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Chapter 1, Welcome to the Labyrinth
- written 15th Nov 2007 by buddboy
- view the story page
An introduction to the Labyrinth, a scientific institute under London
Tags : scifiTimPunitThe Professor
Situated in the middle of Kensington's picturesque Victorian era townhouses was the concrete jungle of Imperial College. It was altogether out of place when compared to its historic surroundings. The labyrinth lay under the science and technology institute. As Imperial's need for research space had grown local by-laws had prevented it from growing up or out, so the labyrinth came into being. There were probably more people under street level than above it. Down here was found some of the neatest items of science and technology equipment.
Although working underground didn't sound ideal, the labyrinth had been extremely well designed, with a huge cylindrical atrium bringing down natural light from above to be distributed. Researchers in multitudes of fields would be found here at all times of the day, immersed in their projects. Some would be sprawled out on the sofas littered around the communal areas, catching a little sleep in between getting a paper out. Others would be writing equations on the walls, not in the antisocial graffiti kind of way, for you see every wall (and some ceilings strangely) in the labyrinth was also a writing board.
During the last few weeks the labyrinth had been a hive of activity. Something really big was in the air. Two immensely ambitious projects had shown real signs of success. There was a feeling the gene therapy and gene function analysis groups had a nose in front of their worldwide competitors, in the biggest races in their fields.
Tim was a research assistant in the gene therapy group, and at that moment he was to be found in one of the communal areas (or caves). He was with a group of other researchers, all of them waiting for the chef's six o'clock cakes. This was an institution in the labyrinth, and a good opportunity for a chit chat. They were currently discussing the old Batman series of the 1960s. Somehow it had come up in conversation, and everyone had chimed in.
"Poor, poor Robin. Batman's costume was bad, but Robin's was awful. Terrible...", said Punit, a postdoc in gene function, shaking his head in sympathy.
"Yeah, it must have destroyed his career. What can you act as after you've been Robin and worn that hideous costume", replied Tim. In fact him and Punit both made mental notes to Wikipedia the latter career of the guy who played Robin in the 1960s Batman.
As the cakes were coming out, Tim's professor, or as Tim called him "The Professor", shuffled around the corner. he approached Tim and Punit with an uber relaxed style in his pyjama bottoms and slippers.
"Hello gents"
"Evening professor,"they replied in unison
"I hope you'll be coming to the meeting with the minister this evening".
The government knew there had been some very promising progress at the college, and the soon to be prime minister Gilles Black was paying a visit this evening. Tim was on the spot, and couldn't think of an excuse. In the end he agreed to go. It was not his thing, and he may not have the chance to find out what happened to Robin till tomorrow.
Although working underground didn't sound ideal, the labyrinth had been extremely well designed, with a huge cylindrical atrium bringing down natural light from above to be distributed. Researchers in multitudes of fields would be found here at all times of the day, immersed in their projects. Some would be sprawled out on the sofas littered around the communal areas, catching a little sleep in between getting a paper out. Others would be writing equations on the walls, not in the antisocial graffiti kind of way, for you see every wall (and some ceilings strangely) in the labyrinth was also a writing board.
During the last few weeks the labyrinth had been a hive of activity. Something really big was in the air. Two immensely ambitious projects had shown real signs of success. There was a feeling the gene therapy and gene function analysis groups had a nose in front of their worldwide competitors, in the biggest races in their fields.
Tim was a research assistant in the gene therapy group, and at that moment he was to be found in one of the communal areas (or caves). He was with a group of other researchers, all of them waiting for the chef's six o'clock cakes. This was an institution in the labyrinth, and a good opportunity for a chit chat. They were currently discussing the old Batman series of the 1960s. Somehow it had come up in conversation, and everyone had chimed in.
"Poor, poor Robin. Batman's costume was bad, but Robin's was awful. Terrible...", said Punit, a postdoc in gene function, shaking his head in sympathy.
"Yeah, it must have destroyed his career. What can you act as after you've been Robin and worn that hideous costume", replied Tim. In fact him and Punit both made mental notes to Wikipedia the latter career of the guy who played Robin in the 1960s Batman.
As the cakes were coming out, Tim's professor, or as Tim called him "The Professor", shuffled around the corner. he approached Tim and Punit with an uber relaxed style in his pyjama bottoms and slippers.
"Hello gents"
"Evening professor,"they replied in unison
"I hope you'll be coming to the meeting with the minister this evening".
The government knew there had been some very promising progress at the college, and the soon to be prime minister Gilles Black was paying a visit this evening. Tim was on the spot, and couldn't think of an excuse. In the end he agreed to go. It was not his thing, and he may not have the chance to find out what happened to Robin till tomorrow.
Tags : scifiTimPunitThe Professor