[i][b]21:04, Sunday, S.C.S. Institute[/b][/i]

[color=limegreen]“What did he ask for again...”[/color] Jacob Sharner murmured to himself as he made his way with quick steps through the long corridors of the Institute. He was gazing at the floor in deep thought as he went, though he was small enough not to bump into anything or anyone. [color=limegreen]“Was it the battery? No, we got that in advance... The leftover shape-memory alloy? There shouldn't be a need for that anymore... Ahh...”[/color]
He was sent by his professor—[i]Senior Research Scientist[/i] was the official title, as he recalled—to retrieve a missing part from the artificial hand the Robotics team was working on in the moment. The prototype was very close to completion and Jake, who was perhaps the most excited to work on the project, did not want to waste a second more than necessary. Only, he forgot mid-way through [i]which[/i] part did the professor exactly ask for.

[i]‘Not again...’[/i]

Errors like this rarely happened to him anymore. In his very first work days at the Institute, he was a mess. A mess of excitement and anxiety, to be exact. The people here however welcomed him with open arms and kind words, which helped him ease into the flow of things considerably. After a week of fitting in and another to get in the loop of what was going down in the expansive facility, he was already presenting ideas to the project leads, seeking ways to improve on present constructs or make something completely different.
Yet, he still only was an Associate, and that meant following the higher-ranked and thus, more experienced and wiser scientists' directions, and his professor was one of them. As he gave it a thought, he never actually experienced the man [i]being wrong[/i]...perhaps he was a little old-fashioned at times, but that was just a trait one acquired after spending enough time in the field. Despite this however, Jake was confident he would always have the ‘vision’ with him. Even after being promoted to Senior Research Scientist, his lifelong dream...

And there he went, trailing off again.

No, really, he swore he was through his absent-minded period. That was what he told everyone too, and he did not want to prove himself wrong. He had done everything he could to aid his flawed memory, from audio-diaries to post-it notes. Then he tried to fix the ‘source’ itself, all to moderate success. He did find out however that thinking out loud helped keep his mind organised for some reason—much to the annoyance of his otherwise accepting co-workers. That was what he did now too as he finally pushed open the door to the sizeable storage area.
[color=limegreen]“The piezo motor, maybe...?”[/color]

The Institute had several storehouses, one for each department. The one for Computer Science was one of the largest as it required the long-time stock of many large physical parts. Jake did generally know where to find everything...but still had no idea what it was he was looking for exactly. A prosthetic arm, an advanced one at that, had a ton of pieces needed. He remembered that it was a small part that was missing—small but important...kind of like him—wait, no. That was not what he should have been thinking about right now.
He looked around the storehouse, fiddling with the little device on his glasses as he usually did as a side-activity. He was so focused trying to scour through his every brain cell to remember that he did not notice that the door behind him opened again.

“Looking for something, Sharner?”
The troubled scientist almost jumped in his shock when he heard his name called. He quickly turned around and noted with a relieved breath that it was not his professor, not even any scientist from the team, but a staff member, responsible for operating the heavy machinery—and carrying the heavy loads—around these parts. Barret Orson was the man's name, Jake remembered that one well. He had asked him to help him with storehouse errands like this many times before. It was a rather humorous scene having the two exchange words, the short scientist almost had to talk up to the well-built worker.
[color=limegreen]“Oh. Uh, yes, actually,”[/color] was Jake's quickly churned out answer. [color=limegreen]“But...it's nothing I can't handle, really.”[/color]
He tried his best to sound reassuring, even cracked a smile to help the image.
“If you say so... Well, I'll be on my way then. The system architecture guys will spring if I don't bring them some material to work with soon.”

[i][b]THE SPRING![/b][/i]

Jake felt like he had his biggest eureka moment yet. That was it: the spring from the actuator, that was what missing! Without it, the arm would be almost completely inflexible. He suddenly remembered everything, how frustrated the professor sounded when he told him to go and get the remaining springs as they miscalculated the amount needed.
[color=limegreen]“Right, right. Thanks, see you!”[/color]
He sprinted off before Barret could even ask what he thanked him for. He picked up a whole box of them just to be sure and headed back to the lab, doing his best walk-like-it's-running motion.

“Ah there you are, Jake. You were away for a while,” the professor greeted him as the automatic door slid open and the green-haired scientist walked inside.
Senior Research Scientist Nagato Seishiro was the leader of the Robotics team and a tenured member of the Computer Science department at the Institute. A typical example of an old and wise scientist, his influence was instrumental in teaching the upstart Jake patience and precision, much needed skills in this field of work.
[color=limegreen]“I'm sorry. I just...ran into someone on the way back,”[/color] he replied, having thought over his excuse a long time ago already.
“Don't worry, my friend. We're well within the deadline, so you can say we've all the time in the world. Did you find the springs needed?”
[color=limegreen]“Yes, there they are.”[/color] He gave the box to Nagato, who pulled out one of the parts inside and walked over with it to the nearby large table.

Jake followed closely after him, fixing his sight on the prototype robotic arm that laid on the table, a whole team of scientists around it. They had been working solely on this project for more than a month now, starting out from an earlier, more primitive version and ending up with a much better, almost fully-functioning prosthesis. It was only time for the finishing touches now...
...which were carefully applied by the professor as he inserted the spring to the opened space and put the cover back on that part of the arm.
“And it's done!” he exclaimed proudly, raising up the complete arm like a trophy.
“All that overtime work... It's about time.” murmured another scientist.
“The official presentation is a week away. We're going to have to run the crash course on it until that. If it breaks, it breaks—we'll cancel the whole thing. But it won't. I trust the division's work.” Nagato spoke to everyone in the lab.

[i]‘Right. The presentation...’[/i]

The professor reminded everyone of the event that would take place in the Institute's science museum section: the official and public reveal of the most groundbreaking and innovative projects being worked on here at the moment. The artificial arm was on the schedule too, which would not have been that big of a deal for Jake if not for the fact that [i]he also had to give a speech.[/i] Nagato appointed him personally for the task, saying that it would help him with his nerves and all, give him a concrete matter to focus on.

He was pretty sure this was all just some cruel belated ‘newbie initiation’ process no one informed him about, though.

Jacob Sharner left the building in slightly lower spirits than the rest of his team. He was already stressing about the upcoming event, even though there was still plenty of time to practice and prepare for it. Whether he liked it or not, the professor was right—it was a massive opportunity to prove himself as being done with his old ways and could actually be considered a serious scientist. He really needed to give his best...
Naturally, the matter was still on his mind in the moment he finally hit the bed in his apartment. He was never a good sleeper and often pulled sleepless nights if that meant getting ahead with anything. But there was nothing official to work on now—so he popped out of his bed, put his glasses down on his little in-house workbench and started working on his own pet project...