The Return of Routine: Part 1 by: Pent Ghelsburg
Disclaimer: This story series is the second continuation of my other series. While it is not directly related to the background story of my fursona, it is very early in his life. This story attempts to maintain the scientific realism of my other works. However the basic theme now shifts from something new but not all together different. Let me know if you have any comments, suggestions, or criticisms. I am open to everything so please feel free to leave me a message!
"We are what we repeatedly do; excellence, then is not an act but a habit.”
Aristotle
Chapter 1: The pursuit of science
One would think that, with all the recent events, I would have returned to the lab in order to answer my own questions. However the change in mindset had brought about much more childish desires in my life. It was only by the beckoning of my brother that I once again found myself brought to realize my innate love of science. It was a day like any other, Samaliel and I were scrounging about the house without any clear goal in mind. Samaliel caught a glimpse of the door to the lab, seemingly untouched and looked over at me who was frolicking about without a care.
Looking into the door was almost a foreign affair for Samaliel. The workshop had not seen action for sometime. Dust had settled across the variety of equipment strewn across a number of tables. Beakers and test tubes still filled to different levels decorating the shelves as if almost a holiday ornament. The odor and vapor of various chemicals hung about the room causing Samaliel to become concerned about the stability of the environment if left unchecked. Once again returning his gaze to me, he summoned me over to the door.
“Don't you think it's time to return to your hobby?” Samaliel asked me seemingly expecting the response that he had come accustomed to in the past. “What do you mean?” I asked with a childlike sense of innocence. Samaliel looked at me with surprise, then looked me over and had a sense of a reality check. I was no longer the scientific genius, he once knew and loved. Still he pressed on, hoping to rekindle my interest in the subject. “Your lab is missing it's star performer, Don't you think it's time to pay it some attention?”
With this, my interest was indeed perked. My vulpine ears twitched with curiosity as I walked towards the door with renewed enthusiasm. Upon arriving at the door, I looked down the stairs seemingly intimidated by the sheer omnipresence of the room. Still, I carried on venturing down the stairs to the closest workstation where the remnants of my last experiment remained. Next to it sat the observation journal, which I pandered through in inquisition. Strewn across the pages were the writings of my former self, built upon the experience of decades of scientific testing.
My mind wandered at the meaning of all these things, much of it seemed foreign to me. I looked over at Samaliel who stared at me with the intent of steering me onward. Returning my gaze forward, I began to toy with the tools in front of me. With no remnants of the chemical remaining, there remained no eminent danger in my childlike curiosity. However much of my former stock would have to be kept out of my reach for some time. Still the enduring captivation of science returned to me and my fascination for endless experimentation soon returned to the once ignored realm of my abode.
Samaliel realized that it would be some time before I returned to my former glory. However he was glad that it was this simple to return me to my former passion. It seemed that my interests had not changed with me. While my understanding had diminished, my innate love for science remained. Samaliel decided that many of the more volatile substances would have to kept out of my reach for some time. However it would not be long before curiosity got the better of me and I ventured into the not always safe expedition of scientific exploration.
Chapter 2: Moderation through guidance
While Samaliel's idea to return my passion to science, it was not without it's problem. Throughout the coming days, there were times were I arose from the lab with burn marks or with a stench that would generally otherwise be sterilized. Samaliel soon realized that assistance would be needed in making sure I didn't kill myself in the process of my renewed obsession. But again the problem arose in finding a person who would not be alarmed by my condition. At the same time, it would have to be someone who understand the danger of the situation and understood the necessity of watching over me.
Samaliel soon called our mother with these concerns, reciting the recent events to her was music to her ears. She referred Samaliel to a close friend of both myself and hers who was a Chemist by profession. After my mother instructed Samaliel to wait for a call back, he put down the phone. Several moments later, the phone rang, a female voice unknown to Samaliel spoke on the other end of the line. “So, what's the problem exactly?” After a lengthy conversation, Samaliel felt like he had relayed the necessary information. The lady assured she would be over the next day to “clean up my mess.”
