CHAPTER II – Accomplishing Great Things

"Elsa? Elsa!" Annie climbed up the attic. "I saw your message, I came as fast as I could. Where are you?"

"I’m here Annie, come." Elsa was kneeled behind the device they stole Saturday at dawn, twisting some screws. She stood up, wiping her forehead. "Pass me that insulating tape."

"Insu… what? What are you doing. I did not hear from you all weekend, and…"

"The black tape! Bring it to me! I’ll explain you everything. Oh, and close the attic’s door."

As Annie watched Elsa tinkering with the device, she noticed that she was still using the same clothes.

"Elsa, did you stay all weekend here?! Did you even take a shower?!"

Elsa ignored her. She finishing isolating some cables, closed the electric box and stood up once again.

"A shower is the last of my concerns right now. Now look. See right there?" She pointed towards an old chair. Annie noticed the floor under it was burned up. "Now things should work properly. Take this Fire Extinguisher. Be ready."

"Huh, what? But…" Annie did not have time to answer, as Elsa handed her a small extinguisher.

"Aaaand, GO!" She selected something on the LCD and pressed a black button. A green flash illuminated the attic, while the chair glowed bright green. Then. Out of nowhere, it disappeared.

"Yes! YES! YEEES! IT WORKED! SUCK IT ADAM!" Elsa exclaimed with a big grin on her face.

Annie on the other was dumbfounded. "Did… did that chair just… disappeared!?"

"Disappeared? Ah! Just watch." Elsa approached the spot where the chair disappeared and kneeled, reaching for something with a pair of tweezers in her hand.

"Does this look like a disappearance, Annie?" She brought her palm near Annie’s face. She was holding what looked like a small toy chair.

"A toy chair? What does this mean?"

Elsa frowned and let huge sight. Goddammit, she was so dumb. "No Annie, it’s not a toy chair. It’s THE chair. The one that was on that spot. I shrunk it. And it did not burn up this time, thank God."

"It shrunk? But, I mean…" Annie was still trying to process what just happened.

"Yes, it shrunk! That’s what this device is. It’s not a piece of junk. It’s a shrinking machine! That is what Adam was working on. And of course, none of the other idiots could figure it out. But I did. I fucking did it!"

"Oh my God, that’s... that’s…" Annie was still holding the fire extinguisher.

"Amazing? No! It’s Revolutionary! And for the love of God, put down that thing, it won’t be needed this time."

"Why would you need it. I mean…"

"Sigh. Because last time I calibrated the Ion Stabilizer with reverse polarity instead, and it caused a chain reaction on the last chair’s molecular structure, which… Whatever, it didn’t burn up! Now put it down."

"Elsa, that’s… That’s so cool! But why would Adam build such a thing and then disappear? You would think that he would show this to the science fair and…"

"Ugh. He didn’t run away, you idiot. He shrunk! He and his loser friends. They all shrunk! That’s why nobody found them. That’s why they disappeared. Listen, remember that Friday morning when the power went out at school, we were at the library, weren’t we? I think that caused the machine to malfunction and short-circuit. It probably fired while they were in the way. It’s the only logical explanation."

"Holy shit! So, that means that they must be somewhere at the school then, right?"

"Doubt it. They were shrunk to about 1/5 inch. They probably got stepped on, or eaten by a bug, or a rat. No way they survived almost a month at that size."

"So, that means the machine is ours, then? Wow…"

"Correction, mine! You wouldn’t even know how to change a fuse inside it. I’m the one who operates it, understood? Me. And no one else. Got it?"

Annie let a sigh. "Oh come on Elsa! I thought we were friends…"

"Of course we are. And you will help me during my experiments. But the machine is mine. I operate it. I touch it." Elsa, of course, knew that it wasn’t true. Annie was just a tool for here, like everything else. Like that machine. Oooh, that machine. When the others will hear about it…

"Oh, so like an assistant. I will be you assistant, Dr. Elsa! – Annie said jokingly."

"Uhh, what? Oh, yeah sure."

"Is everything okay?"

Elsa seemed frustrated, which was weird considering five seconds before she was screaming in joy. But she had a good reason to be.

"No, no. This won’t work…"

"What are you talking about, Elsa? We have… er, you have shrinking machine. I mean, you’ll…"

"No, no, NO! Not like this! – Elsa threw a screwdriver on the ground. – Don’t you get it Annie!? Adam is the one who built this! Him! Not me, him! He’s the one who is going to receive the laurels! He’s the one who’s name is going to be written in the history books! Him, not me! DAMMIT, ADAM!! EVEN IN DEATH, HE FUCKS ME OVER!!!"

At this point, Elsa’s face was red. This wasn’t good, Annie knew it.

"Come on, Elsa… Come on, we have a shrinking machine… Who cares about history books? We can do whatever we want with this. Just imagine…"

Elsa turned her gaze towards Annie, a look of murder in her eyes. Annie knew that Elsa was not like the person in the mask that she tried to appear to other people. She knew about the darkness inside her. She even liked that side of her, that side willing to fuck over anyone that stands on her way. But Annie didn’t like to peek to into that darkness too much, especially when said darkness peeked back at her. You know what they say…

Then suddenly, a big grin appeared on her face.

"You’re right… Annie, you’re right! All I ever wanted was for people to recognize me for who I was, who I really was. Complete, unquestionable glorification. But I never got it. They never gave it to me. Well, guess what. I will make then beg for it! I WILL MAKE THEM PAY FOR IT!!!!" Elsa exploded into an evil laughter.

Annie started laughing too. Partly out of fear. Partly out of relief.

"I’m going to take a shower, Annie. We’ll talk tomorrow." Elsa approached Annie, putting a hand on her shoulder "I’m going to need your help Annie. There is going to be a lot of work." She looked at Annie with a serene expression.

"So, this means I will be your assistant?" Annie asked, with some apprehension.

"Of course, Annie. A good doctor always needs an assistant."

"And we are going to do a lot of science together, right?"

"Sure, Annie. A lot of science." Elsa gracefully hold her cheeks, then gave her strong hug. "We will accomplish great things together."