Ayan was waiting for me when I walked into his lab at seven o'clock. I could tell he'd warmed up the equipment; the crystalline MRI device was humming and rippling with streamers of iridescent light. The whole room was alive with blinking, flickering control panels and a symphony of chirps, clicks, beeps, and whistles.
"Ah! The grand entrance!" Ayan clapped sarcastically. "Nice of you to join me!"
"You said 'seven o'clock and not a minute sooner,'" I told him.
"If you'd really wanted this, you'd've been here fifteen minutes sooner," said Ayan. "I've got half a mind to shut this down and send you straight home."
I sighed and shook my head. "You are such a drama queen." Then, I headed for the crystalline device. "So what do I do? Just lie down in that thing?"
Ayan sputtered an
