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Lemons: oval-shaped and thick skinned fruit, fragrant, acidic, citrus, and most importantly, yellow. Being estimated to be up to four thousand years old, lemons are native the continent of Asia and have been cultivated and farmed to be shared as a near-staple fruit for millions of people worldwide. The growth of lemons has led to great strides in cooking practices, exploration and creation of drinks (namely lemonade), and has found itself as a generic name, almost a synonym, for the color yellow. Pictures of a lemon have become common for decorations and designs and its name familiarly used as an easy descriptor of like yellow things, and with its trees sprouted around the world to create more of them, their popularity grew steadily throughout the years they’ve existed. To be named after the lemon, is to be yellow. Such an example would be in 1868, when an esteemed zoologist by the name of Felipe Poey discovered a new species of shark and entrusted to it the name of Negaprion Brevirostris- the lemon shark. Not known to be aggressive, the lemon shark is a calmly short-nosed and stocky creature known to dwell in coastal inshore waters and, because of those coastal waters, the sharks evolved to have a slight yellow hue in order to better blend in with the sands beneath them and hence on this observation, they gained their name.
While lemon sharks and other like species were fascinating in many ways, Dr. Veritas Ratio wasn’t very keen on researching them, or any other currently living species to be precise. His interests of study lie elsewhere- in creatures said to be extinct, though that doesn’t mean they’re all actually extinct of course. And the ocean is the best place to carry out his research with its vast depths and massive landscape, anything could be hiding in the ocean and no soul would know unless another braver soul ventured to find it and that’s what Veritas does best with his dual doctorates in paleobiology and oceanography and a select team of other qualified researchers and explorers to join him and make the travels easier. They live in the water for the most part on a good sized research vessel (to the thanks of the Intelligentsia Guild, a global research center owned and regulated by one of Veritas’ closest friends), stopping at various islands or coastlines to set up temporary camps whenever they need to stay in an area for an extended period. And setting up a camp is exactly what they’re doing when Veritas is almost itching with anticipation on his new research project. He helps Ruan Mei gather her eclectic live and preserved specimens (his favorite is the butterfly with only one golden wing with a green dot in the center that she rescued last year, preserved after its death to look like it was mid flight even though that was only a hollow dream for it) and his hands aren’t shaking but he feels excited enough that they could be, had he been less trained in holding precious objects with such fragility to ensure their safety. Camp set-up is definitely his least favorite part of their research journeys, with nothing new to learn and low levels of stimulation it had nothing to offer except extra comfort for his traveling companions.
“Camp” was only a more comfortable version of their research vessel, they set up heavy-duty tents on the deck to protect their specimens while also creating a larger capacity for research and improving on the space for their studies, allowing them more storage and breathing room then the below areas of their vessel usually allows. It was routine. It was boring. Unfortunately, as long as Screwllum’s watchful eyes were on the crew, nobody was allowed to slack off; however fortune shined on Veritas and saw to it that his expanded area of research was the first to be to finished and though he was usually a team player, his mind was abuzz with trepidation to explore the archipelago they’ve stopped at for this venture. He had a good feeling about this stretch of islands and all the caves they held, they were full of secrets just waiting to be unearthed by his fingertips. Sliding down the ladder off the side of the vessel, Veritas drops onto the sandy beach, hoisting a thrown together bag of essentials over his shoulder, and starts jogging along the beach away from the vessel.
Caves hold all the answers to his questions, he’s sure. Veritas has learned enough on the creatures to know that when on their own, they prefer darker areas and smaller bodies of water, even known to inhabit rivers or lakes and of course he needs to be looking for one on its own, if there were so few left to be considered extinct with no sightings stating otherwise in over a century, then he needed look for only one. Though known to be familial creatures who lived in large groups (even sometimes reaching 20-30 members), it was illogical to suggest looking for them in such groups once considered extinct. And that’s why Dr. Veritas Ratio was on the search for one of the most captivating creatures to ever exist, a hunt to prove that such elusive and powerful beings weren’t extinct, merely down to so few numbers that humans wouldn’t happen upon them by chance anymore: a siren.