MTH 407, Dept. E22 – Cambridge University
Thursday, September 21st, 2034 | 3:20 PM
"Alright, class, let's test those brains. Who's got an
answer for this one?"
Mr. Kayode, our biophysics professor, flipped through his
ancient textbook.
"Consider a particle moving along a straight line with its
position given by the function: s(t) = at + bt³, a, b ∈ ℝ.
First, determine the velocity function.
Then, determine the acceleration function.
And finally, find the speed of the particle at any given
time. Any takers?"
Silence…
"Steve?"
"Nah, bruv. Too early for this."
Scott was already biting his nails. "Ain't no way in hell y'all
finna make me sit here again."
Steven smirked. "Then go sit with Maggie."
Scott flushed. "She sits at the front, and I—"
"Oh, so you are looking for her?" Steven teased.
Scott groaned, throwing his head back. "Just shut up."
"Guess that leaves you, Jal," Steven said.
"Me? Oh, come on, guys—"
"You're the brightest. Just do a lil' barley up-down and
around, you'll figure it out," Scott teased.
Before I could argue, Mr. Kayode's voice cut through the
hall.
"Hey! You three at the back. Since you can't keep your
mouths shut, why don't you enlighten the class?"
"Shit, you've done it now," Steve muttered.
Dragged to the front, we stood there, frozen. Maggie and
Michelle waved from their seats—safe from our fate.
"You've got this," Maggie mouthed.
Michelle just shook her head.
"That's what I thought," Mr. Kayode scoffed. "Back to your
seats. And shut it."
The bell rang, signaling the end of another draining school
day.
"Take the equation as homework. I want answers Monday."
I tossed my pen onto my desk and let out a sigh.
Scott groaned beside me, rubbing his temples. "I swear,
I don't understand a damn thing about nuclear fusion."
"It's easy. Just think of it as slamming two atomic
nuclei together really hard until they stick," I said, stretching.
"Right, because that makes it so much clearer,"
Scott grumbled.
Steven smirked. "If you paid attention instead of
daydreaming about Maggie, maybe you'd get it."
Scott shot him a glare. "I do not—"
"Hey, y'all coming or what?" Maggie called from
the door, arms crossed.
Michelle as always, deep in her phone.
Scott instantly straightened up. "Uh, yeah! Right
behind you!"
Steven and I exchanged knowing looks before grabbing our
bags.
We were about to leave when a thought hit us.
Where the hell was Eliana?
As we stepped outside, the air was thick with smog, the sky
a dull gray.
The streets bustled with people, their faces weary.
Then we saw her.
Eliana stormed out of Binary Biotech Labs, her steps
hurried, her face tight with frustration. She tripped on the pavement, books
and files flying everywhere.
"Arrg!" she barked angrily.
"Hey, there she is!" Maggie said, nodding toward her.
She had just had a disappointing meeting with Dr. Jeremy
Steward. He'd shut down her theories on biomathematics, refusing to entertain
the idea that life could emerge from a catastrophic event—the evolutionary
concept of life springing from the 'Big Bang.'
He was a Christian. He believed life had been created by
someone.
"I mean, that sounds logical and all, but I dunno… I mean,
where's this guy? Where does he live? What has he been doing while the humans
he created turned their home into a shitshow? It'll only be a matter of time
before we start looking for a new planet to live on… lol, just kidding. It won't
get that bad. We'll find a way somehow. We always find a way. We must… I hope
we do."
Eliana didn't share every detail, but her frustration was
palpable.
"I can't believe Dr. Steward won't help us! He didn't even
listen to me," she blurted, slamming her notebook shut.
"Arrg!"
She screamed again.
"Well, love, maybe it's a sign that we should reconsider
this whole thing," Scott said hesitantly.
Eliana shot him a terrifying look.
"No way," Maggie interjected. "We've come too far to give up
now."
"But how are we gonna continue without Dr. Steward's
expertise?" Michelle asked softly.
I felt the weight of responsibility pressing down. "We need
to find someone else."
Eliana's eyes lit up with sudden determination.
"What about The Maverick Alchemist?"
"The who?" Steven asked, raising an eyebrow.
"He's a retired scientist. A genius. He's not afraid to push
boundaries," Eliana said, smirking. "I've heard rumors about his experiments.
He might be willing to assist us."
Steven scoffed. "If he even exists."
"Rumors have to start somewhere," Maggie smirked.
Scott sighed. "I hate how that logic actually makes sense."
Michelle nodded, a mischievous grin creeping onto her face.
"I like the sound of him already. But how do we find him?"
