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 Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2022 10:15 am
 He's so darn adorable! And if my heart wasn't already won prior to the film from the images I had seen of Hugh, I fell in more in love when I saw his planetarium conservatory place. Like... he made the planet mobile?! And those star lights?! That place was amazing and would've been my younger self's dream place to hang out. Even at my current age I want to go there and curl up with a book... or chat about science with Hugh... or... you know conduct "experiments." sweatdrop
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Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2022 10:26 am
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Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2022 10:42 am
She still couldn't come up with an adequate conclusion on why the facility chose her of all people to be part of the smorgasbord team of experts to assist with the top secret situation. Sure, she had a degree to her name but it was just a Bachelors... in English. It wasn't like she was a big name in the field or did anything significant to warrant being chosen. However, she wasn't going to resist too much since she was assured she would be compensated for her time. And who could deny the opportunity of being paid for a trip to someplace she probably wouldn't get to go to on her own terms?
"Here we are," said the driver of the black SUV she had been riding in as he came to a halt at the entrance of an elaborate building. She saw several staff members walking out to greet them. "The staff will escort you to where you need to go. Lastly... best of luck."
"Thank you," she replied, as she stepped out.
"Miss ______?" called out one of the staff members, as they reached her.
"Yes."
"Welcome to __________. I'm Carol and this is Bob. We have assigned to escort you to where the team is being gathered. If you'll follow me."
"And what exactly are we being gathered for? I am still trying to figure out why your facility chose me to join this team."
Carol glanced over at her, with a hint of a 'I'm-wondering-the-same-thing' glance before turning her attention back to the building before them. "Everything will be explained in the meeting."
"Right," she sighed. Of course. Standard super secret mission protocol. She shouldn't have expected anything different.
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Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2022 11:01 am
Carol and Bob led her through a series of hallways that eventually became a jumbled mess in her mind. If they built this place to be a labyrinth, they certainly achieved it. Eventually they came to a halt and Bob opened a door for the ladies to walk through.
"Sir? Miss ___________ has arrived," said Carol, stepping in and gesturing towards her.
The black suit-and-tie gentleman standing at the front of the room turned upon hearing them. He flashed a smile towards her as if attempting to be warm and welcoming, but she felt no warmth coming from it. She felt the eyes of the other individuals turn to look upon her, assessing the new guinea pig in the government's plans.
"Ah, welcome!" said the gentleman. "Please have a seat. Carol, that will be all."
"Yes, sir," replied Carol, stepping out of the room and closing the door behind her, leaving with Bob in tow.
After a moment, she finally stepped further into the room doing a quick glance around at the other individuals and determining where she would feel most comfortable settling down in. Her gaze eventually was captured by the big doe-like brown eyes that was staring from the broad man sitting closest to her. Something about him made her feel at ease and she certainly needed that sort of energy at this point in an unfamiliar setting.
"Hello," he warmly blurted out when she settled next to him.
"Hi," she replied, barely above a whisper. She couldn't help being lost in those eyes, resonating with intelligence and curiosity.
"Right," said the suited gentleman. "Let's get started then. You all have been chosen as the most qualified individuals in your fields to assist us with a recent development. I am sure I don't need to go into deep detail to explain that you will be under standard protocol of not sharing any information about this development outside of these premises. Starting now you are officially considered government employees and will be held to the same standards as any normal government employee."
"And what exactly is this development?" asked one of the other females in the room.
_____ glanced over at her and quickly assessed that she wasn't going to mesh well with this woman, which was saying something as she had the habit of befriending everyone. Even the most troublesome.
"We will get to that shortly," replied the gentleman.
"My time is money, Mister....?"
"Just call me Mr. Smith."
"Well, Mr. Smith, as I was saying, my time is money and I will not appreciate having my time wasted on childish games the government want to play."
"She's always like this," whispered the man next to ______.
"Oh?" ______ responded, glancing over.
"I assure you this is no game."
"Then what exactly are we here for?" asked one of the other members present. "I think I can speak for all of us and say we would rather know what we are doing here now than be kept in the dark for any longer."
"Very well."
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Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2022 11:24 am
"Well?" asked the woman.
"Several days ago a portal opened in a uninhabited portion of ___________. While nothing of concern has come through said portal, we are still on alert and are needing experts - you - to help us determine how this portal came to be and where it might lead to."
"How did the government come to know of such portal?" asked one of the other members.
"The farmer who owns the land was doing his usual rounds of the grounds and came across it. He has agreed to keeping mum about the situation."
"Probably won't last for too long," said the woman. "Someone always slips information."
"You saying that from experience?" asked the agent.
"From being burned by other idiots who did it, yes," she replied, raising her chin acknowledging the accusation. "I would never do such a stupid thing."
There was a brief moment of silence as the agent and woman stared at each other.
One of the other members finally cleared his throat and said, "Perhaps we should go around and introduce ourselves. Knowing where everyone's expertise is coming from should assist us better on how to go about figuring out this portal situation."
"Excellent idea. I'm Hayden Booth and I specialize in Geochemistry."
"Cora Miles," said the woman, crossing her arms. "Anthropology."
"I am Roland Baxter," said the gentleman who recommended doing introductions. "I study Ecology."
"I'm Eda Copeland, Thermodynamics specialist."
"Bradley Parks, Physics."
"I'm Dr. Hugh Weldon. I'm an astronomer. Though I have knowledge in various related fields, so I can really help with anything astro related," said the man next to _______. She almost chuckled by how enthusiast he was about introducing himself. "I am really looking forward to seeing how we can connect all of our fields together for this unique occurence."
"Great," said Cora. "Doc Rock is here."
Hugh seemed to fold in on himself as the huge smile on his face disappeared. _________ felt bad seeing him look like a child who was just reprimanded by a parent.
