cab, goes to the Stacio Mara and tries to take a strange cargo through customs... The X-ray machine reveals Jarod's dark cargo - a case full of fish. Customs try to arrest him, but before they have a chance, Jarod's suitcase is opened and he dives into it. Jarod swims into the deepest, darkest ocean. Customs lean over the surface of the water and stare.

An expensive swimming pool in a bright, technologically advanced, futuristic city. Shanika throws herself into the water and swims - her elegant form cutting through the water. Shanika joins Kindra, a young special forces woman, and they investigate Jarod.

Velvet, a strange woman who has spider tattoos all over her body, is relevant to their quest. Velvet is able to read minds and, in an ambiguous meeting, reveals that the man their searching for is called Jarod, a genetically modified, fish human. He's nearing the end of his cycle, so is near death, and wants to go out with one last flurry... Though Velvet is obviously a criminal, because she has no Fish heritage, she's not considered to be a risk.

Shanika enters the 'slipstream' and has increasingly strange images from her past, future and present. Jarod enters a tobacco shop and gives money in return for a strange box. When the vendor is killed, Shanika realizes that time is running out. At a strange, illegal fish market, Jarod does a strange deal. He then goes to an abandoned hospital. Shanika rushes to the hospital and, in a violent confrontation, is shown more visions of the slipstream - visions of a drug administered to 'fish people', strange deaths and the reoccurring image of a small boy, Zora. Stranger still, Jarod introduces himself to Shanika in the slipstream and, in a bizarre meeting, explains that this place was where fishpeople were systematically killed through a poisoned inoculation program.

Shanika becomes obsessed with the CCTV images of the crimes, and the slipstream. In a series of reverses, all the truths of the brave new world are crumbled. Sides are chosen and rechosen; deaths occur. Shanika's hatred for Jarod and his people changes dramatically - and, in a surprising reverse, it is revealed that Jarod was behind none of the killings.

At the Stacio Maro, Jarod makes a final, desperate attempt for freedom. Customs apprehend him and take his bag. They open it, making sure Jarod is handcuffed… inside is an empty bag. Customs react with horror. On the space craft out of the planet, Shanika sits. Underneath her seat is a suitcase full of fish. The world is about to change - and nothing will be the same again.

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