They are ready. The fish and the equipment were all packed for the day trip to the heart of the city. It was 7am and Mrs Jogh was singing as usual while Mr Evans was tolerating it with a book in his face. 

Micah got the back row seat all to himself again, while Ballqis and Iqball sat in the middle row. Four fish tanks berthed behind Micah, and T7 was selected once again to be part of the display. His size, shiny scales and healthy looking eyes must have been among the reasons he was there.

Another participant happened to be the poor guy whose scale was plucked and eaten by Mrs Jogh. The fish in Tank 2 looked rather sluggish despite having eaten all of its serving of corn pellets.

I wonder if T2 is alright, Iqball thought.

He's dying, a voice answered him.

Iqball almost turned his head, but managed to refrain. He typed a note on his phone and shoved it towards Ballqis. He rather not risk sending her a text message or leave any sort of recoverable digital trail.

Ballqis' eyes went a little wide after reading the message. She then slid the phone back to its owner, hoping no one else but them would notice.

"Is T2 dying because its scales are being harvested?" she whispered to Iqball as Mrs Jogh's rendition of Staying Alive reached its chorus.

The van was chugging along the highway towards main city as they slowly engaged in a hushed, staggered conversation.

"I doubt a little wound would kill it. The water in its tank reads normal, just like the rest of the fish. I believe it's something else," said Iqball.

Ballqis reverted into silence after telling Iqball they should observe both T2 and T7 more from now on.

They reached the magnificent looking headquarters of Farmeca, the company behind several household agriculture and fishery product brands. Farmeca  was 3,000 people strong in its headquarters, a majority involved in the research and marketing of products from local suppliers. A subsidiary also make fertilizers and animal feed.

A sleek team welcomed  and helped them set up at the main auditorium, where a mini seminar will start at 10am. 

"Professor Jogh, your team will start first so we can set the tanks on the stage now. However we need to remove everything as quickly as possible after your talk ends as we need to bring in some potted plants for the next speaker," the event coordinator requested.

"My boys and girl will help get the tanks out, if you like, as soon as my Q&A start," Mrs Jogh promised.

To Micah she said, "Remove all but leave Tank Number 2 on the stage. I'll bring it out myself after my session ends."

After a brief introduction and keynote address by Farmeca's COO, Mrs Jogh's session promptly started. She was given only seven minutes to present her experiment and another seven was reserved for question and answer. Mr Evans was invited for one short minute in between her presentation to regurgitate some numbers.

"Does the fish taste like regular fish?" a member of the audience asked. 

By that time only Tank 2 remained on the stage.

"I'm glad you asked. Please bear with me for two minutes to answer this," Mrs Jogh said.

She expertly opened her big black luggage bag to reveal an induction hot plate, which she immediate connect to a preset electrical power socket. As the plate turned red at its edges, Mrs Jogh grabbed T2 with her hands, turned her back towards the crowd to rip its gills before pulling it out of the water.

At the hidden corner of the stage Ballqis' hand flew to her mouth. Iqball stared at the professor incredulously. Even Micah's mouth was left hanging. Mr Evans shook his head and turn his back away from the stage.

T2 was then laid on the hot plate. The professor dried her hands. The dead fish fizzled as smoke began to rise from its body. Out of the same black bag, Mrs Jogh pulled out a spatula and turned the fish. The smell of cooked fish began to fill the large auditorium. 

"Come, sir. Please have a bite," Mrs Jogh invited with delight. She used the spatula to pierce the cooked flesh of T2.

The question asker promptly went up to her to peer at the piece of cooked white meat.

"Go ahead sir. You saw how fresh and untouched the fish was. I did not put in any salt, pepper, butter or even oil," Mrs Jogh dared him to try.

The man, who was introduced by the emcee as one of the directors on the board of Natural Meats, gingerly picked the small piece of meat and tasted it.

His eyes lit as the sampler touched his tongue.

"What say you?" Mrs Jogh queried.

"It's ... it's delicious! I've never ... Fresh water fish never tasted this good! And you fed it pellets?" he asked.

"Why sir, we fed them corn and wheat pellets made by your company!" Mrs Jogh answered simply.

The man beamed. The crowd applauded.

Mrs Jogh thanked the crowd and signalled for Micah, Iqball and Ballqis to clear her demo station. The trio quickly went up to grab the empty tank, her black bag and her induction burner. Mrs Jogh picked up T2 and dunked it in a ziplock bag as the plants belonging to the second speaker were brought up to occupy the space they've vacated.

"That was quite a show, Jogh," Mr Evans remarked as Mrs Jogh took a seat next to him.

"Well the experiment needs to prove to the investors that we have reached a point suitable to pursue commercialization," she answered simply.

Mr Evans nodded.

"Would you like a taste? It's still hot," whispered Mrs Jogh to him as she held up the ziplock bag with T2 resting in peace.

"I'm a red meat person myself," Mr Evans declined.

"Anyone?" whispered Mrs Jogh as she turned to the row behind her, where Micah, Iqball and Ballqis had found their seats.

"No, thank you," Ballqis answered.

"I'm still full," said Micah.

Iqball simply smiled and shooked his head.

"Oh, was this one the one which liked playing jump with you, Iqball? I'm sure the other fish are just as good at jumping if you give them a chance," Mrs Jogh jested.

Iqball mustered a smile, eventhough the joke was not funny to him at all. While he knew the experiments were meant to help the world end food scarcity, he could not help but hate the barbaric streak in Mrs Jogh's treatment of the fish.

The more he thought about it, the more upset he became. In just a few seconds, he was already seething. 

But suddenly, his right hand, which was gripping the edge of his seat, felt warm. He lowered his gaze, and saw something even more surprising.

Ballqis' hand was covering his.