A gentle breeze agitated the grass into pleasing waves. A sight which brought some comfort to the exhausted scientist. Expensive and fruitless experiments had Simon at the end of his wits, he made no promises, but his reputation had perhaps brought more grant money and investments then he could handle. Despite the world-class spas and resorts of his collagues being at his disposal, he always returned to the same grassy field at the bottom of an abandoned railroad track enbankment. It was a beautiful day by any standards, a perfect spring day complete with blinding sunlight and the occasional cloud.
He mused with indignation about the politicians and senators who compared his work to black magic. His work was just on the edge of reality, with only the shakiest grouding in conventional science. The implications of his work though, were such that money would pour in from investors worldwide. His critics cried "cold fusion", and he could not, for them, or for himself, completly dispel their accusations.
A rail maintenance vehicle coasted by behind him on the supposedly abandoned tracks, an unexpected distraction which left him distracted and uneasy as he walked his usual route home. But something in the distance caught his eye, a jet black spark arced from a man's shoulder near the library. He was sure he was the only one who saw it, the mysterious figure concealed the anomoly well. But those black sparks, he hadn't seen one in over five years, and then only in a laboratory. The distraction of the surprise rail car was now the least of his worries as he gazed into a distant burst of sparks, of a type which he swore had long since been annihilated from existence.