Its been a long time since i last posted, and before i end this blog i guess it is only right that i finish the story that i posted before this. Don't worry, i'm not going to stop blogging, its just that i think its time for a new beginning after so many years of blogging here. So see you in my new blog :) cheers..
Chapter 3: The Interview
So, settling down on a set of comfortable chairs with a cup of steaming coffee, Jane started off the interview, “Okay, so let’s see...Where shall we begin? Mr. Gardner, tell me what is all the hype about this new discovery of yours? What is it all about?”
“Please, call me Tim. Well, it all began when I was looking into the basic genes of a human being when I stumbled across this discovery. As you know, our body uses glucose and converts it into energy by the process of carbohydrate metabolism. Glucose enters glycolysis by phosphorylation to glucose 6-phosphate, it is catalyzed by hexokinase and ATP is used as the phosphate donor. Glucose 6-phosphate is an important compound at the junction of several metabolic pathways, for example glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, the pentose phosphate pathway, glycogenesis, and glycogenolysis.”
He paused and looked inquiringly at Jane. “Am I losing you already?”
“Yeah, he tends to forget that other people are around when he gets into the groove,” laughed John.
“Don’t worry about me, I’ve heard these scientific jargons thousands of times before.” Jane assured him with a smile. “Do continue.”
“Okay, don’t hesitate to stop me if I’m getting ahead of myself though,” said Tim with a laugh. “In glycolysis, it is converted to fructose 6-phosphate by phosphohexoseisomerase. This reaction is followed by another phosphorylation with ATP catalyzed by the enzyme phosphofructokinase forming fructose 1,6-bisphosphate. Fructose 1,6-bisphosphate is cleaved by aldolase into two triose phosphates, glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate and dihydroxyacetone phosphate. Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate and dihydroxyacetone phosphate are interconverted by the enzyme phosphotriose isomerase.”
“Wow, it sounds quite complicated,” said Jane
“Well, its not as difficult as it sounds, it is actually quite simple,” added John, continuing where Tim left off. “Basically, Glycolysis continues with the oxidation of glyceraldehydes 3-phosphate to 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate. The enzyme catalyzing this oxidation, glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase, is NAD-dependent. 3-Phosphoglycerate is isomerised to 2-phosphoglycerate by phosphoglycerate mutase. The subsequent step is catalyzed by enolase and involves dehydration, forming phosphoenolpyruvate. The phosphate of phosphoenolpyruvate is transferred to ADP by pyruvate kinase to generate, at this stage, two molecules of ATP per molecule of glucose oxidize...”
“Okay, you don’t have to tell her the whole mechanism of the whole pathway. interjected Tim excitedly, his voice rising as he spoke. “Now this is where it gets exciting! “By running some tests we found that at this point before the pyruvate enters the citric acid cycle, if it is exposed to radiation from a certain mineral, it is able to produce 10 times more adenosine triphosphate (ATP) than the normal amount, that is an astounding 320 ATP.”
“Are you saying that if humans are exposed to this radiation, we would have more energy?” asked Jane with disbelief
“Not only more energy, but the extra strength, the ability to lift a 50 ton stone! Think about what this could mean and the possibilities.”
“The only drawback here is that it has not yet been tested on humans,” said John with a sigh. “We have only tested it on animals such as rats and come up with outstanding results. Therefore , we are confident that it would be able to work as well with humans.”
“Where and what is this supposed mineral obtained and found,” inquired Jane.
“We were researching a number of minerals when we came across this particular mineral called zeolite. Natural zeolite is formed where volcanic rocks and ash layers react with alkaline groundwater. During our experiments, we noticed that by rapidly heating the material zeolite, it produced large amounts of steam from water that had been adsorbed by the material. This is what causes the elevated amounts of energy generated when the pyruvate enters the Citric-acid Cycle.”
“May I know what inspired you to further research in this area?” inquired Jane.
