Author's Note: This was a short story I wrote in my Creative Writing class taken from Jan 2002 to May 2002. Reviews are greatly appreciated.

Dedication: To Rachel. I'm going to miss you soooooooo much. Good luck in college and please visit often! )

Cologic-12

by: Theed

Moans and whimpers echoed along the walls of the clinic waiting room. There, the patients gathered, including Mara Dwytt. She drummed her fingers along the chipped arm of the chair, foamy stuffing edging out of the ripping cushion. Only she was silent in the ramshackle room. Mara looked up at each person and saw that many were already losing their hair, even the children. Very few were in stage two of the disease, when the eyes would become flourescent.

No one was sure why people were changing as they were, as the global newscasters had announced, or why some remained unaffected. Mara hoped she would be one of those lucky ones, but Dr. Avan still called her into his office that early afternoon.

"Miss D'wytt?" Mara turned toward the bald secretary holding an outdated datapad. "Dr. Avan will see you now."

She pushed herself out of the worn chair and grabbed her satchel. Straightening her skirt, she halted, shivering at her long lock of hair that clung to the weave of the upholstery.

The secretary led Mara through a winding network of hallways back to one of the cubicles. Mara counted the number of holes in the walls. All of the funds had gone to research to find a cure for the disease; businesses couldn't afford to make repairs anymore. They finally entered a small room streaked with faded lavender paint. "He will be with you shortly, Miss."

She forced a smile as the secretary shut the broken door. Mara stared through the cracked glass of the upper window which offered no light despite the hour of the day. Curls of black smoke still drifted over the land, hiding the sun, and Mara wondered if her world of Luclin would ever be the lush planet it once was again.

The door squeaked open, and she jumped as Dr. Avan entered. "Sorry, Mara. I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's quite all right." She sat down on the examining table while the doctor seated himself in the room's single chair. Mara was surprised to see him wearing darkened eyeglasses, but from the patches of scalp on his head, she knew his reasons. From beneath the folds of his lab coat, he pulled a metal wand and punched a few buttons on his datapad. "Well, I ran some tests from the last time you were here, and--"

"I know I have the disease," she whispered. "I have Cologic-12."

He reluctantly nodded. "I'm so sorry, Mara."

She leaned forward and rested her head on her chin, her eyes becoming glassy. "Why is this happening to us?"

He rose and watched the smoke through the window. "Luclin is changing in ways no one could have predicted. If the Thirteen Fires hadn't been ignited, Cologic-12 probably wouldn't exist, but thanks to whomever set them off, we are biologically changing."

Mara smeared her fingers across her cheeks. "I heard the Fires alone have killed up to 15 million people now. That doesn't include the 20 now dead from Cologic-12."

"It's the poisons in the smoke that are affecting people, but some scientists believe Cologic-12 is actually helping us more than hurting."

"What? 20 are dead, and more to follow them. How is that beneficial?"

Dr. Avan shrugged. "Some suspect our bodies might be trying to adapt to the smoke, and that's why our eyes are changing."

"What about those dead?" Mara retorted. "All of them were in the completed state: no hair, glowing eyes, and dull, grey skin. And what about those who didn't even get it?! How were they skipped over?!" She tried to hide her quivering voice.

Silence stretched between them for a few minutes, then he spoke, "I regret that you have it, Mara. I am almost 70. I've lived my life. But you are only 22."

"What kind of life would I have? One with no sunlight? Polluted air?" She dabbed her eyes with a tissue. "Well, thank you for your time. I appreciate your concern, but you must have other patients to see." She headed for the door.

"Will you be all right, Mara? Is there someone you can call?"

She hesitated. "Peter is waiting for me in the transport outside."

"He didn't come in with you?"

She shook her head. "He was too embarrassed to come in with his luminous eyes."