Swamped

You don't have time to go over everything, of course. There are a thousand little habits, all of them second nature to you, but they'd take days to describe.

Shrike's observant. He can work out most of those with a little time. You want to focus on the ones he might miss, or that are hard to learn without someone getting hurt.

"Cabbage here is on a special diet," you say, pointing to your smallest brown muckdiver. "Her digestion hasn't been so good lately, and she can't get everything she needs from the regular plants. That's what this bucket is for - it's a mixture that goes through her system more smoothly. Dip the plants in it before feeding her. And she's got to eat four times a day, not two like the rest."

"Got it," Shrike says.

"Aside from that, the main issue is Frills here... I know he may not look like much, but when he gets mad, he spits like..."

You pause.

"Why isn't Frills isn't in his pen?"

"It was empty when I got here, sir. Haven't checked the feeding schedule yet, I was getting the hogs back in. But I assume whoever fed them last would have made a note..."

You glance over the schedule. It's as he says - Crosswinds stopped by for feeding and makes no mention of missing animals. And they'd certainly catch something like that.

Worrying as this is, you've got no time for it now. You need to see Viper, and you'd like to check on that noise you heard in the hall first to make sure everything's all right.

All you can do for the moment is give Shrike your best guess as to where Frills might be hiding.