Saxifrage Fire

0011

The rims of her protective glasses fogged as her breath escaped past the rim of her thick cloth mask. The amber liquid within the glass dropper trembled as her unsteady hand clutched it delicately to deliver a single drop of the toxic onto the analytic glass. She tried to ignore the bickering voices outside the door, but it was only adding to her cortisol levels. She stilled.

"If you all don't shut up..."

The talking stopped.

She delivered the single drop then quickly sealed the dropper inside its cylinder case and dropped the cover glass over the droplet with expert hands.

She sighed, fogging her glasses more, and sunk into her chair to look through the D.M.M (digital magnifying machine). On one side, the particles of the toxin were revealed, on the other side, the chemical compounds were unveiled in imagery and equations of chemical acronyms. She watched the data unfold like a god sitting outside of time watching history.

The voices outside the door started up again. It was Grandma Agatha badgering Ezi and Oshi.

"You're sure you weren't followed?"

"Yes, General!" Ezi said again.

"And you said her mother... helped?"

Thea clenched her jaw so hard her teeth nearly cracked.

"Hey! Take it somewhere else! I'm dealing with deadly chemicals- I need to focus!"

"Sorry, Thea!" Ezi called.

Their footsteps faded away.

Thea closed her eyes, counting backward from ten to calm her frying nerves. It was strange- the levels of her distress. The tension in her chest worked like seismic activity creating trembles that were nothing compared to the coming quake. One more minute of pressure and she was sure she was going to snap. All of this caused by seeing her Mother? That, and the bombardment of memories that had followed. Her mother was trapped, as she'd been, and she'd failed to rescue her. She might as well have failed Alex. Even if Mom wasn't found out, she'd still die, slowly, alone inside the cage of her own made-sera mind. Maybe she could get her out? Maybe she'd come on her own accord. Or maybe she was scared to peel away the sera layers- maybe she'd done too much damage to face.

She recalled how she'd cried like an suppressed child in the car and how Ezi had comforted her. She needed to get herself together- she was Alethea Atlas- for the sake of all logic.

She sat straight and readjusted her glasses urgently reading the data that had presented itself in full on the screen. She blinked, recognizing a piece of the chemical equation, then yanked out the thumb drive and jabbed it into the digital table to illuminate the room with a larger hologram. She ran her fingers over the digitizer pulling the familiar segment from the equation and enlarging it to be sure.

She brought a trembling hand to her mouth as she read the rest of the toxin's data. It was a violent mix of Zynenide and the chemical compounds she'd mixed like a cocktail according to her formula along with an agent to engage oxygen. It was an inhalant- one that split into traces on the wind, any trace deadly to a Koro, even one as new as herself. She'd spent long summer evenings working on a chemical that could decipher the hormonal difference between Sera and Koro.

She remembered the morning Father was making breakfast, blabbering on about this new project he had for her. The sliding door was upon and spring wind blew in off the lake, whisking away the steam from her coffee.

"It's quite a challenge, Alethea! That's coming from me. The Empress insists you take it on- which is really quite the compliment. I suppose she knows you've amplified my intellectual genes."