Discovery

A Thursday Prompt Story
© 2018 by Walter Reimer


prompt: sniff



The badger’s eyes kept moving, from the bank of gauges directly in front of him, to the computer monitor to his left, and finally to the two large dial in his paws. On the other side of the console a tank of fluid the size of a small house, surrounded by rank upon rank of scaffolding, stood stolidly. “Jeff!” the badger called out.

“Yes, Professor?” the slightly tubby mouse called back, from his control station several yards away.

“Rotate the detection array another one-tenth degree, please. I need to boost the gain.”

“Got it.” Deep within the tank, sensitive instruments moved slightly. Watching the monitor screen with a fixed glare of mingled concentration and rage, the scientist waited as the computer interpreted the collected data for display. When the graphs and equations finally appeared, his mouth slowly dropped open as his gaze changed to one of wonder. “Jeff,” he whispered, then gulped and shouted, “Jeff! Get over here!”

The mouse moved with a speed that belied his size. “What is it? Have we done it?”

The badger reached out a finger, the digit trembling only slightly as it traced the slightest dip in the graph on the screen. “The slow neutrino interferometry field is performing exactly as the models predicted it would,” he said almost reverently.

“So your theory’s correct,” Jeff said.

“Yes, yes it does indeed, my friend,” the professor said, his expression changing into a wide grin. “There it is: Incontrovertible proof that, at a level below subatomic, the universe smells like almond nougat.”




end