Along the way, she bumps into an old friend and current colleague, a radiologist with whom she shared an early-morning physics class in her undergraduate days; he is now a nuclear science professor at the school. Reliving old times and casually discussing their disparate research, they settle in a nearby alcove, one of several "interaction spaces" that dot the architecture of the building.
An off-hand remark by her friend implants the germ of an idea that might crystallize a theory she is developing. Invigorated by the new concept, she rushes off to her lab. As she gazes out the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the campus, she contemplates a quick reconfiguration of her lab, moving the walls to accommodate an armada of workbenches, instruments, and other equipment she will wheel in to test her newfound notions. What she doesn't know, of course, is that this chance encounter will garner her the 2060 ...
