Chapter 2

In the ten minutes it took Ema to describe what happened, Klavier could not believe how she did not see it coming.

She had visited the Forensic Department at the Criminal Affairs Precinct. It was still a new experience since she was only two months into her new position. It was quiet at the precinct for now so she made the most of exploring the unusually empty building. There were a couple of people here and there but the labs were mostly quiet. But Ema had had the greatest idea of her life (apart from becoming a forensic investigator) – the creation of the golden Snackoo. And why not try it when she had a whole lab to herself?

It started with the colour. After 53 failed attempts to make a gold coloured Snackoo, which only made them look like fluorescent cheese flavoured Twisties, she finally managed the perfect colour – shiny, golden, perfect. Only to accidentally knock the Snackoo to the ground in her excitement which broke it… and she stamped on it before she realised what had happened.

Klavier facepalmed. Very smart, Ema.

Once she replicated the colour successfully, she tried to work on the taste. But she couldn't bring herself to alter the taste that she loved (and the colouring didn't change the taste that much). So instead she focused the extra crunch.

Her solution: more air in the Snackoo.

The result: mini Snackoo explosions. Like popcorn popping but ten times louder, Ema said. She was only just getting her hearing back to normal.

So, then she tried to fry them like potato chips. She then made another great discovery – Snackoos are mysteriously oil-phobic. i.e. they avoid oil like you wouldn't believe. So, despite pelting the Snackoos at the deep fryer (and watching them bounce everywhere else but the fryer – mostly into her face), they would not become crunchy in the traditional potato chip way.

So, a slightly hard of hearing and Snackoo bruised Ema decided to try one last thing before she gave up hope for the time being.

The elusive 'ding' as they, somewhat disappointingly, crunch.

Ema could think of only one thing. Preservatives.

Preservatives that she knew wouldn't be 100% safe for commercial production but in small quantities might be alright for human consumption. Wherever these preservatives came from, she did not know. How she got them in her possession… she didn't entirely know how she got most of them in the first place. But they were here, waiting for scientific investigation so she had to try them out.

She had 17 preservatives in liquid form, to be injected into Snackoos.

She tried 2.

None of them had the perfect ding at all, in fact only one made any sound when you crunched and it sounded like someone retching.

But they all caused her mischief and grief.

Preservative #1 caused her legs to immediately give way. She fell down on the ground, with her arms flailing as she fell. This caused her to knock over her Luminol spray, but not without also landing awkwardly on her legs. But that was ok – a bit of brief pain and it was only Luminol.

Preservative #2 seemed to do nothing, except that disgusting sound as you crunched. That was, until one of the random people in the almost-empty building walked in to the lab and commented on her interesting hair colour and style. She ran to the nearest mirror (the bathroom) and had to bite her hand to stop herself from screaming.

Her once beautiful (but not as shiny as Klavier's) brown hair was now a dull grey with bottle green at the tips. These coloured tips were clearly doing something else to her hair as her ponytail was now a lot shorter (although thankfully still there) due to part of her hair having disintegrated. It left a nice trail from the lab to the bathroom.

But, she was determined to at least give it another shot. Klavier was a little bit proud of her when she said she had this attitude - he hoped it was because he had inspired her during their studying together. He did not think it could get any worse until she told him about Preservative #3.

There is a reason why she only tried 2 preservatives.

She had preservative #3 in her hands, about to inject it in the next Snackoo when the door to the lab creaked open and she heard the sharp clack of footprints approaching. She barely had time to register who it was until she had the vial of purple preservative in her hands roughly snatched away from her.

The hazel green eyes of the Chief Forensic Investigator bored into her blue eyes.

'Miss Skye…' the stern female voice began. Ema felt like she was in trouble at school again, 'I seriously hope you aren't using your new position for some… petty science experiment in a state-of-the-art forensics lab!' The hazel eyes narrowed. Ema pulled her gaze out of the hazel eyes, with some difficulty. She mumbled something.

'I'm sorry, what was that?'

'I said… technically it's not a science experiment, per se…' Ema started,

'Skye, I don't care what it technically is. I want these vials in my office in 15 minutes and the lab better be clean by the time I leave, which is in half an hour. You're lucky we don't have multiple cases at the moment, needing complex forensic processes that you wouldn't even know existed!' Ema shrunk back against the table and squeaked. The Chief Forensic Investigator didn't give Ema a chance to speak before she quickly walked out of the lab.

Ema was done. She ran out of the lab, she couldn't remember if she was crying or not – she didn't care right now.

She found the nearest place to hide away – the toilet cubicle – and rang the first person that came to mind.

Klavier Gavin.