The plan was after the visit to RAS we go back to the zoo. But Emi was hungry and she made us go back to her place where she handed out instant noodles and made us ate.
Little did we know that her dad was home. He walked in when we were in the middle of eating. Emi's dad was a nice guy, at least nicer than her mom. He always had a smile on, like Emi. But if you asked who she looked like the most, I'd say neither. She had her dads dark skin, but her mom's asian facial features, her hair was a mixture of both, but her eyes were a glistening brown. She was like neither too, more like her granddad.
"Hey kid, " Mr Johnson said.
Emi swallowed down a fork full of noodles. "Dad, you're home? "
"Was feeling under the weather, " He sighed and filled himself a glass of water. He turned back to us and blinked as if he was just now seeing us. "Oh, uh, I see you have friends over. "
Emi smiled sheepishly. "Dad meet Matt, Connor and Flora. Breezy, Animal Boy and Flora, meet Dad"
I waved and Mr Johnson nodded. "What have you kids been up to? "
Emi shrugged."We're heading to the zoo—wait dad you've done research and all that right?"
Mr Johnson pouted. "I'm a biology professor, so yeah I've had my fair share of the field work. "
'Course Emi forgot that her dad was a biology professor. It wasn't supposed to be funny but I laughed into my noodles cup and it bubbled.
Emi leaned forward in her seat. "You wouldn't happen to know Samuel Nakikus, would you? "
"Uh, Samuel, Samuel, Nakikus? " His face brightened. "Oh yeah, Sammy boy we went to uni together! "
We exchanged glances.
"You guys been keeping in touch? " Emi asked.
"He works at the zoo, we've met at reunions—why do you ask? "
"Does he ever mention his work? " Emi prompted.
"Uh, he's the cheif research officer. He was quite interested in mutations back in the day, a bit of a geek if I do say so myself. "
Emi rolled her eyes. I know what she wanted to say, you're a geek. "Anything more we need to know? "
"He's a bit of an oddball I guess. He once tried an experiment on his girlfriend, ack that did not end well. Liana Davis never forgave him. Oh and he has a soft spot for animals, no wonder he chose to work at the zoo—how much more information do you need? "
Emi grinned. "That's enough, perfect! "
Mr Johnson frowned. "You're doing that thing. "
"What thing? "
"That thing you do when you wanna do something that I don't like. "
Emi stood and pounded her fists against the table. "Drop your forks you ramen slurping dumb babies, we're going to the zoo! "
➷
The zoo looked okay for being trampled by a dinosaur. The animals acted like crazy fans when I got near. I simply nodded and rubbed my temples as I passed. We made it to the admin block and stood to the side to prep Matt. We got him to wear a suit, and shoes, and we took away his unnecessary bracelets and gave him a haircut. He protested all the way but eventually he agreed.
"Tell them you're here to make an investment, " Connor instructed, as he massaged Matt's shoulders.
"Investment," Matt cleared his throat. "Why yes my good sir, I am the heir to Kearny Enterprise, and I would like to make an investment. " He sounded more British than he should've.
"Ugh, dude you're not British! " Emi scolded.
Matt exhaled deeply. "Yes, I am not. "
"Say you want to speak to the head scientist, you are interested in his work." Flora added.
"I am interested in science—man I hate science, it's like my worst subject yet! "
"Ugh this isn't going to work, " Emi sighed.
"No no, it will, " Connor said, zealously. He pulled Emi to Matt's side, and studied them. "This! This'll work! "
"Yeah.... No. " Emi looked terrified. Like someone-just-revealed-her-biggest-secret terrified.
Connor pursed his lips then sighed. "Oh come on, this airhead, pun not intended, knows nothing about about science and he'll probably start talking about dandelions. "
Emi scrunched her face. "Dandelions, why dandelions? "
"I garden in my free time, " Matt mumbled. Emi frowned and stared him up and down.
"Plus it would help if he knew you were the daughter of his colleague, don't you think? " Connor pleaded.
