Nastia was sitting in front of Mrs Jogh, Mr Evans and the Student Affairs head in Mrs Jogh's main office at Biotech Faculty building.

Agamemnon, Mirna, Micah, Ballqis, Molly and Iqball were sitting on a row behind her.

The exchange student was a nervous wreck. 

"We just need you to be honest, Nastia. Why did you use Agamemnon's ID to enter the lab last Saturday?" Mrs Jogh said.

"I... I told you already Mrs Jogh. I thought I left something there, and when I could not find my tag, I used Aga's which I had forgotten to return earlier at the beach," Nastia stammered an answer.

"The intruder in the video seemed to have a similar built as yours, and the timestamp on the lab cameras matches your entry time as clocked on Aga's ID. How do you explain that?" Mrs Jogh pressed without malice.

"I... I don't know..." she deflected easily.

"Nastia, we do not need to go through your things, only to find that you do have a set of cat suit hidden in your wardrobe. It's time to come clean," Mr Evans said simply.

That got Nastia shaking in her seat.

"We're not here to punish you, we just wanted to understand. If you could explain what happened, there is no need for this incident to go on record as the fish, the lab and everything in it were unharmed," Mrs Jogh persuaded.

 Nastia's head dropped. She was silent for a good minute before she look up again, this time with tears brimming in her eyes.

"I had to. I had to... " she burst.

Mrs Jogh got up from her seat and hugged the girl. Nastia held on to Mrs Jogh's shoulders as she talked.

"My mother is sick. My father died when I was smaller. There is this one professor who knew my dad. He said he'd help me get through Gosu and that I could pay for everything once I graduate and get a job. But suddenly he told me to be part of this exchange program and do this one task. If I succeed, he will even pay for my mother's hospital bills," she sobbed.

Mrs Jogh's eyes went red. Mr Evans wasn't as easily moved.

"Show me proof of your mother's condition," he said.

Nastia promptly pulled out her phone and showed Mr Evans a list of emails, her correspondence with the hospital her mother's seeking treatment in.

"She got cancer from years of working at the coal factory. You can call her oncologist," Nastia offered.

Mr Evans dialled the number. The row of students behind Nastia watched in disbelief. Molly gripped Ballqis and Mirna's hands.

I can't believe Mr Evans would dig that deep, Ballqis eyed Iqball, and the guy beside her silently agreed.  

A short conversation ensued and after a few minutes, Mr Evans was satisfied. Mrs Jogh returned to her seat.

"This is my conversation with the professor. His name is..." Nastia wanted to show her phone screen which was displaying a messaging app but was cut short.

"Egorov," Mrs Jogh said.

Nastia's face was pure shock.

"How... how..." she stammered again.

"Tell us more, Nastia," the Student Affairs head encouraged when Mrs Jogh's would not explain.

"Professor Egorov, he is heading a research at my university, where I worked for him part time. He told me to find a way into Mrs Jogh's fish lab undetected and switch on this special device that he taught me how to assemble. I just needed to flash the light at the fish and I'm done," Nastia said.

"Did he tell you what the light would do to the fish?" Mrs Jogh asked.

Nastia nodded head slowly.

"Stunt their growth," she answered.

Mrs Jogh huffed. 

"We have to report this to the police," Student Affairs head said.

"I agree, this is sabotage," Micah spoke from behind them.

Mrs Jogh and her younger research partner exchanged looks and agreed.

"There is a way to do this," Mr Evans said, taking lead.

Nastia's tears flowed freely.

***

For the first time, Mirna and Micah sat side by side at a table without fighting. It's not because Molly, Aga, Iqball and Ballqis were also with them. It was because they all were still recovering from shock.

Mrs Jogh revealed that it was already in her plans to end the current phase of her research at the end of the semester. She would be focusing on breeding and farming techniques as the paperwork for the tilapia species she had meshed to be reared commercially had been done with Farmeca.

As the Students Affairs head insisted on a police report, Mr Evans suggested that the university worked with the authorities to keep Nastia's identity safe. A gorgeous detective showed up after he made a call. She agreed to help and the Student Affairs head promised that she would take care of Nastia.

"I wonder how they will present the case to the university and Gosu later," Mirna wondered.

"Poor Nastia," Molly said. 

"Yeah," Iqball agreed. Nastia's secret reminded him of his mother, and he knew Ballqis must have thought of this too as she had not let his hand go ever since they left the lab.

"I hope action will be taken against Egorov," Micah said vengefully.

"Yeah," Iqball once again agreed.

