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[Lux Erikson]

Lux was actually excited about her speech for speech class. It was supposed to be a persuasive speech, and she had the perfect topic. She had spent several hours debating on what she should do her speech on. Animal Experimentation. It was a subject that Lux felt strongly about, which would definately help her in the drive to persuade people against it. It was perfect for this animal loving vegetarian.

She sat alone at a round wooden table in the center of the library, with a notebook right in front of her. Slowly she began to write out a sketch of how she wanted her speech to go. First she'd explain what animal testing is. Then she'd explain why it is wrong. Finally she'd offer solutions to animal testing. Putting her mechanical pencil down on the neatly kept notebook she picked up the piece of paper, which held the instructions for her speech. She would need sources from both internet and either literary pieces like books, magazines, or newspapers.

Sighing, she placed her hands on the table and pushed herself out of her chair. As usual, Lux was neatly dressed, wearing a white laced tank top, and a pair of slender jeans with high heels, which made her legs seem long. Her blond hair fell in loose waves just past her shoulders, and was sprayed with a hair mist which left it smelling like a sweet tropical flower. The same hair mist had come in a lotion and body spray as well, which she wore on her body. You couldn't mix wierd scents, or at least you had to match in Lux's book.

Slender legs carried her down one aisle, and up the next. Blue-green eyes scanned the many shelves of books, looking for the right section. Cooking and Arts... Fiction... Psychology... Self-Help... finally she found the scientific section. Surely there would be something in there about cosmetic testing on animals? Right? Stopping, she placed her thumbs in her back pockets, and turned her head upwards, deciding to start at the top shelf and work her way down, in search of something... anything that would be helpful.

[Gregory Saunders]

"Detoxification of Xenobiotics by Plant Cells: Characterization of Vacuolar Amphiphilic Organic Anion Transporters" was the book Greg was after. There was no reason he needed to check the book out. He simply wanted to read it, and research it. The science lab had just gotten in quite a few plants, which he was able to use for research under the microscope. Checking out books was a hobby of his, and he often had several scattered around his lab table as he looked through the scope and studied the different cells within an object. He had nearly every book that he wanted, but forgot this one. And so, his second trip to the library today.

Nodding to the librarian, who knew him quite well, he made his way to the back of the library, where all the books he was interested in were at. When he was passing aisles, making way to the one which he knew his book was in, he happened to catch sight of Lux Erikson browsing through the rows of books, with a near confused expression on her face. He backtracked a couple of steps, and slowly made his way down the aisle she was in.

"Need help?" He asked, watching her with his inquisitive deep brown eyes, ackward smile upon his thin lips.

This was awesome! She was interested in something he could probably help her with! Or at least, hopefully. It wasn't often that he saw other people in these aisles, but when he did, he was always offering them help. It was just in his nature.

[Lux Erikson]

Slender brows furrowed together as she scowered through the book titles. She wasn't even really sure what to look for. Animal Anatomy? Would that be helpful? Was there something better? Her head tilted to the side slightly as she continued on through the titles, every once in a while stopping to pull a book off the shelf and skin through the back cover. None seemed to be as helpful as she had hoped, and she'd return the book to it's place, then continue on down the line.

She was so intranced with her search that she hadn't even notice Greg stop at the end of the aisle, then make is way tword her. It was when he asked,"Need help?" that she realized someone else was there. It pulled her from her train of thought, and startled her a little. Her body unvolunteerliy jumped as she gasped lightly, and then saw Greg standing there. Chuckling she said,"Hey."

Regaining her composure, her eyes glanced twords the books she was looking at, and then back to Greg. He was a science geek, right? Maybe he would have a better idea as to what would be more helpful for her paper?

"Actually... I'm doing a paper. And I'm not really sure what I'm looking for. My paper is on Animal Testing, and how it's both unreliable and inhumane. I guess I'm looking for information on the differences in animal cells and human cells, and what kinds of methods could be used other than animal testing."

Her brow rose as she offered a timid smile. Greg was into science... what if he supported animal testing? Thin shoulders quickly rose up and down, as her thumbs once again dug themselves into her back pockets.

[Gregory Saunders]

When he saw her jump and gasp he too was startled a bit. But then she laughed, and he couldn't help but chuckle along with her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." He said with an ackward smile, taking note of how pretty Lux's smile was... and her eyes. He wasn't sure if they were blue, or green. But he loved them. And there was something just so natural about her smile, that made him want to smile along with her.

When her eyes turned twords the books, his followed hers, and took note of the kinds of books she was looking at. Then returned back to her eyes as she looked back at him, and explained exactly what it was that she was doing and looking for. Thrilled that it was something he knew quite a bit about he nodded almost enthusiastically with a wide grin on his face.

