All eyes were on Dennis. Strangely enough, he wasn't afraid. In fact, he was a little bit excited.
"Sure, I'll do it," He said, without flinching.
The scientists started to murmur.
"Do you really think this is a good idea, Barbara?" Howard said, "You know how much the Boss cares about the safety of the expedition."
"It's your call, Barb." Sheila said, "But if something goes wrong, I'm totally holding it against you."
"I'll be fine!" Dennis insisted. He didn't need to be babysat. He would learn how to accomplish any task set before him, no matter the cost.
The scientists looked at him again quizzically. Sheila left the room briskly.
"Right. Of course you will." Barbara said, "But you break that pen, you can kiss any dreams you have of working here goodbye."
It was at that moment that Dennis realized that they weren't talking about his safety. They were talking about the safety of the device.
"We should start right away." Barbara continued, "Who knows how long until the guinea pig changes his mind. Howard, fetch the glorified crayon."
"Step right in here. Devin, was it?" Kevin asked, leading Dennis inside the shielded room.
"Dennis, actually." Dennis said, "But you can call me Devin if you want to. I don't really care."
Kevin smiled warmly. "Well, I just wanted to say thank you for volunteering. You know, it takes a lot of guts to do what you're doing."
"What am I supposed to do anyway?" Dennis asked.
"You don't know?"
"No, or I wouldn't be asking."
"Oh. Right. Well, we… recovered the device recently. It's an animation pencil, probably from an Adobe interface. It's supposed to be able to create matter out of nothing. From a jigsaw puzzle to a car. When it's working properly, you should be able to draw anything into existence."
Dennis's eyes lit up. "And I get to test it?"
"And you get to test it," Kevin repeated.
Howard reappeared with a heavy briefcase. He lifted the pencil out of the case, hardly daring to touch the advanced machine. He reached through the glass-like walls, set it down gently on the center console, and turned to Dennis.
"Good luck, kid," He said, before retreating behind the blast shield once more.
"Thanks," Dennis said.
He looked at the pencil. Could this little gray thing really be capable of what was scientifically impossible? He felt something in between fear and awe.
Barbara approached the console's display. She tapped a few buttons, and a cursor appeared. Dennis watched the black mouse pick up the pencil and set it in his hands.
"Try drawing something!" Barbara said.
"On what?" Dennis said. There was no paper to draw with.
"Just… in the air."
Dennis wasn't sure if he had heard the orders right. He was beginning to think that this was a big practical joke. One to make him look stupid in front of his new peers. Still, he must follow the instructions, even if it meant a laugh at his own expense.
Dennis slid the pencil in the air. He closed his eyes, figuring that there must be a mental component. After all, how else would the pencil be able to distinguish between drawing and simply being picked up? When he opened them, he saw a large, badly drawn circle suspended in midair.
"Uh… is this good?" He said. "I mean, it's something."
The scientists scribbled on their clipboards.
"Let's… try again, Dennis, okay? This time, don't be so stiff." Kevin said.
Dennis breathed, and then he tried again. This time, he made a wavy curve.
"Good?" Dennis asked.
"Try putting your whole body into it," Howard suggested.
Dennis pushed against the imaginary paper. He drew with every muscle in his body. He made a curvy scribble.
"Isn't this amazing?" Dennis said, tugging at the scribble. How did it manage to defy gravity so completely? And all made of nothing!
The scientists started talking over each other again. Finally, Kevin addressed Dennis.
"You know what, Dennis? I think that's enough experimenting for one day. We'll try again tomorrow."
Dennis laughed nervously. "Really? I mean, we just started. A little more practice and I think I can—"
"Enough. We're done." Barbara said. "Larry, Howard, go get that orange guy."