The Real Big Brainy
by Gary D. Snyder
Part 8:
Cindy stood there paralyzed as Jimmy fled, not certain whether to go after him or wait until later to try and set things right. Her inaction made the decision for her as the chance to follow him vanished. After Jimmy had gone her remorse about what Jacques' had done to Jimmy turned to anger at Jacques for his having done it. "How could you have done that?" she shouted at Jacques, waving the energy cell at him. "How could you have stolen one of Jimmy's energy cells, and then lied to me about it?"
Jacques looked guilty, but attempted to smooth things over as best he could. "I am sorry," he replied. "It was wrong, I know, to have done so. But I assure you I would have returned it, and let everyone know that I had used it to make the reactor work. It is just that I have worked so long. To know that the means to prove my reactor was in my reach was too much for me. I was wrong. I am sorry."
"Well…" Cindy thought of the times that Jimmy's zeal had carried him away and the problems that had inevitably resulted. Her anger subsided somewhat, but was far from gone. "That may be so. But now Jimmy thinks that I did it. I'm not sure how I'll ever be able to explain it to him." She still remembered that she herself had told Jacques about Jimmy's energy cells and felt at least partly responsible for the situation.
"I will explain it all to him, I promise. I am sure your friend will understand. He may never forgive me, but you at least he will."
"How do you know that?"
Jacques gave her a knowing half-smile. "It is easy enough to for one man to see when another cares a great deal about you. He will not so easily turn his back on you." Despite the situation Cindy felt her cheeks warming at the hint that Jimmy actually harbored feelings for her. Before she get out a denial Jacques resumed speaking.
"In the meantime, do you think it would be all right to use the energy cell for the presentation this evening? With Jimmy's permission, of course."
Cindy considered this. The damage had already been done, and the reactor did mean a great deal to Jacques. "I suppose so." She handed the cell to Jacques. "But you be sure that you let everyone know that it was Jimmy's invention that let you get it working."
"Mais oui!" Jacques replied happily. "I mean, yes, absolutely. Before then, I must check out the reactor to see what happened just now. I do not understand why I could not stop the reaction without using the auxiliary power to strengthen the containment field. I will check out the circuits and run another test. In the meantime, could you do me a great favor?"
"What's that?"
"My English is not always good, especially with technical matters. Could you review my notes and perhaps correct where the grammar is not so good so that I will not make more mistakes this evening?"
Jacques' penitence and humility was charming, and Cindy found herself unable to refuse. At least this was something she could do with a clear conscience, and so, a few minutes later, she was in the computer lab reviewing his design notes and presentation regarding the MAMBO reactor. Although Cindy was not a nuclear physicist the notes were very complete, heavily annotated, and actually quite interesting to read. Cindy soon lost all track of time as she delved into the details of the reactor's theory of operation.
The reactor operated much as Jacques had described in class on Monday but there were additional details. The reaction was initiated by converting some of the matter contained in the reactor core to anti-matter according to a string of conversion equations that Cindy couldn't decipher completely but could understand from Jacques' notes. Just as atoms consisted of protons, electrons, and neutrons each of these particles were composed in turn of even smaller particles called quarks. The initiation equation described how these quarks were reconfigured to form anti-matter. The process took a lot of energy and this was why Jacques had needed one of Jimmy's energy cells to power the reaction.
After the initial seed of anti-matter had been formed, the anti-matter and an equal amount of matter annihilated each other, releasing a great deal of energy. Some of this energy was used to power the containment field, and some converted by the reactor into useful energy such as the electricity that had caused the light bulb. The rest…
At first Cindy felt a sense of déjà vu because the rest of the conversion equation looked familiar. She flipped back a page to look at the initiation equation, then turned again to the conversion equation. She did this twice more just to verify what she had first thought. Part of the conversion reaction involved the process used to create anti-matter. The only difference was that the reaction created just a little more anti-matter than what had created it. It was almost like the reactor was a breeding ground for anti-matter, or –
Cindy suddenly froze. Breeding?
Slowly she moved her finger over the name of the reactor, speaking out loud as she pointed to each letter. "Matter. Anti. Matter. Breeder. Output. Reactor." She leaned back in her chair. Cindy knew about breeder fission reactors. They were fission reactors that produced more fuel than was used for the fission reaction needed to create it. The MAMBO reactor was a breeder reactor. But instead of radioactive material like plutonium or uranium this reactor produced anti-matter.
Feverishly Cindy dug deeper into Jacques' notes. Jacques had designed the reactor so that the strength of the containment field would increase as the cube of the size of the reaction. On the face of it this made sense. If the reaction area was twice as large the volume would be eight times as big and the field should be eight times as big to contain the reaction. What this ignored was the fact that the number of interactions inside was increasing exponentially. Cindy was familiar with the old math problem about taking a penny and doubling it every day. At the end of a week you'd have about a dollar. At the end of a month you'd be a billionaire.
It all made sense now. Why the light bulb kept getting brighter. Why the containment field hadn't been strong enough to stop the reaction. Why Jacques had needed to use auxiliary power to shut the reactor down. The anti-matter reaction had been running out of control. They had run the reactor for only a few minutes and had barely been able to stop the reaction in time. If the reaction had run much longer nothing would have been able to shut it down.
Suddenly another chilling thought struck Cindy. Jacques had mentioned running another test once he had checked out the reactor's circuitry. That had been almost half an hour ago. Without another thought Cindy slammed through the door of the computer lab and raced back towards the auditorium, praying she wasn't already too late.
End of Part 8.
Author's Notes:
The dam bursts.
The title of this chapter, "To Serve Man", is taken from a classic Twilight Zone episode based on a short story by Damon Knight. Without spoiling the punch line for those who have never seen the episode, the story is about a race of aliens who come to Earth with an offer to end war, poverty, disease, and famine, and generally better the condition of the human race. Some humans are suspicious, but can't seem to find any evidence that the aliens are lying. The only clue is a book left behind by the aliens. After intense efforts the humans are able to translate the title, which is "To Serve Man", which seems to support the aliens' apparently peaceful intentions. At the end of the episode the hero of the story gets a shock when the rest of the book is translated. Because the crux of this story is based on Jacques' book "To Serve Man" seemed an appropriate reference.
