Gaibel and Phineous have recently relocated. As do many of the inhabitants of their new town, they have some secrets of their own. The only problem is that their intelligence may be too much for them. Will this be their new beginning, or just the beginning of their end?
Part 1: The Serum 
Meet the Frith's. They met in high school, and knowing that they didn't fit in where they were from, they moved to a town they had heard of. A town where the abnormal, the unusual, the "outside of the box" was accepted. A town where their lifestyle would not be questioned. It was called Strangetown.
Phineous Frith is well on his way up the scientific ladder. He is a very quiet and serious person. He is quite shy and prefers to keep to himself mostly.
Gaibel Frith aspires to be the top doctor in all of Strangetown one day. He is friendly and sociable, the perfect opposite for his partner Phineous. However, he agreed that moving to a new town where they knew no one and no questions would be asked was best for them.
But their relationship wasn't their main motive for moving to Strangetown. They were working together, combining their knowledge, to do something that had yet to be done. Their secret project that their lives were depending on. If it worked, not only would it benefit them personally, but they could gain much notariety after it was completed and would even be able to gain quite a substantial income by selling their findings and results.
They spent most of their time hard at work in their in-home laboratory. Behind locked doors, in a town full of odd occurances, they were safe to study and experiment without question or hesitation.
"Gaibel, it just seems like it's never going to work."
"No,no, Phin! Don't get discouraged. I know it's hard, but this is a complicated theory we're working on. It's going to take some time. Plus, having to be so careful about preventing people from finding out until we're done is going to add some extra time onto it. Just don't worry, Phin. We'll get it, I promise."
While Gaibel was at work, Phineous spent a lot of his time playing around with his new telescope. Gaibel had bought it for him on his last birthday, and in the city where they had moved from, it had always been too bright and crowded to set up such a large and expensive piece of equipment. Both Phineous and Gaibel were quite excited to get to use the telescope for the first time.
It was their third week in Strangetown.
"How do you like the omelettes?" Gaibel asked at breakfast. Phineous nodded. "Are you okay?" He nodded again. "Are you still upset about our project? I know it is important and means a lot, but it's better if we don't try to rush it, you know?" Phineous nodded again. "Have you been sleeping well?" Phineous shrugged his shoulders. "You've been staying up late messing around with your telescope, haven't you?"
"No!" Phineous said. "I mean, maybe a couple hours later than I am normally awake, but I went to bed at a decent hour. I still feel like I pulled an all-nighter, though."
"Maybe you should take a nap before you have to go to work this evening. I don't work tonight. I'll concentrate on the project for a while, you just try to relax."
Phineous couldn't understand why he felt so exhausted, but took his partner's advice and decided to lay down in the den for a couple hours before he had to leave for work.
Meanwhile, Gaibel locked himself in the laboratory. He wanted to make a big accomplishment on the project while Phineous was not feeling well and had to go to work. Having a large portion of their experiment out of the way would defintely lift a huge weight off of Phin's shoulders, and Gaibel knew that they would both feel much better knowing that they were closer to being ready to put their project into action.
Gaibel worked all through the day, researching on the internet, working in the laboratory. He only took one quick break for a sandwich and then got right back to work. He was determined to make a break through before Phin got home from work that night.
When Phineous got home from work at 10 o'clock that night, the lights in the house were turned down low. Gaibel was in the den poking a a fire and humming softly to himself. When he noticed that Phineous standing by the stairs, he smiled and sat down on the loveseat facing the fireplace and patted the cushion next to him.
"I have good news, Phin."
"You made a breakthrough in the project?" Phineous said hopefully.
"You could say that. I spent all day finishing up the research, running tests and testing formulas. One number, Phin. We had one number wrong in the initial formula. That was it! Can you believe that? How long have we been working on this? All for one lousy number. But luckily, I found it, and I found the right number. I fixed it. It was more than a breakthrough, Phin. It's done. The serum is ready."
They were both shaking with nerves and excitement. "You're sure? I mean, I know we said we would both be the first to do it, Gaibel, but one day and you got it done?"
"Don't worry, Phin. I ran the numbers and formulas a million times. I ran it through the lab at least 5 before I decided that there was nothing else I could do to make it any more ready. Now let's toast."
"To the science." Phineous said.
"To the serum."
"To us!"
"And to our futures," Gaibel finished as they both took long gulps out of their glasses.
Gaibel lay in bed that night for well over an hour. He couldn't believe they had finally finished it! He lay as still as possible. He didn't feel any different. Did Phin? What if it didn't work? What if it went wrong? No, that's impossible. He took all the necessary precautionary measures. He tested it and ran it through the lab too many times to miss something or make a mistake. What if it didn't work for him? Or Phin? Or either of them? They had known that there was always that chance that it wouldn't match heir bodies, that certain genetics and make-ups would render it ineffective. He prayed that that wasn't the case for either of them.