"Ah... animal testing. Very unreliable. Results obtained in animal tests do not necessarily reflect the reactions of humans, and results may differ from one species to another, and even one individual animal to another. You'll probably want information on Toxicity Tests, the Fixed Dose Procedure, Inhalation Tests, and the Draize Test."

He turned to the books and scanned over them. It didn't take him long to locate three different books containing information about the subjects. He took a few steps closer to Lux, eyes still on the shelves. The smell of her hair was nearly intoxicating, he was that close. He lost his train of thought for a moment, basking in the sweet aroma, but then found his way back to reality, and squatted down to the lower shelves and withdrew another book.

"This one has information about Eyetex, Skintex, and Microtox. And..."

Leaning over, he reached past Lux's legs to withdraw another book.

"This one has information about Neutral Red Assay and The Skin Squared Test."

He stood up, holding all the books close to his body. "There are also books on cloning human skin cells and computer modelling."

He pressed his lips together and raised his brows up then down as he looked at her, half-smiling at the fact that he had been able to get her so much information about what she was looking for.

[Aurelie Laroux]

Despite all attempts to get out of the paper, Aurelie had no choice but to do it. She shivered inwardly at the memories. Her paper wasn't too different from Lux's, besides the fact that Aurelie was writing her paper about genocide, a subject she knew very well.

She had told the teacher of her own personal history in the matter, yet the teacher had told her that it would make a better paper.Why did everyone think it was so amazing, so interesting? If they had been there and saw what she saw, they'd know it wasn't cool. It was horrible and haunted her every single night. however, a voice drew Aurelie out of her thoughts. Being on her way to the Historical section, she had walked passed Gregory and Lux. She gave an inward smile at the sight of them, yet said absolutely nothing. After all, this was a library.

[Lux Erikson]

Lux was thrilled to hear that Greg also thought Animal Testing was wrong... even if it was in more of a scientific reasoning that it was a moral one. She was even more thrilled to know that he had studied the subject, and seemed to know so much. At the mention of Toxicity Tests, the Fixed Dose Procedure, Inhalation Tests, and the Draize Test, Lux's eyes widened just a slight bit. Perhaps she bit off more than she could chew? She watched as he pulled books off the shelf, one right after another. Wow... she was here for a good ten minutes looking through the books, and it only took him 10 seconds to locate what she needed.

But he kept looking, moving closer to her, and then scooping down to the lower shelves of books and pulling out another book. Eyetex? Skintex? And another book was pulled from the shelves before he stood up, and mentioned other books on Human Skincell Cloning and Computer Modeling.

"Wow..." She let out a small sigh at the sight of all the books he found for her, and the prospect of even more. "Do you think I'll need Human Cell Cloning and Computer Modeling? What does Computer Modeling have to do with Animal Testing?" She asked, now even more confused about the scientific aspect of animal testing that she was before. She had the moral reasons down to a very fine knowledge... but there was so much more to the scientific region of things that she had realized. But this was great... scientific reasoning was usually always stronger in an argument or a debate than ethics was.

Lux's eyes skimmed over Greg's shoulder as she saw movement at the end of the aisle behind him. She saw that it was Aurelie, and offered a gentle smile to her as she passed their aisle, hoping that Aurelie would have caught it. Once Aurelie passed that aisle, her eyes turned back up to Greg's eyes, with an almost overwhelmed expression.

[Gregory Saunders]

Greg could see the overwhelmed look in Lux's eyes, and then at her question, he knew without a doubt that he could be of extreme use to her and her speech. Besides, it wasn't like he had anything else to do.

"Well..." Greg started off, slightly dragging the word 'Well' out. "In computer modeling, researchers enter into the computer the molecular structure of chemicals and their known biological activity. A very sophisticated program then matches the structure of a new chemical against those already in the database, and from this match predicts the biological effects (toxicity and irritancy) of the new chemical." He spoke rather fast, which he normally did.

"Don't worry, I'll help you." He said with a grin, moving out of the aisle, books still in his hands. He assumed that the table with the notebook and pencil on it was Lux's table, and when stopping by it, he noticed the outline written for the speech. Yep, that was her table. He set the books down, and pulled out her chair, before moving to the chair across from it and sitting down in it.

"So, what do ya wanna know first? Do you want to start on the Toxicity Tests, otherwise know as the LD50 Test?"

[Aurelie Laroux]

Aurelie decided not to interefere in Lux's project, after all, Greg seemed to have that covered. However, as Aurelie scanned the shelves for books, she couldn't help but hear them both talk. They sounded so happy.Aurelie didn't understand.

Instead of listening to them, she decided to drown them out with her own thoughts. Gathering a few books, he set them on her table and began to read, allowing the words to fill her mind and block out everything around her. The reading was a bit difficult, but she managed to slowly pcik out the words she knew, pieceing them together to make some sense in her own mind.

