Abby took a deep breath as she moved down the hallway.  She moved as quickly as she could.  Something was wrong.  Very wrong.  She wasn't sure what exactly was wrong, but she knew one of her fish was sick.  The white spots were telling.  Her Sunshine Pleco, which she named Minerva, had white spots all over her body.  She had been cleaning the tank when she spotted the spots.  Minerva didn't look too good.

She had thought of looking for Cafas, but when she asked a few other students they didn't know where he was.  So she asked if there was a teacher for biology somewhere.  It wasn't totally uncommon for students to have pets.  It wasn't exactly against the rules, as far as she knew.  No one had told her not to, at least.  One of the older students told her to look for Dr. Fishman.  So she was moving through the hallways looking for the right office.

Taking only enough time to read the plagues beside the doors meant she almost missed it.  Twisting quickly she knocked on the door and pushed it open a little.  "Excuse me, Dr. Fishman?" she called out.  She hoped he was here.  She didn't want Minerva to die.  She didn't want any of her fish to die.  Though with all the guppies it was hard to keep a correct count.

Manfish sat at his desk in his office, taking turns between rifling through piles of paperwork and looking at his computer monitor. Overall, it looked to be a rather mundane and boring day, which he planned to spend getting lessons ready and other of the tasks that came with being a teacher.

He had to say he liked it, for the most part. Kids would be kids after all. Putting his focus back on the stack of assignments before him, he looked down at one of them and chuckled lightly.  He'd been teaching his general science class for younger students, and had them draw a food chain. One of them had drawn what was obviously a sketch of his fish-chimera of a teacher in between a shark and a cat, and the mutant didn't know whether to give the kid extra points, or reprimand them for it. Eh, maybe both. 

Yes. Both.

"Excuse me, Dr. Fishman?" 

His train of thought was interrupted by a voice he didn't recognize, so he got up from his desk and went to the door. Even though he was in a place dominated by mutants, he still wondered about first impressions. After all, it wasn't every day one ran across a teacher that was a giant mish-mash of fish in a wetsuit. 

"This is he," he replied politely in his deep and distinguished voice. "What can I do for you?"

Abby wasn't exactly sure who she was expecting when she set out to find a teacher. The man with fish features was not it. But he said he was Dr. Fishman. Suddenly nervous, she rung the hem of her shirt with her hands. "Um, I think," she paused to swallow. "IhavesomepetfishinmyroomandIthink one of them is sick."

There! She said it. Hopefully he wouldn't get on to her for having the fish in her room. She liked Minerva and Dagr and all her guppies.

The fish-mutant could tell that he wasn't exactly what the young girl was expecting, but at the same time he could tell that whatever this girl needed was of great importance. He adjusted his goggle-glasses as he listened to her, somewhat smiling with his eyes; even still, it would be easy to miss since Manfish's face wasn't exactly built for things like expressions.  But he was smiling on the inside, and that's what counts, right?

Although, now he wasn't quite sure if someone sent her his way because he was the resident science teacher and biology expert, or because he looked like someone's pet fish after a nuclear accident. Either way, he was somewhat flattered. 

"Well," he replied, adjusting his goggle-glasses again as he looked down at her, "I'm not exactly certain about the pet policy around here." His deep voice started out sounding almost stern, but as he continued, his voice softened. "But, regardless, if someone finds out, they didn't hear it from me." Usually, it was in his nature to abide by the rules, but maybe the fish thing pulled at his heart strings. Or mayb.e it was because she seemed so concerned. He was sure if this had been about a sick cat, he wouldn't have been so sympathetic. Regardless, he had her back here.

"So, what seems to be the problem?" he asked, already mentally running through the possibilities and the solutions.

>>"Well,I'm not exactly certain about the pet policy around here. But, regardless, if someone finds out, they didn't hear it from me."

Abby smiled a little at that. He wouldn't tell on her!  She could keep her fish!

>>"So, what seems to be the problem?"

The little shifter took a moment to collect her thoughts. "Minerva has these white, fuzzy spots on her. I was checking on them just a bit ago when I saw the spots. I didn't see them yesterday, but Minerva was kinda hiding behind the ship so I don't know for sure."

She checked on her fish everyday. If she couldn't see them she let them be but she knew that fish could get sick easily. But nothing she knew about formed the white, fuzzy spots.  She knew about fish ick, clamped fin, and flukes.  Those happened in poor water conditions.  But this wasn't any of them!  She hoped Dr. Fishman could help.  She didn't want her fish to die.

He listened, pondering as she spoke. "Sounds a like a fungal infection..." he murmured, thinking over it. "This is usually a sign of  another underlying problem, be it bacterial infection, injury. Hang on one moment, we'll get this sorted out." 


Momentarily, the large fish-man disappeared into his office, then emerged with a container of medication. "This should do the trick, but if you don't mind, I'd like to go with you, to check on them. Often, bacterial infections are mistaken for fungus. That and I want to routinely check a few things," he gave a nod in an attempt to soothe her, since facial expressions weren't exactly his forte.

>>"Sounds a like a fungal infection... This is usually a sign of  another underlying problem, be it bacterial infection, injury. Hang on one moment, we'll get this sorted out."

Underlying problems? Abby wondered. That didn't sound good. Injury didn't either. But it was possible. She knew plecos weren't very friendly with other plecos. Though Dagr and Minerva seemed to get along. Minerva kept to the back of her tank while Dagr stayed to the front. They didn't seem to fight. But she could have missed something.

"This should do the trick, but if you don't mind, I'd like to go with you, to check on them. Often, bacterial infections are mistaken for fungus. That and I want to routinely check a few things."

She startled out of her thoughts when Dr. Fishman returned. "That's fine," she agreed. Having someone actually check on her tank wouldn't be a bad idea. Not if he wasn't going to tell on her. "What kind of things do you wanna check?" she asked as she moved to show Dr. Fishman where her room, and her tank, was.

"Well, I just want to look at the tank all around; what kinds of fish you have, the conditions of the tank, the ph of the water...that sort of thing. And if something isn't right, I can show you how to make it better for them."

He gave another reassuring nod as he walked with her, adjusting his glasses every now and then.When they got to her room, he gave the tank a good look-over. "Hmm..." he murmured. "Nice overall setup...doesn't seem as though they fight...Ah, there's the patient in question...Hmmm....Aha!" He looked back at Abby.

"I see the problem. The back of the tank isn't getting clean enough; very common when tanks have a lot of decor. So, just be extra careful and ensure the whole tank gets clean. Now, to treat the fungus, you just put a little of this in the filter like so..." He demonstrated, then handed her the box.

"Now, I need you to do this once a day. And every day you do it, replace about half of the water in the tank with clean water, okay? That should clear things up."

Dr. Fishman sounded like he knew what he was doing. Abby thought she had figured out how to keep her fish from fighting. Though maybe not. Plecos were territorial after all. The little blonde started to list different things that she could have missed. She had done a lot of research when she first got her fish, and any time she added a new one to her tank. She could have missed something, or forgot something. She was still listing things when they got to her room.

>>"Nice overall setup...doesn't seem as though they fight...Ah, there's the patient in question...Hmmm....Aha!"

She perked at his exclamation. She listened to his explanation carefully. Huh. Her tank wasn't getting clean all the way. Tilting her head, Abby could see how the decor would impede the tank keeping clean. She took the box from him and read the instructions. The instructions he gave her made sense too. Eventually the water would all be new. With the treatment the current water wouldn't be harmful. "How many days?" she asked. If done too long she could hurt her fish.