A Meeting of the Minds (Cadence)

[Kanzaris]

Once upon a time, medical symposiums used to be dull affairs, primarily used to expound on new research. People would drone on and on for hours about their newfound discoveries or unique cases, and, being doctors mostly unaccustomed to public speaking, even other medical professionals found it hard to maintain enthusiasm and professional curiosity for long. The advent of the datalinks and the omnipresence of terminals connected to them had simplified things considerably. Nowadays, proof to illustrate a concept could be instantly disseminated with the push of a button or a simple verbal request, and even a single still image was worth a thousand words. The Maxenquey Aerie had been built to take advantage of that. A low, cylindical building on the outside, the inside was strikingly reminiscent of a coliseum, if coliseums had antigravity projectors to allow people to drop off the stands at a whim and move to a different level to listen to different experts present their cases and kept several circular tracks in mid-air at various intervals for people to look at advanced Luminian holographic displays from. The influence of the Aerians who had created it was unmistakable in how the building gave onlookers maximum visibility, and allowed even landbound guests a high degree of freedom of movement. A loud murmur of indistinguishable conversation surrounded Cadence as soon as she came in and was greeted by a large crowd.

"Whew! This place is way more packed than the last Symposium I went to," Dr. Rugal said, squeezing her hand to keep her close as she looked around. "It'll be a bit 'til the king of the hill debate begins. That's when we'll throw your case out and see what some of the galaxy's brightest minds can do with it. Looks like the headliners have the floor right now. Wanna go find a vantage point to listen to what they've got to say or have a look around to see who's preparing a special demonstration?"