Unprecedented Science

Percy had better luck than he thought he would with Dr. Goldman. Some scientists are always eager to share their knowledge with those who seek it simply for knowledge's sake.

He spent the better part of three days analyzing all the data the teleseismometer had collected over the past few months. Was going that far back a little overkill? Perhaps. But researching a spatial disturbance was new territory for him; he had to be thorough.

There wasn't anything too unusual at first. Magnitude 2.0 or less earthquakes happened hundreds of times a day worldwide and couldn't be felt, only recorded by seismographs. They happened especially often in this area because of the proximity to the San Andreas Fault.

But Percy noticed that there was one 3.2 quake that lasted for about a minute on the day his sister was replaced. It happened less than an hour before she called him over to the hospital. That couldn't be a coincidence.

Earthquakes of that magnitude typically weren't noticed. You might see a hanging object swing slightly but generally can't feel anything unless you're sitting still or lying down.

That was the only spike in seismic activity he could find. He felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that the rip in the fabric of space had happened on the other side, in the world where his sister was likely trapped currently.

Percy couldn't give up! There were still other tests to conduct. Tests that would, unfortunately, have to take place at the hospital.

He tapped his fingers against his desk in agitation. His forum buddies hadn't been particularly helpful with advice on how to sneak into the hospital and hide his EMF meter or spectrometer.

He supposed that conducting his tests in the middle of the night would be best because less people would be around. That wouldn't help him get in past security after visiting hours though.

Maybe he could use his connections as the hospital director's brother-in-law to his advantage. It would be dreadfully boring but he might be able to hide out somewhere for hours after paying Roman a visit during the acceptable time.

That might work. The only problem was that it would have to be done next Friday night because most of his classes started at 8 AM during the week and Roman only worked weekdays unless there was an emergency.

Percy scowled. It was only Saturday now! He would have to wait another week before he could even try to conduct his research.

Being hindered by his heavy school schedule was beyond frustrating. He wanted to fix this before Penelope screwed anything up for his sister. Being unable to do anything like this was going to make him lose his mind.

Copernicus began slithering up his leg as if it was a tree trunk and Percy's frustration instantly evaporated. Research had been conducted about whether or not snakes were able to 'love' their owners and the conclusion was that they didn't experience such emotions.

They get used to their owners to the point of not perceiving them as a threat, allowing them to be handled. Reptilian brains were much simpler than mammalian ones.

That being said, this particular snake only seemed to use Percy as a tree without being picked up first when he was upset. He had no idea why that was. Perhaps the research hadn't been entirely correct. Or Copernicus was one step up on the evolutionary ladder from his brethren.

Whatever the case, he found a small degree of comfort in the cool scaly feeling. This snake had been with him longer than most humans had.

The two of them had a mutual understanding. Percy fed Copernicus and provided him with plenty of nice quiet hiding places. In return, Copernicus had functioned as the primary object of Percy's childhood reptilian research.

His reptile phase had long since passed but he had grown used to having the snake around. He was a steady companion and Percy was fond of him.

Copernicus continued making his way up his owner's body until he curled around Percy's left arm. He enjoyed doing that. At least it was his left arm and not his right so Percy could get back to his astronomy homework.

Since there was nothing to do about furthering his plans at the moment, getting something productive done was his best option. This close to graduation, he did have quite a lot to get done.

Honestly, the timing of this whole mess couldn't have been worse. Though he couldn't deny that having it happen now as opposed to when he was in graduate school was preferable.

Being all the way in Massachusetts, he probably wouldn't have noticed that Penelope got switched until irreversible damage to her relationship with Roman was already done. If it had to happen, at least it did while he was still in the area to do damage control.

Percy sighed and lifted his arm, stroking the snake dangling from it absentmindedly. It was unfortunate that his sister had to be involved in all of this. Discovering a spatial disturbance would have been a lot more fun if the stakes weren't so high.

As it was, he had to curb his natural curiosity and only do what was necessary to get his Penny back. She had always been the most emotional person in their family of academics. What was she feeling right now stuck in another world in such bleak circumstances?

What little he knew about Penelope's life over there sounded awful. He wasn't sure his sister would be able to handle it. She had always been so dependent on Roman…

Percy shook those worrisome thoughts away. He couldn't think about that right now. If he wanted to help his sister, he had to remain as objective as possible. He was a scientist—emotions could not hinder him when he had a mission to accomplish.

He had to get his homework done earlier in the week so he could conduct his research all weekend. He was perfectly capable of focusing before so doing it now shouldn't be this hard.

He had never been the type to worry about others much…even when his dad was diagnosed with cancer, he had full confidence the medical professionals would be able to cure him. He had faith in science.

But this particular type of science was unprecedented and Percy had no idea how to proceed from here. He was going in blind using whatever tools he had at his disposal but there was no guarantee they would work.

He sighed and put Copernicus back in his tank so he could put all of his attention on his homework, being sure to weigh the lid down with something heavy this time. The snake was too smart for his own good.