Chapter 2: Time Is of the Essence

Rhyme had a quick shower, a light breakfast, and a strong coffee to start off her hectic Sunday morning. The digital clock currently projected 10:43, and Rhyme didn't want to get an earful or a lecture from the professor about what qualified as morning hours. She was glad that with the invention of air waves, traffic jams were no longer a thing. She could only go as fast as her wave scooter could get her, though.

The Global Research Center, where Rhyme was heading, stood grand and proud in the center of the Kuqala Continent. An hour away from Newgates Continent, where she resided. She saw the majestic, intimidating cultural landmark pierce the skies with a golden tip of the four pointed star that was its symbol.

"To shine a light to a braver, newer future..." Rhyme reflexively recalled the slogan of this public laboratory. All researchers from various fields and various places gathered here to make use of the facilities provided by the World Government. These researchers, regardless of origin, gender, age or religion, would in turn, propose their projects to the government, in hopes of getting it approved for funding. Naturally, there existed experts of their respective fields in the administration of the World Government, each hand-picked by their predecessors based on their abilities and proficiency in their respective fields. These experts, who had gone through various trials to be granted their seats in the government, would then determine whether or not the proposals are worth the funds, based on theory, practicality, and the impact the projects would have for the future. Simply put, it's highly selective, which is inevitable, as the government allows anyone to do research within those neo-alloy walls.

"Please STATE and PROVE your IDENTITY, as well as YOUR REASON for visiting the GRC, Miss..." a gentle, but loud voice from a smiling security guard of gargantuan proportions halted the wave scooter's movement and Rhyme's daydream. If the walls were to keep the location safe, then the guards were there to make sure no criminals invaded the labs for their insidious schemes. They all seemed to look the part.

"Rhyme Rivetta, Secretary of the State, I am here to make a personal assessment of the ongoing projects," it is well within her rights to be doing so, and she simultaneously pulled up a projection of her database.

"Please WAIT while WE VERIFY your PERSONAL information..." multiple red lasers protruded from the security device he's holding, "... IT is verified. WELCOME to the Global Research Center, Ms. Rivetta, DO enjoy your stay."

Rhyme made another impulsive assessment while she was ushered to the air parking lot to lock her wave scooter in. She had always chosen to use her fingerprint to do so as it was the least troublesome. The guards, aside from the one she met at the front gates, all had robotic complexions. This thought process halted her on her tracks as her eyes followed the march of the patrol guards.

'How peculiar... how quaint...'

"Is something the matter, Ms. Rivetta?" the familiar boom brought her back into reality, for the second time today. It had an air of formality, yet it was mixed with a hint of genuine concern. She blinked skittishly and shook her head before turning it to face the source with a smile.

"Y-yes, I'm well, thank you..." she hesitated, "Mister...?" but the guard had snuffed that squeak out almost immediately with his blaring voice.

"Well, that's GREAT to HEAR! The ENTRANCE is THIS way!" Rhyme pretended she never asked for his name in such an awkward manner, but her core cringed nonetheless. Discord was not amused by her tomfoolery.

He escorted her up to the entrance point, before duly returning to his post in the entrance. "Like clockwork..." she thought, "...like a well-oiled machine..."

Rhyme returned her focus to the task at hand, this wasn't her first visit to the Center, she needn't gawk at any and all objects of interest, but she simply couldn't help herself. She lodged into a Q-Box, one out of a series that systematically goes in and out of their determined queue, each equipped with simple forms of entertainment to pass the time quickly. The best part of it for Rhyme was that it was covered up, so that patrons may enjoy their privacy of making themselves at home.

"Oh, sweet! They got The Anonymous Anonymity!"

"Do you honestly enjoy such a poorly written movie?"

"Yo, the actor is hot, Disc, let it go!"

"Such uncouth idiom... you are but a child at heart, aren't you?"

"I don't see a problem with that!" Rhyme confirmed her selection and sat back to enjoy her queue with a generous amount of popcorn.

"You wouldn't have survived in this world on your own..."

"Lucky me to be havin' you, then!" Rhyme sang without a care in the world, munching away her delicacy while her eyes were glued to the projection. If Discord had control of the mouth that was now chewing, she would have sighed.

5 minutes before her Q-Box's turn, the humble room alerted her to clean up and prepare to meet the receptionist. Rhyme panicked but managed to pull through with Discord's arms helping her look professional.

The shutter that had concealed her from the world now opened from the front, bringing her face-to-face with the petite receptionist, brown bob hair with a cold expression, quite the antithesis to the security guard earlier.

"Researcher... or visitor?" laconic to a fault, it's quite evident she didn't enjoy what she was doing.

"Visitor, to that nutty pr-" Rhyme bit her tongue, everyone's a nutty professor here, one way or another, "-to Professor Jacquel Martinez, please."

"Jacquel Martinez..." she mumbled morosely while her fingers danced in the keys of the board. "Ms. Rhyme Rivetta?" she looked up, revealing eyes deprived of sleep and life, while waiting for Rhyme to confirm her identity.

