CERN

CERN’s Mistake ~ Gensokyo Bound
Background: Inside of CERN. Lab,CMS detector on wall.] [Music: None/Non-tense.]

"You mean I can't do anything?" Dr. Kleiner shakes his head. "I'm sorry." He looks down, almost embarrassed. I still can't get used to it, working under a man so much more experienced than me who still sometimes acts like a child who just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. I stare at his thinning gray hair, as I have done a hundred times so far during this internship. "I'll just … wait here then?" I offer. The good Doctor looks up at me, little blue eyes coming back to life as he nods. "Yes! " He says, full of enthusiasm again. "You might not be able to actually do anything in here, but you can certainly watch! I know I wouldn't miss any opportunity to see such a thing, can you imagine? It must be-" I nod slowly, smiling as I let my mind tune out. Dr. Kleiner has proved an easy boss to get along with, if a little eccentric. To be honest I suspect I've been stuck with him because of his genuine need for a capable assistant. He's spent the last few weeks in such a state of manic excitement that he keeps losing notes, knocking things to the floor and pouring cups of coffee without adding any actual coffee. Without me around to pick up the pieces, organize his notes and hand him a fresh lab coat in the morning, I suspect he would be dragging the project behind schedule a little, despite his intellectual brilliance. With the sheer excitement around here, I doubt any such delay would be tolerated. Everyone, not only Dr. Kleiner, has been anticipating today with such fervor it borders on the fanatical. Well, as close as physicists can get to fanaticism.

"Okay Doc." I say. "I'll stay here and watch, promise I won't touch anything."

"Good, good, good … " He trails off as he turns away from me and walks off into the room, greeting his colleagues with a shaky wave.

Nobody spares me a glance, the out-of-place intern, totally unremarkable next to one of the most amazing pieces of scientific hardware ever built. The Large Hadron Collider.

Or rather, the CMS detector, part of the Collider. The huge, portal-like circle of steel and plastic dominates the room, people bustling around the various control panels and free standing instruments below it. The room, built for just this piece of equipment, is clean and white like any other lab in the facility. But the CMS detector, with it's gantries and supports, gives the place the air of an industrial site. I watch as Doctor Kleiner advises a pair of subordinates adjust a set of dials. It's a pity I haven't really got to use any of my education while here, but it would probably feel like a lighting a match next to the blowtorch of the intellect around me. This is going to look amazing on my resume though. Present at the first live test of the LHC. Brilliant.

The hustle and bustle in the room increases a little and I check my watch. 8:50 am. The test run is due to take place at exactly 9 am this morning, the first firing-up of the largest particle accelerator ever built. There's a section of it below my feet, buried under the floor and a few layers of concrete armoring. The entire thing extends for 17 miles, but this is one of the most important parts. Today Kleiner will oversee the CMS detector. Although, that's not entirely true. As I lean against the wall, watching Dr. Kleiner totter from readout to readout, nodding his head and giving little orders here and there, I come to realize he's not actually necessary for this. He's here because he's in such a senior position. It would be insensitive and hurtful to not allow a man near the end of his career to oversee something like this. The team in the lab, mostly made up of experienced, middle-aged physicists, are running the entire operation like clockwork, having gone over the procedure in preparation dozens of times by now. Kleiner may be absent-minded, but they know exactly what they're doing. I feel a little knot of tension in my shoulders unwind, relaxing and just letting myself enjoy the show as my the numbers on my watch flick to 9:00 am.

[Change Background: Busier inside of CERN] "Bring the first set online." A pause. "Done." "And the second, if you please." "Now regulate-" "Stop the-" "Is the computing grid clear?" "Ready to go." "Ready." "Say the word." I let the back-and-forth of the preparations wash over me as I watch the final checks being made. This is fascinating stuff, even if I'm not directly involved. I have a sudden pang of disappointment that I don't have my camera handy. "Are we ready?" One of the physicists, a severe-looking woman, asks Dr. Kleiner, her hand poised over one of the facility's internal intercom buttons. He nods, smiling his happy little smile. "Ready." She presses the button and speaks into the grille.

"CMS detector ready."

I can't make out the reply, but she smiles. "Fire away." She says, letting go of the button and standing back. There is a pause, all the action and motion in the room stopping for a split-second. I can hear the tension in everyone's breathing, feel the long-awaited result rushing towards us. One of the technicians, gaze glued to a read-out screen, speaks, less than a second later. "We have a fourteen TeV collision."

I can feel the elation in his voice. "Results being written to computer memory now." He turns to the rest of the room, grinning. Kleiner smiles. "Well done people! We did it!" A cheer is raised from the throats around me, the three dozen people in the lab all clapping in unison. I join in, unable to hold back. It works! For some absurd reason I was expecting a lot more of a climax than that, but hearing any sound upon collision, all the way up here, would mean something very bad had happened.

"Hey kid, come here." One of the scientists waves me over to his read-out panel. He looks as elated as everyone else in the room, but also confused. I peer over his shoulder at a steady red line against the green background of the screen.

"What's that mean?" I ask. He shrugs.

"Must be an instrument malfunction. Something that big wouldn't even fit inside the accelerator." He points down the bank of controls.

"Flick that switch for me, would you?" I glance at the little blue switch he's pointing at, then up at Dr. Kleiner. Someone is patting him on the back and he's not paying any attention to me.

'Helped resolve instrument reading malfunction at the LHC' would look even better on my resume, so I step over to the switch and flick it downwards with a little click.

[Music stop] [Screen shake, turn black] The world stops. I can't hear or see or smell or feel. I can't feel my clothes against my skin. I can't even feel my skin.

[Screen shake] [Explosion noises, sparking, panic, etc] [Background: CERN lab, turmoil]

"There was something in there! Jesus Christ!" The technician is shouting in my ear. I hear a dull boom from below me and the floor shakes, I almost lose my footing. I can see everyone running back and forth now, panicking. Kleiner is in the middle of it all, no idea which way to turn.

I still can't feel my skin. That can't be good, maybe-

[Booming noise, screen shakes, crackle/generic 'warp' noise(?)(Anon going through border).]

[Screen goes black]

[End of Scene.]

[ Next Scene ]

['Dr. Kleiner' is a placeholder for now, I couldn't think of anything other than that and 'Dr. Doujin'.]