Vince got down to working on the machine again and by late night he was finished. He wasn’t still sure if he’s done everything that he wanted to get done.
- “I finished.” He then said.
Christina quickly snapped out of the nap she was having.
- “What? The machine is done?”
- “Yes… I think so.” Vince was unsure.
- “So? When are we starting it up?” Christina asked.
- “We can start it up now if you wish. I don’t see any reason to wait.” Vince advised.
- “All right. Pete!” she called Pete who was in the next door room.
After a few seconds Pete walked in.
- “What is it?”
- “Vince says the machine is ready, so we’re thinking of executing it.” Christina told him.
- “Brilliant. What are we waiting for then? I hope it works.”
- “I hope so too, but we can’t be sure.” Vince said.
- “What did you do to it anyway?” Pete wondered.
- “Long story short – I changed a few gears, changed the frequency of the wave it will send out and just fixed its state after it got damaged.” Vince explained.
- “OK, well we don’t have much to lose, so I am eager for this to go off.” Pete said.
- “I am anxious about this, but I do trust you, Vince.” Christina said honestly.
- “I am anxious myself. If something goes wrong then I’m the one to blame, and I won’t ever forgive myself if I worsen the situation.” Vince said.
The three of them then began activating the machine. Vince was taking control of the main panel and was telling Pete and Christina if he needed them to do something, like flipping some switch on a different panel for example.
The machine got started and buzzed slightly.
- “Vince, is this noise normal?” Christina asked about the buzzing.
- “I would think so. A machine of this size can’t be noiseless.” Vince predicted.
Vince then pressed a few buttons in the correct order and the machine went on full power.
- “Now, time to find out the inevitable.” Vince said, then took a deep breath and flipped the final switch on.
The machine gave off a strange sound and then began radiating out some waves.
- “We need to exit the room in case something happens to the machine.” Vince then advised and the three of them exited and stood in the hallway.
The machine was giving off very strange sounds and those sounds made the trio very anxious.
- “By the plan the main wave should be emitted any second now.” Vincent said.
As soon as he said it the machine gave off an extremely loud sound and a bright flash. Vince, Christina and Pete had to look away and even felt dizzy. Once they recovered their senses they looked back. The machine was now making only very gentle sounds.
- “It has been done… and we’re alive. So it didn’t do anything bad, but I wonder if it did anything good.” Vince said.
- “I’m sleepy now. I’ll probably find out in the morning.” Christina said.
- “Me too, but I’m too curious.” Pete said.
- “At least we can sleep all right tonight since nothing bad has happened.” Vince reassured them and then walked up to the main panel and switched the machine off.
- “All right, in that case come soon tomorrow morning.” Christina said with slight excitement.
Showing posts with label labs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label labs. Show all posts
Sunday, 22 March 2009
Chapter 18 - Relocation
They came back home. Pete was up already, so they confronted him and told him that they must spend a few days in the Redwell lab. That way they’d be safe from police and also will get Vince more time to work on the machine. Pete somewhat agreed to that.
- “All right. In that case we should take off there today.” Vince suggested, “The earlier we go the less chances of getting caught.”
- “OK. Let’s spend the next couple of hours deciding what to take. We’ll need food, and also…” Christina was saying.
- “We can always buy food.” Pete spoke.
- “Yes, but we also better take as much as we can too so we won’t have to go shopping too much. The less we show ourselves the safer it is.” Christina said.
- “Exactly.” Vince agreed.
- “Whilst there, could you also create a machine that will make people think we’re celebrities?” Pete said to Vince.
- “I don’t think…” Vince began, but then Pete interrupted him.
- “I’m just kidding, man.”
Vince smiled.
- “OK, I’ll get onto it then.” Christina said and went off to collect the stuff they’ll take.
- “All right. I’ll just spend some time looking through those files Robert gave me.” Vince responded.
Pete went to help Christina pack useful stuff, while Vince began reading the files again. One of the files caught his eyes. It was a rather scrunched sheet of paper trapped in between the rest of the documents. Vince just read it out of curiosity.
