New day, new work, new surprises

The Kaminski couple were in trouble. Their little store danced on the brink of bankruptcy. They really liked their store, but neither of them was good in doing business. They were just chemists after all, so with a heavy heart, but they announced that their store was for sale. But there was no applicant. None. That's why they were so happy when an elderly man entered their business.

"Can I help you?" The young woman asked, hoping the old man at least buys rockets for his grandchildren.

"Are you Mrs. Kaminski?" The old man politely asked her.

"Yes, I am." She answered, surprised.

"I am Matsuda Mitsuhiro!" He introduced himself and gave his business card to the woman.

"Mateusz!" The woman cried to her husband. A slim chemist came out from the laboratory.

"Yes, dear?" He asked, but he was not really there.

He was making salt mixtures to the rockets. It was clear to the old Mitsuhiro. His father looked exactly like Mateusz Kaminski, when he was making salt mixtures in his laboratory. It was a familiar scene for him, and he really liked the sight.

"He is Matsuda Mitsuhiro!" She told her husband, and gave the business card.

"From the famous Matsuda Company?" He asked, and looked hopefully to the old man. He hoped they would be lucky and be able to sell the store.

"I am sorry." The old man bowed, and the hopefully smile vanished from the faces of the couple. "I am not the president of that company anymore. But I am interested in your store. It is still for sale?"

Ten minutes later Matsuda Mitsuhiro was sitting in the kitchen on the second floor of the house, and drinking tea with the Kaminski couple.

"You know, we don't want to sell the store, but it's hard to work in the lab and run the store at the same time." Matuesz told to the old man.

"We really tried, but I think, we are unable to manage both." Anna, the wife said.

"We should have learned about business management, before we open this store, but we overestimated our strength, and under the hardships. That's why we have to sell the store."

"It is in a good place, but somehow we couldn't get enough customers."

"Despite the closeness of the Firework Festival."

They stopped talking, and watched the bottom of their teacups, as they would have wanted answers to their questions from the tealeaves. Matsuda Mitsuhiro started to like them. They were young, and though they were irresponsibly opened a shop, they did their best to succeed. And when they already knew there was something wrong, they looked for a way out. The old man knew how much strength the two youngster needed to admit that their business had been spoiled.

"I don't want to buy the store." He began, and with the desperate look of the couple he continued. "I want to associate with you."

"Associating?" The couple asked in unison.

"Yes." He nodded. "My father started with a little store, like this. I really liked him to watch while he was making salt mixtures, and rockets. I was raised in the store, and I enjoyed serving customers, and helping to my father. When the business were growing, and we moved to a bigger and bigger buildings, I always missed the old days, when we were in close contact with our customers."

"I think we are not very effective in this." Mateusz Kaminski scratched his head.

"But you are effective in making chemicals." Mitsuhiro praised them. " Last year, when we had run out of salt mixtures, one of our employees bought from your store. It was very very good quality."

The couple laughed happily.

"We love to make salt mixtures." Anna nodded.

"Then I think we would make a very good team! You would make the goods, and I would sell them, and manage the store. What do you think?"

The couple made an excuse, and they went out of the kitchen to discuss the offer. They were talking for minutes, then they retured to the kitchen with smiling faces. The Kaminski couple accepted the offer for associating with Matsuda Mitsuhiro. The old man called Giorgio, and after writing the papers, the former president of the Matsuda company could start his new business.

"We still have time to the festival." He said in the afternoon.

"But it's just a few days!" Anna worried.

"Wrong." He smiled. "We still have a few days. I contacted with the festival office, and informed them, that we have free supplies, and we will hold a last minute rocket making workshop."

"Is there any meaning?" Mat asked. "The most of them are already made."

