Never once have you gambled on anything higher than a scratch off lottery card, but you would bet your life's worth that you had the best poker face at this very moment. On the outside you were calm, cool, a woman who had her life sorted out, prepared for whatever comes her way. On the inside, however, so many sirens and alarms were blaring, but they were being drawn out by your internal screams. Oh! Nice to see you again. You know, after I bumped into you after almost getting arrested. There's no way he knows I'm the same person that crashed into him. No, he totally knows. Why didn't you look up who worked here beforehand?! Of course one of the greatest minds in astrophysics, not to mention the author and co-author of so many works you've read in your graduate program, was going to be here. It's not like they put faces on every article you skim for a research paper for the citation credit! How could your stupid mind not recognize him when he casually assisted you in police evasion? Thankfully, your inner ramblings weren't too loud as Dr. Janssen laid out the task at hand.
"Today, we have laid out an equation that was created specifically for this interview. You will have a maximum of one hour to complete it in full. You may not leave the room, however you are free to use any tool in this space that may assist you. We will be in the next lab over, when you are finished press the red button on the counter, and we will evaluate your work. If you do not complete the equation within the hour, the interview is finished. The time will begin when all three of us are out of the room and the door is closed completely. Are there any questions before we begin?"
Can I go puke real quick? "No ma'am." You shook your head.
"Good. As I said, the time will begin when all three of us step out and the door is shut. You have one hour. Good luck." With that, the three doctors left you alone. The click of the door handle indicated your time to fight this calculation began. And boy, was this calculation a real beast.
You understood why the other interviewees left the way they did. There were methods that were so advanced, they looked to be a concoction of different formulas. You wanted so desperately to scream to get rid of some nerves that have been building since you arrived in the room, but you're sure they were monitoring you from the other room somehow. The only thing you could do at this point was conquer the mathematics monster that was standing in your way.
The first few minutes you spent staring at the board. Perhaps solving it in chunks would help, or even splitting them into separate equations could form a pattern. The next few minutes you studied the tools left on the table that you could use. There were so many types of calculators, graphs, rulers, was that a Smith chart? Back to the board, you picked up the dry erase marker and began scribbling. Over and over you solved the equation, but with either different results every time or ones that didn't look right given the formula. If you could find out what the formula was being used for, you could save yourself a lot of trouble. You needed to think of what they could possibly be researching currently. Didn't look like planetary alignments, or anything involving time travel. You needed to walk away for at least a minute or your brain was going to explode. You tinkered with some of the equipment on a counter, desperate to find any form of hint given from the universe. Resting your arms against the edge of the connecting sink, you stared into the abyss of the drain. It seemed so infinite, but you know it led somewhere else.
Maybe like a black hole.
You shot up, taking your place in front of the board once again. With a deep breath, you wrote in a frenzy that was coming from your brain, straight into your hand.
There was one problem, however. Actually, about three. There were mistakes within the equation that no matter how you answered, the end result would be wrong. You were left with no choice but to make your own corrections. A risky move, but one you had to make.
Wrist sore and some dry erase smudged on your hand, you triple checked your work before confidently pushing the button. One after another, the doctors came back in. Each of them observed the board in silence, with the occasional mutter to one another that you couldn't catch.
"Tell us, how did you come to this result?" Dr. Meijer asked, turning to face you.
You innocently shrugged, "Trial and error, I suppose. It wasn't until I realized that the formulas were routing to the gravity influx of black holes that I noticed there were a few… mistakes in the equation."
"Mistakes?" It was Dr. de Kuiper that spoke up. He was still facing the board, but you had an uneasy feeling of judgement. "Can you please elaborate?"
You calmly inhaled before explaining what you had found. Originally, you had found one mistake, however in total there were three. "If I hadn't changed them, the entire equation was incomplete."
"Hm…" was all that Dr. de Kuiper said. He was still staring intently at the board, carefully studying it as if he needed to remember every detail.
Dr. Janssen stepped forward, "Thank you, Dr. L/N, we will contact you by the end of the week if we have a follow-up interview." You shook your hand and Dr. Meijer's, but Dr. de Kuiper was still focused on the board. You excused yourself, trying your best to hide your mixed emotions brewing inside of you. Did you solve it correctly? Did you even finish it? What if you offended them by writing your own corrections? Did they even like you when you stepped in?
All you could do was wait.
For days you replayed every detail that you could remember from the interview. The growing anticipation from receiving a phone call was slowly killing you. If you didn't get anything by the end of the week, you had no choice but to move back home, having wasted so much time and money to travel all the way to the Netherlands just for a possible job. Trying to occupy your thoughts, you went to explore the city instead of cooping up in your hotel room.
It was the third day of waiting, most of your anxiety had passed. You still had the occasional intrusive thought about how the interview went, but you managed to brush them off. You were sitting on a bench, enjoying the view of the ocean, when your phone rang from a number you didn't recognize.
You answered, "Hello?"
"Hallo, is this Dr. Y/N L/N?" A woman's voice replied in a thick Dutch accent.
"Y-Yes this is she." Your anxiety spiked when she referred to you as "doctor", not knowing if this was about the job but having a strong feeling it may be, "How may I help you?"
"I am calling about your recent interview, we would like to have a follow up. Would tomorrow afternoon work?"
You contained your excitement as best you could, "That would be perfect, thank you." You said calmly.
"Great, we will send you details later today. Have a good evening."
"Thank you, you too." The second the woman hung up, you didn't care who around you heard, but you yelled and jumped around like a child. This was finally your big break, and you needed this more than anything.
Surprisingly, you were still full of energy even with the lack of sleep. Excitement overwhelmed you, granted with a hint of anxiety. You had to remind yourself that if they didn't like you, they wouldn't have called you for a follow up interview. Every question they could possibly ask you rehearsed every answer, and even backup answers in your head. Be polite, but heard. Be humble, but don't brag. Show them everything you had to offer and more.
You took a different route than the one you used before to avoid any possible police interactions. Even though it took you a few more minutes to reach the institution, you left early enough to spare some time just in case you run into any unpredictable snags along the way. As you did once before, you went through the front doors, checked in with the receptionist, waited, went into another room, checked in with yet another receptionist, and waited some more. The only difference that you found on this day you were alone, except for the receptionists you spoke with. Nobody from the interviews earlier that week were there. Surely you weren't the only candidate they called.
"Dr. L/N," a woman with a clipboard stepped into the room, "we're ready for you."
Straightening the wrinkles on your clothes, you obediently followed her down a wide hall until she stopped in front of a tall door.
"He's ready for you whenever you are." said the woman before walking away.
He? As in singular he? Wasn't there a total of three the other day?
Taking one last deep breath, you opened the door to find a sleek conference room with a long table and a dozen rolling chairs. One of the walls had a large projector while the paralleled wall had a picture of Ruprecht 106. You barely realized the windows overlooking the city when you saw who was giving you your follow-up interview.
Sitting at the head of the table was none other than Dr. Siebren de Kuiper.
