Challenge #02047-E223: Place Your Bets
I have a lot of questions about this and I want none of them answered. -- TheDragonsFlame
There was a segment of vine in the isolation chamber. Recognisable as a section of The Glunk only by its unique hue. Spotted along it were black dots. Arranged underneath it were sections of Known Station Building Material.
There was also a betting pool board instead of algorithms on the whiteboards that were left there for those who liked to think in physical space.[1] Even the usual comic doodle had been erased from the betting pool. Instead, there were bets on teams; Asshole, Bastard, Cack, Dummins and Excreta.
"There's a ten percent increase in Team Asshole," said one of the scientists working in this particular laboratory. "Team Dummins is behind by two percent. Team Cack is bringing up the rear."
"Bets are still on the board until they spill on the no-no," another reminded them. "Come on Exxy..."
Chief Investigator Throkk cleared her throat. Causing this team to suddenly fail at pretending they hadn't devolved into childish behaviour. "I have a lot of questions about this," she indicated the betting pool, the experiment in progress, and the ridiculous hat lying in a box labeled Booby Prize, "and I want none of them answered."
Some of them had the decency to blush. "We're... uh... We were just..."
Throkk held up a manipulating digit. "None," she repeated. "I will read about it in the official report and pretend I didn't see a single instant of these... shenanigans."
There was a muted and embarrassed chorus of, "Yes, Investigator Throkk," before she left them to their own devices again. This is what she should have expected from leaving five Humans, three of whom were N'Ozzies, in an enclosed space and free reign to experiment.
The resultant paper was called On the Training of B'Nari Nanites in Potentially Hostile Environmental Cleanup Conditions. And was not in the slightest bit hilarious unless one knew the circumstances surrounding its authorship.
[1] Assorted methods of thinking are well known amongst the intellectual set. Acknowledged and encouraged are Thinking Out Loud - talking about it, Thinking In Physical Space - drawing your math on something or making demonstrations, and Thinking In Virtuality - playing with the math in simulations. Less well recognised but still endorsed is Thinking On The Inside, better known as Spacing Out.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / Teamarbeit]
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