The Sea of Pearls: 2073 - By Akithya De Costa

Written By: Akithya De Costa

Category: Sci-Fi Short Story

Competition: Global Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026

Akithya De Costa brings us a captivating sci-fi short story titled "The Sea of Pearls: 2073." Set in a futuristic Naples, this tale introduces us to Roonie, a goldfish with a curious spirit, and his adventures facilitated by the city's public AI, Amica. Featured as part of the Global Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026, the story delves into themes of curiosity, community, and the harmonious coexistence of technology and nature. Through Roonie's journey, readers are invited into a world where exploration knows no bounds and kindness bridges the gap between species.

About the Work

"The Sea of Pearls: 2073" masterfully intertwines elements of adventure and technology within a vibrant community setting. The story carries a hopeful and imaginative tone, emphasizing the power of curiosity and the importance of empathy. De Costa employs vivid imagery and a narrative structure that builds tension and resolution, crafting a world where technology aids all living beings. The themes of family, exploration, and the integration of AI in everyday life resonate deeply, offering a vision of a future where technology fosters unity and understanding.

The Sea of Pearls: 2073

Original Submission by Akithya De Costa

The Sea of Pearls: 2073

In a freshwater pond in Naples, lived a family of 23 goldfish. Every day was a lively one there, as they were never short of company. There were countless family dinners, games of tag and hide and seek in between the pond weeds, you name it. The fish did everything together. However, one fish, named Roonie, had always been different. While his siblings played together, Roonie loved to explore. He dreamed about the world beyond the pond. How did the humans live? What did the streets of Naples look like? Questions like that often ran through his head, and he wanted answers.

Luckily, for curious little creatures like him, exploring had become possible thanks to Amica.

Years ago, a small group of local scientists had worked together to create Amica; a public AI suited to assist anyone in Naples. Tiny sensors were placed around parks, streets, and waterways, allowing Amica to guide clear, travelling orbs safely through the city. It would also identify various animal and plant species, monitor air quality, as we well as the health of ponds and rivers, and would guide lost ducklings or chicks to their parents. But the AI was just as useful for humans as for animals. Schoolchildren would use Amica to learn about the nature right outside their classrooms, and homes had a separate domestic version of the AI which functioned as a smart home assistant. The best part was, no one owned Amica, and no one had to pay to use it. It was simply created as the people of Naples believed technology should assist every member of the community, whether they walked on two legs, four legs, or swam with fins.

Every afternoon, after finishing his chores, Roonie climbed into his favourite possession: a round clear travel-orb filled with pristine pond water, just big enough to fit a goldfish. The orb had been carefully crafted by the pond’s carpenter, Mr Fins, a Three-Spined Stickleback. He crafted the orb using pond-sourced materials, held together by a protein secreted from his kidney, making it very durable. It kept the water inside at the perfect condition, while Amica guided it wherever Roonie wished to explore.

Roonie was just about to depart the pond, when Riley, Roonie’s sister, called out.

“Going out again?” she spoke.

“Yes, see you soon.” Roonie said with a grin.

“You know,” Riley sighed, “I would rather come exploring with you than hear all your stories afterwards.”

“You’ll have your own orb soon enough”

“I sure hope so. Alright, I’ll see you later. Be home before sunset.”

“I always am. Bye!”

“Bye!”

Roonie quietly spoke to Amica.

“Good afternoon, Amica. Take me to the botanical gardens.”

“Safest route scanned.” Spoke a smooth, female voice. “You may begin your journey.” Roonie rolled out of the pond and made his way out of the park.

Before long, Roonie had made it to the botanical gardens. Inside a huge glass dorm, bright flowers surrounded long winding paths, while birds and butterflies threaded through the leaves. The air inside smelled sweet and moist, which Roonie loved.

“Amica,” he asked,” what’s that white butterfly over there?”

“That’s an Italian marbled white.” Said Amica, “It’s a rare one, belonging to the brush-footed butterfly family.”

“Wow.” Every trip taught him something new, which was what he loved most about exploring.

He continued exploring a bit more, asking Amica about different animals every now and then, when suddenly, a little girl picked him up.

“You’re beautiful” she said. “I think I’ll take you home.

Roonie’s heart dropped. “Amica, I’ve been picked up.” he whispered nervously.

“Do not worry. I will continue monitoring your journey. If anything happens, I will alert the pond.” Amica replied.

Roonie, the usual brave fish he is, swallowed hard as the girl carried him away. For the first time since he started exploring Naples, he wasn’t sure if he’d make it home by sunset.

The girl’s name was Ellie Kindler. She lived in a small house with her parents close to the botanical gardens, filled with books, plants, and everything you’d think a little girl would love. However, as soon as they entered the house, Amica announced: “Connection obstruc-” and shut off. Oh no, Thought Roonie, I really might be stuck here.

