Everyone always tells you to follow your dreams and reach for your potential, so it always remained mind boggling when you'd finally chase after your goals only to be rebuked by the very same set of people. Regardless, I decided that no other opinion really mattered in the end, and pursued my future as I'd planned since grade school. Knowledge was power, and I wanted all of it. I wanted to become the smartest in history--winning nobels and creating technology beyond anyone's wildest imagination. In a way, I'd already done that before deciding to study marine life. I'd won various prizes for school affairs, mainly on formulas and small tid-bits most people wouldn't quite understand. But my best achievement? The light of my life had been birthed my second year of high school only as a developing research program--Canine Artificial Intelligence Robot, or CAIR for short. By then it could only perform small movements and relay basic information. Now, it roams freely as commanded and reacts in real-time based off a processing system and data bank like no other. It can even predict the weather days before it occurs and sense unseen gases in the air.

But what's the point of telling you all of that? Why should anyone pay attention to a tinkering young adult? Perhaps it's not clear to you, but one goal leads to another. In the end, your goals can very well end in something amazing and nearly impossible. Walking AI systems to hoverbikes--all thought to be impossible. But some genius with a goal bigger than his brain set out to do it, ignoring anyone who told him to find more realistic dreams. 

All of that led me here, all the way from Marseille, France to America. In all honesty, I had long forgotton the state's name despite having seen the writing everywhere for the last 200 miles from the airport. What mattered to me was only arriving to Longmoore Aquarium. It was the largest public research facility in America with the ideal of keeping endangered species alive while also learning more about what rested under Earth's waters. Aside from the obvious learning opportunities, there was something else that brought me there.

The map of the building crinkled in my hands as I flipped it over for the twentyeth time, searching for the main entrance. There were so many sub-attractions it was hard to find my way into the actual aquarium. Twice already I'd found myself trying to walk into the employee lounge, and yet another attempt led me to a random gift shop. Despite my rising irritation, I acted quite rationally by standing on top of a garbage can and screaming bloody murder until security came. 

They were surprisingly understanding about it, directing me to the correct enterance with a calm smile. I'd later find his name was Ryan, a very nice guy. With that out of the way, I paid for my ticket and ran through all of the exhibits with such excitement I was certain everyone around me could feel it. Or maybe the flashing lights of my shoes was what really made them stare. 

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I almost skipped through the whole shark tunnel, almost. It left me awestruck with the sheer amount of water over top of me. Every ounce of my strength was taken not to lie on the conveyer belt and waste time in pure bliss. Sharks of all kinds swam side-by-side with schools of fish and sea turtles. There were only two green turtles seeing as it was rare to have one in an aquarium at all. While I would have liked to stick around and look at them some more, I could do that later. I dipped out of the tunnel and took a short cut through the jellyfish exhibits before coming to a set of double doors. 

"Siren's Sanctuary"

Sounded like a load of crap to me, and I could tell I wasn't the only one who thought that. A husband murmered to his wife about a hoax that had happened numberous times. I mean, this was America after all. Even with my high disbelief of the aquarium having a siren, I shoved the doors open anyways. 

A large tank with an open top rested at the back of the room, tall kelp plants growing within most of it. The middle, however, was clear of most objects and seemed to be where the majority of the crowd stayed. They snapped annoyingly bright photos and talked loudly, their voices echoing all over the room. Gritting my teeth from the surely coming headache, I walked into the midst of them and tried to get to the front. 

Well, that didn't work. Some guy shoved me out of the way claiming to be with a newspaper. Apparently that made him more important than the general public? I loved papers and reporters as much as the next guy but that was a little much even for my tolerance of people. Angered as I was, I decided not to retaliate in fear I'd get kicked out before seeing just how bad of a lie they'd formed. I waited for what seemed like hours, sitting on a nasty bench with a woman who didn't seem to have much care for hygene. 

But then I saw it. Just barely, but I saw it. A flash of blue with bright green before it vanished into the kelp forest. Intrigued, I walked over calmly as not to alert anyone of a 'sighting' just in case I'd get pushed out of the way again. I stared for a good while before seeing that same faint glow of green appear and disappear in the blink of an eye. Not wanting to wait any longer, I stared at the kelp for a good while before just barely sliding my fingers against the glass. The kelp parted ever so slightly, just a few inches apart. A few inches was all I needed.

Staring right back at me was a pair of wide, green eyes.