A Man Of Science

Rigdon held a Styrofoam cup firmly, his body lazily dragging him down the corridors of his workplace. He hadn’t slept all that great last night, and he needed a pick-me-up. Sure, he wasn’t one to take to coffee, but the other option was to either sleep in or drink an energy drink. Now, he despises arriving to work late unnecessarily so that was out of the question; The energy drink, however, would almost certainly shave a couple of minutes off his lifespan with each swig, so he was not going to take to those abominations either.

It had been about a year since he had become one of the engineers for NASA, and it was as mundane as that job he had gotten at that new burger joint, McDonald’s. He wasn’t too sure he understood the concept of fast food. All it was was a bunch of people selling some mid-quality burgers that were greasier than the beef fat it was cooked in. Though, he had to admit that they were fast. It had been quite convenient when he had felt too tired to make anything at home.

He gave a couple of solemn nods and ‘hellos’ as he passed a couple of his colleagues. He continued to navigate throughout the building, twisting through the winding halls before he came to the main command area. His eyes glared up at the first thing that met him, which was an Anti-Communist poster. He had seen more of these floating around since those Soviet Bastards landed on the moon. A bunch of people got laid off after the moon landing. Because one commie stepped on the moon, Congress thought the Space Race was over and imminently slashed NASA’s budget in half. He was glad that he hadn’t been one of those unlucky few that ended up on the chopping block.

“Well, now we’ve got to deal with a fucking Blood moon.” Rigdon chuckled to himself.

He removed his fingers from his coffee, the cup falling a couple of inches until it came in contact with the table and stuck the landing. Rigdon twisted from side to side before throwing himself against his chair, the thing spinning as he did so. He quickly peered his head over his area, calling out to the man in front of him.

“Hey, Mark, you got the Schematics for twelve? I need to double-check it to make sure it’s right this time.” His voice cut the palpable air.

The wounds of Apollo 11 were still tender and it was clear it was going to take a while to recover. It had been a freak accident, and it had left the United States with the first Humans and Americans to be Claimed by the dark waves of space. Boy did the Soviet press have a field day with that disaster.

“Yeah, got ‘em right here. Don’t kill them next time.” he fumbled around with the papers before reaching back and handing them back to Rigdon.

He grabbed and slammed the papers down onto his desk. Grabbing a red marker, he popped open the cap and quickly drew a couple of thick circles around the oxygen tanks. He would then take a pen and put a quick memo that stated, “Make sure Tanks aren’t Defective”. He quietly reviewed the pictures, his eyes dotting from left to right on the page. He wrote down some minor things before giving a quick nod. He reached over and handed the papers back to Mark, giving a smug remark as he did so.

“Looks all good. Hopefully, the mechanics don’t get blinded by the light reflecting off your head this time around.” Rigdon gave a grin.

“Hey, you’re just jealous this baby can signal Morse code up to our guys in space and yours can’t.” Mark quickly retorted, causing both of the men to laugh in unison.

“You’re coming over for the Gator Bowl tonight, right?” Mark interrogated.

“Course I am! Why would I miss an evening of a couple of cold ones with the guys while watching Football?” he would drag his pencil across a notecard.

He was looking forward to the night of debauchery that was laid across the finish line before him. Settling back down in his chair, he placed the cap back onto his marker. He cracked his knuckles and got to work, his fingers quickly tip-tapping against the keyboard laid in front of him. He stopped only for a moment to refuel from his coffee before getting back to it. He continued this for a couple of minutes until he was interrupted. Joe, the Mechanical and Power Officer, had walked up and firmly placed a hand on his left shoulder. Rigdon flinched slightly before giving a soft breath and a grin.

“Jesus, Joe, could you not sneak up on me like that?” Rigdon asked politely as he turned his chair to face him.

Joe had an unwavering expression on his face. He could feel his body tense as his face contorted into one of concern. He hadn’t seen him this serious since Apollo 11. All he could do was wait for what his superior would do next, and that didn’t take long.

“Rigdon, you got a few? I have a couple of important things that I need to talk to you about.” Joe said to him, his slight southern accent plaguing his words.

Rigdon could feel his chest bang as his mind exploded with thoughts of what was going to happen. Was he going to get axed? He gave a small nod, getting up. He looked over to Mark, his expression just as worried as his.

“Uh, sure…” he would trail off before turning back towards Joe. “I think I got a couple of minutes to spare.”

Joe walked towards the door, Rigdon following in tow. He cocked his head to the side, staring at everyone, who now had their eyes on them both. He gave a big smile, a thumbs up soon following before he turned around. Once they left the room, Mark would speak up.

