Word: pyrophoric

 

pyrophoric

\ pahy-ruh-FAWR-ik, -FOR- \  , adjective;

1. Chemistry . capable of igniting spontaneously in air.

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“So, what’s so important that we had to come over right away?”  Becky asked with her arms crossed. 

                “I found something really cool today.”  Gary said.  His eyes were wide with excitement as he fidgeted with something hidden behind his back.

                “This had better not be an old video game of movie or something.”  Ted  said.  He slumped further into the easy chair he sat in.

                “Nope.  Way cooler than that.”  Gary said.  He wanted wait until his friends asked what it was, but he couldn’t wait until they did.  “Check it out.”  He said as he revealed his discovery. 

                It was a small, red tube that almost looked like some kind of candy dispenser, except for the row of small green lights and the ring at the end of it.  The front was covered by a sheet of silvery metal attached by a small hinge, and there was a thumb tip sized hole with an overhanging cover in the middle of it.   Gary held the thing like it was made of solid gold.

                “What is it?”  Becky asked.

                “No idea, but it’s awesome.”

                “What’s it do?”  Ted asked.

                “Watch and be amazed.” 

                Gary held the thing out in front of him, grabbed the ring and pulled, showing the ring was a short pull chord.  The top quickly opened and something shot out.  As whatever the projectile was traveled, it suddenly caught on fire.  The flame wasn’t big, only about twice the size of a large candle, but there was no obvious method of ignition or fuel source.  The most significant thing though, was that it stopped in mid air. 

                “See?  Cool, huh?  Oh, wait, check this out.”  Gary said. 

                He stuck his thumb into the hole and moved it slightly to the left.  The small fireball moved slowly in the same direction.  Gary moved his thumb in all directions, causing the burning object to move along with it.

                “Remote control fireball.  Awesome, right?”  Gary said proudly.

                “What exactly is burning there?”  Becky asked.  Ted cautiously approached the fire and examined it.

                “Looks like some kind of disk.  It’s hard to see though.”  He said. 

                “Oh yeah, I checked.  It’s these little clear disks.  Hold on, let me show you.”  Gary said.

                He maneuvered the fireball to a nearby glass of water resting on a side table and made the fire meet water.  Predictably, the fire was put out, leaving the small disk to float around in the glass.  Gary pulled the disk out and showed it to his friends. 

                “See?  No idea how it works or anything.  But I do know it lasts a long time.  Plus, even after it’s been soaked it still works.  Here, watch.”

                Gary threw the wet disk, and in mere moments, there was once again a small, floating ball of fire.  He used the tube to move it through the air just as he had before.

                 “Maybe some kind of chemical reaction from exposure to the air?”  Becky asked, musing over the mysterious source of fire.

                “No way.  If that was the case, it would be used up pretty quickly.”  Ted said.

                “Well, do you have any better ideas?” 

                “Not a one.”

                “Well then, don’t shoot down my ideas.  By the way, where’d you get that thing?”

                “I found it at a thrift store for five bucks.”  Gary said.  He was playing with the fire by making it circle the room and avoiding the objects in it.

                “Seriously?”  Becky asked.  Gary nodded.  “I guess I’ve got to shop at thrift stores more.”

                “Hey, uh, what’re those lights on the side?”  Ted asked.

                “Ammo.”  Gary said simply.  His friends waited for him to elaborate.  “This thing can shoot out six of these fire disks at once.  Then, in about ten minutes it starts making more.  It’s completely full in about fifteen minutes.  And they all do the exact same thing as this one does.”

                “So, you have an infinitely recharging, free moving, long lasting source of fire?”  Ted asked.

                “Yup.”

                “Huh.  What, uh, what’re you gonna do with it?”

                “Oh, god, please don’t tell me you’re going to do something stupid.”  Becky said.  “Like become some kind of vigilante.”

                “Are you kidding?”  Gary said.  “This thing would make a terrible weapon.  It’s a tiny fireball that moves really slowly.  It’s a tool, not a weapon.  I bet it’s great at starting campfires and roasting marshmallows, but not much else.”

                “Well, it’d be great to have on a cold day or during a power outage.”  Ted said.  “Oh, hey, you know what you could do is figure out how it works and patent it.  Even if you can’t make the recharging part work, it’d still make you a millionaire easy.”

                Gary used the glass of water to put out the fireball while he thought about that.  He didn’t have to think very long.

                “You know, I like that idea.  I like it a lot.  Not sure if I can pull it off on my own though.”

                “Gary, is that why you called the two of us over?”  Becky asked.

                “Maybe.”

                Ted and Becky looked at each other and rolled their eyes.  Gary was not the type to just ask for help outright, so it was easy to guess his ulterior motive for showing them his discovery.  But, they weren’t about to turn down the opportunity to work on something potentially world changing like that.  Plus, the fact that they could easily demand a cut of any future income was nice too.

                “Alright, we’ll help.”  Ted said. 

                “I knew you would.”  Gary said with a large grin on his face.

                “Yeah, yeah, sure you did.  Now then, I think the first order of business is to let one of us use the thing.”  Ted said hopefully, “You know, in order to get a feel for it and such.”

                “Uh huh.  You just want to play with it.”  Gary said.

                “So what if he does?”  Becky asked.  “The first thing we have to do is, indeed, to get a feel for it.  This isn’t playing around, it’s the first step to making more.  Now then, with that being said, hand it over and let’s get to work.”

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Something like this would be so much fun to play with, wouldn't it?  I mean, as long as there was a fire extinguisher nearby.  You know, just in case.