It was Tuesday again when something exciting happened in the lab.

Hundreds of tiny fries were released by T6! The double tank suddenly became too small for the newly married couple.

Iqball saw T7 doing his best to avoid the tiny family beings, in fear of crushing them with a mere move of the fin.

Ballqis quickly alerted the researcher on duty as well as Mrs Jogh.

T7 was taken back to its original tank. He kept his vision trained towards the double tank, where T6 let the fries play amidst the water plants.

Some food had been prepared by the researcher with the help of the lab's breeding partner, and two researchers were assigned to document the number, growth progress and behaviour of all the fries.

Iqball and Ballqis were still on regular duty but they were also assigned a special task by Mrs Jogh.

"Observe if any of the fish behaved differently now that they are separated. I bet our dear lovers would be depressed. As soon as I get another double tank, I'll put them together again," said Mrs Jogh after putting up a new behaviou lr report form for the volunteers to fill in the system.

"I'm going off to see Mr Evans, he should be observing the numbers of fries our lovely couple had spawned. Oh, the Casanova is going to have such a big headache, he's not going to have time to go on dates," she giggled sneakily.

Thinking of the operahouse trip where they met two of his many love interests, Ballqis and Iqball who had finished their chores broke into laughter as well.

But after Mrs Jogh left and they turned back to T6 and T7 for post-separation behaviour observation.

"Hey man, congrats. Are you OK though?" Iqball whispered as he lounged next to the male.

Will you take good care of them?

T7's worried tone was evident. Ballqis was touched. T7's worry reminded her of her dad, all alone in Perlis.

Iqball too found his queation endearing. The animal loved his mate and his offspring, just as Mrs Jogh had predicted.

"Yes. Those researchers are experts," Ballqis soothed.

None of them could talk to me, T7 revealed achingly.

He turned his body away from the double tank.

That shocked Iqball and Ballqis.

No way, they both thought at the same time.

"I thought you and your mate could communicate. It's weird if the fries could not communicate with you," Ballqis thought out loud, but just enough for Iqball and the fish to hear.

She understands my gestures. I suppose my offsprings would understand gestures as well once they are bigger. But they do not have a wavelength I could tap into.

Ballqis' heart sank. Iqball immediately felt sorry for the fish.

Just like most geniuses, the fish must feel so alone, thought Iqball.

Am I an abomination? The fish asked. Its body now faced his two companions.

"No, you're you. You're the special one among your species, that's all," Ballqis said.

"Even among humans there are geniuses who often felt too different than the rest of us. But in time they always found a place that made them felt belonged," Iqball promised.

"Are you two talking about Molly? Is that why she seemed a little down these days?" Aga's voice suddenly broke the trio's multilayer conversation.

A few volunteers started to arrive in one by one, as they all saw the news about the fries and wanted to see the newly hatched fish themselves.

Nastia and three other volunteers started to crowd around the double tank, watching the tiny finned creatures swim, eat and play.

Aga berthed beside Tank 8.

"We were just talking about special cases among species," Iqball quickly answered his question.

"This dude keep watching my video conversations. It was creepy. But hey, you're a dad now. Good going, dude," he said as he grinned at T7.

T7 swam away from the front panel of his tank.

"Oh no, he's not too happy being separated from his family, eh?" Aga went on.

"We're going to keep observing him for the next 30 minutes before recording his behaviour," Ballqis said, as per Mrs Jogh's instructions given on the form.

"What's there to observe and investigate. Anyone could see he's in no good mood. The guy is heartbroken. See his eyes? If he could talk I bet he'd say, 'I feel so alone and helpless. Please God, take care of my sweetheart and my munchkins', right?" Aga mused.

The fish turned towards the three young students hanging out in front of his familiar old home.

That's right, T7 said.

"Why Aga, does the fish talk to you? You seem to know so much," Nastia chimed in as she approach the group.

Aga guffawed.

"I've hung around these fish for too long, I guess. I mean, I know Tank 6 is the playful one. The girl in Tank 10 hates soy pellets just like our friend here in Tank 7, the two guys in Tank 9 and 8 are always butting their noses like betta fish. I call them Beavis and Butthead," Aga said, trying to impress Nastia.

And Nastia did seemed impressed... at least to Aga. Her 'wow' sounded and looked a little too practiced to Ballqis and Iqball.

"You know I'd be interested to observe these creatures for longer than one shift. Ballqis, Iqball, is it OK for me to come during your shift?"

Instinct made couple a tad relunctant to say yes.

"Maybe during the last hour? We do all of the cleaning during the first hour," Ballqis said eventually.

That got Nastia more excited than Aga's Beavis and Butthead remark.

***

"She seemed so interested in the fish. Did you notice how excited she was when we said we don't mind her hanging out at the lab on Tuesdays?" Ballqis commented as she and Iqball retired for the day at their local convenience store.

Iqball had opened a canned drink for her. She accepted it with a smile. Iqball knew she was fond apple juice, but this particular brand tasted more sour than the rest.

She offered him her favourite beef jerky. He took a piece and popped into his mouth.

"I believe girls know more about girls, but I agree with you there. It's a little unsettling to be honest," he corroborated.

"Let's just be careful around her," Ballqis suggested.

Iqball thought of something else they could do.

"You know we can always ask T7 if he has any opinion on her. He may have spied something, after all she had been with the lab for nearly a month," he said.

"You're a genius, Iqball. Just like T7," Ballqis immediately agreed.

Iqball gulped his drink and tried to smile.

"Thanks. Though I'm not too sure if I should feel flattered or otherwise. You just made it sound like I'm a... fish..." he snarked.

For the first time, Iqball saw Ballqis' guilty expression.

"I'm sorry!" she apologised.

"I was just kidding," he quickly replied.

"I meant to say your idea was really good and that I think only..."

"You two really should work on your banter. Every joke you guys exchange sounds fishy!"

Molly hollared from behind them as she grabbed both their shoulders.

The pair was caught off guard.

Just how much did Molly heard?