The next day couldn't come soon enough. Samaliel was worried that I'd blow myself up or even worse become more animal-like than I already was. The doorbell and Samaliel opened the door to a tall Native-American woman who greeted Samaliel and introduced herself as Sinopa. Upon being let inside the two arrived in my room. Sinopa looked over me with a bit of concern and gazed deep into my ice-blue eyes. After rubbing her eyes a bit, she realized that she was not dreaming that the tale she had been told was not fiction.
“So, I hear you like science?” She asked me with an ensuring tone. I looked back at her sensing her uncertainty, I responded. “Uh...yeah?” She smiled back at me and motioned for me to come with her. “Well, we certainly don't want you hurting yourself now do we?” I looked up at her with a smile in affirmation, my tail wagging behind me, as we strode down to the lab together. “This is quite the lab you've got here, young man.” I gazed back at her with a sense of pride. “However you have to know how to use your tools, or you might hurt yourself.”
A look of concern came across my face as I looked at her with a scornful scowl. “Let me show you, how to use everything and it should be alright.” Over the next few hours, she gave me a full tutorial on the tools of the trade. She taught me how to read my old notes and provided me the low-down on some of the more dangerous chemicals in the room. She also reassured me that these chemicals were to remain out of use until I became more proficient in my trade. After a long day of mentoring, she took her leave and left me to my own ends. “Now promise me you won't hurt yourself.” I nodded back to her as Iwagged my tail excitedly she exited the house and returned to her home.
Chapter 3: The nuance of experimentation
Being a headstrong individual was not something that had left me with my change in my state of mind. So capitalizing upon the teachings of my wayward mentor was not something I was prepared to do. “Who was this lady that interjected herself so readily into my life?” I asked myself internally. One such question was to remain unanswered for some time. The next day I returned to my lab, white coat donned over my person. Flitting my tail behind me in excitement, I entered my workshop with much anticipation.
Returning to the counter workshop where I was just a day before, the scribbled notepad littered the tabletop. Gazing upon it, I glanced over the equations pondering the meaning of the schemata of the stoichiometry that decorated the pages. After enduring much frustration at the meaning, I decided to bypass the mathematical part of my pursuit. Now enamored to continue my lifes work, I manufactured a flame by turning on a nearby bunsen burner. Careful to not burn myself, I picked up a nearby beaker and clamped a flask into a ring stand. Hovering my paw over a separate container I emptied a small amount of sodium nitrate to the solution, then following with purified water to dilute the liquid. I then added some iodized salt and proceeded to filter with water into a separate flask in order to decontaminate the solution.
The next step was to freeze the compound and hope for it to crystalize. It was a simple enough experiment, one that I had preformed in the past many times. The purpose of which was to create a explosive context through the means of a simple gunpowder-like compound. If I couldn't manage this, then what business did I have in the lab at all? The next day would bring my answers. After filtering out the water and crushing potassium nitrate, I added sugar. The result was an acrine yet simple version of gunpowder. Upon taking it outside, I added a fuse and tested by lighting and observing the effects of this simple experiment.
The conclusive evidence was a success. The explosion was small and controlled. After diffusing the threat, I returned to my lab with a smile and cleaned up after myself. It seemed I had not, after all, lost my touch. The only thing that remained was endeavoring towards the understanding of the underlying properties of these experiments, evident in stoichiometry. It would be some time before I understood the gravity of such a concept. But my new goal was mastery in which over the next few months, I worked tirelessly to achieve. To that end, I managed to achieve at least some of my old means of scientific mastery.
Chapter 4: Financial fallout
The next day brought an interesting discussion with my brother. The morning dew set on the window sill as I joined him at the table, preparing breakfast for us both. “So what've you got planned for today?” He asked me as he set the plates on the table with the usual fruits for me, and pancakes for himself. “Uh, I dunno why?” I responded to him as I indulged on the berries tossing them down my snout for consumption. “Well, we need to talk about something important.” The look on my brothers face caused some concern on my part. “Well, what is it?” I responded before he looked at me with the most serious look he could give me despite his young face.
“With you not having a job, the bills are piling up.” Despite having limited understanding of the concept, I halted eating after he had said that. It was true that we had been several months without any financial income save what our mother was giving us. She had long been retired and couldn't exactly support us anymore despite her intentions to do so, we had refused. Samaliel looked at me with a stern look before he continued. “So, what do we do? Neither of us is old enough to get a job and the government isn't going to provide you unemployment anymore.” I looked at him not wholly understanding the concept he was explaining to me. He was becoming seemingly more frustrated the longer the conversation went on.
