A technician raps on the side of the tank, mouthing "Over here, Inspector" as she gestures you over. You swim to her and wait to be transferred to a smaller tank for transport to the restaurant. After a moment, strong hands grasp you and pull you out of the water. You reflexively begin to gasp, your gills spreading open and your mouth opening wide, gulping for water that isn’t there anymore. You try not to thrash, but you can’t help yourself. That transport tank can’t come soon enough, you think desperately as you begin to asphyxiate.
But they don’t put you into the tank.
Instead you find yourself placed on a flat surface, the strong hands holding you down as you thrash wildly, struggling against air you can’t breathe.
You catch a glimpse of the face of the man holding you down.
Carl? you think, confused. He doesn’t work in this part of the building…
“Sorry buddy,” Carl says through gritted teeth, “this particular restaurant doesn’t take delivery of live fish.” Then, with a smile: “Don’t worry…you’ll be fine. Really fine.”
FINE??!! you scream silently as you feel yourself begin to die. You grow tired and lethargic and soon you stop struggling. After a minute of continuing to gulp for water that isn’t there, you finally lay motionless. Shortly thereafter, you feel your heart stop beating.
You are amazed that you feel no pain. What amazes more, though, is that you can feel anything at all.
Suddenly your senses, previously isolated to your eyes and other sensory organs, begin to spread out over the entire surface of your body. Soon you have full awareness of everything surrounding your freshly deceased form. It’s not an unfamiliar sensation – you’ve been inanimate before, so you know what it’s like. You’ve just never experienced this transition before.
Why would they do it this way?
As if to answer your question, Carl remarks “They said this restaurant needs them fresh…”
Them?
Suddenly, you are gripped again and flopped down onto a wooden slab. You see Carl brandishing a very sharp knife. Then you realize why Carl is here.
Carl is a fisherman.
A fisherman who knows how to fillet a salmon.
Oh, shit.
The knife slices into your side just behind your gills, stopping when it hits your backbone. Then it turns 90 degrees and begins moving down the length of your body next to your backbone. You feel the edge of the blade bumping against your vertebrae as it cuts through you. Within thirty seconds, all the flesh on one side of your body is being removed in a single large fillet.
Your body is then flipped over, with the process being repeated on the other side. Your carcass is pushed aside and the knife moves swiftly over your fillets, removing ribs and other bones. Soon you are spread out all over the table.
“All of the extra parts go into liquid nitrogen,” says a technician. “We’ll need them eventually for the restoration but for now they’d only be a distraction to him.” And with that, you feel countless small pieces of your body being swept from the table into what feels like infinite coldness, disappearing from your awareness at they do.
Carl picks up your two remaining halves and gazes on them with appreciation.
“Mike,” he says, “you are the most beautiful salmon fillets I have ever seen. I hate to say it, but you are making my mouth water.”
What happens next?
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