One in Twelve Thousandth Percent

Chapter 19:

(Change to Misaki's Point of View.)

Meanwhile...

After an hour has gone by without Kaylin returning, I get up and start to pace the room. "I wonder if she's okay. I need to go find her." Annabelle looks at Kazumi who just shrugs her shoulders. "Your call, sis." Annabelle looks back at me. "Alright, but we'll go with you. We're as much a part of her life as you are." I smile. "Thank you for being my friend." Annabelle rolls her eyes. "You can't get rid of us that easily. Let's go."

We leave the suite. I scratch my head. "Any idea where she might have gone?" Annabelle stops to think. "Well, let's go over what we just spoke about. We were talking about the misjump and what that scientist said." I put my hand up. "The FTL room, let's go." We head down there and find a couple of the scientists doing their routine inspections. We walk in and I go up to one. "Excuse me...?"

"Featherstone. Clement Featherstone, Ensign."

"Clement. Have you seen Kaylin at all within the last hour?"

"Actually, yes, ma'am. She came in, asked for and collected a box of broken parts, then maybe a half hour later, returned the box."

"Thanks." I look at the twins, confused. "Broken parts? Why?"

"Maybe she wanted to practice her transmutation?" Annabelle said. "It makes the most sense."

"Yeah. Where could she go to do that in peace?" I frown.

"Maybe somewhurr wit a lot a space? But where?" Kazumi adds.

Clement speaks up. "The Cargo Bay."

"But aren't most of them full of supplies?" I ask.

"Not Cargo Bay 2. Couldn't tell you why though." He replies.

"Alright, let's go. Thanks!" We run off in search of Kaylin.

Down in the cargo bay, we don't find Kay. But we do find Lt Kasula. "Lt. Kasula." She fumbles and drops her datapad, then spins around. "Yes, ma'am?" "Sorry about that. Have you seen Kaylin?"

"Actually yes. She had been standing over there..." She points to the middle of the room, then picks up her datapad and starts walking. "She was practicing her transmutation power on some odd broken parts." We go over to where Kasula pointed. Sure enough, sitting in the middle of the floor is a pile of dust. Annabelle points. "What happened here?"

"Well, she had just turned something she transmuted into something else and was going to do something new with it when I accidentally interrupted her, which I think caused her to mess up. Instead of turning it into something else, it became dust."

Annabelle looks closer at the pile then frowns. "No, I've seen transmutation at work before. It will usually fail and return to its original form in that case. No, this was deliberate. She planned to deconstruct this item. She was testing the limit of her power."

I smile. "Well, her mom did tell her to be careful of what she touches until she could get a better handle of her power."

"Awww. She been practicin'." Kazumi smiles. I turn back to Kasula. "Anything else? Do you know where she is now?"

Kasula stops to think. "Actually, yeah. She asked something about a Simulation Room. I told her where it was. I'm surprised she didn't already know where it was. And that was it. She cleaned up everything but the dust, which I think she forgot about, then took the box and left. As soon as I told her about the Simulation Room, her demeanor changed totally."

I put my hand on Kasula's shoulder. "Thank you." I turn to the twins. "Let's go. The Sim Room is just past the FTL room." We dash out of the Cargo Bay.

(Return to Kaylin's Point of View.)