The Aquarium of Antics and Adventure (fan-fic)

This will be a Choose Your Own Adventure-type fanfic, involving antics and adventure in the Central Park Zoo's new aquarium building (and possibly a tentacle-filled hamster ball, depending on how you answer the question at the end of this first chapter).

The Aquarium of Antics and Adventure


Chapter One: The Beginning of Something

“Status report, soldier,” the walkie-talkie spat in a burst of static. The young penguin holding it jumped, nearly falling off his tree branch, and reflexively snapped to attention even though there was no one else there.

“Oh! Um, the construction people are just packing up, Skipper, and—ʺ the penguin said, and peered down, pushing a patch of leaves aside—“there seems to be an animal transport van pulling into the parking lot.”

“Already? The first one wasn’t supposed to arrive until six-thirty this evening!”  The walkie-talkie murmured to itself for a minute, then resumed the conversation with a squawk. “Congratulations, Private. You get to try out the recon post on the new building’s roof. Kowalski says you ought to have a better view of the parking lot from there.”

Private swiveled to survey the area between him and the light blue walls of the finally-complete aquarium building. Fortunately, the horde of burly construction workers was thinning out rapidly, and he had a fairly clear path to his destination.

 “Copy that, Skipper,” he said, and began inching his way down the tree trunk. Although the old oak boasted both rough bark and a plethora of knotholes to serve as flipper- and footholds, penguins are not natural climbers and Private, careful by nature, took his time as he awkwardly scrambled earthward.

Once safely on the ground, he swiftly scooted across the stretch of ground on his belly, zipping under the cover of a flowering shrub that bordered one of the many paved paths to the aquarium. Private peeked out from his hiding place and dashed for the aquarium doors the second the last worker climbed into his truck. He pushed one door just enough to allow one, rather pudgy penguin to enter, slipped inside, and cautiously swung it closed without making a sound.

Private grinned in spite of himself, almost wishing Skipper had been there. It wasn’t every day he was allowed to go on a surveillance mission on his own, and he was pretty sure sliding right under the humans’ noses was worth some points in Skipper’s book.

He looked around, letting out a low whistle as he took in his surroundings. The ceiling arched high above him to a stained glass dome that bent the sunlight and bounced it around the large room, almost like the shifting light underwater. The building was completely empty and silent, almost eerily so, and Private was ready to move on after a meager ten seconds of admiring the architecture. Five minutes worth of climbing on empty fish tanks and a trip through an attic later, he heaved himself onto the roof of the aquarium. Relieved, he held the walkie-talkie to his beak and said proudly, “I’m in position, Skipper!”

“Aaaand that’s a trout for me, boys,” Skipper’s crackling voice said, “Told you he’d get there eventually. How’s it looking, Private? How many new arrivals do we need to keep tabs on?”

Private looked down at the parking lot and examined the flurry of activity around the large, brightly painted truck. Kowalski was right, there is a good view from here, he thought.


There was a retching sound, and a live trout flew through the air. Skipper snagged it with a practiced flipper and gulped the fish down whole, mouthing “Nice shot, Rico,” at the scarred penguin sitting on the other side of the room as Private began a list of various marine animals.

“So far they’ve unloaded a bunch of small tanks. One’s full of hermit crabs, I think, and there’s another with starfish and horseshoe crabs. Let’s see… that looks like a stingray… another stingray… seahorses… the ones they’re bringing out now have just got a lot of regular fish, I can’t see clearly enough to identify all of them…”

“Sounds like they’re planning to set up a Touch-the-Fishies-type attraction,” remarked another penguin, huddled over a cinder-block table with a clipboard sitting in front of him.

“Hush, Kowalski,” snapped Skipper, who was paying close attention to the walkie-talkie, his earhole nearly touching it.

“Okay, I think this is the last tank they’ve got… looks like it’s a…”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For this chapter, there will be two questions, to determine the gender and species of the main character:

1. What animal is in the last tank?
2. Are they a boy? Or are they a girl?

The answer choices for Question 1 are: common octopus, ringed seal, or black-banded sea krait (a species of sea snake).

The answer choices for Question 2 are: male or female (or boy/girl, if you prefer).

Comment with your choice by Monday. The most popular option will be used, and if no option gets a majority of votes, I will use a random number generator to determine which option shall be used in the next chapter.

(If you want to, feel free to include a name for the main character in your answer.)

I bet it's a female ringed seal orphan pup.

I agree with NYC. I think it's a female black banded krait.

I was also thinking black banded krait, but male, not female.