Still he carried on, having a better understanding of what it all meant. “Look we need to do something. We either have to ask mom or move in back with her, she'll understand both ways.” I loved our mother, but this wasn't something I was wholly prepared to do. Instead I suggested a more bold and confident suggestion. “What if I tried to make one of us older?” I remained scientifically arrogant as ever but the sheer suggestion of the idea caused Samaliel to pause before he responded. “And what makes you think that will work? Do you remember the last time you played mother nature?”
His response stung to my core. I hadn't really forgotten, the original ordeal that set all of this in place. Just what happened before. Still I thought it was possible. Samaliel continued “What if it backfires again?” Samaliel was acting like I had anticipated in becoming the way I was, but he was at least partially right. “We need to try something right? So why not try?” I responded before beginning to spin the idea around in my head. After giving it some thought Samaliel began to entertain the idea. “So who gets older then, you or me? Neither of have any REAL skills”. Samaliel was a chip off the old block, he was beginning to sound like I had before I changed.
Samaliel had changed too, he had become more mature through time. He had taken up the mantle as my make-shift guardian. But the fact still remained that he too, was still just a teenager at 14 years old. So I suggested. “Maybe it should be you?” Samaliel shifted in his seat. It was true he was enjoying his new role. Still he seemed unsure of himself as he sat there rolling the idea around in his head before he responded. “Ok...I'll do it but what do we tell Mom?” Mother was always a concern of ours but now being elderly seemed best to leave out of the picture. “It's probably best she doesn't know.”
With that suggestion being made a look of concern came over his face. “What makes you think she won't find out?” I lulled the question around in my mind before responding. “Even if she does, it's not really for her to decide. Either we make the rules or she does.” Samaliel was used to the independence now and didn't like the idea of moving back in with his parents. Even living with Pent he was afforded luxuries he didn't have with his mother. It didn't take long before he responded. “Alright, so what do we need to do? Growing up isn't exactly something one does overnight.”
I thought about the question a second but couldn't conjur a response. Samaliel decided to let it go and the rest of breakfast went rather unceremoniously. The two of us finished our meal but I couldn't help staring at him considering the idea. Was it really possible to make him older? How could I pull it off? Would there be complications considering the new circumstances? All of these questions swirled in my head as I began to have an anxiety attack over it. Still I did not confront him with these concerns. Instead I convicted myself to my lab to start working.
Chapter 5: Laboratory Lamentation
The idea of making someone older wasn't something I generally thought about. Most people in the world seek the opposite, eternal youth. Even considering the option was odd, but drastic times called for drastic measures. As I walked down the stairs leading to my lab I gave consideration to my own change. I had gotten younger, maybe it was possible to do the opposite using similar conditions? Maybe supposing the same basic ideas of my own transformation would lead to the intended results.
I returned to my lab table to poor over my journal which was littered with years of notes. Luckily it was all dates and the last time I recorded was before the ordeal situated itself. As I opened to the last page, I wagged my tail in some precursory excitement of the possibilities. The bottom line is that I wanted what he wanted, just for a different reason. The pure scientific thrill of the challenge drove me forward as I read through the last pages of the notebook trying to make sense of all of the iterations of the experiment.
What I focused wasn't really all the important. The key ideas of the protein based culture introduced to a human and animal based cell seemed to be the basis of the idea. But what it all meant was harder to understand. Where I had gotten the sample was unclear and what I had done with it seemed to be murky underneath the dampness of the page, as if it were soggy from the mixture of chemicals and humidity of the room. Clearly what we needed was a sample of animal and human blood. Obtaining human blood was easy enough, but a pure animal sample would prove problematic.
Winter had since turned to spring since I had last made a similar experiment. The variety of foxes indigenous to the area was whittled down to mostly Red this time of year, so I decided to settle on that. Having an instinctive knowledge of vulpine diet, it would at least be easier to coax the prey into a trap similar to the way I did before. Still I needed to set out in a hunt for the animal. As I did so, I made sure this time to let loose the animal in a way similar to before.
To be continued...
