Chapter Text
We were eight years old and my life was about to turn into torture. T he classroom lights were turned off and all the students were out for recess. I didn’t think they quite noticed me at all, so I remained in the empty room trying to move the graphite in a pencil. Eventually I gave up, resigned to calling Periodica powers fairytales, and pulled out some paper (my homework) to scribble on.
“Hi! I’m called Sky Princess, and I’m an oxygen.” A strange Periodica loudly and proudly introduced herself, casually floating her way through the window to me. “You look lonely, and I’m bored. Can I be your friend?”
I stare back at her startled, unsure of what she wants out of randomly approaching me. “That’s a bizarre name,” I flatly and awkwardly state, before continuing to sketch bees on my homework.
.What’s yours?” she squeaks, putting her hand in front of my face to grab my attention"
“I don’t know. Just call me Carbon.”
“That’s boring!” She orbited the air above my head and began suggesting names before realizing I was completely uninterested. In an effort to continue the conversation, she switched the subject. “Do your teachers say weird things?”
I look up, making eye contact with her. “Huh? Like, nonsense things?”
"?Yeah, my history teacher always says weird stuff. Like, every day, she comes into class and says ‘good afternoon young Periodica of deflor- err, defrogitcated air.’ Like, what does that even mean"
I lay my hand on the side of my head, fingers clasped my face as my mind searched through its folders. The phrase rang a bell, and I was now trying to recall where it came from. And, oh! There it was.
“Your teacher is making a reference to the outdated theory of Phlogiston.”
“?Flodisdon”
“Phlogiston. It was a substance theorised-”
“?Frojishton”
I took a deep breath and sighed, hoping she’d stop interrupting.
“Phlogiston was a substance theorized in the old days before they knew what oxygen was. The scientists thought that all flammable things contained phlogiston, and when a fire started, the phlogiston was released into the air-”
"!You’re a nerd, I don’t understand anything. And didn’t they have the periodic table? How did they not know what oxygen was? I’m offended"
I stared up at her, wondering why she asked me to explain something and then immediately stopped listening to anything I said. " Now, ‘dephlogisticated air’ was…”
“?Hey! I have a cool idea, what if I call you Frogiton, since you like it so much”
Before I could protest, she was out of the window to introduce me to her friends. “Hey, guys! I have a new friend! This is Frogiton! Say hi, Frogiton!”
The name stuck, it’s been haunting my life ever since. And she’s been haunting my life ever since. I’d never get rid of her - believe me, I’ve tried.
-
“Finally, 15 and I get to move into the dorms. How fun, huh?” Katie squealed. “I get to be a real Periodica!”
When she was littler, she taught herself how to fly, and since then she’s been floating around bothering people through windows - the way she kidnapped me into her friend group. She’s leaving the nursery now, which means she could properly train those powers. Oh, what a nightmare, I couldn’t imagine the kind of things she’d do.
“Yea, okay. I’ll see you there soon, Sky Princess.” I chuckled, imagining the idiotic scenes that will befall her new friends. I would be 15 next month. We’ll see.
“I’m not Sky Princess anymore. I’ll be better. I’ll be cooler!”
“What do I call you, then, Katie? ‘Katie’ is too normal for you. Hmm, what about Accidentally-making-dumpster-fires-worse Princess? Destroying-my-potted-plants Princess?”
“Call me Sky Goddess,” she mumbled lightheartedly as if purring, before turning to board the bus.
“Sure, whatever, hope I could see you soon, I guess.”
“Bye, Froggie!”
She was waving to me through the window as the bus made its way off – yes, off for training to becoming a real, mature Periodica suitable for work. My mind stopped processing at thought of that impossibility becoming a reality. I traced the bus’s path until it was too obscured into be in my line of sight. With a sigh, I turned back into the Nursery. I didn’t think I was ready to leave so soon, not in a month, no. I Katie was probably nothing but excited, but I didn’t know what to feel. My entire life was tied to this place, firmly rooted like a stick buried in the earth. I took a walk down the courtyard and absorbed the sights and sounds – sights and sounds I wasn’t likely going to see again after I, too, leave.
In amusement, I watched the little children playing in the courtyard. It’s still hard to believe Systema Labs managed to create an entire population of chemical-element-based superhuman children and somehow also figured out how to control them. I’m not even kidding, that is very hard to do.
