08:56 16/05/2587 –(8734/686/37/01)

Gabriel wanted something lowkey and straightforward today, so the group was back in Reshu zoo. Specifically, they were visiting Sho-lo’clark aquarium, which had the largest aquarium tank in the galaxy. It contained ten million Huyls of water, which roughly translated to sixty billion litres or fifteen billion gallons.

The tank was over a kilometre long and three hundred metres deep, a marvel of engineering if ever there was one. Also, something of a measuring contest if Gabriel recalled the place's history correctly.

Sho-lo’clark had been quite the structural engineer, hailing from a world known as Lolm. Sho-lo herself was a Habatray, a pseudo-amphibian species that walked on their front legs and used their rear legs as arms. Sho-lo had been rivalled only by a Surt named Surt; all Surt were called Surt.

Surt were hermaphroditic gastropods with a brightly patterned shell covering their backs. It was not as comprehensive as a snail's shell but offered decent protection. The two had not cared for one another, and the other would compete whenever one petitioned for a project.

While their rivalry might not have been cordial, it had been lucrative and had pushed the pair to greater and greater heights. Despite Sho-lo’clark aquarium's immense size, it was not the only one. Surt had gotten another contract to design other smaller tanks, ranging from one to fifty million litres.

Rather than stew and rage about getting upstaged, Surt had put all their effort into making the finest collection of exhibits they could.

Gabriel found a part of himself keen to see the tanks, not just the animals themselves. The group was staring at the map, seeing if there would be any last-minute adjustments to the plan.

“I want to go to the touch pools,” Pista said, jabbing that section of the map repeatedly.

“You can, later,” Nish told her daughter, stroking the top of her head.

Pista’s antenna drooped, her wings pulled close to her body, and she began buzzing. Nish hissed and said, “you’re going to get eaten alive in big girl school.”

At her mother's words, she trotted over to Gabriel and lifted all four of her arms. Gabriel sighed ever so faintly, and he picked her up, and she began to hug him. Gabriel needed to bear with it for just a few minutes; as soon as they saw the first exhibits, her mood would shift.

“Come on, you’ll enjoy the submarine ride,” Gabriel said, gently tapping where her nose would be if she were human.

Their final point of call was the submarine ride, available in the Sho-lo’clark aquarium, which was the highlight of their day out and unsurprisingly, Gabriel had managed to get a spot. However, this time it had taken more effort than usual; unsurprisingly, it was incredibly popular, and Gabriel had a sneaking suspicion that only his name had allowed him to book on such short notice.

And wasn’t that just the strangest thing in the galaxy? His name carried weight.

That was for later, though; for now, they would be exploring the smaller exhibits, and they passed through a dark room filled with screens detailing information about oceans on various worlds.

Holographic displays showed spinning planets and how ocean currents and tides worked. The lights and sound drew Pista out of her shell and improved her mood. It was a display of Yursu that drew the most of Pista's focus; she asked to be put down and pulled Gabriel to an exhibition of her home.

“I live there,” Pista said, pointing to a small equatorial continent.

“We live here,” Nish corrected her daughter. Pista had gotten the continent correct, but she had pointed to the southern portion. Nish, however, gestured to a peninsula located on the northwestern part of the land.

“That’s where Tusreshin is,” Nish explained, “Built in a large artificial canyon.”

“How does that work?” asked Gabriel; building a city like that must have taken a lot of effort and some big brains to make it work.

“Idunoo, I’m not an engineer or an architect,” Nish replied, gently fluttering her wings.

“What about you, Risoti? Where do you live?” asked Gabriel looking around for a display of Xorko, although he had no idea what it looked like and therefore had no idea why he was bothering.

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“Over there,” Risoti pointed out after a brief search; specifically, she gestured to a land mass located at the planet’s southern pole.

“Is Xorko the Etulana homeworld?” Nish asked, leaning closer to the projection and banging her head against the perspex screen. It did not hurt, but it was embarrassing.

“No, that’s Abar; never been there, don’t really want to go either,” Risoti replied.

“Where do you live?” Pista asked, taking Gabriel’s hands and pulling from display to display.

“We just went past it,” Gabriel explained as Pista's excitement reached a fever pitch.

“Where, where, where?” Pista asked over and over again, hopping up and down.

Gabriel sighed and pointed to Iceland.

“You’re from that tiny island?” asked Risoti, amazed someone so grand could come from somewhere so small.

“Technically,” Gabriel replied.

“What do you mean technically?” asked Nish, once more peering at the display only this time, taking care not to hit her head.

“I wasn’t born there; I moved there,” Gabriel explained.

“Why?” asked Pista, looking up at him.

