1 Nonsense

Wow, I have this all to myself!

My eyes swept across the room, marveling at the tidy black tables that took up a third of it; the pristine countertops that lined the walls. My face reflected on the mirrors that hung along those walls shaggy, dark brown hair blocking the reflections eyes from view.

Continuing on I dragged my hand against the cool metal cabinets that contained most of the larger devices and tools that couldn't be stored in draws. Using the key I borrowed from Dad, I gently opened the doors and saw the neatly arranged equipment lining the shelves, gazing at the various devices I remembered from things that my Dad described to me. One day, I'll be able to officially work in a place like this. Oh. Let me take a picture. After taking a few pictures I looked over my Dad's notebook flipping to the details about tomorrow's experiment.

Dad said they were finally going to check to see if their hypothesis holds true. A small mischievous smile tugged in my lips, there's nothing wrong with checking to see if his experiment would hold true, I was doing this as a trial, all experiments need to be repeated to verify if their results hold true after all. After quickly convincing myself of my noble intentions, because that was what they were, I moved to set up the experiment following the instructions to the 'T'. Alright. I think that's everything. Now for the procedure.

After spending 30 minutes sifting through the notes my head hung heavily off my neck. I guess this is still too hard for me. Even though I'm taking high-school level science and math classes I can't figure out what most of it is talking about. And there's a whole bunch of mathematical symbols I don't understand. Defeated I dropped the book onto the table, leaned back in the chair.

Ugh. What time is it? … Oh man. Looks like I'll have to start if I want any chance to finish and clean up. Quickly standing, I woke myself up and turned towards the procedure guidelines. At least follow those since I know what everything is.

While going through the steps I was trying my best to be extremely careful. Making sure to complete the right steps and prime the materials correctly. Finally, after setting all that up, I had to take a break. Somehow it's so tiring to simply set this up, you'd think the calculations were the only tiring part.

After a quick break I tried to review everything quickly to make sure everything was set up correctly. Alright. Let's see the results of the experiment my Dad was working on.

Starting it up many things I didn't understand happened, but I saw that the devices did activate in the proper sequence and a beep signaling it finished. I turned around to the computer and it displayed lists of numbers separated by many columns.

I stared at the data displayed. It's really too bad. This would've been so much cooler if I knew what all this meant. Sighing heavily, I tried to enjoy just being able to complete an experiment Dad was working on and started to clean up. My lips involuntarily curving upward. This will be what it's like. Setting up experiments. Looking over the data. Exploring the frontier of science.

Uplifted I continued to put away all the pieces of equipment. After carefully clearing up the tables I looked back at my phone mimicking the placement of all the lab equipment as best I could. Finally satisfied I stepped back and looked over the once more barren room. The memory of what it once was still fresh in my mind. I turned walking out of the door letting it slowly swing shut.

At the last moment I pushed my foot back, stopping the door from fully closing. I pushed the door open once more and looked into the room. Empty like I saw in the beginning, but now in my mind I could see more clearly how alive this place is. I will be back here eventually. Due to my own hard work. With a group of my own. Nodding my head I took my badly firmly out of the doorway and walked off to my room.

____________________________________________________________________________

Walking towards the main lab I saw Liam through the glass. He stood slouched next to the table leaning against it, his hair neatly combed back. He always starts the day with his hair like that but when we're working for a while he would let his hair fall in front of his face. He probably finds it too bothersome to constantly cut it. While his face and posture said he was bored, anyone who knew him though knows that his eyes tell his true thoughts. Today they burned with excitement as he watched over the lab assistants setting up the equipment for today's experiment. I quickly drank the last of my already cool coffee and walked in, placing my mug onto the counter. "Good morning Liam. How are you today?"

"Pretty well. Just thinking over the plan for the day. Hopefully we can glean some satisfactory results." His voice bland as ever.

Laughing, I replied back, "Yeah. That's always the dream. How's the set-up coming along?"

"I've been looking it over and everything seems to be alright so far. We'll do a final once over when everybody is here and the assistants are done. Speaking of which, where's Aiden?"

"Well we have some time left before 10. I'm sure he'll spend some time reviewing his notes again before coming over."

"True. I'll sit here and do the same." Liam stopped overlooking the assistants, sat down on a nearby chair and pulled his small pocket notebook out of his lab coat.

Even though it was unlikely that we would find anything I decided to follow suit. It's better than just sitting around waiting. We sat in silence, quietly looking over our notes and formulas that we've already reviewed many times together. The assistants silently set up the devices according to the procedure the three of us made up and posted on the wall. They cleared out of the room when they finished and soon after the door opened again, Aiden walked through, his face flush and his clothes askew.

"Morning Charlie. Morning Liam. Sorry I'm so late. Is everything ready?��

Even though his clothes were a bit disheveled and his red curls unruly. Seeing his expressive face, apologetic, I decided not to address it so we can start. "Good morning Aiden. We were waiting for you to get here to check over the set-up."

"Ah. Alright well then let's start this up."

After pocketing his book Liam spoke up, "I'm ready but remember that we may have to tweak the parameters a few times to produce the right outcome."

I smiled, "Yes yes Liam. No need to remind us about the likelihood. Let's just try to start up and see what we have to work with." With nothing more to say we slowly went along each part of the set up, comparing it to our notes. Taking the time to meticulously adjust some parameters that didn't align with the first trial plan. After a while, I finished my section and checked it over a few times. "Alright I'm pretty sure my section is good for the first try."

After a few seconds Aiden reported back, "Same over here. Had to adjust for the first trial but it's all clear now."

Liam spoke after, "Good over here now. So, it looks like we are ready to start it up. Who gets to start the first try?"

After a minute of silence, I spoke up, "We all want it. Shall we leave it up to luck or skill? A few rounds of rock, paper, scissors or a short couple of games of chess?"

Aiden responded first, "Luck is fastest. And I'm starting to get a little anxious to see the results."

Liam nodded in agreement. "Also, we are likely going to have to repeat it anyway and we'll all get a chance. The initial person doesn't really matter. Let's start."

Circling together we played a few rounds and eventually Aiden got first, I got second, and Liam was third. While we all knew that Liam's earlier words were true, I was still a little disheartened with my loss.

Aiden stepped up, "Well lucky me." His hand trembling, he moved the mouse and clicked on start. We watched the various devices whirr to life and finally the measurements showed on the computer. Our eyes, filled with excitement, immediately poured over the contents. As we looked over the trials for the run my face slowly contorted in confusion.

Liam was the first to speak, "These numbers. They don't represent anything close to our models." His tone was as flat as ever. I turned to see his eyes. In them I saw the same disbelief and frustration I was feeling. They seemed to be screaming out. "This makes no sense!!"