Neon Lights

01

Just one drop of this chemical to turn the mixture into a light blue colour and he would be able to conclude this experiment and start analysing his data. Bending down slightly, he made sure his gaze was eye-level to the test tube in front of him and dropped one droplet of a clear chemical into the brown liquid. He held his breath and in a blink of an eye, the colour changed into... orange.

Callisto frowned, standing straight. Placing the dropper back into the glass in his right hand, he sighed. This wasn't what it was supposed to do. His calculations had been correct all this while, so why had they failed in the last stage? He shifted his gaze to his lab book on his right close to his apparatuses. Scanning the numbers, calculations and the results from previous versions of the experiment, nothing stood out to him as abnormal.

Hm, perhaps he had done an error in measuring how much of chemical Y powder was needed for the liquid to turn blue? That could explain the orange shade, but he had been sure he had checked the weight on the scale properly before he continued on.

Seriously, why did this have to happen now?

Whatever. Back to square one again then and another one more month before he could reach the end. Placing the glass on the table, he shook his head and winced at the crick in his neck. It was then his calves began aching and his whole body felt fatigued. Guess he had been too focused on this until he forgot to take a break.

Well, now that everything was a bust, he might as well call it for the night.

Making sure everything that needed to be preserved was done so and the apparatuses were all cleaned, he grabbed his lab book and made way to the entrance of Lab A3. He took out his bag which was stashed in the locker in front of the lab and shoved his lab coat, lab book and pens inside and took out his phone.

There were a few messages on his home screen — some of them were spams but one stood out to him and made him smile. Luna had texted him with her usual dinner request as if she was sure her younger brother would finish with his work soon enough to bring her food. Rolling his eyes, he didn't bother to reply to the text. He would stop by their favourite shop near their neighbourhood and maybe grab a couple of beers from the convenience store.

He needed a drink tonight after that failure. A whole month's work gone. Again.

"Done for the night, Cal?" a familiar voice came from his right. He turned to look at his coworker who had a large smile on his face. "Just finished mine for now."

"For now sounds about right," Callisto said, smiling back at him. "You look like you haven't slept in days though, Rye."

Rye chuckled. He ran his fingers through his already messy dark hair. The dark circles around his eyes wasn't a new look on his coworker. Callisto had probably the same thing on his face. After all, working for a pharmaceutical research company didn't always promise a good night's sleep. "Sleep? What's that?" he asked, earning a laugh from Callisto.

"Truthfully, no idea. Probably something only androids can experience," he said to Rye, rubbing the back of his neck to relieve the dull ache there. "Sometimes, I'm jealous at how they can easily go into their sleep program when they want to sleep and force their brain to shut up."

"I feel you," Rye said, a soft sigh escaped his lips. "They're lucky bastards."

Callisto wasn't lying when he said he was jealous of them. Androids had it all — from being able to suitably adapt themselves in any situation to being able to have a good lifestyle without working too hard on it. Rave's face flashed in his mind and it made him snicker. The android friend of his since university would always grumble about how easy humans had it with their quick thinking, but he probably had no idea how much Callisto wished Rave could share some of his programs with him if possible so he too could live a life full of healthy habits in a blink of an eye.

Waving at Rye, he decided it was time to leave his company and find his way to the shop. Maybe he would get a bowl of spicy soup noodles for him and his sister. Just as he stepped outside, a cold gush of wind at his face had him shivering, solidifying his resolve to get that dish even if he had to die for it.

The city was alive as usual tonight. One look at the tall buildings made out of glass and metal, and his eyes watered at the neon lights decorating their every corner and floor. People were busy walking past him — some were running with holo phones in their hands and others had brightly-dyed hair, showcasing their glowing strands to people everywhere and looking close to becoming part of the night lights. If Callisto looked carefully, he could probably also catch the eyes of those who harboured irises in a brighter hue than normal — a sign of an increasingly popular fashion trend to have artificial irises of various colours. Luna had told him once that the most popular colours had been bright pinks and oranges and youths nowadays would get them to show off to their friends how cool they were.

Regardless of the reason they got them, their neon eyes reflected the core of this city's beauty, Alatus City. This place harboured so many strange things that even his brain couldn't comprehend why those trends existed. Just another part of this society that he would never understand, he supposed.

Standing at the crossroads, he noted the pedestrian traffic light was in red. Within seconds, a group of people gathered around him, all heading the same direction as he was which was straight ahead to the other side of the road. Murmurs were loud in his ears and he almost wished he had brought his headphones with him when he left home this morning. Maybe listening to a podcast of his favourite show could improve his mood now that he was stuck with bodies too close to his.

Personal space apparently was a thing of the past judging by his current predicament and how he hated that.

Just then, a person bumped into him from the right, causing him to move a step forward and his bag almost swinging off of his left shoulder. Straightening himself up, he turned to look at the person who didn't even bother apologising. Neon green eyes met his and froze him in his tracks before he could open his mouth to speak, his entire body growing numb for a fraction of a second. The man wore a black mask covering his nose and mouth but his eyes were piercing even when there were so many lights around them. His hair was hidden underneath his black hoodie and a symbol in neon pink at the arms stood out as the most identifiable part about him besides his eyes.

A weird sensation settled all over Callisto's body. His muscles locked and despite he felt like he was trying to move, nothing did. No words could leave his mouth nor could he blink — frozen almost as the man stared down at him. Panic surged through him in an instant when he realised he was paralysed at where he was standing. Just as he was about to force himself to do something, the man looked away and the crowd began to move forward, pushing Callisto forward.

The moment the man no longer locked eyes with his, his body could move.

He barely had time to comprehend what had happened as he was pushed to the other side of the road. Breathing harshly and now his legs weak in his knees, he grabbed the closest pole he could touch, which turned out to be a streetlight and tried to get himself to calm down. When he scanned the crowd ahead of him, he couldn't see the man.

What the hell was that?

It was as if he no longer had control over his body, forced to stay still when he didn't want to — and that had never happened before. Did the man had something to do with it?

Surely not, right? Maybe his nerves were acting up after months of not getting enough sleep?

Still, his body did not like that when he noticed he was trembling slightly. His fingers shook even when he had his grip on the streetlamp turning white at his knuckles. Taking in a shuddering deep breath, he closed his eyes and followed his usual breathing exercise when he felt his anxiety was trying to take over his mind.

Yet, even when he did manage to get some semblance of control back, he couldn't really shake off what had happened. Forcing his body to move away from the pole after a minute of breathing less harshly, Callisto decided to quicken his steps to the shop, buy his food and rush to his sister's apartment. Perhaps talking to her about it would help ease this discomfort that had settled deep in his brain.

Despite the plan in mind, the piercing neon green eyes of the man continued to plague him all the way to the shop.

Something felt off and it wasn't his fault was what his brain was saying and he didn't know if he should believe it.