Kylian, having survived his encounter with Dr. Renard, met up with Viviane and Moyenne somewhere deep within the hive of cubicles.

Viviane showed Kylian to his personal eight-by-eight-foot allotment of drab, office floor space with its eight-foot-tall walls. He was expected to spend most hours of his day confined inside this perfect cube.

“We knew you were coming, so Dr. Renard had this office cubicle set aside for you. You’ll be sitting here,” Viviane told Kylian.

Kylian looked at his door-less, 512-cubic-feet of air with a desk, computer terminal and digital drawing surface hanging on one of the three gray walls. The cubicles were modern with clean, minimalist lines, but they looked all the same. He wondered how was he going to find his way around. His attention, however, kept going back to Viviane.

“Um…OK. Say, Viviane? That’s your name, right?” asked Kylain.

“Uh-huh! Viviane Fox.”

“I was so surprised when you walked into Dr. Renard’s office. I didn’t think I’d ever see you here at work.”

“That’s because you never suspected that I’d be a graduate student working toward my Ph.D. in quantum physics, did you?”

“Well, no actually.”

Viviane shut her eyes and crossed her arms. “I’m here on a full tuition scholarship so don’t think for a minute that I don’t belong here.” She clasped her hands in front of her chest and became all dreamy-eyed. “I find the study of quantum physics fascinating!” Viviane stared off into space thinking about equations. She stopped responding to Kylian, and became lost in her own imagination.

Moyenne cleared her throat to get Kylian’s attention who had eyes only for Viviane. “Don’t worry, she gets like that sometimes. She’ll snap out of it. I should know, I’m her roommate and I see her do this a lot.”

Kylian broke his concentration and turned his attention to the less interesting Moyenne, who he considered just an average gal. “Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot you were still here.”

“Hmph!” Moyenne wrinkled her nose.

Kylian returned to Viviane, who seemed normal again. “What’s with Renard? He sure didn’t seem like the brilliant genius everyone says he is. He’s gruff if not downright mean to me.”

“I thought that too at first,” said Viviane, “but he’s been that way for as long as I’ve known him and for as long as anyone here can remember. I think we just all tolerate him because he really is a genius and he really is the one who discovered the technology of teleportation.”

Moyenne, having a penchant for gossip, lowered her voice to a whisper. “I’ve heard rumors that Dr. Renard has been that way since the UEN’s Ruling Party got involved soon after he announced the breakthroughs of his inventions. Right now, the UEN funds his research lab and all of our salaries to advance the technology of teleportation as quickly as possible. The government wants him to keep improving the technology so we can teleport more than just toxic waste and bulk.”

“I don’t think Dr. Renard is mad as in ‘mad genius’ mad. My intuition tells me he’s nothing to be afraid of. It feels to me like he’s more ‘tormented’ rather than ‘mad’,” Viviane said while tapping her finger to her chin.

“Tormented by what?” asked Kylian.

Viviane gave a slight shrug. “No one knows! But I don’t feel afraid or even uncomfortable around him. I don’t know how to explain it.”

“You’re never uncomfortable around men!” accused Moyenne. “If anything, it’s the other way around. You know what I mean don’t you, Kylian?”

Kylian froze in place unable to utter a word.

“Don’t listen to her!” Viviane implored while Kylian bristled with nerves.

“And stop teasing the new guy, Moyenne!” Viviane said.

Viviane stood up abruptly and grabbed Kylian by his shirt sleeve. “Oh, here, come with me, Kylian. There’s something I should show you.” She dragged him away from Moyenne.

“Ooh,” crooned Moyenne, “Did I say something I shouldn’t have?” She had a wicked smirk on her face.

“If you’re going to be like that, Moyenne, you can just stay here. Come on, Kylian.”

Kylian, not knowing what to do, but knowing enough not to protest the attention of a pretty girl, just let Viviane drag him around.