Doomsday Clock Ticks Closer to Global Catastrophe: 89 Seconds Until Midnight
In a chilling announcement that sends shockwaves through the global community, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has moved its symbolic ‘Doomsday Clock’ closer than ever before to midnight – now standing at a mere 89 seconds away.
This annual assessment signals an unprecedented level of danger to human civilization from a mix of existential threats including climate change, nuclear warfare,…
Pairing: Cillian Murphy as J Robert Oppenheimer x Student Reader
Warning: Lots of Dialogue, Age-Gap, Infidelity
Words: 1,670
Note: The fic is spoiler free and my own fantasy and imagination. It is not historically and scientifically accurate.
Previous Parts: 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7
THIS PART IS DIALOGUE HEAVY AND PART EIGHT WILL BE SIMILAR, BOTH PARTS ARE NECESSARY THOUGH TO EXPAND THE STORY.
Two weeks later...
Two weeks had passed and, still, there had been no word from Robert. He had not contacted you and no one at the science faculty knew where he was. Haakon, too, had not heard from him and you certainly did not want to ask his wife Kitty about his whereabouts, no matter how worried you were when it came to his safety.
Over the past week, however, governmental security at Berkley had been ramped up and, in particular, Robert’s office as well as the two physics labs across the hallway from it, were guarded by army personnel.
No one was allowed to enter and, even though this impacted the research for your thesis, you did not dare to argue with these intimidating men, carrying guns and grimacing looks on their faces.
One man, in particular, stood out to you. He was tall, arrogant, and even more intimidating than the other. He was only there occasionally to check on how matters were progressing and it was this very same man who pulled you aside on a Friday afternoon and asked you to join him in Robert’s office.
“My name is General Lesley Groves” he introduced himself before gesturing for you to sit down on the chair across from Robert’s desk while he took a seat on Robert’s chair.
“Y/N Y/LN, pleasure to meet you” you said, attempting to shake his hand, but he would not allow it and gave you a stern look instead.
“I know who you are” he then said before placing a file with your name written atop of it on the desk, close enough for you to read the sentence “Security File” but far enough away from you for you not to reach it.
“Okay, so why am I here, in this room, with you, General Groves?” you asked nervously but politely, seeing how intimidating this man was for you.
“You are here because Dr J Robert Oppenheimer thinks very highly of you and I need to determine why” he told you sternly and hearing those words from the General came as a relief to you as, at least now, you knew that Robert was thinking of you.
“It’s about his project then, isn’t it?” you asked, wanting get some more information from this intimidating man who, unbeknownst to you at this point, was not going to give anything away.
“The project?” he thus asked, furrowing his eyebrows. “Now tell me, Miss Y/LN, what did Dr Oppenheimer tell you about the project?” he then wanted to know why giving you another intimidating look over.
“Nothing much. He just said that he would like me to join his team and that it would be a good career opportunity” you lied, causing the General to furrow his eyebrows again, this time more evidently than before.
“Well, he actually asked for two of his students to join this highly secretive government operation and, in both instances, security clearance was denied” the General pointed out, causing your heart to sink. You expected this to be the case since, after all, your parents were well known communists and, yet, you had been somewhat hopeful for a miracle.
“Now, with respect to the other student, my staff’s decision to deny him clearance was accepted by Dr Oppenheimer. There was no issue whatsoever. With you, however, Dr Oppenheimer held firm to his belief that your involvement in the project is vital. With your status as an undergrad student however, I cannot, for the life of me, understand why your involvement is so important to a man of Dr Oppenheimer’s intelligence. So, perhaps, you can shed some light into his reasons me?” the General then asked you in the most intimidating manner and you really did not know what to say and how to answer him.
“Did you ask him about his reasons?” you thus asked without receiving any sort of reaction from General Groves. “Because, if not, I suggest that you do that rather than interrogate me. Now would you excuse me” you then told him while standing up. You were ready to leave and, since the General did nothing but stare at you for the past two minutes, you were frustrated by the situation. You knew that there was nothing you could do about the army’s decision to deny your security clearance and, thus, simply wanted to put this matter to rest.
