THE MOMENT
"Thank you, ladies and gentlemen," Perseus smiled at the classroom full of scientists. They were at the culmination of a week-long scientific retreat that promised anything except relaxation. They were grouped in teams and given access to the ultimate bleeding-edge research in all fields, and essentially told to, 'Have at it." The classroom was the site of their final reports, and the corporate hosts had treated the entire thing like summer school, with them having just turned in their semester exams. It was designed to put them in the right frame of mind, and hopefully draw out that limitless thirst for knowledge they all had during their high school years that led them down the scientific path.
By the day of the final report, they were all caught up in character and eagerly flew out of the room as if it were the actual last day of class. But, not before Perseus assured them there was more to come.
"Sharp Development will contact anyone who caught their attention," he said. "If you don't hear anything from the company in two weeks, don't worry. It just means you didn't qualify, but you'll be welcome to try again at our next retreat. The company has very high standards, but we understand that even if you don't meet them yet, it doesn't mean you never will. Rest assured, each time you attempt to join us will be distinct from any other attempts you've made," he said. Then, the room was cleared in seconds, leaving him alone.
Perseus realized he still had a few moments before the reports were collected, and he sat down behind the desk to take a look. The final report was subtly intended to be an essay giving the scientists a chance to ponder anything they learned over the week they had all the universe's answers at their fingertips. It was a few simple questions to get them thinking, and a lot of space to write. The main discovery the group had made was about the true nature of dark energy, and Perseus scanned the essays for a few important keywords that should've been there. None of them was present.
"Hey, how'd it go?" Lyra's voice didn't startle Perseus; he'd been expecting her. He looked up from the papers and shrugged.
"Not great," he said. "None of them passed. It doesn't look like anyone expected that dark energy would turn out to be dead souls. Not even an idle supposition," he chuckled.
"Ah, that's disappointing," Lyra nodded as she accepted the reports anyway. "Makes you wonder how science worked on their Earth," she smirked. "We engineered it to literally be the only possible conclusion they could come to..., and they still didn't even get that far."