The Inadequate Experiments: 2. Friction [Original]

Part 1; Impulsivity - 4. The Inequity Endemic

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. My nostrils were assaulted with the smell of hard, worn leather, musty cloth, aged paper, and old ink. As my eyelids opened, I let my gaze travel up and down the bookcases, across the shelves stacked with books I loved so much.

"This is probably my favourite place here." I said, turning around to see a look of awe plastered on my twin sister's face.

"There's so... so many." She practically gasped, her eyes wide.

I smiled to myself. "This is the first place I talked to Oliver properly, too."

Her brow furrowed slightly. "You Soul Mate?" She asked. "And Calliope's brother?"

I nodded, a small laugh coming from my mouth. "I... I didn't really like him at first. I thought he was an asshole." I said, dropping into one of the bean bags at the base of the bookshelves.

"Why did you think that?" Rose inquired, sitting down on the bean bag across from me.

I shrugged. "Well, we used to go to school together when we were little, before he got into acting and was pulled out. We were never introduced properly, and we never actually spoke at all, so I guess the Watch figured it didn't count as us meeting if we just knew of each other. I never knew his name, but he was always throwing pencils at me during classes. I thought he was bullying me – a lot of people did it, so it wasn't far-fetched that he would be doing it too. I hated him for it."

"But... he wasn't really bullying you, was he?" She asked.

I laughed. "No, no. He... When we first sat down to talk properly, I mentioned it, accusing him of bullying. But he said... he said he always had this feeling. He didn't really know how to describe it. It wasn't a logical 'I want to marry this girl one day' or 'this girl is my Soul Mate' feeling. It was kind of just a slight curiosity, like he cared for me from afar and wasn't sure why. He said he would do it to try and get my attention."

Her brow furrowed. "It sounds almost like he – somehow – subconsciously knew." She commented. "It's a curious thing."

I raised my eyebrows. "Well, Oli has always been... different."

Rose's eyes lit up. "Is he like us? Is that why Calliope is like us?"

I shook my head. "He's... no. He's not an Untouchable like us, but I wouldn't say he's your average Normality either."

"How so?"

"He... well, he—" I stopped myself. I hadn't even told Tia about Oliver's Depression. I found myself not wanting to tell Rose before my best friend knew, even though she was my sister. I sighed. "Sorry." I told her. "It's not really my secret to tell."

She shrugged slightly. "That's okay." Then, "Do you ever wonder what would have happened if the two of you had been introduced properly back then? When you were little?"

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. "All the time." I muttered. "I feel like a lot of this would have been avoided. No fights, no Inequity, no getting kidnapped by the Scientists, no—" My hand flew up to my temple, and I felt myself gasp as pain lashed across my forehead.

Rose's brow furrowed and she leant forward on her bean bag, covering my hand with hers. Her hand was cold against my burning skin. "Sera? Are you alright?" She asked, slowly removing my hand from my brow.

I nodded, rattled. "I'm fine... just a migraine. They tend to come out of nowhere ever since..." I trailed off as she interrupted me.

She said a word that sounded foreign to me, a word that distorted as my mind tried to register it. "Who is he?" She repeated the word – a name, I guessed – but I still didn't understand.