The Endoplasm Reticulated Trinomial
". . . so as you can see if you use the quadratic formula, negative B plus or minus the square root of B squared minus four A C all over two A combined with the inverse of a two by two matrix, you will get what, Mr. Euler?"
"Uh, what was that Mr. Mandelbrot?" stammered Geoffrey.
"That’s what I thought, you weren’t listening, as usual!" snapped Mr. Mandelbrot. "I guess you’re just going to have to stay after school and study up on your linear factorization, optimizations of inverse matrices, and Pascal’s binomial coefficient triangular numbering systems, now aren’t you?" announced Mr. Mandelbrot.
Groaning Geoffrey mumbled a muffled, "Yes," adding silently that this is the third this week, and it’s only Thursday, I thought my senior year was supposed to be fun.
Finally five p.m. came and Geoffrey could leave the despised lab. On his way out he happened to see a faucet in the far corner still on. Approaching he noticed that the liquid had a weird look to it. It looked almost greenish blue. As he put his dirty, long nailed hand out toward it, a voice, Mr. Mandelbrot’s voice came screaming into his ears which were covered in his matted, overgrown hair.
"Don’t touch that Endoplasm Reticulated Trinomial!" he shrieked.
As his hand touched the smooth, thick, slimy substance, his brain stimulated a message to his mouth that was composed of a one syllabled word of question, "What?" Nothing came. It was too late. The substance had absorbed and completed it mission. Suddenly his life passed before bloodshot eyes and he recalled playing with his little sister, Jane, who was only two at the time. He recalled playing catch with his dad, going to the park and riding his bike. It didn’t matter, though. It was too late. He tried to remove his hand from the life taking substance, but he couldn’t. His hand was frozen suspended in time, like a water droplet falling eternally, yet never splashing into it’s destination.
The scientist seeing what the boy had done, rushed over to him. It was bad. It had killed his cells by the hundred, depleted his blood, shriveling his organs and leaving his vital body parts in a non-functional state. Mr. Mandelbrot could see the substance taking him inch by inch. The cytoskeleton, the outer coating, of the substance contained chlorophyll, causing the plastids, protein producing organelles, to become green. The mitochondria, which produces energy by breaking down other cells, were taking control and multiplying by the thousands. The plasma membrane of the boy’s body was eaten away and left open to the cruel bacteria, the body was defenseless, its powers useless. He was unable to touch, talk, or move. He could only see, hear, and smell his defeat before him as it happened. There was no cure, no medication to help. It indestructible. He was infected, and there was nothing he could do about it.
Early that after noon Mr. Mandelbrot was experimenting with an eukaryotic animal cell, in the hopes of attempting to create a prokaryotic bacteria out of it. Geoffrey just happened to come at the wrong time in the process. The eukaryotic cells were in the process of breaking down in to unicellular particles, creating the prokaryotic bacteria, except the procedure was not complete and the organelles were still living in the cell, causing the unicellular parts to bond with the multi-cellular parts causing the murderous virus.
"Another victim. I wonder how many more times it will take and many more victims it will consume?" Mr. Mandelbrot questioned out loud as he saw his experiment fail.