“Well, my mother is well within her years and she is very frail now. So while I was coming up with an antidote to help her, I stumbled across this discovery by accident. My mother is an amazing woman, she has provided for both my brother and me. Besides, she was the one who motivated and encouraged me to pursue this as a career.”
Suddenly, Jane’s face turned white as ash and she fell to the ground without a warning.
Tim was beside her in an instance to support her, fanning her with a newspaper to give her more air circulation.
“Quick! Pass me my handbag,” she gasped.
Tim frantically looked for her handbag and handed it to her, his face full of concern. “Here you go,” he said. “Are you feeling alright? What’s the matter with you?”
“Oh, don’t worry about me. I’ve had this condition ever since I was a young girl. I need to take insulin shots every day in order to make sure my blood glucose is in order. You know how insulin is needed to breakdown glucose in our body. However, due to some dysfunction in the β-cells in the Islet of Langerhans of the pancreas, the secretion of insulin is impaired, I’m sure you know all this already, ” as she quickly took out a bag full of medication and gave herself an insulin shot.
“When sugars cannot be used as cellular fuel, more fats are mobilized,
Tim had a bad habit of ranting out scientific information at the most inappropriate situations.
Suddenly, the phone rang shrilly, shattering the silence. Tim went over and picked it up. A distorted and creepy voice rasped in to the speaker and said the following words, “We have part of your formula. Now we want the rest of it. Hand it over to me and your beloved mother will be safe.” Tim heard his mother’s muffled screams in the background, and his face turned pale.
“Mom! No! You’ve got my mother? What in the world? Why are you doing this? Release my mother at once!” Tim shouted into the phone, his knuckles was white as he clenched the phone.
“Fly over to Paris and wait at the science centre. There you will get further instructions. Do as I say if you ever want to see your mother again,” said the creepy voice.
Tim stood stunned by the conversation he just had, he had difficulty believing that this was really happening. Jane touched his hand gently and asked him what was going on. With a quivering voice, he related to them the conversation he just had.
“I don’t care, I’m definitely going with you,” said Jane with determination.
“No, it would be too dangerous for you,” replied Tim with concern. “I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m coming with you whether you like it or not,” said Jane firmly.
“I’ll stay back here and take care of the place in case they call back then,” offered John, “You guys be careful out there!” he warned as he waved to them.
Chapter 5: Science Centre
The plane swept past the famous monument which was standing tall, basking in the sunlight. Its unique architecture is what makes it so prominent. The sight of such a beautiful scene nearly took Tim’s breath away. This is what he had always dreamt of doing, he felt a rush of adrenaline as the plane dived lower. After getting down from the plane, they caught a taxi that brought them to the science centre. Holding the case containing the precious mineral and formula close to him they entered the enormous and modern-looking building. “Bonjour, monsieur,” a greeter smiled and welcomed them as they entered the front doors.
Swarms of people flooded the grounds of the science centre, school children were there with their teachers on a class trip while many foreign tourists explored the interesting scientific artefacts that were on display. Children gaped in wonder at the display of science. A tour guide was pointing towards a giant replica of the double helix of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and explaining to them the process of DNA replication. “Well, the DNA replication starts when the enzyme helicase unwinds the double helix structure of DNA breaking the weak hydrogen bonds holding the base pairs...” “Why does the DNA need unwinding?” inquired a student curiously. “Well, this is in order that DNA polymerase III elongates the strand by adding new deoxyribonucleotides one by one from the nucleoplasm.”
These images brought back old memories of when he was a younger kid, when he first was intrigued by the complexities and mysteries of science. That curious teenager reminded him a lot of himself. Memories of when he was still a student flashed in his mind as he walked around the museum. A memory of him sitting in class when a teacher asked him the exact same question struck him. He was filled with excitement and adrenaline pumped through his veins as he answered in exact precision. That was when he knew what he wanted to do in the future. Unfortunately, years of labour had made his passion towards this field slowly diminish.
Snapping out of his reminiscence and coming back to reality, he looked carefully around, trying to spot whoever could be the one who was the mysterious caller. Jane was walking closely by his side, also looking out for any suspicious subjects.
