Walker held the shard to the light and rotated it the same way he’d already done dozens of times today. “Honestly before I had no clue, though I’ve been pounding the books today and I’ve ruled a couple out,” he said.

Chet stared at the obsidian-black shard, “How’s that?”

Walker popped the shard back into the bag, “Well, there’s only so many kinds of types of Stardust so I tested if it was thermal.”

The clink of metal on metal clicked into the conversation as Chet absentmindedly fiddled with paperclip-esque wires. “Throw them in a fire or something?”

“Sort of. I bought a lighter and held it above the flame with a stick but the only thing that happened was campus security scolded me.” He pointed to one of the walls, “Then I thought it wasn’t hot enough so I visited one of the science buildings.”

“Threw it into the particle accelerator?”

Walker frowned, “We have one of those things?”

Chet went mute as he twisted a wire into position. Each of the three wires resembled a claw that curved upward, like a cup, equidistant to each other to create four points of a rectangle if viewed from above. He placed it on the table before picking up more wires and continuing, “Yeah, I think the only one the U.R has. Pretty sure like the rest of this place that bad boy is government funded.”

“What do they do with it?”

Chet shrugged, “Smash particles? I’m not a physicist.”

Walker stared at the stardust through the plastic, “Anyway, at first I was going to sneak around to find something hotter but some teacher caught me.”

“Man, the authority is really busting your balls today.”

“You’d think so right? He actually just let me use one of his Bunsen burners after I told him what I was trying to do.”

Chet dramatically double-taked, “You’re telling me a professor actually respected your scientific curiosity and helped you figure it out instead of reprimanding you?”

He nodded, “Held that shit over a Bunsen burner for close to ten minutes with some tongs and when I took it out it wasn’t even warm to touch.”

Chet finished the second wired creation that mirrored the first one and began a third one. “What about cold? Thermal goes both ways.”

“The professor said if nothing happened with the heat, nothing’s going to happen with the cold.” Walker juggled his hands like two scales, “Cold is just the absence of heat so… there’d probably be something happening if so.”

Chet mumbled something incoherent as he bent the wire.

Walker tapped the shard against the table, even the sound it emitted was dull.

“It’s also not kinetic,” Walker announced.

“That so?”

“I may or may not have slammed it into the edge of a table to make sure it was a shard or not.”

Chet froze, “If it was kinetic, you’d be shaking hands with your left.”

He shrugged.

“Hey, can you pass the…” Chet snapped. “The… umm. What was it?”

“I have absolutely nothing to go off on,” Walker said.

More snapping, “Wire-clipper! Sorry, head’s still a little fuzzy,” Chet said abashedly.

He handed him the tool and then stood up to survey the messy table. Screws. Tape. A mountain of metal scrap. Bulbs of different sizes, shapes, and technological ages rolled around. Most striking of all was the device that sat in the center.

“Gonna electrocute me with this too?”

Chet nodded, “Yup, builds character.”

Walker motioned to ask if he could pick it up but Chet shook his head. “Not done yet, look through here though. Guess what I’m making.”

He did so and revolved around the table to the left of Chet. In length, it probably totaled no more than twelve inches. Its girth varied. The base was egg-shaped, with a girth at its widest point about six inches. The thinner end of the egg shape held the caboose.

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After the base was tapered down, the rest of the device was assumed cylindrical. Walker assumed it was cylindrical because of the two halves. One half sat on the table next to the device, the other was already attached. Both had tinfoil, shiny side up, covering the inside.

The metallic skeleton, which Walker guessed was iron, was riddled with rust; so much so that tinnitus was a real concern. Overall, the device wasn’t very interesting other than the fact that it would not be allowed in any children’s schools or nunneries due to its shape. It was, however, the soft glow from Chet’s shard of stardust that made the device the most captivating thing in the room.

“Here do me a favor, pick up the Stardust,” Chet handed him tweezers.

Walker reached for the shard and paused, his hand quivering over the light, “You’re not afraid I’m going to steal it or something?”

“Not really, you seem like a genuine dude.” Chet smirked, “Even if you did swipe it, I’ll just knock you out again.”

He huffed, “Didn’t count,” before he picked up the shard.

Chet threw on a glove on and immediately hunched over the device.

“Hand me the…” Chet clenched his fist, “Fuck! The thing.”

Walker identified the wire cutter and handed it to him. Chet twisted the base of the claw around a nail that jutted up from the bottom of the iron.