“I got five bucks on him not coming back.”

The rest of the room quickly lit up with people betting with or against Mark. Rigdon eyed the walls as he walked past, the mundane white and blacks beating down on his eyes. Soon enough, he and Joe passed the small, personal memorial for Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins. His feet quickly gripped the ground, halting his movement. His figure turned to face the small table, along with the pictures that ran along the walls. His eyes glared at Buzz for a moment. He reached down, grabbing and fumbling with the wallet he took out from his pocket. He would place a dollar onto the small, clothed table with a gentle pat.

“Here’s that dollar you wanted,” Rigdon grinned. “Don’t spend it all in one place.”

He twisted back around to be aligned with Joe. He continued to walk along with him. The air was as thick as honey as they traversed. Rigdon wasn’t one to slowly pull off the band-aid and pull all the hairs off, so he decided to be blunt with his superior.

“Sir, am I being laid off?” he asked Joe, which earned him a laugh.

“Wahaha! No, of course, you aren’t,” Joe quickly butted in, his demeanor much more chill. “If you were, you would be twenty feet outside in the parking lot from how hard I kicked you upside your ass!”

Rigdon relaxed, shoulders lowering as he let out a soft sigh. He should’ve seen that coming. He put on a smile as he began to wonder. If he wasn’t being pulled aside to be fired—what was it for?

“If it’s not to fire me, then what’s it for, Joe?” he questioned him.

“Well, all ah’ can say is that It’s a highly secretive project commissioned by the C.I.A. Real special project,” Joe called back, turning his head to stare back at Rigdon. “Think of it as a McGuffin—Uncle Sam’s one-of-a-kind Trump card against those reds. Just imagine it; A way we could stop the cold war from even happening by smothering Marx in his sleep. Now that’s the future.”

Joe pulled up to an elevator, pushed a key into a lock, and turned it. A red light lit up as they both now waited patiently.

“Well, it’s still in development, but that’s where you come in,” he turned back to him with a grin. “We need the best of the best, and you got what it takes!”

Rigdon stared at him, a dumbfounded expression plastered plainly across his face. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing! Why would they want him to join a top-secret project? Hell, he’s sure he’s just going to mess that up too! He brought his hands up, quickly shaking them back and forth in disagreement.

“Woah, hold your damn horses,” Rigdon shook his head before pointing to himself. “You want ME to help with it?”

“That’s the plan. Council reviewed your file and decided to give you a shot.” Joe explained. Rigdon let out a couple of nervous, choked-back chuckles before he quickly began to state his case as to why he shouldn’t be considered for such a project.

“Look, Joseph, I got a lot of stuff on my plate right now.” he `folded his arms as he turned his attention back down to his work. “I don’t think I’ll be able to do this new project along with Apollo Twelve.”

“Well, you ain’t got to worry ‘bout that mission. You take this offer, you’ll only be working on it.” he would shoot down his excuse.

Rigdon would grumble to himself, angry with how easily Joe dismissed his claims. His mind went off to the races, trying to figure out what to feed him as another excuse. His brain gave a couple of shrugs, handing him some blank cards. Rigdon quickly snapped back to reality.

“ Look, I’m not interested, Joe. I’m not going to help.” he would say plainly. Joe gave a soft exhale before shaking his head softly in disapproval.

“I know ah’ can’t change your mind.” Joe reached into his right pocket, pulling a second key from it and handing it over. “If you do decide you want to join, just come back here. The offer stands.”

“Yeah, whatever you say…” Rigdon stared down at the key in his hand. It had a weirdly shaped metal structure stamped into the bronze key, along with the words “Project Lazarus”. He shoved it into his pocket. “I’ll think about it.”

Joe gave a grin and a thumbs up before trotting into the elevator, the metal doors clamping shut as the red light flipped off. Shaking his head, he headed back towards his main work area. When he passed the memorial, he turned and stared at Buzz once again.

“What would you want me to do?” Rigdon asked softly, soon turning and continuing his mindless march. When he walked in, the room burst into boisterous discourse, a couple of groans being heard.

“Hell yeah, twenty bucks!” John yelled out from the front as James grumbled, coughing up the dough that he owed to him.

“Eh, I didn’t need it anyways… Lucky bastard.” James scoffed at his victory.

“Hey, you knew what you were getting into! Don’t be sour, I won!” John pumped his fist triumphantly.

The blonde-haired man gave a solemn shake of his head before going back to work. Rigdon had a puzzled expression on his face as he took long strides over to his desk area, his arms swinging back and forth in one fluid motion as he did so. He looked over at Mark, watching him grumble angrily as he paid up his money.