"Yes..." Rhyme was about to ask about the receptionist's condition, in hopes that by confiding in her, she would be able to get some things off her chest, which certainly looked burdensome. However, both thoughts were extinguished presently by Discord, whose control over the body had grown volatile as of late, for the sake of Rhyme.

"The professor has been expecting you..." lethargically, she pressed a few more keys to command the system. Rhyme was allowed out of the Q-Box and into the Key-board, which would grant access to the room it's assigned to as well as the path towards the room in question.

The Key-board whirred and hummed, in a volume so low that Rhyme could only feel it once her feet were on the Key-board.

"... Enjoy your stay..."

Following the formal expression, she pressed another key to send the Key-board on its way, and Rhyme was brought to the Established Researchers' Lounge. Only those who had patented their inventions were allowed to stay in, along with their family, to continue their researches as they saw fit. It goes without saying that only those truly skillful and passionate for their crafts were allowed in the lounge. Professor Jacquel Martinez was one of such people.

While the Key-board hovered on in accordance to the path it was assigned to, Rhyme, for lack of any better thing to do, observed the terminal, a bland wall of lava gray gloomed. "They could use some redecorating..."

Then again, "they" were the types of people who didn't really care for aesthetics. The types that focus on functionality first and foremost, aesthetics afterwards. The walls were inconsequential aside from the security they provided. The same goes for the various dour doors that were identical to one another. The ones occupied looked no different than the vacant ones, the latter outnumbering the former by a landslide. It's no wonder that a Key-board had to preprogrammed with the paths to the respective rooms of the researchers staying; the only thing distinct to set apart their rooms were the unique identity numbers that may only be identified by the mainframe computers.

The Key-board had arrived at its predetermined destination. An unmanned scanning device, similar to the one the upbeat security guard was holding, albeit with a slight deviation in its design and size, promptly scanned the Key-board to verify as well as notify the tenant that a visitor had arrived.

With an agreeable bleep, the door whinged and unlocked itself, revealing walls of pristine white so bright and contrast to the outside walls that it stunned Rhyme for a moment.

"The time is 12:07 PM, Rivetta," a voice with apparent annoyance permeated across the room, "I specifically asked that you come by THIS. MORNING. Even by taking the late morning period into consideration, you are still late by 7 minutes!"

Rhyme didn't appreciate the patronizing of the professor, "Awww, come on, cut me some slack! I sacrificed my Sunday for you and anything-" then Discord cut her off before she's able to utter another word of whine, "besides, you need me, should you hope to patent this 'pet project' of yours posthaste. Time is quite of the essence for you now, isn't it, Professor? Your deadline to have another patent lest you be evicted..." she checked her papers, simply as a gesture, as she had memorized it, "...is in three months, correct?"

Rhyme, quite literally, internally screamed at Discord, "Why do you decide to interrupt me in the middle of my speech, you bee-?!"

To which Discord responded through her thoughts, "I'm doing you a favor here, so shut that vulgar mouth of yours."

Jacquel grunted. "Touché, Rivetta. Very well. I'll tolerate your tardiness this time," Discord gave a smirk, much to Rhyme's chagrin; she had to admit that Discord was much more capable in persuasion and negotiation. She didn't like admitting defeat to her alter ego.

"Well, then, don't just stand in the entrance, get in! It's not your first time here," Jacquel commanded. The taps from Rhyme's heels permeated throughout the seemingly empty room, though it most likely had a treasure trove of gizmos and gadgets stowed away neatly in the many furnitures as white as the walls.

The professor was hunched in what appeared to be his laboratory. There were scientific apparatuses strewn here and there, still neatly categorized, but looked relatively messier. He was soldering something and only stood straight when he's finished the process. "Alright, Rivetta, let's get down to business," straight to the point, "Come with me."

the professor led Discord towards a staircase spiraling downwards. The lounges were more spacious than it looked. "I was under the impression that whatever you were working on just now was part of the project?"

"That? No, I was bored of waiting for you so I thought up of another project in case this one's rejected," he operated the security system to unlock the basement, "as you know, time is of the essence. I need to keep this lounge and the privileges that come with it for my family."

"Sob stories won't earn you any leeway, Professor."

Rhyme pouted, "That's so meaaaaaan, the man's doing his best! Cut him some slack!"

"You know, I pegged you as an airheaded klutz that got into the government by mistake, buy you sure can be professional when it comes down to it."

A smirk. Another point for Discord.

"Don't worry, I didn't make you come down here just to listen to the woes of an old man," he walked as he talked, one hand in his pocket all the while. The other was already fluttering around the buttons of a separate panel. Jacquel paused, turned his wizened face towards Rhyme, "You might want to... step back, or grab hold of something nearby."

Heeding his words, Rhyme embraced a corner of the wall tightly. If Discord had control of the hands, she would have facepalmed. "I yield control to you for a few... seconds... and already you're embarrassing yourself."

