It was still dark out when I got to the lab. I was looking forward to some alone time before the place filled up. I’d just found my flow when Brooks—who’s never early, and never social—walked in and chatted me up. Curiously, his voice sounded strikingly different.

The people of Bettingen—a village high above Basel—agreed that this was the biggest plum they'd ever seen and these were folks accustomed to seeing large produce. They were debating the proper way to measure the fruit when it slowly began rolling toward the city center.