If these kids had free reign and better control of their powers at this age - and I think it might be even worse depending on if they have access to Hydrones - this place would probably be a messy catastrophe of terrible and hazardous chemicals concocted by collaborative ‘do whatever’ element bending efforts by little gremlin gang-like factions while half the kids die in a dramatic bloodbath and funny airbenders like Katie and Azina fly above the scene, writing down the happenings like some badly masked political metaphor novel that comes along.
Hmm, I’m now wondering what that novel would be called. “Periodica Can’t Be Trusted, Boo Periodica”, by The Inhibitors?
I daydreamed as I stepped past a five-year-old Lithium who was sitting in a corner and crying because they couldn’t go in the pond like those other kids. The teacher patted the child on their head to comfort them. “I know you feel excluded, and I feel your pain, but don’t go in there. [lowers voice] I promise you’ll regret it. There’s a reason your showers are different.”
The child continues their unintelligible babbling.
“It’s not like you’re losing out, they just aren’t following the rules! Those naughty, naughty kids aren’t supposed to be in the pond anyway, nobody’s allowed in the pond after what happened last time, remember? 😊 [turns, exasperated sigh] And, yup, it’s him again, goddamnit, I’m not paid enough for this job.” [Puts on gas mask]
Preteens were congregating below one of the trees to argue about which element was the best, the most powerful, the smartest. I wondered what the showdown was about this time. “Well, Whirlwind Stormcloud got 12/50 for her math test, so that immediately means you guys are dumb!” “Yea, of course, but hey, at least you don’t share an element with Fizzle, she makes weird noises in class.” One of them was bending their element in a way that could be considered a fire hazard as a “cool new trick”.
I stopped by and listened to another teacher introducing some kids to a high-ranking office person. “This is, [deep inhale, exhale] Sparkle Magic Diamond Princess, and that’s… He calls himself Fart the Fart Man. This oxygen over here is very insistent on being named Whirlwind Stormcloud Breath Fire Cat Unicorn Warrior of Edequilesia – Whirlwind Stormcloud for short, but she insists that every member of her cult-like following memorise her full name. I say, it’s not a very good idea to let children name themselves. Whatever, not like it matters, they’ll grow out of it.”
“By God, are there any better names?”
[Flips through files] “Well, there’s a Chlorine here somewhere who named herself Chlor – classic, boring, uncreative, but at least it isn’t magic, or rainbows, or doodie-heads, or glitter, or farts, or suspicious ideological propaganda, or imaginary creatures, or pop culture references that make me want to physically cringe. Man, I miss our old generation. They called themselves sane things until we gave them the internet and began showing them shows that normal kids watch.”
“Oh, we talking names?” A six-year-old appeared behind the teacher, startling him.
“No, 029-367. We talked about this; you are not calling yourself ‘your mom’.”
Chuckling to myself, I walked past corridors and headed through the buildings where the younger kids were into the place where we teenagers lived and took classes.
“Hey Frog! Where’s Katie, is she sick?” Kalya - a potassium Periodica a year our junior and another member of that friend group I had been kidnapped into - disturbed me on my path.
“No, she’s out of the Nursery, I saw her off.”
“Oh! Aww man, forgot it was her birthday, if you can get to her, tell her I send my sincerest congratulations!”
“Yeah, now get out of my way, I’m late for class.”
My chemistry teacher was at the door sternly waiting for my entry. I enter the classroom and take my seat, having to count chairs from the walls due to the unusually empty classroom. Half the students from our cohort had already left. This year was a special year, wasn’t it?
“Done seeing off your heinous late homework partner in crime? Might have to call the facilities to have her send over the complete assignment; she’s not out of trouble just because she’s an August child. Regardless, we almost started without you. Now, students, flip your Organic Chemistry textbook to page 39… and you, latecomer, this chapter pertains to your element more than anything else.”
Yeah, like the rest of organic chemistry. No shit.
The rest of the lessons stretched on and on and on. Where was Katie and why does the classroom feel so empty and plain without her interjections? It’s been half a day in and I was already starting to miss her. Yes, her, the lunatic who had successfully renamed me Frogiton. I don’t understand why I would miss her, but I do. Goddammit.