Indeed, the sudden transition brought a condescending smile to Jacquel's face, as he ordered the systems, "BaseLab, Activate Footholder, location Tile #34," Rhyme could hear a drone, but couldn't determine what that order was for, until her short changes escaped her suit's pockets to gather around the professor's feet, which now seemed to be rooted to the spot. "Supermagnets," Discord whispered.

Noticing the coins, Jacquel snarked, "Well, excuse me, your coins seem to be attracted to me; I'll return them later, I'm not that desperate for cash, just the privileges," he pressed a button with his index finger before Rhyme could rebut, and an intense shockwave immediately followed.

Had it not been for the professor's warning, Rhyme would have been blown away back to the entrance, possibly with a concussion. This was not exaggeration from her part, but a conclusion from the professor's calm statement after the wave had dissipated to a whirr, "Crazy, isn't it? It literally blew me away and knocked me out; Thea had to nurse me for a few hours before I gained mobility."

"So your pet project-" Rhyme gasped, still trying to stabilize her lungs from the sudden air pressure,"-that you wanted to patent, and receive fundings to mass-produce-" she inhaled deeply, "-in hopes of extending your stay in the lounge-" she began panting, "-is an overpowered... hair dryer? Fan? Air bazooka? What... have you actually become nutty, Professor?"

"No, you ignorant ignoramus, the shockwave is a... how do you say... a side effect, so to speak. My pet project is the one currently whirring."

The whirr did keep invading Rhyme's earlobes, though she had taken it as a recoil from the shockwave. That triggered her to take another look around the room, and it didn't take long for her to notice the iridescent light sourcing from a great rift tearing away at a space of the basement.

"And... that is..?"

"A portal."

"A portal?!"

"Prototype. I would need much more surveillance and experiments, the ones that not even the GRC can facilitate, to accurately determine if it could teleport humans from one place to another safely, or else disintegrate them into atoms, as well as how to pinpoint and calibrate the coordinati- are you listening?"

Rhyme was rooted to the spot, not by a Supermagnet, but an epiphany. "This is it..." she muttered to herself, "this is it, this is it..."

"Oy, did the shockwave blow your mind all the way to Newgates? I was explai-"

"I'M SOLD ON THE IDEA AND I WILL FIGHT TO THE DEATH TO GET THIS APPROVED, PROFESSOR!"

"I- Okay, thanks, I guess," Jacquel was taken aback by her outburst. As they were making their way back to the entrance hall, the notification system announced in a robotic female voice, "Professor Jacquel Martinez, Thea Vellise-Martinez, accompanied by Sylvie Martinez has arrived at the front door, requesting access to enter."

"Access granted."

"PAPAAAAAA!!" a shrill voice broke through the otherwise silence room, a ball of energy then attacked the professor with a very energetic hug.

"Oh, dear, a visitor?" a silky, mature voice followed, directed towards Rhyme.

"Ah, yes, Rhyme Rivetta, Secretary of State... I'm here to give personal appraisal to your husband's work..."

"I see, so you're the Rivetta my husband was calling so late at night," she cackled in a dignified manner, "I knew my friend's worries of my husband cheating would be unfounded."

"Thea, honey, please, I would never even dream of such things," his gruff voice was a bit smoother, a bit gentler now.

"Of course, dear," she smiled the most gorgeous smile, "Incidentally, Ms. Rivetta, I believe this to be our first meeting, apologies for the late introduction, but my name is Thea Vellise-Martinez, pleased to make your acquaintance... Would you care for some tea?"

She had already advanced towards the pristine kitchen, brewing tea, before Rhyme had realized, the floral aroma soon permeated the room.

"Oh, no, I was just leaving," Rhyme made a courteous bow, her peripherals caught a side of Jacquel she had never seen or heard before.

"Aww, Daddy missed Daddy's lil' princess too~ how was school today?"

Now Rhyme understood why he insisted on morning appointments and late night projects. Nothing else mattered when his daughter was near him. It seemed the wife adored and was amused by the personality gap between the professor and the father, as she chuckled softly while pouring tea to her cup.

The child rambled on incessantly in broken sentences, and his smile grew wider and wider. He patted her head, his tan skin about three shades darker than her hair, and as he did, the wave-hairband tying her hair into pigtails hummed slightly.

"My, that's such a shame, then please do take care, Ms. Rivetta, I do hope you may join us for tea sometime," Thea Vellise-Martinez simply radiated a dignified aura around her, akin to the queens of olden times, that made Rhyme feel the need to accept her invitation. However, (and she didn't need Discord to remind her) she had found new light to her predicament. She was determined not to dawdle any longer.

She rushed back to her wave scooter, unlocked it with her fingerprint, and activated the mobile drone extension. "Send message to Contact: President, Subject: GRC Project Proposal, Start: Would like to request appointment with the cabinet tomorrow morning, A-S-A-P, urgent. End."

She fixed the scarlet strands of her hair, and looked forward to realize the light she had seen in that basement. For the sake of humanity. Discord knew well that determined glimmer in her eyes. There was no more reasoning with Rhyme, she would have to go along with whatever she had planned now.

"I will... get this project approved! I have to... It'll at least buy time... much needed time..."