The next day was slow approaching. Kowalski hadn't gotten much sleep this night either and spent most of the night on his tablet looking up facts about dolphins. There were some very interesting facts around the internet. Like, for instance, dolphins use pufferfish toxins as a drug to get high. He didn't know that before but now he does.
The sun wasn't even up by the time he climbed out of his bunk and sighed after twisting and cracking his back. The train was a good 45 minute journey. Blowhole had said to get there as early as he could. But he could not think of an excuse to give skipper. He couldn't keep reusing the old ones because he would get suspicious.
Kowalski sat himself at the table in the dark and stared down at his tablet. Its screen lighting his face in the otherwise black room. But he wasn't the only one awake at this early hour.
Skipper hopped down from his bunk sluggishly too and slowly waddled over to the table.
"What are you doing up, soldier?" He whispered.
Kowalski sighed and couldn't think of anything to say. Couldn't think of a lie to give. Didn't want to give a lie. But at the same time he didn't want to get killed either. It would have been a different story if his disappearances were something he was enjoying, but they weren't.
"I'm sorry, Sir. Sleep eludes me. My mind has been too busy to function right. Can I take the day off?" Kowalski asked.
Everything he said was true. A busy mind was something he had suffered with before and usually the remedy for that was to relax. Unfortunately he wouldn't be able to relax but Skipper didn't have to know that.
Skipper sat down and nodded.
"Of course. My top priority is the health of my men. Mental health included. If there's anything you want to talk about, don't hesitate."
Kowalski could have cried. There was so much he wanted to talk about. So much help he wanted to ask for but just couldn't. His only solice had been Doris and even this date wasn't spared from the torment Blowhole had put on him.
"Thank you, Sir. If you don't mind I'll take a walk. Don't wait up for me."
Skipper smiled tenderly and patted Kowalski on the back as he rose from his seat and headed to the ladder. The time stood at 5:15. The trains were all running this early and he'd have no trouble catching one. He could clear his mind on the journey and watch the scenery go by. That usually helped clear his mind.
-
As predicted the train journey was nice. Kowalski had managed to watch the sun rise and it had calmed him down enough to get 20 minutes more sleep on the train before he arrived at his stop.
He let himself in the lair as usual and was met with a very dark corridor. It was eerie and too quiet. So he waited. 15 minutes went by where Kowalski just waddled up and down the corridor. He glanced at a clock on one wall every now and again and wondered where Blowhole could have been. Usually he would have found the bird by now.
But just as Kowalski thought that, a door opened and out lurched Dr Blowhole. Blowhole stared, didn't say a thing and just wiped his eye for a good couple of seconds before staring again. Yes, the bird was there. Blowhole looked up to the clock in the room and then back down to Kowalski. Then he looked back up to the clock and then back down to Kowalski.
"It's, 6:30 in the morning. What are you doing here?"
Kowalski flushed in embarrassment and took a step back. Had he misheard Blowhole the previous night? He did tell him to get there as early as he could.
"You told me to get here as early as possible."
"Yeah. I was thinking half 8 or 9. I'm still asleep!" Blowhole exclaimed.
Kowalski felt like an idiot. Perhaps 6:30 was a little early, even for an early riser like himself. He had no idea what Blowhole wanted his help on testing anyway. Could have only been an hours worth of work.
"Whatever," Blowhole mumbled. "I'm not starting work yet. I'm getting breakfast."
He began to ride away again, down the hall and to the elevator. Kowalski could only imagine he was on his way to that futuristic kitchen he owned. Perhaps he could score some coffee while Blowhole was at it. So, Kowalski waddled after the dolphin and stood to his side in the elevator.
Blowhole chuckled quietly, not looking down at the bird.
"And you called me desperate."
Kowalski sighed. He wasn't desperate. Not in the slightest. He had just misinterpreted what Blowhole had said. He should have said something akin to 'arrive at 9'. But he didn't. He said get here at early as you can and Kowalski was there as early as he could be.
The kitchen was just as beautiful as it had been when Kowalski had first had the pleasure to discover it. Blowhole ignored the bird for now as he navigated the room himself, opening cupboards and switching things on. Meanwhile, Kowalski hopped up onto the table and made himself comfortable while he watched Blowhole.
Kowalski couldn't tell what Blowhole was doing or what he was making. But he did understand what he was doing once he started to fiddle with the coffee machine. Kowalski lit up and eagerly.
"Make me a coffee?" Kowalski asked.
Blowhole stopped suddenly and turned around, his flippers still locked in place on the coffee machine.
"Who is who's henchman?"
Kowalski curled himself up slightly, perhaps he was being too demanding, but he sighed in happiness when he noticed Blowhole set 2 cups down.
It wasn't 5 minutes later when Kowalski had a steaming cup of creamy coffee in front of him and Blowhole had a darker cup of coffee with a bowl of what looked like cereal. Kowalski cocked a brow but didn't dare to query the dolphin. Apparently dolphins eat cereal.
Everything was quiet and it was a little awkward since Blowhole looked like he could have just fallen asleep on the table. Kowalski had to think of a conversation topic if he didn't want the rest of the day to follow suit like this. Boring, bland, tiring and awkward.
Kowalski looked towards Blowhole. He had a flipper wrapped around his cup, stealing the warmth from inside. And there were the spots he had noticed before, only... there were more? Very faint, travelling up his flippers. They were barely noticeable but Kowalski couldn't help but think they could be cute on someone like Doris. A few on her nose, under her eyes, yes, she would look so adorable.
