| When the paper that I work for was asked to send someone over to the Hanover Institute for Food Industry Research and Design they very happily accepted. Since the opening of the institute over twenty years ago it has adopted a closed door policy. No outside observes were allowed to view the institute and all conceptual ideas and practical applications made from them had a strict code of confidentiality applied to them which the HIFIRD required that the purchaser of the idea must uphold. It is therefor obvious that my employer, the Daily Chronicle, a relatively small publication for such a large story, was very glad to accept. And when the institute specifically requested me I felt quite honored. The reason why they selected me I do not know. Although I am a fairly respected journalist in some areas, most notably political and ethical satires, I have no background or knowledge in science or the food industry. This left me quite uneasy, however upon my expressing this unease to the contact at the Hanover Institute I was reassured that my inexperience was just what qualified and recommended me. Apparently they wished an accurate representation from a completely independent observer to cover their story, one who was unbiased and had no contacts either in scientific research or the food industry. So, I quite leerily accepted the story. So, now as I wait in the front office of the institute I can't help but feel a little overwhelmed. I had heard stories of the length taken to preserve the highest level of security here, but I never anticipated this. The complex is completely surrounded with a series of fences, some electrified and some not, as well as multiple security check points. At the first one of these check points I was searched and asked to leave all my personal items behind, paper and pencil would apparently be provided for me. The second check point required that I remove my clothing and put on some lab scrubs so that the sterility of the environment would not be compromised. Although I was taken aback by the security I realized that I was in Rome and this must be some sort of Roman thing. Finally I was escorted to the waiting room, that I am now in, and given a notebook and pen as well as a visitors ID patch. I know only a small amount of what goes on in this institute, basically what has been to related to me in the form of rumors. I know that the founder of the institute, Jon Reisdorf, who was apparently a semi-crazy genius, has only recently passed away. He was a very successful scientist before he started HIFIRD, an endowed faculty member at the University of California Berkley. Apparently there was some sort of scandal which arose and he took a sabbatical which turned into a permanent leave of absence. Shortly after the scandal, of which I don't know the exact details but do know that it involved an ethical difference of opinions between him and his department, Dr. Reisdorf received some anonymous funding to start up the institute. There were also rumors about the source of Reisdorf's funding, I am told it was some conglomeration of newly successful restaurant chains. That makes sense though, as the doctor's research at Berkley involved some sort of genetically altered soybean which could be used as a dietary supplement, and shortly after the start of the institute all the major food chains began incorporating a soybean product with their hamburgers. Back to the point though, Jon Riesdorf recently passed away. It is my knowledge that he had total control over the institute and now, in his absence there is an internal struggle to decide which way to take the company. I do not know the specifics of this struggle as of yet, I hope to find out soon, but I do know that it was the board of directors who commissioned me to come here and it is a Dr. Simon Felts who I am to be guided by. Dr. Felts was Riesdorf's right hand man and was quite involved in all aspects of the research going on at HIFIRD. I now patiently await his arrival in the waiting room to get the suspense and uncertainties dissolved. "Mr. Miller, Dr. Felts will now see you, follow me." The receptionist and I walked down the hallway (another heavily secured doorway just ahead needing her security card) and into some sort of break room. Dr. Felts was seated alone in the room, seemingly in just as much anticipation as I was. "So nice to meet you, Mr. Miller, I am aware that you are interested in writing a story on the research we do here. I personally think that our public relations policies have been much too tight over the years and am dying to show off our facilities. I am told you are interested in our work here?" "Actually, it was your people who wanted me to come see the institute, but yes, I am quite curious to see what goes on here, Dr. Felts." "Oh, please call me Simon. It was our people?.oh, no matter, I am sure that you will be impressed, we are really on the cutting edge of science here, top notch work being done on a grand scale. It comes from the funding though, but I guess that they wouldn't pay for the work if it wasn't of general use to them and to all. I really am excited, I am sure that you will be in awe of our research. I only wish that Dr. Riesdorf could have been the one to show it to you, I am merely an understudy of him, most of this is all his doing, and all of it was of his conception." "I am sorry to hear of his death. Were the two of you close?" "Oh yes, he was my mentor. I was a graduate student in his laboratory out in California. When he started the institute here it was only him and I. But it has grown over the years into what you see now. We have teams of scientists, this main research laboratory, a field lab in Kansas, an oceanic lab station off the coast of North Carolina, as well as offices in New York and Los Angeles. All because of Dr. Riesdorfs brilliance and insight. He really did know what people wanted. "I think first off I should show you where it all began, the Doctors first project. If you will just follow me we can get the tour underway. The next room over here we have set up a sort of timeline tour of what we have designed here at HIFIRD. These are merely the concepts which various firms bought, it doesn't even begin to describe what amazing breakthroughs have been made which are still in the research phase, not marketable as of yet." Dr. Felts escorted me down the hall way into the room he described. We entered the room which was conference room by design, and took a seat facing a screen opposite a slide projector set up on the table. Dr. Felts dimmed the lights and turned on the projector. |