The Green Vial

“Pascal, I’ve done it.”

Pascal froze. He turned away from the lab report on his desk and stared at his sullen-faced companion, who stood in the doorway with his arms crossed.

“You don’t mean…?”

“Yes, that is exactly what I mean.”

Without another word, Pascal sprang from his chair and followed his partner out of the cramped office. Silently, the two scientists wound through the endless maze of white walls and white doors that that made up the massive underground laboratory where they worked, until Mo stopped. The door in front of them looked no different from all the others, yet behind it lay everything that Pascal had dedicated his life too.

“It’s in there?” He asked.

“It’s in there.” Mo replied.

 “And it works?”

“It works.”

Unable to wait, Pascal pushed past his colleague and looked anxiously about the room. Numerous beakers, all holding similar concoctions a plethora of complicated books, and a smattering of hastily scrawled notes were scattered about the room, but a certain crystal vial was nowhere to be seen.

“But how did you get it to work?” stammered Pascal. “And where is it?”

“All in good time, my friend. Do you really think me fool enough to leave a working sample out in the open?” Though Mo was a rather self-centered man, he was also a brilliant scientist. Pascal counted himself as lucky to have him as a partner. Pascal watched as Mo entered a long code into their electronic safe, and extracted the small green container with a smirk. Pascal snatched it from him. He could feel tears of joy pricking his eyes.

“A mixture to make the weak strong,” he murmured, already envisioning his young nephew walking again. “The ultimate healing power.” He grinned at Mo, whose brown mustache was twitching in annoyance. Mo was not a patient man.

“Let’s test it!” Pascal suggested in excitement

“I already have,” stated Mo briskly. He uncovered a cage that housed their two once-crippled lab mice. Pascal eagerly bent down to examine them, but Mo wasn’t watching him or the mice. Mo was staring at the vial, with a hungry gleam in his eye.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that day, Pascal was alone in the lab, carefully taking notes on the two white lab mice. All of his experiments indicated that Lola, who was once blind as a mole rat, now had perfect vision. Miner, who just yesterday had suffered from severe muscle deterioration, was now stronger than the average mouse. It seemed too good to be true. All those hours of experiments, those many years of research, false hopes, and failures, everything was paying off. He now had the basis of something truly useful and good to give the world.

As he began to put away his notes, Pascal came across an unfamiliar notebook. As he and Mo always shared all of their findings, he didn’t think twice before opening it.

What he saw made his heart plummet, and his head spin.

6-10-2054 – 8:15 am: Have been researching Xonium as a possible completion chemical for Pascals formula.

Xonium. A newly discovered chemical, poisonous to the human body, even fatal in some cases,

unless balanced exactly with a chemical that could override its toxins. Pascal stood up in alarm. Surely Mo wasn’t fool enough to attempt that?

6-10-2054 – 9:30 am: Xonium experiment successful. Will begin duplication and marketing immediately.

Pascal leaned against the wall in shock. It couldn’t be true. Yet it was written very clearly in the notebook he held. Mo had added Xonium to his beautiful healing creation, that’s how he had gotten it to work, and he was planning on selling it. Pascal glanced at the mice. They seemed fine, but he knew that with Xonium in their system, that wouldn’t last long.