Ivy and the Fluorescent Lightbulb

Chapter 17.1 - Missing Records

Ivy gasped seeing the space at the bottom of the stairs. Instead of there being a large metal wall, there was a large, gaping hole. "What happened here?" she said.

"Xiyane's thoughtful gesture," Uncle Taner said, stepping over shards of metal and going into the lab. "Watch your steps."

Ivy pointed her gloves to the surrounding mess, careful to avoid stepping on any of the shrapnel. They came to a stop by the walls, peering into Uncle Taner's lab. Ivy could make out the familiar shelving, and the hatch on the floor which was still open. "I've only been here once since last week," Uncle Taner said, marching to the cellar. "Can't really get much done here, considering the...extent of the damage."

"Why do I feel like he's blaming me?" Ivy whispered to Oak.

Oak shrugged. "That's just how he talks," he said.

"Because he probably is," Syndria whispered back.

"No he isn't!" Oak retorted.

Uncle Taner switched on his gloves' flashlights and jogged down the cellar's stairs, his lights briefly disappearing before reappearing with the lightbulb in his hands. "Okay, Ivy," he said, handing the tube to her, "explain."

Ivy took the bulb, staring between it and Uncle Taner. "Explain what?" she asked in bewilderment.

"How it did this?" he said, waving a hand around the room. "And how you used it to fry your health bar?"

"You fried your health bar?" Oak exclaimed. "I didn't even know that was possible!"

"Woah, how did I not notice that before?" Syndria said, leaning to look at the error symbol.

"You can do that?" Augaley said, rushing to look at Ivy's health bar. "That's so dangerous!"

"Um...I don't know?" Ivy said, uncomfortably backing from the others. "I guess the only thing I know is that either the lightbulb or the power source has to be active in order for anything to happen..."

"Active as in how?" Uncle Taner said.

"I don't know," Ivy helplessly said, waving the bulb in her hand. "Like, powered up?"

"So," he evenly said, "the lightbulb has to be electrically charged then."

"Yeah," she said. "It only made these clothes act weird when it was on."

"But it wasn't live when you destroyed my lab's power source," he pointed out.

"No," she said with a frown, her mind racing. "But, that power source box-thingie was! Like I said...one of the two has to be active."

Uncle Taner sighed.

"So the only way to test this thing is to get the power back on?" Oak asked. "Why don't we just go back to your lab and turn it on there? Wouldn't it be easier?"

"I agree," Carbon piped. "This place hardly seems to be in any shape to conduct any tests in. Why stay here?"

"Because I don't want to potentially fry my other lab too once we get this thing working," Uncle Taner replied, spinning on his heels and striding to a dark corner of the room, rummaging in what Ivy could only assume was a box. "What's this? Ugh, she must've bugged this place," Ivy heard him mutter more quietly. There was a metallic, crunching sound, then more rummaging noises.

He re-emerged and stomped the ground, opening the cellar's hatch.

"Is it safe here?" Ivy asked, looking apprehensively at the cavernous hole in the wall.

"No," Uncle Taner replied, lugging a large toolbox down into the cellar. "But it's probably safer here than anywhere else at this rate. You kids give me a few nanosecs while I figure out what's going on here. Do not leave this lab area."

He fell silent as the sounds of power tools started, working away at the box below. After a few moments, the tools stopped. "Ivy?" he called. "Can you come down here for a nanosecond?" Ivy glanced at the others, then carefully made her way down the stairs.

"Yeah?" she said, her eyes adjusting to the dark surroundings, the only light coming from the soft, glowing green of her clothes and the orange glow of Uncle Taner's.

"I think this thing is good to go," he said, emerging from behind the shelving unit. "But I want you to bring that lightbulb-thing over here when I give you the cue."

"Okay," Ivy replied with a nod.

Uncle Taner disappeared once more into the back of the room. With a loud clunk, the lights suddenly switched on, and a low hum of electricity filled the room. "Perfect!" Ivy heard him exclaim. "Okay, Ivy. Come this way!"

Ivy approached the back of the room and ducked behind the shelves. Uncle Taner watched her expectantly as she approached him.

Sure enough, the lights began to flicker as she neared. "Okay, you can stop now," he said, holding up a hand. He looked between the bulb and the box. "Come closer, but more slowly."

Ivy crept towards Uncle Taner, watching as the light's flickering became more sporadic.

He grunted, then beckoned to her. "Show me how you shut off the reactor. But please," he added, "do not actually shut it off this time."

"Right," Ivy said, closing the gap between herself and Uncle Taner. "All I did was put it through here..."

Ivy pointed the bulb to the round gap in the box.

"Oh, so you jammed the exhaust," Uncle Taner flatly said. "It's a wonder you didn't cause this whole building to explode." He looked at the lights as they flashed in a dizzying kaleidoscopic. "What's in that thing, anyways?"

"Probably nothing," Ivy said, quickly moving the bulb away from the box. "You know, maybe old-world metal or something, right?" She lightly laughed and turned back to the stairs. "Anyways," she said, mounting the stairs. "Now that we got this...I guess you have to figure out how to power this thing up, right?" Maybe I can buy some time and talk to the others about this first.

"Right," Uncle Taner replied, watching Ivy leave with a perplexed expression. "But where do you think you're going?"

Ivy stopped and turned around, looking down at Uncle Taner from the top of the stairs. "What do you mean?" she innocently said.

"I mean," he said with a stern expression, "I don't think I gave you permission to leave yet."

"Oh." She shuffled. "Can I leave?"

Uncle Taner stared at her, clearly unamused, but then sighed. "Sure, whatever," he said, waving her off. "Just don't make a mess up there with the others."

Ivy nodded and trotted into his lab, searching for where everyone had disappeared to.

They were nowhere to be found.