DISCLAIMER: You have to accept that some things will never be yours.
This fan fiction is the collaborative work of UniversalForce (go check out her profile) and AngelicSpring.
Hugethanksto:IceHeartEli, dancingamongstdaisies, booklover1209, booklover1209, Rouma Hassitt,StuckInSpace and DaughterofOceanus.MuchLove,PeaceOut!XD
Begin.
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MERCURY(noun): usually used in thermometers, but now it isn't used because it is highly poisonous if swallowed. It has the atomic number of 85.
BranchClue: Ekaterina
Katherine Cahill stared at her hands. What has she done? What has she done this time?
"Brilliant, Katerina! Simply brilliant!" Her portly employer smelled like whiskey, his cheeks glowing bright red. He took her hands with both of his and shook them excitedly, calling out a name she picked out for an alias. "What did you say was this called again, my dear?"
"A thermometer, sir," she replied, swallowing a sinking feeling deep in her stomach. "I got it from the Greek word 'thermos' meaning heat and 'meter' meaning to measure."
His grin widened at her statement. "So this... this ther-whatto means to measure heat! This is brilliant, Katerina! Sheer genius! This is the breakthrough of this century! And of centuries to come! Do you know what this means, my brilliant girl? We will be rich! We will be famous! Our names will be known far and wide."
Katherine's hands shook violently and she had to stuff them inside her coat pocket so that he won't notice. No! Nobody could know it was she who made that...that thing. "I-I..." she started, her voice faltering helplessly.
"Yes?" Truth be told, he really couldn't care less about what she has to say. She knew that. In fact, he wasn't even listening. He was too busy looking at the 'thermometer', holding it so gingerly as if it could break any moment and his moment of glory would disintegrate.
Katherine almost chuckled at the thought. If only he knew, he would've held it a lot more carefully than that. He would've locked it in a vault, plastered the vault with cement and threw the whole thing out in the ocean.
"Sir," she tried again, putting as much conviction as she could in her tone and keeping her voice rock steady. "I'd rather you do not mention my name in this one."
That caught his attention. "No?" He smiled at her weirdly, like she was refusing the last drop of water in the desert. "Why not?"
Katherine bluffed it with a nonchalant shrug. "If you want the invention to be yours, then that is my only condition. Along with the sum of money we agreed upon," she added meaningfully.
The portly man guffawed, wildly shaking the thermometer in the air. Katherine blanched, holding herself back from jumping up and stealing it away from him. He didn't notice. "Well. If that's all. Here's your money," he handed her a bulging wool suitcase and continued, "I'd rather you leave now, then, Katerina. It was a pleasure working with you."
She nodded once and scurried off. She plans on leaving the country, going to somewhere where nobody would recognize her. But more importantly, where there are no Cahills. No Luke, No Jane... No... No Thomas.
She barged into her own house, darting straight to her room. She picked up a linen sack and stuffed all of her remaining things. She glanced outside her window which was facing her small laboratory. The fire hasn't still gone out. Probably would take a couple more months or so. With all those chemicals inside. With all those Mercury.
She smiled sadly, thinking of all the people who would be the consumers of thermometer. They wouldn't know how dangerous those thermometers are. They wouldn't know what mercury is truly capable of. They wouldn't know what that mercury was actually for. They wouldn't know it was so she could replicate her father's long lost secret. They wouldn't know unless they find out and cure it. Maybe she would find sympathy someday and tell her generation about it. Maybe not.
Whichever way, she couldn't turn back now. Not now when she took her part of the serum which made everything clearer. She looked at the world like it was just some other specimen waiting to be opened up and examined. Every. Little. Piece. She wouldn't stop. She can't stop.
No! She can't look at her intelligence as a curse! It wasn't a curse.It IS not a curse. It will never be a curse. My intelligence will bring glory,will save the world, will save mankind.My intelligence will be passed to many generations for nothing could ever put a stop to this genius which came from pure genius as well. She smiled at those thoughts.
She ran and ran for she did not want to stop. If she did, her hands would find something to do. Something that could cause people their demise. Adrenaline did nothing to clear her befuddled thoughts.
Finally, out of breath, Katherine Cahill stared at her hands. These hands which could kill thousands if only to get what they wanted.
Her sharpened intelligence is like Mercury in its purest form. Useful, but undeniably poisonous.
She didn't want to admit it, but she is poisoned and there is no antidote.
It is the dawn of the Ekaterina Age.
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Characters: Katherine C. (First Generation)
Author: AngelicSpring
Next: Wormwood, a Tomas clue, by UniversalForce
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