Room 42 by Federico Patané
 (2 ratings)
|
SUMMARY: Flash fiction contest entry for March. Theme Calculations.Room 42 By Federico Patané
"How the hell did I get to this point?" Eduard spoke to himself out loud as he stared almost blankly at the blackboard in front of him.
Behind him, John was sitting silently staring at his friend. He looked around the room to the blackboard that covered all four walls. It was filled with annotations, phrases, formulas and endless arrows pointing how to get from one thing to the next. That was how Eduard worked, messy and without much order. But he always got the work done. The problem was that he usually lost the focus of his work and needed someone to remind him what needed to be done. That was John's work.
"42." John said.
"What?"
"42 is the answer that you are looking for."
"What?"
"You know, 42. The answer to the life, the universe and everything else..."
John sighed, then rolled his eyes. He pointed to a place in the middle of the blackboard on the right wall. Eduard rushed to the blackboard and quickly read what he had written. Then he began following the arrows around, reading the equations and muttering things to himself.
"...this can't be right...." he muttered, "...but it is... this is correct, yes. But it doesn't add up... I did all the calculations..."
"Eduard?" John asked with infinite patience. "Stop that. You are acting crazy. Come sit with me for a moment."
Eduard looked at his friend with much impatience. Then he took a deep breath and went to sit in the chair beside John, but without taking his eyes off the blackboard.
"My God, Ed! When was the last time you took a bath?" John said.
"Not in a while, I have been busy."
"Yes, I can see. So how close are you to prove this theory, that 42 is indeed the answer to life, the universe and everything else?"
"It is done." He said. His voice filled with pride.
John looked around once more at the scribbling all around the room. The two studied silently the flow of ideas and calculations.
"Will anyone else understand it?" John asked.
"Oh, yes. And there are many implications and applications to this. I can only begin to fathom the ramifications of this work."
"Congratulations." John said patting Eduard on the back. "This is your best work yet. I am very proud of you."
There was a knock on the door and a man entered followed by another four persons.
"Good morning, Dr. Attens." Eduard greeted the man. "Doctors."
"I see you have stopped working now, Eduard. Is everything alright? This is not usual in you."
"It is done. My work is finished. It is all there." Eduard signaled all around the room. "I am reading it all over to make sure there are no mistakes."
"Does John agree?" The Dr. asked.
"Yes. He has checked everything with me." Eduard answered.
Dr. Attens and the other persons looked all around the room amazed by what they saw.
"I see you have done all the calculations. I shall leave you alone to finish and I'll check on you later in the afternoon. I'll be the first one to congratulate you when are done revising."
Dr. Attens and the others left the room and closed the door behind him. He spoke to the other doctors as he wrote down on his pad.
"Patient Eduard Jeelakson, room 42. Still delutional. He believes there is another person in there with him called John that makes him focus on his work. He has been making calculations ever since he got here. At first we thought he was talking nonsense but over the last few weeks he began making sense. I think that despite his craziness he may be right and has gotten to prove his theory. "
"What theory?" A young man near the back asked.
"That he could calculate the answer to life, the universe and everything else."
| 
