Intern at S.T.A.R. Labs

"Another day another sunrise, it's the weekend, Saturday. Time to wake up and get stuff done." The radio host says.

"Beep beep beep, beep beep beep, beep beep –" the alarm gets cut off.

" hnghhh, no. Need sleep" rolling over in his bed and pulling the blanket over again. Clearly the hangover is yet to recover. The clock still ticks over.

8 AM. 10 AM. 3 PM. 7 PM. 9 PM. It's a lost cause now. Onto to the next day I guess.

" Good morning Central City. It's a lovely Sunday and a very Sunny Day, haha, pun intended. As we go forward with the day –"

"Its Sunday!!" Adrian is shocked. Who could have guessed. "Hungry". As he finally gets out of bed, brushing teeth and preparing breakfast. Technically the weekends were holidays but anyone could clock in for overtime on the weekends. That was the plan. In spite being his first week if he had come to work and get a head-start on the training , it would have boosted his reputation. Now with one day gone he contemplated whether to go to work or stay at home. Staring at the mountain of boxes yet to unpacked he shrugged.

"What the fuck am I gonna do at home anyway?". He left off, onwards to a more productive day.

Same guard, same place. "Hello Mr. Guard, good Morning." Adrian wished the guard as usual.

" Morning" the guard greeted him sternly but there was a slight sigh in there. Who could blame him, besides our uber nerd protagonist who elese would want to be at work on a Sunday?

" Welcome to S.T.A.R. Labs" the robot voice sounding colder than usual, probably due to the echo.

' The stark difference between a work day and a holiday. I could sleep here for a few hours and no one would notice. What if?' Adrian puts down his bag and lies down on the floor.

" Huh, that kinda looks like a man on a mountain, why would they paint something on the ceiling tho?. Probably one of those artistic choices of Dr. Wells." After laying there for a few minutes he decided to get off his ass and actually do some work.

But a little more sightseeing wouldn't hurt. Getting some work done was only one of todasy's objectives, the second being familiarizing himself with S.T.A.R. Labs. 'Lets start with the cortex.'.

// fab lab ??

After getting to the Cortex he notices , well first the quiet and second the table is a mess. There was some stuff lying there of which he picked up a glass tube of sorts. Looked futuristic , hada metal cap on both ends, a filament in the middle, like a fuse but not quite cause there was a cavity in the middle as if it has something there.

" Don't touch that." A voice suddenly reached Adrian , like a jumpscare he dropped the tube and got in a defensive stance. At least he didn't scream like a little girl as he would have a few years ago.

It was Rathaway. " Now we know how you would react in a state of panic. Pick up the particle injector."

"The what?" Adrian still puzzled.

" The tube. I swear they just let anyone in here these days." Rathaway scoffed.

Ignoring the comment as he is a senior on the job Adrian picked up the tube, "So Mr. Rathaway—"

" Dr. Rathaway"

" So 'Doctor' Rathaway, what is this device?" Adrian asked with suppressed sarcasm.

" Well it WAS a ignition key for the particle accelerator, now not so much". Rathaway responded.

" Oh shit, did dropping it make it malfunction, I am so sorry, I would do anything please don't tell anyon—" Adrian paused his yapping as he noticed a smirk on Rathaway's smug face.

" Please continue , what are you wiling to do for it? Pft." Rathaway mocked.

" I presume I didn't break it by dropping it then.?"

" As much I would have loved for that to happen ,no. One of the tests failed its trash now. I will have to rework the whole damned checklist and inventory within 3 days now" Rathaway quite agitated by the failure of his test results while our protagonist was still admiring the tube.

" Can I keep it?"

" Its trash. Do whatever you want."

' Huh, no jab ,insult or retort.' Adrian thought. Of the brief impression he had of Rathaway it wasn't a pleasant one, mostly cause Hartley isn't exactly the hug it out kinda guy. ' Guess hes' too stressed about the test. Helping him could get me some brownie points.'

" You , grab the equipment and follow me." Rathaway ordered away.

" I'm not your assistant.. Doctor!" Adrian retorted naturally , forgetting Rathaway is a senior.

" You're an intern, do your job." Rathaway still pissed.