“How much did you lose on me this time, princess?” Rigdon asked as he rubbed the slight stubble that had been growing on his chin. He was going to make a mental note on getting that taken care of when he gets home.

“Only five bucks ass-wipe. Boy, I’m sure glad I won that bet last Sunday,” he pushed his glasses up from his nose. “I only lost the money you gave me.”

Rigdon gave a sour look, stunned at his stupidity to bet so much money, then seem like everything was fine when it disappeared from his possession just like that. Then again, those were the five dollars he had bet a week ago, so it’s not his place to point fingers.

“Well looks like we got Mr. Millionaire over here,” he grinned. “Thinkin’ that losing five dollars is the same as losing a nickel.”

Mark gave a shake of the head along with a small laugh, his stout figure jiggling with each chuckle. He would quickly quiet down, the silence piercing the air like a knife through butter. Mark glared at Rigdon before asking some questions about what just happened.

“So, what did the big man say?” he raised a brow. “You kicking the bucket?”

“No, I’m not getting fired. He just wanted to tell me about a project the higher-ups want me to get onto.” He quickly replied.

“Did you take it?”

“Of course I didn’t! I’ve got too much on my plate right now,” Rigdon would look down at his computer. “Plus, I’m not even interested in… whatever the hell he had going.”

“So, what you’re saying is that you turned down a raise? Here I thought I was stupid for betting high,” Mark scoffed lightly. “You should’ve taken the opportunity.”

“No, I don’t need more stuff to do—I’ve got plenty of that here.” Rigdon fiddled with a couple of his things.

Mark’s face would turn into a small frown, his eyes softer as that staunch side took control of his words.

“Rigdon… I know you still blame yourself for Eleven, but you gotta move past that,” he started. “It wasn’t your fault. It was just a freak accident out of our capabilities. Buzz wouldn’t wanna see his best man slouching around and moping.” Mark would reach forward, a grin slowly growing from cheek to cheek as he pats his shoulder firmly.

“Besides, how else are you going to keep up with my gambling adventures without it? You’re gonna go broke soon enough!”

Rigdon gave a small huff as his demeanor slowly became cheerier by the minute. He sat back down in his chair, exchanging a few more words with Mark as he lifted his cup of coffee.

“Hey, I can just cut your ass off from my money flow!” he joked at first. “But, thanks for that, mac. I needed that pick-me-up.”

Mark gave a nonchalant wave of his hand before turning back to mess with his own devices. Rigdon peered at his dark screen, seeing his hazel eyes gaze right through his soul. His mind pondered the things that Mark said to him. Should he really take the offer? He was sure that this was a bad idea, but he wasn’t one to give up. His mom did always say that he was a stubborn little fellow—Or, was it that he didn’t think before acting? Placing his chin against his knuckles, his mind slowly came to the answer he was looking for.

Letting out a bated breath, his legs shot him up and out of his chair. He quickly grabbed his essentials, along with his cup. The hand that gripped the cup swung back and forth as his other hand held the box of his contained things rigidly, only moving ever so slightly with each bounce he had put into his step. He tossed the cup in his right hand towards the recycling bin, a small thud and shuffle being heard as his cup slammed against the inside walls of the green bin, then dropped down and broke its fall on a soft bed of discarded papers and sticky notes.

Rigdon passed the memorial, giving a solemn nod before turning his head back to his target. He picked up some speed, his walking now turning into a slow jog. Pumping his arms back and forth, quick bursts of memories began to flash through his mind. From him as a kid giving a presentation on wanting to be an engineer, to him working extremely hard during his senior years and during college—He was at NASA, the place where only the best of the best go. He didn’t get this job to sit around and mope about factors that were out of his control. His stride grew heavier and angrier as he was filled with more emotion and determination. He wasn’t going to throw it all away because he was too scared—Buzz wouldn’t want that for him. He said he was going to go far, so he was going to go far. He was going to reach for the stars.

The walls blasted by him in a blur, the only thing fixated on his eyes being the elevator. As he slowly approached, the poisonous daggers of Dread and Anxiety were plunged deep into the depths of his body, though were quickly dislodged by the righteous hands of Determination and ambition. Rummaging around in his pocket for the key, he would yank it out in one fluid motion. Holding it in the palm of his hand, the silverish metal and bronze accents shimmered as they basked in the light. He looked up and guided the key in, turning slowly. A low beep was heard as the elevator light lit up with life.

