Chapter 1 Page 2

     She hurriedly got dressed and ran out the front door of her apartment. She had a thirty minute commute from her apartment on East 13th Street to East 89th Street which she was dreading because she knew how fast the pods go and she was in a hurry. As she bolted down the steps of her apartment building her best friend and neighbor ran along beside her . "Debora! Debora!," she yelled constantly trying to get Debora's attention but Debora was already to far gone in thought about what was going. Debora's friend decided that the only way to get her attention would be to throw something at her since she couldn't keep up with her. She picked up the nearest item and threw it at Debora hitting her on the back. Debora stopped at the front door and turned around to see who hit her. "Susan what was that for!," she proclaimed after taking a second to massage her back. "I've been calling your name since you left your apartment," Susan was annoyed at this point because she was out of shape and working as a tenth grade teacher didn't do much to help that. Debora quickly explained what had happened and told Susan that she was in a hurry to get to the lab to find out what the authorities had found out and to see what had been stolen. "My God what has this world come to," Susan said in a disdainful voice,"what do they plan on doing with what ever they stole and why blow up the building?" "I don't know but that's why I'm in a hurry," and Debora darted down the street to the nearest pod station. She stepped into the nearest unused pod and said where she needed to go, the door closed and she was off.

     Pods were introduced six years ago as a means of safe and clean transportation from one place to another. They were designed by one of Debora's colleagues and the government gave a grant to install the stations all over New York. She was grateful for them because the only other means of transportation was a little electric powered car that required its rider to stand in a jell-like bubble that wraps around the inner walls the entire ride. As she passed through the streets briefly noticing the few robots that cleaned the streets and a very small fraction of the population who were considered homeless, even though they weren't, dotted the near empty streets. The New York City Council passed a bill called homes for the homeless which converted all the old unused railways and stations into homes with all the basic needs. As the pod reached the entrance to 89th street she could already see the mayhem that had been caused. The street was filled with debris from the building and people lined up outside the yellow tape watching the police and fire department work. The pod floated down the street and came to a stop at the nearest pod station. She got out and ran down the street hoping she could find someone she worked with that could tell her what had happened since the news.

     She stood outside the tape staring at the research papers that were now littered across the road and flying freely in the air. Tears began to roll down her cheek as she thought of all the hard work she had put in and how all that had been ruined in a matter of minutes. Noise pulsated in her ears as she stood there staring at everything that had once been organized was now in ruin. She could hardly hear anything because of the fire department's sirens. As the sounds pulsated in her ear she heard her name being called and in an attempt to find the source she turned her head around and around looking. After a few seconds she saw her friend Marcus pushing through the crowd of people stammering this way and that to try and keep balance. "Debora! Debora! We've lost our jobs, our lives, our research, everything!, he sounded over dramatic even for what Debora could ever think Marcus could do. He had tears running down his face too which was very unusual for him but given the circumstances she didn't doubt that his feeling were fake. She screamed out to him above all the noise in her head and around her," How's everyone and where are they?" Marcus looked around and then told her that everyone else was alright he'd spent most of the morning calling people telling them about what happened. Marcus gave a heavy huff and looked at her ,"they stole it you know that right?"He looked at her and then noticing that she was confused he rephrased his statement,"the government stole our research our experiments everything, you and I know it!" She was in no mood for his conspiracies right now so she ignored the statement and began asking him what he'd found out since the robbery.

Chapter 1 Page 1

     Her mind was restless from her long day at work researching photo-luminescence. As she laid on her bed she thought whether or not she really wanted to continue her work at the near by science lab. "It's a fun job," she thought over and over, running the last few experiments in her head. It's a government paid research lab with full access to any chemicals, compounds, or elements that she needed for the experiments she had been conducting. The more she thought about it the more she thought about changing careers. Recently she had grown more and more paranoid about what the results of her research had taught her. As time had progressed she understood the capabilities of what her research could do and that pushed her away from favority pass time which consisted of watching Science Fiction movies with her friends and family. She used to be a big fan of Science Fiction movies and other movies based around things that might happen or could happen. She really used to enjoy them, but when she started her research at the lab she learned how science fiction was become science fact. The past ten years produced naval ships with laser cannons, large robots used for combat on the battlefield instead of humans, and the thing that scared her more then anything space travel.

     "It's only been three years that I've spent there researching photo-luminescence and my research is in its final stages. So in all actuality I could finish my work and then quit and find something else to do," she rationalized to herself as she constantly thought about the repercussions of what could happen if the government did something to weaponize her research and use it for war and destruction. She'd already proven that a 2 milliliters of the compound photolumithalium could power the world for a year but that it also had enough destructive power that if someone heated it above two hundred degrees Fahrenheit the compound would exploded and destroy all of New York City and part of southern Maine. She shudder at the thought but quickly dismissed it. Her whole team had spent almost three full years which when she calculated the hours of work she had put in it hit her that she barely slept, and when she did it was only for a hour or two a week. She stared up at the ceiling wondering if she could get a job someplace else doing the same research but without the government knowing about it. She thought more and more only to come to the conclusion that it would be a stupid move to leave the lab, not only did she get a really nice pay check from it but she gets to use her PHD in Advanced Scientific theology and Science along with her masters in biology and metallurgy. Her eyes drooped a bit and she felt for the light switch, upon finding it she gave a last look around the room and fell asleep.

     As she woke up she glanced over at the clock,"5:34 A.M." it blinked, the high pitched sound of the TV came on from across the room as it automatically tuned itself to the news channel and muted itself. She smiled as she thought to herself,"Gotta love technology," she looked at the muted tv only to see a picture of the New York State Laboratory of Biology and Human Advancement with a caption that wrenched her stomach. She un-muted the TV immediately only to hear the anchorwoman proclaim the horrible news from the night,"Last night two thieves broke into this building and stole three billion dollars worth of research and development of which contains the worlds leading research on photo-luminescence which is soon to be the worlds next power source. During the robbery one of the suspects detonated two bombs inside the building that destroyed the east wing." A stream of tears ran down her face as she sat there watching the news, three years worth of research gone her entire office destroyed and her worst fear was that within the stolen items was the photolumithalium.