Another offer

"Hello, Nikolai, are you here," Cristal said, walking into the marine observatory along with Markus, Ivanka, and Donovan. Some of the workers turned over to look at them walk in, then looked over to Nikolai, guiding them to where he was, standing in front of the same big whiteboard he was at before they were sent off to Atlantis.

"Just how would the appearance of the gate be a factor," Nikolai murmured to himself as he wrote on the whiteboard.

"Um, Nikolai," Donavan said, startling him, causing him to drop his marker.

"Huh," he expressed, turning around, noticing the four of them behind him. "Oh, good afternoon, everyone."

"Good Afternoon," they said.

"Nikolai," Cristal smiled, "Is it alright if we use your computer to check the point standings of the slayer groups."

"Sure, um, let me just direct you there," he picked up his dropped marker, walked over, and sat down in front of his wall-locked computer.

As he opened the point charts, Markus became curious about what he was writing on the whiteboard. He tried to read it but struggled to fully understand the jargon it was writing in.

"Did my speculating interest you," Nikolai asked Markus, walking back from the computer.

"I can barely understand it," he replied with a chuckle, "what even is it that you're going on about here."

"The white gates after effect," he explained, "and how that's going to possibly affect marine life as well as life on this and other islands."

Markus nodded and thought to himself, so if we were to remove some of the staff, it could leave this island understaffed.

"Okay, let's see the individual sections," Cristal said, opening up the team boards for all 4 sections.

"Remember what Mr. Zackson said," Ivanka brought up. "There were some that were able to explore a portal themselves in the North-East section, I think."

"You're right," she clicked on the page containing the groups from the North-East section and scrolled down.

"Hey, isn't that the kid that we passed by going Mr. Zackson's office," Ivanka pointed to the picture of Max that was displayed, a photo that was taken in their first week on the island.

"Looks like he's a part of the third-highest team," Donovan added in, "So then we should be looking at the top 3 teams."

"The Forth team isn't that far behind the 3rd," Cristal explained, "only by about 23 points, so we should consider them too."

Ivanka chuckled, "did we find our teams that fast."

"There's still that other condition," she turned to her, "they need to be trustworthy."

"Let's take a look at all of our options for now," Donovan finished.

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I walked with Jacob into the shopping district, wondering about where we should go.

"Is there any place you want to go," Jacob asked me as he looked around at the shops.

"No idea. You have something in mind?"

"Why don't you get a haircut," he looked at my hair, then at his own. "Man looks like even I need one too."

I ran my fingers through my hair, "Yeah, it's getting kind of long. Maybe I'll get a baseball cap."

"What is it with you and not wanting to cut your hair?"

"Makes me look like the protagonist in some cartoon."

He laughed, "Are you joking you're not still 12,"

"It's a fantasy I have," I explained, looking at him, "nothing's wrong with it."

We headed over to a clothing store in hopes of finding a baseball cap and some sunglasses. As we walked into the shop, the silent space was filled with the sound of Jacob's footsteps.

"Could you not walk, so loudly," I said, skimming through the selection of baseball caps they had available.

"Wah wah, loud sounds scare me," he sarcastically remarked as he checked the display of sunglasses.

I looked around as if to address an audience that was observing our conversation, pointed towards Jacob, and sarcastically said, "Y'all hear this man."

"Stop talking to yourself. It's weird."

"Y'all hear something," I continued, aimlessly looking around as if to find the source of the sound.

He stared blankly back at me, waiting for me to make eye contact with him. As soon as I did, we paused for a moment, then laughed it off and continued our search.

After swiping our cards, we head out of the shop. "Polar bears?" He was referring to my baseball cap.

"Polar bears," I replied, smirking and rapidly nodding. "Tigers," I looked over to his cap.

He nodded and smirked, "Tigers."

We walked back over to the game room when we began to faintly hear someone sing a song in between the sounds of the waves crashing on the island.

"Is that coming from the ocean?" I looked over to where the sound was coming from. Unable to see anything due to the game room being in my way.

"Sounds like it."

We began walking towards and around the game room, noticing the singing getting louder.

Once we cleared the building, we saw Blaze leaning forwards against the safety rails that nearly bordered the edge of the island as he gazed out onto the ocean.

"Blaze," we called out to him.

He turned around and smiled when he noticed us, "what's up you two."

"This song *is*. Do you know where it's coming from," Jacob asked.

He turned back to the ocean, "look," he gestured with his head.

There atop a floating piece of sheet metal was a Siren singing a beautiful song.

"A mermaid, here, really," I questioned.

"Yeah," Blaze answered, clearly enjoying the song. "It's uncommon, but Sirens do show up near the island. They're not hostile if we stay at a distance, so we don't tend to kill them. It's more the merman you need to worry about."

We listened quietly as the Siren continued her song, taking in the rustling sound of the ocean mixed in with the soothing voice of the mermaid.

"I'm sure Nikolia's enjoying this," Blaze broke the silence.

"Who," Jacob looked at him.

Blaze turned his head to the left, setting his eyes on the marine observatory then on the dock next to it, expecting to see Nikolai there, but instead found it empty.

"He's a marine researcher that works on the island, observing marine life around here, y'know, for our safety. He's currently in charge of that building over there."

Jacob and I both looked over to the building Blaze was talking about. It was 1 to 2 meters closer to sea level than from where we were standing, constructed into the rock that served as a foundation for the island.

Blaze was a bit concerned but reasoned that Nikolai was probably too busy speculating what the effects might be on the island from the appearance of a new white gate, enough so to miss this opportunity.

My eyes were fixated on the building, wondering how the interior of the building would look like. It was at that time when I saw the same 4 adults I passed by on the way out of Mr. Zackson's office come out from that building.

Maybe they work there, I thought as I turned back to look at the mermaid.

After a short time of listening, I began to hear a collection of footsteps coming over to us.

"Hello, Blaze," Cristal said, formally greeting him.

He only turned his head to look at them, "Hey," he expressed in a more reserved fashion while giving a small nod.

"Blaze," Donovan stepped up, "how is it with you and your girlfriend Luna."

"I wish," He responded, laughing. Totally fitting in comparison with his greeting to the lady.

Now that Donavan had captured Blaze's attention, she moved over to Jacob and I.

"Good afternoon," she greeted us.

"Good afternoon," we replied.

"How would you two feel about helping off the island."