He turned the key back and yanked it out, staring at it once more before placing it into the comfort of his cradling pocket. Rigdon waited for a moment before the doors opened, the crisp, cold air exiting and hitting his face. He trotted in, turning to face the buttons, of which was only one—A red square with a white outline. He pressed his finger against it, a small click is heard as the jaws of the elevator slammed shut. There was no going back now. He stood there, the elevator slowly moving down as he was lowered into the new, unknown territory.

He would raise his fingers before slamming them back down against his legs. He repeated this motion a couple of more times as the elevator continued its plunge into the unknown. A small shake was felt as the elevator locked into place. Rigdon’s heart beat its hands against his chest in a drum-like rhythm as the doors slid open, the mechanism of the elevator clanking as metal rubbed against metal, steel against steel. What awaited him was the monotonous walls of cloudy white and red accents that marked the halfway points on either side. He reached a leg forward, emerging from the elevator, the doors quickly shutting and sealing his fate once he did. A loud thud echoed through the halls, the walls singing the sound back.

Rigdon’s eyes darted to the ground, locking onto the man that stared back at him. Well, at least we know that the government is spending those taxpayer dollars wisely. Rigdon would open his mouth, checking his teeth on the mirror-like floor. After thoroughly goofing around, he carried on with his walking, an audible thump emitting from the ground as his boots banged against the polished tiles. He looked up at the walls, reading a couple of signs at an intersection. The different signs were engraved with different callsigns. Staring at each of them quickly, his eyes would stop at the sign that was plastered on the left pathway—Project Lazarus. He would gently drag his fingertips against the plastic before he turned and trotted down the hall.

He passed a couple of doors down the hall, but he paid no mind to such things. It wasn’t his business to peep on something that was highly secretive—If anything, he might be accused of being a communist spy trying to sell secrets off to the Soviet Union. He read off the signs that adorned the doors, but none of them was the one he was supposed to be at. Well, that was until he did find it. The entrance wasn’t similar to the other doors. It was much larger, sporting two double doors. The room was directly forward about twenty yards. The reason he could tell that was where he needed to be was the fact that above the two doors was the codename “PROJECT LAZARUS” proclaimed in a giant bold font.

“Now I’m not a genius, but I’m pretty sure that you shouldn’t have your greatest project in gigantic bold. It’s like having a sign that says, ‘WEAPON SECRETS THIS WAY’.” Rigdon gave a shake of his head as he talked to himself.

His hand reached out, his digits wrapping around the handle. Taking a deep breath, he pressed his thumb down against the button on the door and pulled towards himself. The door opened with a click, the first sight being a large, metallic plate standing atop an altar. The metal was encased in a weird, cylindrical structure, of which small points of arms were fixated against each point of the metal sheet. He continued to stare, a couple of questions coming to his mind. Is that a particle accelerator? Why does it look so… different? Joe looked back, a smile soon drawing across his figure.

“Well, well, well…” he would trail off. “Welcome to Lazarus, Rigdon.” Joe folded his arms as he greeted him.

Rigdon was flabbergasted. He slowly turned his head from side to side, eyes taking note of everyone in the room. It was half of the staff that was laid off! He slowly opened his mouth, but quickly closed it. His lungs couldn’t find the strength to say what was the biggest surprise of his time. Joe chuckled, shaking his head slowly before speaking up for him.

“Yeah, ‘ah know what you’re thinking,” he would say before continuing. “That whole laying off half the crew thing was just a coverup. It was just so we could get the best of the best without people asking questions about this project.” Joe walked up to Rigdon, that smile still present on his face. He reached out to him before placing a couple of firm pats on his shoulder. He would turn towards the front and then hold his hand out.

“Go on, take a seat! I’ll teach ‘ya the ropes ‘round here.” Joe said to him, Rigdon walking forward after he did. He took a seat at one of the open chairs, placing his box of belongings beside him.

Rigdon gawked at the machine that was built into the long metal table in front of him. It looked like one of those computers up at mission control, but these seemed much more sophisticated. He could feel his mind become littered with child-like wonder as the blueprints from the machine popped up with a push of a button. He looked back to Joe, his mouth hung open as his lips struggled to find the words to explain the bewilderment that ran through his very core.

“The machine was finished a couple of days ago,” Joe would scratch the side of his head. “It’s just that we don’t have the exact math down to get it to open. Turns out the universe doesn’t enjoy being broken.” he chirped lightheartedly.

Joe would begin to point out specific buttons and numbers, quickly giving an explanation as to what each thing did.

“The thing’s called a TI-50—People down there were kind enough to let us use the software. You punch in the numbers here, then the symbols—The answer is printed on a piece of paper and is ejected here.” he told him as he pointed over to the small slot to the right of the screen.