Out of a sudden, a child bumped into him causing him to lose grip on the case, making it fall to the ground and split wide open. The papers containing the formula flew in the air and were scattered on the ground.
He quickly rushed to retrieve the stone and gather the strewn formulas before anyone else could get to it. While he was retrieving the strewn objects, he noticed a peculiar thing. The mineral he had in his hand was different from the ones that they had used during the experiments. This one had little markings on its surface and there were little blacks dots around its surface. “How could it be? Only he and John had access to the minerals in the laboratory. Unless....” thought Tim.
Jane bent down next to him to help gather the strewn objects. “Wait, don’t look around you, but I think that we have just been conned. This stone we have here is not the real one, it’s a fake. I think it was John who set us up.”
Jane looked incredulously at Tim, shaking her head in disbelief. “Are you positive it’s him? Isn’t John your partner? Why would he do this to you?”
“I can’t believe it either, but no one else has access to it. He is the only one besides me who has access to the minerals. I don’t know why he is doing all this. But that’s what I’m planning to find out,” said Tim, clenching his fists as he spoke. “Quick, we have got to get out of here before his men sees us.”
Chapter 6: The Chase
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw two tall, muscular and mean-looking thugs advancing towards their direction. Wasting no time, he grabbed the case and Jane by the hand as he navigated his way through the crowded network of people. Due to the immense crowd, it was hard getting to the front door and those men were gaining on them.
A little door at the left side of him caught his eye and without hesitation, he pulled Jane towards the door and went through it, not noticing that it said “No Entry”. The door led to a labyrinth of rooms all containing important scientific looking machines and artefacts.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” a loud booming voice shouted at them. They turned around to see a fierce looking guard pointing his hand at them.
Finally, after getting lost in the maze of rooms they finally found a door that led out into the open. They inspired a breath of fresh air as they broke into the sunlight again.
Just when they thought they had lost the two thugs, the two thugs appeared at the side of the building and started running towards them. There were a few motorcycles parked near the door. Without thinking further, he jumped on the closest one and started the engine. “Hurry, get up behind me,” he shouted to Jane. “Have you driven one of these before?” asked Jane doubtfully. “I haven’t driven one in years, but I think I still remember. Okay, hold on tight.” Tim pressed down hard on the engine and they were off.
Following right behind them were the two thugs each on a motorcycle, their biceps bulging and shining under the sunlight. With the wind smashing against their faces, it was hard to see where they were going in the midst of heavy traffic. Dodging his way through the numerous cars that filled the highway, they nearly got knocked down by a huge truck that was coming from the opposite direction.
The two burly thugs were right at their tracks, dodging the oncoming traffic. One of them took out a gun and started shooting at them. Tim felt a bullet fly past close to his face, missing him by inches.
Spotting a turning upfront, he made a sharp turn and raced down it. Looming up in front of them was the magnificent Eiffel Tower and a traffic light flashing, indicating that it was turning red. Tim stepped on the engine with all his might and sped towards the traffic light, just barely making it through. Jane turned back to see the two thugs shaking their fists at them, as they were blocked by the fast moving cars. “Thank God, I think we’ve lost them,” said Jane breathing a sigh of relief.
“Then we had better get back as fast as we can to find out what is really going on,” said Tim with determination, speeding towards the airport to catch the next flight back to New York.
Chapter 7: Stormy seas
Within hours, they were back on home ground. Before, returning to the laboratory, Jane called one of her close contacts in the police department and informed the police about what was going on. When they got back to the laboratory, the place was deserted and no one seemed to be around. Calling out for his mother, Tim checked the surrounding area for any sign of his mother or John.
“They must be here somewhere,” said Tim.
“Is there anywhere else in this building that they could be hiding,” Jane asked, hoping to help.
A sudden thought came to him while he was looking at the sterilization chamber, reminding him of a place.”Yes, I know. There is one place where they could be,” said Tim. “It was the place we used before moving into this place, it’s on the outskirts of the city in a rundown area. It is possible that they might be there,” he recalled.
