The Hybrid Girl (Andromeda Book 1)

Chapter 7

Leigh-Anne and I are the last to get into the lecture and are the first to leave. I'm not even sure if I remember much that was said about the anatomy of the eye because my mind was so immersed in getting answers. The second the lecturer announces we are dismissed, the two of us speed out without looking back. Jesy is sitting outside at a table, scrolling on her phone. Noticing us approaching, she gets to her feet and picks up her bag. The three of us walk to the takeaway next to Subway called Megna and order some dinner. It isn't until our food arrives that we start talking.

"So, what is this stupid chemical that's causing so much trouble?" Leigh-Anne asks. Jesy visibly takes a deep breath in and starts to explain.

In the first week, she came in to catch up on some experiments that she didn't have the chance to do last year but she wanted the chance to do them before the new year experiments started. She was using the lab under the supervision of her favourite professor. He left her a method to follow and she was following it to the letter. Everything was going fine until she could smell something strange. At first, she thought something was burning but she wasn't using a bunsen burner or a flame of any kind. She couldn't put her finger on it.

When the professor came back into the lab, he could smell it straight away. But even he couldn't figure out what it was, so he told her to continue with the experiment and he'd figure out what it was. Jesy took the beakers into the fume cupboard to add the stronger chemicals and that's when it happened. The entire fume cupboard lit up in flames and the smoke was so thick that the fire alarm was triggered immediately.

Apparently, her professor was even more shocked than she was. He made a run for the extinguisher and tried to put the flames out but by the time he brought it over, the flames already died down and all that was left was large clouds of thick, black smoke. As Jesy hurried to open some of the windows, the professor took a look at the sheet of paper she was working from and had the biggest shock of his life.

The method, equipment and chemicals she used for the experiment were not the ones he intended for her to use. He claimed it was not the method he had given her. When he asked Jesy where she got that method, Jesy was adamant that it was the sheet given by him. Even though he continued to insist this was nowhere near an experiment intended for students, Jesy said it was definitely the sheet he gave her.

Jesy heard the commotion outside and left to see what was going on. She saw all the students running for the fire exits and then came back inside the lab, yelling that they need to get rid of the smoke.

I stop her from carrying on because I know the rest.

"You're sure that he gave you that sheet?" Leigh-Anne asks.

"A hundred percent positive," Jesy insists, "it was definitely the sheet he gave me. I can believe that he could have picked up the wrong sheet but a method to create a chemical like that couldn't have just been lying around. I honestly don't know where he got it from. But it definitely came from him."

"What is it?" I ask, "the chemical?"

"It's a really dangerous form of a dioxin," she says and I furrow my brows.

"We're not chemistry students, you have to be a bit more explanatory," Leigh says, a small smile tugging at her lips.

Jesy rolls her eyes and explains dioxin is a harmful chemical compound that compromises the health of humans in various ways. It can cause problems with reproduction, the immune system and can even cause cancer. There are many dioxins in the environment, released from burning, chlorine bleaching and recycling of electronics.

The dioxin that they accidentally made in the lab is apparently one of the most toxic types of dioxin there is. Its toxicity has reached a level no other chemical has ever reached before. That's why it's such a big deal. Since the day it was made, the professor hasn't been in and she hasn't been able to contact him. When she asked the other faculty members about his whereabouts, they got cagey and gave a rubbish answer.