It was a cool concept. Since most of the animals were gone by this stage anyway, why not use the space to do something interesting?
Plus a big sheet of fishtank glass is basically a screen anyway. You can drain the water, and put the electronics on top.
I remember the opening night. We splashed out on a bottle of sparkling water, and something close to meat. I found some old paper streamers to add colour. Several guests shook my hand.
The stroke of genius was that the computer randomly generated what appears on the screens. One day a shoal of a clownfish swam across. The next afternoon a whale filled the space. Every time you visited a different world emerged.
At last all the wild animals were gone, and the electricity supply was spotty. Our visitor numbers dropped to single figures. We had been lucky. Our solar panels kept functioning. I locked all the gates, and stayed away from the riots outside.
It has been a few years now. I am getting to the end of the stocks. I know every crack and mark in the 400 feet of aquarium space.
One of the screens keeps running. We did not think this far ahead. The algorithm is churning out madness. We have gone past mermaids, and are onto beasts with red eyes. Shapes in the water made of smoke.
The fence sags, and it will not be long. I hope one day a clawed hand will break through the glass, and drag me into another world.