The General, however, would not allow you to go just yet and ordered you to sit down, which was a request with which you reluctantly complied.
“I asked Dr Oppenheimer about his reasons and he seems to think that your approach to quantum physics is innovative and new. You are an A grade student and your work at Harvard was exceptional and so is your work at Berkley, which is why I am considering his request to review your security clearance rejection which, was actioned by one of my senior staff members last week” Lesley Groves explained and you thought that, perhaps, there was still a chance for you to get on to the project.
“What do you want to know?” you thus asked while leaning forward and pressing your hands together nervously, fidgeting and sweating all at the same time.
“I want to know about your communist associations” General Groves then requested and you chuckled.
“I am not a communist and I have cut ties with everyone who is a party member so, really, there are is no association” you told him with quite some confidence in your voice and, the truth was, that you had nothing to hide.
“Your father was recently arrested for suspected treason. What do you have to say about that?” the General then went on to ask while taking some notes and, again, you managed to answer him confidently.
“Suspected, yes, but I doubt that he actually committed an offence. He is not that stupid. In any event, I have not spoken to him in over a year so I my thoughts on this matter are neutral” you explained as you had no intel on your father’s party involvement these days.
“Are you a communist party member?” Lesley Groves then asked which, again, earned him a chuckle.
“You already know that I am not and never was, myself, a party member. I am sure that information is in your file” you informed him and, for a moment, he chuckled himself. He knew that you were right. This information was, indeed, in his file and, yet, he asked you about it nonetheless.
“What is your relationship to J Robert Oppenheimer?” was the next question he asked and this question caused you to lie.
“He is my professor and thesis supervisor” you told him which, of course, was the truth.
“Is that all he is to you?” the General then wanted to know and you nodded.
“Yes” you lied, which is when the General retrieved two letters from your security file.
“Would you like to reconsider your answer?” he then asked as he handed you the letters which, clearly, he had already opened and read.
“What is this?” you asked before puling them apart and commencing to read them slowly while General Groves remained silent, giving you some time to digest the content of them which, to your surprise, was largely romantic in nature.
Both letters were from Robert and included poems as well as accounts of your sexual encounter. The letters were explicit in nature but also highly passionate which was something that surprised you. He clearly missed you and he most certainly had already developed strong feelings for you, using phrases like “my love” and talking of your future together which, in your mind, did not even exist.
“Oh my god, did you read these?” you eventually asked with blushing cheeks, seeing how personal these letters were.
“Yes, I did” the General answered you bluntly and you broke out in anger.
“These letters are personal. You had no right” you began to say angrily which is when General Groves interrupted you.
“This is a national emergency Miss Y/LN. We are at war with Germany and I am here to ensure that a project like the one being implemented right now isn’t subject to treason. The last thing this country needs is information being leaked to the enemy” he told you with a voice stern and authoritive.
“You mean the allies” you chuckled, causing the General to give you a look of confusion.
“What?” he asked and you ought to clarify.
“Your concern is that someone like myself would leak information to the soviet-union. This is why you are doing all this, is it not?” you asked while rolling your eye in disbelieve.
“Perhaps. So, let me ask you again, what is your relationship with J Robert Oppenheimer?” the General then repeated and you answered him again, this time more truthfully than before.
“I am his student. He is my professor and thesis supervisor. We had sexual relations once” you admitted while crossing your arms. “Now are you satisfied?” you asked and, indeed, he was.
“Yes, I am. I am satisfied that my colleague has made the right decision to deny your security clearance” General Groves announced and your heart dropped. “You can keep the letters, noting that I have asked Dr Oppenheimer to refrain from contacting you again. No doubt you will be attending his lecture at Berkley next week, which will be his last, following his resignation as professor at this facility. But other than that, I expect there to be no further contact moving forward. Do you understand?” Lesley Groves then asked and, whilst you tried hard to hold back your tears, you could not and stood abruptly before barging towards the door, thereby ignoring his question.
“Miss Y/LN, I would suggest that you choose your intimate partners more wisely moving forward. The rejection of your security clearance will be noted on record, thus impacting future employment opportunities” the General then said as you had already turned your back to him and this, itself, hurt even more, knowing that you would now struggle finding employment in the field you were so passionate about.
