Krafft's Notes on Anomalies

Kraft walked around the table, removed the candlestick, held a ceramic grinding dish upside down over the sample, and turned the hourglass over to time it.

After two cycles, the grinding dish was opened and repeated observations confirmed the crystal melting trend, and this trend is becoming more and more obvious as time goes by. The gradually rounded and blunt edges and corners have subtle signs of solid-liquid intermediate state.

It is said to be melted, but its transformation is not the same as that of ordinary substances. Although it looks closer to crystallization when it condenses, it does not slowly shrink and turn into liquid layer by layer like an ice cube, but softens like a wax block.

Through the refraction of the convex mirror, you can see that the magnified particles deformed like a broken shell, breaking through the disguised hard geometric crystal appearance and hatching out their true form.

This made Kraft reflexively think that the spores activated by the environment were gradually completing their activation and transforming into something new, something similar in material but completely different in nature.

Coop took the lens and took a look at it. He briefly doubted his eyes and felt that he saw something indescribable.

Just like a quick glance on the streets of Dunling at night, my intuition discerned something before my consciousness, but I couldn't recall it after I looked at it. I instinctively looked more carefully, trying to retrieve the fleeting thoughts.

But more observations only brought more confusion. From a few tiny particles, we can see extremely rich features: wet ice edges hanging from the eaves of dilapidated houses, thick wax oil on church candlesticks, bulges with water seeping between tidal flats, suspicious activities in rotten fish, and a large number of other things that are equally difficult to use. Metaphor of description.

"It's melting." He returned the lenses and put his hands on his face to cool his eyes.

"Yes, it's still changing, why?"

The professor was still asking why, but based on Coop's usual knowledge, there was no hint of doubt in it. It was more like asking a follower when he was inspecting a clinic. The answer had already been prepared and was just waiting to be blurted out. It’s just that the object of the inquiry this time is himself.

There was no longer any need for two people to observe and compare. Kraft gave up on shielding the "just right" pollution source and monitored the melting process alone with his lens.

It is very likely that the followers who were temporarily classified as experimental tools were temporarily ignored and no new instructions were given.

Without the help of the lens, the sample becomes a small black dot that is difficult to distinguish in the eyes, and no details can be seen clearly.

He has become accustomed to this and has unconsciously developed a unique orderliness in medical work.

Now when Kraft is concentrating on something, his duty should be to maintain the environment, but there is really nothing to maintain here, so he can only maintain a dull silence in his chair.

Every second he lost his target became painful. He looked into the glass again, imagining what the scene would be like under the lens.

This hope seems to have been answered, and the four small black spots have really changed. They were vaguely expanding and rounding, like ice melting into water, or a silent bone drill making smooth holes in the glass.

Full of mystery, a mystery that evokes the most primitive and innocent curiosity.

If Craft were to describe it, a toddler with a metal rod couldn't resist a socket hole in the wall.

Coop sat up straight and leaned forward against the table, trying to satisfy his curiosity.

And the source of curiosity responded to him again. As the distance gets closer, the fluctuation of the black spots becomes more realistic, and the sharp outlines are unexpectedly clear to the eyes.

It was definitely the richest black color he had ever seen. It was so perfect that it was almost unreal. He simply couldn't resist the urge to go up and touch it.

Once the idea is born, it lingers in the mind and derives more extensions: is it cold or warm, is it as smooth as oil or as refreshing as ice water, is it even elastic? You will only know after contact.

The fatigue accumulated after moving equipment all afternoon and staying up half the night became a little heavier. The main consciousness gradually drifted away, and those distracting thoughts became more active.

They dance in the mind, like fireflies in the fog, attracting sleepwalking lost people to follow their guidance.

In his daze, Coop watched himself raise his hand and point forward with one finger. He didn't notice anything wrong until his elbow left the table. After all, he just wanted a small touch.

The career of a retinue, which is a short but impressive part of one's life, makes a dissonant note. One should not touch clean things without preparation.

Those scattered thoughts took a step back, giving way to a new process that was inserted halfway - I had to wash my hands first. This blocked the urge to reach out further, leaving him swaying to stand.

It also made Kraft notice changes in him.

"Coop, what's wrong with you?"

"Uh, I guess. I want to touch it?" He turned over his palm and looked at the outstretched fingers. He still remembered the logic behind why he made this move. "I want to touch this thing?!"

"how come?"

Coop pinched his waist hard with his hand in disbelief. After the danger had just been emphasized, he actually made such a move.

The most unacceptable thing is that the origins of these ideas are clear from beginning to end, and can be traced from the generation of curiosity to the realization of the final action.

"I'm very sorry, Mr. Kraft, something didn't seem right to me just now." Looking back at the glass dish, although it was not very clear, you could see that the crystals still maintained their general shape and were slowly melting, rather than already melted. It became a black droplet.

"Concentrate, Coop, you should treat this as a battle." Kraft left his seat and dragged the guard, who was sweating out of fright, with his chair and others to a position against the wall. "Very few people can fight for the second time. Opportunity to pay for distraction.”

"But that's not your problem. You're even doing pretty well."

Even with prior warning and on-the-job training, being able to realize something was wrong on his own would at least meet Kraft's standard of qualification.

"I'm still sorry for interrupting you." Fear came to his mind, and his pounding heart made his head throb. In Coop's view, this was still more like a human error that should not have been done.

"Actually, no. It's clear enough." Kraft walked to the table and raised his left hand with his back to him, as if he was struggling to grasp something or exert some force on the space.

"It is not only liquefying, but also activating. This is the expression of its characteristics. What are the conditions?"

The sense of danger like the burrs of wheat awns lightly pricked the center of the eyebrows, making the cold hair stand on end without a trace. It relaxed and dissipated when it was still a long way from a certain limit.

Coop managed to stand up, walked to the table and looked down at the glass. The black color spreads and spreads like butter particles on a hot pan, exuding an inexplicable attraction that requires concentration to resist.

"Good news for you."

"What?" Every time he heard this sentence, the result was that he had something to do or something big to do. He was already a little allergic to "good news".

"Starting from today, you are officially promoted to my assistant. You will be on duty after special training and will actually operate the experiment." Kraft stepped back away from the table, and the black flow soon showed a visible sluggishness and tended to solidify.

"Sounds a bit difficult."

"Being a professor's assistant or laboratory technician will enjoy lecturer's salary, and the study period will also be counted."

"I can try harder."