Talk to her. Say something. She can't hear thoughts like I can.

A sudden bubble of suggestions entered Iqball's head while he was still cleaning the lab. The electric mop in his hands nearly dropped.

I don't know what to say!  Iqball argued silently. He was getting used to the small and scarce intrusion of the mind by T7, the wunderkind tilapia fish. Though the fish wasn't that talkative, Iqball found that the fish liked nosing around his daydreaming of Ballqis.

Admittedly, he was just trying to summon the courage to talk to the girl, who was busy feeding  and observing the animals in Tank 3, 4 and 5 at the front area of the lab.

T7 stilled towards at Iqball and his mop. The fish seemed to ooze a trace of annoyance in his stare. 

"Alright, alright!" whispered Iqball.

Armed with his cleaning gadget, he started to mop his way towards the first row of tanks, where Ballqis was deeply engrossed in her task.

"So ... what do we do about T7? Mirna wasn't much of a help," Iqball remarked.

Ballqis stopped writing. She put the report book back on the shelf above the tank and turned towards Iqball.

"I've been thinking. If we were to hijack the transfer of the fish at the end of its life-cycle ... we should know more about what we're getting into. We have to know what happens if the fish live beyond its permitted life-cycle," she said, straight to the point.

Iqball heaved a little sigh of relief. At least she's talking to me!

He decided to share his own research. 

"Remember what Mrs Jogh said during her Biohack presentation? These fish has the DNA strains of a dolphin species and a shark, for intelligence and the ability to go on for months without food. So I decided to help Micah grind data last Sunday and guess what I found?" Iqball began, talking as quietly as he could.

Ballqis' eyes lit up. She approached him in full role of a confidant. 

She's so pretty, thought Iqball as she got up close.

"What did you managed to dig up?" she prodded, keeping her voice low.

"I found out that the size of these fish grew faster and bigger with every generation. Based on Mr Evan's calculations, with every generation, the average 3-month old fish is about 12 percent bigger than its predecessor. I suspect that is also how T7 got more intelligence than its parents."

"But how come only he gets to talk to us?" Ballqis whispered.

"Maybe they're just like humans. Molly is way more intelligent than you, me and Aga combined, right? I bet T7 got lucky in terms of genes," Iqball theorised as his eyes glanced around out of fear of being overheard.

"Or others choose not to, there's that," Ballqis considered.

The boho girl in front of him seemed to mull his stats with deep interest.

"Then ... would it be possible that some of these fish do end up becoming monsters? I mean, sharks and dolphins could grow as big as 20 feet long. Even tilapias could reach 2 feet long ..." she pointed out.

Their eyes met. 

"Let's hang out after this," Iqball said with his normal voice.

"Yeah, sure," Ballqis agreed.

They both tried to suppress their thoughts: If they do get the fish out, would a rescued T7 end up being a monster they would not know how to keep? What if the fish have years to go, would they be able to manage?

***

"Tell me that's not Micah and Mirna at the vending machine," Iqball suddenly stopped Ballqis as they entered the cafe from its side entrance.

The sight of the two senior bickering with just jostles and expressions in the dinner queue at the food counter was unexpected. It became apparent to Iqball and Ballqis that the duo did not have good things to say to each other.  

Iqball and Ballqis quietly made their way to the end of the food counter.

"I'm not giving it back!" Mirna hissed before leaving the queue. She even left the pack of beef sandwich back on the counter.

"Sheesh," Micah cursed under his breath. He then paid for the mac and cheese meal set and stormed off towards the main entrance.

"What was that all about?" Iqball whispered to Ballqis.

"Could they be talking about the money overpaid to Mirna?" his companion asked.

"Why would Mrs Jogh send Micah to recover it, shouldn't she be the one calling Mirna back to her office and demand for a return?" Iqball questioned.

"You're right. They could be talking about something else altogether. Something unrelated to the tilapia research," Ballqis put forth.

They bought some food and settled at a secluded part of the cafe. There, the tables were made for two people, making the spot popular among couples. Iqball felt a bit of pride that Ballqis did not seem to mind being there with him.

But she was straight to business from the moment they sat.

"I didn't want to say or think about this in the presence of the psychic fish, but we need to figure out exactly what he's capable of. Apart from telepathic communication. We should not be sneaking a rescue blindly," she suggested.

With his mouth filled with lasagna, Iqball nodded. He gulped a bit of juice before responding, almost making Ballqis grin as his cheeks looked like greedy chipmunks.

"I have half a mind to just ask T7 why Mrs Jogh was snacking on scales. But I'm not sure if we should," said Iqball.

Yet to touch her bowl of pho noodles, Ballqis mulled the idea.

"I vote we give it a try. The fish has only us to rely on for his escape. We have the right to know what we're getting into," she finally decided.

"We could try it this weekend. We have that trip to the sponsor's office to look forward to," he noted.

"Yes, gosh. I'm so glad Mrs Jogh is paying extra for this gig," Ballqis enthused.

Iqball was itching to ask if she was facing money issues. But he managed to hold his tongue. He already knew how sore she was about school, family and finance might just be more mood killers.

"Me too. I like going to new places," he agreed with a safe statement.

"I heard the sponsors and potential investors are all going to be there, not just the experiment's main benefactor. We should use it to make connections like Mrs Jogh said. Who knows, one of them might offer internship or industrial training in the future," Ballqis added.

"I was hoping to do internship back home, you know. Use it as an excuse to be in Malaysia," he noted.

"Really? But the experience working in an Australian company would be more valuable when you return home for good, don't you think so?"

"I guess. But as you know, my dad has no one else but me. I want to do everything I could to be back with him," Iqball revealed.

His sincere wish made Ballqis a little sad.

She knew Iqball lost his mother to cancer the year before. It happened right before the big exam. His colossal lost did not seemed to affect his studies, if it did the results surely did not reflect it. After all he made it as best student.

His father was alone, so was hers.

Ballqis stuffed the piping hot noodle into her mouth.

"Argh," she hissed as her tongue burned.

"Take it easy," Iqball said, laughing as he shove her iced coffee closer.

She laughed too. Her eyes teared, not because of the heat, but Iqball did not need to know that.