The next day came, and Cecilia found herself blindsided by the weekly chemistry quiz she had completely forgotten to study for.
"Damn it," she muttered, cursing her luck. She'd been so caught up with trying to figure out the situation with the parasite, then with her excitement about her upcoming date with Tanner, that she'd spaced doing even the night-before-cramming she usually did. "Well, here goes."
[Let me know if you get stuck!] the female voice of the parasite said cheerfully in her mind. [Maybe I can be of help to you, I was a chemistry major back home after all.]
They have Majors on whichever alien planet you're from? I might not be the sharpest tool in the shed but even I know that's weird. I'm not necessarily against cheating if it comes down to it, though, Cecilia thought.
Alesha, for her part, only processed the fact that she'd been proposing to help Cecilia cheat after she pointed it out.
[Ha! You're such a goody two-shoes you didn't even realize you were offering to help her cheat? That's rich!] Rogork mocked.
[Shut up! She's trying to take a test, alright?]
Yeah, both of you shut up, it's hard enough to think without you two idiots arguing in my head. Cecilia mentally complained. She hated quizzes enough already without being distracted by verbal fights no one else could hear. After that, they remained quiet, which allowed her to take the quiz in peace.
Alright, "Question 6: one mole is equal to ____x 10^__. The other name a mole is known by is ____."
That would be 6.022 x 10^23. What was the name for it again? Avocado's Number? It was similar… hnggggg what was the trick for it, Avocado, holy avocado? Right! Avogodro's Number but with an a, so Avogadro's Number.
"Question 7: Which of the following options has the greatest amount of the element?
a) 1 mole H
b) 1 mole Fe
c) 1 mole Ur
d) none; all are equal"
Hmm… Well uranium is the heaviest, so uranium? But Hydrogen is a gas so it takes up more space, which would mean you have more of it than the others. Agh!! Girl parasite, what do you think?
--
A couple minutes ago
After Cecilia started the quiz, Alesha began to feel that something was off. What were all of these strange, unfamiliar words and letter combinations? Atoms, covalent bonds, valence layers? By the time Cecilia reached the 6th question about moles and something called Avogadro's number, a deep dread had begun to fill her.
She was… she was a chemistry major. She had always been interested in things like why white powder volcanoes worked and fascinated with substances like Hi-Comfort Gel. So why was all of this so alien to her? This was Old Earth, right? So the chemistry should be the same, if a bit primitive! The laws of science couldn't have changed in 3,000-some-odd years!
Why did none of this high-school level, Old Earth chemistry make any sense?!
Frantically, she tried to recall what water was, chemically speaking. It was a liquid. Just a regular, clear liquid that bent light when light traveled through it. Sometimes that could create caustic patterns, like those you'd find at the bottom of a swimming pool. It was the healthiest 0-calorie drink, but super-exercise enthusiasts sometimes drowned from drinking too much of it, especially marathoners. If you hit it hard enough with the palm of your hand, it would hurt; you could even float in it, and with the right construction methods, even giant metal cruisers holding over 10,000 people could sail comfortably on an ocean of water. Old Earth fantasy often talked about it as being one of the 4 magical elements.
Wait, but none of that was related to what water was chemically.
Those were all just physical, nutritional, practical and mythical ways to describe water.
Hello? Female parasite? Cecilia asked mentally, sounding irritated. You said you'd help me out.
However, Alesha wasn't paying her any mind. She was too distracted by the sense of dread that was slowly consuming her.
What Alesha really wanted to know, what she really wanted to remember, was what chemical properties water had. Chemistry was her life!! So why on Elantris couldn't she remember a thing about chemistry?!
[Water, H20, is a vital component in many chemical reactions important to life, such as those relating to metabolism. This is true both for plants and animals. The freezing and boiling points of water were used to determine 0 degrees and 100 degrees Celsius, respectively. Water can behave as either acidic or basic depending on which other chemicals it is introduced to. Substances that repel water are called hydrophobic, while substances that mix well with it are called hydrophilic. Does that suffice?] Rogork asked.
What in the world are you on about?? Cecilia fumed at Rogork. You're supposed to be helping me!!
[Sorry, Alesha's in a bit of shock right now. The correct answer for your current question is d. Amount equals quantity; there's the same quantity, 1 mole, of each of the elements given. You're welcome,] Rogork told her nonchalantly.
[You… how?] Alesha asked numbly. Her mind wasn't functioning right anymore.
Thank you, parasite, Cecilia responded, ignoring Alesha's question and circling the correct answer.
After that, Rogork helped Cecilia with a few other questions while Alesha sank deeper into despair.
For the rest of the day, this continued, and Alesha couldn't think properly at all. All she could do was think in the same, recurring loop: "I couldn't remember chemistry, but Rogork could. What does this mean? What did I spend all that time studying chemistry for? What about the time with friends and family that I sacrificed to achieve my dream?? All the times I practically abused myself in pursuit of chemistry, was it all for nothing?? Who am I anymore, if I can't even remember what all that studying taught me? And how did I fail to notice that that much of me was missing?? I couldn't remember chemistry at all!!"