Lewis waited at a booth with a large box on the table. The girls slowly walked in and sat down with him. They weren't excited about giving samples. Rikki hated it, and didn't give anything up without a fight. The JuiceNet Café was unusually empty, only a few customers scattered around the computers at the bar. Lewis had taken this into account and picked a booth near the back but not completely away from all the guests. He looked each of the girls in the eye before beginning his plea.
"I have built a machine that should help me find out more about your…um fish problem. The thing is I need a tiny favor from all of you. I need a scale. Just one, from each of you." He said quickly.
"You what! Those might not grow back." Cleo said astonished he would ask.
"I've already told you no." Rikki added, "This is a waste of time."
"Why don't you find a dead one that has fallen off? I'm sure there are a few on Mako." Cleo suggested.
"Because I need a fresh sample." Lewis informed.
"Besides it sounds painful." Emma frowned.
"But don't you want to know how this happened?" Lewis lowered his voice, "Please, this will be a major breakthrough. We might even figure out how to counter act the full moon effect."
"All of that from one scale?" Rikki didn't believe him.
"Possibly."
"Alright Lewis, but you can only have a very little one." Cleo gave in first like always, she wanted to help in most anyway she can.
As Lewis continued to try to convince the remaining girls couple of booths down two teenagers listened wide-eyed. They had heard Zane's speech about finding a mermaid, no one believed him of course. As they overheard this conversation they began to put a few things together. Greed began to cloud their judgment and a plan of action was born.
In Lewis' secluded fishing spot Emma was giving up one of her shining scales. She scrunched her face in pain as Lewis slowly pulled on it. Cleo and Rikki were sun drying nearby scrunching their faces as well in remembered pain. Rikki had made it clear in-between wail s that this process would never happen again. When they returned to the JuiceNet Café for a quick drink, before returning to their own homes, they spotted a flyer on one of the outside tables.
"Oh no." Cleo whined.
"This is bad, we need to keep clear of the water until this dies down." Emma advised wisely.
"Who wrote this garbage? A third grader?" Rikki laughed, "Ten-thousand dollars to anyone who catches the behemoth fish. I could have done better."
"This is not funny Rikki that picture looks just like our tails." Cleo whispered.
"Okay so we need to get rid of all these flyers and find out who has been passing them out. Cleo you find Lewis and show him the flyer. Rikki and I will clean up." Emma instructed.