An Inch Of Infinity

CHAPTER 12

      The room was small, with a dull yellow light above me. It smelt stuffy like old dirty clothes and sweat. There was computers all along one wall, a bed with blue sheets, a chest, a tool box, and lots and lots of books.

I started looking through the books. There was an entire shelf about how to hack a computer cleanly. I skimmed through some but they all were in code and I couldn't understand. Another shelf was about how to make and control simple machines. There was also a few books on a shelf next to his bed. There was a book about poison, a book about illnesses and medicine, a book about the human body, a collection of botany books, and finally, there was a rather thick volume called " Ten Thousand Timeless Pranks " I grin. I might have just found our prankster. I look through it. Everything from stealing other peoples blankets at night, to leaving the freezers open, to dipping hands in warm water. I put the book back right where I found it.

I noticed there was a bookmark in one of the botany books. I opened to the page. It was an oil picture of a blue flower with green thorns. It looked like some sort of rose. It was a genetically engineered plant made to help heal cancer, right here in Indonesia . Sadly, it was a failed experiment, turning out to be deadly, and was destroyed. Somehow it was cross pollinated with scotch broom and a rose plant, and created rosa scoparius, or rose-broom.

It is poisonous and caused a disease called 'Otitis Incognita'. Also called the blue fever, which was inflicted upon who ever ate it, often the locals called it by another name. Blue fever is highly contagious, and can only be inflicted upon a being once in a lifetime, but untreated patients die 86% of the time, and 70% of those who survive untreated go insane. Blue fever is spread by eating rose-bloom, being in contact with those already sick, or even breathing the air that the contaminated breath out. This plant can be easily recognized and has an unattractive brown sap, that is where the poison is stored. Vaccinations have been developed but are only possible to be given before age three. Best vaccination results are within 18 months of birth. Rose-Bloom is lethal to newborns and may affect unborn children if their mother is contaminated. Eating this may inflict early symptoms which can be treated with 100% success in recent studies.

"Yeash," I say. Sounds like a really bad plant. That entire book is plants found in Indonesia and the other islands around us. Some are extinct, some can only be found on some islands, some are as common as grass, in fact, grass is in there! I put the book exactly how I found it.

I looked under his bed, there was nothing there. I look in the tool box. The average tools, a hammer, pencils, rulers. Those weren't supersizing. Though, I was surprised by all the botany and medical tools. He had tools for turning plants into medicine.

On top of the computers, I found a black box and I opened it. In it is a small pill tucked carefully into soft foam. The pill is clear with thick brown liquid. It is just larger than the head of a pin. I close it carefully. I don't want to disturb it. It might be important, and looks very fragile.

I walk over to the chest and pull it out from its cavity in the wall. I gasp. In it was passwords, and journals and logs. I found a huge box with the unmistakable uniform inside. Bright white with a disturbing mask. He's a keeper!

Just then, I here someone outside of the door. I push the chest into place and role under the bed in one sweeping motion. The door opens and light floods into the room. I squint in the light and try not to sneeze or cough when dust is sent towards me with a fresh wind. He closed the door and walked towards me. Muddy boots left tracks on the floor. I held my breath. He has no reason to look under here, so I will not be found if I don't make a sound, then again, maybe he saw me come up here, and under the bed is the only place to hide.