Playing Koi (11) (Patreon)

Jemma led Arlo into the workshop, her pregnant belly slowing her pace. The building was mostly cloth, with only a few pieces of driftwood decorations to make the frame. The ceiling was entirely open, permitting the full light of the aquarium lamps above to stream in. "This is where you'll be from now on," she said. "Algaegard doesn't have a single goldfish. It might be a while before it's safe for you to go out on your own."

Arlo shifted back and forth in place, circling once around her. Like his mom, he stopped in front of her when he wanted to be heard. "I don't mind a workshop! Spent most of my time in the temple back home… and university. Wasn't old enough to enroll, but so long as I stayed quiet no one sent me away."

What does quiet mean when no one can talk?

He held the door open for her, then swam through the opening just behind her. The workshop was cluttered with designs, all focused around one of Liam's other failed inventions. This one would break seaweed down into pulp, then spin it back into sturdy strands. They just had to find the right chemical to keep it from rotting, and fix the mechanical issues with the extruder.

Nicole was already inside, sorting through the tools and gathering various loose screws and connectors into their boxes. She looked up, then jerked backward a short distance, dropping the box of screws. They drifted down through the water, landing all around her. "Jemma? Who is… is that a goldfish?"

She nodded. "Nicole, this is Arlo, my... nephew. He'll be helping out around the workshop for a while."

Arlo waved enthusiastically, circling around Jemma, then popping out on her other side. "Hi! I didn't wanna be here, but Jemma won't leave, so now I have to make sure she doesn't get eaten by barbarians! Momma says that Jemma has magic of her own but never learned how to use it. But I did!"

Nicole tilted her head, confusion etched on her face. She drifted a little further back, until she smacked up against the desk. "But Jemma, how is he going to help? Goldfish can't talk."

Jemma sighed, settling onto a nearby stool. "He communicates in other ways, Nicole. With time and patience, you'll learn to understand him." She glanced at Arlo, who was now examining the tools with fascination. "But he might not be staying long, so don't get too attached."

Nicole swam closer to Arlo, studying him curiously. "What's he saying now?" she asked.

Jemma chuckled, then turned to look. What had been silent before became suddenly clear. "I'm not sure how anyone can get anything done with all your stuff spread out like this! You really need to organize—"

Jemma held up her hand. "He says… your scales look neat. He's never seen yellow and black patterns like that before."

"That's not what I—"

A smile tugged at Nicole's lips. "Oh. That's… thanks, I guess. Nice to meet you, Arlo." She frowned, glancing back at Jemma. "You aren't gonna give him my job, are you? I was here first!"

"You'll be working together," Jemma said. "From now on. That means you'll be able to get twice as much done. I won't be around the lab as much for the next few months, so you might be happy he's here. Arlo can probably answer most things I could. Did you work with your mom back in Thetria, Arlo?"

The goldfish tilted his head to one side. "When she worked. Remember the whole reason I came? I grew up listening to the stories of all my brothers and sisters who came before. They're all soooo smart and perfect, cuz' they got to work with Mom every single day."

But Nicole hadn't heard that. At least the guppy wasn't afraid. A fish who couldn't even talk would make for a difficult partner. "What did he say that time?"

"He did his best," Jemma said, provoking a few frustrated twists of the goldfish's fins. Not a precise translation, strictly speaking. But it had the right intent! "Tell you what, Arlo. I'll go to the supply shed for paper. You can write some phrases down, so you have a way to express what you're saying. Nicole can read better than almost any fish in Algaegard."

Jemma swam out of the workshop, into the full harsh light of the aquarium. She took a moment to stretch her fins, relishing the chance to move her tail again. At least that part of her anatomy didn't feel stretched or compressed. Kisten was supposed to be the one to deal with this, not her.

She turned towards the storage shed, the barnacle-encrusted structure looming ahead. As she approached, a familiar figure emerged, Brady, her yellow and black scales shimmering.

"There you are!" Brady said, circling once around her. Without Jemma's disability, she easily outpaced her, flitting through the water with dexterity and grace Jemma could no longer muster. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

Jemma winced. With Arlo's arrival and the workshop demands, she'd been neglecting her friend. "Sorry, I've been swamped."

Brady swam closer, her eyes narrowing. "Is it true? You adopted a goldfish?"

Jemma winced inwardly at the word “adopted.” She motioned for Brady to follow her into the shed. "Come on."

The storage room was dimly lit and cluttered with debris—broken pieces of driftwood, tangles of seaweed, and various human objects scavenged from the aquarium. Jemma sifted through a pile, without real purpose.

Of course, there was no true paper underwater—the citizens of Algaegard made thin sheets of seaweed, dusting it with a chalky mineral to make it rigid. It held patterns well enough to write blueprints, but also had the annoying tendency to grow algae if you left it in the aquarium light for too long.

"I didn't adopt him, exactly," Jemma began, upending a nearby crate. Old blueprints tumbled through the water. Which of these could they reuse?

"He's... Kisten's son. From Thetria."

Brady's eyes widened. "Kisten? As in your ex-girlfriend Kisten? The one you were trying to rescue?"