Dear Robert
It came to my knowledge that we aren’t allowed to test our newest invention – the IQ amplifier. I am very disappointed by this. The reason for that is that it’s not safe just yet and that we should use it on a small scale first, like a miniature version of it. Personally I don’t want to waste time on that. I want you to assemble everyone in your lab and to fire it up tonight. I’ll be there to experience it too. They’ll be sorry they refused to let us put it to use. This invention can revolutionise the world.
Vince looked up after having read that. This really made him think. The last he remembered, Robert told them they were allowed to put this machine to use. It seems that they forced this invention upon the world, creating their so-called revolution. Pete was right. Robert did lie to them, also meaning that he wasn’t immune to the effect of the machine. Vince didn’t approve of being lied to like that. If not this persistence then the whole apocalypse would’ve never happened. It’s scientists like that which he despised, those who took risks too early and ended up corrupting a huge community of people.
He quickly went over to Christina and Pete and let them read the note.
- “So he lied to us then?” Pete asked with slight anger when he finished reading.
- “Yes he did. They were never allowed to conduct that experiment. However they decided to still go on with it in secrecy, bringing about this nightmare upon us.” Vince explained.
- “We have got to go back to those labs. I am so going to strangle that foolish scientist.” Christina said.
- “I’ll help you with that.” Pete added.
- “Guys, guys! Let’s not overreact. What’s done is done. There is no point regretting it. All we can do now is to attempt to fix it.” Vince cooled them off.
The three of them then continued packing and soon were ready to head out to the Redwell labs. They made sure to take very little so that they didn’t have to carry much up there. They didn’t have a car, and public transport isn’t a good idea if they wanted to stay relatively unseen.
The walk was long and tiring, but in the end they reached the labs building in one peace. They cautiously headed upstairs to the room with the device and left their stuff in a next door room. Pete then began heading for the 6th floor where they remembered Robert was staying. Vince and Christina quickly joined him and decided to confront Robert together. When they went upstairs and entered the tiny 6th floor consisting of only one average room, Robert was long gone. He didn’t leave any messages behind; he just vanished and took some of his stuff with him.
- “Damn it.” Pete cursed, “He knew we’ll figure it out.”
- “Don’t worry about him.” Vince said, “He won’t do anything. Afterall he is not a criminal. He’s just unlucky that his experiment went wrong.”
- “Well he brought his bad luck on all of us.” Pete said back.
- “True, but it’s also a risk of being a scientist. However I do still blame them for doing what they were not allowed to do.” Vince explained.
- “Well if there is nothing else to do here then I’m going to go downstairs and make the place tidy enough for us to stay for a few days.” Christina brought up.
- “Sure, I’ll help you out.” Vince said.
Three of them then went back down to the 5th floor. Though the state of the place was horrid, they’ve still managed to set up a little living area where they could chill out for a bit, but most of the time Vince was working on the machine and Christina and Pete were helping him out. Whenever they needed any tools, they had to go out and buy them. Their money was running out and it was also dangerous to be out for too long. However no danger came to them during that so all was good.
- “All right. In that case we should take off there today.” Vince suggested, “The earlier we go the less chances of getting caught.”
- “OK. Let’s spend the next couple of hours deciding what to take. We’ll need food, and also…” Christina was saying.
- “We can always buy food.” Pete spoke.
- “Yes, but we also better take as much as we can too so we won’t have to go shopping too much. The less we show ourselves the safer it is.” Christina said.
- “Exactly.” Vince agreed.
- “Whilst there, could you also create a machine that will make people think we’re celebrities?” Pete said to Vince.
- “I don’t think…” Vince began, but then Pete interrupted him.
- “I’m just kidding, man.”
Vince smiled.
- “OK, I’ll get onto it then.” Christina said and went off to collect the stuff they’ll take.
- “All right. I’ll just spend some time looking through those files Robert gave me.” Vince responded.
Pete went to help Christina pack useful stuff, while Vince began reading the files again. One of the files caught his eyes. It was a rather scrunched sheet of paper trapped in between the rest of the documents. Vince just read it out of curiosity.