“You will have a great time here,” said Ellie happily, “I’m going to call you Goldie!” and with that, she cracked the orb open and plopped Roonie into a fish tank. The tank was one of the most boring things Roonie had ever seen, nothing like home. Tiny brown and white rocks covered the floor, where a rotting wooden chest sat, filled with rusty gold coins. Three measly stalks of kelp grew in the corner, barely surviving and swaying weakly with the current. A little filter hummed and bubbled in the corner, which looked like the only lively thing in there. Glued to the wall of the tank, was a huge, sad eyed tank-cleaner fish.

“You new here kid?” it croaked.

“Yes, but I’m not supposed to be here. My name’s not really Goldie, and I have a family to get home to, and-”

“Woah, slow down kid. What’s your name? I’m Gubbs. Tell me how you got here.”

Roonie explained everything, about his family, his home, and his adventures, and how he ended up here.

“And you just lost connection with Amica?” asked Gubbs.

“Yes, the second I entered the house.” Replied Roonie

“Ah yes, I didn’t think Amica functions indoors.”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

The two fish continued to talk for a while, until Ellie came over, holding a little jar.

“Here’s some food Goldie” she said, opening the lid of the tank. She shook the jar, and little brown bits rained down into the tank. Roonie ate one and was disgusted.

“You eat this every day?” he asked Gubbs, “It tastes awful!” “I know, but you get used to it.” He replied.

“No, forget this. I’m not staying here long enough to get used to this trash. I need to get out of here.”

Just as Ellie was closing the tank, Roonie took his chance. Without another thought, and a flick of his tail, he leaped right out of the tank and towards the window. He was determined to escape. What he didn’t know however, was that the window was closed. He slammed against the glass and started flailing around on the table below. Ellie looked worried.

“Oh Goldie!” She exclaimed, “Don’t do that! You can’t breathe outside of your tank.” And she picked him up and dropped him back in the tank.

“That was a bit silly, don’t you think?” Remarked Gubbs.

“I know, but I’m desperate.” Replied Roonie hopelessly. They both stared outside the window as the sky shifted from blue to orange.

Back at the pond, Riley waited excitedly like she always did when Roonie was out, swimming laps around the pond, waiting for her brother to come back. But as she waited, the sky got darker, shifting from orange to pink to purple, and still no sign of Roonie. She started to get worried. It was almost nighttime, when her parents swam over.

“Riley honey, have you seen Roonie anywhere?” said her mother, “I haven’t seen him since he came back.

“Oh mom, I don’t think he ever came back!” bubbled Riley.

“Oh, my son!” exclaimed her father. “Whatever must have happened to him?”

“I don’t know. I’m going to go to Mr Fins’ workshop to find out. Amica is connected to the workshop. Maybe she can tell us something.” Said Riley, and she rushed off, winding through the weeds.

Before long, she had made it and found Mr Fins. She told him everything. “My!” he said, “Roonie going missing? He’s the last fish I’d expect to go missing!” “I know Mr fins, and we really need to find him!” said Riley.

“Alright, this is a very dire situation. Let’s go talk to Amica. She might be able to help us.” They swam over to a little grey box, with blue and green lights flashing all over. A little round screen glowed vibrantly in the middle of the box.

“Wow, I’ve never seen this before,” said Riley, in awe.

“Yes, this is Amica’s main control box in the pond.” Explained Mr Fins, “it’s one-hundredpercent eco-friendly; runs on old pond matter.” He swam closer and placed his fin on the screen.

“Amica, tell me Roonie’s last known location.”

“Scanning vicinity for the travel orb,” stated Amica, “Roonie was last spotted near the Kindler Residence at 3:31pm.”

“3.31?” exclaimed Riley, “That was almost four hours ago!” Before Mr Fins could say anything, Riley said: “Make me a travel orb, immediately.”

“Are you going to go look for him yourself? That’s dangerous for a little kid-fish like you.” Said Mr Fins.

“I know, but I must take the risk for Roonie. For my brother. Keep a travel orb ready for me, will you Mr Fins? I’ll be here first thing tomorrow morning.”

“Alright, sure thing Riley.”

The next morning, just as dawn broke, Riley rushed over to Mr Fins workshop. What awaited her was a beautiful clear orb, an exact replica of Roonie’s. Mr Fins had been working on it all night.

“This is perfect!” Exclaimed Riley, and without hesitation, she climbed in.

“Be careful, Riley,” warned Mr Fins, “you don’t know what dangers await you. Remember, always stay on the footpath. Do not cross the road for any matter. If you’re unsure of anything, tell Amica.”

