Shelly looked back at her empty animal cages. She had used up her stock of lab animals, and she couldn't get any more until tomorrow. But she wanted to test her new settings tonight! She walked over to her desk and sat down, mentally running through her mind trying to think of someone who might let her have a lab animal tonight. She couldn't think of anyone she hadn't shunned or alienated. Her pet iguana, Lucy, trotted across her desk, its collar and tags jingling around her neck. Shelly scooped her up and hugged her.
"Aw, Lucy you are always there when I need you, " said Shelly. "You are a better friend than any of my old colleagues. I bet you would let me use a lab animal if you had one."
Lucy looked at her impassively. Suddenly Shelly had an idea!
She placed the iguana in the first chamber and booted up the computer program. It would take a while for the computer program to complete its calculations. When it was done, the computer would close the door and the program would automatically run to completion.
"You are a good girl, Lucy. And I really appreciate you volunteering. I know it is a sacrifice, but sometimes scientific progress requires a little sacrifice, " said Shelly. "But don't worry. It will work this time. I know it. I have thought of everything."
Text, calculations and images whirled by on the computer screen too quickly for her to read. It was too late for her to change anything now. It was all up to the computer and its AI. Still, she had the nagging feeling that she had made some critical error. She looked over her notes and didn't see anything wrong. Then she looked in the chamber, and saw the collar still wrapped around the Lucy's neck, its metal tag dangling below.
Oh no! That metal might fuse to Lucy, thought Shelly.
She walked over to the first chamber. She didn't want to go inside, but Lucy was just out of reach. Shelly called to her, but Lucy just scampered even further away from her, deeper into the chamber. Shelly sighed. Lucy was more than a pet to her. She was her only true friend. Shelly couldn't let Lucy get hurt, especially because of her own stupid little mistake. Shelly stepped into the chamber and approached the iguana.
"Ah, gotcha, " said Shelly, as she lifted Lucy off the ground and removed her collar. She turned to see the door closing behind her. She dropped Lucy and her collar and ran to the door. She tried to open it, but it was sealed and locked. It was too late. She was trapped!
Oh no, she thought. I will be turned inside out! Or worse!
She peered out the viewing window at the computer. On the screen she could see text, calculations and images whirring by at breakneck speed. Occasionally a red screen warning would flash indicating some type of error. The screen rapidly returned to white as the computer automatically adjusted something and corrected the error. Shelly couldn't help but feel a little pride watching her creation work. It seemed to be functioning properly. Maybe she would actually survive this. She was encouraged to see her image flash by the screen a few times. At least the computer recognized she was in here.
She heard to powerful laser charging up, and prayed that her work was as good as she thought it was. She sat down next to Lucy, and pulled the iguana into her lap.
"Well, Lucy, old friend. It looks like we will be doing this together after all. I will look for you on the other side, regardless of where we end up, " said Shelly, as she held the iguana in her arms and gave it a little kiss on the head. Then she closed her eyes and waited.
Seconds later, she was gone as a bright light vaporized her in a flash.