• • •

Popping static fills the darkness along with stripes of visible static. A close-up image of a set piece then fades onto the screen. Lively music sounds—a mix of trumpets of xylophones—as a disembodied, orotund male voice asks, "What time is it?"

A chorus of voices reply, "Travel time!" as the words TRAVEL TIME light up from the set piece.

The words fade as the man asks again, "What time is it?"

The sign glows the answer along with the voices: "Travel time!"

"Yes, it is—" Mimicking the words' blinking lights, the voice grows more thrilled. "—it's Travel Time!"

The image is then zoomed out, revealing the sign to be installed above a humble stage with a curtain as the backdrop.

"And here is our new game master," the male voice continues, "Barry Moore!"

Now in a wide angle, the new game master himself, Barry Moore, stands behind a broad podium with a closed smile on his young face. He waves to the applauding audience under the bright stage lights. Once he lowers his hands, the applause dies down.

"Thank you very much," he tells the camera, gripping onto the sides of the podium. "Welcome back to our wonderful show here; it is a pleasure to continue our visit in San Diego for the grand opening of Pelagica."

And those are the last words that slip out from his mouth before trepidation seizes him.

Trepidation of the production crew finding out.

Trepidation of the audience rejecting him.

Trepidation of the press spreading the truth:

MOORE BEHIND DISAPPEARANCE OF TIME TRAVEL GAME MASTER

BARBERO FOUNDED AS A MERMAN IN PELAGICA AQUARIUM

MOORE DOES ALL IT TAKES TO GET DREAM JOB—EVEN RUINING HIS MASTER'S LIFE

Barry senses a heavy weight growing in his chest, and even when he draws in full breaths, his chest stays tight. His head spins from the struggle of gathering oxygen, his thoughts swirl at the possible catastrophes—the damage, the hate, the guilt—and even the lights and attention he has chased after for his whole light cannot give him life now.

Instead, he imagines the live audience seated in front of him throwing questions mixed with disapproval at him:

"Is it worth ruining his life?"

Marcos's stunned expression on the fisherman's boat, all tangled up in the net with his hair slicked back and his tail behind him flashes through Barry's mind.

"Don't you feel ashamed of yourself?"

Marcos's questioning and pleading, tinged with panic, as the fisherman's boat approaches the Pelagica's bay echoes through his mind.

"How dare you! He took you in and this is how you repay him?"

The guilt rising within him when excusing Marcos's absence to Mr. Williams rises again, causing him to sweat.

"Are you satisfied you finally got what you wanted?"

The answer is simple: Barry strides off stage, leaving the quiet audience and camera operators confused. He knows what will truly make him satisfied.