Stop by the university

{if Saturday1 = True}Although going to a university on Saturday may not be the brightest idea, you decide to check out one of the local universities to see if you can learn more about the academic literature on our universe being a simulation.{endif}

Because you're in the Bay area, you have a lot of choices. There's Stanford, Berkeley, San Jose State, SF State, UC Santa Cruz, plus some private colleges and universities. UC Santa Cruz might be a good choice because it's know for being friendly to weird and fringe thinking, and Cal State San Jose is your alma mater but Berkeley is bigger, closer, and more famous. plus its library is incredible.

You grab a bus and head that way.

The campus is impressive... with big old buildings, grassy areas with picnicing students, sports facilities, and an incredible computer sciences program. On automatic pilot, you head for the computer science lab... but stop yourself when you get to the door. You're a computer science grad. You don't need help there. What you need help with is the whole concept of digital physics.

The physics department offices are in another aging building. Like computer science, physics generates money and so their facilities are nicer than those for literature or history. Still, they're faculty offices which means small, dusty and slightly smelly.

You aren't looking for senior faculty, though, and head for the basement. It's a universal rule of colleges that grad students get the worst offices.

Sure enough, you hear voices and eventually, at the end of a virtual rat-run, find an open office door.

You step inside.

Five males who look nerdy enough to be computer science students but with longer hair are gathered around a computer. From what you hear, you're pretty sure they're using physics to compute the mass of some porn star's tits. It's a funny exercise and you're halfway tempted to participate but physics grad students aren't known for welcoming anyone as practical as a computer programmer to participate in their jokes. Besides, you're here on a mission.

"Hi guys," you say.

One of them looks up. "Let me guess. Your grandmother died and you want an extension on the mid-term?"

"Uh, no. Actually I wanted to talk to someone about digital physics."

"It's bullshit. Any other questions?"

"Uh, yeah. Who can I talk to about it that actually cares?"

He snickers. "How about Anna?"

All the guys join the snicker.

"I'll bite. Where can I find her."

One of the other guys takes out his phone and does a countdown. "You can see her in five, four, three, two one... now."

"A nerdy-looking girl enters the room. She's blonde, sort of, and wears a baggy shirt that comes down to her knees. Beneath it, she wears baggy pants and a pair of hiking boots. She's chewing on a Bic pen and has blue ink running down her chin.

"Good morning, Anna," one of the guys says.

She glares at him then heads for a desk.

"This gentleman wanted to talk to you about digital physics."

She turns her glare on you. "Fuck off."

Well, that was direct. Her accent is kind of cute. You think it's Russian or Bulgarian or something eastern like that. Which makes sense... the blonde look is common among Slavs.

"Listen," you say. "I'm not trying to make fun of you or anything like these guys are. I'm really interested--"

"Did you not hear me tell you to fuck off?"

"Uh, I heard but--"

"But nothing. Disappear. Be gone."

"Uh, let me give you my card in case you change your mind."

You scribble your name and number on a plumbers card you find in your pocket and hand it her...

As she doesn't reach out to take it, you drop it on her desk.

That, you decide, could have gone better.