Ody's face conveyed no expression whatsoever. It froze. His reaction confused Mr. Aldrich who was so zoomed in on the security cameras that everything was pixelated and fuzzy.
He turned the phone off and raised it above Geiger counter once again. A rather angular line shown on the screen now, yet it was less tight. Ody creased his brow in contemplation.
"What is it, Ody?" Penny asked as she leaned over his shoulder. She had no idea what was going on.
"I- uh-" Ody hesitated. His wide brown eyes drifted from the monitor to the cell phone with such puzzlement it surprised Penny. She struggled to contain her curiosity.
"Just spit it out!" Penny began bouncing up and down in her giddy excitement.
"Well- the wavelengths of these gamma rays prove this is alpha radiation when turned on..."
"English, please?"
"After Christmas last winter I built something like this. I found that the loose, curvy lines are less harmful to a person where the more angled, tighter the lines are harmful radiation to a person. But this... look at this. Penny do you know what this means?"
"Uh, no."
"It could indicate that the alternative form of radiation I'd been looking at is dangerous in this device! That would certainly explain the strange side effects. Radiation enters the body and haphazardly damages the molecules within the cells but if this radiation is different, it could directly target the brain and only the brain!"
"And why is that so great...?"
"Penny, don't you see? The radiation I was looking at harmed humans and only humans. I bet you this form of radiation is part of the reason the brain paralysis is unheard of! It damages the frontal lobe and amygdala causing hallucinations and lost reasoning functions, the side effects of the Technasma."
"So, basically this cell phone causes Technasma?"
"Yes, but only when it's powered on. That's when something goes on in the circuits—I'm not sure what—that causes the alpha radiation or whatever alternative form of radiation and harms the brain!"
"But how come Mae has it then?"
"She used to sleep with her phone charging close to her every night. Because it wasn't powered off, the radiation messed with her brain."
"But Devlin didn't have a phone!"
"Turn that old computer on," Ody instructed as he pointed to the computer across the table. His heart was beating so fast he could barely contain himself. Pressing the on switch on the computer, Penny stepped back. Ody waited for the system to load then scanned the device.
Like he expected, the line was tight and angled again. However, the readings were healthily low just like the cell phone.
"Do you remember all those nights he fell asleep over his laptop keys? He tried to stay awake to continue his work but kept falling asleep. I bet he accidentally exposed himself to the strong radiation."
"Oh but notice how the line isn't as straight on the computer as it was on the cell phone," Penny pointed out.
"Hm, Penny, what is the date on that cell phone?" Ody asked. Penny shrugged as she handed the phone to Ody upside down. He sighed and stared at her as he turned it right side up. She scrunched her nose up at his mocking glare in aggravation at her lack of experience with either piece of technology. Devlin had made sure of that.
He opened the setting app to look at the motel. 2023.
"I bet something in the new technologies causes a more direct dose of radiation to the brain. That's why suicide rates increase because the radiation keeps growing stronger."
"But why did suicide exist before the 1900s? There weren't any cell phones or desktops back then."
"Because radiation comes in all different forms. There must be a more natural way to contract Technasma. After all, radiation has always existed."
"Ya know, it all makes sense now."
"What do you mean?"
"Why Devlin never allowed me to get a cell phone and kept me so far away from all that stuff." As Penny's words fell from her lips, Ody felt as if he had gained ten pounds. It was guilt that pushed him down. He had looked at her with such pity and disgust at the fact Devlin had not allowed her to be around this radiation. Before all of this, Ody had believed Penny was altogether too sheltered.
Devlin had been protecting her. He'd known that there was something up with the newer technology so he was simply trying to protect his daughter.
Ody had thought she was repressed and lacking social skills. He'd called her a weirdo and pitied her. The guilt swarmed him as he heard her words and knew them to be true.
Penny continued, "That was probably why the desktops in the lab in Cazenovia were so weird. Do ya remember how the wires looked like they'd been rewired? Well, I bet ya one cream soda that they were rewired because they feared the mysterious radiation."
"Don't you think they'd have found out about that other form of radiation before I did?"
"Nah, what ya did was different, Ody. They may have been lookin' for it, but I think if they'd known about all of this, they wouldn't be stuck here. That's why they had laid the whole process of the cure off. Because they couldn't find what caused the disease. Without a cause, it's hard to find a way to reverse it.
"I bet ya that that's one of the reasons they hired Devlin. They knew he was a botanist with a masters in phycology and they must've had suspicions about radiation. They must've wanted an expert on nature. After all, if I had to guess what the opposite of radiation and technology is, I'd say it's nature and therapy—Devlin knew both.
"Maybe that's where the cure is. Since we understand the source of the radiation, maybe we could figure out how to reverse the brain damage.
"Ody, I think we're onto somethin', now."
YOU ARE READING
The Post Sunday Experiment | COMPLETED 2020
AventuraAfter his parent's divorce, Ody Winter moves to New York City with his mother, leaving behind the rolling hills he and his sister grew up on. Two years later, they learn that Ody's father, scientist Devlin Jax Winter, died from a peculiar suicide...