To be continued…
Please comment and engage. I love getting comments and predictions pretty please!
Pairing: Cillian Murphy as J Robert Oppenheimer x Student Reader
Warning: Lots of Dialogue, Age-Gap, Infidelity
Words: 1,905
Note: The fic is spoiler free and my own fantasy and imagination. It is not historically and scientifically accurate.
Previous Parts: 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6
THIS PART IS DIALOGUE HEAVY AND PART EIGHT WILL BE SIMILAR, BOTH PARTS ARE NECESSARY THOUGH TO EXPAND THE STORY.
With a squeak and a bang, you suddenly heard the door to your room opening and, naturally, you startled and sat up on your bed now that you had been woken up from your slumber.
Robert, on the other hand, took a little longer to wake up and stretched beneath the large doona until, suddenly, his eyes opened wide when he heard another voice.
“Shit” he then cursed while looking at his friend. His cheeks were blushing and he certainly felt embarrassed by the situation. It was written all over his face.
“Robert” Haakon chuckled in response. “That I did not expect” he then said somewhat surprised before looking at you with concern.
“It is not what it looks like” Robert attempted to say just as you asked Haakon whether he did not know how to knock.
“Why did you barge in here like this?” you then asked, seeing that, clearly, something must have happened. Haakon and his wife usually respected your privacy but, today, they did not.
“Your father was arrested last night” he then told you while Robert reached for his briefs which still laid scattered on the floor, right next to your panties.
“So what?” you asked, seeing that this was not the first time it happened.
“I need to go” Robert said with concern, but it was not your father he was concerned about. It was his security clearance.
“You should take the backdoor. People are watching our house and I am aware that you cannot associate yourself with us communists anymore” Haakon told Robert and, whilst Haakon did not know what Robert was working on, he knew that it was something for the government. It was something that could end the war and it was most certainly something that had to remain a secret.
“I will. Thank you” Robert said as he finally managed to put on his briefs beneath the confides of your doona before crawling out of bed and collecting the rest of his clothes. “I trust that this will stay between us?” Robert then asked his friend, to which Haakon nodded, causing you to sigh and ponder whether this was, indeed, a good idea.
“Goodbye Robert” you said with a smile nonetheless, which is when Robert told you that he would call you when he was back in San Francisco.
“Uh huh” you said, feeling somewhat deflated even though you had a lengthy discussion last night about what this may or may not become. You did not expect him to call and you knew that Robert was not going to leave his wife which meant that you were no more than his secret lover now.
Whether he truly wanted you to join him on the project was also something you were unsure about now. Did he just say it, in the heat of the moment, or did he mean it? You were not entirely certain but, before Robert left Haakon’s house, you told him that your answer was “yes” which, ultimately, was the last spoken word between you and Robert for the next couple of weeks.
***
“You are making a mistake” Haakon then said with some concern after Robert had left through the backdoor of his house, knowing that the FBI was watching the front entrance to his residence.
“Perhaps I am, but there is something very intriguing about J Robert Oppenheimer” you told your father’s friend who asked you to sit down with him.
He wanted to talk about it as, evidently, he cared for you. Haakon had always been like an uncle for you and his sense of protectiveness showed a lot this morning after he caught you and his friend in bed together.
“Robert isn’t the right man for you Y/N” he said with concern and you could not help but sigh. You already knew that he was not but you wanted to be with him nonetheless. It was like an addiction you could not shake.
“Of course he is not. He is married” you thus pointed out, but this was not what Haakon was concerned about.
“He is a complicated man and, believe it or not, I have a vague idea of what his work entails these days. If you join him on this journey, you will likely be subjected to investigations and dealings that you do not want to be subjected to” your father’s friend told you which, of course, you already knew about.
“Geez Haakon, and I thought you would approve of this if it was for the cause” you thus chuckled, seeing that, surely, by this point, he would have wanted to get some intel on the government operations from Robert as well.
“But you are not a spy and you are most certainly not a communist” Haakon acknowledged, knowing that you would never jeopardise your career for communism.
“Which is why I will be just fine” you thus told him, but Haakon did not think that it was going to be that easy for you.
