Bonus Chapter for ya all. Enjoy! Umm..Please?

** Chapter 6 **

--If you can't remember, the Claymore is pointed toward you.

My worries about GEO last only as long as it takes us to reach the second research and development lab. 

I’m pretty deep in thought, so I have no idea of how long it takes or even were the lab is.  I just walk on auto-pilot and follow the herd through the halls.  Dr. Edmundson is somewhere in front of the herd and I can hear him speaking about something scientific sounding.  However; my thoughts are stuck in an infinite loop.  Good side is good, killing someone is bad, good side is good, killing someone is bad, Brenda sure is pretty…wait…what if Brenda is right? 

Wow, check out that electron microscope!  That jars me out of my haze and helps me to start noticing my surroundings again.  This lab is cool!  The room is totally looking the part of one of those TV show labs.  It has beakers, test tubes, Bunsen burners and centrifuges.  There are computer workstations scattered around and two small glass enclosed robot waldo devices.  There is another glass enclosed room attached to this room.  A glass and stainless steel door enters into a room with environmental suits hanging inside of it.   That room has a slightly thicker glass and stainless door with an airlock style wheel lock. There are all kinds of nozzles, blowers and vents in the second room.  That room has another wheel style locked door that appears to open into a larger lab of some sort. 

 We appear to be heading that way, so maybe Dr. Edmundson is going to tell us what the area is for.  I wonder if we will get to go inside of it?

Dr. Edmundson describes the process for maintaining a clean room environment and how they need to wear the suits to keep from contaminating the experiments.  “Are there any questions so far?”

It sounds like they take it pretty serious with the whole air lock and de-con process. I would hate to have to use the bathroom in there.  To my relief, I am not the only one who is wondering what happens in that case.

Mark raises his hand to ask a question. “Umm, Dr. Edmundson.  What happens if someone really needs to get out because they have to go to the bathroom real bad?”

“Excellent question!” Dr. Edmundson smiles as he looks around and spots another scientist type person heading our way. 

“Ah!  Dr. Johansson, nice to see you!” He says with a predatory smile.  “The students here were wondering about what happens if you have to go to the facilities while inside the clean room.”

Dr. Johansson appears to get a bit uncomfortable while Dr. Edmundson’s smile gets a bit bigger.

“Ah, well, that is an interesting question, sir.” He begins to nervously answer, looking embarrassed. “Do you really want me to answer that question, sir?”

“I guess not Dave.  Students, let’s just say that you either get real good at planning or cleaning.” He chuckles. 

It only takes a fraction of a second before the implications of that statement sink into the class as a collective “Eeeewwww” is heard.

“Yes, not even that is more important than insuring that proper decon happens.” Dr. Edmundson says with a barely disguised smile.

“So, are there any volunteers to suit up and go through the process?” He asks with a grin.

I’ll be shocked if anyone actually volunteers, but there are some true science geeks in this class so it could happen. Waiting…Waiting…Yep…no one really wants to suit up in one of those poop suits.

“No one?” He asks, looking around and behind the folks in the front.  He spots me, smiles and then jealousy rears its ugly head in the scientist guy.  Well, that’s what I blame anyway.  He had to have seen me talking to Brenda in the cafeteria.  He points to me. “How about you back there?”

The rest of the class turns against me. “Ummm, no thanks?”

I hear lots of, “Yeah, Brian…do it!  It will be cool! Don’t be such a wuss!”.  I tell you, high school is not the bonding experience that is described with fond remembrance by people who graduated decades ago.

Mr. Anderson wades into the fray with, “Go ahead, Brian. Extra-credit A for you and it will be a good learning experience for everyone else.”  Gee thanks.  Not.

Okay, I have to admit.  It is kind of cool.  The suit doesn’t smell like poo.  It smells like disinfectants.  I waddle into the decon room and close the door per Dr. Edmundson’s instructions. A status panel changes from red to green and the decon process starts.  It is like taking a shower, but while wearing a rain suit.  Then, the blowers kick in to dry the suit and when they turn off the panel near the lab door turns from red to green too. I could enter the lab area, but I hear Dr. Edmundson speak over the room’s speakers. “That’s good Brian.  Just turn around and come on back into the changing room so we can get you out of that thing.”

“Thanks for going through that Brian.” Dr. Edmundson says as he helps me out of the suit with an encouraging smile. “I think that you will find the next part of the tour pretty interesting.”

Once I am out of the suit, I find myself in the front of the herd instead of safely anonymous in the rear.  He leads us to the part of the lab that houses the electron microscope.  Sa-weet! 

