"Tell me a bit about yourself, Madelyn."
"Me? I am not that interesting," she said coyly.
But Averie knew she was already thinking about how to look good on camera.
"I have been working at this park for over ten years now, taking care of these babies as if they were my own."
"Do you have any babies of your own?"
With a shy laugh, she replied, "Not yet."
"Would you like me to give you one?"
The girl blushed. "I’m sorry?"
"I have a pair of babies who recently lost their father in an accident."
"Oh." Reality struck her. "Oh, those poor kids..."
"Yeah..." Averie scrunched his nose and pulled back his lips, as if saying ’not really.’ "He wasn’t such a great father."
He made a half-hearted, not-appropriate-to-say-it-but-I-am-going-to-say-it expression.
"It’s actually better for the kids that he died."
The girl looked at him with her mouth ajar.
"You keep babies here, right? If I bring the fatherless offspring here, would you mind putting them on exhibit? How much money do you think they would make?"
A weak "Huh?" escaped the girl’s mouth.
"They would appreciate all the attention."
"I’m sorry, we can’t—"
"They have nowhere else to go. It’s either here or the sweatshop."
After a brief silence, they moved on to the next animal on exhibit.
What few visitors were remaining watched the crew from afar.
The next habitat was a grassy plain, a budget savannah.
Averie cocked his head. "I have heard that they are massive cunts."
"That is true." She agreed vigorously. "They are bastards. They bite and kick often."
"Yeah, they are. They come from Africa, right?"
"Yes. They are often preyed on by lions, so they developed an aggressive behavior to protect themselves."
"Is that where these patterns come from?"
The girl clapped her hands in elation. "It’s a fascinating topic that has been discussed and debated extensively. Unfortunately, we don’t have a clear answer yet."
"Do you think other animals look at them and spit on the ground, thinking what a freak that thing is?"
"I, um, don’t know why they would do that."
"The old man living down the street told me that mixing black and white is blasphemy. It creates abominations, he said."
The girl was speechless, her head swivelling left and right.
"What did he mean by that, Madelyn?" Averie turned his whole body to face her. "I still don’t understand. Was he talking about zebras? Or was he talking about coal and limestone?"
He peered into the panicked eyes of the girl.
"Why did he call it blasphemy?"
The girl was sweating buckets.
"Zebras," she muttered. "He meant zebras."
"Did he?" Averie inched closer to her face. "I shouldn’t have hit him in the face, then?"
"No, you did right." She gave him two thumbs up. "You did the right thing."
Domains made of large interwoven metal nets passed by Averie.
"We keep the birds there."
"Of course, can’t let the poor sods soar in the sky. That would be too much freedom for them to handle."
Medelyn talked to one of the handlers waiting nearby, who went away and soon returned with a colorful bird perched on her arm.
"This is a blue-and-yellow macaw, also known as the blue-and-gold macaw." Madelyn pointed at its beak. "Be careful. It hurts far more than you can imagine."
"What clever names," Averie scoffed. "What’s this one’s name?"
"Yes, Rodrygo can mimic words."
Averie leaned in. "Hey, Rodrygo, repeat this after me."
He cleared his throat.
"Ah, don’t beat me, Rin!" he screamed desperately, his face lacking liveliness. "Please don’t beat me! I’m sorry, please!"
Hyerin, who was watching all this, shrank under the combined weight of the gazes directed at her.
"I didn’t do anything," she murmured in her defense.
"Please, not there, Rin! Please don’t hit me there! Aaaaaaah!"
His passionate performance came to an end with a few fake sobs.
"How was that? Can you mimic that? It would make for good blackmail material."
The bird looked at him with unflinching eyes.
"No, Mr. Taylor, we can’t! This isn’t right; your wife deserves to know."
"What is he talking about?"
"This affair can’t go on, Mr. Taylor!"
"Mr. Taylor is having an affair with someone from work?"
A small group of handlers gathered around the bird.
"Oh, Mr. Taylor, not there!"
A hunking piece of a man ran towards the crowd and snatched the bird.
"It’s time to bathe Rodrygo," he said while running away.
"Do we need to call Mrs. Taylor?" Madelyn asked.
Everyone, including Averie, shook their heads.
"Let’s continue as if nothing happened."
Madelyn showed the group hippos, tigers, lions, camels, and everything else that walked on all fours.
Madelyn opened one of the habitats for Averie and showed him inside.
"Whose prison is this?" the good actor asked.
Madelyn picked up a grey and white creature the size of a teddy bear. She cradled it like a baby and showed it to Averie.
"This is a Koala. They are herbivores and mostly eat eucalypt leaves. Have you seen one before?"
It lazily rubbed its small eyes.
"I have heard of them. They are the wildlife version of that one child everyone considers the disappointment of the family. They are lazy, incompetent, and look depressed. That’s everything Asian parents hate."
"Let’s just move on."
She was about to put the cute animal back on its tree when Averie raised a finger.
"Is petting allowed in the zoo?" he asked,
"Not usually, but we can grant you permission."
Averie raised his hand and brought it down gently on Madelyn’s cheek.
"Soft and cute." He drew a step closer. "Does it have a mate?"
"What?" She blushed. "No, I don’t have a boyfriend right now."
"I was asking about the Koala. I don’t know why you have to make it about yourself. See, this is why you don’t have a boyfriend."
With an overly disgusted scoff to the camera, he left for the next habitat while Madelyn silently raged.