Analysis was irrelevant. There was only one choice to make. With barely a thought he turned over the pristine card.

~

"Let me see a higher burst this time Shannon. We ain't tickling it."

"Yes, Sir."

"That's better. Yes, the chain reaction is beginning. How's the bio's looking?"

"Stable."

"Good, good. Keep it steady. Magnetic array?"

"Holding."

Staring with complete focus at the array of screens in front of him, Paul absently used his lab coat sleeve to wipe away sweat forming on his forehead. In silent flashes the screens continued to churn out a constant stream of stats and recordings. Months of familiarity let Paul take it all in almost absently as he monitored the live video feed.

"Ok, chain reaction is reaching critical. Ready to ignite it." He called out, his hand already poised over the button he'd been desperate to press for so long. The endless months of calculations, research proposals, prototypes, simulations, governmental committee meetings were all tied to the next few seconds but Paul was beyond any form of anxiety. His focus was too committed for such petty distractions.

"And... IGNITE! ...The BIO's?"

"Still stable," his assistant yelled back as the room took on a deep blue glow from the video feed monitors.

"Subject change is beginning, we're looking at a 3% completion. 5%. 8%. It's working. No wait, I'm seeing a fluctuation in containment, keep it steady, we can't lose this now!"

"Compensating."

"Ok good, we're stable again. 14% and rising. This is it."

Just twenty feet away, inside the chamber consisting of four feet solid concrete and three inches of lead shielding, a creature twisted and screamed in it's restraints.

"22%. 26%."

"Sir, I'm seeing a spike in heart rate. It's at 165 and rising. It's heart can't take it."

"Activate the resistance amplifiers."

"Activated. Heart rate stable at 172."

"33%. I'm losing reaction. Give me another burst, 130 RT's."

"Sir!"

"Just do it."

"Burst initiated."

"Good, reaction is speeding up. We're at 41% completion. Just another 30 seconds and we've done it. 47%."

Paul's eyes moved tirelessly from screen to screen. His hands slid across the controls just as fluidly. At the back of his mind he was re-running his recurring dream of the last five years over and over.

"Ladies and Gentlemen. I stand before you today armed with the knowledge that will reignite humans drive for science. That will lift us up from mere ape descendants into a species apart. As of today, we no longer need cast our vision down to this small planet we exist on, but lift our heads and take our part in the cosmos freed of restraint.

"89%. 92%. I'm already reading massive energy generation. It's off the scale! 94%."

Sweat poured from Paul, but it was ignored. Eyes bore into the readouts, desperate to see the conclusion.

"98%... 99%... 100% Completion. WE DID IT SHANNON! An infinitely sustainable power source for the world!"

Inside the chamber the creature's screams stopped with an alien suddenness. No trace of the restraints could be seen, burnt away in an instant. A soft blue glow permeated its entire body as it hung suspended in the middle of the chamber.

~

With a slight gasp of awe he dropped the card face up on the table. "Dr. Paul Mathews, Scientist."

__________________
"The path of my life is strewn with cowpats from the Devil's own satanic herd."