Silence hangs inside Avery's sedan like the early morning fog clinging to the ground outside. Not much longer now. With the pull of a handle, Avery leans her seat back and stares at the roof. Shadowy figures drift away from their cars toward a giant dolphin looming overhead. Dread stabs Avery's heart and reverberates through her chest with every breath. She studies the buttons and knobs cluttering up the console: distractions.

The controls are a matte black set into a tan plate that reflects the soft light filtering through the fog. Ridges ring the sides of the knobs, symbols and a raised groove sit on the face of most of the buttons, and everyone of these controls — besides the air conditioning — are a complete mystery to her. She twists one of the knobs and tactile clicks vibrate her fingers. Memories of Mom asking her to stop drift into her mind. Something about how it wears the knob out or how it's Mom's car and Mom's rules, so don't ask questions.

Clarinets and oboe sing out, yanking her out of her reverie and back into the dread that she just escaped. She pulls the ringing phone out of her khaki's pocket. Seven fifty-seven plus a few seconds. She swipes away the alarm and everything hidden beneath fades into place: apps, the status bar, and a single notification containing a message preceded by an image of a heart underneath a magnifying glass.

MaybeYourPenpal: "Good luck! I'm excited to hear how it goes!"

There's another minute to spare; plenty of time to say something. Avery taps it.

---

Below the looming dolphin sculpture, double glass doors sit between Avery and the aquarium, like a portal to a different world of inescapable responsibilities and fulfilled expectations. The dread is part of her now; every inch of her being is tense with it. Her lungs ache, her mind revolts. She can still quit. No one knows she's here yet and she can just turn around and everyone will forget about her for an hour or two. Long enough to relax before her life comes tumbling down.

An old woman appears on the other side of the glass. She pushes the door open toward Avery and her gray hair ruffles on the top of her head like cotton candy floating along a light breeze. A smile warms her face and fills her eyes. "Dear, you wouldn't happen to be Avery would you?"

Dread disappears into that warmth, but the pain in her lungs lingers. Avery sticks a hand out. "Y-yes ma'am."

The old woman narrows a pair of hazel eyes. "The only person who has to call me ma'am is my husband. You can call me Valarie, dear." She spreads her arms. "Handshakes are so formal, how about a hug instead?"

*She'll contaminate you. Refuse.*

Tendrils of compulsion snake out from Avery's heart. She's going to get measles from this lady right? Then Mom and Dad will get measles, then they'll die, and it'll be like that world war zombie book. She stares at Valarie, pressing through the urge to decline.

*R-Refuse.*

That disruption is just enough for the tendrils to shrivel up and fall away. Avery embraces Valarie in a hug. Wait, this is weird. She shouldn't be hugging her boss.

The smell of every grandmother Avery has ever met drifts off the old woman and grows into noxious fumes in their embrace. Valarie pats Avery's back a couple times, then the two part. Nausea shifts around in Avery's throat; she swallows once to suppress it. Valarie sweeps her arms behind herself and across the spacious lobby behind her. "Welcome to the Cordia Aquarium."

Avery squeezes through the bit of doorway Valarie isn't blocking. The soft glow from outside creeps over the lobby, crawling up posters full of aquatic life, circular brochure stands, and benches. Nostalgic wonder sweeps Avery off her feet and carries her into the clouds of her mind, where a younger her skips from poster to poster letting out laughs of pure joy at the penguins and polar bears and whales. A wide hallway sits between the posters. Little her darts through hallway upon hallway of shimmering blue-green tanks. Puffy cheeked fish blubbing along for their next pellet of food, eels slithering from hiding space to hiding space, and young her soaking in the atmosphere.

The entrance door closes. Valarie steps up beside Avery and she places a hand on Avery's shoulder. "It still gets me. What a magical place, huh dear?"

Avery shakes herself down from the clouds and glances at Valarie. "Sorry, I just forgot how neat it was in here. I don't think I've been since my parents took me as a child."

"Ed and Mollie Hopper, right? I'm pretty sure they had their first date here; they were such cute kids back then. Anyways..." Valarie starts forward, beckons Avery, then clasps her hands behind her back. "We'll get you reacquainted with the aquarium and then we'll go talk to Tamika."

Maybe this won't be so bad; Avery scrambles after her.

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Bright blue water ripples over a rainbow of saltwater fauna, two turtles float along with their red-toned shells peaking above the waterline, and a bundle of cables stretch into the water from a set of tanks near a control panel. The panel is more complex than the sedan's console. There's a screen showing someone scrubbing at algae growth with a long brush nearly identical to a janitor's broom. Near the screen, a microphone sits among a variety of buttons begging to be pressed.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Valarie presses down on one of the switches until it clicks like the play button of an old cassette player. "Hello, Tamika. Sorry to bother you, but would you mind popping back up?"

Bubbles disturb the surface of the water, then a head covered in goggles and a regulator break through. Dark brown dreads wrap together at the back of Tamika's head in a bun and drip water like a spigot. She rips the goggles off. "This better be important, I told you not to interrupt when I'm..." Her eyes dart between Avery and Valarie. "Oh, guess it is important."

Avery's stomach twists with awkwardness and she raises her hand in a half wave. "Hey. Nice to meet you, ma'am."

Valarie places a hand on Avery's shoulder again. Avery jolts at the contact, disrupting her concentration on leaving a good impression with Tamika. Valarie gives Avery's shoulder another pat. "This is Avery, she's the one we talked about you mentoring. Please do your best to treat her well and teach her everything she needs to know to finish out that degree with shining colors."

