A Long Way From Home

Chapter Fourteen: Particle

       "And that, students, is why we never ever work with explosive chemicals without wearing our safety goggles!" The Professor, Dr. Bhamra, tapped the plastic covering her eyes to emphasize her point.

       That sound was the only thing filling the air of that classroom. Nobody said a word, nobody even wanted to breathe. Light still came from the lens of the projector, and the video was frozen on a frame that could only be described as an impending Armageddon.

       Fire blew apart several Erlenmeyer flasks, and the glass emerged towards us in the 3D projection. The flames were orange and blue, complimented with the shimmering glass, and all of it flew towards the unsuspecting student who did not follow a common-sense rule of lab-safety.

        "Um... Dr. Bharma?" one boy called out a few rows back, holding a hand in the air. In the regular classes (not hands-on), all students were expected to wear their horrific orange and white Cadet uniform. Orange really was not my color.

        "Yes?" Her head tilted like a hummingbird, eyes open a bit too wide and her smile beaming with the light of a heavy-duty compound microscope.

      "Aren't we just supposed to be learning theory in this class? I thought the labs were separate."

       "Oh, they are separate, yes!" She nodded her head to affirm, bobbing several loose strands of long black hair from the bun on top of her head. "But I just thought it would be smart to give you all some advice here, in a comfortable environment."

       I looked up at the projection where a shard of imaginary glass was heading straight for my eyeball. Call me crazy, but that doesn't exactly scream comfortable.

       Hey, crazy might actually be what to call it.

        Dr. Bharma pulled the goggles off her face and set them on the desk behind her. A deep indent was left behind, one that every student knows and recognizes, some even look upon with empathetic pity.

        "Today we're going to be talking about gas laws," she said, her voice managing to sound just as bright with more sophistication. "Who here could name a single gas law? Just one?"

      Most of the students raised their hands, myself included.

      There was one question I had though...

      "Dr. Bharma," said a girl. "Gas laws are rudimentary chemistry. Aren't we talking about space here?"

      Dr. Bharma only smiled. "What are the four variables of gas laws?"

      A few kids raised their hands. I kept mine down, solely because I was staring to turn off my brain. I had a feeling this class wasn't exactly going to be an issue grade-wise, especially from how it already compared to Mrs. Masters' physics class.

       I looked at the projection still floating in the room, suspended at the precipice of certain death. Pretty ominous for a video about safety goggles. But how else do you present safety projections? I mean, 'oh no I get a scratch big deal' doesn't really compare to 'holy crap I'm going to die if I don't do this thing!'

       "Young Lady?"

       Isn't that kind of mind-control though? I mean, what if a giant glass shard to the eye doesn't kill you? People haven't died from worse injuries. It's just manipulating a fear into your brain so you do stuff that the projection wants you to do.

       "Excuse me?"

        Imminent death doesn't really seem like the most moral persuasive device though. Isn't that blackmailing? If you don't die and you don't wear your safety goggles, will someone come kill you to make sure you don't convince the other kids that they don't have to wear their goggles because the threat of certain death is minimized?