Before leaving the place, he took with him the gun they kept in the safe for safety precautions in case of an emergency. He didn’t know what was waiting for him, but he wanted to be prepared.
Pulling up at a rundown factory at the outskirts of the city, about thirty minutes away, they parked a few blocks down the road so that they would not be noticed. They made as little noise as possible as they neared the building so that they would not startle those who were inside the building. A small door at the side of the building was left slightly ajar. Tim beckoned towards the door and Jane followed behind him as he went through the door.
The place looked abandoned and much worse than he last remembered, recalled Tim. There were many huge boxes around the building shielding them from sight. They heard a whirring sound coming from the center of the building. Taking light and small footsteps, they moved noiselessly towards the sound, making sure not to make any sudden movements that would warn John or any other person of their presence.
Peeking through slits of the boxes, Tim peered out cautiously to make sure the whereabouts of his mother and maybe John. Under the dim light, he saw his mother sitting on a chair, her hand and legs were bounded by ropes. She looked weak and worn out with bruises across her face. Anger surged through his veins as he stared at her through the slits of the cardboard boxes. How dare that creep treat his mother that way, he felt like running out right now and rescuing her from this nightmare. A soft hand touched his shoulder holding him back and bringing him back to his senses. Jane looked at him warningly. Yes, he couldn’t just storm in like this, he needed to know where John was and what he was up to.
Looking out again to locate John, he finally caught sight of him at the far end corner of the room. He was working intently on something. The whirring sound was coming from a machine that was placed in the middle of the room. It looked like a very big oven.
Just when they were figuring out what was best move to take next, a rat suddenly ran out from behind the boxes, startling them. Jane gave a muffled cry as the rat scurried across her feet. It was too late, as John heard the sound and looked around to investigate.
“Come out now, Tim. I know you’re here,” John called out with an evil laugh, “I’ve been expecting you.” After a moment, he continued, “Come out before I inject your mother with this new found substance that I discovered using our existing formula. You see, I have been secretly working on this ever since we left this place.”
“I’ve always been envious of you, Tim. You always seemed to have it all. You had a loving a mother who took care of you, while mine left me when I was only a month old. Then you went and discovered this new discovery thinking you could take all the credit to yourself. Never!” sneered John, his usual tame locks of curly blond hair was now flying in every direction making him look insane.
“Now, with this new formula, I will be able to bring destruction to the world. By improvising the formula, I have managed to come with an even better formula, one that would affect the entire human race,” laughed John hysterically. “So you have a choice, come out now or watch your mother suffer and die.” John then walked over to Tim’s mother, who was shaking her head vigorously in protest. In his hands he held a dangerously looking syringe, he raised his hand poised ready to inject the poisonous drug into her system.
Tim couldn’t take it anymore, he couldn’t just stand back and watch his mother die. He stepped out of the shadows leaving the gun behind on the ground. “Lay hands on my mother and you will not get out of here alive,” threatened Tim, his voice trembling with anger.
“Good of you to drop by today, Tim,” said John sarcastically. “You didn’t think that I would stand back and watch you take all the glory, did you? Now, it’s your turn to experience how it’s like to lose your own mother.”
“Wait, I don’t understand. You have always been brilliant; you got good grades and did well in school. What happened to you? How could you have reversed the formula? It’s almost impossible,” trying to distract John and signalling to Jane to creep up behind him.
“Life happened. Since you’re so smart why don’t you tell me? I’m sure you’ll be able to figure it out by yourself,” lashed out John bitterly.
“Well, in order to reverse the reaction, you would have to reduce the amount ATP produced,” Tim paused awhile thinking intently, then continued. “You must have involved the Pentose Phosphate Pathway in the process as it utilizes 6 carbons of glucose to generate 5 carbons of glucose. Besides that, it has an oxidative and non-oxidative arm”
John gave a surprised laugh, “Not bad, I underestimated you. Do continue,” interested in what Tim had to say next.
