LJ Idol - Three Strikes Edition - Week 2 - What Really Matters
Adara Ellis lifted her head from her hands, looked around the laboratory, sighed mightily and lowered her face back toward her hands. She could not win for losing today, and she was pretty sure that she was about to start crying. She had to figure out how to shake herself out of her funk. She was so close to a final solution and she didn’t want to be the person that screwed this one up. Nobody other than her closest partner seemed to realize it, but this one- this proposed innovation that she was testing was potentially for all the marbles. This was a solution that might just turn the tide in the battle against climate change. She just had to get her proof of concept finalized and this discovery could revolutionize inexpensive carbon capture.
She really thought that the science behind their new methodology was sound, but things just kept going wrong this week. It was almost enough to make her think that someone was out to get them, the way things kept stacking up. But that couldn’t be. Things were weird at work sometimes, but she didn’t want to believe that she lived in a world were someone would actually interfere with the kind of research she was doing.
Adara took a deep breath. She reminded herself that 43 year old research fellows at federal agencies did not cry into their hands when they needed to be checking gas lines and triple checking the equations that told them the amounts they would need for this final confirmatory experiment. She looked up at the clock. Her friend Milo was going to stop by in twenty minutes and he always made her feel better. It was a strange friendship that the two of them had developed back when her lab was audited over a year ago. Researchers didn’t usually make fast friends with their auditors. Especially when it was unclear what had triggered the need for an in-depth audit of her work in the first place, something that Adara was still uncomfortable with her management about. But Adara hadn’t been worried about any audit findings, knowing that her work was solid and neccessary, and she had found Milo Stepanovitch to be someone who asked good questions. He was a quick study, too, when it came to figuring out the necessary parameters for what she was doing.
After his investigation was finished, Adara kept trying to recruit him back into research figuring he was too good a chemical engineer to continue on picking apart other people’s work. He needed to be innovating! He countered that the cheaters of the world were innovating, too, and somebody good who understood the details needed to be there to make sure they didn’t get away with too much of the dwindling supply of good will towards researchers, not to mention hard earned research dollars.
She busied herself making sure that everything was in order in the lab and ready for her to start taking measurements on the new system. The gas chromatograph had been testy last week, necessitating multiple recalibrations until the rf values were as consistent as she could get them. It was almost as if either her eluent or her samples had been contaminated at some point, because with fresh batches of everything, she fairly quickly got the machinery back into a pattern of consistent results and measurements.
The chromatograph last week had been the first of a number of odd setbacks this week, culminating in the need for Adara to be in this particular lab on Friday evening, as all of the other available time there had somehow been blacked out this week. She was tired of wondering where the setbacks came from and whether they were happenstance or part of a pattern. She wanted to do the work.
As she checked a connection on one of the gas lines, her partner from the geotechnical side of the house, Gillian bustled in. “A Friday night lab appointment makes me feel like we’re back in college, so I brought some of what got me through my last degree,” she pointed with her chin toward the coffee shop drink carrier she had balanced on her satchel, “Caffeinated goodness for everyone. Did I remember correctly that you like mocha and Milo is more about the Chai life?”
Adara’s stomach rumbled as she went to take the proffered cup. Lunch had been rushed and long ago, and she was very grateful for the coffee. “Gillian, you’re a godsend,” she said as she took the beverage, and the two of them set to work making sure that the test chamber they had put together was all in order.
***
Milo laughed at himself a little as he headed into his friend Adara’s lab on a Friday evening. His wife had been disappointed he wasn’t going to be home for all of pizza and movie night with the family, and his squash partner was annoyed that he wasn’t going to be at the gym. But Milo still really enjoyed watching science happen, and maybe foolishly he kept getting the impression that something more than good work might be happening with all of the mishaps that kept stacking up in his friend’s lab.
It had been years since he left the contracting job where he regularly needed to carry a pistol and gone back to school to pursue an engineering specialty and then auditing. But after he pulled into the parking lot of the lab where he was meeting Adara and Gillian, he opened his glove box and removed the pistol he kept there, checking the weapon before putting it into the underarm holster he’d had to let out a little bit before donning it that afternoon. Everything felt secure with it there and there was nothing wrong with being cautious.
He braced for the bite of the cold outside his car through his light jacket and started to walk toward the closest entrance. It wasn’t a bad parking lot sunset, he noticed as he pulled out his badge for entry into the building. He swiped the badge and then was surprised as the pad flashed a red light at him, denying him entry. He looked at the face of his badge- as part of the IG’s staff, he’d never had a building come up as off limits. He wondered if he’d missed an email about a necessary update and started to pat down his pockets in search of his phone. Before he got very far he was startled by a quiet voice right behind him.
“I can let you in, auditor,” Milo was surprised to see that it was Ezekiel Biggs, with his face cast down at the ground as usual and his shoulders slumping in that direction as well. Zeke was the man in charge of requisition of supplies for all of the labs in this building and because he was so quiet and kept to himself so much, a whole mythology had sprung up around him. If Zeke liked you, it was said that all of your supplies would be plentiful and on-time. But if you annoyed him, it was a different story.
