Salamander

Chapter Twenty Two: Trust

Chapter Twenty Two

The science center was an enormous, silver sphere not too far away from the main palace. An enormous sign a few feet away from the building read: The Imperial Science Center: Free To the Public. By that time the streets had begun to fill with civilians, many of which looked well-fed and dressed, showing that the area of the city we were in was of higher class. Many of them looked at Marcellus and me with appalled faces, probably noting our old, shaggy clothing. Some walked right past us as if they were trying to ignore us.

            “These people seem really nice,” I said sarcastically. I looked at the women, many of which were holding intricate, white umbrellas. “And don’t they know it’s not raining?”

            “The women here find umbrellas classy,” Marcellus said. “I also think they use it as some sort of protection from the sun.”

            “Okay,” I said through a short laugh. We entered through a pair of large, ebony doors at the base of the sphere, the smell of books and perfume overcoming my senses as we entered a large hall. The science center had only one level, so the building was just one, hollow ball. From the inside I could see a large, round window at the very top of the sphere, the sun already almost blazing through the glass at a perfect angle.

            A ring-shaped desk sat at the center of the spherical hall, six or so people sitting behind it overlooking mounds and mounds of papers. We walked up to the only man at the desk and Marcellus put down the tube of blood before he even noticed we were standing there. He jumped in surprise, and, after seeing Marcellus’s face, his face contorted into a frown. “Marcellus,” he said as if it were a hollow greeting.

            “Ulysses,” Marcellus said without breaking eye contact. “I have more blood for testing.”

            Ulysses looked at the tube on the desk, still half-covered by Marcellus’s hand, and let out a sigh. “I never find anything useful in the mutant’s blood,” he said. “You know that.”

            “I do know that you’re the only scientist who is willing to do this,” Marcellus said.

            A couple of the females at the desk glanced at Marcellus. “You bet,” one of them said with a sneer.

            Marcellus ignored them and said to Ulysses, “I need you to do this, one last time.”

            Ulysses scratched his head and took the tube out from under Marcellus’s hand. “Why only blood?” he asked more to himself than to Marcellus. He tapped the tube against the table, deep in thought. The blood inside collapsed over itself in tiny waves as he did this, and, for some reason, I couldn’t help but look away. Ulysses suddenly snapped out of his daze and looked at me. “And you are?”

            “Alan,” I said.

            Ulysses looked over at Marcellus, probably finding me uninteresting. “Fine,” he said. “You better not give me Mutant’s blood again, especially if I don’t find something abnormal for the hundredth time I’ve tested it now.”

            “I promise,” Marcellus said.

            “I’m sorry it’s just that I feel like I am wasting my time looking for something that isn’t there.” Ulysses slid back his chair and stood up. “I’ll put this in the archives room,” he said before leaving the circular desk through a narrow gap in one of its sides.

            “Thank you,” Marcellus said. “Come on, Alan. It will take him an entire day to analyze that blood sample, and I have a feeling he won’t be getting to it anytime soon.”