I am a guinea pig, a lab rat. But don't take it the wrong way: I love it here in the research facility.

I'm yet another child error of Academy City, I lived in an orphanage until a scientist said I had "potential" and got me into project Hypercube.

They say I am able to imagine extra dimensions. I'm not sure I understand what they mean with "extra". It's just that when I think about it, I can picture 4 orthogonal axes: apparently normal people can only picture 3. I don't understand how they cannot picture the 4th dimension, but this is like a USA citizen trying to understand what English sounds like to someone who doesn't know English.

To be honest, when I try to draw a 4-dimensional cube on paper, I fail. The 2 dimensions of the sheet are just not enough to give an idea of what I picture in my mind.

This experiment started under the assumption that being able to picture a higher number of dimensions would make calculations easier, therefore allowing us to achieve "the mind of God" more easily.

I'm not particularly excited about that, but "calculating God's thoughts" is the whole reason this city even exists, and I'm curious about developing what appears to be a rare ability.

If the assumption happens to be true, I should at some point be able to understand "the biggest picture", having a grasp of God's plan and therefore calculating life's ultimate meaning. I should also be able to make simulations more precise than supercomputers in my head.

As of now I'm a level 1. I can only picture up to 4 dimensions, but this number should increase as my level goes up with training. I already feel a bit detached from reality, so I wonder how will I see the world when I manage to picture 11 dimensions? According to String theory, that's the total, as the known laws of physics work with up to 11 dimensions, but as we add one more axis, they all stop making sense. But, I mean, all of this was claimed by 3-dimensional beings who have a hard time thinking in 3 dimensions. Can you imagine needing to see a solid shape in order to picture it? Oh, never mind, you likely have that exact problem.

In this exact moment they are taking me to the test chamber where I'll try to picture the 5th dimension. If I manage to, I'll be recognized the status of level 2 and I'll be able to picture a graph which takes account of both the space curvature due to gravity and electrical interactions, without sacrificing the accuracy of the 3D space these interactions have effect in.

"We're there." Says the scientist accompanying me.

A vault door opens. I don't get why such high security measures... I can't even bend a spoon with my hands, let alone make any damage with my mind!

I enter the room alone, it's completely white besides a large window on the right side with a control room.

A hologram appears in front of me with a problem.

"To begin, solve the routine exercise."

<<Routine>>? I never did this before! Maybe it's the first of a series of similar tests? Well, no need to ask, I'll find out living.

It's a basic dynamic problem that requires me to picture a 3D object changing in time. Normal humans could picture this as a sequence of shapes, but my advantage lies in the fact I can <<see>> all those changes at once in a space-time graph.

It takes me a bit, but I always get it in the end.
"I have the answer." I say.

A voice coming from the window's communication device comments: "Oh, it was faster than usual."

"Usual?" What does he mean?

"Uh... just tell us the answer."

"Salami speck." I say out loud.

"Excuse me?" Asks the scientist on the intercom.

"That's the answer. <<How does a pig that fell from a skyscraper go?>> it goes <<speck>>."

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Author's note:
I'll be completely honest with you. I did NOT plan to end this chapter like this at all. It was going to be much darker, but I think I did that too much for a collection called "A certain scientific silly ability".

Now, about plans for this collection of short stories... I've been considering making a sequel of one of the previous stories. I'm still not sure about it, because as of now it might result pretty predictable, and I hate when I can predict how a story ends.