Chapter 29-Someone Had To Do It

Ami rubbed her eyes and yawned deeply. She glanced at the clock. 4am. The ghost-quiet lab was eerie. Setsuna and her mom slumped over their desks, out like a light from exhaustion. Ami rubbed her neck and stood up.

Her stomach growled in protest, reminding Ami of her body's limitation. Ami sighed, as she found herself unable to focus anymore. She took her mom's key card and made her way down to the kitchen.

The hallways were dimly lit and deserted. Ami hurried her steps.

The kitchen was dimly lit and Ami walked in hesitantly. She relaxed when she saw a familiar figure bending over a very large pot of soup, stirring and tasting it.

"Ami?" Mako looked up in surprise. "What are you doing here? Are you not sleeping again?"

"No time to sleep. I just need to grab some food so my stomach would shut up. Couldn't concentrate with it yelling at me constantly." Ami started to rummage through the cabinets. "Do they have crackers?"

Mako walked over and placed her hands over Ami's. She wrapped her arms around the smaller girl and held her close. "Just stop. I'll make you something yummy if you promise me you'll sleep a little bit."

Ami's head nodded. "I can't stop, Mako. Usagi, Chibiusa, everyone...they are all counting on me."

Mako spun the girl around and kissed her on the lips. Taken by surprise, Ami's body tensed and then relaxed. Her body had a mind of its own and she pressed it against Mako for more. After what seemed like an eternity, they both pulled away, breathless.

"Now, how about I make you a sandwich?" Mako was already pulling ingredients out of the fridge before Ami could respond.

Ami nodded gratefully. She slid down and sat with her back against the wall. Her eyelids grew heavy and Ami stifled a yawn. "Maybe I'll just shut my eyes a bit. Wake me up when you are done..."


"Huh?" Ami opened her eyes and it was already morning. Part of the room was blanketed in the warm morning light. She was back in the lab and sleeping on the couch that was in the room.

"Hey, sleepy head." Mako appeared with food. "I had to carry you back. Now eat up, you weight nothing."

Ami grunted internally. Based on the light outside, she guessed she had slept for three hours. That was three hours gone. She caught a whiff of the food and her stomach growled loudly, reminding her that she was running empty. She figured Mako wouldn't let her get back to work without eating, so she took the tray.

Between bites, she glanced up at Mako, who was walking around the lab, examining everything. Ami couldn't help but chuckled when Mako broke one of the drawers when she pulled it out too hard.

"Shit." Mako yelped. She looked over sheepishly. "Sorry."

Ami shook her head and laugh out loud. It sounded strange to her ears and she stopped abruptly. Mako didn't notice; as she was too busy fixing the drawer.

It might be the last time she would laugh. She knew the first vial of vaccine should be ready by now. Ami had planned to tested it on herself and she didn't want to tell anyone.

"Ami, is this what I think it is?" Mako peeked into the machine. "The light is flashing here. It says "done"."

Ami abandoned her food and ran over. A thousand emotions flooded through her, as she stared at the vial. This was it. It looked so small, yet it carried the hope of humanity.

"Ami? Are you okay?" Mako studied her face intensively. "Hey, I don't know much about biology, but I kept hearing people talking about test subjects. Are we testing this on humans?"

"In the normal world, you would test it first in cell cultures. Then small animals, then larger animals before injecting this into a human. You need to look at its toxicity, it's immunocity etc." Ami explained as she gingerly took out the vial. "For us, we don't have the luxury. We will have to jump to the last phase of testing."

Ami continued to work while Mako continued to ask questions. "Will that be safe for the test subjects?"

"Subject."

"What?" Mako tilted her head.

"We are starting with only one person. Hopefully that would be enough." Ami quickly averted her gaze. By now, Mako's curiosity was in full swing and she could read Ami like a book.

Mako paused for a good few seconds and she scratched her head. "Please tell me you are not thinking of injecting this into you."

Ami looked down and pretended to be busy. Mako asked the question again and Ami ignored it. Of course it had to be her. Someone had to do it and Ami couldn't ask anyone else to risk it…

Mako's face changed from curiosity to realization and then to anger. She stared at Ami silently for what seemed like an eternity. Then, she crossed her arms and leaned against the table. "Fine, tell me what you have to do. I will stay here, in case something goes wrong."

Ami finally looked up. "I can't ask anyone else to take this risk. Demande wanted me to inject this into Chibiusa at first. I will give her a placebo later. Look, I am sorry I didn't tell you Mako. Please don't be mad, and...just in case...I love you."

"How can you say all of that in the same sentence?" Mako clenched her fists, enough to pop her veins. "I want to know, tell me what you have to do. If my girlfriend is going to die, I want to know everything."

Ami flashed the needle filled with the vaccine inside. She tapped it a few times and pushed a bit out. "I will just inject this into my veins and then wait. That's it."

"Good." Mako grabbed the needle and then shoved Ami away. Startled, Ami staggered backwards and fell onto the floor. She looked up with horror in her face.

"No, no, Mako, don't. I wouldn't know how to save you if it's toxic." Ami pleaded as she tried to get back up. The next few seconds seemed to be in slow motion. She watched Mako pumped her fists several times and then stuck the needle into her vein.

"Ahh, this stings." As soon as the contents were emptied, Mako dropped the needle and grabbed her arm. She took a few deep breaths and then smiled at Ami. "I am okay. Don't worry." Mako took one step and then fell to the ground, violently convulsing.

The world stopped in that moment. Ami stood, catatonic, as she watched Mako writhed on the ground.

"What the hell, Ami!" Her mother and Setsuna woke from the commotion and rushed over to attend to Mako.

Ami shook her head. "She injected herself with the vaccine. She's dead. She's dead..." Images of Mako flashed through Ami's mind. Mako dancing. Mako kissing. Mako dying. Mako as a zombie.

Someone screamed. It wasn't until her mother came up and shook her, that she realized the scream came from her. Ami collapsed into her mother's arms and wailed.