Alex lay there listening to the second beat. Placing his hands on either side of him he unconsciously dug his fingers into the ground. His mind was instantly transported to the mouth of a volcano. Alex stood there, shaken, he peered into the crater and saw the bubbling magma. Where am I, he thought his heart racing. He stepped back from the edge and looked around when suddenly the ground began to rumble. What is happening! The volcano erupted in a plume of ash and lava. Alex stared in horror as a volcanic bomb headed straight at him.

  Alex sprang to his feet and looked around. He was standing on the grass outside his apartment. “What the hell just happened?!” he exclaimed. Alex ran back to his apartment, flinging his door open, he rushed to the bathroom and splashed his face with cold water. He looked at his reflection and was shocked to see the pale figure staring back at him. He shook his head and went to his bed. His whole body felt fatigued and shaky. As the adrenaline left him, the exhaustion took him.

  Alex opened his eyes and looked around. The light coming in bright through the window. What time is it, he thought as he rolled over to look at the clock on the table. Wow,eleven already and I feel like I didn't sleep at all. Alex yawned, stretched, and rolled out of bed. Making his way to the bathroom he glimpsed a haggard figure in the mirror. Man I look terrible, he thought, shaking his head.

  Alex got ready, grabbed his scooter and headed out the door. He walked to where he sat the night before and stared at the ground. I still don't understand what happened, he frowned. Stepping onto his scooter he headed to the recreation area. Man this place is actually really big, he thought as he approached the building. As he walked around he noted the different shops. A clothing store, a grocery store, a gaming store, an odds and end store. Really has a little bit of everything, he smiled to himself. He jumped as he heard a roar of laughter. Curious, he headed towards the commotion. As he rounded a corner he was shocked to see the entrance to a large game room. It had arcade style games, it had card games, and where the cheers were there were ping pong tables with what looked like an intense match proceeding.

  He walked up to the table and watched as a small woman with blonde hair took on a gangly young man. Back and forth they went until the young man missed. The crowd erupted in cheers. Alex smiled to himself. I guess I really am missing some fun around here. We have been so focused on work I didn't even know this was here. He wandered around noting the different games and areas. I wonder if Siddiq would want to hang here, he thought as he headed out to the food court. Alex got his food, sat at a table outside and looked around. He picked at his food deep in thought about the visions he had the night before.

  “It was so real,” he said to the fry in his hand. Alex checked the time, “guess I should head to the lab.” Alex stepped on to his scooter, but instead of heading straight to the lab he took the scenic route. As he passed the different lab buildings he wondered what experiments or projects were being worked on. As he approached his building he was stopped by Emily who was exiting the door.

  “Oh Alex, there you are,” she said with a smile.

  “Hey Emily, what's up?” Alex asked.

  “I came to apologize but you weren't in the lab. Your team is worried about you,” she smiled.

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  “Oh, ya, I had a rough night and decided to take a little time this morning. I guess I should have let someone know,” Alex said as he looked at the ground embarrassed.

  “Hey, we are all adults here!” She smiled. “Anyway, I wanted to say that I am so sorry I hadn't come to update you on your things! Apparently there was an accident and the truck was damaged.”

  “Oh man, I have been so absorbed with the project I hadn't thought about my stuff,” he laughed. “Was anyone hurt?”

  “Well no, thankfully, but some of your things were,” Emily said. “So everything should be delivered today, but if you could make a list or an inventory of anything damaged or missing I will be sure to either get it replaced or get you some money back.

  “Oh, I can do that,” Alex said. “Thanks Emily.”

  “No problem!” she said “just come and see me when you have that in hand!” She waved and headed back towards the administration building.

  Alex looked after her then turned to enter the building. He headed to the lab and opened the door.

  “There he is!” Siddiq exclaimed “trying to get out of rebuilding this thing huh?” he smirked.

  “No, sorry. I just slept really bad,” Alex replied as he scratched his head.

  “Well hopefully you have had some coffee. The parts should be here any minute so we can finish the rebuild.” Reshma smiled.

  Alex nodded and headed to grab his lab coat. He walked over to the five slabs of rock that they had produced so far. Hovering his hand above each one and closing his eyes he felt a thrum of energy slightly different from each rock. Frowning, he touched one. A jolt of energy zapped his finger tips. Son of a, he thought as he withdrew his hand and shook it.

  “How did you just get shocked by a rock?” Zayd said, appearing next to Alex suddenly.

  “I don't know,” Alex said, staring at the rock.

  Zayd stared at Alex for a moment, “Weird.”

  “Ya,” Alex replied.

  “Are we staring at rocks? Is this like watching paint dry?” Siddiq whispered from behind them.

  “Something like that,” Zayd said, still looking at Alex.

  “Ok. Well that is about as much of that as I can handle,” Siddiq said, his eyes wide.

  “Hey, have you guys been to that games area in the Rec center?” Alex asked, turning to look at his two colleagues.

  “I have, the old arcade games are fun,” Siddiq said smiling.

  “You want to hang out sometime?” Alex asked him.

  “Sure, anytime man,” Siddiq replied enthusiastically.

  “What about you Zayd,” Alex asked.

  “I mean sure, if you don't mind,” he said thoughtfully.

  Just then there was a knock at the door. Reshma answered and ushered some delivery men into the lab.

  “Looks like it's back to work,” Zayd said. They nodded and all headed over to where Evalyn and Reshma were opening the boxes. After carefully unpacking everything they began reassembling the machine. After a few hours they stood back and looked at it.

  “Let’s do a couple tests and run some numbers,” Evalyn said. The others agreed and spent the next hour running numbers.

  “Alright, let's set up the next experiment. This is experiment #87,” Reshma said, looking around the room. “Let’s get this thing to work.”