Extract from the Encyclopedia Multiverca:

Laboratory, n. Place of frustration, minor explosions, and occasionally discoveries. Said discoveries are generally due to lab assistants' work. Unfortunately, professors stake claim to any intellectual property the assistants can't hide until they graduate, and in general backstab each other to go down in the history books. Well, congratulations. You all made it into this one.

So, Dear Reader, we come to the beginning of our story. While no offense is intended to reasonable people, if you are offended, please take your hardening medicine of choice. While you may be offended, I am not and will laugh at you after considering whether you have a valid concern.

The clichè laboratory where our story begins maintained intelligence blackout while proceedings proceeded. All sorts of weird, wonderful, and mind boggling projects littered the floor, and they would cause dire consequences should they be exposed to general public eyes.

Unfortunately, most projects were in a state of cannibalization to complete the obvious masterpiece standing in the center of the building. When creativity struck, it did not wait for funding or suppliers. Still, workarounds and jury rigging provided the majority of materials required for this task.

A giant tank stood in the center of the muddle of wires, sensors, pipes and computers. Green fluid peacefully bubbling and glowing filled the vat, and gave a calming radiance to the rest of the lab from inside its transparent container. The occasional muffled (gloop) only added to the serenity of the scenery.

A man lay fast asleep on the catwalk at the top of this tank. Demanding professors and higher-ups had run this particular lab assistant ragged, and the best place he had found for a nap was right in the heart of danger. After all, who could say he wasn't working when only one person was permitted on top of the tank and no security cameras were permitted either? Manual data acquisition, while demanding, was required for this particular little project. Glowing green goo (generally) tended to make a mess of sensors under prolonged exposure.

The slumbering human couldn't be better positioned for an extended nap - except for the glowing vat underneath. Of course, the obvious happened, and a roll while sleeping sent him over the edge and down into the tank.

A scream cut short, a mild temporary discolouration in the goo, and all was back to normal. Except, prehaps, the professor acquired a new assistant earlier than usual in the cycle of hiring and firing.

The next assistant dropped her smartphone and fell in trying to catch it. The battery caused a minor explosion, somewhat disappointingly deadened by the bubbling viscous mass, but still an eruption of highly corrosive non-newtonian substance ensued. Cleanup was too late, and the tank supports failed, resulting in a vat full of experiment descending on the room and surrounding equipment.

The laboratory was shut down, the professor endured a court martial hearing, and the blame was passed onto the deceased. No evidence was found to provide sufficient proof of guilt... except the giant glowing puddle in the middle of a crater that used to be the floor? It's funny how some evidence can be overlooked...

The glowing green goo was soon superseded by other methods of production of AI cores, and true artificial intelligence seemed to be just around the corner, ready to usher in a new era. Still, his original methods and materials of perfecting a true artificial intelligence were taken up by other aspiring intellectuals of less affluence. Numerous samples of the green goo were produced around the world, ready to help others usher in a this new era... with the professor's name at the beginning of the story, of course. However, the original stayed in containment in its laborotory of origin, waiting... for something.