Random Sequence

[Random phrases, worked into a story.]

Frederick was a fiddling physicist, obsessed with the notion of creating "fizzy ice", a substance that would cool things as fast as microwaves heat them up. He was so close to success, he thought, that he was shaking inside.

"This has the potential to create planetary parity!" he told a reporter from Electronic Comparative magazine. "Between heat and cold." "What do you mean by 'parity'?" the journo asked. "We can flash freeze things, maybe even people." "Why would 'we' want to do that?" asked the interviewer. "Suspended animation," said Fred. "For long space trips. So we can finally...finally have that alien chat." The reporter looked amused. "I would donate that idea to the museum of extreme concepts," she said, with a little laugh.

Her proposed article never appeared. But physicist Fred continued his attempts to generate fizzy ice, despite the skepticism of friends and colleagues, all the while feeling like a disdained pioneer, like a neglected saint.