Ameliorative Accident

14. Drop by if ya can

Simon was busy tinkering on the zipline in his lab but he jumped when he heard the sound of the door opening.

"Hey Simon, you need any help with that zipline?" Jeanette peeped from behind him.

"Oh it's you," He said sighing in relief as she walked closer to him, "I was worried Alvin stole the code to my lab again,"

"Oh nope, it's just silly old me. I thought you'd busy with that," She chuckled pointing at the different parts spread on his table.

"Well, you were certainly right. I could maybe use some help," He shrugged "Especially since I'm supposed to head over to Carl's later on,"

"Why are you going to Carl's?" She asked, failing to hold back her curious mind.

"Uh, we're finalizing a science club project together," Simon said trying to loosen a screw, "He's my-Uh...partner,"

"Um, Okay," She furrowed her eyebrows.

"On second thought, I don't want to bother you Jeannette. I think I handle this on my-" He said struggling to connect two parts together but one suddenly sprung out. He jumped back startled, and started searching on the floor to see where it went to.

"Are you sure?" Jeanette giggled holding it in her hand, before standing up and going to hand it over to him. He sighed.

"You've proven me wrong yet again, Jean,"He blushed nervously as he turned to his table "Care to do it together?" He smirked setting the piece down. She chuckled, before going to join him at his table. She didn't hesitate to look away when she felt the blood foolishly crowding in her cheeks.

After an hour of both chatting and getting some progress on the zipline, Simon went over to Carl's house. It was a warm peaceful afternoon. He got to the door and was about to ring the doorbell, when the door came flying open and a middle aged woman almost trampled on him. He stumbled backwards startled.

"I'm so sorry, I'm in such a hurry I almost didn't see you. How can I help you?" She apologized.

"It's alright, I came over to see Carl. I'm Simon, and Carl and I are supposed to be partners for a science club project," He said politely.

"I'm pretty sure he's in the basement. That's all the boy ever is all day. So you can head right in Simon. Sorry again but please feel welcomed in our home," She gestured pointing into the house.

Simon was about to thank her but she'd already ran off to her car and quickly drove off. He wondered why she was in such a rush. He shrugged it off and let himself into the house.

"C-Carl? Are you here?" He said moving into a poorly lit chilly hallway. There was no response but Simon got to look around the house and take in it's appearance. It was a nice fancy looking space. Vintage furniture and all sorts of tiny decorations. He swore all the new kids were born with silver spoons in their mouths. But despite it's appearance, it felt like something was missing. Life was the first word he thought that described it. It felt more like a house than a home.

At the end of the hallway he saw a door that supposedly led to the basement that that lady talked about. So he gulped and put his brave shoes on and walked over to it. After hesitantly opening it, he slowly made his way down the stairs. His suspicions were proven right and it indeed seemed like a basement but it was dark. He flicked on the light switch and gasped at what he saw.

He expected it to be mostly empty or something and not full like this. Especially not with this sort of thing. He got to the bottom of the stairs and started analyzing a machine he saw at the corner of the room.