{"id":2366,"date":"2018-06-06T10:53:53","date_gmt":"2018-06-06T17:53:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/psquared\/?page_id=2366"},"modified":"2025-04-23T13:49:11","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T20:49:11","slug":"chapter-6-nibmorht-turned-fibrininogen-fib","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/psquared\/protein-portraits-2018\/chapter-6-nibmorht-turned-fibrininogen-fib\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 6: How Nibmorht Turned Fibrininogen Into Fib"},"content":{"rendered":"

Another tremor could be felt throughout the Lands, leaving behind an eerie quiet. These tremors were frequent and most of the time these tremors were just that, but sometimes the result was a frantic display of reactivity and fear by the land and its inhabitants; this was one of those times.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fibrininogen was still in class that morning. When the tremors hit, the classroom seemed to freeze. Unfreeze. The bell struck its initial sound and the repeating sirens followed. Pandemonium ensued as everyone gunned from their seats and hurried to their assigned positions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fibrininogen stayed still like a lineman lost in his team\u2019s ongoing play. Was it fear of the tremor situation? Was it lack of heart? Or was it that Fibrininogen felt that he wasn\u2019t yet ready to do the specific tasks that were required of him? He allowed himself to ponder for a moment. Everything became still again despite the calamity. He could hear the sirens buzzing in his ears but just barely.. They were dimming..<\/span><\/p>\n

The alarm for Fibrininogen\u2019s first day at academy ringed loud and proud in his eardrums. It jolted him up in a half-woken frantic for he hadn\u2019t been able to sleep well due to the excitement of attending Academy. As Fibrininogen got ready he noticed that the doorway seemed a lot shorter than he was used to. Physically, Fibrininogen was tall and lanky, his body comparable to a fortified tubing. While he had potential to do a multitude of great feats, the ability to perform very specific roles was something valued in the Lands, especially roles that were essential in making better and preserving the Lands.<\/span><\/p>\n

When Fibrininogen entered the classroom he expected to be greeted by a welcoming array of students. What he saw were students who ranged from round body types to slender body types like himself to body types which took uniques forms of geometric T and B shapes. The welcoming environment part of his expectations was lacking, however. He walked in to hushed whispers and laughter that carried disdain from those around him. He managed to find a place to sit towards the front of class, he felt stares shooting at the back of his neck.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fibrininogen did his work with patience. He accepted himself as a slower learner but that did not mean that he was a fool. His peers just didn\u2019t get it. The whole meaning of entering Academy was to develop and grow one’s skill set and oftentimes size. The efficiency, speed, and specificity of this development was valued above all else. This put Fibrininogen in a bad spot. It just seemed like he was not cut out for the fast-paced lifestyle in the Lands.<\/span><\/p>\n

Classmates took notice of Fibrininogen\u2019s slower development. They obsessively gossiped about it to each other. This was their path of logic: while every one of the individuals around Fibrininogen assigned to the same role continually put in their best efforts to accomplish their tasks for the Lands, Fibrininogen had yet to do the same. Fibrininogen seemed to be unmotivated. He seemed like a careless cloud, drifting his way throughout life, with no goal in life and no merit to his actions like the rest of his peers had. Ultimately, he had not the same loyalty to Lands everyone else had.<\/span><\/p>\n

To add on to this misassessment, he was made fun of for this name, especially for its length and repetition of vowels. They would say hurtful things like \u201chey, how many times can you say Fibrininogen in a row fast!?\u201d and \u201cyou have Fib in your name, so are you a liar?\u201d They would even purposely mispronounce his name so that for a while everyone thought he was called \u201cFibrininini.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Fibrininogen admitted to himself that these things bothered him, in the same way he admitted that he was a slower learner. Also self-admittedly, he loved his name more than anything. His father, a wonderful scientist, had given it to him and for good reason, the fibr- of his name stands for fibers, substances known of holding things together, and the -gen part of his name means to produce or make. The name he had perfectly fit the kind of role that he wanted to perform!<\/span><\/p>\n

For the last few weeks Fibin had been studying hard for his exams and training to join the Fibrin Squad, a group only called upon during special operations. They operate under the orders of Nibmorht, the widely respected lieutenant who also leads other squads.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nibmorht would drop by the Academy periodically. It was here where Nibmorht instilled in Fibrininogen a sense of support and backing. No one in the class would talk bad about him after Nibmorht had visited. Even if it was just for a while during those visits, Fibrininogen felt as if someone cared about him. It kept him going because he had someone like Nibmorht who believed in him \u2026 *the <\/span>shallow sirens become louder and then full blown screeches*<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Fibirininogen jolted from his seat in a panic. Everyone had left! Oh, what was he to do! The door opened rather violently as a familiar figure entered the room. \u201cIs Fibrininogen here?!?\u201d yelled the voice. It was Nibmorht! Fibrininogen rushed to him. \u201cOh, Nibmorht you gotta help me! I want to help the Lands too! I can\u2019t stand being the one left in the dust and laughed at anymore!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Nibmorht let out a grin to and a thumbs-up that followed. \u201cFib, you already have everything you need. Use your head kid, I\u2019ve always believed in you, for you have worked harder than all the rest of the lot.\u201dFibrininogen replied, \u201cBut why do you help someone like me? Someone who has no talent? Everyone hates me because they think I am not true to the Lands.\u201d He began crying. With a pat on the back Nibmorht said, \u201cBecause I used to be just like you Fib, keep working hard and you just might surpass me one day.\u201d Fibrininogen felt a surge of sureness from within. He stood up to salute Nibmorht and he rushed out the doors of the academy to join the Fribrin squad. \u201cFib\u2026 I like that.\u201d he confided in himself.<\/span><\/p>\n

With blurring speed he rushed to the site in the Lands where the Fibrin Squad were appointed. At this time the tremors had ceased but its aftermath was evident. A huge hole which leaked the Lands\u2019 contents, inhabitants and all, awaited Fib. When he arrived at the scene, it seemed like all eyes were on him yet again, but this time it was different. He had a new confidence in him, backed by Nibmorht and also by the long days of Academy studies and the strength he gained from enduring harsh comments from his peers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fibrininogen ..err or should he be called Fib now .. fell into formation almost immediately. He looked at himself, he was a different person than when he showed up at Academy. His readings guided him, theoretical now becoming practical application. He joined hands with the Fibrin Squad and they took a \u201cnet\u201d formation. They gathered up certain specialists in the area, Red Blood Cell Christina and Platelet Pete. Everyone looked stunned at the coverage that Fib had, his technique and size was splendid. The veterans in the Fibrin Squad nodded approvingly. They worked in unison to fill a leak in the Lands, and this wasn\u2019t just any leak. It was the biggest leak of all and Fib was a part in clotting it. A news report came out later detailing the events that day. An article was titled \u201cThe Fibrin Squad Does It Yet Again,, Among Them A Particularly Gifted Rookie named Fibrininogen.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hurry now to our final word, Chapter 7<\/a><\/p>\n

Back to the Table of Contents<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Another tremor could be felt throughout the Lands, leaving behind an eerie quiet. These tremors were frequent and most of the time these tremors were just that, but sometimes the result was a frantic display of reactivity and fear by … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":196,"featured_media":2500,"parent":2340,"menu_order":8006,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2366","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/psquared\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/psquared\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/psquared\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/psquared\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/196"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/psquared\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2366"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/psquared\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3086,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/psquared\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2366\/revisions\/3086"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/psquared\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2340"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/psquared\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/psquared\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}