Emi met my eyes. I nodded back. She looked at Flora and Flora gave her a thumbs up. Finally she nodded.
"Wait, " Emi said, "I don't, uh, I don't look very professional. " That was true. Emi wore ripped jeans paired with a cartoon shirt. Her hair was an unruly mess of curls and her shoes were two of a different pair.
Matt clicked his finger and took of his jacket. He put it over Emi.
"There we go, " Matt dusted his palms. "Fash—shion! " He pronounced the ion like he'd pronounce it in lion. Whatever accent he was trying for, he probaby failed.
"Well... Yeah okay, get going." Connor shooed them off into the admin building.
They disappeared into the building and I sighed. This had to work.
"It's going to work, don't worry, " Flora said. I glanced at her and nodded. That was reassuring.
"If they say the right thing, " Flora added. I scowled at the building then walked back down the path to the hyena section. They were lying around in their home when I arrived. Connor and Flora followed me to visit the hyenas.
"Maybe they'd know something, " Connor suggested.
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Why can't you talk to them? "
He frowned and squinted up at the sky. "It doesn't work. Sometimes, I try to speak animal like Zooli but it doesn't always work out the way I want it to. "
"Abilities have limits, " Flora said. I looked over at her wondering what her limit was.
I looked back at the hyenas again. "Hi, guys! "
"Oh it's that girl! " One said, the thinnest of the three.
"Hey, " I replied aloud, usually I didn't speak aloud. I guess I got comfortable talking aloud with my team around.
"Woah, I didn't think I'd ever meet someone else who could talk to us! " The other said.
I chuckled. "Someone else?"
The third said, "Yeah, there was this nice lady—boy she was pretty. She was always checking in on us, whenever the zoo people made us angry. But she stopped coming some years ago."
I wanted to ask more about the oddly familiar woman but something else interested me more. "The zoo people made you angry, why would they? "
Connor and Flora stepped forward, as if they could hear too.
The first one licked his lips. "Oh you know those pointy stuff they stick on us. Some of them are ok, they don't hurt much because the nice people give them, but the ones that hurt are the ones given by the bad guy, they hurt alot and make me angry."
"Who's the bad guy? "
"Oh this old fella, he sucks—there he is!"
I turned around to see Matt and Emi walking beside Samuel Nakikus in the flesh. I gulped and shook Connor and Flora. They turned my way then to Matt and Emi.
Connor flinched. "Oh shit, what's happening? "
"He's the bad guy, " I muttered, in a trance. Emi looked our way and made an okay sign with her fingers. They walked right past us to the lions, where they stood and talked, Matt pointing almost randomly.
"You sure? "
The animals started to get worked up. I could feel it. And I had to keep them in check, again. "They think he is. "
"Ok that's bad, " Flora muttered.
"It is, " I agreed.
Samuel Nakikus nodded at everything Matt and Emi said then said something back or laughed. I'm not one to judge a book by its cover but Samuel Nakikus had an eerie aura about him. Something told me it was him. They talked more and finally he left for the admin/research building again.
Matt and Emi practically sprinted to us, grinning like mad-men.
"Oh he's sooo shady! " Matt said.
"Very, " Emi agreed.
Connor exhaled heavily, looking relieved. "Ok, what did he say? "
Matt rolled up his sleeves and started, "Well you know all those science stuff about cells and bacteria culture and something about cats, then he started talking about mutations and how animals would benefit from it—"
Emi interrupted, "He was like, it's been a dream of mine for ages. Then he was like, when we're done with animals then we can move on to humans and then breezy was like pfft dumb humans and he laughed, like he laughed. Oh my gosh, that was scary. "
"Anything else? " I asked.
"Oh yeah he talked about a project he was working on, " Matt said, "he said, he couldn't tell. He wanted it to be a surprise!"
(A/n: sooo Matt is richy, he's Richard, he's a rich boy. Well one can dream...jkjk)