Light filtered through the gap of the broad door as I entered quietly. The room seemed desolated even though there was a tall man standing in the corner of the room; his eyes were casting a look through the window before turning towards me. He did not uttered out a word but he just walked to me and handed me a profile of the victim for the major diagnosis.
"From now on, Arsenic, you will be in charge of this project to research about the disease and find the antidote using this victim."
"Yes sir," I caught a glimpse on the profile picture; the victim wore a monotone masquerade.
"Why is the victim wearing a mask?"
"It's the request of the victim, we couldn't intrude her much." Boss hesitated before answering.
"The project will be starting next week, be prepared." Boss added as I walked towards door.
The sun was falling gradually to the horizon. I left the office and headed to the train station, exhausted. I turned my head and looked back. Hundreds and thousands of fluorescent lights which illuminated the high-rise buildings were located eminently in the atmosphere. It is where my hope laid on to achieve my ambition and foremost, to save her from that agonizing disease.
The organization that I am in uses codenames to call each other, as using codenames wouldn't reveal anything about our identity. My dream is to become a first-rate scientist of this organization. Our organization works with the government to make the world a better place. However nice it may sound, all we do is experiment on living humans for we sacrifice the minority for the majority. My hands are already dirty from all those experiments but if it's for my sister, I'm ready to do ANYTHING.
Gazing upon the disastrous scenery outside the window- beneath our new home, was where we, the human race used to live peacefully for a millennium. However, there were conflicts in those peaces and harmony, the 'Third World War' had just ended.
Wars have always been destructive and costly, and no benefits gained- chaos were used to devastate mundane lives into a pile of trash, prevented everything to rehabilitate. Billions lost their families and were too forlorn to survive but they can't do that. They couldn't help but to restraint one's mind for their massive loss. I was one of them too; my parents were in one of the crowd which were struck by the nuclear bomb. Fortunately, they did not leave me alone; they left me my younger sister, Alicia. Although I still have Alicia as my last ray of hope, I could still instinctively perceive the feeling of misery and pessimism in my world.
The train had reached my destination. I walked away from the train station and headed home, where she is waiting for me.
I opened the door and entered my house. I could see Alicia was preparing supper on the dining table. She was sitting on a wheelchair; her two 'permanently paralyzed' legs which she could not use since the Third World War ended.
"I'm home."
"Brother, you're back!" Alicia exclaimed as she used her two small hands to push the wheels towards me. She embraced me tightly as though she missed me so much, and I touched her head gently.
As we were eating dinner, I examined her face- her face was pale and white, but her action did not show any symptoms of the disease.
"Cough...cough" Alicia choked vigorously. I could see a small drops of red liquid coming out from her mouth but she just wiped it out with a simpering smile. I was absent of linguistic, realizing I couldn't do anything to help her. There's only one word in my mind; antidote.
In the morning, I rushed to the office to have a short conversation with Boss about the antidote for the diagnosis and I decided to ask boss a question.
"If the experiment succeeds, my sister would need the antidote too."
"...Sure." Boss paused before answering, but I didn't bother much as I only care that I could use the antidote to cure Alicia.
Today was the start of the experiment. The victim was a small little girl. All of us called her Aconite. She somehow resembled my little sister. She was pale and fragile. She wore a masquerade like in the picture that was attached to the profile.
When I got home, Alicia rushed to the door to greet me. She smiled as brightly as she could but I noticed something about her face. Her face had gotten paler compared to yesterday.
"Alicia, your face is paler than yesterday. What happened?" I asked her feeling worried.
"Oh...It's nothing... It's just that...my legs are started to ache a bit." She flinched a bit before replying with a reassuring smile but I could see that she was hesitating to tell me why.
The next day, I noticed that there were some dandelions in the living room. "Where did you get this from?" I pointed to the dandelions on the table.
"The wishing flowers? I picked them up in the garden."
"Wishing flowers? They're called dandelions," I corrected her.
