The Evolution of Genius: Every Night, I Get Smarter!

The following day, right after locking down that lab rental, I called up Lydia. We decided to ditch the textbooks for a bit and do some sightseeing.

We strolled just a couple of blocks from MIT and ended up in a zone packed with science buildings.

There were some legit labs around the campus.

We approached one of the tall buildings and met with Mr. Boll, the seller, and a scientist.

After Mr. Boll assumed that Lydia and I were Ph.D. students checking the equipment for a professor, he guided us to the seventh floor of the Limen Innovations building.

We followed the slightly overweight Mr. Boll into the elevator. He was a guy in his late thirties. Surprisingly, with lush blonde hair.

It didn’t look like it was a wig either...

"The laboratory is on the seventh floor of the building. Recently there were some troubles within the company and we were pretty much forced, to rent out half of the building."

Coming out of the elevator, Mr. Boll explained, "On the right, room number three, is the laboratory. On the left in room number two is the storage. I will give you keys for both."

He then came up to the doors of the laboratory, "You need to change into perforated shoes before you enter, but I would think you already know about that"

Lydia gracefully changed her shoes as we entered the room, where lots of flasks laid on display on shelves and some commonly used chemistry tools could be seen.

"Can you see the safety door at the back? That’s the entrance to the magnetic property testing laboratory."

Mr. Boll pointed at the silver heavy duty door. "Do you want to take a look now? I have the keys with me, this could take a while, though."

I think he thought, that we were here just for sightseeing.

"Of course." I nodded. "I would rather check everything before I rent"

"Very well, come with me then"

Mr. Boll snagged an RFID card, swiped that bad boy on the right-side reader, and bam!

The door cracked open, unveiling this tight, narrow spot. Three walls, three doors.

Mr. Boll pushed open the door in front, and took the lead, "And here is the changing room. Men use the left door, while ladies take the door on the right. You’ll have to put on a white coat inside. We’ll meet in the second section."

He directed his final words straight at Lydia.

She hit back with a solid nod.

Together with Mr. Boll, we scrubbed our hands up properly in a sink and then put on special suits.

We then linked up with Lydia in the second section.

"We have different regulations from regular labs here. We’ve got an advanced disinfecting mist system here instead of the usual, but before that, you should sanitize your hands and put on disposable gloves."

Together with Lydia, we did exactly as the regulations expected us to do.

After that, we entered the third section, where the mist system disinfected our suits and we were ready to enter the laboratory.

Inside, Lydia noticed fume hoods lined up along the wall, designed to keep things chill, ventilate safe, and trap fumes generated during experiments.

Right around the corner, there was this heavy-duty autoclave. Essential for cleaning the equipment with high-pressure steam – keeping things sterile.

A hot plate/oil bath apparatus with internal temperature control was another tool that would be very useful whenever we wanted to manipulate compounds.

The control of temperature during chemical reactions is of utmost importance.

Mr. Boll pointed to a glove box situated in a corner, breaking down its function in allowing researchers to handle hazardous materials in a controlled environment.

While Lydia scrutinized these facilities with her protective suit on, I took a moment to look around the room. My eyes scanned the equipment, but something seemed off in the room.

Politely interrupting Mr. Boll’s explanation, I asked, "Excuse me, but I couldn’t help but notice that the High-Performance Liquid Chromatography is missing. Is it located elsewhere?"

Mr. Boll appeared surprised that I could identify the absence of a specific instrument and knew how it looked. He replied, "Oh, you have a good eye! Yes, you’re correct. The HPLC equipment is currently in the storage room. We will bring it into the lab for you before tomorrow."

I nodded.

"Very well, when you’re down with checking stuff out, we will finalize the agreement," Mr. Boll’s demeanor suddenly brightened.

"We are already done. Let’s sign the agreement, Mr. Boll", I stated.

We bounced out of the lab, retracing our steps through the same rooms. Mr. Boll handed us a certificate like it’s the golden ticket.

Three months of rental – the minimum deal for any lab I could dig up.

"Is there any chance that we could bring that price down, Mr. Boll?", I asked politely, there was no reason not to ask.

"I’m sorry, but the price is already extremely low, as we were looking to find someone as quickly as possible, I don’t even have the right to lower it.", Mr. Boll said with a serious expression.

After signing the documents, Mr. Boll escorted us outside with a wide smile.

Lydia turned towards me, "So... when do we actually do the experiments, and do you have the procedures written down?"

"Don’t worry about that. I will have everything prepared. Do you have time tomorrow?"

She hit me with a side-eye, "Max... tomorrow is Sunday"

"Yea, and?"

Lydia let out a sigh, "No, Max. It can definitely wait, what about Monday evening?"

"What? do you have something to do on sunday?"

"Yes, I have a date with my boyfriend!", she said firmly.

"Ok. then, let it be Monday, but be prepared for spin ice materials, spin frustration, and spin thermal excitation...", I said as I walked away.

"Wait, wait, wait! Repeat it please!", she yelled behind me as she ran after me.

As we strolled together back to the campus, I explained everything to her and she was quick to catch on.

Finally, I reached my room and continued to grind on the theory behind this atomic lattice that’s been living rent-free in my mind.

After doing a couple of pushups I crashed in my bed.

...

The next thing I know - I’m not in Boston anymore. Welcome Dreamland.

Over the past two weeks, I’ve revisited the bright yellow nets, with nothing noteworthy happening. However, the eighth blue comet made its appearance.

Tonight, I decided to immerse myself in one of the nets behind me, specifically the one on the left – the very net where I previously had an encounter with The Lord.

I reached a point where I believed each of these nets held a connection between me and some being attempting contact.

Each net seemed to link me with a distinct entity. Strangely, the methods were akin, notably the two rooms I had entered before.

Although the bright yellow net felt fancier like it had extra tricks up its sleeve compared to the white one.

Suddenly, the nets start closing in around me, shaping into walls, just like the last time I connected with The Lord. The room fell into eerie silence.

At that moment, The Lord’s voice echoed in Latin, "Assassinatus est tibi, tres sunt nocentes." There’s been an assassination attempt, and three are the culprits.

My mind raced back to the scene at the dock, where that shadowy figure tailed me, Casi, and Oliv and then vanished into thin air.

I asked, "Was it you, who stopped it?"

The Lord spoke as his voice reverberated across the room, "Yes, verily, we did forestall the deed, yet no pledge exists that it shall not unfold again."

In a moment of frustration, I snapped and demanded an explanation. "Alright, spill it. Who in the blazes is Three, for starters?"

A stillness settled, and then The Lord’s voice sliced through it, "Fear not, it should pose no trouble to explain certain matters."

So I hit The Lord with the same question, "Alright, then who in the hell is three?"

"Three are mainly of Zytherian ilk, or those daring enough to venture beyond mine own Cluster’s bounds!", The Lord’s voice rumbled with ire.

Zytherians? The creepy entity back in the yellow room has mentioned them.

My mind dwelled on what would have been the most crucial question that I could ask. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

With a determined tone, I asked The Lord, "I’ve been pondering – why did you say that Three betrayed us? What does that mean?"

In the quite empty room, The Lord took his time before speaking, "No need for thee to be aware of this. Thy path is knowledge, endless knowledge, boundless! The Zytherians are forging their own way..."

"Why should I learn!? What’s the point?!", I got irritated.

"For I need thee... thy cluster needs thee!" The Lord’s voice resonated.