"You know, I did some research about your colouration," Kowalski said after he cleared his throat.
This might not have been the best breakfast topic but it was all he could think of. And it was something he was genuinely interested about.
"Oh yeah?" Blowhole replied, completely uninterested.
"Colour changes can occur for a variety of different reasons but spotting is quite niche in the sense it only happens at specific points in a dolphins life."
Blowhole perked his head up, not liking where the bird was going with this. Could he not leave his imperfections alone? Why did he have to analyse every little detail to the most embarrassing degree? Blowhole didn't pick out all those weird grey feathers Kowalski had hiding in with his black ones. Or that awful tattoo he had gotten to symbolize his love for Doris.
"Calves are often born with spots and imperfections that smooth and mellow out as they grow but then they hit a turning point in their lives when they reach their prime where the cycle turns back on itself and they start to spot and discolour again."
"In their prime?" Blowhole said feeling insulted. "Watch the ice there, buddy."
"Discoloration may also occur during late stages of pregnancy where the skin is taut."
"I'm not pregnant."
Kowalski shrugged his shoulders and slouched back.
"Well it's got to be one of them."
Blowhole leaned down with a scowl on his face that challenged Kowalski to insult him further. Kowalski tried to back away but found himself stuck between a rock and a hard place. Then, to his surprise, the dolphin smirked as he thought of something.
"Why doesn't Doris have spotting then?" He asked.
Kowalski looked puzzled for a moment before looking back at the dolphin.
"Why would she?"
"Why? She's older than me. I'm the little brother, by quite a few years actually. Your analysis is flawed."
Kowalski cocked a brow and thought for a moment. No, that can't be right. Blowhole can't be younger, that didn't feel right, didn't settle well with him. Not only that but Blowhole looked so much older than Doris.
Blowhole chuckled at the bird's slightly flustered look. Until Kowalski smirked and sat up straight again.
"You're sure you're not pregnant?"
Blowhole suddenly slammed his flipper down on the table, making Kowalski jump and nearly fall off from shock.
"Can we stop talking about my skin?"
Kowalski bit back a chuckle. The dolphin got so riled up about his looks it was funny. With his moisturizing routine and now his embarrassment about his spots. He shouldn't have needed to feel embarrassed. Most species of dolphin had spots. Heck there was even a dolphin named the spotted dolphin which was covered head to flukes in spots. It was natural.
"How do you keep it so soft and smooth?" Kowalski asked.
Blowhole sighed deeply and let his whole body slump down. It was too early in the morning to be dealing with idiot questions and conversations.
"Always make time to moisturize."
Kowalski nodded and focused more on his coffee, taking a sip now that it had had a chance to cool down.
"Right, but how are you able to keep it moisturized enough? Dolphins aren't meant to be out of the water as long as you are. Any other dolphin would die mere hours out of the water."
Blowhole smirked and lifted his spoon as if he were about to give a lecture.
"Ah, I have a scientifically engineered skin care routine. It keeps me moist and at a suitable temperature for up to 8 hours. I moisturize several times a day. Though, less when I'm visiting family or just out for a swim."
Kowalski nodded along again. He would have to question more about this skin care routine in the future when he found the right opportunity because like he said, a dolphin out of water just wasn't normal.
"What did you need me for today?" He asked instead. "You said you wanted to test something. Not on me, I hope."
Blowhole laughed and shook his head.
"No, not on you. The Behemothvirus still needs testing 5 more times. We'll set up 5 stations and introduce the virus to some of my colonies. We'll use an interval technique to record data and changes of the colonies at something like every 10 minutes for the first hour then once an hour or whatever I feel like."
Kowalski didn't like the sound of being so close to this virus, or whatever it was. He knew next to nothing about it, other than it would ruin your life if you were infected with it.
Kowalski must have been pulling a face of fear because Blowhole pulled his head up and smirked.
"After that, then we'll test it on you."
Kowalski shot his gaze up in a panic.
"What?!"
But Blowhole just laughed, cruelly.
"Of course I won't test it on you, I'm not an imbecile."
Kowalski let his pounding heart calm down enough to ask why. Blowhole was an evil cruel guy who had no second thoughts of attempting to murder Skipper. Why wouldn't he take the opportunity to rid the earth of Kowalski too?
"Why not? Don't you want to test it on someone other than an amoeba?"
Blowhole nodded but looked down to Kowalski in a serious manner.
"I can't stress just how careful me and my team have had to be. As it stands, the Behemothvirus can infect every living creature on earth. Now, say I give it to you, you become a monster and terrorize New York. You scratch someone, the Behemothvirus get into their bloodstream and they get infected. The cycle continues until every living creature on the planet is a monster. I wouldn't even be able to escape it. That's why I'm taking extra precautions and have been developing it for years so that it only affects humans."
Kowalski shuddered. He couldn't imagine what chaos the world would be in if every living creature was slowly turned into a monster. And he tried not to think of the day Blowhole would want to unleash this virus on human kind. There would be nothing he or his team would be able to do to stop him or the virus. Kowalski just had to hope the dolphin would come to his senses one day and realise he was an idiot. But of course, Kowalski wouldn't say that to the dolphin's face. Not if he didn't want a tail whack to the stomach. Now that he though about it, Blowhole hadn't said a word about Kowalski's kick to his nose the previous night. He supposed it was just as well and maybe the dolphin had even accepted he deserved it, in which case he did have understanding of just how annoying he was.