All Her What-Ifs

I assure you I do have the sort of brains that can ooze out, said Ageless, highly offended. You've been reading the wrong sort of website.

What do you mean? asked Mr Lee, looking around for something to wipe up his spoiled lunch.

The ones that tell you how to kill and cook a lobster, said Ageless. They all insist we don't have brains, because it suits them to believe we don't feel pain. But the scientific ones say that we do.

I know, said Mr Lee crossly, drumming his fingers on the back of his giant trilobite, so that it rocked alarmingly. I am a scientist myself, remember, and I specialise in arthropods. You may have a sort of brain, but it is composed of simple ganglia. They allow you to feel pain, but they don't ooze out.

They DO! said Ageless, firmly. Of course I don't intend to prove it.

He was about to turn tail and leave Mr Lee to his dirty floor and rocking giant trilobite when all at once the giant trilobite rolled off the desk and fell on top of Ageless, cracking him on the head.

Oh help! cried Ageless. Look what's happened now!

He lay on the floor half-stunned, waving his legs helplessly. What was it Kobo had said? What if, what if....? All her what-ifs had come to pass. He looked at the uncarpetted floor. It was slippery with something that looked and smelled like lobster juice. But it could easily have been sushi mixed with milky coffee. On the other hand it could well be his brains.

This was all Kobo's fault.

Ageless hoped that she was reading this.