The storm refused to give in. Monsoon rains flooded the campus grounds for the second week in a row. The rose garden that the environmental majors planted had turned into a slush pit of shredded petals and uprooted stems. The emerald green hills had traded their warm color for black mud that took a greater hold on the lawn.

"Hurry up, Thomas! We don't want to keep him waiting. We don't want to make our biggest funder want to find someone else for this job," Ralph shouted over the crackling thunder.

"He's rich! He's got all the time in the world!" Thomas said.

They walked through the ankle deep puddles with a cautious pace, doing everything they could to get to the science hall's massive glass doors without drowning in the water. The building was recently remodeled and enhanced by a considerable donation from the newest board member of the school.

He was a man who recently came into a large sum of money. All he asked in return was aid on a science project from some of the high ranking researchers. After seeing the thirty million dollar check Dr.Hopper, the head of the science department, gladly accepted and practically sold his top two scientists to the billionaire.

The veteran biochemist, Dr. Ralph Lugten, was a round man with fiery, red hair that covered his body head to toe; Thomas referred to him as The Orange Peel.

The second scientist was Thomas Ole, a sixteen year old genius who earned his doctorate in environmental geology the year before and a doctorate in chemistry the year prior to that. He was as slim as a piece of paper and sat well below the average height of most of his fellow scientists.

Even though they bickered and fought about the pettiest of things, they were the best team that Little Arrow University had to offer.    

The two scientists pushed through the glass doors and soiled the white tiles with their muddy shoes and dripping clothing. Their shoes squeaked through the halls as they walked, echoing through the empty halls.

When they reached the biggest lab in the building, Lab 2866, two men and a beautiful woman stood by a table that held an illuminating red rock.

"Ralph, you're late," Hopper barked as he spun around.

His lengthy body towered above both Ralph and Thomas.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Hopper. The rain limited our mobility," he answered as he walked towards the group with Thomas.

"My god! You're soaking wet! What is that foul stench?" Hopper held his nose while trying to look away from Ralph.

"What? You don't love the smell of hot pockets and stale cheetos?" Thomas asked as he pretended to take a big whiff.

The woman chuckled a little while trying to hold back her smile.

She stood next to the man that could have only been the wealthy donor that Ralph and Thomas were supposed to work with. She was about twenty with golden, curly blonde hair that stretched to her back.

Her dark gray eyes seemed mysterious to Thomas; he'd never seen a girl so beautiful before, at least not up close, and her unique eye's fascinated him.

"Thomas? Did you hear me?" Hopper asked.

Thomas snapped to attention, breaking eye contact with the woman, hoping no one else saw him staring.

"Yes! Hi, nice to meet you rich guy," he sputtered and walked to the table, his eyes fixed on the rock.

"I've never seen anything like this. Where did you get it?" Thomas gasped.

"In a hole where my tower is being built. That's just a small one. I've found about thirty of them now. The biggest was about the size of this room," the other man said as he joined Thomas at the table.

"Name's Atom. Founder and CEO of The Atom Bombs," he said.

He held his right arm out for a shake.

Thomas shook it lazily, then shot across the room and grabbed gloves and tools.

"You must excuse him. He's a thinker not a gentleman," Ralph laughed awkwardly while he shook Atom's hand.

Thomas returned to the table and dumped off his tools and equipped a pair of protective gloves and went to pick up the rock.

"No!" the woman yelled, "Don't touch it with your hands. It's dangerous."

She blushed after she realized how loud she had been. 

"Dangerous huh? Will I blow up if I pick it up? I'd hate to make more of a mess on this brand new tile," Thomas asked sarcastically with a smile.

"Something like that."

Her face darkened as she looked at Atom, who was doing his best to avoid her eyes.

Hopper coughed to stir the conversation back towards him.

"And what would you have us do with this...new...rock?" he asked.

Atom walked to the back of the room and ran his hand along the cold steel table until he reached the window and looked out at the storm.

"As my sister Evelyn explained, they are dangerous. I want you to find out everything you can about them. Where they came from, what are the goo's side effects, how to safely dispose of it, and if there is any benefit that the ooze could provide," he commanded.

"Adam and Eve. Guess this is the forbidden fruit," Thomas laughed as he pulled a thin layer of the rock off with tweezers, revealing more of the glowing crystallized innards.

The red color had completely faded and a pinkish hue filled the room. It would grow brighter whenever he snuck a quick peek at Evelyn.

"This rock has to be a couple million years old. See how it's crystallized like this?" he pointed to the fine clear crystals within the rock which were nearly see-through, "That means that this thing has had a lot pressure put onto it. This thing must have been buried pretty deep within the earth. My rough estimate would be that it's from the cretaceous period, maybe earlier. I'd need to see the location for a better estimate."

Atom's lips widened, showing off his perfect pearly whites, "Looks like you've just earned yourself a spot at Mota Industries."