Milo had always found Zeke to be helpful in whatever he investigated and figured that his reputation as the sometime lab ogre was mostly a result of what Milo read as painful shyness. Zeke didn’t typically look at people when he spoke with them, and it was rare to see him outside of his basement offices. But he typically knew what was going on in each lab with a great deal of familiarity.
“Thanks Zeke, I didn’t see you there. You scared me for a minute.”
Zeke snort-laughed a bit as they went in.
“Isn’t it a bit late for you to need to be tracking supplies?” Milo asked the other man. But Zeke didn’t respond and Milo realized that he was already moving off toward the stairs that led down to the basement. Zeke _was_ kind of a weird dude.
***
An hour later, the three friends had finished their drinks and run through all of the prep for the experiment one last time. Gillian had caught a potential stumbling block or error in the setup that Adara missed and they worked through a tweak that would take care of it. Milo wondered if he might be about to see something of a historical moment as Adara walked over to one of the gas cylinders with its bright stickers identifying its contents, ready to turn the valve and start the flow.
She put her hand on the valve, but before she turned it she turned back to her friends and said, “I really hope we get the readings that we expect for this system today, and if we do, I just want you guys to know that your work and your support here have really mattered to me. It’s been a rough week or so, and. . .”
Her voice trailed off as the door swung open and in walked Zeke, pushing a trolley loaded with gas cylinders.
“I hate to interrupt you, Dr. Ellis,” he said to his shoes, “but I was looking at our gas supplies and I noticed a discrepancy between what you had checked out and what I still had in stock.”
He had everyone’s attention as he wheeled the trolly closer to the cylinder that Adara was standing by.
“I know you need a specific gas mixture for the kind of chromatography you’re running here, and I’m pretty sure that I brought you the gasses you need in these cylinders earlier in the week, so I was surprised to see them back in supply this morning. I think what really matters for what you’re trying to show, is.. . .”
Milo had to smile as Zeke tried without success to suppress another snort-laugh mid sentence.
“Well what matters here is the matter that you’re measuring, and it looks to me like someone has set you up for something other than success by switching your cylinders.”
Milo began to pick at the corner of the bright sticker declaring the mix of the gas in the cylinder that Adara was about to turn on and he didn’t seem too surprised when he was able to pull the label off to reveal a slightly different label underneath it.
Adara and Gillian stared at him wide-eyed. This had to be more than another annoying coincidence!
________________________________________
tonithegreat hopes that you can forgive the use of a “matter” pun as inspiration for this story! Who doesn’t like a touch of intrigue laden science, though?! Hopefully not the Idol voters this week!
She really thought that the science behind their new methodology was sound, but things just kept going wrong this week. It was almost enough to make her think that someone was out to get them, the way things kept stacking up. But that couldn’t be. Things were weird at work sometimes, but she didn’t want to believe that she lived in a world were someone would actually interfere with the kind of research she was doing.
Adara took a deep breath. She reminded herself that 43 year old research fellows at federal agencies did not cry into their hands when they needed to be checking gas lines and triple checking the equations that told them the amounts they would need for this final confirmatory experiment. She looked up at the clock. Her friend Milo was going to stop by in twenty minutes and he always made her feel better. It was a strange friendship that the two of them had developed back when her lab was audited over a year ago. Researchers didn’t usually make fast friends with their auditors. Especially when it was unclear what had triggered the need for an in-depth audit of her work in the first place, something that Adara was still uncomfortable with her management about. But Adara hadn’t been worried about any audit findings, knowing that her work was solid and neccessary, and she had found Milo Stepanovitch to be someone who asked good questions. He was a quick study, too, when it came to figuring out the necessary parameters for what she was doing.
After his investigation was finished, Adara kept trying to recruit him back into research figuring he was too good a chemical engineer to continue on picking apart other people’s work. He needed to be innovating! He countered that the cheaters of the world were innovating, too, and somebody good who understood the details needed to be there to make sure they didn’t get away with too much of the dwindling supply of good will towards researchers, not to mention hard earned research dollars.
She busied herself making sure that everything was in order in the lab and ready for her to start taking measurements on the new system. The gas chromatograph had been testy last week, necessitating multiple recalibrations until the rf values were as consistent as she could get them. It was almost as if either her eluent or her samples had been contaminated at some point, because with fresh batches of everything, she fairly quickly got the machinery back into a pattern of consistent results and measurements.
The chromatograph last week had been the first of a number of odd setbacks this week, culminating in the need for Adara to be in this particular lab on Friday evening, as all of the other available time there had somehow been blacked out this week. She was tired of wondering where the setbacks came from and whether they were happenstance or part of a pattern. She wanted to do the work.
