Free The Mad Scientist's Daughter by Cassandra Rose Clarke

her skin. He was a computer.
      She pulled her slate out of her bag and set it down on the curb next to her. She tapped the screen and it lit up pale blue. It was hard to see through the clouds of light her fingers were giving off. But the slate could connect directly into the computers in the house, including the one she wanted more than any other. All the information was stored in the slate's memory, she just needed to work her way through it – numbers. It was all numbers from here on out. They wiggled and twisted in front of her. She rubbed her eyes. Light blossomed everywhere. She had done this a thousand times before, with the computers in the kitchen and in her bedroom, and Finn should be just the same, she just needed to find Finn, just needed to find Finn among all those numbers–
      She had it.
       Finn , she typed. Finn are you there? It's Cat.
      She watched the cursor blink, blink, blink. It matched the beat of her heart.
       Why are you contacting me like this?
       Because I can't tell my parents! I need you to come get me! I'm falling apart! She paused, distracted by the light coming off her fingers. Then: Don't tell my parents! Then: Please?
       I will have to lie.
      Cat didn't know what to say to that. She wrote Please? again. The cursor blinked for a long time. No answer. Then:
       Wait where you are. Keep slate with you. Be there soon.
       DON'T TELL MY PARENTS , she typed, one last time.
      He never responded. Cat fell back against the grass, her feet kicked out onto the street. Overhead the stars were moving. The constellations danced, Orion waltzing with Cassiopeia. Cat seeped into the soil, lighting it up – it was beautiful but she was scared, scared she would dissolve completely, she would be devoured by the world, she would become nothing, nothingness–
      A pair of headlights swept over her. Cat pushed herself up even though it was difficult in her diaphanous state. The car stopped, its engine idling, and Finn stepped out.
      "Finn!" she sighed. "Finn, my atoms are flaking off."
      "Your atoms seem quite normal to me." He held out his hand and Cat grabbed it and he pulled her to her feet. She closed her eyes, opened them. Finn was staring at her.
      "What have you done to yourself?" he asked.
      "Wasn't me." She wobbled as he guided her back to the car. "Oscar… that prick." She slumped in the seat and looked out the window and saw that the place where she'd lain was now illuminated in the shape of her body. "I can't go home like this," she said. "They'll know. I'll light everything up." She looked at Finn. "Let's go to the park."
      Finn reached across the car and put his hand on Cat's chin and turned her face toward him. He looked straight at her eyes. Cat didn't dare move. His eyes vibrated and then flashed silver. He blinked. "Oh," he said. "I see." His hand dropped to his side. "It generally takes six to twelve hours to wear off. You shouldn't do this again. Repeated usage can lead to permanent side effects."
      "I'll bet." Cat nestled herself in the curve of the car seat. "To the park, Finn!"
      He did as she requested, driving to the old rotting playground at the park's center. The swing set and the merry-go-round were grown over with kudzu. The jungle gym was rusted and breaking into pieces. Cat stumbled out of the car and ran to the merry-go-round and sat down on the edge and tried to make it spin but the kudzu held it tight. Finn sat down beside her. Cat felt calmer now, less afraid of falling apart, even though the stars were still dancing overhead, even though she still lit up the darkness.
      Finn stayed with her all night, watching her with the calm detachment of a scientist. She wandered all over the playground, passing her hands over the flowers curled up tight for the night, watching the shimmer of stardust that flaked off her skin. At one point she was overwhelmed with exhaustion and so she wandered over to the place where Finn sat on