Chapter 3

Safety First.

Elizabeth Diamond.

Area/Time: NYC 2013, 1-2nd month. July 3rd

“So what kind of monkey is it?” Sarah asked as she prepped the 15th safety test. We had set up all 400 safety tests a long time ago so all we had to do was run them, which didn’t take too long. That’s what made them easy- but the annoying part- having nothing to do. So me and Sarah usually just made conversation while we waited for the test to run.

“It’s a Three Striped Night Monkey.” I said fancily, readjusting my goggles as I bent over the incubator. So far the plates have had no reaction. And in this case, no reaction is a good reaction. For each of the tests we expose the gas to common things found in a body and see if it.. As Sarah puts it.. Goes kaboom.

“Oooh, fancy.” Sarah said, lowering a substance on a plate, “How many neurons?”

DING.

The Incubator beeped, meaning the test was successful. I traversed around the maze of machinery in the lab to locate Test 16, “One Billion, four hundred and sixty eight million!” I yelled from the Liquid Nitrogen Fridge. I retrieved substance Q from the fridge and made my way back to the incubator station. The letters represent the substance for each test-16th letter for the 16th test and so on. When we run out of letters it goes to A2, B2,etc.

Sarah whistled,

“Pathetic!” She shouted, since humans have billions more. The amount didn’t matter for the upcoming test in September because the only thing we would be recording is the margin by which the number of neurons changed. If the amount of neurons the monkey has decreased under stress, the gas did literally nothing and the monkey did what a monkey does. If the number stayed the same then we did something, but it would still be a failure. We needed the amount to grow.

A couple of hours in, Sarah asked, “Can I have time off for July 4th?”

I shook my head from the microscope I was looking through, “Three months, remember?”

She sighed, “My little brother really wanted to shoot fireworks with me.”

I brought my head back from the Microscope and raised my eyebrow, “Isn’t that illegal or something?”

Sarah shrugged, “I honestly have no idea.”

“How is Damien anyway?” I asked, going back into the microscope, Test 16 was interesting, as it appeared to react violently to Inverse.

“He’s good.” She said plainly.

I pressed more, jotting a couple of notes down, “Still making all A’s?”

I heard her smile, [yes it’s possible]

“As usual. Not a B in sight.”

Once I was finished with my notes, we took a break on the couch next to the main door leading out into the hallway,

“That’s good.” I sighed, sinking into the red cushions.

Suddenly, a thought came to me, “Hey, you should bring him here for July 4th, I bet he would love that.”

Sarah’s face lit up, “Hey , that’s a great idea!” she exclaimed, “And my mom would totally be okay with it.”

My smile grew wider, “Then I’ll see him tomorrow.”

--The Next Day-Perspective Swap: Damien Reyes-

“So How does it feel being 23?” I asked as I slumped on my bed, staring at my sister in the doorway. Sarah looked around my room. There were sneakers under my white desk, clothes piles that marked where certain things were, periodic table posters up on about every wall, and two phones plugged in on my desk [One cell one Satellite]. The only really nice things were the special framed pictures of my family and me standing up on my nightstand and desk. Plus some equally important pictures of my best friend, Jason Cole.

It was pretty organized if you asked me.

She walked in and sat next to my legs,

“Like being 22..and 21… and 20.. And 19.. And-”

I threw my pillow at her, “Okay, Okay, I get it.”

Now, not having a pillow to lay on, I sat up and leaned on Sarah, “So what will I do at your fancy lab?”

She smiled and dragged her fingers through my black curls, “Well I was going to let you help run some safety tests..”

I jumped from my bed, not being able to contain my excitement,

“Really?!”

After realizing that I had shown such enthusiasm I quickly coughed, sat back down, and lowered my voice, “I mean..sweet.”

Sarah laughed, standing up and walking towards the door, “I’ll pick you up from school, so no hanging out with Jason in that pathetic excuse of a lab.”

She was referring to the science club room in my school. I would’ve thrown a pillow at her, but I didn’t have another.

“It’s not pathetic!” I said angrily, “You’re pathetic!”

She laughed again, “Whatever Hermano, but no clubs today, got it?”

“Sí.” I replied, flopping back on my bed as she left.

“Should probably get ready for school.” I thought as I rolled onto the floor.

---

On my way out of the door, my mom handed me five dollars so I could get breakfast, “Be careful Mijo!” Mom yelled as I took off down our apartment steps, crumpling the bills in my coat,

“Okay bye!” I shouted back, fading into the crowd of kids heading towards the bus.

It was freezing in New York, but it wasn’t any less alive. Car horns were like background music and the smell of cigarettes filled the air. I zipped up my neon red coat that was way too big for me and began to skip through crowds on the sidewalk.

I passed by Energis Labs, where my sister worked. I hadn’t seen Doctor D in a while so I was looking forward to tonight. Plus she had a big window, so we could watch fireworks. I then passed by Synth Labs, a rival to Energis. They’re pretty even in terms of inventions as of now. Sarah told me that whoever makes the next big thing first will most likely win the International Science Award this year.

I stopped at the intersection before my stop, and checked my phone as I waited for the light.

“Seven O'clock huh? Thanks.” A voice said behind me. I turned around to find that Jason had snuck up on me.

