Alternate Lives

Nerd School

San Fransokyo

"What are we doing at your nerd school. Bot fight's that way!" Katie exclaims as Matt pulls the scooter up next to the university.

"Gotta grab something," Matt replies walking up to the building.

"Is this going to take a while?" Katie asks following Matt through the university.

"Relax you big baby, we'll be in and out," Matt laughs opening the door to the lab, "Anyway you've never seen my lab."

"Oh great," Katie says mockingly, "I get to see your nerd lab."

"Heads up," someone exclaims whizzing by as Katie shouts in surprise. They stop an hang up their red bike examining a wheel before letting it snap back into place. Katie looks at them in shock before actually looking at all the cool things that are happening in the room.

She walks up to the bike, "Whoa, electromag suspension."

"Hey," the rider interrupts her, "Who are you?"

Katie panics, "Uh, I'm..."
"Keith, this is my sister, Katie," Matt says saving Katie from embarrassment.

Keith takes off his helmet and looks down at Katie, "Welcome to the nerd lab," he says before walking back to his bike.

"Uh yeah," Katie says sheepishly, "I've never seen electromag suspension on a bike before."

"Zero resistance, faster bike," Keith explains, "But, not fast enough," He pulls off the back wheel and chucks it into the trash, "yet."

Katie wanders off into the next room, "Oh, whoa whoa whoa. Do not move," A guy holds up his hand stopping her, "Behind the line, please."

"Hey Hunk, this is my sister, Katie," Matt says following Katie into the area.

"Hello Katie, prepare to be amazed," Hunk says stepping out of the danger zone. He holds up an apple, "Catch." He tosses the apple through the area and it is sliced into a bunch of ultra-thin slices.

"Wow," Katie says amazed grabbing a slice out of the air, "Laser induced plasma?"

"Oh yeah," Hunk says walking over to organize his tools, "With a little magnetic confinement for ultraprecision."

"Wow," Katie says looking at Hunk's tool organizer, "How do you find anything in this mess?"

"Ah," Hunk says grabbing the tool out of Katie's hand, "I have a system. There's a place for everything, and everything in its place."

"Need this," Keith says sliding over and knocking everything out of its place.

"You can't do that, that's anarchy..." Hunk yells chasing after Keith.

"Excuse me," a girl squeezes between Matt and Katie rolling a giant ball, "Coming through." She stops in what must be her station, "Matt," she exclaims, then noticing Katie, "oh my gosh you must be Katie. I've heard so much about you!" She exclaims before pulling out her headphones. "Perfect timing, perfect timing." She pushes a button and the ball is lifted up off the ground.

"That's a whole lot of tungsten carbonite," Katie remarks looking at the ball.

"400 pounds of it!" She exclaims, "Come here, come here, come here, come here, come here!" She drags him over to her desk where an array of beakers and tests are waiting, "You're going to love this. A dash of perchloric acid, a smidge of cobalt, a hint of hydrogen peroxide, super-heated to 500 Kelvin, and..." The girl picks up the liquid and sprays it over the metal sphere. She pulls a lever which causes the gas to stick to the metal, "Ta-da! It's pretty great, huh?"