My advisor was one of those stout, burly men who liked to wear short sleeves just to show off arm hair. He was sitting behind his desk. His beard and hair was unkempt, as usual. The surface of the desk was littered with papers and spare robotic parts. But what really made the sweat trickle down the nape of my neck was his posture--ramrod straight, hands clasped in front. His red-rimmed eyes regarded me hawkishly as he curtly told me to take a seat.
"How is your project going?" he asked.
"It's going as planned, although I have a few glitches," I began. "But I'm trying to work them out. I just have to do some programming..." I babbled a bit about coding and optimization as well as trying to rationalize my robot aesthetic design--but then I just petered out.
Craighorn stared at me for a couple of moments. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat and wrapped my arms around my middle to keep them from shaking.
Suddenly, he threw something at my head.
"Ow!"
The papers slid down my face and into my lap. It was an article from the research journal Un-Nature. At a brief scan of the abstract, all I could tell was that some scientists in Japan had managed to condition squid to swarm onto populated beaches by sonar.
"Cephalopod control is going to be hot research!" Craighorn exploded. "We've got to get on the bandwagon before it's jumped the shark!" He pounded his fist on the desk, sending a prototype robotic brain crashing to the floor. "And you, Des, are going to start a new project! I want you to put in an order for some Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni by the end of this week!"
I slumped back into the chair with a whoosh of breath. So, he was insane and not irate after all. Squid, I can handle. And as for that website, well, it'll stay as a backup plan. For now.
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timeasmymeasure
Part II
Date: 2006-09-19 03:49 am (UTC)"Come in."
My advisor was one of those stout, burly men who liked to wear short sleeves just to show off arm hair. He was sitting behind his desk. His beard and hair was unkempt, as usual. The surface of the desk was littered with papers and spare robotic parts. But what really made the sweat trickle down the nape of my neck was his posture--ramrod straight, hands clasped in front. His red-rimmed eyes regarded me hawkishly as he curtly told me to take a seat.
"How is your project going?" he asked.
"It's going as planned, although I have a few glitches," I began. "But I'm trying to work them out. I just have to do some programming..." I babbled a bit about coding and optimization as well as trying to rationalize my robot aesthetic design--but then I just petered out.
Craighorn stared at me for a couple of moments. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat and wrapped my arms around my middle to keep them from shaking.
Suddenly, he threw something at my head.
"Ow!"
The papers slid down my face and into my lap. It was an article from the research journal Un-Nature. At a brief scan of the abstract, all I could tell was that some scientists in Japan had managed to condition squid to swarm onto populated beaches by sonar.
"Cephalopod control is going to be hot research!" Craighorn exploded. "We've got to get on the bandwagon before it's jumped the shark!" He pounded his fist on the desk, sending a prototype robotic brain crashing to the floor. "And you, Des, are going to start a new project! I want you to put in an order for some Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni by the end of this week!"
I slumped back into the chair with a whoosh of breath. So, he was insane and not irate after all. Squid, I can handle. And as for that website, well, it'll stay as a backup plan. For now.