The Invisible Universe

Part 1

Was this the most exciting thing ever to happen? It must at least be one of the most exciting!

For Dr Thomas Clark it was positively the best moment of his life, something he will remember to the end of his days. However like everything in this life, exactly how exciting (or not) something was, came entirely down to perspective. All the books in the world wouldn't be the slightest bit of interest to someone who couldn't read, the true value of their existence wasted on unattuned eyes.

Are you a proud soldier, fighting to liberate a frightened population from their cruel overlords? Or are you a faceless drone of the foreign invader, who has come to destroy the local peoples way of life? It depends where you're standing when you ask the question.

So a scientific discovery such as this one, that immediately rises to one of the best, most exciting things ever for a man like Dr Thomas Clark, wouldn't turn any heads at a primary school for example. With the colour of what pen to use next, being the much more important question on the youngsters minds.

Dr Clark however, was a man of science, an astrophysicist to be precise, and this discovery was not at all wasted on him. It was the most important he had ever made.

Pulling up his collar against the heavy rain and bitterly cold wind, he galloped energetically towards the front door of a rather expensive looking home. Following the stark outdoor lighting fixtures that lined the front drive, while dodging the various flowers that encased the pathway, he came to a grinding halt outside a thick wooden door.

The wind had been picking up all night and it had finally sapped all the heat from his body. He was freezing, soaked through and because of his avoidance to driving, exhausted. He had practically ran the entire three miles it was from his lab to the door he now stood in front of, having stopped only momentarily when he thought he was going to pass out. Despite all this however nothing could wipe the smile from his face. He battered on the door, impatiently waiting to meet the occupant inside.

Dr Thomas Clark was in many ways a stereo-typical being. Having a very (how shall I put this?) different personality to most, he was very easy to label. On top of this, the fact that he dressed like a cartoon character that had come to life; wearing the classic lab coat and brown slacks more often than not, made him fit into the awkward scientist category very nicely. As well as looking like a perfect model for "Laboratory safety equipment monthly" he had never really in all his years managed to get a good understanding of people.

Their strange obsession with social interaction and how they very rarely thought of the grand picture had always been a massive obstacle for him to overcome. As a result he would avoid social situations whenever possible. Taking the time to continue with his research instead, and then when he did indeed have to socialise, he remained as mute as possible. All of this made forming positive relationships rather difficult. People and their complex emotions (that as far as he could tell) seemed to have very little logic or structure to them whatsoever; continuously changing or updating as they pleased. One day they were happy and the next they were sad. One day entertained, the next, bored out of their mind. It just didn't make any sense!

It seemed the main problem was Thomas couldn't predict them. People and their pesky emotions.

Thomas liked knowing things before hand, having plans that could be kept to in a timely manner for almost everything he did. Even on his days off, where any normal person would just do as they please, Thomas felt the desire to have a weekend checklist. A series of productive tasks (usually housework) that had to be completed before the sun went down and only then could he relax.

That was one of the reasons he fell in love with astrophysics, the precise movement and position of the stars and their surrounding planets being mathematically predictable. He took a great deal of pride and comfort in knowing exactly how an object of mind-boggling mass and size was going to behave. With the exception of tonight, his life was a regimented and predictable ensemble.