[39:Gung-Ho Grilled Cheeseburger]
A few days had passed. It was almost time for the camp to end. It was late evening, almost nighttime, and right now, Eleanor was teaching the remedial group.
"Okay, class, the chemicals you're handling are sodium hydroxide and hydrochloric acid. Now, it's good to see that everyone completed the pre-lab, because that's what you're going to be following, so let's see if you all wrote good instructions. Now, for this titration lab, you're going to be using phenolphthalein as the pH indicator. As I'm sure you all studied, you're going to be titrating from a magenta to a pale pink color. Don't be scared; this is a very simple and standard lab done by almost any student in a chemistry class. There are like one million videos of this on the internet. So, you got this," Eleanor explained. She was in a lab coat, wearing latex gloves and safety goggles. So was everyone else.
Eleanor continued. "So, the first thing we're going to do is charge the burettes with the hydrochloric acid solution. After that, we'll measure out 15-20 mL of the sodium hydroxide solution. In this case, it is a 0.15 molar solution of sodium hydroxide. We'll add in the pH indicator, and then we titrate. Alright, get started. I'll be going around supervising."
"Just a quick question, what kind of data do we fill out?" Kaminari asked.
"It's on your pre-lab report. I did you a favor by adding the kind of data you need to collect and fill out. Trust me, you'll wanna be on top of that. You won't be able to do the necessary calculations at the end of the lab without those numbers," Eleanor explained.
Kaminari looked through the packet Eleanor gave all of them at the beginning. Sure enough, it was all there. However, the many red marks didn't make it too pretty. "Oh, yeah, there it is."
"Okay, come on, get started," Eleanor said.
They all started. Eleanor went around observing them as they did the process of charging the burettes. As she went around, she stopped where Hanta was, watching him like a hawk. Hanta had the burette on the side as he was turning it around, so the hydrochloric acid coated the entire burette. There was just one problem.
"Hanta!" Eleanor raised her voice. Hanta stopped immediately. "What are you doing?"
"Uh…I'm charging the burette as the instructions say."
"Yes, you are, but what are you holding the burette over?"
Hanta looked down. He was holding the burette over nothing. "Uh…oh."
"Yeah, now you see the problem." Eleanor grabbed a beaker and put it under the burette Hanta was holding. "Hold it over a beaker just in case any hydrochloric acid falls out. We don't want any of it spilling onto the table alright?"
"Sorry about that."
"That's why I'm here."
The class continued as normal so far. Eleanor corrected minor mistakes, but everything was going smoothly. The class eventually had the burettes charged and ready.
"Alright, you guys are good at this. The longest part of this lab experiment is over; now we can start the fun part. Just a reminder, after you measure out your sodium hydroxide, only add one drop of phenolphthalein, and if you go over, it's okay, as long as it's no more than two drops. Two drops is the max. Get started," Eleanor explained.
It was a simple step. They measured the sodium hydroxide in a graduated cylinder before transferring it to an Erlenmeyer flask and adding a drop of the pH indicator. They put the flask under the nozzle of the burette, adjusting the burette as needed for their height.
"Okay, now, this process will determine if you leave early or if you stay late," Eleanor said before continuing. "If you mess this up too many times, you'll need to start over. Start the titration, and stop when the solution in the flask becomes a pale pink color. You'll know you put too much hydrochloric acid when the solution becomes colorless. And don't forget to record your data."
"I got this," Eijiro said confidently. He turned the stopcock to let a fast flow of hydrofluoric acid into the flask. Unfortunately, when he stopped it, the solution turned colorless. He tried to swirl the flask as much as he could, but nothing happened.
Eleanor, who was watching this, sighed and pinched her nose. "Start again, Eijiro. You should have enough hydrofluoric acid in your burette to start with a new flask of solution before you have to refill it. A quick tip. You can pour confidently in the beginning, but slow down after that. Remember that whether you leave early or not depends entirely on you."
"Alright," Eijiro said, a bit less confident, but motivated by the fact that he, or anyone for that matter, didn't want to be here.
Eleanor continued going around and supervising. What really got to her was that everyone failed the titration on their first time. But just like them, she also didn't want to be here for too long.
"Alright, I see you all are in dire need of a demonstration," Eleanor said as she went to her own table in front of the class. "Okay, pay attention." Eleanor went through the entire process. Compared to how long it took them, she made it look easy. Her hands moved like they had done something like this multiple times. She started the titration. She poured confidently at first, then slowed down. The burette let out one drop very slowly. Eventually, the flask with the solution turned a very pale pink, almost hard to see.
"And there it is. A good titration. That will be the only demonstration, so you better have paid attention," Eleanor said.
"Whoa, I can barely see the pink," Hanta said as he saw the flask. He had to take off his goggles to see it as clearly as he could.
"Is this what a perfect titration is?" Mina asked.
"No, it's not. This is chemistry; there is never a 'perfect' measurement. You should know this from what I taught you at the beginning of the camp. Something can be highly accurate and reproducible, but never perfect. Like, we're eyeballing the color change, there's already room for a lot of error with that alone," Eleanor explained.
"Oh, I see," Mina said.
"Alright, enough looking. Start again," Eleanor said.
Time continued to pass. The first one to finish was Rikido. He got it on his second attempt. The next to finish was Hanta, just slightly behind Rikido. The third person to finish was Mina, who got it on her third attempt. The fourth person to finish was Eijiro, who got it on his fourth attempt.
Now, it was Kaminari alone with Eleanor.
Eleanor had her hands on her knees as she was hunched, looking down to hide the look on her face. "Kaminari, you're killing me here."
"This is so hard!" Kaminari said.
