You want my opinion on that thing for your files? I think it's us. 
The Wake #2 is an issue of the series The Wake (Volume 1) with a cover date of August, 2013. It was published on June 26, 2013.
Synopsis for "The Wake"
Staring at the creature in the tank, Dr. Lee Archer is joined by her companion scientists and Agent Cruz, who turns on a sonic dampener to drown out the creature's haunting call. Uncomfortably, he explains that he and members of the government have no idea what the creature is, and were surprised when it found them. He has brought Lee and Dr. Wainwright to help them figure out what they're dealing with. Dr. Marin was brought to try to give some context for the creature, if it might have been mentioned in some lore or legend of use. Meeks was brought to contain the creature.
Marin expresses misgivings about Meeks, about whom he knows nothing. Lee, having given it some thought, offers that this is Leonard Meeker; an engineering genius and marine criminal. He is known for capturing and selling endangered sea-life to high bidders from international waters. Cruz silences them, explaining that each of them has certain skills that he needs to learn more about the creature, and it's about time they told him what they can tell so far.
Lee wonders how the creature was captured, and Captain Mackelmay responds that three days ago, her team had been tasked with shutting down the underwater oil rig, but the local jellyfish population had been impeding their work by becoming more aggressive - particularly problematic given the extraordinary size of the species. However, the jellyfish scattered suddenly when they began to hear a strange noise. Mackelmay turned and heard a scream from one of the team, as he had been attacked by this merman creature. Using their scorch-probes, they were able to knock the creature unconscious and lock it away under pressure.
Having heard this story, Dr. Marin determines that the merman is definitely something called a Raindrop. This is a term referring to a real-life phenomenon that inspires a system of folklore in the same way that a raindrop causes spreading concentric rings or waves when it hits the water. Dr. Wainwright adds that the creature is unusual in that it uses gills rather than the gas sac that would typically be used to breath by sea-life living at such high-pressure depths.
Cruz turns to Lee for anything she can add, but she becomes lost in a memory; the memory of how she had nearly drowned, and had heard that same cry that this creature had made, then. Despite this, she claims not to have anything to add as yet. Cruz reminds her that though he had said both she and Wainwright were leads on this project, he was really looking to Lee for leadership. In fact, they had only invited Wainwright there because they knew Lee hated him, in the hopes that it would make her more competitive, and produce more results. Bob grumbles at this, but Lee shouts him down, reminding that he had been on board with S-Net's tests with NOAA, despite the horrific damage they had done to the sea-life.
Frustrated, she comments that she thinks the creature is like them. There was a theory in the 1930's about something called the Aquatic Ape positing that five million years ago, human ancestors began to spend more time in the water than out of it, eventually mutating new evolutionary adaptations that made them better suited to amphibious and aquatic life. In fact, evidence of such a life remain in contemporary humans, such as the subcutaneous layer of fat, like the blubber of aquatic mammals. The descended larynx is found more often in deep-sea mammals than in primates. Most primates cannot even hold their breath, at that. The theory suggests that the water is where today's humans became human. What if, Lee asks, some of those ancestral tribes had descended deeper into the oceans, rather than returning to the land? Still annoyed at having been tricked into this mission, Lee announces that she is going to bed, but adds ominously that the creature is trying to talk to them, and since sub-aquatic mammalian communication is her specialty, she is there to listen - in the morning.
That night, the creature's call fills the submarine's chambers, while each of the team members deals with what they've learned in their own way. Meanwhile, Matthew Brenner, who was attacked by the creature when it got loose yesterday, wakes from his coma to the sound of his wife's voice. The sub's metal siding gives way to a lush garden, and he pulls away his oxygen mask to follow her voice. He finds her naked, sitting under a dry waterfall. She begs him to turn on the waterfall for him. Obediently, he does, and she kisses him happily. Unfortunately, he is unaware that this has all been a hallucination, and in fact, he has released the creature from its container.
Lee, meanwhile, is up late going over the sound of the creature's call for any hint of what it might be trying to communicate. She is startled though by a hallucination of her son Parker.
Years in the future, on the moon, a girl watches as the earth explodes.
Appearing in "The Wake"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Astor Cruz
- Dr. Marin
- Meeks
- Bob Wainwright
- Captain Mackelmay
Villains:
Other Characters:
- Parker Archer (In dream sequence only)
- Roos (Flashback only)
- Matthew Brenner (Flashback and main story)
- Jen Brenner (Hallucination)
Locations:
- Gulf of Guinea (Flashback only)
- Alaska
Items:
Vehicles:
See Also