Differences

Chapter 6

Serena's POV

Well, where else were we supposed to put the head?

The taxi took us to Bart's, and I just sat next to Newbie blaring Slo-Mo-Tion into the earphones that hid underneath my hair.

I got out silently, half way through The Kill, and I could tell that Newbie was following me, wondering why we were at a hospital.

When we got inside, I finally pulled out the earphones when I found Molly, just coming out of a room - she had just done a post-mortem.

'Molly! Hey, listen, would you get me some cell samples?' Molly was one of the only people who were ever nice to me, besides John and Sherlock.

'Sure, what kind?'

'Any human cells will be fine. Just, two slides of random cells. However hard or easy to identify. Preferably easy - no offence, but I want to be out of here quickly, because...' I indicated with my eyes to Newbie, who was just standing awkwardly behind me, listening to mine and Molly's conversation.

'Okay, I'll bring them up, if you want to set up the microscopes and stuff,' said Molly, before hurrying off. I went into a room and Newbie followed.

After setting up the microscopes next to a piece of paper and a pen, I sat down. Newbie pulled up a chair.

'What?' I said as she sat down.

'What do you mean?'

'What're you doing?'

'Getting ready.'

'Sit over there,' I said, indicating to the opposite side of the room.

'Why?'

'Because then, you'll be being the least distracting that it's possible for somebody to be.' I said bluntly.

'Then, what am I supposed to do?'

'Nothing.'

Newbie - she wasn't exactly new anymore, I just couldn't remember her name - was about to respond, but then, Molly came in with four microscope slides. She handed them to me. 'Here you go.'

'Thanks,' I replied.

'Do you need anything else?'

'No, I'm fine, thanks, Molly.'

'Okay,' Molly left. It wasn't because she was annoyed, or anything - it was just because she knew that I didn't need any help, and she did have a job.

I slid the first slide into place, and looked at it for a short moment.

And then I switched it for the second slide.

Perfect - two cells that fit together. I'd thank Molly later.

And then I scribbled onto the paper.

Cone cells are cells in the retina of the eye which only function in relatively bright light. There are about 6 million in the human eye. They gradually become more sparse towards the outside of the retina.

Rod cells are the cells found in the eye that are used to respond to stimuli/pick up images in lower or darker levels of light. These are the cells that are used for 'night vision' - seeing in darker, or less brightly light spaces.

Cones are less sensitive to light than the rod cells in the retina (which support vision at low light levels), but allow the perception of color. They are also able to perceive finer detail and more rapid changes in images, because their response times to stimuli are faster than those of rods. Because humans (normally) have three kinds of cones, with different photopsins, which have different response curves (that is, they respond to variation in color in different ways), we have trichromatic vision.

'Okay, my go.' Said Newbie, reaching for the microscope.

I swiped the slides away from her vision, too quickly for her to notice. Then, I picked up the paper and said, 'done.'

'Well, let me do my part, then.'

'I told you. It's done.'

'That was...' She looked at her watch. 'Two minutes. You can't have done very good work in two minutes.'

'I could have done better, I just think that this is a good enough level for somebody of our age. We were asked to analyse one cell - well, instead, I compared two.'

'And what did I do?'

'Distract me.'

'Let me look!' She yanked the microscope from in front of me. It toppled over the edge of the table - and, luckily, I caught it.

'We're done.'

I got up and walked out of the room. Newbie followed me.