Since The Chloe Incident

In the Brittany pavilion, Mathilde and Bertille are watching grey seals in the seal tank.

Mathilde is reading the information.

This is nice, says Mathilde. These are seals that were stranded.

How can seals be stranded? asks Bertille.

It doesn't say, says Mathilde. But most of them are from Britain. They are treated here, and, after a few weeks, released.

I wonder if they know that will happen? asks Bertille. 

Hard to tell, says Mathilde. 

That one is grinning, says Bertille.

They all are, says Mathilde. 

Gaius arrives with a saucer.

I see you have found the earless seals, says Gaius. 

We were discussing their future, says Mathilde. 

They get released, says Bertille. But they probably don't know it.  

Then they are doubly happy, says Gaius. As this sea slug may be.

What? says Bertille. Is that our sea slug? Just it's head? What happened?

A toddler bit off its head in  the tropical pavilion, says Gaius. 

Merde! says Mathilde. I bet the mother was beside herself.

She took it rather well, says Gaius. She accepted a five euro voucher.

Was it a girl or a boy? asks Bertille.

A girl, says Gaius. She thought it was a jelly. 

Then she must have spat it out, says Bertille. What happened to the body?

We left it behind, says Gaius. The body is irrelevant. Luckily the head is intact.

Let me look at it, says Bertille. Why doesn't it have any water?

The Head of Slugs is obtaining some suitable water as we speak, says Gaius.

It's trying to find food, says Bertille. Its mouth is opening and closing.

It's gasping, says Gaius. By the  way, we have learned it's an atroviridis, one of the only two species known to regenerate their bodies.

Is that the Japanese one? asks Bertille.

Mathilde looks proud of her daughter.

It is indeed, says Gaius. We are hoping it will regenerate twice. If it is young enough, it might.

What if it's too old? asks Bertille.

Then it's less likely, says Gaius. We shall have to accept it.

The Head of Slugs arrives with a cup full of sea water. He slops some into the saucer.

The sea slug head, which has, since the Chloe incident, lost track of its progress, at first does not realise that anything is missing.