ELIXA

CHAPTER 40

With the pair of scissors, Claudius took the first three petals on the green plant that had turned pale. It was not the first time he would notice some abnormalities in his calculations. The genetic engineers had removed one or two sequences from the plant. This was the best, so far. About sixty-six hundred plants had been planted. They had been trimmed and groomed to withstand the toxic atmospheric air. Sixty-six hundred was the best so far. They had recorded a hundred per cent yield, the best since they started some fifteen years ago. Plus, it was the final piece that would make the batch whole. He was going to sell it to merchants of course, but that would be only to keep his inventions and his creations from ever being extinct from the surface of the earth. Failure had eaten deep into his work too. Ever since Dorin passed on, he had found it hard to replace him. His demise was a tragic one and somehow, Claudius wishes that the situat