Jemma nodded, feeling a familiar ache in her chest. "Same. Arlo… came looking for me. Wanted me to go back to his mom. Maybe I would've." She rested one hand on her belly. "Not now. But I couldn't just turn him away. He's family."

Brady snorted. "You took in the kid of the fish who broke your heart? Seems healthy." Her gaze drifted to Jemma's swollen belly. "How's moving on working out for you?"

Jemma flushed red. "I'm not sure I have. Liam and I have… something special. But I still want to see Kisten. I… miss her."

An uncomfortable silence stretched between them. Jemma filled it with motion, sifting through a few blueprints before selecting the worst of the bunch. Liam's oldest ideas, when even his rudimentary understanding of mechanics hadn't been developed. She set one down, then floated away to search for something flat. 

Their writing didn't use ink—they used a stylus to make impressions in the material. They could press those impressions out again with something the right shape. "Did you ever have someone? Before all this, I mean."

Brady shook her head. "Nothing serious. I sure as hell didn't choose to have Nicole." She turned away, fins twitching. "I'm not glad I got trapped here. But I'm glad you found me. And…" She lowered her voice, halting. "I'm glad Nicole made it. None of the others did. She's the only good thing in this awful place." 

Brady caught Jemma's hand, squeezing once. "I'm not smart enough to teach her. Guess I'll owe you for that too. I'll make sure to send you a copy of her college acceptance letter. Once you… get us out of here." 

Jemma sighed, sinking all the way down onto her tail. "You need to know something, Nicole. About escaping."

"Let me guess." Brady followed her down, wrapping one arm around her shoulder. "You were way braver than you were smart. You looked everywhere and there's no way out." She held out both hands. "Nah, I get it. Maybe you were nuts enough to jump into this place. But everyone here tried to find the exit. No one I know of succeeded. Or… lived, anyway. Saw an octopus climb out of the aquarium once. Then I watched him die on the floor." 

She twitched, hovering over her mouth with one hand. "Can't breathe air as a fish."

The truth was too hard. "I know how much you love her. You… inspired me. I wouldn't have been brave enough without you." 

Brady choked back a laugh, drifting away from her. "I'm no example to be emulated, Jemma. Just one mistake after another. It just happens that one worked out better than the others. What do you have her doing right now, anyway?"

"Organizing," Jemma answered, floating back up. There went her opportunity to explain the truth, carried away in the aquarium's currents. Probably for the best. "We should head back. That goldfish is going to drive Nicole crazy if we leave them too long."

"Wait, you… left her alone? With a barbarian fish?" Brady stiffened, tugging on her arm. "He's a boy, Jemma! From outside the city!"

Jemma rolled her eyes. "Arlo is not a barbarian. Nicole's bigger than he is, and he can't even talk." Just don't think about all the spells he learned from a magical fish society way more advanced than ours. He could probably blow a crater in the aquarium if he wanted.

"I want to see," Brady insisted, loudly. "Show me."

Jemma followed Brady back towards the workshop, anxiety twisting in her gut. She hadn't considered that Brady might object. Hadn't she been the one to tell Jemma how helpless and weak goldfish were?

Brady swam ahead, a blur of yellow and black. They reached the workshop together, but Brady didn't go for the door. Instead of entering, Brady swam up to the ceiling, peering through a gap in the seaweed weave.

Jemma drifted closer, mimicking Brady's silence. She peered over her friend's shoulder. Nicole and Arlo were facing each other, their tails swaying gently in the current. Nicole giggled, loud enough that passing fish could probably hear it.

Arlo was pantomiming something, his whole body moving in exaggerated patterns. None were true words, not in the language as Jemma knew it. This was the equivalent of someone speaking English extremely loud and slow, to somehow "help" someone who didn't speak it to understand. He twisted his body into a spiral, fins flaring. Then he mimed eating, opening and closing his mouth with exaggerated motions. 

"Eating seaweed?"

Arlo scowled, shaking his head. He repeated the motions, this time adding a sweeping gesture with his fin.

"Farming seaweed?" Nicole guessed.

Arlo slumped, defeated.

"Oh! Harvesting!" Nicole exclaimed, her eyes widening. "You helped harvest the seaweed?"

Arlo's face lit up. He nodded enthusiastically, then launched into a new series of gestures, even more animated than before.

Jemma watched as Nicole tried to decipher his silent story. They might not speak the same language, but they were already finding a way to connect.

Brady nudged her shoulder, and together they retreated from the workshop again. They swam towards the "street," far enough for their words to mingle with the dozen other fish swimming past on their own tasks.

"I guess he's okay," Brady finished. "But I want you to be watching them. If your goldfish hurts her—"

"He won’t," Jemma said flatly. "Thetria isn't barbarian. Their city is more peaceful and safer than Algaegard could ever be. They don't have to fight predators, so they don't even have an army, or any police…" she shrugged her tail. "I'll watch them, promise."

"Good." Brady patted her shoulder. "I trust you, Jemma. If you trust this kid, I guess I can too. Maybe you can bring him over for dinner in a few weeks. Once he learns how to talk."

"That's… not how it works," Jemma said. " I can translate for him. But at the rate they're going, Nicole will probably be able to do it soon.