Stuck in Heaven

Chapter Eleven: Doomsday Survivalists

"I'm just saying, Henry, if we remove variant y then the equation pans out!" Megs groaned.

It was, at least as far as Megs could determine, the night before the apotheosis. They only knew because they'd happened to pass Sam Sweetly earlier and he was bragging about his tickets to the Staarlight. And the weather was shit. Plus it was October. So really, if it wasn't the next day it was going to happen eventually. Were the Hidgens fully ready for it? No. No, they were still trying to do the math on the formula to kill the hive. Which wasn't a good position to be in, but then again, it was better than it could be. They could have nothing. Really, this was all they needed. Then Harry just needed to put it together. But it was proving far more difficult than they'd anticipated. All they had to work on was Henry's notes from 22 years prior when Harriet's parents had died in a premature apotheosis event. It didn't seem to phase her, but it definitely had an impact on Henry. 

"Variant y is the genetic material we need, Megs!" Henry huffed. "We literally cannot make this cure without it."

"God, why isn't this working?" Megs groaned. 

"You need one more of variant x, the sodium trichlorate." Harriet seemed to realize. "It'll balance it."

"Damn, that's the one we were trying to get rid of because it's tricky." Megs bit their lip.

"It's hard enough to stabilize that compound..." Henry cursed. 

"But I'm right." Harriet pointed out. 

"Yes you are." Henry sighed. "This is going to be extremely difficult."

"Not entirely impossible, though." Harriet sighed. 

"No, thank god." Henry admitted. Megs bit their lip. "It should break down and bond well enough with the other substances involved. 

"We could probably stabilize it enough to add it into the mix with the aid of heat." Megs theorized. "Or at least facilitate a bond."

"Yes... that could work." Harriet hummed. "We just need a biological sample."

"I wish I'd saved some from when you were born." Henry sighed.

"We'll have to collect a sample during the apotheosis." Harriet planned. 

"Do you have any insight on where we could get some?" Henry checked with Megs. 

"Well... in one timeline, Charlotte Sweetly brings her husband Sam back to the fortress. But in the timeline I saw for this, I was your sample." Megs told him. 

"Absolutely not." Henry shook his head. 

"Sam is a variable." Megs reasoned. "We don't know if he can provide us with a sample or not. Aside from that, he goes fucking feral. He's not a good test subject. Not only could you get your sample from me, but... you could test the cure."

"I don't like that." Henry bit his lip. 

"Why?" Harriet blinked. "They're right. It's completely practical."

"He's got more of a moral issue with it." Peter spoke up from where he was seated, watching. "He considers Megs his child. They could get hurt."

"Oh." Harriet blushed. "I suppose I'm putting too much faith in our abilities..."

"It's not that, Harriet." Henry sighed. "There's always a margin for error, but... they could also get hurt in infection. Or become compromised. And then we might be put in a situation where we'll need to... terminate them."

"That is problematic." Harriet considered. "Perhaps we could send Ethan out to do it."

"No!" Megs scoffed. "That's my boyfriend! I'm not risking that!"