As she checked a connection on one of the gas lines, her partner from the geotechnical side of the house, Gillian bustled in. “A Friday night lab appointment makes me feel like we’re back in college, so I brought some of what got me through my last degree,” she pointed with her chin toward the coffee shop drink carrier she had balanced on her satchel, “Caffeinated goodness for everyone. Did I remember correctly that you like mocha and Milo is more about the Chai life?”
Adara’s stomach rumbled as she went to take the proffered cup. Lunch had been rushed and long ago, and she was very grateful for the coffee. “Gillian, you’re a godsend,” she said as she took the beverage, and the two of them set to work making sure that the test chamber they had put together was all in order.
***
Milo laughed at himself a little as he headed into his friend Adara’s lab on a Friday evening. His wife had been disappointed he wasn’t going to be home for all of pizza and movie night with the family, and his squash partner was annoyed that he wasn’t going to be at the gym. But Milo still really enjoyed watching science happen, and maybe foolishly he kept getting the impression that something more than good work might be happening with all of the mishaps that kept stacking up in his friend’s lab.
It had been years since he left the contracting job where he regularly needed to carry a pistol and gone back to school to pursue an engineering specialty and then auditing. But after he pulled into the parking lot of the lab where he was meeting Adara and Gillian, he opened his glove box and removed the pistol he kept there, checking the weapon before putting it into the underarm holster he’d had to let out a little bit before donning it that afternoon. Everything felt secure with it there and there was nothing wrong with being cautious.
He braced for the bite of the cold outside his car through his light jacket and started to walk toward the closest entrance. It wasn’t a bad parking lot sunset, he noticed as he pulled out his badge for entry into the building. He swiped the badge and then was surprised as the pad flashed a red light at him, denying him entry. He looked at the face of his badge- as part of the IG’s staff, he’d never had a building come up as off limits. He wondered if he’d missed an email about a necessary update and started to pat down his pockets in search of his phone. Before he got very far he was startled by a quiet voice right behind him.
“I can let you in, auditor,” Milo was surprised to see that it was Ezekiel Biggs, with his face cast down at the ground as usual and his shoulders slumping in that direction as well. Zeke was the man in charge of requisition of supplies for all of the labs in this building and because he was so quiet and kept to himself so much, a whole mythology had sprung up around him. If Zeke liked you, it was said that all of your supplies would be plentiful and on-time. But if you annoyed him, it was a different story.
Milo had always found Zeke to be helpful in whatever he investigated and figured that his reputation as the sometime lab ogre was mostly a result of what Milo read as painful shyness. Zeke didn’t typically look at people when he spoke with them, and it was rare to see him outside of his basement offices. But he typically knew what was going on in each lab with a great deal of familiarity.
“Thanks Zeke, I didn’t see you there. You scared me for a minute.”
Zeke snort-laughed a bit as they went in.
“Isn’t it a bit late for you to need to be tracking supplies?” Milo asked the other man. But Zeke didn’t respond and Milo realized that he was already moving off toward the stairs that led down to the basement. Zeke _was_ kind of a weird dude.
***
An hour later, the three friends had finished their drinks and run through all of the prep for the experiment one last time. Gillian had caught a potential stumbling block or error in the setup that Adara missed and they worked through a tweak that would take care of it. Milo wondered if he might be about to see something of a historical moment as Adara walked over to one of the gas cylinders with its bright stickers identifying its contents, ready to turn the valve and start the flow.
She put her hand on the valve, but before she turned it she turned back to her friends and said, “I really hope we get the readings that we expect for this system today, and if we do, I just want you guys to know that your work and your support here have really mattered to me. It’s been a rough week or so, and. . .”
Her voice trailed off as the door swung open and in walked Zeke, pushing a trolley loaded with gas cylinders.
“I hate to interrupt you, Dr. Ellis,” he said to his shoes, “but I was looking at our gas supplies and I noticed a discrepancy between what you had checked out and what I still had in stock.”
He had everyone’s attention as he wheeled the trolly closer to the cylinder that Adara was standing by.
“I know you need a specific gas mixture for the kind of chromatography you’re running here, and I’m pretty sure that I brought you the gasses you need in these cylinders earlier in the week, so I was surprised to see them back in supply this morning. I think what really matters for what you’re trying to show, is.. . .”
Milo had to smile as Zeke tried without success to suppress another snort-laugh mid sentence.
“Well what matters here is the matter that you’re measuring, and it looks to me like someone has set you up for something other than success by switching your cylinders.”
Milo began to pick at the corner of the bright sticker declaring the mix of the gas in the cylinder that Adara was about to turn on and he didn’t seem too surprised when he was able to pull the label off to reveal a slightly different label underneath it.
Adara and Gillian stared at him wide-eyed. This had to be more than another annoying coincidence!
________________________________________
tonithegreat hopes that you can forgive the use of a “matter” pun as inspiration for this story! Who doesn’t like a touch of intrigue laden science, though?! Hopefully not the Idol voters this week!