by LJ Frank

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Violin Concertos played softly in the background of the research laboratory. The brick and glass facility was adjacent to a lush garden near the center of the high technology campus.

Daniela slipped on her thin latex gloves. She centered the artifact under the microscope lens, adjusting the aperture to ensure accuracy. What was she looking at? She wavered. She wasn’t sure what she should be looking for, except she was asked by her colleague to assess the unusual artifact discovered just the previous week among some rocks near a seashore. The artifact was flown back to the laboratory in specially designed container under the required guidelines.

She moved her head and looked at it twice. Each time the artifact seemed to change shape as if it was organic and living. There were no telltale signs to suggest one definite possibility over another. “What I am looking at?” She whispered to herself.

“Strange is it not,“  the voice from behind approached her.

She looked over her shoulder. “Doctor Renae.” She smiled.

“If one blinks one’s eyes each time before looking through the microscope it can appear surreal and oddly enough one might contemplate a design created by some brilliant alien architect from another planet,” He said with a slight nervous laugh.

“What are you suggesting?” Daniela asked.

“Look away from the microscope, walk to the large laboratory window overlooking the garden and towards the limestone and glass structure in the distance. Then return to the microscope, blink your eyes, let them moisten and look through the lens again. Then tell me what you see.”

Daniela did as he asked. Sitting down she looked through the microscope again. She took a deep breath. “How bizarre!” She exclaimed and allowing another thought in her mind she paused in mid-sentence then added, “It can’t be…I would’ve thought the sea water would have affected it.”

“That’s what I thought at first.”

“It seems to change shape each time a different thought enters my mind as if my thoughts were forming the image giving it the quality of a living organism. And if that’s the case, how do we really define – to exist?” Once she asked the question she realized it sounded somewhat dramatic. She waited for his reply.

Doctor Renae gazed at her and after a several seconds of silence stated, “The Ambiguity!”