“Alright now the other,” Chet mumbled as he did the same for the other cylinder half.

“Place it.”

Biting his tongue, Walker lowered the shard into the fingers of the wire. After some exertion, he pushed the shard into its cage with a harsh scrape. Chet lined the second cylinder up with its sister before placing it on top. With a grunt of effort, he pushed it through, and the wiring cage fit. After screwing it in they stood back to look at the creation. The drone of machinery and conversation around them fell to the background as Walker breathed in the metallic grease that stuck to him. He could see why Chet did this. Though if he were honest, Walker didn’t think this is where his talent lay.

“Snug fit,” Walker commented.

“Has to be. Don’t want it jiggling around if it does what I hope it does.”

Walker bent over to look down the barrel. Except he couldn’t. A circular chip hung from a hinge blocked the view.

Chet pulled him back, “Wouldn’t do that if you like your vision.”

Walker grinned, “I’m jealous. Radiant Stardust? You want to know the kind of shit that thing could do? What it goes for?”

Chet’s flopped into his chair, propped his feet up, and placed his hands behind his head.

“Talk dirty to me.”

“While I was reading about Stardust today, I looked up your shard. At least four thousand. They use them in space shuttles. One guy made a flashlight with Radiant Stardust so powerful an astronaut thought someone set off an atomic warhead.”

Chet closed his eyes, “Please, I can only get so erect.”

Walker fondled his own shard in his pocket. Part of him was disappointed that Chet received one that outclassed his in spectacle. However, the anticipation and intrigue to exactly what kind of Stardust it could be… Walker wasn’t disappointed. The opposite.

“I know, it's brilliant.” Chet smiled, his pearly whites glistened, “I’m brilliant.”

Walker shook his head, “Okay Mr. Brilliant. What did you concoct then?” He pointed to the device on the table.

Chet sat up, his smug stance was broken.

“Well. A flashlight.”

“A flashlight.” Walker blinked, “Just use your phone man.”

Chet pursed his lips, “As you said it’s Radiant Stardust, right?”

Walker nodded.

Chet gripped the device by the shaft and weighed it in his hands. “The thing is since Radiant shards only cover certain wavelengths and only that wavelength. This one-” He slapped the device hard enough that loose metal rattled inside, “Only emits visible light. Probably the least lethal form of Radiant Stardust I could’ve gotten.” He sighed.

Walker didn’t know what he was going on about. He owned a Stardust worth thousands, so what if it didn’t amplify gamma rays? Walker’s pulse quickened, maybe it was the last few days living off the street but this seemed pathetic.

“Howabout you stop bitching about what you got?” Walker barked, “At least yours does something.”

Chet licked his lips sheepishly and spared a glance at Walker's face. It most likely wasn’t a pretty sight so he raised his hands in surrender. “I get it. X-Ray Stardust is probably a bit out of my experience anyways.”

“Very logical.”

Chet grinned, “X-Ray Stardust would be pretty cool though.”

He raised his eyebrows, “All that cancer. Super sexy.”

Chet stood up “Ready to test this bad boy out?”

The room was simply a large rectangle. High ceilings and four pillars held up the ceiling at equidistant distances. Close to the door huddled around an anvil was a group of five freshmen, the loudest people in the room by far. Walker and Chet were stationed in the center of the room.

Some older students, probably graduates based on the defeated shrug of their shoulders and the bags under their eyes, typed on laptops to their right. Finally, just a few tables down the room, away from the door, sat an anorexic man with glasses. Most likely in his thirties, wearing a baggy button-down shirt that was tucked into too-tight dress pants.

He met Walker’s gaze, then looked back at his phone before Walker could attempt to look away.

“The left looks pretty clear,” Walker stated, “What’re you expecting?”

Chet hoisted the device so they could examine it, “Well. I’m going to flip this switch,” He pointed to the lever glued to the top of the start of the shaft and flipped it.

“Now the bulb in the back will turn on and power the shard through a magnifying glass. Then ill pull this trigger.” He placed his finger on the piece of metal that jutted out the bottom of the shaft. “Which will pull this chip, to the side. Then the light that has been bouncing around the barrel will create a beam of light.”

“I think instead of a beam-” Walker created an explosion motion with his hands, “it’s just going to light up everything in front of the barrel.”

Chet hoisted the device straight forward and flipped the switch with his left hand. Anticlimactic silence.

“Soak it up,” Chet murmured.

After a terse minute, Chet pulled the trigger.

The world turned white.