"It is like another day like yesterday", sighed the young lady of 23. She took off her lab coat, lazily let it hang on the hook of the door. This figure with blond hair tossed herself down the bed that was fixed to the barren brick wall of her room. Her gaze falls on the watch on her wrist, it was five minutes past midnight", she thought.
The LED light bulb above her head flickered, the group of moths danced around it.
Dr. Mellifera felt a pang of jealousy in this carefree insects, her mind resisted, "I have no time for leisure". She is so captivated in finding a replacement for the lack of bees and a cure for the dying world. It was a childhood dream to work in a lab and unminding today the load of time necessitate for data collection in observing the fabrication of event and the existence of different reality in certain space and time. And this ghostly feeling of guilt creeping into her consciousness, it would be nice to escape this engaging world and run along the escape route to a nearby greenhouses and smell the lovely greens of herbs and spices with mixed earth aromas under the artificial lights.
It was a spur of moment of lackadaisical fantasy, rapidly gone. Her hand taking off her glasses and placing them on the bedside table, she rested her head on the pillow, her heavy eyes shut and soon, her mind started to wonder, a little daydream catches on her until sleep finally claimed her.
Four hours later, the alarm went off. Dr. Mellifera groaned and wedged the pillow around her ears, she did not expect the loud reverberating ring tone burst the bubble of dream playing on her sleep. The howling nightmare intensified more on her ears, it completely wake her up. Another five torturing minutes, Dr. Mellifera's mind is still in limbo, she get out of bed and dragging her way to the bathroom. A warm shower bath revived her sense, her long blond hair twisted into a bun. She grabbed her white cotton lab coat off the hook and wrapped her body on it, hurriedly walked towards the cafeteria. Along the corridor, passing many doors behind her, she glanced at her watch, it read 4:33 AM. "Still have time", she muttered to herself.
Dr. Mellifera was the head of scientist of the Robotic Department of the Queens Council, the main designer of the Appius Mechanica, the Robotic Bee.
The other ten scientists were waiting for her in front of the elevator, they bowed their heads to greet Dr. Mellifera and she responded with the same courtesy. Once the elevator door opened, the group of white lab coats huddled inside. Someone pushed the button, the elevator started shifting floors going down to the Cafeteria and slowed down to a halt. The doors opened and the group exited the elevator, separating their ways. Dr. Melliera picked up a spinach salad and headed back to the elevator, she glanced at her watch once more, it read, 4:41 AM. It worried her. She is late. The elevator doors opened, this time she pushed the button for first floor. There was a queasy sensation on her stomach rising above her head with the elevator vertically shifting downwards. Her thoughts focused on a friend missing the elevator with her, she was normally on time. Mellifera had guessed that she must have misplaced her lab coat again,' the lab had spares but no, Helen had to have her so called special one. Oh well, maybe she lost in on purpose to keep her sanity', as she thought before the elevator doors opened. Luckily for her, she has the whole lab for herself this time, and Helen is her assistant. The salad on one hand, she walked down the corridors and through another door to a tidy white room with metal stainless steel workbenches.
"Another day in paradise." It was a sigh of welcoming relief.
She placed the spinach salad on the bench top.
The hours seemed to fly off the clock like minutes as Dr Mellifera worked on. She was planning to finish building one of the QC BEE's cornu, or wing. The work was nerve breakingly fragile.
By the time 3:30 PM rolled round, Helen still hadn't turned up which slightly worried Mellifera.
There was a knock on the door.
"Come in Helen." Mellifera called out without looking up.
"Its not Helen, instead its someone better." A middle aged man came through the door. He had dark short hair and was clean shaven. He wore an army like uniform.
Dr Mellifera looked up from the microscope.
"Father, what a surprise!" She said smiling.
Apise embraced his daughter.
"Where is Helen then?" He asked letting go.
Mellifera shrugged her shoulders. "She didn't show up, I am guessing she has misplaced her lab coat again."
Apise smiled. "You know I have the power to tell her not to worry." He said looking down his noise at her.
Dr. Mellifera shook her head. "You wont though? I don't want to hurt her feelings, after all she's just here to keep me company."
He nodded. "Well at least you can carry on your work. Mr Jones should be back soon to help you on the weapon front of things." He said looking at Mellifera.
"Father I have told you before, I don't need his assistance. I can manage with out his arrogance." Dr Mellifera said angrily. She focused on her work under the microscope.
"Look father, there are givers and takers in this world." Mellifera said still looking down her microscope. "He's obviously a taker and I want to be a giver." She carefully maneuvered her tweezers and soldering iron as she slowly attached a wing to a small exoskeleton framework of carbon fiber plated with a thin layer of copper. Smoke rose as she melted the solder.
Apise watched and listened in wonder.
"Your mother would of been proud of you." He said.
Dr Mellifera rolled her eyes. "You say that every time we have an augment." Mellifera was sadden. You never say that you are proud of me, she thought.
Apise laughed. "Okay, well I hope you are succeeding and Helen will hopefully show up soon to keep you company while in you work." He turned and left the lab. He sighed, at times he was tempted to tell her about his plans for the QC and the world, but he knew she would disagree with it. He needs the right time to tell her.
Dr Mellifera was angry with her father and didn't notice his absence from the room.
Once the QC BEE had been built, it would be able to clone itself and create a colony. But first she had to carefully build the first one which would take many hours of hard eye aching work.
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