"No, they're wishing flowers, the neighbor kids said so." said Alicia before she continued cooking.
I stared at the 'Wishing Flower' and thought to myself; Alicia is like my wishing flower, granting my wish. However, she was also like a dandelion, so frail and fragile.
Several days had passed and I could see that her condition was only going for the worse. I couldn't stand watching her become painful and finally asked "Alicia, tell me the truth. I don't think that you growing this pale is due to you collecting flowers. Tell me honestly. What happened? We only have each other left."
"...You know brother," she paused, "nowadays; I'm starting to hurt my legs so much that it's hard for me to sleep. But there's nothing to be worried about. I'm sure that it's just a sign of my legs healing." she replied with that same smile.
The next morning I went to work early to get the antidote done. As I was busy doing my work, my boss entered the experiment room and talked to Aconite. She always uses a paper to communicate or using her expressions. The boss had told me that she can talk but she doesn't want to reveal anything about herself.
I approached Boss as soon as he finished talking to Aconite. "Boss, can I speed up some parts of the experiment? I want to find the antidote as soon as possible. I understand that some parts can't be speeded up but I really need to speed up for my sister."
"That's fine. I can see that you are in a rush but do not to make any mistakes, Arsenic. It costs a lot if a mistake occurs. Otherwise the girl may not survive," Boss said with a serious face.
I had finished some parts and so I needed some rest. As I looked at Aconite, she reminded me of my sister, of how frail and fragile she looked. I decided to go and talk to her. We talked about various things and I thought that she would surely become good friends with Alicia. Both of them were very similar. I imagined how she would look without the mask and became curious. "Aconite, can you take off your mask? I want to see how you look like without the mask."
As soon as I asked that question, she jolted and shook her head vigorously. She seemed very against the idea of taking the mask off so I didn't pursue further and changed the topic. I asked her about her family but she didn't move an inch. She didn't write anything on her paper either. After a while, she turned to me and shook her head softly as if telling me that it was a taboo to ask her.
I gave up the idea of talking to her about her family and realized that some time had passed while we were talking so I walked back to my seat and continued my work.
When I reached home and the sight of Alicia almost collapsing caused me to be motivated even more. Her face shows a deep pain but she still forced a smile to make me feel relieved. I patted her head.
"Brother?"
"N...Nothing, I'm going then," my voice trailed into the emptiness I could feel deep inside my heart.
"Wait," she paused, "rest well, and don't be stressed."
I smiled back at her before I took a step up to my room then started work. I need to get this done, now. I can't waste any more time because I don't want to lose her.
From the time when the sun climbed towards its zenith until the abnormally large moon bathed the city with its luminous glow. I have spent my time inside the lab to complete my project. The antidote is finally finished and this is the first day when we will test this out.
From afar, I could mesmerize the frail figure lying on her bed. I entered the room quietly with the antidote in my hand hoping that it would work. Aconite smiled at me as a greeting.
"Here is your antidote," my palm was perspiring with cold sweat and continued, "I'm sure you'll be alright," I whispered softly before injecting the liquid in.
Time crept by, the alleged miracle appeared in front of our eyes. We held our breath as her foot moved a little. Tears of joy came out as my co-workers patted my back and congratulated me. At this point the image of my younger sister with her sweet smile has complimented me.
Suddenly, Aconite shuddered and coughed incessantly. I picked a piece of tissue and brought it to her lips. Blood! Streaks of blood came out from her nose and mouth. I was paralyzed, stood rooted to the ground. For a moment of hallucination, I could see Alicia's face. A thought came past 'Alicia is like my wishing flower, granting my wish. However, she was also like a dandelion, so frail and fragile.' Her cold hand crept to wipe the dried tears from my eyes gently.
Her breathing was becoming slower and slower but she managed to tell me her last words, "Please...smile...Argon..." with a gentle smile on her face.
My precious dandelion had flown far, far away... Theloud silence of the room brought me back to reality.