The Science Prophet (Complete)

Chapter 3: Adrian

Darwin’s phone pinged and she impatiently glanced at it. It was a message from Lucy. “Where are you?” she had written.

Didn't I tell you I was coming to the lab? She thought to herself. She didn’t have the patience to write back now. She was too focused on finding Rob’s deleted file.

The computer beeped again and Darwin pumped a fist in triumph. Rob had deleted the file listing from the directory but he had been unable to delete the file data itself.  It would be possible to reassemble the file, given enough time.

The only reason there was a file to find at all was because of her fellow Neuroscientist and former boyfriend, Dr. Adrian Fischer from the California Institute of Technology.

It was fair to say that Adrain had played nearly as big a role in the last few year’s events as Darwin and Lucy. After a huffing Dr. Advani had spent two months rebuilding the BrainCleaver and certified every component and subsystem worked perfectly, Darwin and Lucy had powered it back up and detected the anomaly just as before. Clearly the anomaly was more than a ghost in the machine. It really existed.

It was time to reach out for help.

Dr. Fischer was the first person Darwin quietly contacted. His facility at the California Institute of Technology was one of only two other labs in the world to have a BrainCleaver prototype. And she knew him.

She more than knew him.

She keyed an email to him one Tuesday morning. “Adrian – it’s been too long. I have a pressing professional matter. Put these parameters into your BrainCleaver and test a human subject. Have rebuilt my scanner but keep getting anomaly. Tell me what you see.” She then typed in the jumble of acronyms and decimals that was shorthand for the exact parameters she wanted Adrian to calibrate into his BrainCleaver.

She eagerly awaited Adrian’s reply. She had not spoken to him for years, not even at the frequent academic conferences they both attended. Not since their ugly split after grad school. She hadn’t realized how much she missed him – as a gifted researcher, but also as a trusted confidant — until she wanted to discuss the anomalous scan results with him.

All day Tuesday, she received no reply. Wednesday, the same.

Lester tried calling Adrian’s mobile number but he did not pick up. By Thursday, Darwin had resigned herself to getting no response from Adrian. Jerk, she thought. She would have to contact Peking University instead, though she didn’t know the head researcher there, didn’t know if he was smart enough to analyze the scans properly, didn’t know whether he would handle the matter with the requisite tact.

She sat down at her desk glumly midway through the morning to compose a formal email to Dr. Jin Xiaofeng at Peking University requesting research collaboration. She realized bleakly that she didn’t even know how to pronounce his name.

As she was typing, she heard commotion in the hallway outside.

“Sir, you need an appointment to see Dr. Goldstein” came the unhappy voice of Sean, the student receptionist, growing steadily louder as if he were approaching rapidly.

A moment later, the door to her room burst open and in strode the tall, handsome form of Adrian. His blonde hair was thinner than when they had been together, but his dark blue eyes were just as piercing. Now those blue eyes were ringed with dark pockets, as if he hadn’t slept in days. In his hands he carried a laptop and a plastic supermarket bag.

“I’m sorry Dr. Goldstein, he just –“ Sean was saying until Adrian slammed the office door in his face. He crossed the room in two strides and stood leaning over Darwin’s desk, panting slightly.

“Darwin,” he demanded “Do you know what it is?”