Demicore

Chapter 11

They walked in to a lab that looked to Elizabeth like it came out of some futuristic movie. He was having a conversation with a tall blonde bombshell he called Steve and a computer, both of whom were taking an active roll in the discussion that sounded more like language than math and was being printed on a very large screen as fast as they could speak. Erik and Steve were both touching places on the screen and moving or highlighting the text and doing separate calculations of their own, then nodding or stating they came up with the same results.

Katlin's feet were silent as she took the cooler to the kitchen. Sonya was already in another area of the lab running diagnostics on the machine in question. At least, Elizabeth assumed it was the machine in question as there was a diagram of it on the screen next to the one Erik and Steve were looking at and the diagram kept lighting up in different sections as they ran their calculations. When finally they noticed her presence, he introduced the woman he was working with as Stephanie, having been with them for the past five years ever since she graduated at the top of her class in the bio-science fields on one of the scholarships set up in Katlin's name that they hand out every once in a great while when there is someone who shows enough promise.

She took off her black plastic rim glasses and shook Elizabeth's hand, "It is a pleasure to finally meet you in person. I was a member of the team that helped get you on the road to recovery. I have heard so very much about you."

"Thank you. I'm sure I am indebted to more people than I know for helping put me back together," Elizabeth replied rather graciously, though inside she wanted to scream and ask why her mother couldn't be saved, too. Fortunately, the feeling didn't last very long as Erik tried to then explain the why's of the scholarship and of the machine they were working on. She smiled and nodded a lot, not understanding most of what he said and not really caring why it worked the way it did.

"Where is Katlin, anyway, I need her out here to gather the samples and start the synthesis." Erik sounded annoyed.

"You don't need me yet. You and Steve have the calculations covered and Sonya will be at least another couple of hours on the diagnostics of the machine. I am going to show Mom around the place for a little while and will be back when it's time." Katlin informed him.

"The building is on lockdown," Erik said flatly, assuming that she would understand that meant she could not show anyone anything, nor traverse from room to room without going through a pressure chamber full of alarms she would have to enter codes for.

"That is perfect, actually. I think she'd have a good time seeing all the extents you have gone to for this place to keep it safe inside and out. Besides, that means we will be gone for the majority of the stuff she will find less interesting and be back just in time for things in here to pick up again." Anyone listening would have thought Katlin was a typical young woman of her early to mid-twenties. She spoke lightly of events that the people around her took very seriously and sounded like she would much rather entertain than assist with the research and testing.

Erik laughed, knowing that Katlin was mostly teasing and trying to make sure that someone was paying attention to Elizabeth so she wasn't too bored. As Katlin took Elizabeth on an extensive tour of the "castle", Erik worked on calculations and Sonya on recalibrating the machine. The entire room was cleaned. Air purifiers were running on high instead of medium to low where they normally needed to be for that room. Each component in anything and everything in the room was triple checked before being used.

Katlin and Elizabeth took a tour of the gardens when they were finished with the library and spent a vast amount of time discussing the flowers and grasses of early fall and how they come together with the blooms of spring to have an ever blooming garden. It was set up in such a manner as to even appear to bloom in the winter. They had lunch brought out and ate with the gardening staff. When they were done, Katlin began asking questions about her grandmother. As they walked the paths through the gardens and trees, Elizabeth began to describe her mother for a very eager audience. Katlin tried to memorize every detail that was spoken of Carol.

"She wasn't unlike Char," Elizabeth referenced the grandma the girls had grown up with, "a strong woman with a commanding presence and a strong sense of right and wrong. Taller, though. Mom was 5'7", 350 pounds. Where Char is only 5' 3" and lighter by at least a hundred if my guess is right."

Her several psychology degrees helped in keeping her mother talking, hence keeping her mind off of what was going on in the lab. Erik had told her that Elizabeth gets impatient and stir crazy if things take too much longer than the time she allots them in her head. They grabbed suits out of the pool room and took a dip in the Jacuzzi tub. Katlin took the time to explain the natural filters and additives put in the water to keep it clean that allowed them to not use man made chemicals like chlorine. When they were done, they took showers in the locker room and went out onto the patio to watch the stars.

"Shouldn't they be getting done by now?"

"Are you kidding? He will be working on this into tomorrow, they will call when they are ready. For now we should find something else to eat and maybe visit the library again. What do you think?" Katlin tried to make light of how long it was taking, brushing it off because she knew that this was no short process. By now they might have gotten to the point of switching places to recheck each other's work. Once they had gone over every inch of the math and cleaning, they would be checking every connection, wire, or circuit in the machine itself. Her father was a bit obsessive.

They did go to the library, where Elizabeth lost herself in books until she fell asleep in one of the oversized chairs and Katlin covered her with a blanket from one of the closets. Since it was such a normal part of life for them or the staff to nod off while reading, they simply had provisions made for sleeping. Nightstands, lamps, several closets full of blankets for any time of the year, and bathrooms at very regular intervals in case you woke up needing one. She sat and watched her mother sleep for hours. It was odd having her back now that she was so very much older. As a child, Katlin had spent many hours wondering what it would be like to have a mom like the other kids. She believed her father with every fiber in her that she would have her mother back when one hundred and fifty years had passed. For many of the early years she had ticked the days off on a calendar, having figured out just how many days there were in that many years and marked them going backwards on each new calendar she got. When she got a computer, she created a program that counted back the days all the way out. Then Daddy had finally made all three of them the "watches". She knew down to the second.

The watch got its energy from her body, so it never stopped, never slowed. They were synchronized with each other so if anything ever happened to one - which it hadn't - they would only have to check with another to figure it out. They were water resistant to the bottom of the ocean and worked in outer space "just in case". She smiled softly, remembering how hard her father had worked to include them in his life with the obsession over the woman sleeping before her and how much everyone had discouraged him from just that. They said it was unhealthy for the kids for him to tell them such things and fill their heads with impossible hopes. But then, no one had believed that living this long was possible either.

Katlin picked her book back up and started reading again, allowing her mind to wander only a little further down memory lane before submerging herself in the story. Elizabeth would likely be there all night and she just wasn't ready to go far from her mother again just yet.

Mid-morning the following day, Elizabeth stretched and yawned opening her eyes to see a piping hot breakfast being brought her way. She was unaccustomed to eating so close to so very many books, but Katlin assured her it would be fine and even the chairs were no concern.

"We have a maid who comes in every couple days when we're not around to make sure that everything is cleaned up. If we make a big mess, we take care of it ourselves, but other than that she handles it," Katlin tried to explain.

"Don't you feel bad about asking other people to clean up after you?"

"Yes, sometimes. But giving people jobs is one of the ways we give back to the society and people around us. We have become filthy rich, but it isn't right to just give it away or keep it to ourselves... so we create jobs, scholarships, some grants if they are earned, but we make sure our people are well taken care of with health benefits, paid vacations, time off, and use of the facilities. People are grateful to have a steady job that can take care of their families with a good employer. Of course, Dad has a big heart so if any of them are ever in trouble all they have to do is say something and we do what we can to fix it." Katlin smiled, remembering a couple of times her father had helped someone get a home or pay for college or even get cutting edge medical treatment. He still tried to know everyone by name, but it was just impossible anymore. They had been rated one of the world's best employer's by several magazines. Dad had smiled and let it go at that, pretending not to care what they thought of him but he did swell just a tad with pride at that honor.