1 Radiance

Isaac winced at the bright sun as he stepped off the city bus in front of the university laboratory. Allowing the bustle to dilute around him as people shuffled like drones towards their destinations, the scientist wished he could sprout wings and fly away. He basked in the warm light for but a moment instead.

Cordelia, Issac's temporary partner, greeted him in the dull break room with a smile.

"What is it?" he muttered over a hastily prepared cup of coffee.

Her smile grew slightly wider and her eyes narrower but she said nothing in response.

"Did I forget something, what's wrong?" Isaac looked down at plain button up shirt, slacks, two matching brown shoes. Finding nothing immediately amiss, he started to pat himself down.

"No! It's actually about work for once!"

"Don't play games with me, I'll log in and find it for myself and spoil your fun soon enough. If there is anything more than another set of dead ends. The Doc loves when we have to take two steps back."

Cordelia shut her mouth but kept the smile. "You did it, we finally did it!"

"It . . . it can't be. How many times did you check?"

"Once. I only had to once. Look!" She shoved a tablet into her partner's hands. He scrolled through quickly.

"This has to be a mistake!"

"No, Isaac. You found the key!"

"I . . . I'm not sure what this means."

"It means we can measure brainwaves, see what people emit. To say this is a breakthrough isn't enough. We're going to be famous, Isaac. Published."

"You know the Doc will soak up any glory, and these results are still probably a false positive. I can't believe the madman was onto something all this time. What if he's right about more than this?"

"Well. There's two things I do know."

"Yea? What's that?"

"We have some sort of results, and results mean more funding, and more funding means our jobs are safe for now."

"Is that all you can think about? The Doc is practically a god in science fiction. Have you read any of his stuff?"

"Never." She looked to the tablet again and finally stopped smiling.

"He talks about reading people's brainwaves being only the first step into something greater. Imagine being able to see something like our souls, our ambient energy floating around us like a cloud. The civilization in the books undergoes a steady metamorphosis . . ."

"You're right," Delia responded, "It's nutty, but we're here to do the actual work, right?"

"I suppose. Doubt the Doc will tell me anything more than what we know, but I've been trying my best to puzzle out what he's up to in the long run."

"Are you now?" The Doc walked into the room wearing his lab coat as he always did.

Wide-eyed, Cordelia silently and unceremoniously took the tablet and surrendered it to her superior.

"Ah! Progress. Wonderful! Won't you come with me . . . Isaac is it?"

The younger man gulped and nodded in assent.

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WC: 500. All feedback is welcome! I'm probably going to use these characters and their setting again. /r/courageisnowhere