Black Cells

Sidorov and Werner hurried back to their post to try the second substance. It was labelled Diobarsin and wasn't a single component; the elements on their own would be dangerous and corrosive. It was made up of famous names in organic chemistry like carbon, hydrogen and various sulfates. But there were other things listen on the back of the bottle that Werner had never heard of. Sidorov seemed to know what the things were; but then again he was a chemist by profession, he had to know. Werner was surprised that this was made up of so many things, he'd had the impression that they were testing singular elements on the tumor. But he went along with it. He pushed the tray with the ugly brain-parasite under the microscope and handed Sidorov the eyedropper or little kniflets when he needed them. 

"I've never heard of Diobarsin before." Werner said. He tripped over the name; it was a mouthfull, especially when hundreds of other names were jumbled up in his brain. 

"That's because I created the mix."

"Really?"

"Yes." He looked up from the microscope and into Werner's eyes. "I made it in university. It's often used as parts of medecines. It's hazerdous to certain types of cells, including host cells or cells with DNA abnormalties. The only cells which are completely safe from it are stem cells."

"Stem cells are the ones that haven't been specialized yet, right? They can become any cell and take any function?"

"Roughly, yes. You know quite a bit." Sidorov said in surprise. 

"I always liked biology class."

"Do you want to come take a look?" So Werner sat on the little stool and peered through the lens. The cuts in the tumor were shaped like a smile. Had Sidorov done that purpose? "Do you want to drop some Diobarsin on it?" 

"I don't think I know how-."

"If you put too much on we can always wash it off. Try it, Werner." 

So Werner did, he took the eyedropper, filled it with some of the liquid and gingerly dropped some onto the tumor. The second it hit the cancerous cells they blackened. Werner quickly got up, he knew that Sidorov was the person who should be observing this; and not him. "The cells are blackening." He said. Sidorov's eyes opened wide in delight and he sat down, with the eagerness of a school boy. He sat unmoving for five minutes, then he put more Diobarsin on. He waited again. 

"It's very interresting, I'm not sure..." But his sentence turned into a trail of thought that Werner couldn't follow. Werner simply waited in silence, watching the doctor switch between being a chemist, a biologist and a mathematician. He scribbled things into the lab journal that Werner couldn't hope to read. "Can you get Wojciechowski for me?" He asked quietly. Werner hurried to the other end of the lab, where Wojciechowski stood, his back to Werner. 

"Wojciechowski, Sidorov wants to speak with you. I think he wants to show you something." But half of Werner's sentence was unneccessary, Wojciechowski was already hurrying over at the name 'Sidorov'. Werner waited about two meters away from the two doctors. It seemed a bit like evesdropping, because they seemed to forget that he was there, but he didn't understand anything anyway. 

It was a hilarious conversation to watch. The two threw long names and labels around their heads, spoke faster than usually due to their excitement and held a sarcastic tone when pronouncing the others name. Sometimes they'd completely stop talking and just look at each other. They argued longer and more intensly than a married couple. Finally Wojciechowski gave in.

"Werner, fetch me one of the little white boxes in the freezer. They're on the bottom. There should be quite a few of them." 

Werner found what Wojciechowski had been talking about the second he opened the freezer door. He took one out and carried it back. Wojciechowski flicked the lid off and reached inside with his pointer and thumb. He took out a smallish sqaure that was more giggily than frozen. It was a bright reddisch color with darker stripes that ran through it at random. Werner recognized it as part of a muscle or a piece of flesh, but he couldn't tell if it was humor or not. 

Wojciechowski put it under the microscope and sat down, chasing Sidorov away from the stool. He took the eyedropper and dropped a tear of Diobarsin onto the bite. He watched it for a few seconds, then stood up and let Sidorov see. "It kills other cells too."

"I told you so!" Sidorov said. "All of them expect the stem cells. But if we can dim it's affect a little bit, and combine it with a less harmfull substance it might be an idea." 

"Yes but where would the black dead cells go? They'd need to be taken care of quickly, otherwise they'd be a cancer risk in themselves..." Wojciechowski kept on muttering but Werner and Sidorov alike didn't understand the rest. The pole hurried off back to his post, to jott down his thoughts and contemplate what to do next. Sidorov shrugged at Werner. 

"Do you want to take a look?"

"Yes, thank you."