Terminal Degrees by Mike Kay
A fictional account of the nefarious behind the scenes orchestration of the Covid era, or is it?
The façade of the cognitive science building looked to be more modern than most structures at the University. It wasn’t an old campus by American standards, but it wasn’t exactly new either. He wondered privately at times if he had made the right choice to pursue his doctorate within these hallowed halls. He was told by his advisors that this was the place for cutting edge research, and anyone looking to advance their career could do worse. Still, something ate at him.
Glancing down, he rechecked for the hundredth time the handwritten note. On it were the simple directions to professor Devereau’s office, located in the cognitive science building. It was off hours, but he felt that there was no harm in trying to catch the buisy prof. He’d been at this committee thing for over a month now, and it was starting to become a pain.
Stepping in, there was a small waiting room with an empty receptionist desk. The lobby door was fixed open, probably for janitorial, which led down a long, well lit hall with cheap peel and stick flooring. On the right were the offices, a row of closed doors displaying industrial style tiles machine engraved with names and numbers. On the left were the labs where much of the actual research was done. The hall proceeded to an intersection, and he was about to turn right and proceed to Devereau’s office when he heard the distinct voice of the professor off to the left. It wasn’t the usual arrogant tone that he expected. The voice carried a note of disturbance. He froze, listening.
“I’ve already provided you with direction for this program, which I had misgivings about from the start. You stated that this was a onetime effort, and now you apparently want it to be a continuing event.” It sounded as if there was a squeak from a chair being quickly moved across the floor. “This program has already done exactly what I most feared. It has obviously reduced cognition and increased fanaticism. Already from the opening moves we have less of a society because of this!”