I was thrilled when I came into the Cryptidery today. I went to my desk and saw that Mohammed had left my camera 
, with a note saying that it’s finally fixed
I had to resist the urge to use it right away. Chores come first, especially when there are living things counting on you.
Finally, in the afternoon, I had some free time. I grabbed my camera 
and went to my favourite enclosure. I’m sure you can guess which one it is. It is our mascot, after all. The space octopus! 
I saw Nushi nearby and got her to help me put on a suit, since the atmosphere in that particular enclosure isn’t very breathable. I must have spent almost an hour in there searching for that octopus.
In case you haven’t seen the enclosure in person, it’s not very big… ok, maybe it’s bigger than it needs to be for an octopus the size of a cat
… I might spoil my favourites a bit. There are play structures built on every surface, so it can be hard for a full-sized person to navigate, but space octopuses, like earth octopuses, are very intelligent. They need to be entertained if they are going to be kept in captivity.
I finally gave up the search for the octopus. I had other work to do, so I decided to try again later. I left the enclosure and started taking off the suit. That’s when I noticed a certain display was empty.
Near the viewing window for the space octopus enclosure, there’s a glass case where we keep its helmet. It lets visitors get a closer look and makes it impossible for the space octopus to leave its enclosure. Sometimes we let the octopus have it back so we can put it in a temporary enclosure, usually when we need to go in and clean the permanent one.
But surely, if someone had removed the space octopus to clean its enclosure, they would have let me know before letting me spend an hour looking for a creature that wasn’t there.
With my suit still half on, I went down the hall to see if the octopus was in the temporary enclosure we usually use. On my way there, I heard a loud, familiar noise. Like hundreds of confetti cannons going off at once. My heart sank. I turned and ran to the office, where I found Nushi and Jose. Nushi was very, very focused on his work, like he had somehow missed the noise that had just echoed through the halls. He didn’t look up or acknowledge me when I entered the room. Jose was running around gathering his things. He froze and looked at me like a dog who knew he’d done something wrong.
Apparently, those two decided they didn’t need to put the space octopus in another enclosure when they went in to clean 
today. They also decided it was best to give the octopus the helmet so they didn’t have to wear suits while cleaning. And when they couldn’t find it afterward, they figured they would just come back and get the helmet later, since they had to wait for the atmosphere to return to normal anyway. Of course, they both swear the entrance to the enclosure was closed and locked 
the whole time.
The way those two talk. It’s like they think I made protocols just to be annoying! 
Maria