There is also a large industrial sized stainless steel refrigerator and some computer workstations in that area.  Dr. Edmundson reaches into the fridge and pulls out a glass vial topped with a stainless steel cap that appears to be full of a milky colored liquid.  He holds it up to the light so that the rest of the class can see it.

“This vial holds over a million nanites.  This is our ‘Grey Goo’ sample so we have to keep it safe.”  He says, looking seriousness. 

“So, who wants to hold it?”  Everyone is looking pretty apprehensive now as he looks back and forth taking in the shocked expressions on everyone’s faces, he smiles and says, “I’m kidding.  This isn’t really ‘Grey Goo’ and the vial is quiet safe.  The nanites in here are deactivated test bots from the labs here.  The floor in this area is rubberized to prevent slipping and even if you drop the vial, I doubt it would break.  In the highly unlikely event that it did break, there would be no danger to anyone here.  These nanites are no more dangerous than the dust in your grandma’s attic.”

He starts with me.

I carefully hold it and look at it for a few seconds. I feel a slight tingle from my fingers just before I hand it off to the next person.  Dr. Edmundson then starts to explain how the electron microscope works and to show screenshots of the pictures it has taken of nanites.  It is during this lecture that the vial ends up back with me.  I again feel a slight tingle as I hold the vial in my hand while waiting for the Doc to finish up so that I can give him back the vial. 

After about ten minutes of me holding the vial, he finally notices that I have it and says, “Oh, thanks for hanging on to that Brian.  Would you mind just putting it back in the fridge for me?”

“Sure thing sir.” I reply as I walk over to put the vial back in the fridge.  I am so tempted to be more flippant with my reply. Something like, “No prob Doc!” or a robot “By your command!”, but I chicken out.  After handling the vial for so long, my hand is kind of itching a little.  I just rub my hands together and the itching dies down.

Dr. Edmundson finishes the tour by showing us the robotic waldo devices in the small glass enclosed cases.  He explains that they are used to perform smaller experiments that need a clean environment, but without the hassle of the clean room.  There is also a giant stainless steel range hood contraption about it and a giant covered red button on a nearby column labeled “Emergency Scram”.  I think you can guess what that is for? If not, Dr. Edmundson ends up telling us.

“…and that giant red do-not-touch button is our ‘Go to Heck!’ button.  If something starts to go wrong inside the containment area here, then we would push that button, stand back as giant steel doors drop from the ceiling.  The area inside is then flooded with halon gas as giant exhaust fans suck all the air out of the room and into electrified air scrubbers before venting to the outside.”

I’m mostly paying attention, but I’m also feeling a little distracted.  I am feeling jittery and slightly warm. I wonder if I am getting a cold or if something in the lab’s cafeteria food is disagreeing with my stomach? 

Oh well, it’s probably nothing.

Dr. Edundson leads us back to the front where he thanks us for behaving so well.  As if we are elementary students or something.  Dude, please.  Can we have our cookies now?

Mr. Anderson reminds us to thank Dr. Edmundson and a few of the brown-nosers even shake his hand before we hand in our badges, sign out in the little green guest book and file back into the waiting school bus.

I’m not really feeling up to chatting with John on the ride back, but John just has to ask the question. “So, are you going to call your new girlfriend?”

“Uggg, first of all, she’s not my girlfriend and second, she’s way too old.  She’s got to be at least twenty four or something!” I half heartedly reply.  I’m really starting to feel run down.  That tour plus my late night last night must have really taken a lot out of me.

John stops pestering me as I lay my head against the blessedly cool window.  I find myself intermittently drifting off and coming back with a start as I hear computer sounding beeps and chirps coming from somewhere.  I must be dreaming a bit too because I think that I am seeing lines of code and commands rapidly scrolling up on a giant big screen monitor.  It starts to make me feel dizzy so, I ask it to stop and I see.

>Initiating Hibernate Mode…

John shakes me. “Dude, are you okay?  You were really out there and then you started talking in your sleep.”

“Really?  What did I say?” I ask while rubbing my eyes.

“I’m not sure really.  You mumbled something like ‘ls minus la’ and ‘vi something’, then I got worried when you said ‘stop’.”

Wow, that’s really weird. “Thanks for waking me up.  Are we there yet?”.

“No.”

“How about now?” I ask with my best shit eating grin.

“Don’t make me pull this bus over!” He laughs.

The short nap must have done me some good.  I am feeling much better now.  Not one hundred percent, but better then I felt when I got on the bus.

Five minutes later, the bus pulls into the school parking lot just in time for us all to catch our buses home.  Nice!  Time to get home and log into GEO!