"We're going to run out of hydrofluoric acid and sodium hydroxide before you get a good enough titration result."
"Just one more time."
Eleanor went back to her desk and saw what was left. "We don't have much left. I'd say there's enough for two, maybe three, titration attempts left."
"I'll get it this time!"
"Alright, go for it."
Kamninari started again. As he went through the process, he suddenly heard Eleanor clear her throat. He stopped pouring the acid into the flask and looked at her. He expected her to say something, but she stayed quiet.
"Why are you looking at me? Continue," Eleanor said.
Kaminari swirled the flask before starting again. A little bit later, after he started pouring, he heard Eleanor clear her throat loudly again. He stopped again and looked at her. He thought he had done something wrong, but she said nothing.
"Why do you keep stopping and looking at me? Pay attention to your flask and make sure it has reached the pale pink color that signals that your titration has ended," Eleanor said.
She was a bit specific, but Kaminari did as she said. He looked back at the flask and swirled it. WHen he set it back down, he saw that it was a light pink…almost pale. "Uh…I did it?"
"Looks good to me. Record the data, and fill out the data analysis part later; that'll be your homework," Eleanor said as she started to clean up the lab.
"Yes! I can sleep!" Kaminari looked at the time. "It's 3 AM‽"
"It is, Kaminari."
"I'll be leaving! Thank you for the lesson!" Kaminari sprinted out of the lab.
Eleanor shook her head. Once he was gone, she got out her tablet. Tomorrow was the last day of the camp, but nothing has happened. She's had drones on constant surveillance, knowing that something should happen. She knew there was no way the League of Villains wouldn't act at a time like this, even if their potential recruitment was affected by the elimination of Stain before his ideology could spread.
'The Hero Public Safety Commission owes me for that. I unknowingly helped keep the image of Japan's hero society looking good by killing Stain as early as I did. Is that why they quickly tried to sweep it under the rug? I wouldn't be surprised,' Eleanor thought to herself.
She observed the tablet and found nothing out of the ordinary…so far. She finished cleaning the lab before she went back to get a good sleep for the night.
/\\//\\//\
(Next day, evening.)
It was the last day of the camp. The day had finished, the only thing left was to have a relaxing day of rest and a last lesson for the remedial group. The class was sitting around a campfire, telling stories and eating some more food. Even the teachers were a bit relaxed. But Eleanor was being a bit detached, too distant.
"Hey, Eleanor, you okay?" Momo asked.
"Momo, can you make a few rods using an alloy of these elements? The first one is the core, and the second one is the shell surrounding it." Eleanor suddenly asked, showing Momo a simple atomic diagram of a specific isotope of metals. The first one had 75 electrons, 75 protons, and 112 neutrons. The second one had 77 protons, 77 electrons, and 116 neutrons. All the electron shells were filled out as well.
"What is this?" Momo asked.
"Just try," Eleanor said.
Momo processed the information. She inferred more information based on the number of neutrons, electrons, and protons in the elements. A few rods of the alloy came out of her body, and she quickly felt the drain on her energy and mass. She looked a bit tired after she made them, but she handed the rods to Eleanor. "What the? What even was that?" Momo asked.
"You just made a rhenium-iridium alloy, those two metals are some of the densest on Earth. These slugs…rods you made have a rhenium core and an iridium covering." Eleanor said. The rods fit in her hands, perfect for…loading them into something handheld.
"Was this a test of my quirk?" Momo asked.
Eleanor was a bit quiet before she responded. "Yeah…it was. Good job, Momo. I'm reminded that your quirk is very unscientific. Also, this proves that you can make the fissile material needed for a nuclear weapon. But that doesn't mean it's feasible at all for you."
"Whoa, Eleanor, what is that?" Midoriya asked as he came over.
"It's nothing. Just some really dense metal to see how far Momo's quirk training has come," Eleanor said.
"What are those even used for?" Momo asked.
"Stuff. They are used for stuff," Eleanor said before she suddenly got up. "I'll be back in a bit. I need to do something." Eleanor took the slugs with her.
"One more thing, actually." Eleanor turned around and had a smirk on her face. "Everyone, we need to be careful! Momo is only weeks away from having the fissile material for a nuclear weapon! We all have to come together, except for me, to put a stop to her!" Eleanor moved her hands dramatically before she chuckled a bit and turned around to leave.
"She's being a bit weird," Midoriya said.
/\\//\\//\
I had my helmet on. Two drones were in front of me. However, it's not the drones that interested me; it's the weapons they were carrying. Yes, they were railguns. Handheld railgun rifles. The stuff you see in sci-fi and video games. I unattached a railgun from one of them and took out the projectile, a tungsten slug. It works, but Momo's quirk gives me access to better projectiles. As I told Momo earlier, rhenium and iridium are some of the densest elements on Earth. And before you ask, "what bout osmium?" Just know that osmium is toxic, and I don't want to be near that stuff. I'll settle for rhenium and iridium. And the difference is very slight. Osmium has a density of about 22.59 grams per cubic centimeter. Iridium has a density of around 22.56 grams per cubic centimeter. Very slight. It falls off with rhenium, which has a density of around 21.02 grams per cubic centimeter. As for why I told Momo to make an alloy, it's simple: it helps counteract the disadvantages these metals have, and since the normal constraints are removed with Momo's quirk, why not make them?
I set the tungsten slug aside and put the Re-Ir alloy slug into the railgun. It fit perfectly. Oh yeah, I can't wait to test this out. And luckily for me…
{Alert. Unusual fluctuations and activity happening within campgrounds.}
…I have some guinea pigs volunteering for my experiment.