Challenge #00591 - A226: Unreliable Witness

“The reactor explodes from something the monkey does.”

Lyr surveyed the damage. “Sir, this is not the fall-out from a reactor.” Indeed, if a reactor had gone off, they would be mopping up the damage and the dead in hazmat suits. But there were no dead. And minimal damage.

The smaller saurian nodded as if in understanding and repeated hir statement. “The reactor explodes from something the monkey does.”

“Fer the fifth time, I only flipped the fookain switch,” objected the ‘monkey’, officially-human creature of magic and mordant self-entertainment. “Correlation isnae causation.”

“The reactor explodes from something the monkey does,” insisted the saurian.

Lyr glared at Shayde. “You didn’t do anything…” meaningful wiggly fingers, “extra… did you?”

“It’s a science fair. I wasnae s’posed tae touch, but— c’mon. A bakin’ soda volcano? How’s a gel tae resist?”

“She did insist on pulling the lever,” testified Rael, “but I detected none of the usual symptoms of her -ah- extra abilities.”

“Mith,” insisted the small Mustaelid. “Mith, it’th my fault, mith. It’th not the ambathador…”

“The reactor explodes from something the monkey does,” this time, the saurian pointed vigorously at Shayde.

“Let’s hear everyone,” said Lyr. “Yes…” she checked the name tag. “Kerrit?”

“It wath me. I didn’t uthe baking thoda for my volcano…”

“Ah…?” Lyr cooed encouragingly. “What did you use?”

“Well… Um. In the cauldera, I had a mixture of water, yeast an’ dish thoap? And the thtuff that got added with the thwitch? It watch hydrogen peroxide…”

Shayde roared laughing. “Aw ye wee ripper! Ye overclocked a bakin’ soda volcano wi’ elephant toothpaste!”

“Okay,” muttered Lyr. “That explains that weird dream…”

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