Chell's Story: Part A
Chapter Two


The science fair was unremarkable, as the girls showed very little enthusiasm for their projects except Heather, who was the first to present her project. I was the last in line, which I had requested in the hopes that my project could serve as a grand finale. But given the lack of excitement, it was difficult not to fall asleep; the only thing that kept anyone awake was the requirement to take notes on the others' projects. But even that did little to stimulate them away from boredom, as I was the only one paying attention enough to take notes voluntarily. I had toyed with the thought that all the girls except Heather had chosen potato batteries so they wouldn't need to take notes.

It was finally my turn, and I could tell that the audience would probably have to take a bus home. (Of course, they did take a bus here, so they'd be taking one home anyway. Their parents were probably in no condition to drive themselves home given their level of fatigue.) As I took my place, Heather leaned toward my ear.

"Good luck getting first place with a project like this."

"Go take your seat, Heather."

"Sure. It won't matter, since I'll be the one to walk away with first place."

I started my presentation as soon as Heather sat down with her father. "Is everyone listening?"

Everyone responded with a drowsy "Yeah."

"Okay. You've seen how potato batteries work and how well they power various gadgets. As you can see, I've set up a potato battery to a clock, which is drawing power from said potato battery. What I will pursue now is what will happen if a potato battery starts to sprout; will the power output be changed by a potato battery growing into a potato plant?"

A few intrigued eyebrows rose in the audience.

"Presently, the potato is outputting 1.1 volts of energy, which is enough to power the clock. Now, with a dab of this,..." I uncapped the vial and poured a drop of the muddy green liquid onto the potato, "...and we shall see how this potato fares in its power output as it sprouts."

Tiny sprouts began to emerge from the eyes of the potato. Monitoring the multimeter as the potato plant grew, I was about to provide a status update when I suddenly heard screaming from some of the girls.

When I looked back at the potato, I saw the plant was growing larger by the second up to the ceiling. Within ten seconds, it had reached the ceiling and pushed its way through the fiberglass tile ceiling with a stomach-shaking crunch.

All the scientists watched in shock at what had happened. Their gaze return to me, eyebrows tense in anger.

"Oh... spud." I edged toward the closest door, breaking into a run down the hall as the scientists pursued me on the cue from Dad. "Get back here!"