The awkwardness crawls up into Avery's chest with a shiver. All this shoulder patting is uncomfortable, too familiar. She flashes a lips-only smile at Tamika and holds back a glance toward Valarie's hand still resting on her shoulder.

Then Tamika goes to war. She rests on the edge of the tank, her body still floating in the water. "So how much is she paying you, Avery?"

Bewilderment is all that comes to mind. Avery's mouth moves and she grasps for words, but only silence falls out. What was that? What's happening here?

Valarie's hand tightens for a moment on Avery's shoulder. "Tamika! Don't ask about that. It's rude and unprofessional."

Tamika shrugs with a tilt of her head, her bun gracing the top of the water. "For you, maybe. Can't have this aspiring aquarist getting less than she deserves." Her gaze returns to Avery. "Is it at least thirty?"

Words still won't come to Avery. Her lips part and she glances between the two, weighing each option like two pitfalls that only differ in numbers of spikes. "Uh, it's fif—"

Valarie tries to shuffle Avery away. "Don't tell her that!"

Tamika's brow furrows together. She climbs onto the landing, water falling from her wet-suit splashes against the concrete floor like hail. "Fifteen?! What's going through your mind with that, you old coot?"

Avery freezes. Maybe they'll forget about her if she doesn't move.

Valarie turns back to Tamika and crosses her arms. "She's getting experience for school, so it's a trade off."

Tamika takes another step in Valarie's direction and crosses her arms right back. "Trade off my ass. Pay her thirty or I walk."

Valarie shakes her head and scoffs. "Twenty."

Tamika doesn't blink. "Thirty, or I run."

"Twenty-five"

"Thirty."

Valarie throws up her hands and stomps away. "Okay! Twenty-eight. That's the best I can do, I promise. Just drop it and I'll fix the accounting."

Tamika cups a hand around her mouth and calls after Valarie. "Great doing business with you Val." Then she turns to Avery with a grin that would put Loki to shame. "Sometimes you have to push her around into being a decent human being; so don't be afraid to."

Avery's stomach keeps turning, but she unfreezes and scratches an itch at the back of her head. "Oh, okay. Thanks for the advice."

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None of the animals from the lobby posters make a real-life appearance besides penguins. The aquarium isn't lacking in variety though: spotted dogfish, tompot blennies, corckwing wrasses, and humbug damsels at the most Seussian. Common starfish at the least.

At the end of the tour, Tamika shuffles Avery into the maintenance hallway that services the main hallway's tanks. The facade of aquatic paintings facing the visitors disappear into an abstract white; pipes and wires crisscross to interrupt the monotony. Shop lights hang over head. Their flickering florescent glow adds a dingy coldness to the warmth radiating from warehouse-style windows along one wall.

Tamika walks past tank after tank. She stops in front of an enclosure with a single puffer fish puffing about, floating in, out, and around a puffer-fish-sized castle. Tamika grabs a tray off the top the tank. "This little guy is Larry. Poor guy is lonely now that Linda passed." She picks an unidentifiable bit of meat off the tray with a pair of tweezers. "He's got a couple medical problems that make it difficult to place him with others now, so he's here all alone. He's now your responsibility. Along with every tank here in the main hall."

Insecurity unbalances Avery's mind. She looks over the seemingly endless row of tanks. "Yes ma'am. Are you sure though? This is my first job and I've never actually performed care tasks like this before."

"You've been in college, right? You've learned how to take care of a lot of these species, I'm sure. If there isn't one you know about..." Tamika flips open a book laying on a row of tables spread out under the windows. "You can find it in this handy book. See, here is the entry for Larry: white-spotted puffers. It's got diets, common issues to look for, everything you could need."

With the assault of the tiny font sprawling across the page, a gloss drizzles over Avery's brain and coats her eyes. There is too much. She'll never remember it all. "What about if I have a question the book doesn't answer?"

Tamika flashes a grin and points a raised thumb at herself. "That's what I'm here for. Anyways, that's all you should need. I'll be back in the salt water tank. Feel free to bother me by the way, I was just putting on a show for Val."

*It's not safe. Ask her.*

Tendrils race out from Avery's heart. She twists in place trying to ignore them, but her mouth won't stay shut. "Uh... Ma'am, sorry if I'm out of line here, but should you be doing that without a standby diver? I didn't want to say anything about it in front of Valarie." The tendrils disappear with the last word out of her mouth.

Tamika winks and turns. "Don't you worry about that, just get all these cleaned up."

Avery shifts in place. "Oh, okay. I'll get to it."

Tamika bounds down the opposite way they came, off toward the salt water tank without another word. Only the hum of air pumps, heaters, and the shop lights stick around. Emptiness bounces around Avery's head. There are so many tanks to check and she's only one person... Front to back then?

Every tank needs cleaned. Avery systematically goes from front to back: she scrapes off algae buildup, siphons up debris from the gravel or sand, tests water parameters, and swaps out half of the water with clean water. Some tanks need special care around plants or equipment, but for the most part Avery can turn her mind off and do what school taught her. That is, until she reaches Larry's tank.

The tube of the ammonia test turns a dull green, the same color as the dangerous level marker on the testing card. Panic shoots through Avery and her mind switches gears. Got to go fast. She sprints up to the doors to the main hallway and bursts through.