Adhara's Sonder

Chapter 19: A Trip to the Zoo

Maria knocked on Cyrus' open workshop door. He glanced up and waved, beckoning her to come in.

"You're busy," she surmised after approaching him. He was characteristically disheveled, his eyes glazed from staring too long at a screen.

"Very busy," he confirmed. "I'm writing code for my gaunt- lets so they can manipulate gluons; strong-force particles that hold atoms together. When I'm done, I'll be able to transmute matter almost at will, and hopefully, very easily. But first I have to teach the computer to understand the chemical data input from the NIRScanner, and parse that with particle supply from the backpack." He pointed to a line of code on the screen:

[{(2[e1][p1][n0])([e10][p8][n10])(L)}(5.5e15)]

"Protons are p, neutrons n, and electrons are e. The sub- script number indicates the quantity. This line represents 5.5 quadrillion atoms of liquid water."

"You have to code the particles for every element individually?" she asked, cringing.

"Every element, every element's electronegativity, basic molecular structure, and I have to code rules for valence electron interactions," he replied dully. "It's...going to take a while. But it'll be worth the results." He sighed, then noticed her disappointment as he was turning away. "Why? What did you need?"

"Well, it's a couple things. Remember the other day when I asked for a supercomputer for me and Aliyah?"

"Oh yeah," Cyrus pointed to a cube sitting on a nearby table; six clear acrylic walls containing several microprocessor chips connected in a stacked series. "I forgot to tell you I finished with it. The operating system should be pretty intuitive."

She raised her eyebrows in surprise and crossed over to the supercomputer to inspect it. "Thank you," she signed.

"What was the second thing?" Cyrus signed.

"Oh," she waved her hand. "It's nothing you can help with if you're busy."

"Just tell me what it is, at least."

"Well...Acryogen has a gene therapy research facility north of the city. I visited it on a field trip in high school. I've been wanting to go back. I think it could help with the project Aliyah and I are working on."

"Is this project the genetic stuff you gave me at Christmas?"

"Exactly," she smiled. "We're working on genome mapping. And this," she patted the supercomputer, "will help a lot with the math! There are just a few things we're less than confident on, but poking around Acryogen's research could help."

"And you wanted me to go with you and Aliyah?" Cyrus asked.

"Just me," she answered. "Aliyah would go if I asked her, but I know she's not comfortable with trespassing."

"Oh dear," signed Cyrus. "My criminal influence is rubbing off on you."

"I hope I'm as good an influence on you as you are a bad influence on me," Maria laughed.

"That was harsh," he replied, pointing his pen at her, "but fair."

"Well, anyway. I don't want to go alone, so maybe another time. Good luck with that code." As she turned back to the door, Cyrus tossed his pen at her. It bounced off the doorframe, startling her.

"What?" she signed.

"Take Adhara with you," said Cyrus. "She offered to help me with this coding, so I know she's free. She must be around here somewhere." As he turned back to his computer, he muttered, "Get her out of the house," which he assumed incorrectly Maria wouldn't see.