Dear Robert
It came to my knowledge that we aren’t allowed to test our newest invention – the IQ amplifier. I am very disappointed by this. The reason for that is that it’s not safe just yet and that we should use it on a small scale first, like a miniature version of it. Personally I don’t want to waste time on that. I want you to assemble everyone in your lab and to fire it up tonight. I’ll be there to experience it too. They’ll be sorry they refused to let us put it to use. This invention can revolutionise the world.
Vince looked up after having read that. This really made him think. The last he remembered, Robert told them they were allowed to put this machine to use. It seems that they forced this invention upon the world, creating their so-called revolution. Pete was right. Robert did lie to them, also meaning that he wasn’t immune to the effect of the machine. Vince didn’t approve of being lied to like that. If not this persistence then the whole apocalypse would’ve never happened. It’s scientists like that which he despised, those who took risks too early and ended up corrupting a huge community of people.
He quickly went over to Christina and Pete and let them read the note.
- “So he lied to us then?” Pete asked with slight anger when he finished reading.
- “Yes he did. They were never allowed to conduct that experiment. However they decided to still go on with it in secrecy, bringing about this nightmare upon us.” Vince explained.
- “We have got to go back to those labs. I am so going to strangle that foolish scientist.” Christina said.
- “I’ll help you with that.” Pete added.
- “Guys, guys! Let’s not overreact. What’s done is done. There is no point regretting it. All we can do now is to attempt to fix it.” Vince cooled them off.
The three of them then continued packing and soon were ready to head out to the Redwell labs. They made sure to take very little so that they didn’t have to carry much up there. They didn’t have a car, and public transport isn’t a good idea if they wanted to stay relatively unseen.
The walk was long and tiring, but in the end they reached the labs building in one peace. They cautiously headed upstairs to the room with the device and left their stuff in a next door room. Pete then began heading for the 6th floor where they remembered Robert was staying. Vince and Christina quickly joined him and decided to confront Robert together. When they went upstairs and entered the tiny 6th floor consisting of only one average room, Robert was long gone. He didn’t leave any messages behind; he just vanished and took some of his stuff with him.
- “Damn it.” Pete cursed, “He knew we’ll figure it out.”
- “Don’t worry about him.” Vince said, “He won’t do anything. Afterall he is not a criminal. He’s just unlucky that his experiment went wrong.”
- “Well he brought his bad luck on all of us.” Pete said back.
- “True, but it’s also a risk of being a scientist. However I do still blame them for doing what they were not allowed to do.” Vince explained.
- “Well if there is nothing else to do here then I’m going to go downstairs and make the place tidy enough for us to stay for a few days.” Christina brought up.
- “Sure, I’ll help you out.” Vince said.
Three of them then went back down to the 5th floor. Though the state of the place was horrid, they’ve still managed to set up a little living area where they could chill out for a bit, but most of the time Vince was working on the machine and Christina and Pete were helping him out. Whenever they needed any tools, they had to go out and buy them. Their money was running out and it was also dangerous to be out for too long. However no danger came to them during that so all was good.
Chapter 11 – A mysterious dweller
- “Who are you, people?” a voice came from the entrance of the room.
Vince, Christina and Pete, all simultaneously jumped from their skin and turned around.
A mysterious guy stood in the doorway. He looked like he was badly injured as he was barely standing up. He wore really old clothes and had a band tied around his whole face, except for the eyes.
- “We’re sorry…” Vince began but got interrupted by that man:
- “Don’t be. I haven’t had visitors here in ages.”
- “Who are you?” Christina asked the man.
The man slowly began walking up to them. They walked up to him too. He then sat down on the floor and began talking:
- “My name is Robert Cran, and I am responsible for this mess. You see…”
- “Wait, you invented this machine?” Vincent asked.
- “Yes. That’s right.”
- “What went wrong?”
- “Ahh, let me explain everything. We were working on a machine that will boost the human intelligence. By tweaking the brainwaves slightly can help the human IQ rise. Of course it won’t make you know more; it would’ve only improved the way you used your knowledge. However it looks like we didn’t get the results we’ve desired.”
- “So why hasn’t it worked on you? Or are you lying right now?” Christina asked.
- “I don’t know why it hasn’t worked on me. It grasped my mind a bit in the beginning, but it left me quickly.”
