The Display
There were just so many tubes; it was a staggering sight to
behold. Even from outside the university building they looped and
knotted from out of the walls and the windows. They quivered at
strange places, even though they looked empty and the strong breeze
seemed not to cause any of the other areas to move.
Yarina wondered what it all meant. The research had been taking place
for the last thirty years, and the building of this fantastic
apparatus that she could see portions of poking into the outside world
had taken the last decade.
None of the students and staff could or would comment on what it
was. The level of secrecy was quite remarkable. Some thought it was
sinister. Mostly Yarina found that students who had been refused
access to the thing were the most bitter, yet even they would not give
out even the most vague idea of what this thing was.
Now that it was complete half the local the scientific
community—mostly physicists of the classical and quantum
mechanics stripe—was in attendance along with members of the
media who wouldn’t take the slightest interest in such things
under normal circumstances.
Yarina recognised television presenters as well as film actors in the
crowd. The sense of pomp was strong and quite at odds with the feeling
that this was an important occasion in the history of physics, science
and perhaps world history.
She and other people viewed this kind of thing as requiring a more
sombre and low-key unveiling. Even though none of them were sure what
it could be.
You can find the complete version of The Display in issue 71 of TBD.