[ WP ] `` The fact that you 're here , talking to me about it , means it worked . ''

Sarah took a momentary break from reading her book to check the time. Thirty minutes from now. She was tired, but she did n't want to fall asleep. She wanted to be conscious when it happened, to see what it felt like. The riots were loud enough that she could hope to stay awake, but she was starting to read each line about five times. After trying to read but only getting a line or so down the page, she looked again. Twenty five minutes from now. Fuck. Time is getting weird. She was exhausted, and hated, but how could she have slept those nights before, in the days leading up to this? 
 
 She opened her eyes. *Oh shit, I must've taken a nap, at least I'm awake to experience it. It should be happening any minute now. * Her eyes flickered to the clock. She blinked. Obviously she was having hallucinations. It was supposed to happen hours ago. She sat there for a moment, considering the possibilities. She *knew for a fact* that it was supposed to happen. All the scientific studies, all the statistical analyses, *it was supposed to happen*. It took her a moment to realize why, and she should've realized why sooner. She put on her coat, put on her ID card, and made out for her car. 
 
 The outside was dark, as it was only morning, but there was a sobering moroseness. If the riots and increase in crime in the weeks leading up to it was the storm beforehand, then this was the stark calm aftwerward. The streets were empty, excepts with people mourning. Mourning everything. Everyone gave up everything because it was supposed to happen. People changed, and now they had to face the reality of who they became. 
 
 Sarah got to the lab. She flew through its many corridors and rooms, hunting him down. She found him asleep, over piles of notebook paper, recording the observations from his experiment... *he had it recorded as a success... the gall*. Usually she adopted a philosophy of nonviolence, but she thought this was an exceptional case. She awoke him by smacking him. `` Robert,'' she spat his name, `` Why in the fucking hell am I and the other 26 billion people of Earth still alive?'' 
 
 Robert was too tired to care that he'd been smacked. This experiment drained his fuel reserved for at least a decade. Robert attempted a grin, and attempted enthusiasm in saying, `` I think we both know why,'' though it came out in a monotone. 
 
 `` You had no idea that could've worked. We can only imagine what would've happened if it did n't! I'm seriously thinking about telling the media what you --'' she was getting worked up. 
 
 `` The fact that you're here, talking to me about it, means it worked,'' interrupted Robert. He did n't have to take this crap for saving the human race, even if his work did have... significant... implications about humanity.