Rigdon stared at the blinking white bar on the screen. Looking down, he would push his fingers against the keyboard before hitting enter. A whirring sound started up from the machine before it spit out a receipt. He ripped the paper out and stared at it for a moment. Looking at the answer, he would plug it back into the equation to double check, only to find that the machine was right! It had taken all but three seconds to get the answer. Joe smiled, quickly chiming in.

“People are saying that that thing should be in schools by ‘76. Imagine that—Kids having a hold of something we would’ve killed for years ago; Now that’s the future of science.” a grin escaped his lips as he said those words.

Crumpling up the paper, Rigdon discarded it and looked back towards the computer. Joe placed a good bit of paper onto his area, of which made Rigdon cringe in disgust—That better not be some shit for filing or finances. Joe quickly eased his suspicions with what he said next.

“Couple equations we got down for the code. Just want to run this by you to make sure everything’s alright. Once we get the greenlight, we’re gonna start it up.”

“Aye-aye, Captain.” Rigdon would give an OK sign.

He looked back down to the papers, taking one off from the pile and skimming through everything. Once he got the basis of the problem, he lifted his pencil and began to plug it into the calculator. Once done, he ripped the paper out and stared at the numbers. He would then plug the numbers that the computer gave him back into the equation. He triple checked everything, letting off a small nod as he placed it onto a new pile.

“One down, only thirty more pages to go through.” A small smile crept across his lips as the possibilities of a new scientific discovery was on the forefront of his mind.

There was no end to the possibilities! Though, of course it did carry some negative ones with it. Slowly but surely, he would check off everything, once in a while having to do a double take just to make sure everything was perfect. Once he burnt through the stack, he quickly skimmed over everything once more and gave a solemn nod. He stood up, giving a thumbs up.

“Everything’s good here.”

Giving a small nod, Joe turned to someone and quickly muttered ‘Start it up’. Just like that, the machine sprung to life! It rumbled and shook, a whirring building up slowly as the gears on the machine did its thing. Sparks began to fly as super-heated quarks collided with each other. Eventually, it would open, the room getting bathed with a bright, bluish light in the process. All Rigdon could do was stare in awe and amazement. He slowly got up, grabbing a nearby clock. He walked forward, giving a small nod to Joe before turning back to the portal. He would chuck the clock forward. There, it stopped falling, and instead was slowly pulled into the gravity of the device. Now all they had to do was wait for it to reappear in the future…

Of course, fate is a cruel mistress. An alarm began to blaze out, crying in panic at the danger. Rigdon cocked his head over, watching his friends yell at one another as one said, ‘I can’t turn it off!’ He slowly turned back towards the portal in front of him, which had now grown to twice the size it had been originally. His eyes became saucers as he could feel himself fall towards it. He began to swim in the air in a panic, attempting to push himself away from the certain doom that awaited him.

“Help! Do something,” Rigdon howled with pain. “Oh god! It hurts!”

Rigdon was slowly consumed by the metal contraption. The pressure that was exerted on his now consumed lower torso made his lungs weak and his ears ring. The picture of his panicked colleagues slowly dissipated as he was finally consumed by the machine. There, his screams quickly fell on deaf ears. In fact, he couldn’t hear anything at all. Though, the sound was the least of his worries. His eyes widened as he tried to take deep breaths, but he was met with nothing. He was in a vacuum!

He would claw at his throat, continuing to take deep breaths, or lack thereof. He could feel his eyes grow heavy as he was thrusted downwards, quick flashes repeating in succession as he passed him. The colors and lights increased as he made his way closer. Particles were physically being superheated, yet he felt freezing. As the lights grew brighter, soon enough, the quick rush of air reappeared suddenly, hitting him like a person belly flopping into a pool. His ears practically burst from the sudden change. He closed his eyes, arms slowly covering his face as he rapidly approached the ground. Then, everything went black.

Slowly opening his eyes, Rigdon would adjust to the sudden change in light. His head was throbbing, his ears were ringing, and his eyes were blurry. Hands pushing against the ground, he found himself wondering what the hell just happened! Looking around, his senses slowly returned with open arms. In one fluid motion, Rigdon propped himself back up.

Craning his head from side to side, he examined his new surroundings. It looked like he was in some sort of library? He slowly turned his head back, the air escaping him once more as his eyes glared forward. It seemed to be a… horse? Though, horse should be used lightly since this ‘thing’ looked all wrong. Slowly blinking, he would finally say a few choice words that were on his mind.

“What the shit?”