Alex tossed and turned unable to calm his mind. After an hour of restlessness he groaned and rolled out of bed. This is useless, he thought to himself. Shuffling to his kitchen, he rummaged through the cabinets for his coffee and a mug. After getting his coffee pot started he walked to the boxes taking over his living room and started to go through them. He didn't have much to unpack since he didn't have much to begin with. Most of his things were fine and as he sipped his coffee he found places to display everything.
He found the bags with his clothes and put them away. Well at least I finally have some stuff to wear, he chuckled to himself. Going back to the living room, he opened one of the damaged boxes he reached in and pulled out a picture frame. The glass was cracked but the picture inside was still intact. The picture was of Alex on the shoulders of his dad while his mom looked up at them with a warm smile. “I miss you guys so much, mom and dad,” Alex said, a tear welling in the corner of his eye. “I wish you both could see me now.”
Alex continued to unpack the box. A few things were broken but nothing major. He took note to inform Emily. Reaching in, he grabbed the last thing to unwrap. He held a little clay bowl. He turned it over in his hands, the unorthodox look of it triggering an idea. I think I made this, he thought. As he concentrated on the bowl his mind was teleported. He stood above a small boy, no more than six years old, digging in the mud. That's me, he thought. He watched himself play making different shapes.
“I need a bucket or somefing to put dis stuff in,” said his younger self. His little hands flashed and the little bowl formed in the mud. “Kewl!” he said, picking it up and filling it with the mud. Alex’s mind flashed back to the present. “Whoa,” he said, examining the bowl in his hands. “I can't believe I made this. I was so young I didnt even think anything about it.” Alex set the bowl down on the table and gathered all the boxes together in the corner of the room. When he went back inside he grabbed the bucket with the material from the lab and walked to the living room.
Going to the kitchen he refilled his coffee mug and walked back to the bucket. Digging his hands into the bucket he flexed his fingers, Harden. He felt the material solidify around his hands. Relaxing his hands, he slid them out and dug into the bucket. Carefully he removed the rock-like material shaped like his hands. He grabbed a brush from his tool box that he had just unpacked and dusted the loose material off of it. He rotated it, looking over everything. “Return,” he said, holding it over the bucket. His hands gave a slight glow and the mold crumbled back into the raw material. He scooped a handful of the material and packed it into a ball. “Harden,” he said, concentrating on the ball in his hand. His hands gave a glow and the material formed into a rock. “Hah!” he exclaimed, excitement racing through his body as he felt the thrum of energy from the rock in his hand.
“Return,” he said, his hands continued glowing as the rock turned back into the raw material. He stared at the ball in his hand, “Harden.” The ball formed back into a rock. “This is amazing!” Alex said. He placed the rock on the table and grabbed more material from the bucket. He patted it into a flat disc and put the rock back on top of it. “Harden,” he said, staring at it. His hands began to glow and the disc hardened, connecting to the sphere shaped rock. “Cool,” he said, admiring his creation. “Soften,” he whispered and the whole thing crumbled back into the raw materials.
Beep! Beep! Beep! Alex jumped, the dirt flinging from his hands as his alarm clock blared through the apartment. “Crap!” he exclaimed looking at the dirt everywhere. He turned his alarm off and grabbed his vacuum. “Better clean this up and head to the lab,” he muttered to himself. Heading to the door he looked back at the bucket of material on the living room table and sighed. He grabbed the scooter, closed the apartment door, and headed to the lab.
Riding towards Lab ‘5,’ he noted that there was no one at the tables of the recreation area. Strange, he thought, there are always people here. As he pulled up to the lab he swiped his badge and opened the door. In the hallway there was a group of people in suits entering the door of the first lab room. Alex peaked in as he walked past but couldn’t see anything beyond the suited group of people. He continued down the hall and swiped his badge as he entered the lab.
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“Man there was a group of suits going into that first lab back there,” he said to the others as he put on his lab gear.
“What? Already?” Reshma exclaimed
“What do you mean already?” asked Alex.
“Have you not heard, or read the online bulletin?” Evalyn said to Alex with a frown.
“There’s an online bulletin?!” Exclaimed Siddiq.
Evalyn sighed and rolled her eyes, “Yes, there is. We are getting visits from the Capital over the next few days. Every team is going to get a visit and go over what they are working on.”
“Exactly,” Reshma said. “We should expect our visit in the next two days. So it would be nice to show something.”
“Well, um speaking of showing something,” Siddiq stumbled. “How about a laser? I mean, I knooooooow, I saaaaaaaaaay laser, but it wouldn't be exactly a laser. More of a high intensity heat beam.”
“I know we have spoken about this but, I think we should focus on one task at a time.” Reshma said dismissing Siddiq’s idea.
“I don't know,” said Alex, “Maybe Siddiq could start planning it out. Something to show that we have a back up. It’s not like all of us need to work on the press idea,” Siddiq smiled at Alex.
“That is true,” Reshma said, putting his hand on his chin. “Alright Siddiq, you go ahead and begin the planning and presentation for your ‘laser’ idea. The rest of us need to go through the data and try a few more experiments to show the suits. This is the highest priority. These are the people footing the bill around here. So let’s show them we aren't wasting time or money.”
The others all nodded in agreement. Siddiq went to one of the computers on the opposite side of where the press was and started his design plan. Evalyn started going through the diagnostics for the press with Reshma. Zayd and Alex began going through the experiment numbers and results. No one deviated from their tasks for the whole day.
Alex yawned, the restless night before catching up to him. He looked at the clock and saw it was six in the evening already.
“Oh man,” he yawned again. “I have to go. I need to see Emily before she leaves for the night.”
“Oh ya?” Zayd said, raising his eyebrows. “Hot date?”
“No,” Alex chuckled. “My things finally came but some of the boxes were damaged. I have to go over it with her for reimbursement.”
“Oh man, that sucks. Anything major damaged?” Zayd asked.
“Thankfully nothing too important,” Alex said as he got up and stretched. “Anyway, I will see you tomorrow. I think our numbers are good. So hopefully we can do a few successful experiments tomorrow.”
“Yeah, let’s try asking nicely again,” Zayd said with a smirk. Alex laughed and headed to the door to grab his things.
“Headed out?” Reshma asked.
“Yes, I need to see Emily about my stuff that was delivered. Some of it was damaged.” Alex replied, grabbing his scooter.
“Oh, alright. Bright and early tomorrow. We need to go through a lot of data before our visit,” Reshma said, turning back to the computer he and Evalyn were at.
“Yes sir,” Alex answered as he headed out the door. He followed the path making the turn towards the Admin building. He saw that the lights were still on and headed to the front door. As he reached for the door it swung in revealing a towering shadowy figure, causing him to gasp.