[Lux Erikson]

As Greg went into a fast paced 'ramble' about Computer Modeling, Lux began to understand that Animal Testing was so much deeper than the had realized. She did understand the moral stand-point extremely well, and that was her main reason for disapproving animal testing. She even understood a little about the ways they tested animals. But every thing could be boiled down to a scientific matter. And this would make her feeling even more strong on the issue.

When Greg offered his help with a broad smile, and smiled back. "Thank-you." she said as they began to walk back to her table. "For helping me... I mean." She watched as he sat the books down, and slid her chair out for her, so that she didn't have to. They both took a seat at about the same time, and soon after she was asked what she wanted to know about first.

"Well, from what I understand about the Toxicity Test, it's used to determin how poisonous something might be when ingested. And that the Toxicity Test is required to kill 50% of the lab animals. The test substances are often force-fed to the animals by means of a stomach tube. The test usually lasts about 14 days. Any animals that haven't died are then killed and examined, or 'recycled' into the Draize Tests."

She glanced up to Greg, assuming that he would have more to say about the subject. Though she didn't know him well, she did know that he usually had something to say about anything.

She glanced over to another table, seeing Aurelie take a seat. Apparently Aurelie was figuring out her own paper and speech as well. Aurelie seemed quite absorbed by her reading.

[Gregory Saunders]

Greg couldn't help but offer a sincere smile when Lux thanked him for helping her with her project. "It's my pleasure." He said whole-heartedly. Not only was he able to do and discuss something that he enjoyed, but he was spending time with Lux. And she wasn't giving him wierd looks, or making fun of him like some of the other girls did. Highschool was a tough time in many people's lives, and just because this was a special academy for mutants didn't make it any less difficult. People could be cruel, singling others out for being different and ridiculing them for it. Of course, Greg had it roughest when he was in grade school, and had to wear spacers, braces, and headgear. So the teasing he got every once in a while now, about being a science freak, wasn't all that bad. He even admitted to being a geek. And he wasn't ashamed of it. Yes, he enjoyed science and chemistry, and biology, and any other kinds of science. There was nothing wrong with that. At least he was doing something he enjoyed, and making something of himself.

He listened as Lux explained her understanding of the Toxcity Tests. He rose his brows and nodded, impressed by her knowledge of it. Of course, there was more to it, and he wasn't one to leave a single detail out.

"Well, the LD50 Test is required to kill 50% of the lab animals. There's also LD30, which kills 30%, and LD100, which is required to kill all animals."

He reached out and unpiled the books in front of them, sorting them out into categories. As he sorted them out, he said,"Did you know that the tests cause animals severe pain and suffering and they can die from tears or ruptures to their stomachs as a result of the volume of material they are forced to swallow?"

He opened a large book, and quickly began to flip through the pages, and then finally stopped, and pushed the book over the table to Lux. The pages contained all kinds of information on Toxicity Tests.

"Another kind of toxicity test involves inhaling instead of swallowing a substance. It's done by spraying the product around the head and body, or an inhalation mask strapped/fixed to the head, or even putting animals into a sealed chamber and the test substance is pumped into the inside atmosphere."

Because Greg was so drawn into the subject, he barely had time to notice anything else around their little table. Not Aurelie sitting at a nearby table. Not the librarian walking around putting books away. Not even the sounds of screaming or laughing kids outside.

"There's also the Draize Test, which is a form of irritancy test. It focuses on irritance to the eye. Rabbits are held in stocks and have a product or substance dripped into their eyes. The test usually lasts for 7 days, during which time the eyes are examined for damage which may be bleeding, ulceration, swelling, discharge and sometimes even burnout of the cornea. The reason they use rabbits is because they don't have tear ducts to wash out the substance."

He leaned over the table, and the books, closer to Lux's side, and flipped a couple of pages in the book he had placed in front of her. This page contained pictures of testing labs, and some of the animals in it. He then sat back, and looked at Lux. "Have you ever gotten shampoo in your eyes? It's like that for rabbits... only a hundred times worse."

[Aurelie Laroux]

After reading half a chapter in the book, Aurelie felt a bit sickened and closed the book tightly. She shivered as she stood, carefully placing the books back on the shelf before turning to leave the library. She had decided to write her paper from memory rather than the hard to comprehend books.

However, as she walked passed one shelf, she couldn't help but hear Greg and Lux's conversation. Seperate chambers filled with substances, solution in the eyes, burning. Aurelie shivered, slowly walking towards them." Lux.. I.. I didn't know we were doing the same project.." She murmured. Aurelie didn't know they were talking about animals, in fact, Aurelie had no idea what a 'rabbit' was, so it may as well be some sort of person in her mind.

[Lux Erikson]

Quickly grabbing up her pencil, Lux began to take quick notes on everything Greg was saying. Her face twisted up in horror at the mention of what chemicals did to an animals stomach. With her free hand, she placed it on her own stomach. Tilting her head to the side, she asked,"How could someone do something like that to a defenseless animal?" Just the thought of what happened, and what was still happening in labs made her sick.

