The Water's Edge - Short Affair

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

Prompts: surface, purple

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The two UNCLE agents stood at the edge of the pool, mesmerized by the sight.  the surface color was purple, clear and glistening.  Beneath was a layer of black, almost resembling an oil slick that had somehow been turned upside down.

"Okay Illya, what has caused this and why is the water on top purple?"  Napoleon  decided to just cut to the chase and let his scientifically minded partner do all the heavy lifting.

Illya thought he knew the answer to part of the mystery…

"Potassium permanganate.  At least that's what it looks like from here; it's my best guess without actually analyzing it in the lab."

Napoleon wrinkled his nose, dreading a long explanation but needing to ask nonetheless.

"And what is…?"

"Potassium permanganate?  It is an inorganic chemical compound resulting from the fusion of manganese dioxide and potassium carbonate.  It has various uses, water filtration included, and appears purple when mixed with water.  I do not know what that black mass is beneath it, however. For that we need some type of lab analysis."

Illya looked from the glistening water back to his partner.

"What?  You asked.  Why do you always act as though you are surprised that I know the answer to your questions?"  Napoleon smiled at that.  He wasn't surprised, but sometimes the Russian's wealth of information was almost amusing, a walking encyclopedia with a funny accent.

"I'm just a little bit amazed, that's all.  So, any ideas about why this pool is filled with these two substances?"  Knowing the formula was one thing, figuring out the mystery part of it, well that was more often Napoleon's forte´.

" For one, I imagine that Monsieur Deville needed a method for removing the muck at the bottom of the pool.  The obvious choice was the potassium permanganate, although it doesn't seem to have done much good here.' He squatted down to get a closer look and then lurched backwards just in time to avoid being splashed by an upward swirl of the black goo as it propelled itself through the pristine purple water on top.

"What the…?"  Napoleon reached down and grabbed Illya's shoulders, dragging him farther back, out of the reach of the black hand that seemed to stretch out towards them.

Just as quickly the black receded, causing the surface water to splash and then bubble, all of it churning as though heat had been turned on beneath it.  Boiling now with large bubbles that threatened to overrun the pool itself,  the two agents were backing away from it, eyes glued to the action as they quickly retreated from the threatening compound that seemed intent on apprehending them.

Suddenly, with a large popping sound and then a final splash, everything became still.  As Napoleon and Illya carefully approached the pool they noticed the absence of the purple color.  At the edge, looking down, the water was crystal clear.

"Okay, what was that?" Napoleon's tone was accusing as he turned to look at his partner.

"What?  Why do you ask me like that? I had nothing to do with it, and I don't know any more than you do you blockhead."  It was a momentary flair of tempers, quickly assuaged as each man's nerves settled.  It had been extraordinary, and the mystery of it left them each slightly disturbed, and unnerved.

"I'm sorry Illya, I…"

"As am I. And the blockhead reference…''

"I know."

Illya knelt down to the pool's edge and peered into the water.  There was no trace of the blackness or the intriguing purple.  It was a perfect aqua hue, reflecting the color of the tiles that lined the immaculately clean pool.

"How do we write this one up?"  Napoleon had nothing to take back with him, no samples or proof of anything they had just experienced.  The man responsible for it was dead and no paperwork had been found.

Was it his work, or something else?

Both men would wonder about that for quite some time.

Comments

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

More? You are all so demanding ;) Thanks, I'll see what I can do.