"That guy must've been jealous that Mrs Jogh managed to keep her husband's research lab afloat. I bet it was him whom Mrs Jogh saw at Farmeca. He must have seen what a success Mrs Jogh is now," Ballqis mused.

"What a pathetic loser," Molly dissed without fear.

"We really should keep this whole thing down," Mirna reminded them all.

"That's right. If Egorov knew Mrs Jogh has an asset as incredible as a telepathic fish ..." Molly whispered.

"Guys, thank you so much for all you've done. You protected the fish and the lab and stayed loyal to my aunt," Micah said suddenly. His eyes glistened.

They all smiled.

"Especially you, Mirna. I was wrong to immediately dismissed your story as fake. I'm sorry," Micah added as he turned to the red head next to him.

"And... that's the face I wanted to see!" Mirna screamed.

The rest of table cackled as Mirna took out her phone and snapped a photo of Micah feeling sorry.

"Sorry Micah, but I'm keeping this photo as a reminder that my days as the campus freak is officially over," Mirna announced, her face filled with satisfaction.

"I deserve that," Micah nodded.

"Hey," Mirna called, nudging him.

Micah turned to face her again.

"Apology accepted," Mirna said.

***

Nastia was waiting outside of Mr Evans' class the next day. The sight of her stopped Aga in his tracks with Molly and Ballqis ramming straight into his broad back.

Ballqis rubbed her nose and Iqball quickly replaced her fallen bag handle back onto her shoulders.  

Molly was about to berate Aga when she noticed Nastia waiting for them.

"Hi guys, can I see Aga for a while?" the Russian beauty asked.

"You can come with us to the park, we're having bread and cheese," Aga said and walked off.

Molly and Ballqis pulled the girl's hand and dragged her with them. Iqball trailed the girls, amused.

They reached the park where Aga was already unpacking a loaf of bread and a pack of sliced cheese.

"What's the occasion?" Nastia tried to make small talk.

"We just finished our final semester exam for Mr Evan's subject. We usually have bread and cheese to celebrate the end of each of his torture," Iqball answered.

"Oh, I should not interrupt then," Nastia said but Molly had pulled her down to sit on the ground.

Ballqis quickly made a cheese sandwich and handed it to Nastia. Nastia warily accepted as she glanced towards Aga. Aga was still ignoring her by the time everyone was munching their own cheese sandwich.

"Aga, I would like to apologize for using your ID. I didn't mean to involve you. I like you," she whispered, but they all could hear her well enough.

"You could have told me about your problem," Aga said flatly.

"What good would that do? I'd still have to complete my task," Nastia argued.

"I would have stopped you. What you did is wrong, no matter how desperate you are. We could have worked a way to raise money for your mom, or something. I don't know. But now we'll never find out," Aga responded bitterly, not even glancing her way.

Iqball cleared his throat.

"Aga, I lost my mom to cancer. I know how helpless and desperate Nastia feels, give her a chance."

Nastia looked at Iqball in understanding. 

"Even Mrs Jogh said Egorov is not someone you could reason with, that's why she's letting the police handle things. He took advantage of Nastia's situation," Molly tried.

Aga kept his face blank.

"I'm really, really sorry, Aga," Nastia said, then slowly made her exit.

Aga didn't bother to stop her. He kept eating his cheese sandwich in silent. Ballqis bumped her fist on Aga's muscled shoulder but Aga didn't budge.

"She apologised, Aga."

"It's still wrong. What she did nearly cost Mrs Jogh her whole research. It could have affected the livelihood of researchers. And she abused animals," the stubborn Aga debated coldly.

"Aga, not everything is black and white, you know? Even in maths you have margin of error," Molly bumped a fist and an argument as well.

"We're not statistics, Molly. We're living breathing things," Aga said between gritted teeth.

"Yeah? So we're humans and she isn't? She doesn't get to make mistakes? I wonder if liking you was a mistake too, then," Molly said without force in her sentence, but every word hurt. 

For a second, both Ballqis and Iqball thought she was talking about herself, but then remembered Nastia's confession minutes ago.

Aga glared at her, his face only a couple of inches from hers. Ballqis pressed Iqball's hand. 

"Guys, let's lay off this topic for a while, OK? Nobody is the bad guy here except for that old enemy of Mrs Jogh's. We should stick together, right?" Iqball quickly interrupt as he could feel Ballqis' distress.

Molly turned away from Aga and made herself another sandwich. When she saw Aga's still hardened expression, she shoved the sandwich towards his face.

Shocked, Aga had to quickly grab the food with his mouth. Everyone was stunned for a couple of seconds before Molly started to cackle like a witch.