“In the original formula, we heated the mineral in order to generate higher amounts of energy. So in this case, you must have chilled the zeolite to a very low temperature, thus reversing its function,” Tim paused for awhile, trying to recall what he remembered of the pentose phosphate pathway. “If I’m not mistaken, glucose 6-phosphate is dehydrogenated to 6-phosphogluconate via the formation of 6-phosphogluconolactone, catalyzed by glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, an NADP-dependent enzyme. Following that, the hydrolysis of 6-phosphogluconolactone is accomplished by the enzyme gluconolactone hydrolase. The second oxidative step is catalyzed by 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase...
John cut him off impatiently saying, “Enough of all the boring mumbo jumbo and cut to the chase already.”
Tim hurriedly continued as he saw Jane silently making her way to the back of John, holding the revolver in her hand. It was a good thing Jane was an intelligent girl and caught on to his plan. “But I don’t understand how you managed to reverse the reaction though. How exactly do you reverse it as the pentose phosphate pathway doesn’t produce any ATP.”
“You are forgetting one very important thing. The pentose phosphate pathway provides NADPH for the reduction of oxidized glutathione catalyzed by glutathione reductase in erythrocytes. The reduced glutathione then removes hydrogen peroxide in a reaction catalyzed by glutathione peroxidase, an enzyme that contains the selenium analogue of cysteine at the active site...”
“Oh, wait! I think I get it now!” Tim interrupted him excitedly, it suddenly dawned on him. “By causing an interference or mutation in the pentose phosphate pathway, the accumulation of hydrogen peroxide may decrease the life span of the erythrocyte by causing oxidative damage to the cell membrane, and thus leading to hemolysis of the erythrocytes!”
“Finally, you figured it out. However, it’s too late. Your mother and the rest of the world will have to suffer,” declared John manically, his eyes flashed with insanity and he rose his hand as he spoke.
All of a sudden, a loud bang filled the air and a bullet flew past nearly hitting John in the forehead. Immediately, he turned around and saw a revolver pointing at his face, his face filled with surprise.
The revolver flew from Jane’s hands as he hit it from her hands. Before he could make another move, Tim jumped on him from behind and both of them fell onto a stack of boxes. The two of them wrestled on the ground, fists flying in the air. In the midst of all the fighting, Jane managed to make a call to the police informing them of their location.
Remembering how his mother’s look when he found her, Tim summoned all his strength and gave John a big punch in his face. John’s head flew back and he reeled backwards, losing his balance. He took a few seconds to regain his balance and gave Tim an equally huge blow on his head. Tim fell on the ground. He tried to get up but he couldn’t as blood oozed out of a wound on his head. He was going in and out of a state of unconsciousness. John picked up the syringe that contained the poisonous substance and poised ready to inject it into Tim’s bloodstream.
A loud sound filled the air and a bullet flew in the air and embedded itself in his flesh near the abdomen. John’s face abruptly changed from a look of triumph to despair. He turned to see who shot him and he fell to the ground.
Jane stood trembling at the corner holding the revolver in her hand. She had never shot anyone before, and she was shocked at what she had done. She felt her knees giving way and the scene before her became blurry. The last thing she remembered was the sound of siren in the distance before she fell to the ground unconscious.
Chapter 8: Calm waters
The moon hung high in the night sky, throwing its light at the darkness and casting silhouettes in the dark night. Seas of stars illuminated the night sky, twinkling as if they knew a secret that no one knew about. The ocean waves swept against the shore and filled the air as a calm and serene music. Two silent figures could be seen walking along the shore line.
“This is nice. One of the places I’ve always dreamt of coming,” said Tim sighing contentedly. The whole ordeal that happened was still vivid in his memory, it seemed like just yesterday the nightmare happened. After he had suffered a huge blow in the face, he fell to the floor unconscious. When he regained consciousness, he ran to his mum and freed her of the ropes that bound her. Her face was filled with tears as he embraced her and held her tightly in her arms. “I love you mum,” and tears streamed down his face. “I love you too,” said his mother softly.
