Short on Time

Chapter 112

"We have to wait how long before we can use the meta-human cure?" I asked suspiciously.

"Not even that long," Cisco said in a high-pitched voice.

"Cisco," I warned.

"It's gonna go by like that."

"Cisco," I said again.

"Twenty-nine days," Cisco said quickly.

"A month?" Barry asked.

"I know, right? Just one, teeny, tiny, month until we stop Cicada's purge," Cisco said. "You know, historically speaking, this is way faster than we've ever stopped a big bad so..."

"We can't wait that long," Barry objected. "If he finds another meta or comes after us we have to speed this up somehow."

"We have to wait for the compound to fully synthesize or it won't be able to effectively neutralize the dark matter in a meta-human's pituitary gland," Caitlin explained.

"Without any way to expedite the exotic evolution Barry, we're gonna have to wait," Cisco explained.

"I think we have to wait," Sherloque agreed. "Unless you took it into the Speed Force."

"What?" Esther asked.

" What, you want him to go into the Speed Force for a month and then, what, come out the same day that he left?" Iris asked.

"Oh, no, no, I'm not saying you manipulate time," Sherloque said. "I'm saying you manipulate dark matter. So very simple. It's simple chemistry, right? When you are synthesizing a compound, you use a Commodity, uh, substrate, uh-"

"A catalyst?" Caitlin and I asked.

"Catalyst, right," Sherloque nodded. "And the most efficient catalyst you can use when synthesizing a compound that negates dark matter is superluminal particles."

"Tachyons?" Esther asked.

"Tachyons, and the place where tachyons are the most dense?" Sherloque asked.

"Speed Force," Nora said.

"That might actually work," I said.

"Yeah, it will," Cisco said. "It'll be like nuking it in a pan-dimensional microwave."

"Nice work," Barry said.

"I know," Sherloque said.

"So how much time would this save?" Iris asked.

"From twenty-nine days down to sixty minutes," I said as I quickly did the math in my head.

"Yeah, it's gonna be faster," Cisco agreed. "And also since Cicada has been quiet since your last encounter, maybe there's no time like the present."

"Do it," Iris said.

"All right," Barry said. "We'll see you in an hour."

"We?" Caitlin asked giving me a look.

"Yeah, Ginger can keep everything stable like normal-" Barry began, but Esther cut him off.

"I'm thinking it would be best if Mum stays here," Esther said quickly.

"Why would Ginger need to stay here?" Iris asked.

"Yeah, I've figured out the equation," Cisco said.

"And we can watch the kids," Ralph offered.

"I think what Esther means is," Caitlin began.

"It is obvious," Sherloque said. "Ginger is in the family way again."