Thomas was about to cross the road when his phone rang. He frantically pulled it out from his coat pocket. He was waiting for that phone call for days. He looked at the screen of his smartphone and instantly recognised the number. It was the grants panel. They were supposed to make a decision about the funding for his research into the 2D memristors. He looked at the screen for an extra two seconds to collect his thoughts and take a deep breath, then he answered the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hello. Is this Professor Smith.” A rough female voice asked.

“Yes, Profesor Smith speaking.”

“I am calling in regards to the funding for your research project. Unfortunately, the project has been rejected.”

“I don’t understand. The university has a transmission electron microscope and the samples are quite cheap.”

“I am afraid it is not about money. There are other issues that were taken under consideration when making the decision.”

“If it’s not about money then what is it? I am sure that those can be solved quite easily.”

“Unfortunately there seems to be a conflict of interest. The South Korean industrial partner that would be responsible for providing a portion of the funding, as well as the semiconductors used in your research, has pulled out after they found out about the ongoing optical computing research in your department.”

“But they have nothing to do with each other, mine is about RAMs and the other one is about CPUs. The research doesn’t overlap at all.”

“I understand but their decision was final and thus the other part of the grant shall not be awarded to your research.”

Thomas exhaled, completely deflated. Things like this would constantly happen to him. He would constantly have to fight with bureaucracy or have a rug pulled out from under him. Those least important to the process would make the most important decisions about it. He knew that there probably was funding for his research however the subject was completely unexplored. A wild west one might call it. The Korean company most likely got cold feet and didn’t want to brunt the consequences in case the results were not satisfactory. The conflict of interest was just an excuse to pull out from a multi-million-pound investment. Thomas hated that the most. Weak spineless people that would much prefer to save a few nickles rather than become pioneers.

He loved teaching and conducting research and the further he climbed up the ladder the further away he got from what he loved. He always dreamed of discovering something that was completely new. Something that he could call his own. To have a law named after him. An undisputed legacy.

As a head of the department, he spent most of his days doing boring paperwork which he hated. Slowly becoming what he hated the most. He was currently on his way to one of his solid-state lectures. He taught for only three hours per week. The only hours he truly enjoyed in recent months.

“Hello? Are you still there Professor?”

Thomas didn’t bother replying and hung up the phone.

Maybe I should just become a botanist or something. He thought and shoved the phone in his coat pocket. He rubbed his eyes from exhaustion and exasperation.

Screw this. I won’t let them ruin my life like this. I have more than 20 years of research experience, I can just mov-

Before he could even finish that thought.

*BOOM!*

A drunk truck driver, going way over the speed limit hit him straight on. Thomas didn’t even take a step off the sidewalk; the truck swerved on ice and smashed him to bits. He died almost instantly from the impact.