Slowly, his mum loosened his grip on him. Out of the corner of the eye, he caught sight of both Jane and John lying unconscious on the ground. At once, he ran over to Jane, thinking that she was dead, the things he had always wanted to say to her flashed in his mind. Only at this moment did he realise that he had never stopped loving her. He held her firmly in his arms. He wished he could see her clear blue eyes and heart-warming smile once again.
And there she was, standing gracefully and as beautiful as ever in the moonlight. Her blue eyes twinkling as brightly as the stars above them. Tim stared into them and thought how close he was to losing her. Summoning all his courage, he wanted to pour out all his feelings he felt during that day when he thought he had lost her.
Before he had a chance to do so, she turned to him and looked at him inquiringly. “What do you plan to do now that the ordeal is now over?” she asked him with a shy smile.
“Well, I have always dreamt of travelling the world, experience different things and culture, meet different kinds of people...” he said, at a loss of what to say. “How about you?”
She was quiet for awhile, then shrugging her shoulders she said “Nothing much I guess. I was thinking of quitting my job at the Crescent and maybe venture into a different field.”
There was an awkward pause as Tim’s heart started pounding faster and his hands became sweaty, then he blurted out nervously “Well, if you don’t mind, you would like to.maybe....You would like to travel with me?” His face turning a bright shade of pink as he said it.
He waited patiently for her answer, preparing himself to be rejected. But surprisingly, flashing her mesmerising smile she said “Yes, I would love to actually.”
Thinking of a more appropriate way of confessing his feelings for her, he decided to take a different approach. “You know how in DNA, there are base pairing, and the base pairs only bind specially to a base pair. You know thymine to adenine and guanine to cytosine. Well, let’s say for a moment that I’m represented by thymine, and if you’re adenine....”
“Hold on a minute, are you trying to say that you like me?” laughed Anne, her shrilled laughter filling the quiet night and thinking what a funny way for him to express his feelings.
“Err... I guess so...” stammered Tim, afraid of how she would react. “I guess I have always liked you ever since third grade in English class...”
Jane put her hand on his mouth indicating that he should be quiet. Then lightly she brushed her lips on his cheeks.
- THE END -
Chapter 2: Reunion
The next thing Tim remembered was being splashed in the face with freezing cold water. He felt a throbbing pain at the back of his head as he slowly opened his eyes. With a blurry vision, he saw one of the most beautiful woman standing before him, he thought he must be dreaming. Even in his half conscious state, he noticed that she had piercing blue eyes that sparkled when they caught the light and a very pretty dimple at the right side of her cheek.
Rubbing his eyes and gradually coming to his senses, he slowly sat up. The pretty lady helped him as he tried to get to his feet.
“How are you feeling?” she asked. “What happened to you? I found you sprawled on the ground when I came in.” Pausing, she hurriedly said, “Oh, wait. I’m running ahead of myself now. Let me introduce myself, my name is Jane Watson. I’m a journalist from the Crescent and I’m supposed to interview one of the scientists in your laboratory.”
Shaking her hand, he said “Oh, I see. I’m Tim Gardner. Sorry, I’m not really in a presentable state at the moment. I took quite a big blow from behind.”
“Oh no, I hope that you haven’t got a concussion or something. And I hope nothing was taken from your laboratory.”
Tim quickly checked everything in the laboratory. Everything seemed to be in place. He wasn’t sure what had just happened a few moments ago, could it have just been a dream? Wasting no time however, he said “How about that interview now?”
“Are you sure you would like to carry out the interview now judging that you could have a concussion”, replied Jane. “We could always re-schedule the interview.”
“Oh, no. No, I’ll be fine. Its just a slight blow, I will recover in no time.” “There is something really familiar about you though. Have I met you somewhere before?”Suddenly, light dawned in his eyes. “I remember where I’ve met you before! You were in my English class. You used to sit right in front near the window, and you were always the teacher’s pet,” he said with recognition.
