Little Gilded Marastar-Veeris clings anxiously to his parent’s arms. It’s a very big day. Little Gil is going to Big School for the first time. His large ochre eyes dart over criss-crossing shoals of children swimming to school together, at the building stretching high into the hydrothermal vent, at the parents bustling away in their shuttles. So many people, so much movement. Little Gil’s tentacles start trembling.

“Hey, are you new here?” One of the children swims up to Gil, “It’s ok. I had jelly tentacles too on my first day of school. Do you want to join our game?”

Little Gil shyly nods and follows his new friend, keeping a close eye on his parent nearby.

“I’m Luscious Oasis of the Endless Stars, by the way. Or Lush. Have you ever played PERlite before?” At the shake of Gil’s head, his new friend just smiles. “Don’t worry, you’ll pick it up soon. Why don’t you watch for the first round?”

Lush joins a small group of children, who begin to chant a rhyme and shift their arms with the beat.

Dynamite, in the night,
Starlight Under Sea.
We’re looking for PERlite,
Five, one-two, one-three!
Stick one up, tear one down,
Don’t follow me –
Anyone on the ground
Goes to A&E!*

The child in the middle of the dancing circle suddenly shoots underneath and tries to catch anyone who is too slow to touch the ground. Among bright shouts of “PERlite! Don’t lie, you’re the PERlite!”, the child who first gets caught grudgingly becomes the new ‘PERlite’ in the centre of the circle, and the dance begins again. Little Gil bubbles with delight. Soon, the dancing circle grows as more newcomers learn the game.

Later, little Gil swims up to Lush.

“But why is there dynamite in the night?”, his tentacles waggle earnestly, “And is PERlite real?”

“Who knows?” they shrug.

“It happened ages ago anyway.”

*A loose translation from Neo-Parlux to maintain the rhyming scheme, note the unconventional use of the term 'A&E' to describe a mobile triage unit.