Dr. Daniel and Dr. Phantom

It is the year 2064, at an underground laboratory where top-secret experiments are usually conducted.

This evening under the buzzing of electronic devices, two 50-year-old men are arguing at the core area of the laboratory.

"Dr. Daniel you sure you want to conduct that experiment" with a worried expression Dr. Phantom asked.

"Dr. Phantom this is the right time. All our colleagues and staff are out celebrating the director's 70th birthday and they will not be here until next week. If we miss this opportunity we will never be able to get our hands on the 'X-STONE' ever again. Initially, the authorities were comfortable having us conduct experiments on it, as per the contract. But after a decade of research just when we are getting positive results, the directors want to scarp our contract and take over our work. Remember we were the ones who found the 'X-STONE 'in the first place" Dr. Daniel said with an angry expression.

"Nevertheless if we do a high energy gamma-ray burst on the 'X-STONE 'without the authorization then we will be penalized. Also, it is very dangerous to do this experiment, as initial studies show once the 'X-STONE' is highly energized it likely be destroyed". Dr. Phantom kept shaking his head after saying this.

After hearing that, with a sneer on his face, Daniel said "My friend you are naive if you think they will let us live after we transfer all our research data to them".

A tinge of fear appeared on the face of Dr. Phantom at this time," what do you mean?"

With a calm expression on his face, Daniel explained what he had done, "When we first came here I had my suspicions so I installed a backdoor to the director's personal computer with great difficulty and I was right to do so. Through the recent communication, I figured they want to kill both of us after we give away all detailed procedures of conducted experiments"

After digesting all that was heard Dr. Phantom questioned with a fearful expression, "Let's escape immediately, or how about contacting police or media?"

Slowly shaking his head Daniel answered, "All our movement will be monitored once we get out of this core area and if we do anything suspicious we will be arrested immediately. Also, all our communications are tapped so we cannot complete a single call before the authorities are alarmed"

"We will die for sure then!?" Dr. Phantom asked with a hopeless expression on his face.

To rekindle his hopes Daniel explained his plan, "The leverage we have for our life is not enough at this point. But if we complete the Gamma Blast Experiment successfully then we can get a substantial amount of data with which we can have enough leverage. Also, the 'X-STONE' will likely be destroyed in the process, which forces the high authorities to the negotiating table for the data on our hands and on our minds"

Although Dr. Phantom is trembling with fear, after some convincing he agreed to go with Daniel on this dangerous path of no return.

"Ok, let's do this then", Dr. Phantom quickly got to work after deciding on it. It's just he didn't see the dangerous glint in Daniels's eyes after he turned around.

'My friend you cannot blame me for this. Who told you to report on all the procedures I have been conducting on the sidelines to the higher authorities behind my back. If you hadn't done that I wouldn't have steeped to this situation. You have to pay the price for going against me', While thinking this, Daniel coordinated with his friend in preparations.

Although the matter of killing is true, Daniel did have many ways to escape from here and to contact the outside world. He can hack the central computer with some effort and the rest will be easy. Any other person can easily pick up loopholes in his story but phantom seems to have become dumb and lost his reason.

'The poison given to him is showing its effect. He is following my orders instead of questioning too much which saves a lot of trouble for me' Daniel has been keeping an eye on his friend all this time and when he confirmed all going through his plan he breathe a sigh of relief.

While both are busy preparing for the dangerous experiment, there is another conversation going on in the control room at a remote corner of the laboratory.

Security Guard 1 who is wearing a black uniform and playing with an unloaded gun asked," Max what do you think those two geeks are doing down there for the last one week without showing their tails. Isn't it better to enjoy this evening with a beautiful girl"

"Why do you care about them so much, just watch the security feed silently. Also, keep a close eye on the remaining cleaning staff there were reports of petty thefts last month" security guard Max reprimanded Gaurd1 irritatingly while playing with poker cards.

"Not that I care about them, it's just ever since I saw girlfriends of those two geeks at the last silver jubilee celebrations I was unable to get a good sleep. They were more beautiful than the film stars we see these days. And the old fellows down there completely ignore the beauties for weeks or months and keep holed up there playing with disgusting specimens and computers. I also heard they are very rich having assets worth more than ten billion each. The god is unfair" Gaurd1 spilled out his true plight at this time while cussing at heavens for its unfairness.

Max also shares the same thoughts as his college but he is sensible enough to know his place in society. So he is very afraid of someone hearing their conversation and reporting to Daniel and Phantom. They may look like your average neighborhood grandpas but Max knows how cruel the two fellows are.

Especially that one named Daniel; he is accused of killing hundreds of people for experimenting. It is one of many reasons why he is nicknamed a 'Devil' by others. So if he knows we are talking behind his back then losing the job is the least of my concerns.

"let's talk about this when we meet at the bar but for now shut your mouth. I don't want to end up on a laboratory table because of your loose mouth", Max rushed to his colleague to shut his mouth before he could say anything more.

Guard1 pushed Max's hand off his mouth with an unhappy look and said," Alright I will not speak! now get off me"

Max left the room after getting off his colleague to avoid any more argument and with that, the conversation between the two ended.

At this time in the core area, Phantom who has been doing final preparations is pausing a second or two now and then unconsciously.

'What is wrong with me? Am I losing my brain because of fear of death? If I know it would come to this then, I would have never joined this research institution in the first place. All this time I have been spying on Daniel for them by keeping my life on the line but they seem to have forgotten about this matter altogether. I have no other choice but to trust Daniel at this point. I can only hope everything goes according to Daniel's plan so I can keep my life. Once I get out of this mess I should leave this carrier and enjoy my retirement.' Phantom concluded his thoughts like this and stopped paying attention to his odd behavior altogether.

Daniel was a bit happy to see his friend not raising any doubts by the time the final preparations are completed.

'The poison I gave him will kill him in a few hours, so I better move the stone to the ϒ-Apparatus (Gama Apparatus) from the locker. By my calculations, he should live through the experiment and see the result by early morning tomorrow' With this thought Daniel told his friend to do a final check-up and ready the 'ϒ-Apparatus' while he left the experiment area to get the 'X-STONE'.

Phantom started the final checkup of the power system, program algorithms and finally prepared the ϒ-Apparatus for the experiment as was told by Daniel.

Daniel went to the locker room while taking a few detours to avoid security cameras. After reaching the safe where all the precious things are preserved, he completed all authentications procedures carefully to finally get his hands on the much anticipated Treasured Gem.