By the time the tour was over, she was physically and emotionally exhausted. How could one little group of teens and tweens go through so much before they even hit high school? They were just like her, and it annoyed the hell out of her. She was supposed to be the most impained, the most hard-done-by. Her tragedy was supposed to be the darkest and the grittiest for miles. And it was, she still felt, but not by as many shades of black as she would have liked. She collapsed in the field, and they lay on the yellow grass together. Red and orange leaves flew past them, and crunched underneath their tired limbs. She wanted to be the coolest person in her group, and have a nickname, and have spooky, gritty adventures. Maybe even superpowers! Rex had electricity, maybe her thing was sound. They could call her The Koi Girl, she could have, like, sonar hearing. Like a dolphin! Or-
"That'd be cool," Ray said.
"Huh?"
"You were talking out loud."
"O-oh."
"Why 'The Koi Girl'?" he asked.
"There's these two stories I know about fish. One of them lives in a river, and gets stuck in a well. It thinks the well is safe, and that its life is better because nothing can hurt it. But then it gets too big, and they find it belly-up. The villagers try to get it out, but it's stuck, and it won't come out until it rots. It rots, ruins the water, forcing everyone to drink seawater until they die. I don't want to be like that fish."
He nodded. "Yeah, me neither."
"I want to be like the koi... it crosses the ocean, while the gods laugh at it for trying. They give it obstacles, but with the help of guardian spirits, it climbs the tallest waterfall in the world, and goes through the shrine gate at the top. Then... it turns into a DRAGON!" She grins, eyes wide and mean-looking, for effect.
He laughs. "So, like a shark or a megalodon?"
"No," she frowns. "A dragon. A great big mythical animal. They're protectors."
"We had one of those, he's in juvie now. A shark is pretty much a dragon compared to a tuna or something, anyway. Or a PLEISOSAUR! Did you know the Loch Ness Monster might be a surviving dinosaur species?"
She dropped her expression flat and glared at him. "All the fun has to go through you, huh?"
"What? No-" he stuttered.
"You're just like my dad: total fun police," she told him. "I bet you've never even graffiti'd a wall, or snuck out at night."
He sat up. "Is that something you do?"
"Now that I'm not deaf, I'm thinking about it." She put her hands on her hips.
"You USED to be deaf? How does that-"
"Look, it's not important. Why don't you meet me at the bus station in an hour? We're gonna take a trip to the mall."
"Okay, what's at the mall?"
"The MISSION!" she yelled, and ran off.

Lan-Yung stood at the bus terminal with a backpack full of gear. Night-vision goggles, an underwater camera, a police-grade flashlight, and a can of red spray-paint. Ray arrived almost late, with nothing but his clothes and his wallet on him.
She asked, "Didn't anyone else want to go?"
He shrugged. "They're outlining ground rules for when a handsome blond guy dates a pair of sisters at the same time."
Lan-Yung blinked. "That's, uh, something. Is he like, a womanizer, or what?"
"A what?"
"A player."
"I think... it's just what they all want?" He shook his head. "As long as everyone's happy, I guess."
The bus rolled up. They paid their tolls, and sat down at the very back. Lan-Yung set down her bag in the space between them.
"So what are we doing?" He crossed his legs and clasped his hands together, wiggling his hips.
She tilted her head at his effeminate behavior. Then she shrugged it off. "Do you know the dolphin show?" She laid out her plan – they were going to expose the cruelty of keeping dolphins captive in a completely land-locked city. They'd wait till the mall closed, hide out until dark, and paint 'OCEAN SLAVER' on the glass.
"So we're gonna vandalize the mall?" Ray asked.
"Keep it down!" she whispered. "No, just the dolphin show."
"This seems like a bad idea," he shrugged.
"It was a bad idea to take a marine animal to a dry prairie and make it do tricks at the mall," she cut.
The bus hit a pothole, and the two of them jumped half a foot. They landed and shared a snicker. The bus then rolled up to the mall terminal, and screeched to a stop. Lan-Yung strapped on her bag, and they walked out.
The Venton Mall was, at one time, the largest in the world. It didn't stop there: largest indoor amusement park, largest indoor waterpark, and even the largest indoor Smackers restaurant. It had since been overtaken by other malls internationally, but it was still the size of a kingdom by itself. Successful businesses ran lively, active stores year-round. At least, that's what the plaque in the parking lot said.
Inside, it was beautiful. Almost like a modern temple: polished tile, classical architecture, fountains, trees, plants, escalators, elevators... the food court even had limestone flooring. People of all backgrounds, and possibly from all over the world, were power-walking in groups from two to ten, in every direction. Ray and Lan-Yung found a map, and headed for the indoor lake. In that lake was a real pirate ship, a little submarine, and the aforementioned dolphin pool. There was just one problem: there were no dolphins. The ship was chained off, and the submarine was out of commission.
"They still have two lion seals," said Ray.
Lan-Yung leaned on the railing that overlooked the bleachers, and the pool. Even the glass walls that once raised the water level were gone... the seals performed in their ground-level pool with fervor, for a wowing crowd. Parents, kids, couples, and more.
She said, "Yeah, I guess we can still go through with it. Same idea."
"He looks happy."
One of the seals jumped through a hoop, and gobbled up a hurtling snack from the trainer.
"No way, he's totally miserable! He has to be," she insisted.
The seal did a flip, waved to the audience, then did a back-flip. He got two treats, and gobbled them up from the air without effort.
She sighed. "How can he just... do tricks all day for a bunch of brainless idiots? He should be in the SEA."
"Well," Ray started, "He's got indoor heating in winter, air conditioning in the summer. A guaranteed food supply, a safe place to piss, no predators whatsoever, an adoring crowd, a best friend, and human caretakers who meet his every need." He gestured big and wide with his arms. "Plus, they've got this big pool to themselves, with filtered water."
Lan-Yung glared at him. "Okay, shut up. I get it, he's domestic."
"He's a freaking yuppie. A yuppie sea puppy! He lives better than most people, and all it costs is his freedom and dignity," Ray finished.
"I think I hate these seals," she laughed.
"Why did you wanna save them so bad, anyway?" he asked, sincerely. "Why you specifically, and not some animal rights group?"
Lan-Yung leaned back, still holding the rail, and looked down at the fluid reflections on the lake. "I grew up watching these... ocean documentaries in my room. And then I could go to the beach with my mom, and pick up shells, and be like, 'Ah yes, the seashell. Notice that it came from the sea.' And she'd laugh. I couldn't say it out loud, but I... gestured to it. She liked the way I did that." She sunk into her folded arms. "Now, I only see her on the news. She's an environmental activist, and she's a pretty redhead, too. Everyone loves her, half of them just for her looks. She hasn't spoken to me once, since she left my dad... because I could never hear her. I sent a letter, but she didn't..." Lan-Yung fell silent. She almost started to cry. "I get that she didn't wanna TALK, but why couldn't she just WRITE? It was something we could have shared."
Some time passed, in silence.
"So you wanna be on the news," Ray reasoned.
"I just want her to see me as an equal."
They stood and watched the seals flip around, dive, and wave. The crowd cheered for them, capturing the show as best as they could on their cameras and in their hearts. It was a good show.