Near The Truth

Chapter 1- One Step Away

Marc was staring at the papers which looked like unsolved puzzles. His brain was working like a steam train, making his forehead sweat. He cleaned his glasses fast enough not to lose the concentration on his project's papers again. Jenny entered the room quietly.

"Marc it's 1 A.M. Just leave those things for now. I'm sure you will make it another day."

She approached and touched his shoulder. Marc slowly pulled her hand away, still not losing his concentration.

"No, I am almost there. I have thought so much about this thing. It's the future of our lives Jenny. "

"Don't you think you are wasting your time with that?"

Marc then turned back and looked at her angry. His sweat was now sliding in his face.

"Oh, so you really don't care about my project?"

"I do, but you have worked so much for that "4th Dimension" thing and you are tired every day and . . ."

"And what? It's not useless Jenny! I,  am not useless! And I will prove it with this Experiment!"

He calmed down, cleaned his face with a handkerchief and turned back to his papers. After some moments of silence, Marc talked with his calm voice again.

"I have finally as much money as I need for this. I know what you are thinking . . . If only I had a job, it would make things much easier. I don't want to feel like worthless scientist anymore . . . If it wasn't for you and the other two scientists who are working with me, I would have no way to prove it.

"No, honey. It's just . . . we need more time together. Well, I didn't want to tell you before, but, I am feeling dizzy this days and I've talked to the doctor."

Marc realized the meaning very fast.

"Are you saying that . . . ?"

" Yes, I am pregnant."

Jenny saw as Marc slowly got up from the chair. He took off his glasses and hugged her. Marc looked very happy about it and started to think about their future.

"Jenny, this is . . ."

At that moment his cellphone rang and he needed to see who was calling. Jenny was also curious.

"Who is it?"

"It's Jack. He should have something important to tell me . . . You need to rest. I must go, now I have one more reason to work hard. "

Marc wore his white lab coat, took all his documents carelessly, kissed Jenny and rushed out of the house. Immediately after, he took a taxi and called his lab colleague.

"Hey Jack, is there something new?"

"I am with Brian in our lab. You won't believe this!"

Marc was smiling like an innocent child.

"I am on my way! What is it?"

"Remember that free-gravity-chamber that we built?"

"Yes."

"Brian and I put one of our monkeys in there and rotated the whole chamber with 100 miles per hour. "

Jack stopped talking for a minute. After a deep breath he was ready to say the big surprise.

"He disappeared! We saw no blood and the monkey looked unharmed before that! Brian thought the monkey was just disintegrated in molecules, but guess what?"

"Hey you are killing me here! Just say it till the end!"

Jack laughed loudly.

"The monkey came back Marc! He appeared again, unchanged, inside the chamber after 2 minutes and 4 seconds."

"So the program did actually bind the structure! This is amazing! We only need to take away two genes."

"We are already partying. Waiting for you!"

After the call, Marc told the taxi to stop. He then started to walk in a building, which looked like an abandoned factory, aware of the secret hiding inside it. He turned on only one of the machineries that used to produce cars registration plates at that time. A strange plate with a touch screen fell down. He typed a code in the plate and moved in an empty dirty room in the end of the factory. A pair of white stairs going underground emerged in the corner and Marc stepped down carefully. The deeper he went the more he could see a shining blue light. When he reached the end, the opening in the room upstairs closed. Now he could only see the blue door before him. Next to the door, in the right side of it, there was another place to type a code and Marc didn't hesitate to. He entered inside his big lab, that he loved so much. The door then closed automatically, as Marc ran to talk to his colleagues. He reached the "Experiment Room" where they had built the chamber. Jack was still laughing loud meanwhile Brian was so drunk, he couldn't even walk. They were both unemployed and had spent all their money for that project. Jack was the youngest. He was only 23 years old, but he had a strong will to realize his plans. Brian was 27, but looked much older, because of his serious look. Marc approached Jack.

"So, where is the monkey?"

Jack took then a chimpanzee from a cage behind him. The monkey was dressed in circus clothes and was also wearing a hat, which made him look ridiculous. Jack's face became red as he started to laugh even more. Marc raised the calm monkey above his head, looking determined.

"This is our trophy! We made it! Now, we only need to try it ourselves."

Jack became suddenly serious and Brian finally spoke.

"Are you k . . . ? Are you kidding? I am not trying that shit!"

Marc was now smiling. He put the monkey down on the floor.

"That is the reason why we made this Experiment, isn't it? I will try it tomorrow, even if you won't. I will try the fourth dimension and will find the truth what hides in there. Imagine what we can build up there! We are going to live better!"

Jack reacted.

"But, we don't know how it reacts to humans!"

"Exactly. That's why I am going to try it first. Just delete those two extra genes and I will see you tomorrow morning."

Brian's face was yellow but he managed to speak.

"You are crazy man! Wait, are you leaving?"

"Yes, I need to tell this to my wife and take care of her. She told me something today."

Marc was just leaving the blue door when he suddenly turned to them.

"I'm becoming a father."

Jack and Brian stared at Marc confused and watched him as he left.

Marc took a taxi home, feeling ambitious about his next day.

^AchingThoughts^.^