Eliana didn't hesitate.
"We start by asking around. Someone must know where he
lives."
Eliana smiled, her confidence returning.
"Let's do it. We'll show Dr. Steward that we don't need him to make our
project a success,"
She added.
After days of research on The Maverick Alchemist, we finally got his location
and headed out to find him at midnight.
Our Meg-lev car's brakes screeched, cutting through the
silence of the night. The headlights slowly turned off, revealing the eerie
darkness around us.
"Alright, this is it,"
Eliana said, tightening her backpack.
Our flashlights clicked on in unison.
"Let's do this!"
We crept toward the run-down mansion on the outskirts of
town, skirting the front gates.
A crow cawed in the distance, sending a shiver down my
spine.
"Why do I feel like we're walking into a horror
movie?" Scott muttered.
"Because we probably are," Steven said flatly.
Michelle, who had been silent until now, spoke up in a soft,
hesitant voice, tapping her palm on her thigh
"Guys, I'm not so sure about this."
" Michelle, it's going to be ok" I reassured trying to hide my fear and maybe
ease down the tension a little.
Nodding, we all crept in, the dim lights revealing dusty,
broken windows and odd bubbling contraptions lining the walls.
"Are we really doing
this? This guy is supposed to be crazy."
I whispered to
Eliana as we approached the door.
"Crazy or not, he's our best chance of getting the answers
we need," she whispered back, her voice steady. "We have to take the risk."
"Yup. Definitely a mad scientist's lair," Steven muttered
peeping through broken the windows .
Just as we were about
to continue arguing, a voice rang out from unseen speakers deep inside the
building. It hemmed calmly before speaking.
"Congratulations on
making it this far," the voice continued. "Few have the courage."
It called, the sound echoing through the night.
We froze, exchanging nervous glances. This was it. The 'Maverick
alchemist' he was indeed an odd-ball and he was here, somewhere.
"There ain't no turning back now people"
Steven said in a deep voiced whisper.
I stared at the creepy old manor and couldn't believe we
were really doing this.
Our search for answers had led us here, to this run-down
house on the outskirts of town.
I was nervous as hell, but I knew we couldn't turn back now.
Eliana walked beside me, looking as determined as ever. How
wasn't she scared? She believed in our experiment 100%, and I had to admit, her
confidence was contagious. But I couldn't shake the feeling that we might be
crossing a line.
As we approached the door, I took a deep breath and tried to
steady my nerves.
Eliana hesitated
before echoing back in response
"My name is Eliana
Halladay. We're here for the alchemist."
He sighed.
"Come in," he ordered, his voice deep and menacing.
"There ain't no turning back now people"
Steven said in a deep voiced whisper.
A soft click echoed.
Steven's hand went to his waist, where he usually kept a
knife, but I knew that wouldn't do much against whoever—or whatever—this guy
was.
We didn't even touch the door—it swung open on its own,
creaking as it hit the wall. The sound echoed through the hall, a hollow noise
swallowed by the vast, dimly lit space ahead. A damp, musty scent seeped from
inside, mixing with something metallic, like rusted iron.
Eliana's confidence dropped immediately. It was so evident
that my hands slowly vibrated.
I hesitated, eyes adjusting to the dimness. The hallway
stretched forward, lined with old, tattered portraits that seemed to watch us.
A gust of wind swept through, stirring the dust and making the chandeliers
above flicker.
We exchanged nervous glances, caught between fear and
excitement.
Eliana stepped forward, more curious than afraid.
We followed, our footsteps muffled by an old, patterned rug.
The doors slammed shut the moment the last of us stepped
inside.
We were damn spooked this time for sure.
We went on and the deeper we went, the more unnatural the
silence became. No buzzing insects, no distant hum of traffic—just the sound of
our breathing and the occasional creak of the floorboards.
"Turn right"
The voice continued, leading us deeper into the building. I
couldn't help but chuckle Scott was shaking like he'd stepped into a freezer.
He tried to hide it but it was palpable. As we went deeper we approached a
strangely modern door. I mean no disrespect but this place was like a hunted
castle. Wasn't expecting to see something this intriguing. The handle was the
first thing that caught my eye. Every other passage and doors we past were
dusty and ancient. But this door; it was
surprisingly fresh and clean, made from smooth, polished steel that glistened
in the dim light. The edges were sharp, showing that the Maverick Alchemist was
a man who didn't play no games when it came to details.
There was a small
window on it, but it was cloudy, keeping the Alchemist's secrets under wraps.
