In a beautiful cacophony of light and sound, all the machines seemed to flare up at Nathan’s command. It was an impressive show, to be sure, but Sky wasn't given much time to appreciate all this man had created because soon he was rambling again. She stood there, still smiling, and waited patiently for him to finish.

She took his head rocking back as a sign that he was done, for now, and took the chance before it disappeared, “Doctor, if I may? I’m quite eager to see what you've been working on but I understand your reservations. If you’d be more comfortable, I could start off doing simpler tasks. Such as getting this place cleaned up and organized, perhaps?” The young apprentice did not like the idea of being a maid when she was here to do science, but it was clear she would have to win over Nathan’s trust first. Besides, she didn't see how she could get any work done under these conditions anyway.

“I promise I won’t touch any of your inventions without explicit permission. You can count on me, sir!” Smiling yet again, Sky turned on her heel and began walking to the door, hardly giving Nathan time to react. Waving over her shoulder she called out, “Please feel free to continue your work, Doctor; I’m going to go pick up some supplies. I’ll be back in an hour with some coffee; you look like you could use it.”

Exactly an hour had gone by and Skylar returned, as promised, with coffee and a Nissan Versa hatchback filled with as much organizational equipment as she could fit in it. She set the coffees and a surprise box of half a dozen donuts on the table and then looked around, more closely this time, for Nathan.

“Hello? I’m back.”