Poison City [PAUSED]

Chapter 2

Fumiko's eyes were bloodshot the next morning. After all, she hadn't slept at all in three days. She knew she had to keep her insomnia a secret. What would happen to her if anyone found out that she had a mental illness in any form? Until last year she thought that mentally ill people weren't sent away anymore, or that those kinds of illnesses simply stopped existing, but then the Hanah incident happened.

Hanah was a year younger than Fumiko, and last year someone started spreading a rumor around the school that Hanah was cutting herself. After a few days four men dressed in all dark navy blue came to school and asked Hanah to come ant talk to them in the principle's office. A few minutes later the whole school saw them carry her away, as she was kicking and screaming. That was the last anyone ever saw from Hanah. She was the only child, so there was no way for anyone to find out what happened, unless they wanted to go to Hanah's house and ask her parents.

It was history class and Fumiko couldn't focus at all. She was thinking about everything and nothing. About everything that happened on her way home last night, and about the bug stain on the classroom window. About her dad being on duty again, and about the perfectly cut grass she could see through the window. About her insomnia, and about the cloud shaped like a syringe.

"Miss Hayashi!", Mr Braddock brought Fumiko back to reality, "Your answer please!" Fumiko stayed quiet and Mr Braddock started loosing his nerves as usual. "We all know you are in this school because of your science expertise, but if you fail my class I am afraid that you will no longer attend this school!"

Fumiko lowered her head. "I am sorry Mr Braddock. Could you please repeat the question?"

"When and what caused the Great Pandemic? I am guessing this is something you should know, as a science lover."

Fumiko cleared her throat. "The first case of the Great Pandemic was recorded 30 years ago in the USA in the state of Massachusetts. It is still unknown as to why the pandemic first started, but thanks to a lot of data which has been collected over the years, we know that people suffering from the pandemic have abnormal secretion of endocrine glands, which is linked to the hyperaggressiveness that they show. It is also still unknown how to stop the pandemic. The only thing that we know for certain is that it is directly linked to mental illnesses of all kinds."

"Very well explained Miss Hayashi, however I would prefer it if you used the exact dates from now on, and concentrated a bit more on the historical, rather than the scientific point of view."

"But Mr Braddock," Fumiko stopped herself. She didn't want to get in trouble. Telling Mr Braddock that technically speaking the Great Pandemic isn't even part of the history yet, as it happened less than fifty years ago, would only make things worse. Besides she really did want to stay in The New Oxford High School.

He lifted one eyebrow, "Yes?"

She lowered her head once again. "Nothing, I am sorry for not paying attention, it won't happen again."

***

Fumiko loved the lab. Usually it was the last period and she would almost always stay longer than it was really necessary. Today's lab was same as yesterday's, to find the reaction that would happen if algae Alibilis (an algae that started being added to foods about 40 years ago to add nutritious value, as poverty was being widely spread at that time) was combined with the hydronic acid, potassium chloride and sodium chloride, no ratios or instructions were written in the assignment.

Last night when she was just about to clean up after herself, Fumiko saw that in the Erlenmeyer flask in which she did the first experiment, the algae was completely gone, and when she checked the properties of the acids, it was as if nothing was ever even there. This discovery made her very shocked, as all of the acids combined made gastric acid, and if the algae evaporated from that environment without a trace, than that would mean that all of the stories about algae Alibilis' nutritious properties were lies.