“I will Mr Fins. Thanks!” When Riley rolled out of the pond and saw the grass below her, it hit her: she was out of water for the first time. Then she looked around in awe and took in her surroundings. Tall, colourful buildings, bustling crowds, children laughing and playing. Wow, she thought, no wonder Roonie loved exploring so much. She had always wanted her very own travel orb, but she never expected to have one this soon, or for this reason. She had to set off to find Roonie.

“Amica, take me to the Kindler Residence.” She called.

“Scanning safest route,” spoke Amica, “Scanned. You may begin your journey, Riley.” And she set off.

The journey was nothing like she imagined. Weaving through crowds was much harder than weaving through pond weeds. She was at constant risk of getting stepped on, but Amica made sure she was safe. The sun glared down on Riley, making her scales shine beautifully like sequins. She rolled past a school, a library, many pizzerias, and the botanical gardens. Before long, she reached a light blue house, with a brown roof that looked like chocolate: the Kindler Residence. A little screen glowed above the doorbell, scanning the surroundings. It was Amica’s domestic system.

“You have arrived” announced Amica.

“Motion detected” announced domestic Amica. Just a second later, the door opened, and a little girl walked out. She looked down and saw the orb with Riley in it. Ellie’s eyes brightened as she picked up the orb.

“Connection obstructed. Reconnecti-” said “outside” Amica, just as she disconnected.

“Oh, another goldfish!” Ellie exclaimed, “I’m going to call you Gigi.” She ran over to the tank yelling, “Hey Goldie, I found you a friend!” and she plopped Riley in. Both goldfish had to take a double take to realise whom they were looking at.

“Roonie?” said Riley.

“Riley? Why-, when-, how did you get here?” asked Roonie in shock.

“I came looking for you! Oh, we’ve all been worried sick.” They embraced each other in a huge fish-hug. Roonie explained everything, his last adventure, the escape attempt, and introduced Gubbs. Riley told him about her journey through the city, and what had happened with Amica.

“The same thing happened to me.” Said Roonie. “Amica doesn’t work inside houses. Gubbs told me that. Humans use the domestic Amica instead, which doesn’t connect to our “outside” AI.”

“Oh, I see,” said Riley. Then she shifted to Gubbs, “So, do you have a family Gubbs?”

“No. Never had one.” Replied Gubbs, “I’ve spent my whole life here, seen plenty of fish come and go. Bettas, guppies, and now you two goldfish. I figure the rest of your family will come look for you soon, and you will return home. Then I will be all alone again, waiting for more fish.”

“Maybe you can come home with us,” said Riley, “that is, if we even make it home. How are we going to escape?”

“They’ll come eventually when they realised you haven’t come back. I have a bit of hope. And Gubbs, you will be coming with us.” Said Roonie.

The three fish spent the rest of the day together, waiting and knowing that, at some point, their family will come looking for the. Since first arriving at Ellie’s house, Roonie was hopeful that they would make it back home safely.

Back at the pond, Mr Fins waited patiently for Riley to return with Roonie. He paced his workshop back and forth for hours, until he couldn’t wait anymore. He swam over to Amica’s control box and placed his fin on the screen.

“Amica, tell me Riley’s current location.” He asked.

“Scanning.” Replied Amica, “Riley’s travel orb was last detected at the Kindler Residence at 7:48am. She seems to have lost connection.”

“Oh no, this is not good.” Said Mr Fins to himself, “I must inform their parents.” He made his way to Roonie’s and Riley’s home and found the whole family waiting together silently for news about their brother and sister. As soon as Mr Fins swam in, Roonie’s mother rushed towards him.

“Any news?” She asked nervously. Mr Fins sighed.

“Yes, but I’m afraid it’s not good. Riley and Roonie have both lost connection to Amica in front of one specific house. I think they might have been picked up.” He spoke. Roonie’s mother started sobbing.

“Oh, my babies.”

“Don’t fret. I think the best course of action right now is to speak without the pond mayor and see what we could do.”

“Yes please, Mr Fins,” said the mother between sobs, “anything to get my kids back.”

That afternoon, after speaking with the pond mayor – Mayor Bubbles – a meeting with all the pond-dwellers was called.

“It has been brought to my attention,” began Mayor Bubbles, “that our beloved goldfish Roonie, who very bravely explores the streets of Naples every day, has been missing for the past 24 hours. In a desperate attempt to find him, Roonie’s sister Riley set off this morning, to his last known location, and has lost connection with our Public AI, Amica, an hour after she left. The AI shows that both Roonie and Riley lost connection in front of a human residence – more specifically the Kindler Residence. Therefore, Mr Fins, Roonie’s family, and I have decided to recruit every single fish in this pond for a search-party, to go out there and bring Roonie and Riley back home safely. Mr Fins, along with some of the other fish, will build travel orbs for you all, and we will set off first thing tomorrow morning. There will be no objections. Thank you.” All the fish cheered and then set off to prepare for the search-party.

