Tucked away behind the Engineering Quad, far from the tip-tapping of computer keyboards and rustle of pocket protectors, there's a little shack with 'Whitehead Hall' etched rather defiantly above its nondescript door.
Next to Whitehead Hall is The Factory.
Its smoke stacks aren't clearly visible on campus until you look out over the railing on the MSE patio, where they seem to sprout out of nowhere, so clearly out of place, like an ill-designed architectural afterthought.
The white puffs that come out of its stacks are deceptively genial and innocent. But what goes on in there?
A lot of humming comes from that place. Sometimes clanging.
And I've seen swarms of bats congregating around the tops of the smoke stacks, usually around twilight.
Hmm. What does that mean? What conclusions can we draw from that?
Probably nothing. But then, probably something. Let's give it a try, Gumshoes.
I've heard The Factory is actually Homewood's electricity, heat and steam generators. They call it the Power House. Sounds suspicious to me. Supposedly, electrical engineers use the place for practical experience.
I've never actually seen anyone leave or enter the building. Passing by it once in awhile, looking through the thickly-screened doors, I've occasionally caught glimpses of a scruffy guy, ducking between large metal structures. Those observations are inconclusive, however, for two reasons: engineers are usually more dull-around-the-edges than scruffy, and they usually aren't seen outside of Shaffer. Either I've caught sightings of AWOLs, or there's more to the Power House than meets the eye.
These random observations do nothing to help us figure out the mystery of the Power House. Let's run our logic along several givens, then.
Let's assume there's some truth to its name. Every conspiracy theory has a grain a truth, but if a conspiracy were truly ubiquitous, it's illogical to believe that its workings could be kept a secret, especially with so many people involved.
The building's known as the Factory, or as the Power House. Since both insinuate some kind of production, let's assume that whatever nefarious organization wanted to keep the Factory's function a secret somehow had a leak, and now we know that the place is used to produce something.
Alright. Good.
I want you to turn your attention to the skies. Not just any sky, but the night sky, and not just Baltimore's night sky, but specifically, Homewood's night sky.
It's purple, and only on campus.
We have long had our theories. Bloomberg (the building) has long been our prime suspect for our purple night skies. It sits atop the tallest hill on campus, and no one has actually BEEN to the astronomy observatory way up there at the top of the tallest building on the tallest hill, so who knows what they REALLY do. And Bloomberg (the building) further digs itself into a hole by housing our physics department. Nuclear experiments, anyone?
But consider the risks. With so many physics students running in and out of Bloomberg (the building), running a deep, top-secret, purple-sky-causing conspiracy in the bowels (or the attics) of Bloomberg (the building) would carry lots of risks. And unless every physics student is involved, there would indeed be a great risk of discovery. Logically, physics students can't be involved because, well, they're physics students, and a conspiracy would require them to be social.
But the Factory would be an ideal place to be the headquarters for a conspiracy. It's isolated, and no student has actually been in there.
So. Consider this: are the white puffs coming out of there actually steam? Is the purported energy generated there actually electricity?
Why are there bats hanging around there? Maybe Batman lives there. Maybe Gotham got too archaic. Then again, he wouldn't be doing much better by coming to Baltimore.
What have we concluded? That something's weird if going on in the Factory. That the sky is purple on campus. What haven't we discovered?
What the heck the conspiracy is. But then, at least, that gives us something else to try to deduce.
If anyone figures out exactly what goes on there, do us a favor, and keep it a secret.