"And what about you?" asked Cora, turning her attention to her. "It seems we've touched every relatable field of science, so I can hardly see what you could possibly bring the table."
"Oh, well..." said ________. "I..."
"Cora, there's no need to be so harsh on our new friend."
"Like I said, time is money."
"I can assure you every one here in this room has been hand picked from a pool of many brilliant minds. We wouldn't bring someone onto the team who wouldn't be beneficial to the cause," said the agent. "But enough with playing King of the Rock with your fields of study. I am sure you are eager to get started on working with the portal."
"Yes," said Hayden. "Certainly will help."
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Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2022 11:39 am
______ stood off a distance away from the group. Ever since the round of introductions back at the facility, she was already dealing with the sense of feeling out of place and being the odd one out. She had to give the agent props for interrupting her chance of responding to Cora's jab. It certainly would have been a nightmare for Cora if she found out their final member was no science degree holding individual.
"You okay?" asked Hugh, walking over to her side.
_______ turned and felt her heart stop for a moment as she took in the height different between them. She had always been used to being the tallest of her peers, so being next to an individual who was quite taller than her made an impact. Plus his warm, intelligent eyes kept pulling at her heart strings each time she looked into them.
"I will be," she replied.
"I noticed you never did say what field you work in."
"Nothing as impressive as the rest of you."
"Oh, I highly doubt that," he said, flashing her an encouraging smile. "I watched as you were listening to the others talk on the drive over here and you seemed to be comprehending everything quite well. That's saying something as half of what they said I didn't understand."
She let out a laugh. "Just because I comprehend what they were saying doesn't mean I actually know what they're talking about."
"Still. You obviously do something that the government seems impressed by."
Silence fell between them as Hugh shifted his weight next to her as he glanced over at the others.
"I'm an English major," ________ finally said. "Creative Writing focused."
"What?" Hugh exclaimed, glancing down at her with wide eyes.
"Yeah, I know," she said. "I'm still trying to figure out why they chose me too. Not exactly on the same level of expert status at the rest of the lot."
"Perhaps you are looking at it all wrong."
"Looking at it wrong?" she asked, turning towards him. "How exactly should I be looking at it?"
"For the rest of us, yeah, our degrees speak volumes on what we're capable of. But you... your expertise isn't about the written word. Though it certainly plays a part. No, your expertise is creativity. Your field of study? Imagination."
"What? Pulling a Sherlock Holmes reference on me?" she teased.
"Sorry, what?" he replied, looking at her in confusion.
"There's a moment in one of the Sherlock Holmes stories. He mentions the Science of Imagination. His roommate Dr. Watson is shocked by Sherlock acknowledging this as he is used to his friend disregarding nonsensical pastimes. But Sherlock was quite enthusiastic about how useful the so-called science is for solving a case."
A huge smile appeared on Hugh's face as she explained. "See! You are an expert at something."
"Science of Imagination?"
"Why not? It's something we all dive into time and time again." He glanced over at the others before turning back to her. "Just don't mention it to Cora."
"Oh, trust me, I have no intentions of spending any time with her outside of what's necessary."
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Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2022 11:53 am
"Well, I think we've certainly gathered a lot more information about this portal than any of those government agents out there did," said Roland.
"Indeed," said Cora. "Quite disappointed by all of it. What are we even paying for them to do?"
"No need to go into political views, Cora," said Roland. "Like you said time is money, and I don't think you want to waste time by arguing viewpoints."
"So, what do you think we should do?" asked Bradley.
"I think it's best we split up into small teams. Work with similar departments to sort through the data we've collected."
"What about her?" asked Cora, nodding her head towards _____. "It seems we still don't know what exactly she does."
"She'll work with me," inserted Hugh before turning to look at ________. "Assuming you are okay with that?"
"I would like that," she replied.
Hugh flashed a smile in response.
"Very good," said Roland.
"In that case, Hayden and Eda can work with me since our fields are closing related," said Bradley.
"And I guess I'm with you then?" said Cora, looking over at Roland.
"Oh, come now, Cora. Don't look so disappointed."
"Rather you than Doc Rock over there," she replied, walking out of the room.
Roland shook his head as he watched her leave before turning to the others. "Well then. I'll leave it to you then."
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Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2022 12:09 pm
 "Thank you," said _________, interrupting the silence between them as they worked on their research in Hugh's planetarium conservatory.
"What?"
"Thank you," she repeated. "For what you did back there with the others."
"Oh, it was nothing."
"It's not nothing. The gesture means a lot to me."
"I just didn't want you to deal with the same isolating behavior from science peers like I had," said Hugh. "And still do, I suppose."
"Really a shame they treat you so badly," she commented. "You really are a great guy."
"Oh, I don't know," he said, shrugging his shoulders.
She set the book she was reading onto the bench next to her and got up to walk over to him. Gently placing his hands on either side of his face, she pulled his head up, so he was looking up at her from his seated position.
"You are amazing. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."
She then felt something take over and leaned down to place a kiss on his lips. She could sense him momentarily tense upon the initial contact before relaxing as she pulled away.
"Sorry," she whispered. "I don't know what came over me."
Hugh's hands gently reached up to her hips and she felt him pull her closer before placing a kiss of his own on her lips. For a moment, she was shocked by how intimate the gesture was before accepting it and hoping it wouldn't end any time soon. She had to admit it, this astronomer certainly knew how to take one to the stars, despite his introverted, geeky side.
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Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2022 12:16 pm
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Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2022 12:18 pm
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Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2022 12:19 pm
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Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2022 12:22 pm
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Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2022 12:25 pm
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Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2022 12:29 pm
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Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2022 12:33 pm
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