“I had my reasons; now let’s go see some fish,” Gabriel said, pulling Pista along.

***

Gabriel had to suppress a snicker as Pista ran behind her mother. She had been standing in front of a display when one of the animals, with a body plan similar to a tadpole, revealed a large frill with bright eye spots.

Gabriel supposed that for Pista, the frill held something of the uncanny valley, being similar to a Tufanda’s wings, as even Nish seemed somewhat taken aback.

A frill seemed relatively inefficient in the water, making the user a sitting duck, unable to move. Then again, the pufferfish did something similar and survived just fine.

A few minutes later, Gabriel’s attention was brought to a sizeable semi-terrestrial fish analogue resembling humanity's earliest tetrapod ancestor. It was not identical to those creatures; it was far larger, roughly the size of a crocodile.

He could not wonder at the similarity for long, though, as Pista pulled him to another tank with an inquisitive animal that would follow the children that ran from one end of the perspex pane to the other.

In terms of behaviour, it reminded Gabriel of a sea lion, though, in appearance, it had more in common with an ichthyosaur, if that ichthyosaur had six eyes, a mouth the same size as its body, and was covered in fleshy growths that helped it blend in with seaweed.

“Hold on, I’ve gotta get this,” Nish said, taking her P.D.A and recording the whole thing.

As Gabriel watched Pista have fun, he was struck with déjà vu, yet he knew he had never been here before. He had experienced déjà vu before. Everyone had, but this one was different; it was mixed with sadness but also happiness.

Gabriel did not know how to feel about it; he watched Pista run back and forth like he was on autopilot.

“Come on, we can’t watch my daughter run all day, no matter how adorable it may be,” Nish said, pulling Gabriel from his thought.

***

Nish carefully descended the ladder into the miniature submarine. It was a torpedo-shaped craft with a large glass dome overhead, providing a comprehensive view of the tank, with an additional viewing window underneath.

They had needed to wait while two special seats that took into account Nish and Pista’s wings were fitted.

Unlike many other tours, he had taken, this one was fully automated, with the manual controls only to be used in an emergency.

As Nish took her seat next to Gabriel, she did her best to keep her breathing under control.

“You ok?” Gabriel asked, leaning in close to her.

“Yeah, just… just, a little nervous, I guess,” Nish said with a forced trill.

Gabriel patted her shoulder and said, “just imagine you’re on a plane in the air.”

“I’ve been on a jet plane before, one that uses forced air to create lift rather than antigravity,” Nish explained.

“Oh yeah, I’ve heard about them; I thought they kept crashing,” Gabriel replied; he wondered if Nish was doing this deliberately.

“No, very safe, not as safe as modern aircraft, and far less efficient, but safer than most land travel,” she stated.

“Fascinating,” Gabriel said with a modicum of genuine enthusiasm

“Please remain seated. We are beginning the descent,” a rather bored voice sounded through the intercom.

“Done this one too many times, I take it,” Risoti said into the receiver.

“Tell me about it,” the voice replied.

Nish watched the water climb steadily higher, and once it reached her shoulders, she immediately grabbed hold of the closest thing at hand.

Pista was unfazed and watched the water envelope the dome with relish. Risoti was also interested, but not to the same extent.

As the water entirely covered the top and the liquid distorted the light, Nish realised that what she was holding onto was breathing.

She looked down and saw Gabriel looking up at her. She could not see his eyes, but Nish knew he was staring right at her.

Nish let go and tucked all four of her arms into her chest. “Sorry,” Nish mumbled as she flattened her wings and antennae as far as they would.

Gabriel paused in his response before stating, “it was not unpleasant.”

Then he noticed something in the corner of his eye, and Gabriel looked behind him, with Nish copying him. Pista was positively bouncing in her seat, whereas Riosti was frowning and making a light hissing noise, which was the Etulana equivalent of a knowing smile.

Gabriel coughed faintly while Nish looked dead ahead and began absently mindedly preening her wings.

A fifth unknown voice joined the party and said, “If you look to your left, you will see a shoal of Bosocuja. These fast-swimming pelagic animals are a staple prey source for over three hundred different species on their native world of Golm; fortunately, they have no such worries here.”

Everyone collectively looked, and the sight was breathtaking; Gabriel could hardly believe he was in an aquarium, vast coral reefs stretched below while thousands of animals darted between the rocks and plants.

Giant snake-like fish stuck their heads from the sands, and disc-like lifeforms sifted the grains for anything edible. At the same time, curious aliens inspected the submarine and stared at the occupants.

“This ain’t so bad,” Nish said, taking in the wonder of it all.

Gabriel just smiled.