The rest of that day was spent building hundreds of travel orbs for the pond-dwellers. Mr Fins sent a request signal through Amica’s control box, to the AI’s main control centre on land. You see, Amica had a special feature that allowed animals and humans to understand each other, by reading the animal’s thoughts and emotions, regardless of a “language barrier” (after all, we wouldn’t even know about this story if it weren’t for the AI). It was very flexible and would allow people to assist animals in any way. The request had stated that there be a link-up between “outside” Amica and domestic Amica if the two happened to be within range of each other. The scientists working at the centre immediately got to work setting up a linkup feature. Despite not knowing why, they knew it was urgent.

The next morning, civilians of Naples walked into the park to a most bizarre sight: hundreds of clear orbs exiting the pond, each one filled with a tiny fish. They rolled across the parks and streets in a procession, all on their way to the Kindler’s house. Bystanders stopped in their tracks to admire the sight. It was amazing. The same orbs that Roonie and Riley had travelled in unnoticed, were now being witnessed by the dozen.

At the Kindler’s, no one had any idea about what was going on outside, until domestic Amica spoke up.

“Alert, motion detected. Procession of glass orbs approaching.” It stated.

Ellie was confused.

“What do you mean, Amica?” she asked.

“Ellie Kindler,” Amica continued, “There appear to be fish inside the glass orbs. They come seeking their siblings, Roonie and Riley.”

“But who are Roonie and Riley?” questioned Ellie.

“I believe they are the two goldfish in your tank, Ellie. You have taken them both while they were exploring Naples.” Ellie’s face dropped.

“Oh,” she began sadly, “I didn’t mean to take them away from their family. I’ll go and return them.” She walked over to the tank and picked up the two goldfish. They had been listening to the whole conversation between Amica and Ellie and exchanged excited glances as they were picked up. She put Roonie and Riley into their glass orbs and took them outside. What awaited them was the fish procession, faces lighting up as they saw their two siblings again. Before Ellie set them down, she spoke to them.

“I’m sorry for separating you from your family. I didn’t mean to. I hope you’re all happy now.” And she gently kissed the two orbs and set them down. From inside the house, Amica spoke.

“Ellie, the fish would like to re-home Gubbs at their pond too, however they require your confirmation first.” Ellie nodded and brought Gubbs out too. She popped him into Roonie’s orb, and although it was a tight squeeze, Gubbs was comfortable. Domestic Amica spoke again.

“The fish are thanking you, Ellie. They say that you may visit the pond as much as you wish to.” Her face lit up.

“Thank you!” she said to the fish, “I will come and visit you all at the pond.” And she waved them goodbye as the procession made its way back to the pond, watched by the people of Naples.

As they returned to the pond, one by one, the orbs emptied and gradually floated to the surface, blanketing the pond. What a sight it was. They glinted iridescently in the evening sunlight, shimmering a myriad of hues - teal, purple, pink, blue, and countless more - looking just like pearls. From that day on, the people of Naples called it the Sea of Pearls. The spectacular procession of fish and Ellie’s act of kindness soon became a worldwide headline: The Sea of Pearls: 2073. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime event.

At the pond, life returned to normal, Gubbs was warmly welcomed by Roonie’s family, and had an amazing time there. The once miserable fish was now overjoyed to experience having a family. Roonie still kept exploring Naples, but this time he had company. Riley would join him almost all the time, and some of the other fish occasionally tagged along too. Passersby would make way for the fish as they explored, so they never had to worry about being stepped on again.

Scientists continued to refine Amica over the years, inviting animals and humans to co-exist peacefully. The story of the Sea of Pearls inspired communities far beyond Naples to create public technologies that cared for not only the people, but for every living being that shared their cities.

Every day, as the evening sun shone across the pond, the orbs would sparkle like hundreds of tiny pearls, being a reminder that technology does need a little kindness and empathy to go a long, long way.

About the Competition

The Global Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026, hosted by Hashtag Kalakar, celebrates diverse voices and innovative storytelling from around the world. This prestigious platform invites participants to express their creativity, challenging them to explore new themes and ideas. The competition fosters a global dialogue through poetry and creative writing, highlighting the power of words to inspire and connect. Participants are provided with an opportunity to share their unique perspectives, enriching the literary landscape.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to Akithya De Costa for sharing "The Sea of Pearls: 2073" with us in the Global Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026. Through this enchanting narrative, De Costa has illuminated the potential of technology to enhance our communities. We look forward to seeing more of their creative works and wish them the best in their literary journey.

About Hashtag Kalakar

Hashtag Kalakar is a creative platform dedicated to providing artists, writers, singers and other creative talents with opportunities to showcase their work and reach wider audiences through competitions, features and creative initiatives.