You are going to break her out of there, tonight!

You walk out of the aquarium, back to your car, and a plan begins to form in the back of your head. You step into your car and let time restart around you, and begin detailing in your mind exactly how you are going to do it. It should be pretty simple, you think to yourself. The gulf of mexico is pretty close to Houston. If I can get a pick up truck, a water proof tarp, I can fill up the bed of the truck with water. Getting into the aquarium should be pretty easy, and you should easily be able to bend light around you so that none of the security cameras will see you. The only real problem will be finding the mermaid and getting her to the truck.

You decide in your head, you are absolutely not going to stop time with her around. You want her to know she is being rescued, not for her to just appear out in the middle of the ocean. And you want her to make sure she knows it was you doing the rescueing.

So, you start up your car and drive off to the nearest store and pick up a tarp. You go out to the parking lot and lay your seat back, to take a quick nap. It is only barely noon, and you can't make your move until after the place closes down. You wake up and it is still light out, and continue waiting, going over the plan in your head. Surely finding the mermaid won't be too difficult.

After seemingly waiting forever, the sun finally goes down, and darkness is everywhere. You get out of your car, grab the tarp, and try to calm yourself. Ok, this is where things start getting illegal. You watch the cars coming into the lot, and at 10 grows closer, sure enough, her comes third shift. You spot one of the vehicles coming in. A slightly aged pick-up truck, maybe an early or mid 90s model, but it'll do the job. You wait for the owner of the truck to get out and walk inside, then walk over to it. You know it is likely there are security cameras in the parking lot, so you bend the light around you, making it so that no one or thing can see you.

You walk up to the struck and easily gesture the lock open. You open the door and get in. Your mind probes the key ignition, and you easily pop the rods of the ignition into place and turn it, starting up the engine. So far so good!

So, you drive out and head for the corporate district, looking for any large company buildings with a fountain or body of water. You find one and pull up next to. You take the tarp and use it to cover the back of the truck. Collecting your will, your wrap your mind around a part of the body of water, and will it up. The large mass of water floats over and you let it go over top of the bed of the truck. Alright, things are still gong ok.

You get back in and drive to the aquarium. Getting in is much easier than you expected. Only the front door is locked, and there are security cameras all around, but you easily bend the light around you to avoid being caught. You find the tank the mermaid must be in, but it too dark so see anything, so you look around and notice a door that says "employees only". You walk in and are easily able to find your way into where the handlers must come in to take care of the mermaid.

As you walk up to side of the pool, you let the light around you resume as it was, so that she can see you as you approach. You bend over the side of the pool and splash a bit at the edge of the water and whisper quietly, hoping to catch her attention. It is only a few seconds before you see her dark figure emerge from depths of the tank, and as she lifts her up above the surface of the water, she looks at you quizzically.

"Don't worry. If you can understand me, I'm here to rescue you." you say. But there is no reply, she only continues to look at you, confused. Well, she obviously doesn't speak English, if she speaks at all, but it is very obvious that she is an intelligent being, trying to decioher what you are doing here, what is going on around her. You noted her chest rise and fall, her head above water, so clearly she has the ability to breath above water.

Slowly, your reach your hand. She sees, and takes moment to react, trying to decide what to do, then slowly, she reaches her hand out and takes yours. You reach your other, and she takes it as well, and then you slowly start to pull, showing her your intention to bring her out of the water.

On some level, you think you able to connect your intentions to her. At first, she hesitates, but then she begins help, wiggling her tail in an attempt to make it easier you to get her out of the water. At last she is out, and in your arms. She is a little heavy, probably from living in the water, but you are able to quickly use your mind against gravity to make the load easier. Then you look at her, right into her eyes. Somewhere, inside her soul, you can tell she is pleading with you to get her out of here, back to where she came from, and that is exactly what you intend to do. You break the gaze and start walking.

You bend the light around both of you this time, hiding you from the prying eyes of the cameras. You didn't see a camera in the room with the mermaid when you first entered, but hopefully it didn't catch you on the act. You take her outside, and after a quick look around to see if anyone is there, you take her to the truck and put her into the small pool of water. She slowly re-emerges looking at her, and you try to signal to her to stay under the water. If someone were to see her head poking up out of the water could ruin this whole plan. With that, you get in, and restart the truck. You drive out and hop back on the interstate, headed for the gulf.

You look back a couple of times, and as far as you can tell, the mermaid understood and stayed under the surface of the water. A few cars that pass you have passengers that are noticably confused as to why you would have a truck full of water, but nothing happens which gives away your escape.

At last, at the beach, you pull up and stop. You are in a parking lot about 50 yards or so from the edge of the water. You get out and walk around to the back of the truck and whisper again slightly, and tap your hand on the water. The mermaid's head quickly emerges, and she takes a good look around.

As she looks out and sees the edge of the water, a huge smile erupts across her face, and she looks at you happily. You reach out your arms and she quickly takes them, and you pull her up out of the truck. You walk to the beach slowly, trying to decide what your next move should be.