“No, you won’t be Y/N! But it is your choice nonetheless. I just think that you fell in love with the wrong man” Haakon told you again with a little more concern than before.
“I am not in love” you ought to clarify.
“I am not going to comment on that” Haakon told you. “What I can tell you however is that, if Kitty finds out about your affair with Robert, she will not take kindly to it” he then cautioned you and you wondered whether she knew about Jean Tatlock and Ruth Tolman at all.
“Does she know about the other women?” you thus asked, seeing that Haakon was rather talkative that morning.
“She knows about Jean Tatlock, but she does not know about Ruth Tolman, both of whom are history now” Haakon said, wanting you to know and be able to make an informed decision about your future with J Robert Oppenheimer, whether it be on a romantic or strictly professional level.
“Why?” you asked, knowing that Robert had ended both affairs, but you did not know what gave rise to his decision and wondered whether Haakon was privy to this information.
“I don’t know but I feel as though it had something to do with you” Haakon told you, which was no more than an assumption.
“Oh god Haakon, you knew already, didn’t you?” you asked with surprise.
“Yes. I knew. Robert and I talk and he spoke about another woman a little while ago. He referred to you as a rather intelligent woman whom he met at university without giving away your identity. I since have seen the looks you exchanged with each other on two occasions, so it was obvious to me that the woman he spoke about was you. But, on a personal level, I am not your problem Y/N” Haakon then informed you, telling you that your secret would be safe with him.
“What do you mean?” you wondered nonetheless, wanting to know what and who to watch out for.
“Kitty probably already knows about you to some extent” he warned you, causing you to sigh.
“I honestly do not understand why Robert chose to marry her” you then said somewhat inadvertently.
“Honestly, none of us know. But I suppose he did the honourable thing. They too had an affair while Kitty was still married to someone else. She then fell pregnant unexpectedly, Kitty and her husband divorced, and Robert married her” Haakon informed you before cautioning you again.
“What I need you to be careful of is her manipulative nature. If she finds out about you sleeping with her husband, she will make your life rather difficult. She is very controlling and she most certainly is not right for Robert, but neither are you” Haakon told you before telling you to go and pack your bags as, according to him, you had to move out immediately.
“Why?” you asked, wondering why you had to leave the Chevalier residence all so urgently now.
“Because you cannot associate yourself with us any longer if you want to get onto whatever project it is that Robert is leading” Haakon informed you and, of course, this made sense to you. You had to cut your communist ties.
“He is leading the project?” you asked nonetheless. “He didn’t say” you then pointed out.
“He occasionally tries to be humble. Now go and pack” Haakon chuckled before gathering some bags for you.
To be continued…
Please comment and engage. I love getting comments and predictions pretty please!
I am of the firm belief that if Tom Riddle had been born just a few decades earlier in a non magical au, he would have ended up working on the Manhatten project one way or another.
Latest video from West Lothian, Scotland's The Snuts for the song, Manhattan Project. The Snuts are Jack Cochrane (vocals / guitar), Joe McGillveray (guitar), Callum Wilson (bass) and Jordan Mackay (drums).
She’s a Mustang fighter
And I just might have been shot down
She’s a holy roller
When she comes on over to my side
And I’m a carpet bomber
And I just want to be blown out
And to be quite specific
To the South Pacific in the sunshine
I like when you do little things
When you hear me calling out for you to separate
How I’m feeling what I’m feeling
Now and then and yesterday
You believe me when you hear me say that I’m a better man
Cos I feel like a better man
I feel a little better, man
She’s a hellcat fighter
And I just might’ve been shot down
She’s a holy roller
When she comes on over to my side
And radiation from the first atomic bomb, I’ve been blown out
And to be quite specific
To the South Pacific in the sunshine
I like when you do little things
When you hear me calling out for you to separate
How I’m feeling what I’m feeling
Now and then and yesterday
You believe me when you hear me say that I’m a better man
Cos I feel like a better man
I like when you do little things
When you hear me calling out for you to separate
How I’m feeling what I’m feeling
Now and then and yesterday
You believe me when you hear me say that I’m a better man
Cos I feel like a better man
I feel a little better, man
