Grounded

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

I don't fully understand. I'm beginning to think I never will.

It's the next morning before Maxwell has time to talk. His meeting with the council took most of the night. But after a few hours of fitful sleep, I sit in a conference room with Korwin as his father draws us a picture on the whiteboard.

My body is like a machine, as is Korwin's. I burn glucose from the food I eat and make energy called adenosine triphosphate, or ATP. But everyone else's body does that too. Korwin and I are unique in our ability to transform ATP into electricity. Our cells can also work in reverse and make ATP from electricity. That's what he calls "getting juiced." Like every machine, if I use up my fuel, my ATP, I'll eventually stop working. In Korwin's case, when CGEF pulled electricity from his body, using him like a battery, it gave him scurvy. His body didn't have enough ATP left to repair its cells. The sores on his arms were caused by his body eating itself to fuel other cells. If I hadn't saved him, he would have eventually starved to death.

"But here's the interesting thing," Maxwell says. "When your body touches Korwin's body, your cells flip their polarization. You, Lydia, might build a negative charge, which attracts Korwin's positive charge."

"Like a circuit," Korwin interrupts. "We pass energy back and forth like a battery." He glances at me. "We figured that much out."

"Yes, yes, but that's not all. Your cells are like magnets, constantly flipping their polarity when you're...connected. Um, kissing and so forth." Maxwell clears his throat and flashes a tight smile. "When you share energy, the push and pull of your cells is similar to the particles in an atom. They continually charge each other. You two become the world's strongest atomic generator."

"That's impossible. If we're adding energy, it has to come from somewhere. If it's not from our cells, where is it coming from?"

"That's the fascinating part. Somehow, without your knowledge, you two are drawing from the energy around you—directly from the atoms. You didn't need a direct connection in that room. The power within you found the nearest energy source and took it."

Korwin wrings his hands. I know how he feels. A dark worm is writhing in my stomach, a question I am afraid to ask. Korwin is braver.

"What does this mean for us?"

Maxwell sighs. "It means you best be careful when you touch. Holding hands is probably okay, but a kiss could start a fire. A deep kiss could incinerate the people around you. Having sex could produce the same energy as a nuclear blast."

I stop breathing. The room suddenly seems too small and hot, like there isn't enough air. I glance toward Korwin. His skin has taken on a greenish hue and his eyes are wide.

"That can't be right," he says, but the words come out one by one, like they're struggling for the surface.

Maxwell removes his glasses and cleans them on the corner of his lab coat. "It's an untested theory, to be sure," he mumbles.

The thought that touching Korwin could be dangerous, even deadly, rocks me to my core. I stand, knocking the chair back from the table. "Please excuse me. I need some air." The words are hushed and breathless. I run for the door.

"Lydia!" Korwin calls.

"Let her go," Maxwell mumbles.

The door swings shut behind me.

I navigate the maze of corridors like the lab rat that I am. Some I remember. Some I don't. What I want is to find Jeremiah. I don't deserve his friendship, not after the way I treated him, flaunting my feelings for Korwin. But I need it. I need to talk to someone, to sort this out.