Guided by her memory, Mera led Arthur deeper into the trench. Along the way, Arthur saw many bizarre fish monsters. He did not find them frightening, only somewhat ridiculous.
As they passed a fish monster that looked like a piece of kelp, Arthur mischievously grabbed one of its whiskers, nearly making it fall flat on its face. Mera quickly pulled his hand back. Arthur smiled at her.
"Sorry, I just wanted to distract myself," Arthur said with a sigh. Mera was somewhat helpless, but she kept a close eye on him the whole way, not letting him mess with the sea monsters again.
"Many Trench Tribe members have impaired intellectual development," Mera said. "They are probably equivalent to four- or five-year-old human children. You cannot bully children."
"All right," Arthur said. "Actually, I think they are pretty cute."
Mera frowned and looked Arthur up and down. Could this guy have something wrong with his sense of beauty?
"Have you heard of the uncanny valley effect?"
Mera shook her head, so Arthur began explaining. "The uncanny valley effect refers to the fear people feel when they see something that looks human but is not human."
"What does it mean to look human but not be human?"
"It means it looks very much like a human, but differs in certain subtle ways. Or it has certain human body parts, but is not actually human."
"So?"
"You Atlanteans feel disgust and fear when you see the Trench Tribe because it may trigger the uncanny valley effect. Since your true forms are merfolk, when you see these fish monsters, you feel that they resemble you, but are also different, and that makes you afraid."
"But I am different. I grew up on land and have never seen fish with legs. So these monsters do