The Papers

The desk was littered with papers and books, each possessing such esoteric titles as “On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies” and “The Warp Drive: Hyper-Fast Travel within General Relativity”. An empty mug rested on one of the books: a rather drab wad that seemed more coffee stain than paper.

 

The walls of the office were metal, uniformly flat and grey, whilst the floor held a slight curvature. The only background sounds were the whir of the vent, located near the roof, and the footsteps of the neighboring occupants.

The sole occupant of the room was a man sitting upon a swivel chair bolted to the floor. His fingers lazily twitched in the air, as if tapping away on an invisible keyboard, whilst his eyes stared emptily at nothing.

The door swung inward and a head appeared through the crack.

“John, can I talk to you for a sec?”

John nodded, but did not look up.

“Nice VL.”

“It’s on the way out,” John said, noncommittally.

“You should get a Sandbenders.”

John shrugged.

“Look, about… these papers.” 

“I know what you’re going to say. They all say it.”

“You know it can’t be done.”

“Gödel.”

He sighed and pinched the bridle of his nose. “For the last time, the Universe isn’t rotating.”