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🕑 Added 2025-05-10 14:16:25 +0000 UTCThe Supreme State of Science
Chapter 54 - Allergic to Water
"Are you sure it's a good idea to keep walking in the rain?" Jimmy followed Leslie, who wanted to share her special place with him. She thought it was a good idea to give this new friend of hers a magical experience far from technology.
"Are you allergic to water?" Leslie smiled, clearly teasing Jimmy.
"I'm allergic to adults..." Jimmy said nothing more but ordered Goddard to stay close in case he needed help.
He wasn't equipped with a lightning rod system, but he could still do something if he detected danger around Jimmy—who, unlike robots, had no sensors.
On the way to the magical place Leslie had mentioned, they passed by the farm where Oliver lived, who didn’t seem to spend time with Leslie now that it was the weekend, which was odd.
Curious, Jimmy asked, "Hey, Leslie, where’s your friend?"
"I don’t know. He could be anywhere." Leslie didn’t seem to care about Jess’s absence. Instead, she ran ahead with even more energy.
As they trudged through puddles and mud, Jimmy noticed the sound of the water growing louder. Leslie hurried forward with childlike excitement until they reached the edge of a small slope within a dense forest.
Below, the river stretched out like a wild serpent winding through the woods, swollen from the recent rain, roaring with unusual force.
In the middle of the current, a thick rope hung between two trees, forming a makeshift swing. Leslie pointed to it as if presenting a masterpiece.
"Tada! What do you think?" Leslie turned around to look at Jimmy.
Jimmy squinted and scanned the scene as if it were a natural disaster simulation.
"That rope has more mold than a boarding school shower. The water level is at least 60% above normal. If I jump in there, the probability I get swallowed by the river is..." Jimmy wasn’t boring, but he wasn’t stupid either, and said, "Too high."
"Oh, Jimmy! You’re always doing math!" Leslie smiled with that mischievous, reckless expression of hers and said, "Well, your loss."
And before Jimmy could make another statistical comment about the rope, Leslie jumped. She grabbed the rope with enthusiasm and let out a “Wuhuuuuu!” that lasted exactly three seconds.
Because then, with a sharp crack!, the rope snapped.
Time seemed to slow. Leslie fell toward the river, still gripping the rope.
The river swallowed her without ceremony.
"LESLIE!" Jimmy shouted, eyes wide open.
Without thinking, he jumped in after her—backpack, boots, and all. The current greeted him with fury, as if it held a personal grudge.
The water was freezing, murky, and dragged him like a leaf. Amid the watery chaos, he saw a flash of brown hair. Leslie was kicking, but she was already losing strength.
Jimmy swam toward her with difficulty, fighting against every whirlpool. When he finally reached her, he held her with one arm while using the other to try to steer toward the shore.
"Hang on, Leslie! Don’t drown! That would be dramatically unnecessary," Jimmy thought, trying to stay optimistic.
But the current pushed them downstream. Jimmy felt his legs slam into submerged rocks, and his backpack pulled him down like an anchor.
"Goddard!" Jimmy shouted with the last of his breath.
From the riverbank, Goddard emitted an alert beep. Without wasting time, he deployed a pair of propellers and rose into the air, becoming a kind of rescue drone. He flew over the river and fired a small retractable cable that wrapped around Jimmy’s arm.
The tension in the cable slowed him down. Jimmy held onto Leslie tightly as Goddard began towing them to solid ground. It was a chaotic process—kicking, splashing, and a couple of off-key screams that probably scared every bird in the area.
When they finally reached the shore, Jimmy crawled out, soaked and covered in mud. He laid Leslie down on the ground—pale and unmoving.
"No! No no no no! Don’t do this to me! I don’t even know if I’m CPR certified!" Jimmy exclaimed, gently shaking her.
"Goddard! Analyze!"
Goddard scanned Leslie. A red light flashed on his visor. "Lung water saturation: critical. Immediate resuscitation required."
Jimmy froze for a second. He looked at Leslie. Then at the sky. Then back at Leslie.
"For science, then..." Jimmy leaned down without hesitation to give her mouth-to-mouth.
It was a tense and ridiculous moment at the same time. Jimmy counted quietly, pressed her chest, blew air into her lungs again, and prayed in the name of biomechanical engineering.
Then, suddenly, Leslie coughed. She coughed so hard she spat a stream of water right into Jimmy’s face, who blinked like a drenched cat.
"Oh, great!" Jimmy said after spitting the water out.
Leslie opened her eyes, gasping, with a stunned expression. The first thing she saw was Jimmy just inches from her face.
Jimmy flopped onto his back in the mud.
