S.T.A.R. Labs: Check In at the Cosmic Treadmill!

S.T.A.R. Labs, main control room.

The atmosphere was awkward in a way no one could quite ignore.

Barry Allen stood in a corner with his hands in his pockets, staring hard at the uninvited visitor with a mixture of wariness and confusion.

Dr. Harrison Wells sat in his wheelchair, wearing a professional smile, though his knuckles had gone white around the armrests.

Caitlin Snow stood behind Dr. Wells, holding a tablet like a researcher ready to record anomalous data at any moment.

And the source of all this tension, Link Gale, looked as though he were strolling through his own backyard.

He ignored the hostile looks and surveyed the laboratory with interest. It represented the cutting edge of Earth's scientific research.

"...The particle accelerator's cooling system uses circulating liquid nitrogen, right?" Link stopped and pointed to the enormous, intricate ring of pipes in the center of the room. "A classic design, but not a very efficient one."

Dr. Wells raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What would you suggest, Mr. Gale?"

"I wouldn't call it a suggestion," Link said casually. "But if you installed a magnetic confinement field generator here and used the tokamak principle to hold the coolant in a thin film against the inner wall of the pipes, you could increase cooling efficiency by at least three hundred percent while cutting energy consumption in half."

He said it lightly, as though discussing the weather.

But to the laboratory's three occupants, his words landed like a thunderclap.

Caitlin nearly dropped her tablet. "A magnetically confined film? That... that's only theoretically possible! No existing material could withstand a magnetic field that strong!"

"Who said you needed a material?" Link turned to her, looking like a teacher correcting a slow student. "Use energy itself as the confinement field. Is that so hard?"

Was