Flourine

*Fluorine*

Prologue

*(the fonts don't work, i need Blackladder ITC, Calisto MT, and Agency FB.)*

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

*Our facilities invite you to a special*
event being hosted tomorrow, at 11:00 AM. Only the best scientists in town get
to attend, and it’s a once in a lifetime thing. We know of your loss, and we’re
sorry. But this is the biggest company in energy and medicine in all of
Corrios.

Don’t be late.

Call 543 643 2112

-The Compounds Team

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter one: Once in a Lifetime

That was all that the note said.

Nothing more, nothing less.

So vague, those people from the Compounds. They had been
hiding their secrets from the rest of the public for a long time; finally some
scientists get to see the big hubbub of the company who create all of their power.
And, medicine?

One of those scientists was, of course, Aspen.

He knew that if the Compounds opened up, he would be
invited. He was, after all, one of the most popular scientists in the entire country.
However, the country being quite unpopulated didn’t help.

Yet still, nobody knew anything about the Compounds.

Aspen awoke to the pitter-patter of rain on the window, and
looked around his room. It was rather dank and dusty, him having not cleaned in
an eternity. Aspen groaned and got out of bed, putting on his clothes and
walking out into the kitchen to get some coffee. *Mmm, Coffee,* he thought while sipping the deliciously hot
substance. Isn’t everything a substance to him?

Aspen drank down all of the coffee before looking at the
letter on the counter. What did it all mean? The letter made no sense. And the
number? It wasn’t even real. The compounds didn’t have a public phone number.
Why trust the compounds? They don’t have anything for them. Actually, yes, they
do; they have all the energy in southeast Corrios.

Aspen stopped thinking for a split second before eyeing the
letter. It had said *we know of your loss,*
and we’re sorry. *But how did they know? Just thinking about it brought back*
memories of tragedy. He sighed and got his coat and umbrella, walking outside
into the rainy morning. He has been excused from work because of the “special
event.” Aspen hadn’t had a day away from his job for the past three years;
except for when he was excused for the funeral of his sister. Just thinking
about the accident brought tears to his eyes.

Aspen’s workplace, known as *The Scientific Offices of Southern Corrios,* was only a five minute
walk away from his country house. Who doesn’t have a country house in Corrios?

Aspen walked inside, his excuse for actually being there
was “I want to get some work done.” He walked inside, showed his ID to the
guard, and went to his office.

\-/-\-/-\-/

“Hey.” Said Lily as
she walked into Aspen’s office. “Why are you not at this special event
thingamajig? I thought you were going to not be here today.”

Aspen looked over his shoulder to see Lily standing behind
him, glowing with a sweet smile. “Oh, just to get some work done. I decided
filling out the Act of Forest Conservation’s appeal right now might be nice.
Seriously, why conserve the forest when resources are dwindling and we are
literally teeming with extra wood? There’s no sense to it.”

“Well, there is the point of conserving the forest,” Lily
pointed out smartly. “And the government probably doesn’t want foreigners just
cutting down wood like drunk lumbermen.”

“Oh well. It’ll probably be passed anyhow. It’s not
terrible, but I’ve seen better laws.”

Lily looked around
with a troubled face for a moment, then put back on her warm smile. “Ok, well,
I better get back to work. Bye!”

“Oh, bye!”

Aspen worked until it was 10:00. He then hopped up and slid
out of the