I grinned, “Hey, where’s your phone?”

His face turned red, “My mom took it away.”

I tilted my head as the light turned and we started to walk, “Again? Dude.”

He smiled sheepishly, “ I know I know.. you wanna do some lab stuff after school? I don’t think I'll be in the mood to hear my parents fighting again.”

I frowned, “Sorry J, my sister is taking me to Energis.”

He looked down as we reached the bus stop. I felt bad for him. His parents are threatening divorce and he’s caught in the middle. I looked to the left at the Bob’s Bagels right next to our stop. I smirked, checked my phone once more, and ran inside.

“Nothing screams Sorry like a bagel.” I thought, running up to the counter.

“Hey Damien!” Mr. Drake exclaimed. Mr. Drake owns the bagel shop and is a personal friend with my Dad,

“How’s Andre and Esperanza?”

I smiled, “They’re good, can I get Jason’s usual?”

He tilted his head, “And what about you?” He asked, placing the order.

I waved him off, “I’ll eat later.”

He grunted, ‘Make sure to eat...don’t you have a physics test today?”

I laughed, “Yea, but it’ll be easy.”

He sighed and handed me the food in a bag, “Okay mature fourteen. Have a good day in school.”

I smiled and took off.

I slid next to Jason just as the bus arrived.

“Hey D, where did you go? First you reject me, then you...is that a bagel?”

I handed it to him, “Sorry. I wish I could go with you, but..you know.”

Jason shrugged and took out the bagel while we climbed the bus steps, “Well, you know what they say, bagels heal all wounds.”

I laughed as we found our usual seat in the back, “Cierto.” I agreed. I was still tired due to my early morning talk with Sarah, so I quickly fell asleep.

-----

I woke up leaning against the bus window.

I sat up and rubbed my eyes, looking at Jason who was also asleep but woke now because of my movement. He looked at me, “Hey, How long was I out?” He asked.

I shrugged, “However long I was probably.”

“WEEE’RE HERE!” The bus driver shouted from the front, effectively waking up everyone on the bus and most likely everyone in a quarter mile.

Everyone began to stir as the bus came to a stop in front of the school. I looked out the window at the big words on the building.

“Manhattan’s School of Science”

I took a deep breath and stood up, walking down the aisle with Jason soon following. Once we hit the sidewalk we began to climb the fancy concrete stairs leading up to the entrance. SOS was shaped like a giant sphere with four pillars diagonally pushing up on it. At first I thought it was weird, but after a while it kinda looked cool. Once we reached the top Jason suddenly froze.

I stopped and looked at him, “Ese.. I know it’s cold..but-”

"Huwahababy." Jason mumbled.

I frowned and looked to see what he was staring at.

"Oh."

I mentally face palmed myself when I realized where his attention had gone.

Melissa Embers, the daughter of Draxon Embers, for which the street had its name. Ember Defence was the most popular security agency in New york City. It even had its own skyscraper at the edge of Manhattan and Queens. In addition to that, it was also entrusted by the government to hold like..valuable stuff or something.

She was almost as rich as Jason.

She had long bronze hair, perfect white skin, perfect amber eyes, and perfect...everything else I guess.

And almost every guy, along with Jason, was absolutely obsessed. She was currently being cornered by six other guys next to one of the pillars. When she saw Jason staring at her, she blushed even more.

“Wait a second..” I thought, eyeing her expression, “Does she...like..Oh jeez.”

I laughed at my new found realization, “See you later?”

My words pulled him out of his gaze as he nodded, “O-oh yea,” He gave me a fist bump before taking off down the hallway. When you enter the school, you are immediately faced with three hallways. One going left, one going right, and one going straight down the middle. Physics was my first period, and it was to the left. Jason had Journalism first so he had turned right. [He had this thing about being a reporter].

I shook my head as I entered the Physics room, still thinking about Jason’s fantasies. I didn’t really like anyone yet, my only friend was Jason, but we had been friends since I was born, so that seemed like a constant. My mom said that liking anyone would just be a distraction to m-

“Attention class,” Mrs.Adams, our physics teacher, interrupted my thoughts.

“We have a new student today. Everyone, welcome Selina Morgan!” She announced. Selina smiled shyly from the front of the classroom as she slowly found a chair.

My jaw dropped as she took a seat next to me.

But before it got weird, I quickly closed my mouth and stared at the test paper on my desk.

She blushed and looked at her desk.

Mrs.Adams coughed,

“Ms.Morgan will not be taking the test with us but she will be taking an entrance quiz on lab safety. So she will be JUST as busy as you.” She noted, staring directly at me.

“So, get to work.” She concluded.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, I glanced to my right at Selina and our eyes met. Her eyes were crystal blue, which matched her clothes and streaks in her blonde hair. I coughed, “Umm hi. My name is Damien.”

She smiled, “My name is Selina.”

Then, turning red,

“But you..already knew that.”

We both chuckled.

I was about to start a full on conversation when she pointed to the quiz, “I don’t want to fail my first quiz.. On safety.”

I nodded, “Right right,” I agreed, smiling dumbly, “Safety first.”

If girls were a distraction… I just found the hottest distraction in existence.