The Time Bubble Box Set 2
her all about you.”He led them up the staircase, which was made out of the samepristine marble material as the rest of the floor. Alice watched her footingcarefully, as it looked slippery.
“Not the safest staircase in the world,” she commented.
“Oh you think so? Well, watch carefully,” said Henry.“You’re going to love this.”
He turned to Dani and said, “Dani, change décor to rustic.”
The android’s eyes briefly glowed bright blue, and Josh andAlice watched in awe as the scene around them was instantly transformed. Themarble in the lobby was replaced by traditional oak, as was the staircase belowthem which now looked distinctly safer underfoot.
In addition, the screens had vanished from the lobby below,now replaced by a series of famous paintings, from Vincent van Gogh’sSunflowers to the Mona Lisa. It was as if the whole room had been magicallywhisked back a century or more in time.
“That is absolutely amazing,” remarked Josh. “How do you doit?”
“We call it nanocine,” remarked Henry. “It’s something wedeveloped right here at the institute. Everything in this room is made of amalleable material made entirely of microscopic nanobots which link into thenetwork that controls this entire facility.”
“Fascinating,” said Josh, who was truly impressed. “How doesit work exactly?”
“It’s as simple as this,” said Henry. “Just now when I askedDani to change the décor they simply remoulded themselves into the style Irequested like a big ball of plasticine, hence the name nanocine. Think of it abit like changing the desktop on your computer. The floors you saw when youcame in aren’t made from marble at all. The nanocine itself is actually aspongy material, rather like the stuff they use in kids’ playgrounds to protectthem if they fall. The applications are endless.”
“I’ve seen some amazing technological developments in mylifetime,” remarked Alice, “but this is the most incredible yet.”
“It doesn’t stop there,” said Henry. “By the time you’vefinished here today you’ll feel like you’ve seen the seven wonders of thefuture world.”
They had reached the top of the stairs now and turned rightalong a long, curving white corridor, with windows to the right offeringspectacular views of the Molonglo River.
“This is us,” remarked Henry, as he turned to the lefttowards a plain, white door which slid smoothly open, revealing an incrediblyfuturistic-looking lab.
“This is where the magic really happens,” added Henry.
“I’ll say,” said Alice. “It looks like something out of StarTrek.”
She wasn’t exaggerating. Her first impression was of thesickbay she had seen in a recent Hollywood blockbuster about interstellartravel, but this was on a much larger scale. The large, white, circular roomwas huge – at least thirty yards across – with banks of computer panels andtouch screens filling every wall.
Alice’s eye was particularly caught by a couple of beds atone end of the room, hence why she had thought of the sickbay in the film. Shenoticed that there seemed to be a motionless body lying on one of them. Werethey treating patients in here, and if so, for what? Then she remembered Daniand realised that it might not be a human body she was seeing. Perhaps this waswhere they developed the androids.
The interior of the laboratory was filled with several workareas woven into the same circular design. It was curves, no rough edges.Sitting at one of these was a striking woman with short, blonde, curly hair whoAlice guessed was approximately in her late-forties. She was wearing atraditional scientist’s white coat and intently peering into a holographicdisplay of the human brain in front of her. When she heard them approach, shesnapped off the display and got up to greet them.
“Allow me to introduce my wife, Vanessa,” said Henry. “Asyou can see, she dresses a little more formally for work than I do.”
“Like chalk and cheese, we are,” said Vanessa, smiling andoffering her hand to Josh, before kissing Alice on both cheeks in the styleAlice had become used to when travelling across continental Europe. It seemedthat Mr and Mrs Jones were very touchy-feely.
“This whole place is out of this world,” remarked Josh.“Pretty much everything I’ve seen since we walked through the front door hasblown my mind.”
“Now you can see why so few people are allowed to come here,especially from outside Australia,” said Vanessa, eyeing Josh appreciatively,which didn’t go unnoticed by Alice. “However, you two are a special case.”
“We consider ourselves privileged,” replied Josh. “But whyexactly?”
“I’ll come on to that,” remarked Vanessa. “But let’s beginby explaining exactly what we’ve been doing here.”
“I can’t wait,” replied Josh excitedly.
It looked like it was going to be an interesting day.
Chapter Two
September 2055
“Where’s Dani with that coffee?” asked Henry.
“Why don’t you go and look for her, my sweet,” repliedVanessa. “You seem to enjoy spending time playing with her.”
Vanessa’s words were seemingly said in jest, but Alice wassensing some definite undertones. Her first impression had been that theyseemed an extremely oddly matched couple: he, loud and flamboyant; she, primand businesslike.
“There’s no need for that, she’s here,” replied Henry, asDani walked in. She almost seem to glide, so perfect were her movements with nosound at all from her footsteps. She was effortlessly balancing a heavy tray ofcups, a coffee pot and various accompaniments.
“Ooh, that’s lovely, Dani. Did you bring any biscuits?”asked Henry.
“I’ve brought your favourites, Henry, Jam Sandwich Creams.”
“What would I do without you, Dani?” asked Henry.
“Put your tongue away, Henry. Though I imagine she’s alreadyhad plenty of that,” remarked Vanessa in an extremely acid tone.
Alice had been right, though Vanessa’s latest remarks went farbeyond undertones, said as they had been with all the subtlety of asledgehammer. This certainly wasn’t a marriage made in Heaven.
“Vanessa!” exclaimed Henry, rebuking her before turning toJosh and Alice. “I must apologise, my wife has a tendency to be a triflebrusque!”
“Just my little joke, dear,” replied Vanessa. “But don’tthink I don’t know what you built her for.”
“I can’t believe you’ve got Jam Sandwich Creams,” repliedJosh, doing his best to defuse the situation. “I thought they were just a Britishthing.”
“I discovered them back in my formative years when I spent acouple of years at Cambridge,” replied Henry. “I’ve had a craving for them eversince so when I found some in