Anfanama

Zinni could see her breath. It was a bitter cold morning in February and she was the only one out on the boardwalk so early. Occasionally on her daily runs she would see another runner or two but not many were up at such an early hour and fewer still were devoted enough to brave such a cold, raw morning. The sun hadn’t even risen yet and the numbness in her fingers made her think it might have been the morning to stay in bed and skip it. No, not today, she thought. She must run at least three miles every morning. Without the workout to get her blood pumping, the entire rest of her day would feel off. To her it was better than even a morning coffee to get her awake and focused. She was strict about her daily routines. They were what kept her from drowning in all of her ambitions and commitments. She looked at her watch as she reached her door. Six minutes, twenty three seconds per mile. Not bad but not her best. Time is precious and she couldn’t allow herself to waste any of it.

She had graduated from Cornell when she was nineteen with degrees in both physics and biology. She had some credits carried over from taking college level coursework when she was still in high school. She graduated from high school when she was only sixteen. Zinnia completed her PhD in biophysics from Stanford in only four years beginning her post doc when she was just twenty three.

Efficiency meant everything to her. Time is the most precious gift we’re given, she often thought. We never know when ours will run out. She learned that lesson early after losing her twin sister at eleven. She still wished she had more time with her. But her sister, Sofia, had run out of time. If only the ambulance had got there quicker. If only Zinni had found her sooner. If only she had made it in time. But she hadn’t and Sofia ran out of time.

Zinni would make the most of her time in this life and never be late for anything again. That particular day in February was no exception. She showered, got ready for work and grabbed breakfast all within twenty five minutes. She made her way to the MIT campus. She lived close, close enough to walk in five minutes. She got there earlier than necessary but not earlier than was typical for her. Zinni was never late for anything. She spent some time in her lab reviewing some findings and made some finishing touches on slides and reviewed her talking points before heading to a seminar where she was to discuss her most recent research.

She looked at her watch. She would speak for thirty minutes. “This is species anfanama, our most recent discovery from the exoplanet T7-3e.”

The screen behind her showed what looked like a large, dark iridescent form that seemed the consistency of silly puddy.

“We’re not yet sure how to classify it. We consider it a life form but the chemical structure is like nothing we’ve ever seen before. In fact, every molecule seems to defy physics in ways I’ll describe shortly and the cells, if we can call them that, do not function in the same way as anything on earth. We try to take slides of the cells but as we look at them under the microscope they seem to come and go.” Zinni then brought a picture of the slide to the screen. “As you can see they appear to disappear without any explanation. And then there! It appears again.”

“Something to do with how the molecules are reflecting light. It has to be,” a student called out.

“Not so. You see I haven’t provided all the information. Something to do with light, yes, that was my initial hypothesis. However, equally as curious, the mass of the specimen is incredibly sporadic. It grows and shrinks without consuming or releasing anything. We’ve put it in a vacuum and it still changes unpredictably. That is the mystery to be solved.”

She continued discussing possibilities and other qualities of the life form discovered. Then she left fifteen minutes at the end to answer questions. After the seminar was over she returned to her lab.

The picture on the slides did not do the specimen justice for the creature was enormous. Until it wasn’t. As she walked in the creature took up the entirety of the glass enclosed room it was kept in. As she sat down at her computer the creature became just a small puddle on the floor. Zinni looked at the creature. How endlessly curious it was. She could study this alien specimen for the rest of her life and never tire of it. She would never run out of new discoveries. From her research so far it seemed as soon as she had figured out an answer to one of Anfanama’s mysteries it would only unravel more and more questions.

It was watching her again. She felt it. Perhaps it was just as curious of her as she was of it. But it had no eyes. No, she thought. She was being silly. She could not waste time imagining such things. She wondered what kind of senses it had if it did indeed have any at all. Could it even be considered living?

She decided to get another sample of the specimen. She had some ideas for some new tests to run. Zinni opened the door to the enclosed room. The creature was still a small puddle on the floor. It was a funny substance and seemed to be uninjured when you cut a bit off. It didn’t really seem to react either and she had no problems taking samples. But this time as she bent down take her sample the creature suddenly expanded and engulfed Zinni. The creature enclosed around her so quickly that she had no time to react or think about what was happening.

Slowly the life form released her and returned again to a puddle at her feet. Her feet! Those were not the shoes she had been wearing nor were those her feet. They were smaller. But the sneakers. She remembered those sneakers. She had them as a child. She had painted them. She saw the artwork she had been so proud of.

“Zinni!” she heard a voice call out and she looked up.

There before her eyes was her sister, Sofia standing as she once knew her at 11 years old.

Perhaps time was not what Zinni had thought.