Blue-green eyes skimmed over the pages that Greg presented her with. Quickly, she took note of the page numbers, and the book title, for future refference. And then she continued to take notes on what Greg said about the inhilation tests, and the Draize tests. She wore a frown the whole time. What people did to animals was just wrong. Lux had a few pets back at her father's house, and she loved them to bits. Once, her cat got sick, and had to be taken to the vet. She was so worried about her cat that she was near tears. She couldn't imagine actually doing something this inhumane to an animal. Whoever did these kinds of things must not have had a soul.

When Greg sat back in his chair and refferenced the draize test to being 100 times worse than getting shampoo in your eyes, Lux sat back in her chair as well, and looked into Greg's eyes with an almost angry look. But it soon turned into slight amusement. It was wierd how he made refferences like the one he just made. He sure did know alot. Her head tilted to the side as she 'examined' Greg... wondering more about him now that she did about her paper.

Suddenly Aurelie spoke up, drawing her back into reality. Oh no! Aurelie was doing the same topic as Lux? Lux absolutly hated that. She didn't want to have the same topic as anyone else. She thought animal testing would be original. However, Lux didn't let this show in her manners.

"Oh, you're doing animal testing as well?" She looked up at the girl standing beside her.

[Aurelie Laroux]

Aurelie frowned, confused." Huh? No.. I.. I thought the.. gas chambers.." Her eyes fell to her feet, feeling rather foolish." I.. I Thought you were.. doing a project on the Holocaust.." The way she said the last word was a very cold one, is if she had true hatred toward it.

It was true that she was talking a lot more now, but still she seemed a bit quiet, rather fearful of speaking." I.. I was told to do mine.. I didn't want to... but.. I have to now.." She murmured softly." It's full of a lot of bad memories for me." She admitted softly to them.

[Gregory Saunders]

Greg's arms crossed over his chest as he leaned back in his chair, and he gave a dissappointed shake of his head when Lux asked how someone could be so cruel to animals. While he enjoyed eating meat, unlike the vegetarian in front of him, they did share the same views on animal testing. He could never experiment on animals.

"I honestly don't know..." he said lightly, in reply to her question. He watched Lux, as her gaze turned to him, and seemingly studied him. He suddenly began to feel a little uncomfortable. What was she thinking? A butterfly began to flutter in his stomach as the eye contact persisted, and he smiled ackwardly. It wasn't often that he was sitting at a table, across from someone like Lux. Someone popular and beautiful. For some reason, he felt the need to impress her. That had only happened a few times in his past, with a girl as popular as Lux. But they always treated Greg like shit, and were, quite frankly, snobs. Greg had learned his lesson with the pretty, rich and popular types... but for some reason threw himself in front of the tracks for Lux.

His mother's words echoed in his head,"Just be yourself. If you try to be someone else to win a girl over, then she doesn't really like you. If you are yourself, and a girl likes you, then she's worth it." He cleared his throat quickly and looked down at one of the books, thinking,"She's way out of my leauge anyways. Besides, she probably already has a boyfriend." Oddly enough, that gave him some solace.

Thankfully, Aurelie, the new french student, came to their table and commented on the fact that both she and Lux were doing the same project. Greg looked from Aurelie to Lux. He knew that if he were doing a project, and if he were to find out that someone else was doing the same thing, that he would change his topic so that he wouldn't be doing the same thing as anyone else. But when it was cleared up that Aurelie was doing a project on the Holocaust rather than animal testing, even though it wasn't his own project, Greg felt slightly relieved.

Some aspects of the Holocaust and animal testing were the same. He shrugged his shoulders and said,"I guess they could be easy to mistake." While Greg knew about the Holocaust, and what happened... history was not exactly his forte. Of course, History was better than English for him, though he did get good grades in both classes.

[Aurelie Laroux]

Aurelie gave a light smile and slowly nodded. Upon hearing Greg's comment, she gave a soft laugh." yes, I guess it is." She said softly. However, something about Lux's topic confused her. Aurelie seemed hesistant, but finally gave in and asked.

" I.. Lux.. What is an animal?" She asked softly. She had heard it used as a demeaning word before, usually refering to someone who was filthy and disguting. However, the way Lux mentioned 'animal testing', Aurelie had a strong feeling that these sorts of testing weren't being forced on filthy people.

Aurelie blushed her cheeks, realizing that she must sound really foolish." I.. I'm sorry." She admitted." It's just.. I grew up in.. a very closed off space, and... we never saw anything that was outside." She admitted softly." There were no books there, no pictures even. It was very different from this lace." She said softly, slowly sitting down at the table with them, hoping they wouldn't mind.