Science Stories · Episode 1 · Part 1 of the comic

ATOMOS

Science Stories · Episode 1
Part 1: The Word That Vanished
Thursday, 11:47 PM. The year 2047.
The house is dark. Everyone is asleep. Everyone except Sam.
Tomorrow is the big science test.
Okay. Atoms. Everything is made of atoms. My bed. My socks. Me.
Tiny pieces, too small to see. Got it. That's like… one whole question on the test.
Sam yawned. The lamp flickered. Then the page did something pages are not supposed to do.
Science test — FRIDAY!!
Chapter 3: Atoms
Everything is made of tiny atoms.
FZZZT!
Wait. WAIT. Where did the words go?!
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Science test — FRIDAY!!
Chapter 3:
Everything is made of tiny .
Your hair, the air, this paper = all !
Next page. Blank. The next. Blank.
I wrote them myself!
⌕ what is everything made of
No results. Nobody knows.
Everything is made of “stuff.” — Kids Science Wiki
Ask an adult.
“Nobody knows”?! Everybody knows! It's… it's… on the tip of my tongue!
MOM! What is everything made of?
From downstairs…
Stuff, honey! Everything is made of stuff!
Now go to SLEEP!
The computer forgot. Mom forgot. Am I the only one who remembers there even WAS a word?
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Then Sam heard it. A low hum. His pencil started to rattle on the desk.
RATTLE RATTLE
VRRRMMM…
ZZZRRIP!
The air in the middle of the room split open, like a zipper made of blue light.
It hummed like a fridge. The air smelled like a thunderstorm. And it was looking right at him.
Okay. Okay okay okay. There is a flying ball in my room.
SIGNAL FOUND. Hello, Sam.
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FWUMP!
That was not necessary.
How do you know my name?!
I am CHRONO. A time machine.
A time machine? Those aren't real! Nobody has ever built one!
MIRA · 2147
Not in 2047. But in 2147, someone did. And she sent me here, to you.
Her name is Mira. She is your great-great-granddaughter.
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My great-great-WHAT? I'm eleven. I don't even have a dog!
You will. His name is Pickles.
Mira sent me because a great idea is being erased from history. Your missing word is that idea. The word is “atoms.”
ATOMS!!
That's it! That's the word!
2,400 years ago, a boy in Greece named Democritus was the very first person to think of them. Today, someone is trying to make him give up.
But why ME? Why not a scientist? Why doesn't Mira come herself?
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Everyone forgot the word, even your mom. But you felt it on the tip of your tongue. That stuck memory is the signal I followed.
And Democritus is a boy your age. He might listen to a kid.
This is bigger than your test. No atoms means no chemistry. No medicines. No phones. Your whole world is starting to fade.
Okay, okay! Send me back. I'll tell him: “Hey, it's atoms.” Done. Easy.
NO!
Never tell him the answer. An answer someone hands you is easy to forget. It must be HIS idea.
Every time you tell, the timeline cracks. Three cracks, and history breaks. You may only SHOW him things and ASK him questions.
Show and ask. No telling. I can do this. Probably.
Next stop: Greece, 445 BC…
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