The Hero Effect

(6) In Which Chrystal Wishes She Had Been Right

I swiped a white proxy card in front of the scanner on a heavy door. It beeped and there was a clunk as the lock turned. It was late, inching up on 11 o' clock at night, though it was impossible to tell time from within the lab. The lack of windows always left me feeling disoriented. I pushed open the door with my shoulder, my hands already full, and entered into a room with white panels on the wall and stainless steel décor, which basically consisted of two desks, each with a high tech computer and a chair, a table, and a pushpin board that was littered with documents that made little sense to me, and bright fluorescent lights overhead.

"Mom?" I asked, directed my question at the woman in the lab coat behind the table.

My mother looked old. Her hair used to be as blond as mine, but the color had faded over the past few years. She'd cut it too, so that she looked more like she was an old woman than a middling aged mother. She stood over her desk, one hand planted on the table, the other sifting through stacks of paperwork.

"Yes, love?" she asked distractedly.

"I brought you those records you wanted," I said. "And a cup of coffee. I thought you might want something warm."

She looked up with blue eyes that also once been as blue as mine, but now had faded to a sad and tired grey. There were crinkles at the corner of her mouth as she smiled at me.

"Thank you, darlin'," she said in her tired English accent.  She took the coffee first and took a sip. "I probably needed that."

"Are you going to come to bed any time soon?" I asked, knowing the answer.

"No, not for a little while. I think I'm on to something here."

"Really?" I asked setting the stack of documents I had been carrying on the already messy table.

"I think so," she said taking a sip of her coffee. "It's gene isolation. It happens in nature on a regular basis. We just have to isolate the already mutated genes."

"Right," I said, looking a piece of lined paper that was covered in a mathematic scrawl. I studied it, making some of it out. "This looks really complicated."

"It is. But so is successfully altering the DNA of a living organism. If we can do it once, I'm sure we can do it again, but backwards. If I get approval to use a few of the chemicals in the lab, I may be able to cook something worth testing." She took a sip of her coffee.

I turned away from the confusing symbols and letters, and handed her the stack of paper.

"The records on Projects 1 and 2 are on top. I couldn't find anything significant on the Moscow Example, for some reason. What I did find is at the bottom and it's in Russian."

She was going to reply, but the door beeped and the lock turned.

A man walked in. He was big. I always thought he looked kind of like a football player, only with less neck and shoulder. He was dressed smartly in slacks and light blue dress shirt that looked beautiful with his eyes and light hair, which was combed to the side.

It was his face that gave him away. Sharp eyes that looked on everything with disdain and a permanent  frown  Sometimes I wish he had smiled. But then I think that no matter how much he smiled, he would never be the man I wanted him to be. His heart was black, no matter how white his teeth where.

My mother bowed her head and busied herself with her work.

"Hi Dad," I said, hoping for some sort of response. He walked in and moved behind one of the desks, setting down a leather bag.

"What have you two been doing all day?" he asked without looking at us. He was logging onto his computer.

"Just working," I answered, knowing Mom wouldn't be able to. "Like usual. You?"

"Just working," he echoed.

I turned back to Mom. I knew now that I couldn't leave. Not with him here.

"Can I help you with anything?" I asked as gently as I could.

"You can tell me why you're pulling confidential documents from the file room with my ID."

I shoved the card deeper into my pocket, my face flushing.

"I was just borrowing it. Mom thinks she's on to-"

"Give me the card."

I pulled it self-consciously out of my pocket and laid on his desk with a click.

"Leave her alone, Scott," my Mom said, behind me, her accent thickening with emotion. "She did it because I asked her to."

"And you should have known better," he said rising.

"I think I might have it. It'll just take a few more tests," Mom said.

His face contorted in rage. "I don't care what you have! Project 2 is lost! It's not like you could have done anything for her anyway!"

"Not for her, Scott! For all of them!"

"What more do you think they need? We've given them power!" he said, angrily. "You're trying to destroy everything we've ever worked for!"

"No," my mother said, her eyes lighting up. "I'm working to fix everything we've already destroyed."

My father's face twisted. "You are going to regret this, woman."

"I don't think I will, actually."

He stormed out of the room, leaving behind the his card and bag.

"Momma," I said, wrapping my arms around her neck. "What do you think he's going to do?"

"I don't know, love," she said, running her fingers through my hair. "But don't worry. He can't do anything permanent."

I just wish she had been right. I wish it every day.

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Also by me and the final pre-written chapter that we have in our possession. You guys are going to have to be like normal fans now and wait for us to upload everyday.

That's right. 

Be impatient. 

With flying digital sugar cookies! 

-FlyOn97