- “So, you’re immune to it?” Vince asked.
- “Lying is not an infection. Maybe my brain is somehow adapted to it. Afterall, it’s a bit of a mess, since I’ve been a test subject for many neurological experiments when I first began my science career.”
- “You got that right.” Pete insulted.
- “Pete! Be quiet.” Christina snapped at him.
- “No it’s OK. I know I’m crazy. Maybe that’s why my research didn’t work out.” Robert said.
- “Hey now. The greatest minds are also the craziest.” Vince said to him.
- “Well, is there any way we can fix this now?” Christina asked.
- “Doubt it. It needs years of designing a device that can reverse the effect. And you definitely can’t do it without the equipment we have here.”
- “Can I ask a question?” Pete barged in again.
- “Sure.”
- “Were you even given permission to conduct your experiment? Because I didn’t hear anything about it.”
- “Yes we have been. But only if we conduct it on a minor scale. The thing is… the machine went berserk. We were only gonna test it on the people in a room, but the machine took effect on several miles-worth of area.”
- “Science projects.” Pete shook his head and then turned away to go keep looking for stuff.
- “So, would you help us fix this? I am determined to change things back.” Vince said.
- “Ah sure. You can have all the documents I’ve managed to save. As for me, I am not in a condition to do anything. I’m sorry.” Robert explained.
- “Thanks.”
Robert got up and went to the tiny 6th floor where he stayed most of the time and brought all of the sketches and other important documents concerning the device. Vince thanked him, and him together with Christina and Pete took off.
- “Strange guy.” Pete said.
- “You’ve been kinda mean to him.” Christina brought up.
- “Yeah well, it’s because idiots like him make me angry. Their little science projects ruin other people’s lives.”
- “I’m sorry.” Vince said.
- “You haven’t done anything.” Pete looked at him strangely.
- “Yeah, but I am one of those people with little science projects that go wrong.”
- “Well at least you’re someone who is willing to help us. I mean, you very well could’ve been working on a machine to get you out of here.” Pete admitted.
- “That is true, but I won’t leave, and I am saying the truth.”
Vince, Christina and Pete, all simultaneously jumped from their skin and turned around.
A mysterious guy stood in the doorway. He looked like he was badly injured as he was barely standing up. He wore really old clothes and had a band tied around his whole face, except for the eyes.
- “We’re sorry…” Vince began but got interrupted by that man:
- “Don’t be. I haven’t had visitors here in ages.”
- “Who are you?” Christina asked the man.
The man slowly began walking up to them. They walked up to him too. He then sat down on the floor and began talking:
- “My name is Robert Cran, and I am responsible for this mess. You see…”
- “Wait, you invented this machine?” Vincent asked.
- “Yes. That’s right.”
- “What went wrong?”
- “Ahh, let me explain everything. We were working on a machine that will boost the human intelligence. By tweaking the brainwaves slightly can help the human IQ rise. Of course it won’t make you know more; it would’ve only improved the way you used your knowledge. However it looks like we didn’t get the results we’ve desired.”
- “So why hasn’t it worked on you? Or are you lying right now?” Christina asked.
- “I don’t know why it hasn’t worked on me. It grasped my mind a bit in the beginning, but it left me quickly.”
- “So, you’re immune to it?” Vince asked.
- “Lying is not an infection. Maybe my brain is somehow adapted to it. Afterall, it’s a bit of a mess, since I’ve been a test subject for many neurological experiments when I first began my science career.”
- “You got that right.” Pete insulted.
- “Pete! Be quiet.” Christina snapped at him.
- “No it’s OK. I know I’m crazy. Maybe that’s why my research didn’t work out.” Robert said.
- “Hey now. The greatest minds are also the craziest.” Vince said to him.
- “Well, is there any way we can fix this now?” Christina asked.
- “Doubt it. It needs years of designing a device that can reverse the effect. And you definitely can’t do it without the equipment we have here.”
- “Can I ask a question?” Pete barged in again.
- “Sure.”
- “Were you even given permission to conduct your experiment? Because I didn’t hear anything about it.”