“Oh! Now I’m beginning to remember,” Jane said slowly. “You used to be the science nerd that won a lot of science competitions. My, you have changed. I see you’ve lost those huge nerdy glasses that magnified your eyes.”
“Well, you did not bad yourself. Although you always looked pretty even in third grade,” said Tim shyly. “You’ll never believe it, but I used to have a huge crush on you back then,” he said with embarrassment.
“You did, really?” Jane said with a laugh, her face turning a bright shade of pink. “I never knew that.”
Suddenly the door to the laboratory swung open and a tall, lanky guy with a mob of curly blond hair walked in. He stopped short when he saw the two of them. “Am I intruding anything?” he said, looking back and forth between the both of them.
Now Tim’s face started to turn red and he quickly introduced Jane. “This is Ms. Jane Watson, a journalist from the Crescent. And this is my handsome but not as brilliant partner in crime, Mr. John Smith.”
“How do you do?” shaking Jane’s hand and staring intently at Jane as he spoke.
“Nice to meet you, Ms. Watson. Now to what do we owe the company of such a lovely lady as you?”
“Jane is here to carry out an interview about our latest discovery. We were just about to start when you arrived. Care to join us? You deserve the spotlight as much as I do, John,” said Tim hurriedly.
“An interview?” his eyes opening up wide. “I would be honoured,” bowing a little and flashing his charming smile.
Unrestrained
Chapter 1: Strangers?
Beads of perspiration formed on his forehead as he carefully and meticulously placed the assay worth millions of dollars into the sterilization chamber as if his life depended on it. One single mistake and all his hard work would be gone to waste. Slowly and gently, just as a mother lays down her precious newborn baby, he placed it safely on the shiny surface of the chamber. Then he closed the door of the chamber, breathing a sigh of relief.
Tim Gardner was working as usual at his monotonous but high paying job. To him it was just another day. His partners were all out for lunch, leaving him to finish his work and alone to his thoughts. Although he had just made one of the most ground-breaking discoveries of the century, he still wasn’t satisfied. He longed for excitement and the only letdown of this job was that nothing interesting ever happened. All he wanted to do was to get out of this place and break free from this boring routine. He was getting bored of staring at white washed floors and walls each and every day. He dreamed of getting out of there and travelling the world, scaling mountain peaks, seeing the infamous Eiffel tower, the ancient and mysterious pyramids, the magnificent Great Wall of China and many more. He was just deep in a trance when a beeping sound jolted him out of his daydream.
His usually firm forehead creased into a frown as he looked around to find the source of the sound. A red light was flashing on one of the computer screens in the laboratory. “What could be the matter now?, he thought. Sweeping a hurried glance across the screen, he finally detected what was the problem. Before he could do anything about it, he felt a hard, sharp object landing at the back of his head.
Jane Watson was a journalist at a high-end newspaper company called the Crescent, where she covered the latest scientific discoveries occurring in the entire globe. She towered at five foot three inches, with a mass of wavy golden brown hair that shone every time it caught the light. Her soft but firm features contributed to the fact that she was determined to do whatever it takes to get anything she wanted.
She went through her busy schedule as she walked brusquely down the city streets, skilfully dodging passers-by as she stormed on. Today, top on her list was an interview with an amateur scientist who apparently made an amazing discovery unknown to man. She was highly sceptical about it as she had little faith in scientists of that sort.
As she browsed through her schedule, something caught her eye. Suddenly, she halted in her tracks in the middle of the busy street causing a human traffic at the same time. However, she ignored all the glares passers-by threw at her.
Tim Gardner, where had she heard that name before? The name sounded very familiar and she was positive she had heard that name before. She scrunched up her forehead and thought deeply. However, no matter how hard she tried to recall where she had come across that name, she couldn’t put her finger on it. Brushing that thought aside, she quickly moved on and hailed a cab.
Within minutes, the cab drew up against a run-down but tall building set in the heart of the city.
To be continued....