The Inadequate Experiments: 1. White Noise [Rough Draft]

Part 1; Insanity - 6. The Biggest Contradiction

Rain pelted down around me violently and the harsh wind whipped hair and scarves and any loose pieces of clothing or rubbish around in fast spirals. Despite the fact that it was the last day of April, and was supposed to be the middle of spring, New York was surrounded by huge storm clouds – the biggest storm clouds since the Scientists cured Global Warming in 2187. It had been broadcasted all over the news that morning that the Scientists weren't worried about it – something to do with an odd little thing called an El Nino in Australia that was a 'routine weather pattern'. I had no clue what it meant, but I supposed no one else did either; the majority of things that the Scientists studied were strictly confidential. Even the Government didn't know what went on in the Scientists' workshops. Only Scientists knew how to fix anything they created. They claimed it was absolutely necessary that they were the only ones to do it because if an untrained personnel tried fixing one of their inventions and failed, it could damage them all. As if every invention of the Scientists' was connected in some way. I thought to myself. That would be ridiculous.

"Are you alright?" Oliver asked me, touching my arm softly. "You seem to be in your own little world in there." his eyes flicked up to my forehead and back.

We were in the City, trying to hide from hordes upon hordes of fans and paparazzi, thanks to Oliver being a certain Hollywood Golden Boy. The fans and paparazzi had long known that he'd be moving back to his hometown of Brooklyn, but they hadn't seen him since he started school. Or rather, since he first announced that he had met his Soul Mate; me. So when he first dared take one step into the City, we were pretty much attacked. Then it had started raining, and while most of the crowd dispersed rather quickly, a choice few still seemed to be chasing us, delaying our chances of ever getting to Oli's interview on time. We stood in the alcove of a doorway to a closed-down bookstore. We were lucky it was closed-down; had we hidden in the doorway of any shop that was usually open, the shop's HANA system would have gone mental.

"I'm fine," I insisted, "just... thinking."

He raised his eyebrows. "About what?"

I sighed. "I always wonder what would have happened to us if the Scientists never invented these god damn watches."

Oliver squeezed my hand. "You know what. We wouldn't exist. Humans would be extinct. The only reason we're here today is because of love. Whether it's our love or not."

I looked down at the ground, the raindrops making repeating circular patterns in puddles, the splashbacks tickling the cold skin of my legs, raising goose bumps on my calves. "I read this book once." I started.

Oliver smirked, tracing patterns on the back of my hand with his thumb, almost distracting me from what I was trying to say. "What else is new?"

"Just stop for a second." I said softly.

He nodded in response.

"I read this book once where love was seen as a disease." My gaze travelled up from the rain splattering the pavement to his eyes, which were bright blue in contrast to our dreary surroundings. "What if that's true?"

Oliver shook his head even before I finished my question. "A disease," he said, "is something that makes a person weak."

"It's a widely known fact that love is a weakness, Oliver, so don't preach at me." I muttered, snatching my hands from his and fiddling with the silver buttons lining my coat.

He carefully grabbed my hands back. "Sera," he said softly, pulling me towards him in the alcove, the warmth radiating from his body enticing me so that I couldn't bear to move or flinch away from him. "Loving someone can never be a weakness. No matter what you, or I, or anyone else thinks, love is the one thing in life that has the ability to make everyone stronger. It gives you something to fight for. And Sera," he closed his eyes, leaning his forehead against mine, his voice as soft as a caress, "as long as I'm breathing, I'll fight for you. Even if it's to my terminal breath, I'll always fight for you."