Challenge The Proud

White Ninja

"When ignorance is a bliss it is folly to be wise" - Challenge No.30.1

"She didn't care if they lived or died. They were someone else's problem now." - Challenge No.30.2

"The wire imprinted a mesh..." - Challenge No.30.3

FOR LACK OF A BETTER WORD they decided to call it a wire. Benji couldn't get his eyes off the golden glowing thread. The transfer had to be done as quickly and as safely as possible. Benji's hand trembled and the inside of the safety gloves was already mushy with his sweat. He was using a pair of sterile steel pincers to hold the wire and relocate it from the transport container into the observatory glass casing. They had decided to take a risk, hoping that steel and glass wouldn't contaminate it.

"Don't squish it," Dr. Arlan growled under his breath.

Benji's fingers slipped, almost releasing the wire from the pincers.

"Don't drop it!" Dr. Arlan wasn't helping, but Benji swallowed his words. They were all tense after all. Moreover, Dr. Arlan was the Senior. Talking back to your boss was rarely a good idea.

With a deep breath, Benji resumed. He moved the pincers through the sterile tube and finally reached the observatory. Another deep breath and Benji set the wire on the steel tray inside. Those had been the longest twenty inches of his life. The ten year old still trapped inside him cracked up a joke about inches and lengths that made Benji, the grown-up, blush.

As soon as he retrieved his hands from the safety gloves, Benji wiped his palms on his lab coat, celebrating his success with a sigh of relief.

Dr. Arlan patted his back vigorously. "Well done, my boy. Now, the fun part begins!"

Their team had been assigned to study this strange object. The wire had been found in a secret military base. Benji didn't know what base and their superiors never offered such details. Hence his assumption that it had been a secret base. Which came as no surprise to him, especially since his laboratory was also buried underneath a secret facility.

The wire had been the only thing out of place found during an unscheduled equipment inspection. But what a thing it was!

The officer that had come in contact with the wire had reported it moving, much like a worm. That was not some Chinese, or Russian technology. That was an entirely different thing. Or so Benji Noor, Junior Researcher believed.

They ran standard tests. Removed a spec from the wire's ends and studied it on a molecular level before putting it into the spinner. Every result pointed to a biological make out. The DNA spec would take a few hours before offering any valid, preliminary results.

"An alien?" Dr. Arlan chuckled at Benji's suggestion. "Don't be absurd. I'm sure this is some experimental tech - probably Japanese."

Benji wasn't very convinced.

"Let's try to expose it to various stimuli... If it's alive it will eventually react."

His team laughed but played along excited at the possibilities. Benji recognized a touch of nervousness in their reaction. What if it was indeed of alien origin?

They started with water. A small Petri dish with just enough distilled water to wet a finger. The golden thread remained inert, its dim glow reflecting in the steel tray it lay upon.

Garry offered a thin slice of apple from his lunch box. The wire didn't seem interested in eating. They giggled foolishly, like a bunch of school kids. Even Dr. Arlan wasn't able to keep a straight face.

"No more organics. We don't know how bacteria affects the wire," he warned.

"It was inside a computer. Right?" Benji had a thought.