- “Yes we have been. But only if we conduct it on a minor scale. The thing is… the machine went berserk. We were only gonna test it on the people in a room, but the machine took effect on several miles-worth of area.”
- “Science projects.” Pete shook his head and then turned away to go keep looking for stuff.
- “So, would you help us fix this? I am determined to change things back.” Vince said.
- “Ah sure. You can have all the documents I’ve managed to save. As for me, I am not in a condition to do anything. I’m sorry.” Robert explained.
- “Thanks.”
Robert got up and went to the tiny 6th floor where he stayed most of the time and brought all of the sketches and other important documents concerning the device. Vince thanked him, and him together with Christina and Pete took off.
- “Strange guy.” Pete said.
- “You’ve been kinda mean to him.” Christina brought up.
- “Yeah well, it’s because idiots like him make me angry. Their little science projects ruin other people’s lives.”
- “I’m sorry.” Vince said.
- “You haven’t done anything.” Pete looked at him strangely.
- “Yeah, but I am one of those people with little science projects that go wrong.”
- “Well at least you’re someone who is willing to help us. I mean, you very well could’ve been working on a machine to get you out of here.” Pete admitted.
- “That is true, but I won’t leave, and I am saying the truth.”
Chapter 10 – In search of clues
Vince woke up quite early in the morning because constant thinking on the night before didn’t let him go into deep sleep. He woke up feeling slightly tired, but he was still determined to go to Redwell labs and find out as much as he could about the lab accident.
He still stayed in bed for a bit because he didn’t want to wake up Pete and Christina at such an early hour. He was wondering whether he’d be able to fix the problem after they find out its origins. He wasn’t so sure of his abilities because this seemed like an impossible thing to reverse. Lies – that is a human consciousness and it’s impossible to fix that. However the desire to lie might be fixed. It might take him years, but he was determined to spend the rest of his life on that.
After waiting for about half an hour and singing his favourite songs in his head, Vincent got up and began getting ready.
Very soon he went into the lounge room and saw Christina there watching TV on a quiet volume.
- “You’re up pretty early.” He said.
- “I couldn’t sleep last night because of all that was happening, so I just read for a few hours and then came here.” Christina explained.
- “Me too. I slept for only about 5 hours.” Vince admitted, “Been thinking too much of our little quest today.”
- “I hope this little quest will prove to be quite big and important in the long run.”
- “It will. I have a feeling it’s gonna be our breakthrough.”
- “Great! I am ready to go anytime. But I think Pete is really enjoying his sleep so we probably should wait till he wakes up.”
- “That’s fine. It’s really early still.”
The two of them watched TV for about an hour and a bit, chatting a bit about life and when Pete woke up, all were ready to set off. Redwell labs were on the outskirts of the city, so it would take a while to get there. They didn’t have a car, and bus drivers can’t be trusted anymore with all the lying going around, so the only way was to walk there.
The walk lasted about an hour. Although it was rather tiring, all three of them enjoyed it. The labs were in a sort of remote location, away from any person’s house. The lab building was 5 storeys high, with an extra mini-floor on the roof. By the outside of the building, they could already tell it was battered and derelict.
- “This place gives me the chills.” Christina said as soon as she stepped through the front door.
- “Ruins of labs are never pleasant. Been to one of those before. On top of it looking unwelcoming already, it also had tonnes of poison gases in some rooms because of the volatile chemicals being spilled after the accident that was its doom. I’ve seen one of my co-workers die in a hospital bed after he breathed in too much of that.” Vince explained.
- “Really? Aw, I am sorry to hear that. It seems you’ve seen so much suffering in your life already. So we might run into some of those here as well?”
- “It’s possible, though by the looks of this place it seems more of a lab for building devices rather than conducting research with dangerous substances.”
- “So what exactly are we looking for?” Pete barged in.
- “Some huge machine that exploded and spread the lies.” Vince answered.
Once they reached a slightly worn out panel on the wall they read it. It mentioned what kind of research was conducted on which floor. It seemed that neurological research was taking place on the fifth floor, so the three of them headed straight there.
That floor was a total mess. Most of the walls were knocked down from a powerful explosion, there were some skeletons there of those who were caught in it, and the big bad device caught their eyes pretty quickly. It was gigantic and occupied nearly a third of the whole floor.
