Post The Book

Dipper

The Mystery Shack Lab
Sunday, 15th September 2024 (3PM)

I look down at the glowing vile which sits in a metal rack after hearing the door close. Ford had told me he's taking a step out for a moment, and although I'd like him to bring me back a drink, there is strictly no drinking or eating in the lab - for obvious reasons... that rule was really solidified by that one time Soos came in drinking a can and thought it would be a good idea to put it in the 'mini-fridge' for a moment. It wasn't a mini-fridge. It was a heating machine used to catch the movement for atoms. We were cleaning pieces of glass and dried soda from the ceiling.

I catch myself chuckling at the memory for a moment before looking back over to the notes and glass vile - we'd figured out many interesting things so far, some which I'm proud of - and no, there were no live bugs or beings tested on, but we still need to figure out if it's dangerous to animals in any way. All I know now is that it turns them into homemade glow-sticks. We found that the 'sap' is actually alkaline which is an interesting discovery, but it also means there's a possibility it's corrosive after a while. Obviously fixing this is easy, we added alkaline neutralizer - however mixing the two made the sap see-through. Yes. Clear. Though it shimmers sometimes.

I tap my fingers against the desk then glance at the scribbles in my open journal, which lies on the table. I move to grab it, wanting to read over what I've noted, when suddenly I find that I've accidentally knocked the medium test tube with the clear substance - "Sh-" I feel my heart jump as I quickly grab it, tilting the rack back upright - I watch as the clear substance soaks into a page of my journal. "No no no no-" but it's too late. To my surprise the clear liquid has spilt blue on the page, neon blue, like invisible ink. But without UV light needed to see it. I furrow my eyebrows and inspect it. Great. My notes are covered. I flip the page to see if it spread to the other pages, but no, instead I see nothing. Literally nothing. The black ink which I had notes written with are gone, wiped and faded as if by alcohol. "What.." I mutter.

For a moment I'm tempted to call Ford in to take a look at it.. but then another thought pops to mind - I grab my pen, putting it to the blank paper, trying to quickly scribble back what has been wiped. To my surprise, the ink doesn't show up. The same way a ball-point pen wouldn't show on oil-stained paper. Maybe that's the issue? I quickly open the drawer below the table, rummaging for a fine-liner pen, when something else catches my eye. Feathers. Some left over from a previous experiment. They were ethically sourced, donated in fact, from a creature who did not need them, and so we turned them into quills. Another idea comes to mind.

I quickly grab a feather instead, and take it to the clear substance, dipping it like I would into ink. Is this stupid? No, it's science. I take the makeshift quill to my journal, flipping to the next clear page - void of any other notes, I begin to write. As I'd thought, the writing shows up in a glowing blue - I'm staring at my own handwriting in a neon glow: 'Hello'

I wonder, will putting more neutralizer do anything? What happened to make it appear blue upon contact with paper?

I turn to grab the botte of neutralizer, being cautious as I rip out the page I've written on from my journal, in order to pour neutralizer onto to neon writing, smudging it into the paper with my gloved hand. And it is gone. The writing dissipates. Fascinating.

I can't help but stare at my discovery, this is amazing. And so, so strange.

Using that logic... I grab my pen, scribbling over the area where I'd just seen the writing disappear, and as I thought, the ink does not appear on the page in the areas where the glowing substance was written with previously. This creates the white outline of handwriting. A 'hello' peeking through the back scribbles of ink.

I stare for a moment, to see if anything happens, if time changes anything. I wait a minute. Then two. Nothing. I quickly grab my black pen to make notes on this in my book - mid-writing the door opens again, causing me to jump. I turn back to look at Ford who has just entered, I catch him putting his gloves back on. "Come look at this" I quickly motion for him to come over, which he does. "What is it? Did something happen?"

He glances down at my journal which I show him, "This is insane" I say, showing the spillage.

"I accidentally spilt it, and look, it shows up on paper" I watch as he takes the book into his hands to inspect it, his eyes scanning the page.

"But look, turn the page"

He does so, and I can see him looking at the erased notes which have been taken by substance spillage. His eyebrows raise and he looks at me with a smile "This is interesting" he says. I nod in agreement.

Without saying much, I take the feather again and dip it into the clear substance before repeating everything again, this time under Ford's gaze. I turn to him after I've finished and I can tell by his expression that he is trying to understand - I wonder what he's thinking.

"This is incredible" He finally says, running his fingers over the page I demonstrated on. "Dipper you're amazing, this is progress!" I feel myself smile at the praise, itching to awkwardly rub my neck, my cheeks heating up. "Ah.. you know.. it was just a lucky accident" I smile at him as he picks up my journal again, studying it with heavy interest - I can tell he's about to note everything down, too. He puts it down and turns to me again. "You know, I think you'll do a great job when you take over for me" he says. I find myself blinking. "Really.. you.. you think so?" he nods "Of-course! You're intelligent, I fear one day you'll be better than I ever could have been" I feel him elbow my ribs as he laughs light-heartedly, and I feel a surge of pride in my chest. "Pshh.. yeah.. right, totally" I stammer, "As if I could ever beat you" I roll my eyes and wave him away. I can't believe it, me, being the second Ford? Could I ever be that .. that smart? Capable? Be.. that.