The fluorescent lights in the workroom buzzed faintly, bathing the group of students that had found themselves gathered there in the sort of bluish white hue that was most commonly seen in hospitals and where scientific breakthroughs were being made. After hours, the lab workrooms were really only populated by students looking to get ahead in class, overworked teachers or Teacher assistants, students looking to catch up on sleep, or just those who had nowhere else better to be. But as for Ally? She was here for a breakthrough - and she was getting close, she could feel it!
The asian-american student leaned over a small cluster of exposed components pulled out of a simple housing, watching a small LED display intently as she turned a dial with a screwdriver, trying not to let her friend Laura jostle her delicate adjustments.
“No way Ally! That’s actually the coolest thing ever, oh my god - you’re being way too modest!” Laura gushed, practically bouncing in place as she beamed over at her friend, who was currently jotting down the numbers from the small LED display onto a small notebook with laser focus. Connor made a dismissive little noise from nearby. “Sure - it’s neat in theory and all, but it’s not like it really has any practical applications. I mean, I’ll admit that it’d be pretty good for a thesis paper, professors go crazy for applied theory and stuff like that- but it’s not like it’s going to make her a billionaire or anything.” The tall student leaned against the lab bench with an air of smug superiority. “Robotics is where it's at, honestly. All the jobs will be automated in what, ten years, tops?” He shrugs.
Laura frowns and rolls her eyes, looking at Connor with an annoyed air about her. “You’re just jealous because Ally is literally doing Star Trek shit and you’re just working on the next Wall-E or whatever!” The blonde fires back, and Connor bristles, looking like he was about to pop a vein, but Ally manages to stop the powder keg from going off with an exclamation.
“Guys- look at this!” She says, waving them over with one hand. A beat-up monitor that looked like it belonged in the early 80s flickered and buzzed to life. Putting their feud aside for the moment, the two students gathered around. A grainy image slowly shifted in and out of focus as Ally expertly pivoted the screwdriver back and forth, her tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth in an expression of rapt concentration. Laura and Connor both held their breath until finally, the image seemed to stabilize. Ally gently set the screwdriver down, and the group looked at the fuzzy monitor.
It was a little hard to make out anything distinct, but it was more than enough to amaze Laura. She clapped her hands onto Ally’s shoulders and shook her side to side like a broken vending machine. “OH. EM. GEE!” She breathed. “That’s another dimension, Ally? Like, we’re looking at a whole new world on there??” She asks, pointing at the screen.
Laura crowds the lab table as Connor shrugs. “It’s pretty hard to make out anything, though…” He says, squinting at the fuzzy video output on the CRT-style monitor.
Laura groans. “You’re the woooorst, Connor.” She looks at another student, one who had up until now been minding their own business in a more distant corner of the workroom. “Hey, you - what’s your name?” She asks, and the rather stocky looking student looks up from a book with a confused expression. “Me? Uh… My name’s Liam. Is… did you need something?” He says, furrowing his brow - he wasn’t really a very social person, hence why he did most of his studying in the corner, away from busy areas where he’d be randomly roped into other conversations - or so he thought.
Laura strides over, and shakes his hand, which makes him visibly flustered. “Well Liam, if you could look into another world, would you say that’s - “ She holds up two fingers, touching the tip of her opposite index finger to one - “ A, Really friggin’ incredible and the coolest,” She touches the other finger - “Or, B, like, kind of lame and not as cool as like, a machine that puts doors on cars or something?” She asks smugly, firing a look back at Connor.
Clearly a bit unprepared for this, Liam hangs up a minute, rubbing the back of his head. “Uh.. I mean, it sounds like it’d be pretty cool?” He says, with a sheepish smile. “I don’t really mean to like, pick sides or anything -”
Laura whirls around and cuts him off. “Told you so, Connor!” She says, and turns back to Liam. “Thank you, you chose the obviously correct answer!” She smiles, and he flushes - this was perhaps the most interaction Liam had gotten with a cute girl for the past 3 or 4 years.
“Laura, just leave him alone! He’s trying to study!” Ally chides her friend from the workbench, fiddling with the sensors to try and make the image clearer. Liam waves his hand dismissively in the air. “No, it’s okay! Honestly, I wasn’t getting much done anyway!” He says, and his eyes linger for a suspiciously long amount of time on Laura’s open-toed sandals - long enough that she notices. “OMG, I know I have to get a pedi, right?” She says, oblivious, putting her foot up on the chair next to him, and he shuffles awkwardly in his seat, beet red. Luckily, everyone else is either too preoccupied, or in Laura’s case, too oblivious, to notice how strongly he seemed to be affected.
Liam stammers “Oh uh- n-no, it’s just that - you’re supposed to have um, closed-toed shoes in the lab, I think?” He says, eyes fixed on her purple-painted toenails. “But uh, I won’t like, report you or anything!” He adds hastily, eyes flicking rapidly between the leggy blonde and her sandal. She just laughs. “Oh, my bad! I don’t usually come here, I just wanted to see Ally, so I’ll totally wear my Docs next time, okay? Pinky promise!” She winks at him, and bounds off to rejoin the group at the workbench.