" Fine, whatever you say .. Doctor!" Adrian agreed half-heartedly.

They walk across the curved hallway , taking the lift down, lower thsn grond level. Adrian noticed that Rathaway had to scan his ID for the lift to go that level. Connecting the dots he realized, the Accelerator. They were at the particle accelerator doorway. Adrian never thought that he would get to see it, even though it was one of his goals . To actually see it is so big.. and echoey.

" Wooo" Adrian's voice echoed through the particle accelarator. 'So cool'. Rathaway was still preoccupied with fixing something and another tube with him.

" Dammit!!" Rathaway screamed, frustrated at another failed attempt. Adrian went to see what exactly went wrong to see him beside another big machine.

" I guess this is the particle injector" Adrian questioned.

" No, no, this isn't the device. This is my new paperweight. It's excellent at doing nothing, just like you right now." Rathaway retorted again, maybe he is angry.

" Well did you try turning it off and then back on again?" Adrian needs to chill down that sarcasm. This isn't insult-tennis.

" That may work for your grandma's old T.V. but not for this million dollar machine. I promised Wells I would get this working by the week". Rathaway now sounding out of breath, probably from the stress.

'Well that's what you get for making stupid promises'. "Did you try banging on its sides, worked for my Grandma's T.V." Adrian still poking the bull.

" This isn't your grandma's fuCKING T.V. !!!" Rathaway now shouting at Adrian, without realizing in his fit of rage he also accidently hit the machine.

" Whrrrr, Pew" the machine now made a noise. Rathaway turned in surprise and horror wondering if it is now busted.

" Is it supposed to make that noise?" Adrian asked worryingly.

" It hadn't till now."Rathaway said as he started working on it again.

" Okay, this time its actually not my fault, you touched it, even though I advised that, but you banged it". Adrian trying to get away from the blame but Rathaway wasn't listening. Few clicks and some code pushing later .

" All or nothing" Rathaway placed the tube in the machine and pressed some buttons.

' Particle injection successful' the message he had waited for so long. Rathaway let out a sigh of relief.

" See, sometimes the solution is just that simple". Adrian said as if he contributed in any way. Rathaway walked towards him and hugged him. 'Oh, I thought he was gonna punch me'.

" You did good." Hartley actually complimented Adrian, which came as a double shock after the hug.

" Youre Welcome .. Dr. Rathaway"

" Hartley is fine". He said as he smiled. Adrian was happy to be of help.

" What other tasks do you have left to do?"

" This was the main one, the rest are for Monday. So nothing now" Hartley said cheking the tablet.

" Well then , I have an idea".

.

.

.

"Are you serious?"

" C'mon its nice and cold. Plus no ones here today and its surprisingly clean." Adrian invited Hartley.

" Laying on the floor is your ideal way to pass time?" Hartley jabbed.

" Just get down , there is even a painting on the ceiling."

Hartley gave up the argument and lay down on the floor. " Huh, there is"

A few moments passed and Hartley started giggling. " Harrison you bastard".

" What?" Adrian shocked by the sudden exclaimation.

" That's a rendition of Wanderer above the sea of the fog. It signifies the solitude of the man going against the waves of nature and fog of unkown, a solo battle against everything. Except there is no fog or waves on there." Hartley snickered at the thought of the parelle between him and the painting.

" Cool!" Adrian not knowing or understaning the art but he realised this was probably an introspect moment for Hartley. So he stayed quiet for a few minutes.

" So, Your assistant , Ms. Powell, what's her deal?" Adrian asked.

" Divorced for three years. One kid".

" Cool cool. You into her?".

" Not my type."

" Right , your's is dudes". Adrian being too blunt.

" So, can I have her number?" Adrian being too blunt again.

" Ask her yourself coward". Hartley clapped back.

" C'monn , I thought we were friends".

" We have talked a total of two times. Just because I'm nice to you doesn't mean we're friends".

" True". Adrian got up , walked two steps away and came back. " Hi, I'm Adrian Brown, and I like older women" .

" Pftt, hahaha , one hell of an introduction you got there" Hartley was crying laughing at that. Clearly he has a low bar of comedy.

" Third times the charm, even in conversations. So , can I get her number?" Adrian put forth his hand.