Still, I could see a bit of light peeking through, telling me that there was
some high-tech gear waiting for me on the other side.
Eliana stood behind me gesturing I go in first. Seeing her
shaken, rattled me a bit. After her I was next in line, so I had no choice . I
took the lead.
Grabbing the handle it was cool to the touch, and had the Maverick Alchemist's personal logo
stamped on it. That little touch told me that this Alchemist was serious about
his craft, and had put in years of blood, sweat, and tears to build this place.
As I wrapped my hand around the handle, I couldn't help but
feel a little bit of excitement.
The door swung open
revealing an elevator. The arrows on it pointed downwards. My little excitement
suddenly dampened with terror. We were
on the ground floor. The doors slowly slid open, no one touched them.
Everything in this building screamed 'get out of here', but we were too far
deep inside that turning back without this voice directing us would be chaos.
We stood behind them nervous and
terrified.
The Speakers flickered back to life, the voice a bit more
menacing than before.
"Go in!"
It kept on with the directions.
Steven couldn't hold it in anymore—he was losing his shit.
"Nah, I ain't going in there, brah. No way," he muttered.
The voice crackled back to life, colder this time. It wasn't
just giving orders—it was sizing us up.
"Go in. Kids."
"Go in? In hell. Y'all saw that door open by itself, right?
I ain't trying to be the first one in a horror movie to die," Steven snapped.
Running out of options, we stepped into the elevator, our
hearts pounding as the doors slid shut. Silence stretched between us for about
three minutes, thick with unease, until Scott blurted out in anguish,
"I told y'all we shouldn't have come here, we—"
Before he could finish, a sudden landing sensation hit our
feet. The elevator beeped.
As the doors slowly
slid open, I was hit with a wave of awe that knocked me back on my heels.
Everyone else was intrigued, but unanimously gestured I go in first.
The room was a
wonderland of science and technology, like nothing I'd ever seen before.
Gleaming machines hummed and whirred, and bright lights danced across the
walls, illuminating the Alchemist's life's work.
My eyes darted around the room, trying to take it all in.
There were vials of colorful liquids bubbling away, robotic arms working by
themselves moving with precision. Holographic displays showing complex
equations and formulas. The air was thick with the smell of chemicals and
electricity, a heady mix that made my heart race.
Everyone else admired in awe trying to take it all in when a
man suddenly emerged from a shadowed corner deep in the lab. He steadily moved
towards us levitating on a hover board kind of device. As he moved closer, our
feet froze where we stood. Our terror was perceivable even from a mile away.
He abruptly stopped a few meters from where Elina stood.
"Miss Halladey I suppose" He said staring her dead in the
eye. I hated the way he looked at her but he looked menacingly distinguished
and it seemed my balls froze too. I
couldn't utter a word.
His gaze shifted, giving each of us a quick half-second
glance, as if taking a headcount. Straightening his posture, he squared his
shoulders before speaking.
"Welcome, students," he said cheerfully.
He stood before us, appearing to be in his late 40s or early
50s, dressed in a sharp black tuxedo overlaid with a pristine white lab coat,
his logo neatly embroidered on the pocket. He was nothing like I had
imagined—far from looking crazy, he resembled a distinguished Irish gentleman.
The goggles perched on his head, however, clashed with his polished image,
though they matched the lab coat perfectly.
"Dang, Maverick Alchemist, you ain't playing around," I
muttered, letting out a low whistle of appreciation.
My eyes drifted back to the lab, scanning in amazement. I
stood there, awestruck by the sheer amount of work and precision that had gone
into this masterpiece.
But my mini exhibition of scientific wonders was abruptly
cut short when he barked, "Hey, don't touch that! And that—take your hands off
those, please!"
He lowered his tone, almost as if trying to sound polite.
"These are highly sophisticated, and I don't know… a little
bit dangerous. So keep those hands to yourselves, for your own good, I suppose."
It felt more like a warning than advice, if you ask me.
"Grumpy much," Maggie muttered, just loud enough to hear.
He smirked slightly, though I could tell he wasn't thrilled.
The way he carried himself—elegant and composed—contrasted with the faint
wrinkles on his hands, which told me he wasn't new to this kind of work.
Still wearing his lab coat, it was clear he'd been busy. But
with a nickname like "The Maverick Alchemist" and all the rumors surrounding
him, I couldn't help but wonder: What's he really been up to?
"So they still call me Maverick?" he said in a low
tone, clearly indicating he'd caught my earlier comment.
"Alright, lads. Let's talk in my office," he continued
abruptly, his tone shifting as he gestured toward the next room.