- “This thing looks like some probe that fell out of space.” Christina commented.
- “Meh, I’ve seen better.” Pete lied.
Vince didn’t say anything. He was also awed by the sight of the broken device. He approached it slowly and began looking at it from every side.
- “Want to take it home?” Pete asked.
- “Sorry, I got carried away. This device is massive. I wonder how long it took them to build something like this.”
- “Probably ages.” Christina said.
- “All right, well we better find something that might be of value for our dilemma.” Vince suggested.
They began looking around the trashed place for something useful. It was like looking for a trace of gold among all the dirt. But the place was such a mess that it seemed hopeless.
He still stayed in bed for a bit because he didn’t want to wake up Pete and Christina at such an early hour. He was wondering whether he’d be able to fix the problem after they find out its origins. He wasn’t so sure of his abilities because this seemed like an impossible thing to reverse. Lies – that is a human consciousness and it’s impossible to fix that. However the desire to lie might be fixed. It might take him years, but he was determined to spend the rest of his life on that.
After waiting for about half an hour and singing his favourite songs in his head, Vincent got up and began getting ready.
Very soon he went into the lounge room and saw Christina there watching TV on a quiet volume.
- “You’re up pretty early.” He said.
- “I couldn’t sleep last night because of all that was happening, so I just read for a few hours and then came here.” Christina explained.
- “Me too. I slept for only about 5 hours.” Vince admitted, “Been thinking too much of our little quest today.”
- “I hope this little quest will prove to be quite big and important in the long run.”
- “It will. I have a feeling it’s gonna be our breakthrough.”
- “Great! I am ready to go anytime. But I think Pete is really enjoying his sleep so we probably should wait till he wakes up.”
- “That’s fine. It’s really early still.”
The two of them watched TV for about an hour and a bit, chatting a bit about life and when Pete woke up, all were ready to set off. Redwell labs were on the outskirts of the city, so it would take a while to get there. They didn’t have a car, and bus drivers can’t be trusted anymore with all the lying going around, so the only way was to walk there.
The walk lasted about an hour. Although it was rather tiring, all three of them enjoyed it. The labs were in a sort of remote location, away from any person’s house. The lab building was 5 storeys high, with an extra mini-floor on the roof. By the outside of the building, they could already tell it was battered and derelict.
- “This place gives me the chills.” Christina said as soon as she stepped through the front door.
- “Ruins of labs are never pleasant. Been to one of those before. On top of it looking unwelcoming already, it also had tonnes of poison gases in some rooms because of the volatile chemicals being spilled after the accident that was its doom. I’ve seen one of my co-workers die in a hospital bed after he breathed in too much of that.” Vince explained.
- “Really? Aw, I am sorry to hear that. It seems you’ve seen so much suffering in your life already. So we might run into some of those here as well?”
- “It’s possible, though by the looks of this place it seems more of a lab for building devices rather than conducting research with dangerous substances.”
- “So what exactly are we looking for?” Pete barged in.
- “Some huge machine that exploded and spread the lies.” Vince answered.
Once they reached a slightly worn out panel on the wall they read it. It mentioned what kind of research was conducted on which floor. It seemed that neurological research was taking place on the fifth floor, so the three of them headed straight there.
That floor was a total mess. Most of the walls were knocked down from a powerful explosion, there were some skeletons there of those who were caught in it, and the big bad device caught their eyes pretty quickly. It was gigantic and occupied nearly a third of the whole floor.
- “This thing looks like some probe that fell out of space.” Christina commented.
- “Meh, I’ve seen better.” Pete lied.
Vince didn’t say anything. He was also awed by the sight of the broken device. He approached it slowly and began looking at it from every side.
- “Want to take it home?” Pete asked.
- “Sorry, I got carried away. This device is massive. I wonder how long it took them to build something like this.”
- “Probably ages.” Christina said.
- “All right, well we better find something that might be of value for our dilemma.” Vince suggested.
They began looking around the trashed place for something useful. It was like looking for a trace of gold among all the dirt. But the place was such a mess that it seemed hopeless.
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