Edinburgh was not the only place hit by a sudden downpour.
As though celebrating the success achieved 360,000 kilometers away some time ago, the sky over New York was also blanketed by dark clouds that day, and before work hours had even begun, torrential rain came pouring down.
Raindrops splashed water two inches high from the pavement. Stepping through streets flooded with standing water, a man in a long trench coat passed through the gates of Stony Brook University, crossed several streets, and made his way to Brookhaven National Laboratory.
Sitting in his office and sipping coffee, Professor Whittle had his back to his desk as he stared out at the rain beyond the window, lost in thought.
Ever since arriving that morning, he had felt as though he had forgotten something important. Yet no matter how hard he tried to recall it, he could not remember what it was.
Absentmindedly taking a sip of coffee, he suddenly heard a knock at the door. He turned his office chair around and spoke.
"Come in."
The door opened.
A gust of damp air swept into the room. Seeing the person standing in the doorway, soaked to the bone, Professor Whittle nearly spilled the coffee in his hand as he shot to his feet in astonishment.
"Professor Brovich, what happened to you?!"
The man before him was the chairman of Brookhaven Science Associates and the person in charge of the Physics Research Institute at Brookhaven National Laboratory. He was also a Physics professor at Stony Brook University, an academician of the United States Academy of Sciences, and a scholar on the verge of Nobel Prize-level recognition... but none of that mattered now.
Professor Brovich glanced at his colleague before him. Thinking of the email Professor Peter Higgs had sent him, a bitter