"Don't worry!" He smirked, because he saved the best for last. " You said right. The most of them. We have a triple over-application for the workshop. Many people leave things for the last moments, either because they forget or because they could just solve it that way. These people will be grateful for the opportunity, and if we don't make a crucial mistake, they will be back next year. Plus, they will tell our store for their friends, and the advertising is solved. So we also hold three workshops, and if necessary, we squeeze in a fourth one in the morning of the festival. It would be a hard work, but we have to stabilize the store's finances."

"We could work hard!" The couple smiled.

"That's the spirit! Let's go to work!"

Matsuda Mitsuhiro's new life had begun.

Valerie and Elie a little bit overslept in the morning. The girl would really liked to return to the mine. The meeting with her stepcousin made her upset, and she didn't want to meet the Class rep and her family again. So Elie drove back to the mine in the evening. They arrived at midnight, fortunately they didn't have to register again, just drove to their previous place. The two girls went to sleep as soon as they reached their parking place, but they still overslept on the next morning.

"Okay, let's eat something, and we have to start to make your Bucky balls." Elie yawned.

Valerie nodded, but her eyes were half closed. Or half opened? Because the mention of the balls her eyes popped fully open, and she was already full with energy. Elie gave her chocolate bar, but she didn't even imagine a flavor to that, just chewed and swallowed. Valerie was jumping excitedly, because they would start to build her earring. Okay, only the gem part, but she would have one in the not so distant future, and she could be like the other girls.

The first surprise came when the local priest led them to the cage behind the foil tents.

"Do they have a cage too?" She asked, and the priest laughed.

"It is rare, that someone want to make the earrings here, but sometimes happens. So we have a cage too."

"But why? Carbon atoms won't fly away!"

"That's right, but they are very violent, when making Bucky balls." He said, and helped them to put the safety clothes on. The protective clothing looked as if someone had sewn a kitchen tongs together with an apron. It covered the front of their body, and their hands.

"Are you sure, that they will be violent?" Valerie asked, when the priest locked the helmet on her head, and pulled down the safety screen too.

Since he left, the task was left Elie to answer the question.

"Do you know what those allotropes are?" She asked.

"When an element makes different bonds, thus makes different structure, and creates materials with different properties."

"Basically yo are right!"Elie was amazed. She didn't tell her about the allotropes. "How did you know?"

"Miya's father told me, that the diamonds and the amorphous carbon are allotropes of Carbon."

"He was right. The Carbons are tricky ones, so there are more! The third allotrope is graphite."

"And the fourth is the Fullerene, that K.O. and Conrad made, and we will make!" Valerie smiled. She was overexcited, but she was somewhat willing to hear, what Elie wanted to say.

"Yes, but there are balls, which is bigger, that the ball, we will make. Okay, here is a stock of Graphite." She called the cube out of her hand device.

The Carbon atoms were fidgeted in their place, but this was the case with solids. It was normal. They didn't seem dangerous at all. Why would they be dangerous if they were cut off?

"First help me to roll up a layer!" Elie cut a layer off the graphite, and they rolled the sheet like a sponge roll, just the two ends of the sponge cake sheet, i.e. the graphite sheet, were pressed. The carbon atoms immediately connected and became a tube. Valerie couldn't tell where the original edge of the paper was. The tube was exactly the same everywhere.

"This is the fifth allotrope, the nanotube." Elie smiled, and she was pretty sure, that Valerie couldn't hear a word, from her speech.

"Hey it is slimy, and if it were bigger, it could be used as a slide!"

"They are bigger in other kingdoms!" Elie made her remember to the resizing process.

"Do you have an amusement park in the Lithium Kingdom?" She asked the former nun.

"No. I don't even know of being one in the Island."

"Great! When I grow up, I open one next to your church!" The little girl promised seriously.

"Okay, let's slice the tube!" She pointed the bonds, which were needed to be cut, and Valerie made it, using the knife.

"It is really like cutting sponge cake rolls!" Valerie laughed and reach for the ring-shaped Carbon atoms. She suddenly stopped laughing. "It… it wanted to bite!" She looked at Elie dumbfounded.